PRSSA WooPee! Reading List discussion

This is the space for the Winona community to share their favorite reads during the month of November! 📖 🍂

Comment a review of your FAVORITE thing you read this month to share your love of reading and inspire others pick up YOUR book from a local library! 🧠⭐️

Reviews with the highest engagement have the chance for their book to become one of the Winona community’s “Top 3 – 5 Reads of the Month” for December! 🎊 📚

If you’re unsure what to include in your submission, please see the “Guidelines for Sharing Reads” post under the “General Information” discussions folder.

Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold

My favorite book I read this month is "Mythos: Greek Myths Retold" by Stephen Fry - (5/5 stars)! While I admit I had to read this book for my Greek Mythology course, I found this book extremely entertaining! ⭐️

Fry takes these old myths told throughout the centuries and makes them his own with his hilarious comedic commentary about the crazy antics of these well-known characters. His witty commentary captures the absurdity and drama of these ancient stories, while also making them understandable to modern readers like us. In my opinion, what sets Mythos apart from other retellings of Greek myths, is Fry's ability to make these ancient stories feel relevant in our society today. When reading, I found that common themes and motifs from Greek myths continue to appear within our literature and films today; I found it super interesting to finally discover this deep history!

Altogether, Fry's in-depth descriptions of characters and their colorful backstories made the story come to life for me. And his funny playful tone that made me feel like I was hearing these stories from a friend rather than some ancient book!

If anyone in interested in getting into Greek mythology, but is worried about finding an easily understandable text, I cannot recommend this book enough!

Lissy wrote: "Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold

My favorite book I read this month is "Mythos: Greek Myths Retold" by Stephen Fry - (5/5 stars)! While I admit I had to read this book for my Greek M..."

This sounds like an awesome read! I've always wanted to dive deeper into this Greek mythology stuff but have never been able to find a book that toes the line between elementary and way too complicated! Thanks for sharing - definitely going to be checking this one out.

- Hunter

Wonder

Like the cliche goes, this book truly highlights what it means to never judge a book by its cover! I finally got my hands on this book with the intention of seeing the movie in the future, and WOW! did this book hit me right in the feels! Even though some portions of the book are so completely heart-breaking, the author also does a great job of including lighter heart-warming moments that balance out the story.

This book offers us all an amazing lesson about what it means to be "normal" and to not let superficial things get in the way of our empathy an respect for others. For some background, the main character Auggie has a facial deformity and enters school for the first time. Even though the kids are at first judgmental or scared of Auggie (which produces some seriously sad moments!), as the book goes on, the kids actually get to know who Auggie is on the inside, which is a funny and lovable kid just like the rest of the students.

The best part is how the book leaves you with hope, reminding you that one act of kindness can make a huge difference in someones life. I think this is such an important lesson with the upcoming holiday season, and just had to share!!

If you haven’t read Wonder yet, I’d definitely recommend it. It’s one of those books that makes you reflect on how we treat others, especially those who are different from us. So, yeah, it’s definitely worth the read!

Little Women

My November book of the month is Little Women by Louisa May Alcott with a rating of 4.5/5 stars from me.

With the spirit of the Thanksgiving and X-mas season arriving, this book was a joy to read during this time of year, as it reminded me of my own family of wild sisters always getting up to some trouble, ha-ha! On a real note, this story offers one of the most beautiful, realistic portrayals of sisterhood despite being written way beyond my time! The way these four sisters argue yet always love one another and have each other's backs is a true testament of the ups-and-downs of sisterhood, and the author captured this perfectly.

All and all, this book really reminded me to feel grateful for my family and gave me a super strong feeling of nostalgia for when we were little. Maybe that's one of the greatest messages in the book afterall - that life goes on, but we still can hold onto those sweet, happy memories of when we were little!