Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Known as the marsh girl, Kya has been on her own since about the age of 10. First her mother walked away. Then each of her siblings left one by one until Kya was all alone with her drunk and abusive father. Shunned by the town for her peculiar ways, Kya survives alone in the marsh until Tate and Chase seek her out. When Chase ends up dead, Kya is the lead suspect. Told in flashbacks, Where the Crawdads Sing is a everything a book should be...It's a love story, a mystery, and tale of self discovery.

Reality Boy by A.S. King

I picked up Reality Boy initially to read for our monthly book club,  but we opted not to read it as a group; however, I continued to read it anyhow. I actually listened to the book instead of reading it, and I enjoyed it for the most part aside from the ending. Gerald Faust had the unfortunate childhood of growing up in front of a camera because his family was selected for a reality TV show when he was five-years old. A.S. King takes the reader through Gerald's life by using flashbacks to his childhood years on camera and then coming back to present day as Gerald is a junior in high school. His turbulent times with his promiscuous twenty-one year old sister and timid mom pushes him over the edge. Overall, it's a three star book, but it definitely has a lull in the middle and the ending did not wow me.

#1  Mrs. Staples