Carson Reads

The Notebook is Sparks' first ever-published novel! It deals with the forbidden love of two who had a young and passionate love when they were growing up but were separated for several years. Now that Noah is back and Allie is engaged to someone else, what is going to happen! Ah! Honestly, can I say something crazy and say that I prefer the movie? The book neglects a lot of the beginning of th...

Originally published as a series of pamphlets to teach money-smarts, The Richest Man in Babylon is a series of short vignettes that take place in Ancient Babylon! The main character's name is Arkad and he has a lot to say about personal finance! This is a book that I think everyone should read! We could all be more money-wise and this book does a really good job at teaching the how-to. One cau...

When first opening the book it might seem like the pages are just filled with word vomit, but the message held within the pages is a beautiful one! I struggled a bit with this book's writing style and the number of times that it jumped around, but I do believe some important things can be gleaned through the chaos. It follows a young Jewish American who is on a quest to learn more about his no...

TRIGGER WARNING- Sexual abuse, and trauma are VERY prevalent in this book, Ms. Yanagihara holds nothing back and describes awful things in horrible detail. This book is the most devastating book I think I have ever read, it deals a lot with trauma, abuse, and moving forward when we don't know the answers. The main themes include friendship, addiction, loneliness, and happiness. Not a happy rea...

I'm sure we all know the climax of the tale of Achilles, but do you know his true story? This was the first novel published by Madeline Miller, who, by the way, has her master's in Classical Studies. The book is GENIUS, I so thoroughly enjoyed it. It is narrated by Achilles' chosen friend, Patroclus, and tells the story of their boyhood all the way through to the battle of Troy. I love...

The series finally wraps up, thank goodness! The last two chapters of this book are the best by far. I am so excited to be done reading and talking about this series. If you have been following along, you know I have some issues with it! But it was good to see Percy and the gang join forces and finally conquer evil. Would recommend it only if you're this far in the series and feel like there i...

Dare I say that this is my favorite of the series? It feels like Rick Riordan is finally done throwing in more characters into the mix so the plot can settle and the action starts to pick up! That being said, there are still the classic Percy Jackson tropes and cheesiness oozing on some of the pages, but I came to the realization that it might come off that way to me only because I don't have...

What is up crazy kids, this week we are talking about the third of five Percy Jackson books!! (Why are there so many), in my most humble opinion, I think that this book is the weakest of the series. It feels like a ramping-up period for the bigger plot of Kronos slowly rising to more power. Nothing major major happens but more characters are introduced and the plot continues to thicken. Not a regr...

The second installment to the Percy Jackson series! Similar to the first but the plot thickens here a little bit. New characters are introduced and new adventures present themselves! We meet Tyson, who turns out to be Percy's half-brother, and we see into the overarching plot of the entire series. Luke is trying to bring back Kronos, the head titan, and overthrow the gods! Sheeeeesh. Again, I...

The Lightning Thief was one of the first "big chapter books" I read back in elementary school. I remember LOVING it. Since 2021 I have been trying to reread my entire bookshelf and that includes rereading this children's book hahah. I learned very quickly that it just does NOT hold up like Harry Potter or The Hunger Games do. Would recommend it to children around the age of 12 hahah...

The Hiding Place is a true story written by Corrie Ten Boom. She lived in Holland during the era of WWII, and she shares her story and how through it all, her faith in God acted as her "hiding place". This was my second time reading this book and it is brilliant. Would recommend it to anyone! I'm fairly certain that this is one of those books on reading lists in high school- and for...

I read the first installment of the Book of Mormon symposium papers and liked it!! In 1988 Jeffrey R. Holland gathered together scholars to write individual papers on an aspect of the Book of Mormon. This first book compiles the papers that teach about the Book of Mormon as a whole. Would recommend it if you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and are curious about the...

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves art and art history and who has a basic understanding of who Michelangelo was. The first half of this reads like a MOVIE it was so well done. The second half moves a little bit faster as it covers many more years, but I really do feel like I know who Michelangelo is now. He is a genius and I am completely astounded by his perspective and contribution...

A Case for the Book of Mormon explores the truths of the Book of Mormon intellectually as well as spiritually. Tad R. Callister addresses the common arguments found against the Book of Mormon and looks at the pieces of evidence in favor of the Holy Scripture!

This book is a favorite for many! It was my third time reading it. Super simplistic writing and a vague cast of characters allow you to insert yourself into the story, which is why I think so many people are drawn to this story. It follows a boy living in the south of Spain who dreams of seeing the Pyramids one day and completing his Personal Legend, or his calling in life. Provides some cool insi...

Christensen is a graduate of the Harvard Business School, after returning to his 5 and 10-year reunions he saw that many of the people that he graduated with were unhappy, whether that be in their marriages, in their jobs, or just with life in general. This confused him greatly because he knew these people and they were the most brilliant, wonderful people he had ever met. He set out to do a resea...

The Trial by Franz Kafka was never supposed to be published. In fact, around the time of his death, Franz Kafka told one of his good friends, Max, that everything that was unfinished should be burned. Shortly after Kafka died at age 40, Max exerted much effort to make sure that his friend's dying wish was not upheld. The Trial was one of those unfinished works. And thank goodness Max disobeyed...

The Devil's Arithmetic refers to the evils found in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany and the fragility of life. There are rules to stay alive, if they are kept you will see tomorrow. This book is heralded for its storytelling and has received the "National Jewish Book Award" and is deemed a "Puffin Modern Classic" right alongside Charlie and the "Chocolate Facto...

This is my podcast's first "do not read" given to a book. Do not read it! The book is published as a "journal" that chronicles the two years of this girl's life. It begins when that girl is 15 years old and ends around the time of her seventeenth birthday. Early on in the first journal she is exposed to drugs while at a party. She trips off of LSD when someone gives her...

The Four Agreements is a book published in 1997 by Mexican author Don Miguel Ruiz. I felt that I had seen this book everywhereee, I needed to see what the hype was about. It is a "wisdom book" and draws upon the teachings of ancient American peoples, the Toltecs, for inspiration on how to live life more fully. Ruiz and the Toltecs say that the human spirit has been domesticated and that...

One Hundred Years of Solitude follows seven generations of the Buendía family living in a fictitious village named "Macondo". It has been praised far and wide and won Márquez the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982! As with most classics that I read, as soon as I finish I feel like I need to reread it in order to digest the story and its message fully. I would recommend this book to almos...

Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon and was 47 years old when he was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. He uses his illness as an opportunity to give his "Last Lecture". A last lecture is usually provided by a professor as a hypothetical, if it were to be their final lecture what would they want you to remember from them and the life that they had lived? The address i...

A story about Charlie. He is friendless and about to start his freshman year of high school. This sounds like a trite plot that has been tried over and over again, but Chbosky does it in a real and raw way. Although the protagonist is 15 (and his friends are just a few years older), the story is universal and relatable to everyone. The best book I have read so far this year. I was blown away by ho...

"Watchmen" is named one of the best 100 novels by Time! It comprises 12 separate comic books and tells the story of a group of superheroes called the Watchmen. Published in 1987 during the height of the Cold War, much fear existed around war. Definitely a product of its time, it shows what people will go to in order to achieve the "greater good" and the lengths people will go t...

"The key insight behind Radical Candor is that command and control can hinder innovation ad harm a team's ability to improve the efficiency of routine work. Bosses and companies get better results when they voluntarily lay down unilateral power and encourage their teams and peers to hold them accountable, when they quit trying to control employees and focus instead on encouraging agency.&...