Worst-Case Scenario - Ray Stoeve

Initial Draw: ☆☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆☆☆

Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Sidney has one goal for their junior year. Well...two, if they're being honest. Number one: become president of their school's Queer Alliance club. And number two: keep their self-diagnosed anxiety in check so their grades don't tank like they did last year.

But when the election results in a tie with none other than Sidney's arch nemesis, the class clown Forrest, the two are forced to share the presidency until a revote at the end of term. Sidney expects Forrest to be insufferable, but it turns out that working together is...kind of nice?

As surprising feelings for Forrest emerge, Sidney's techniques for managing their anxiety stop working. With the reelection approaching and assignments starting to pile up, will all this pressure be too much for Sidney to handle on their own?"

Last One Picked - Audrey Meeker

Initial Draw: ☆☆☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆☆

Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆

Overall: ⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Annabeth has the perfect plan for the summer after eighth grade: volunteering at her local library and lounging at home re-reading her favorite books ever, the Warrior Princess series. But when her mom decides to sign her up for volleyball camp - worse, the same volleyball camp her ex-best friend Serena is going to - those plans go out the window. Annabeth is immediately out of her depth, with no experience, no friends, and no kneepads, and the volleyball girls are all tall, athletic, and extroverted...unlike her. Then Serena shows up at the library as a new volunteer, and everything goes from bad to worse.

But it turns out that maybe volleyball isn't the worst thing ever, and Annabeth slowly starts to gain confidence and the support of her teammates, while Serena's bad attitude begins to override her skill on the court. As tryouts approach, the girls make a deal: Annabeth will intentionally fail during tryouts so Serena can have her spot on the team, and in exchange, Serena will let her take her job as a volunteer for the library's upcoming Warrior Princess author event. It seems like a win-win scenario...but suddenly giving up the chance at playing volleyball doesn't sound as great as Annabeth thought it might."

Getting into a hard reading groove, I guess

Guess who finally finished Uncommon Grounds?! It took forever, but it was a great read. So much fascinating history. I also FINALLY started Warrior Girl Unearthed! Victory! I'm about 3/4 of the way through and I love it so much. It's heartbreaking but hopeful and just making me feel so many things. 

I also finished reading Pakistan (my first ever interlibrary loan!) and Third Culture Cooking, although I have not been able to get my hands on a copy of Zaatari (I am realizing now that I could probably have done an interlibrary loan request for that one too...I requested my library buy a copy, so we'll see). I've got a bunch more recipes saved to try, but for now, since I always make pasta salads on Sundays to take to work for the week, I've tried out a pasta salad recipe from Third Culture Cooking and really loved it. I've included the recipe (not exactly as written, since I'm adding it from my notes, but if you want to see the recipe exactly as written, check out the book!) at the end of this post.

Books I still have to read and hopefully will soon:

• Worst-Case Scenario (this one especially, because I think I'm out of renewals for it)
• Does My Body Offend You 
• Algorithms of Oppression
• Daughters of Nri
• The Heirs
• Free Verse Society