Learning to Listen

The Three Ordinary Voices of God by Matthew Kelly was handed to us at church so I gave it a read.

It advises against misliving one’s life. The surest way of doing so is by getting caught up in the hustle and bustle, noise and materialism in the world.

Instead we should listen to God’s voice through our needs, talents and desires. Each voice is broken down within its own chapter including more specific information and exercises. I found myself underlining many points throughout.

This book found me at a good time. It reminds readers of what is truly important in life, and the necessity to turn off the noise and clutter that diminish our growth.

Tangled Prom

The Weight of Blood by Tiffany Jackson is a solid homage to Stephen King’s Carrie. It is also another 2025 high school Nutmeg nominee.

Maddy’s dad has forced her to hide the fact that she is biracial her whole life. Her dad is white and the mother she never met is black. Maddy has always been a quiet loner, but once her secret comes out the bullying becomes ruthless. One female classmate in particular takes the lead in her humiliation. She finds some refuge in honing her newfound telekinetic powers.

Her small town of Springville begins getting a lot of attention for its racism both against Maddy specifically and the fact that it holds two proms as a means of segregation.

Wendy is one of the popular girls who decides to spearhead combining proms. Not only will it show their town is progressive but it will make her look good too. She also pushes her star athlete boyfriend Kendrick to invite Maddy to the prom.

Readers can predict how it goes from there based on news interviews from the prom’s bloody aftermath interspersed throughout the book.

Fear and Distrust

I Must Betray You by Ruta Sepetys is a historical fiction novel taking place in 1989 Romania. It’s a 2025 Nutmeg nominee.

Romania had been under Communist rule for decades. Their leader is Nicolae Ceaușescu. Cristian secretly writes about the hardships faced such as random loss of electricity, poor to no heat and food, and constant fear of being under surveillance.

Cristian is pressured to be an informant due to his friendship with the son of the U.S. ambassador. He agrees to the arrangement to get medicine for his sick grandfather.

Cristian realizes that not everyone is who they seem to be. It becomes difficult to know who to trust among family and friends.

Through it all is the constant hope that they can create the same changes that are happening to neighboring countries. This will be an extremely difficult battle with fear, loss and suffering along the way.

I knew very little about the circumstances in Romania during this time period before reading this book. It is written so well, which is clearly due to the author’s extensive research shared with her note, resources and pictures at the end of the book.

Overcoming Trauma

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir is a 2025 high school Nutmeg nominee.

Sal and Noor have been friends since childhood. They are Pakistani, and have endured varying levels of racism and isolation.

Their relationship is put to the test during their senior year of high school. First is their separation after Noor tried to kiss Sal. Then they lose Sal’s mom (she was also Noor’s mother figure) to kidney disease.

The story gradually reveals that both characters have different abusive backgrounds. Noor’s is still occurring. Her only out is to go to college, but she has been denied by most of them. Sal has turned to selling drugs to save his family’s motel, while his dad spirals deeper into alcoholism.

Events transpire between both characters’ viewpoints, along with various chapters devoted to Sal’s mom. Her chapters reveal how she became married and their move to California, as well as her hopes for the future.

One impactful message: “If we are lost, God is like water, finding the unknowable path when we cannot.” The author did an amazing job of weaving their stories together, and in doing so, providing strength and beauty amidst misfortune.

Home Run

Golden Arm by Carl Decker is a 2025 high school Nutmeg nominee that explores privilege versus poverty in sport recruitment. It’s a realistic fiction book.

Laz is a solid pitcher, but he doesn’t get any attention at his current school. When his high school’s new principal cuts the baseball team, he is fortunate enough to get an offer to play at a nearby high school with way more opportunity.

Laz begins getting positive attention. But he is torn between this new life and his real life. In real life, he has a half brother caught up with a known drug dealer. And his family was just relocated to a new trailer home without enough space for him.

This book will appeal to sports fans, especially baseball. It was a straightforward story with a positive message about working hard and staying true to oneself.

Magical Powers

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik is first in a series and also a 2025 high school Nutmeg nominee.

The main character, Galadriel, is a student at a wizard school. She is basically on her own until another student begins impacting her existence. He repeatedly saves her life (and the lives of other classmates) from the various monsters that prowl around the school. As graduation day approaches, more and more creatures are on the loose. El and her new friends will need to work together to ensure their safety and their hopes to reach senior year alive.

For me, this story had a great premise but I struggled to finish it. The narration was very chatty and assumed the reader would understand all the wizarding jargon. This left me feeling a bit lost and not hungry for more.

Breaking Patterns

It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover explores the struggles and perspectives around abusive relationships.

The story begins following Lily’s father’s funeral. She isn’t very broken up considering his abusiveness toward her mother growing up. She meets Ryle in this moment. He is a handsome neurosurgeon who is only interested in one night stands.

Fast forward a year and Lily is opening her dream flower store. It turns out that her new hire is Ryle’s sister. It’s only a matter of time before they become involved.

Meanwhile, flashbacks are provided through Lily’s letters to Ellen Degeneres, her favorite tv personality as a teen. Through her letters we discover her first true love was a homeless young man that she developed a relationship with as he was staying in the abandoned home near her.

All seems great until Ryle shows his aggressive side on more than one occasion. Lily doesn’t want to repeat the abusive pattern that she witnessed growing up, but she acknowledges the complexity of the situation.

The book was predictable for me, but still kept my interest.

Kansas Killers

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is a classic that I hadn’t read until now.

It is an account of the real-life murder of the Clutter family in 1959. The family of four was well-respected and liked in their small Kansas town. Their murders shocked the town and instigated a tireless search to apprehend the killers.

The book provides background on the two men responsible for their deaths. Events detail their eventual capture, trial and deaths.

It is a chilling story due to its reality. The murderers are two very different men who managed to connect during time in prison. They shared a desire for easy money and disregard for human lives.

Girl Life

Pieces of a Girl by Stephanie Kuehnert is a memoir. In it Stephanie shares her growing up experiences through journal entries, sketches and photographs.

She recounts her awkwardness and being bullied as a young girl to bouts of depression and self harm through her teen and young adult years. She endured abusive relationships while working to find her voice and strength.

Her outlets were music and her writing. Eventually following and writing for zines provided her with a sense of girl power. Friends also supported her through life’s ups and downs. Stephanie was able to overcome her struggles to find her purpose.

Crime Solvers

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is first in a crime mystery series.

Cassie learned the art of reading people from her gypsy-like mom. After her mom’s apparent murder/disappearance, she went to live with her paternal grandmother. She never quite felt that she belonged.

Enter an offer to join a special teen squad training with FBI agents. Each teen in the group, the naturals, offers a unique ability to help solve cold cases. Dean is a natural people profiler like Cassie, Michael can read emotions, Sloane is a statistician, and Lia is an expert lie detector (and pathological liar).

Cassie begins learning more about each of her peers. Some have seemingly more to hide than others.

A recent slew of murders seem connected to Cassie’s mom’s death. She can’t help but get involved, even though she may be the next victim. The story follows twists and turns before resolving the case.