Welcome to the Book Nook! This is the weekly thread for Avocados to discuss books we’re currently reading, recommendations, genre, and serious literary criticism.

This week’s recommended discussion: A few weeks ago, we had a great topic on our favorite series when we were kids. This week, let’s shine a light on our favorite standalone books from middle school and YA years.

Settle into your favorite chair, and let’s celebrate the written word.
One caveat: because we’re here to use our words, this is a NO GIF/YouTube/social media embed zone (the OTs are full of clutter, and I want to keep that out of this thread).

upcoming topics:
8/7: favorite standalone book when you were young
8/14: generation gap
8/21: challenging books
8/28: hide the cover (h/t to CineCraft)
9/4: less than the sum of its parts (h/t to Robert Maitland, Architect)
9/11: how structure informs character interpretation and growth

Book Nook posts every Wednesday at 8:15 AM Eastern.