Scar Tissue by Anthony Kiedis

Blurb submitted by Austin S.
Scar Tissue is nonfiction

Scar Tissue is a book about the singer named Anthony Kiedis, who is in the band The Red Hot Chili Peppers. He tells his story of growing up and doing drugs as a young kid. He had a major drug abuse and addiction issue that caused many problems for him down the road. His band helped him solve his issues with drugs after much trial and error.

In the first part of the book, Anthony explains how he had his first drug experience with his father when he was 11 years old and how long it went on. The second part is about how his band became popular, and he was doing severe drugs with his bandmate Hillel Slovak. After Slovak's death, Anthony did not attend the funeral. He was without his best friend and did not know what to do with himself; it caused more issues down the road for Anthony because his drug addiction became more severe. Finally near the end, as of December 24th, 2000, Anthony Kiedis is clean and sober.

It is a good book to read if you are interested in "The Red Hot Chili Peppers" or if you just want an interesting read. Through much trial and error with Anthony's life, he is still one of the greatest singers of all time. It is good to understand that even with the mistakes in your life, you can still become successful and achieve your goals.

Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday

Blurb submitted by Connor C.
Ego is the Enemy is nonfiction

Ego is the Enemy focuses on helping people in life with tasks they think they are too good for. Ryan Holiday, the author, discusses many real-life events and things he achieved while maintaining a very good ego. Ryan never finished college. He dropped out of school when he was 19 years old. He wanted to become a writer and became one that a lot of people look up to. His work helps young students, mostly athletes, know what real life is about. Young kids these days think everything is about them and that everything revolves around them. In sports, for example, you will always have that one guy who thinks he is better and doesn't have to work as hard as other people.

Midway through the book, Holiday gives brief examples of how to overcome having a big ego and how you can become more successful in life if you help others before you make it about yourself.

I believe using examples from the book and putting them into your own life will greatly affect your life and others around you in many different ways. There is always something you can do to help someone no matter the circumstance. I recommend this book to young athletes because I strongly believe if you take examples from here it can turn your team around quickly.

American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military by Chris Kyle with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice

Blurb submitted by John B.
American Sniper is nonfiction

Chris Kyle finds it's not always easy to live his life by God, country, and family.  He enlists in the armed forces to become a Navy Seal and is eager to fight and defend his country. Four tours in Iraq take a toll on him physically as well as mentally.  He's torn between fighting alongside his fellow soldiers in Iraq and wanting to be home with his wife Taya. Dedication to his country and doing his part to protect our freedom and knowing he has a loving wife waiting back home keep him driven.  It's his story of trials, triumph, loss, and heartbreak that will keep you intrigued.

Turning of the Tide: How One Game Changed the South by Don Yaeger

Blurb Submitted by Landon H.
Turning of the Tide: How One Game Changed the South is nonfiction.

Turning of the Tide is a great book for any football fan, regardless of if you pull for Alabama or not. The author starts out by explaining how Paul Bear Bryant not only changed football at Alabama but how he changed it in the whole country and how his effects on the sport are still shown today. Paul Bear Bryant was known for his all-white football team, most of the teams in the South were primarily white but may have had 1 or 2 black players. This book goes on to tell about how Alabama would strictly not allow blacks to play, regardless of how much talent they had. Racism was alive and well in college football at this time until USC came to Tuscaloosa.

In 1970, the USC Trojans came to play Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Alabama was known nationwide for being the best team possibly ever. What made this game so big and publicized was that USC was starting all black players in their offensive backfield. Alabama came in highly favored and expecting a blowout. Arguably one of the best and most historic games in history, two former USC players help Yaeger tell the story of what happened before, during, and after the game. It was this game that changed the racial landscape of college football forever.

Using real examples and quotes from people that experienced this game and situation first hand, this book shares knowledge to any football fan. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about the sport we love today, college football.

Unbroken by Laura Hildebrand

Blurb submitted by Logan R.

Unbroken is nonfiction

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand is about a boy named Loui Zamperini and his life as an Italian immigrant. In his early days, he is discriminated against for being Italian. No one likes him because he steals, drinks, smokes, and is constantly running from the police. He discovered his love and talent for running, and his brother trained him every day to help him better himself in the sport he loves.

He competes in many track events, winning nearly all of them, and finds himself in the Olympics years later. He won the Olympics and soon afterward he was drafted to the war were he flies fighter planes. He gets captured and is put in a Japanese concentration camp. He is rescued years later by the American forces and goes back to his family.

I am the type of reader who finds it hard to find a book you can dig into and actually enjoy. The rich contents and detail of this story drag you into the book and you can not put it down. I rate this book a 9/10 and am extremely satisfied.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Blurb submitted by Mara C.
The Bell Jar is fiction

Ester Greenwood is an extraordinary talented young woman, always receiving high marks from teachers, and having a hunger for knowledge. She moves from her hometown to pursue a career in journalism, accepted into an internship in New York City. The Ladies Day magazine is a paid internship aimed to encourage young woman to join the workforce, and Ester is seemingly the perfect candidate. Yet in 1953 she finds her self slowly going under, while being pulled in an infinite amount of different directions in her life. One by one she sees the options in her life disappear like figs turning black and dropping dead off the tree, simply because she didn't know which one to pick. Her mental health slowly begins to deteriorate as she finds herself torn apart by who she wants to be and who she thinks the should be.

The Bell Jar is what many believe to be Plath's own chilling story of her deteriorating mental state, starting as a young adult. Plath transports you into Ester's mind and blurs the lines between perception and reality.

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport

Blurb submitted by Coach Fromme
Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World is nonfiction

Deep work as the ability to focus without distraction on an intellectually demanding task. According to Cal Newport, a computer science professor at Georgetown University, this is the type of work that allows us to be our most productive. Unfortunately, our distracting, always-online culture makes accomplishing deep work harder than it has ever been. Instead, we engage in shallow work peppered by distractions like email, instant messaging, social media, and endless meetings.

 In the first part of this book, Newport explains the importance of deep work and how it can be used in almost any profession. The second part of the book teaches you how to achieve a state of deep work through a series of rules that will help transform your work routine to prioritize deep work.

Using real-world examples of successful academics and entrepreneurs as proof that deep work has many benefits, this book will serve as a guide to help professionals and students alike achieve success that their more distracted peers will not.

The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois

Blurb submitted by Khalil W.
The Souls of Black Folk is nonfiction

The Souls of Black Folk is an important book within the African-American community. It is considered one of the most important contributions to African-American social history. W.E.B. Du Bois, a Harvard scholar, spent the majority of his life fighting and documenting racial injustice.  The book is a collection of essays that give information on black spirituality, great black leaders like Booker T. Washington, poor treatment of darker skinned black people, slavery and freedom, the reconstruction period, the training of black men by slave masters, and the robbing of slave black families of their first-born sons. We are still to this day dealing with racial tension towards black men. I think it is important for everyone to read this book, but I would highly recommend this book to any teenage African-American male who is entering adulthood. The challenges that we face on a day to day basis can’t be compared to any other race. I think the book can help to guide us and is a great start to learning your black history.

Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets by Sudhir Venkatesh

Blurb submitted by Kris C.
Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets is nonfiction

Have you ever wondered what it would actually be like to be in a gang? If you read Sudhir Venkatesh's story, Gang Leader For a Day, you will find out. In Sudhir's story, you will hear first hand how he went from a college graduate and sociologist to being in a gang. You probably have seen gang members on TV before and heard stories about gangs and wondered what it is like to live like that every single day. Sudhir Venkatesh wondered the same thing, so he decided to go interview gang members to ask them about it. The gang members were not pleased with his curiosity and he actually ended up getting held hostage. That is just where his adventure begins. In Sudhir's book, you will read about crazy stories of what happens on a daily basis, how others in the neighborhood treat you, and what it is like to be the actual leader of a gang. If you want to know what it is like to be in a gang without getting held hostage, go check out Gang Leader For a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh.

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth

Blurb submitted by Amy K.
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance is nonfiction

The book's author, Angela Duckworth, argues that there is one distinct quality found in all successful people: grit. Grit is the will to keep moving forward even when you run into an obstacle. Grit surpasses innate qualities such as talent and intelligence. Duckworth supports her claim using evidence she acquired from interviews and research she had done on successful people. Thomas Edison, for example, had conducted hundreds of experiments to create the light bulb but had failed hundreds of time. If he had given up back then, we would not have light bulb today. Duckworth emphasizes the importance of passion and perseverance in success. All successful people had passion in their profession, whether it was art, business, or sports, and had the perseverance to keep going even if they failed.

I really enjoyed the book. This book encouraged me to keep doing what I am doing without comparing myself to others. This book also made me realize that passion is what is important. I was so focused on talent that I could not see the most important quality. I would recommend this book to anyone who feels discouraged or hopeless in what they are currently doing.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

Blurb submitted by Tucker H.
When Breath Becomes Air is nonfiction

The self-written story of dying doctor Paul Kalanithi, titled When Breath Becomes Air, was a way for Kalanithi to say goodbye to this loved ones because he knew he didn't have much time left. Newly married and with a young child, saying goodbye was the hardest thing to do once he was diagnosed with stage IV metastatic lung cancer, so he decided that leaving a book behind as his legacy would be the best idea. The story of Paul Kalanithi’s life was a very heartwarming one and until the very end. The reader is rooting on Kalanithi to overcome his death sentence. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an amazing story of an amazing person whose life ended too soon.

Younger Than That Now: The Collected Interviews with Bob Dylan by Jim Ellison (Editor)

Blurb submitted by Camille B.
Younger Than That Now: The Collected Interviews with Bob Dylan is nonfiction

Over five generations of music and changing times, there's one name that always seems to stay relevant: Bob Dylan. A man of wisdom and someone who doesn't just notice problems but speaks out too. He has inspired millions with his music and his activism in the world.  You may think you know Dylan now, but see him a way that's never been seen before. See how much he did for the music industry and the world. See a new side. See a new world, all changed by one man: Bob Dylan.

The Storm and the Tide by Lars Anderson

Blurb submitted by Blake B.
The Storm and the Tide is nonfiction

Have you ever heard about the tornadoes of April 27, 2011? That day, there were hundreds of tornadoes that ripped through central and northern Alabama, causing lots and lots of damage. There was even a mile-wide tornado that went through the city of Tuscaloosa, home of the University of Alabama and the Alabama Crimson Tide football team, the defending national champions. Now, a tragedy like this should most definitely affect a team, but in what way? How would a team like this respond to having most of what they know destroyed, and even some guys losing their friends to the tornado? This book will show the resiliency of Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide, including their leaders, quarterback AJ McCarron and linebacker CJ Mosley. It will show the fight that they went through to rebuild their campus that was so special to them, all while working on the football field to try to repeat as national champions.

Belichick and Brady: Two Men, the Patriots, and How They Revolutionized Football by Michael Holley

Blurb submitted by O'Mari B.
Belichick and Brady: Two Men, the Patriots, and How They Revolutionized Football is nonfiction

Would you ever think a skinny, non-athletic kid from the University of Michigan would succeed in the NFL? Most people would never think something like that could come true. This one skinny, tall guy was at the bottom of the depth chart and made it to the top. Not only did he make it to the top, he knew the playbook as well as the man who designed it. The head coach of the Patriots saw a lot of potential in this skinny kid, This skinny kid was Tom Brady. Tom Brady is the definition of determination. I say that because he went from the bottom of the depth chart to division titles. That shows me dedication and a little hard work takes you a long way so this would be a great book for many people, not only athletes, to read.

From the Browder File: 22 Essays on the African American Experience by Anthony T. Browder

Blurb submitted by Khalil W.
From the Browder File: 22 Essays on the African American Experience is nonfiction

Black culture has been around for thousands of years. Most of my ancestors were the ones who built this world from the bottom up. In the times of the Egyptians, they knew how to read, write, build architecture like The Pyramids of Giza, build and fly helicopters (yes, there is evidence of flying machines on ancient Egyptian pyramid walls), and so much more. A lot of the things that we have today had already been discovered or built thousands of years ago. This book exposes you to the areas of culture, slavery, education, racism, money, and others that affect black families today. It also includes sayings from powerful speakers and groups like Martin Luther King Jr, Black Panthers, Malcolm X, and other black activists that can reflect on what it meant to be black. This book has 22 essays on different topics about the black culture. I would highly recommend this book to the people that want to go more in depth about black culture. The main point of the book is to provide evidence of African-American contributions to history and to be more conscious of black culture and heritage.

Moneyball by Michael Lewis

Blurb submitted by Trent Crider
Moneyball is nonfiction

Success is a strange thing. Many have success because of money, but some have success because of a plan. Moneyball is a book about a baseball manager who worked with the poorest team and still made it far. Billy Bean was a high school standout ball player who went to the majors. He did nothing with his career in the majors but afterward, he became the manager of the Oakland A’s. The Oakland A’s where one of the poorest baseball teams and only had ⅓ of some players paychecks to spend on their whole team. Billy Bean had a plan to take what he could get and make it great. With Billy’s plan, the Oakland A’s were able to go to the playoffs 3 straight years and had two 90 win seasons.