Too few students take advantage of the ability to read. Even fewer take advantage of the cheap prices at local bookstores like Mr. K’s Used Books and CDs.
While the trading policy may not be to your benefit, the bargains make it worth a visit. Divulge in a few of the aisles there to see for yourself the smile-inspiring quantity of “cheap” books. Now that I’ve given you a healthy dose of advice, it is time for me to recommend a “yellow-sticker” (recent and hardcover) novel I recently bought and read from Mr. K’s for $5.
Not only was it cheap, it was thought-provoking and it had that rare thing most novels avoid or can’t have in the first place: literary merit. Aptly titled “The Tenth Circle,” Jodi Picault’s latest novel depicts a family that can only function in dysfunction as self-indulged obstacles risk tearing them apart.
This character-driven novel stuck with me from the first page to the last. Though the ending made a martyr of an otherwise substandard character, I was depressed at having reached the end. This is the first novel I’ve read from Picault, but it will not be my last.
About a small family in Maine, “The Tenth Circle” switches narrators to allow perspectives to clash or coincide as the story progresses without getting choppy or disgustingly plot-driven. Daniel Stone is a comic book artist (the chapters of the novel are separated by an actual comic book he is writing and drawing), and he has a past from which he wants absolute detachment. Laura Stone, Stone’s wife, teaches The Divine Comedy at the local college – she is currently in the middle of an affair with a student who reminds her of Daniel at a younger age. Trixie Stone, their daughter, has been raped by her former boyfriend, Jason Underhill. At least that’s her story.
The course this novel takes is heartbreaking, especially for that of Underhill, the high school senior and poster boy for the town, because there is a chance that he did not rape Trixie. There is a chance Trixie set him up to avenge herself (he broke up with her not long before the party at which Trixie was or was not raped). To find the truth, it would be best for you to read, though you can probably threaten me into submission.
Ultimately, the secrets of Daniel’s past, Laura’s present, and Trixie’s future are worth finding out for yourself.
Read this when you get the chance. It is the love child of “American Beauty” and “What Dreams May Come.” A small family goes through hell and through hells of their own, but more importantly, the three of them go through it all just to stay together.
Roll your eyes if that sounded cheesy or pretentious, but this is one of the best books I’ve read in quite a while. Do you really want to rebuff a bookworm’s literary praise? Then go to Mr. K’s and spend at least an hour browsing not only for the cheap prices, but for the chance to find something that will illuminate instead of brainwash you.

Author