Never Grow Up

Written by: Jackie Chan with Zhu Mo 

First line: In 2016, I received an honorary Academy Award for my lifetime achievement in film. 

Why you should read this book: Smart but uncomplicated, fun but meaningful, this is the autobiography of Jackie Chan, martial artist, stuntman, actor, comedian, singer, kidult, everyman, and all around decent human being doing his absolute best and usually succeeding. Arguably the greatest stunt man of his time, almost certainly the most well-known, Chan shares the highlights of his life from his early years at home, through his decade in a strict martial arts boarding school, and following the highs and lows of his career and his personal life, including his hopes, fears, and most dangerous feats. While casting his story in an uplifting light, Chan manages to share both his strengths along with his flaws, pass judgement on mistakes he made as a younger man, and spread his overwhelmingly positive worldview and character with his fans and readers in an eminently readable and enjoyable format. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: Chan is forthcoming about his own foibles, including sexual mishaps, alcohol-fueled mistakes, and other youthful indiscretions. 

The Old Drift

Written by: Namwali Serpell First line: Zt. Zzt. ZZZzzzZZZzzzzZZZzzzzzzZZZZzzzzzzzZZZzzzzzZZZzzzzo'ona. 

Why you should read this book: A multi-generational epic steeped in history, tinted with magical realism and afrofuturism, narrated by mosquitoes (maybe), and framed by the lifespan of the Kariba Dam, The Old Drift covers more than a century of struggle, following the lives of three families in Zambia. Characters are born, grow, rebel against their parents' mistakes, make similar mistakes to the ones their parents made, have children, and the cycle repeats, but time keeps thrusting them away from the past and into the future. Beautifully written, bursting with revelation, and peopled with compelling characters, this is a book that you can fall into and devour with gusto. 

Why you shouldn't read this book: Occasionally, I found some of the ways it jumped around in time as characters appears in each others' arcs a little frustrating, but that's probably on me.

Hereville: How Mirka Met a Meteorite

Written by: Barry Deutsch 

First line: Being grounded left Mirka with too much time and pent-up energy. 

Why you should read this book: After just barely outwitting a troll in her first adventure, Mirka is eager to continue a life of adventure, but her second encounter with the troll doesn't go quite as well. Through a bizarre series of events, Mirka finds herself plagued by an underhanded doppelganger who seems to be better at living Mirka's life than Mirka is herself, and who is preventing Mirka from getting anything to eat to boot. Will Mirka have to give up her family, her home, and her identity, or will she be able to outwit a more clever version of herself? 

Why you shouldn't read this book: Its grasp of astrophysics is sketchy.