The last few days of April I read:
Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 1 by Hiromu Arakawa. I am not a manga reader typically and only rarely do I watch anime but I enjoyed this story. It was strange for me to read from right to left but I eventually got used to it. The characters were funny and likable but they consistently pointed out how short the protagonist was on nearly every other page. That felt repetitive and annoying. I will probably continue as it was a quick and enjoyable read. I gave it 3 stars.
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. Overall, I was disappointed with this one. I read her first book a few months ago and loved how she weaved all the narratives together but felt she fell short this time. There was a sub-plot of the adoption of a Chinese baby which was presented like you could take either side but for me, it was very obvious what was the legal decision. I felt the adoration of some characters seemed almost obsessive to the point of stalker-y. Overall, she presented some beautifully flawed characters but the story just didn't come together very well. I gave this 3 stars.
Monday, April 30, 2018
May TBR
I keep saying to myself that I'm going to slow down with my reading but in April I completed 18 books. (including children's and comics too) That is just ridiculous! To try to slow it down, I've decided not to take part in any readathons this month and to limit my TBR to only 10 titles. That doesn't mean I'll only read 10, but hopefully I can be more of a mood reader as well.
1. Tin Man by Sarah Winman (received an early copy)
2. The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein (received an e-arc)
3. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
4. Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
5. The Absolutist by John Boyne
6. The Oracle Year by Charles Soule
7. The Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
8. Unbury Carol by Josh Malerman
9. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
10. Girls Burn Brighter by Shoba Rao
1. Tin Man by Sarah Winman (received an early copy)
2. The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein (received an e-arc)
3. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
4. Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
5. The Absolutist by John Boyne
6. The Oracle Year by Charles Soule
7. The Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon
8. Unbury Carol by Josh Malerman
9. Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
10. Girls Burn Brighter by Shoba Rao
O.W.L.s readathon Wrap Up
Well, O.W.L.s readathon is over and I did splendidly. I completed 11 out of the 12 challenges. Not all of these were on my original TBR but I made it work.
Defense Against the Dark Arts - a book about/featuring secret societies/clubs
Ancient
Runes - a book with a symbol on the cover Sleeping
Giants by Slyvain Neuvel
Arithmacy - a book with a number on the cover/in the title The Girl in 6E by A.R. Torre
Astronomy - a science fiction novel – Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
Care of Magical Creatures - a book that includes magical creatures OR features a magical creature on the cover – Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy by Jenny Nimmo
Charms - a fantasy book – Charlie Bone and the Time Twister by Jenny Nimmo
Divination - a book featuring prophecies – Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Herbology- a book with a nature related word in the title Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
History of Magic - a historical fiction O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
Magical Studies - a muggle non-fiction book - Evicted by Matthew Desmond
Potions - a book about/with alchemy- Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 1 by Hiromu Arakawa
Transfiguration - a book that deals with transfiguration/shapeshifting OR a book with a cat on the cover- A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
Arithmacy - a book with a number on the cover/in the title The Girl in 6E by A.R. Torre
Astronomy - a science fiction novel – Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
Care of Magical Creatures - a book that includes magical creatures OR features a magical creature on the cover – Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy by Jenny Nimmo
Charms - a fantasy book – Charlie Bone and the Time Twister by Jenny Nimmo
Divination - a book featuring prophecies – Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Herbology- a book with a nature related word in the title Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
History of Magic - a historical fiction O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
Magical Studies - a muggle non-fiction book - Evicted by Matthew Desmond
Potions - a book about/with alchemy- Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 1 by Hiromu Arakawa
Transfiguration - a book that deals with transfiguration/shapeshifting OR a book with a cat on the cover- A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
The only challenge I didn't complete was:
Thursday, April 26, 2018
Fourth Week Wrap Up
This week I read 4 books.
I started with And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. I'm not a huge fan of mystery but I had the audiobook so I decided to give it a whirl. I was hooked by the second hour. I didn't see the ending coming and was intrigued as to the details the whole time. This doesn't qualify for my O.W.L. readathon but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I gave it 4 stars.
I then finished Evicted by Matthew Desmond. This blew me away. Desmond lived in a trailer park and in the ghetto in Wisconsin as he studied the effect of eviction on low-income families. He focused on slumlords and tenants alike. He made me feel for these people, even though some of them were there due to their own bad choices. (i.e. drugs) This won the Pulitzer Prize in 2016 and it was well deserved. I will definitely seek out anything else he writes. This fulfilled my challenge of Muggle Studies (read a non-fiction book.) I gave this 5 stars.
Next I picked up The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory. I haven't been in the mood for romance lately (feeling it too insubstantial) but I haven't been feeling well lately and thought a light fluffy book was just what I needed. This was a fast, enjoyable read though I found it frustrating that the main source of conflict was that people didn't communicate. While this happens in real life, it just feels forced in a book. I gave this book 3 stars.
Then I finished Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy by Jenny Nimmo. I'm really enjoying this series. It's a simple story but with fun magical twists. This fulfilled my challenge to read a book with a magical creature on the cover for "Care of Magical Creatures." I gave this 3 stars.
I started Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente but after only 17 pages, I had to quit. The book was full of run-on sentences and crammed full of too many descriptors. Literally one sentence took up half the page. The only other book by Valente that I picked up before was also DNF'd shortly after starting due to her juvenile writing style. I guess she's just not for me.
I started with And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. I'm not a huge fan of mystery but I had the audiobook so I decided to give it a whirl. I was hooked by the second hour. I didn't see the ending coming and was intrigued as to the details the whole time. This doesn't qualify for my O.W.L. readathon but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I gave it 4 stars.
I then finished Evicted by Matthew Desmond. This blew me away. Desmond lived in a trailer park and in the ghetto in Wisconsin as he studied the effect of eviction on low-income families. He focused on slumlords and tenants alike. He made me feel for these people, even though some of them were there due to their own bad choices. (i.e. drugs) This won the Pulitzer Prize in 2016 and it was well deserved. I will definitely seek out anything else he writes. This fulfilled my challenge of Muggle Studies (read a non-fiction book.) I gave this 5 stars.
Next I picked up The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory. I haven't been in the mood for romance lately (feeling it too insubstantial) but I haven't been feeling well lately and thought a light fluffy book was just what I needed. This was a fast, enjoyable read though I found it frustrating that the main source of conflict was that people didn't communicate. While this happens in real life, it just feels forced in a book. I gave this book 3 stars.
Then I finished Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy by Jenny Nimmo. I'm really enjoying this series. It's a simple story but with fun magical twists. This fulfilled my challenge to read a book with a magical creature on the cover for "Care of Magical Creatures." I gave this 3 stars.
I started Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente but after only 17 pages, I had to quit. The book was full of run-on sentences and crammed full of too many descriptors. Literally one sentence took up half the page. The only other book by Valente that I picked up before was also DNF'd shortly after starting due to her juvenile writing style. I guess she's just not for me.
Thursday, April 19, 2018
Third Week Wrap Up
This week I read four books. This seems to be my average lately.
The first was Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin. This is a short classic of gay literature. Although its only about 200 pages, it still took me a while to read. I kept stopping after a chapter or two to digest what I'd read. The prose is beautiful and descriptive and the characters are well drawn out. However, I kept finding myself not wanting to pick it back up. It might've been the language or just that it was slow and not keeping my attention. So for the first time, I didn't rate a book. I had initially picked it out for un-slumpathon (long past, but I still wanted to read it) but it was definitely not a fast book.
Then I picked up O Pioneers! by Willa Cather. This was another short pick that took me four days to read. It was a historical fiction about immigrants living on the plains in "frontier time." However, this was boring and the pacing was weird. Additionally, when something traumatic happens to some characters, the main protagonist blames the victims (who she claims to love). This left a sour note in my mouth. This fulfilled my "History of Magic" prompt. I will not be picking up the rest of the trilogy. I gave it 2 stars.
The next book I finished was Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. This was for the "Divination prompt of reading about a prophecy." This was hilarious. I was laughing out loud at some of the jokes. The premise is that an angel and a demon band together to try to thwart Armageddon. I've never read anything by Terry Pratchett and only one book by Gaiman but together they were a powerhouse. It definitely made me want to pick up more stuff they've written. I gave it 4 stars.
Lastly, I picked up Charlie Bone and the Time Twister by Jenny Nimmo. (the second in the series.) This was a fun and easy read in which we get to know the characters a little better. Plus it involved time travel. I liked it and gave it 3 stars.
I keep telling myself I'm going to slow down but that hasn't happened yet.
6 O.W.L.s completed so far and I still have 10 days left to get a few more finished.
The first was Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin. This is a short classic of gay literature. Although its only about 200 pages, it still took me a while to read. I kept stopping after a chapter or two to digest what I'd read. The prose is beautiful and descriptive and the characters are well drawn out. However, I kept finding myself not wanting to pick it back up. It might've been the language or just that it was slow and not keeping my attention. So for the first time, I didn't rate a book. I had initially picked it out for un-slumpathon (long past, but I still wanted to read it) but it was definitely not a fast book.
Then I picked up O Pioneers! by Willa Cather. This was another short pick that took me four days to read. It was a historical fiction about immigrants living on the plains in "frontier time." However, this was boring and the pacing was weird. Additionally, when something traumatic happens to some characters, the main protagonist blames the victims (who she claims to love). This left a sour note in my mouth. This fulfilled my "History of Magic" prompt. I will not be picking up the rest of the trilogy. I gave it 2 stars.
The next book I finished was Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. This was for the "Divination prompt of reading about a prophecy." This was hilarious. I was laughing out loud at some of the jokes. The premise is that an angel and a demon band together to try to thwart Armageddon. I've never read anything by Terry Pratchett and only one book by Gaiman but together they were a powerhouse. It definitely made me want to pick up more stuff they've written. I gave it 4 stars.
Lastly, I picked up Charlie Bone and the Time Twister by Jenny Nimmo. (the second in the series.) This was a fun and easy read in which we get to know the characters a little better. Plus it involved time travel. I liked it and gave it 3 stars.
I keep telling myself I'm going to slow down but that hasn't happened yet.
6 O.W.L.s completed so far and I still have 10 days left to get a few more finished.
Thursday, April 12, 2018
Second Week Wrap Up
This week I read four books.
The first I finished was Where Am I Now? by Mara Wilson. She's the actress who played Matilda. Her memoir was enjoyable but not overly memorable. She does suffer from OCD and I found that intriguing but a lot of the high school angsty stuff just didn't resonate with me. This fulfilled the challenge (from the Read Harder Challenge) to read a celebrity memoir. I gave it 3 stars.
The next book I finished was Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel. I was really excited to pick this up on audiobook since everyone and their mother said it was an amazing audiobook. It does have a full cast, but unfortunately, that doesn't really make it good. There is little music, sound effects, or other things that would make it unique. I found the premise (finding pieces of a giant alien robot and assembling it to make a weapon) to be so interesting but the pacing and the writing was boring. I found myself dragging to pick it up. I wanted to learn more about the alien race who had left the pieces but found out very little. The only redemption in my mind was the ending. It ended on a bit of a shocking piece of news that made me want to know more. I'll probably eventually pick up the next one but I'm not in a rush. This fulfilled my "Ancient Runes" challenge because it has a symbol on the cover. I gave it 3 stars.
Then I finished A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. This was the second book I read by this author and I loved his creation of characters. They are always so complex, real, and flawed. Ove is a grumpy man who feels that life is not worth living now that his beloved wife has died. But each day he finds new reasons to live; some of which are very surprising. Backman is great at creating a cast of characters, though his growth is obvious from the time he wrote A Man Called Ove to writing Beartown. I will say that there seemed to be some needless fat-shaming that appeared to emanate from the author rather than the character. That was really the only detractor. This fulfilled the challenge for "Transfiguration: A cat on the cover." I gave the book 4 stars.
The last book I finished was The Girl in 6E. This was an erotic thriller. There were very sexy scenes of her describing cybersex and different kinks but then the perspective would switch to a pedophile wanting to rape and kidnap a child. This was quite jarring. The story was amusing but unbelievable. She can't leave her house for three years because of her murderous thoughts but then when a child needs rescuing, she thinks she can just go several states away to get her? This fulfilled the "Arithmancy" challenge by having a number in the title. I gave it 3 stars because it was entertaining.
Three O.W.L.s so far is exciting. I still have 16 more days to complete the rest of them.
The first I finished was Where Am I Now? by Mara Wilson. She's the actress who played Matilda. Her memoir was enjoyable but not overly memorable. She does suffer from OCD and I found that intriguing but a lot of the high school angsty stuff just didn't resonate with me. This fulfilled the challenge (from the Read Harder Challenge) to read a celebrity memoir. I gave it 3 stars.
The next book I finished was Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel. I was really excited to pick this up on audiobook since everyone and their mother said it was an amazing audiobook. It does have a full cast, but unfortunately, that doesn't really make it good. There is little music, sound effects, or other things that would make it unique. I found the premise (finding pieces of a giant alien robot and assembling it to make a weapon) to be so interesting but the pacing and the writing was boring. I found myself dragging to pick it up. I wanted to learn more about the alien race who had left the pieces but found out very little. The only redemption in my mind was the ending. It ended on a bit of a shocking piece of news that made me want to know more. I'll probably eventually pick up the next one but I'm not in a rush. This fulfilled my "Ancient Runes" challenge because it has a symbol on the cover. I gave it 3 stars.
Then I finished A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. This was the second book I read by this author and I loved his creation of characters. They are always so complex, real, and flawed. Ove is a grumpy man who feels that life is not worth living now that his beloved wife has died. But each day he finds new reasons to live; some of which are very surprising. Backman is great at creating a cast of characters, though his growth is obvious from the time he wrote A Man Called Ove to writing Beartown. I will say that there seemed to be some needless fat-shaming that appeared to emanate from the author rather than the character. That was really the only detractor. This fulfilled the challenge for "Transfiguration: A cat on the cover." I gave the book 4 stars.
The last book I finished was The Girl in 6E. This was an erotic thriller. There were very sexy scenes of her describing cybersex and different kinks but then the perspective would switch to a pedophile wanting to rape and kidnap a child. This was quite jarring. The story was amusing but unbelievable. She can't leave her house for three years because of her murderous thoughts but then when a child needs rescuing, she thinks she can just go several states away to get her? This fulfilled the "Arithmancy" challenge by having a number in the title. I gave it 3 stars because it was entertaining.
Three O.W.L.s so far is exciting. I still have 16 more days to complete the rest of them.
Thursday, April 5, 2018
Exciting News
I have two pieces of exciting news.
The first is that I've been approved for my first book on netgalley. I received an ARC (advanced reader copy) of the book The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein. Granted this book comes out in 5 days so it's not really advanced but I'm excited nonetheless.
The second is that I won a copy of Sarah Winman's Tin Man which I've been looking forward to for the past 6 months. Again, I'll be receiving it close to the time it is scheduled to be released. but again, thrilled! (You'll be seeing this on my May TBR.)
The first is that I've been approved for my first book on netgalley. I received an ARC (advanced reader copy) of the book The Trauma Cleaner by Sarah Krasnostein. Granted this book comes out in 5 days so it's not really advanced but I'm excited nonetheless.
The second is that I won a copy of Sarah Winman's Tin Man which I've been looking forward to for the past 6 months. Again, I'll be receiving it close to the time it is scheduled to be released. but again, thrilled! (You'll be seeing this on my May TBR.)
First Week Wrap Up
This past week I've read 4 books.
The first was Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann. This is a non-fiction book about the formation of the FBI and one of their very first cases solving the murders of the Osage Indians that occurred in the early 1900s. While the people, corruption, and murders were fascinating, I felt this was somewhat disorganized and didn't hold my attention as much. I gave it 3 stars.
Then I listened to Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. (This was for my un-slumpathon challenge to listen to an audiobook.) I enjoyed this sci-fi novella and found the African roots interesting. However, I wanted more to the story. I guess I'll just have to pick up the next one. I gave this 4 stars.
Next I picked up Jessica Jones: Uncaged. This was for the challenge to read a comic book. I've really been enjoying the t.v. show on Netflix but this story was much further in the future which spoiled some info for me. In addition, I was lost on what had happened before. However, Jessica Jones is a badass and I loved her character so I gave it 3 stars.
Lastly, I picked up The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. This fulfilled the challenge to read a story under 200 pages. I was told it is a classic coming-of-age story in a poor neighborhood- all the things I usually love. However, this was written in vignettes with stories that were very loosely connected. Some were heartbreaking and left me wanting to know more, and others seemed like filler fluff. I think I would have enjoyed this story if it had followed more of a narrative. It seemed like the author had 17 different ideas for the story and just crammed them in together without connecting the dots. I gave this 2 stars.
Overall, my reading has not been very exciting. I'm hoping to turn that around this next week.
The first was Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann. This is a non-fiction book about the formation of the FBI and one of their very first cases solving the murders of the Osage Indians that occurred in the early 1900s. While the people, corruption, and murders were fascinating, I felt this was somewhat disorganized and didn't hold my attention as much. I gave it 3 stars.
Then I listened to Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. (This was for my un-slumpathon challenge to listen to an audiobook.) I enjoyed this sci-fi novella and found the African roots interesting. However, I wanted more to the story. I guess I'll just have to pick up the next one. I gave this 4 stars.
Next I picked up Jessica Jones: Uncaged. This was for the challenge to read a comic book. I've really been enjoying the t.v. show on Netflix but this story was much further in the future which spoiled some info for me. In addition, I was lost on what had happened before. However, Jessica Jones is a badass and I loved her character so I gave it 3 stars.
Lastly, I picked up The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. This fulfilled the challenge to read a story under 200 pages. I was told it is a classic coming-of-age story in a poor neighborhood- all the things I usually love. However, this was written in vignettes with stories that were very loosely connected. Some were heartbreaking and left me wanting to know more, and others seemed like filler fluff. I think I would have enjoyed this story if it had followed more of a narrative. It seemed like the author had 17 different ideas for the story and just crammed them in together without connecting the dots. I gave this 2 stars.
Overall, my reading has not been very exciting. I'm hoping to turn that around this next week.
April TBR
I think I'm going to try to do a readathon every month if possible. This month I will be taking part in Unslump-a-thon and Magical Readathon. The Unslump-a-thon is basically a bunch of easy tasks that can break you out of a slump. The readathon is from March 31- April 7. The other readathon is the Magical Readathon based on Ordinary Wizardly Levels. Each Harry Potter class has a challenge. There are 12, but realistically I'm aiming for 6-8. This lasts from April 2-29.
Magical Readathon
The three other classes that I don't think I'll fulfill are:
For Unslump-a-thon:
Magical Readathon
Ancient
Runes - a book with a symbol on the cover: Sleeping
Giants by Sylvain Neuvel
Arithmacy - a book with a number on the cover/in the title: The Girl in 6E by A.R. Torre
Astronomy - a science fiction novel: Golden Son by Pierce Brown
Charms - a fantasy book : Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
Divination - a book featuring prophecies : Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
Herbology - a book with a nature related word in the title: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
History of Magic - a historical fiction: O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
Magical Studies - a muggle non-fiction book: Evicted by Matthew Desmond
Transfiguration - a book that deals with transfiguration/shapeshifting OR a book with a cat on the cover: A Man Called Ove
Arithmacy - a book with a number on the cover/in the title: The Girl in 6E by A.R. Torre
Astronomy - a science fiction novel: Golden Son by Pierce Brown
Charms - a fantasy book : Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
Divination - a book featuring prophecies : Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
Herbology - a book with a nature related word in the title: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
History of Magic - a historical fiction: O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
Magical Studies - a muggle non-fiction book: Evicted by Matthew Desmond
Transfiguration - a book that deals with transfiguration/shapeshifting OR a book with a cat on the cover: A Man Called Ove
The three other classes that I don't think I'll fulfill are:
Potions
- a book about/with alchemy
Defense
Against the Dark Arts - a book about/featuring secret societies/clubs
Care
of Magical Creatures - a book that includes magical creatures OR
features a magical creature on the cover
If you have any suggestion for these last three, I'd be open it them.
For Unslump-a-thon:
Reading
challenges:
1.
Read a book under 200 pages: The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
2.
Read an old favorite or read a book from your favorite genre : A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
3.
Read a book while drinking your favorite warm drink: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
4.
Read a graphic novel, manga or comic book - Blankets by Craig Thompson
5.
Read a middle grade or children's book The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
6.
Read a novella: Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
7.
Read an ebook or listen to an audio book: Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
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