5. August 2019 Reading Wrap Up

August 2019 Reading Wrap Up

  • This was really a rollercoaster of a month for me in terms of reading. I managed 15 books (if I counted correctly), which is quite the feat for me, but there were so many highs and lows and not a lot in between. I discovered a new least favourite book, but I also added three to my list of five-star reads, which is not bad at all - especially considering I had only rated 4 books five stars in the first half of this year. I’ve changed up my formatting a little bit so hopefully that helps with the readability of this post too (although maybe I'll chill on the colours next time). Anyway, I’ll stop blathering and get into it!

    Paper Girls Volume 5 Love From A to Z The Vegetarian

    Paper Girls Volume 5

    I spoke a little about the Paper Girls graphic novel series in my last wrap up and honestly, I don’t have anything to add here. I enjoyed this one just as much as the last ones.

    Love From A to Z by S. K. Ali

    New favourite alert! This contemporary YA novel follows Zayneb and Adam, two Muslim teens travelling to Doha for vacation. Zayneb is dealing with the consequences of fighting for justice and Adam is dealing with his multiple sclerosis diagnosis, the same condition his mother died from. I absolutely loved both characters and appreciated that I got to read from both points of view. I tried to pick a favourite out of the two, but just couldn’t do it. There were so many layers to this story, making it all the more realistic and emotional - I smiled and teared up all through the book. Sometimes the writing was a little clunky to me, but I loved it all the same. It was great inspiration to stand up for what you believe in.

    The Vegetarian by Han Kang, Translated by Deborah Smith

    I came straight from a new favourite book to a new least favourite. I have only ever rated one book less than 2 stars before, so you can imagine how much I disliked this one. The Vegetarian follows a young South Korean woman named Yeong-hye and what happens to her after she decides to become a vegetarian. The book is made up of three novellas, each from the perspective of a different person: Yeong-hye’s husband, her brother-in-law and her sister. Everything about this book reminded me of why it took me so long to start reading outside of young adult books. It was exactly like something I would be forced to read for high school - filled with supposedly profound allegories and awful people. The first novella was the hardest to get through, having the most bland writing aside from the snippets of Yeong-hye’s dreams that were included (these just so happened to be my favourite part of the book, but they disappeared after the first story) and because it was told from the perspective of her husband - my least favourite character. And having said all that… it was still my favourite of the three stories because of Yeong-hye’s quiet defiance of what was expected of her. I enjoyed the second story’s writing style more, but unfortunately it was also from the perspective of a terrible person and it descended into something uncomfortably lewd. By the third story, I just wanted the book to be over and honestly I can’t remember anything important happening except that I sympathised a little with In-hye, Yeong-hye’s sister. Though I appreciated what I thought were correlations with the experience of women, it wasn’t enough to get me to enjoy - or even slightly like- The Vegetarian. If this book wasn’t short, at 183 pages, I would have put it down much earlier.

    The Watchmaker The Wife Between Us Heartless

    The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley

    Unfortunately this was another book I wasn’t a fan of. I would describe this book as the most boring, interesting book I have ever picked up. The plot should have had me on the edge of my seat, but I was just waiting for it to be over. The reader mainly follows Thaniel, a character as dry and bland as a plain cracker, as he tries to figure out who is setting bombs around London. He meets Keito Mori, a Japanese watchmaker who is incredible at his job, and the two apparently become friends. I guess the main problem I had with the book was the characters and the fact that I did not see the progression of their relationship without being told after the fact - I think I’m just an idiot that didn’t pick up on subtlety. There were also two other characters - Grace, who was at least a little interesting, and Ito, who seemed only to be present in order to give us some of Mori’s backstory. There were a few scenes that had me intrigued, but they only ever lasted about a page. So yes, this was not the magical historical fantasy I had hoped it would be.

    The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanan

    The blurb of this adult thriller proclaims it to be one that defies your assumptions. It certainly succeeded in that endeavour, but it occasionally had me wondering what the point was. A few of the twists seemed arbitrary and weren’t all that shocking. One of the twists that I did find shocking was quickly swept aside and I felt it could have been explored a lot more in depth. I was much more invested in the first half of the story, where I was kept on my toes, wondering what was going to happen next. After that point however, everything became a little mundane. I wish things had escalated a lot more than they did in the end. I could say quite a few more things, but I don’t want to spoil any of the plot for you, since a lot of the entertainment value rests on the twists alone.

    Heartless (Parasol Protectorate #4) by Gail Carriger

    After a few dud reads, I was so glad to have my hopes for the fourth instalment in Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series fulfilled. I don’t think I could be disappointed in her work at this point, but you never know. I loved getting to know some more of the characters in this one and gosh, my emotions were running high with it. I laughed, I almost cried, I grinned with relief. The ending was so much more satisfying than other books I’d read recently (see above). It was so intense and entertaining. Just A+ material. Highly recommend it!

    Fatale Sawkill Girls The Walls Around Us

    Fatale, Volume 1: Death Chases Me (Fatale #1) by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips

    You know when you read a news article or a tweet or something, and you just know that it was written by a man? I kinda felt that with this adult graphic novel. It had so much potential to be great - what’s not to love about a paranormal horror noir graphic novel? Apparently, there can be a lot. So I was left extra disappointed when this one didn’t work for me. Not only did I find the plot to be tired and lacking in emotion, I couldn’t even tell some of the characters apart. We follow a few detectives and some journalists and there is a cult element plus one woman that is evidently irresistible, even to a married man with a heavily pregnant wife. It takes place in a couple of timelines, but we are mainly focused on something that happened about 50 years ago and I assume the later issues will tie these two timelines up somehow - but I won’t be sticking around to see that. I do give it credit for the ending - though I can’t remember the details now, I’ve got in my notes that it was pretty intense.

    Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand

    My favourite thing by far about this YA paranormal horror was the creepy atmosphere. Set on the island of Sawkill Rock, this story follows three teen girls and their connections to the multiple cases of missing girls on the island over the decades. Claire Legrand’s writing really elevated this novel and I loved the vivid pictures her words painted for me. Unfortunately, I found the characters personalities to be flat, each having one defining trait. Their relationships also seemed to be only surface level. Without spoiling anything, the tone and direction of the plot takes a bit of a weird turn over halfway through, and that was a little jarring for me. It was like biting into an apple and tasting a pear. Close enough to what you were expecting, but not quite right. Still, I will remember the whole vibe of this book for a long time to come and I recommend it if it sounds like something you would be interested in - especially if you are after some lesbian and/or asexual representation.

    The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma

    What can I say about this book without devolving into gushing? I absolutely loved this one. It had all the atmosphere and beautiful writing from Sawkill Girls but had the addition of intricately developed characters with complicated relationships. If the combination of ballet, murder, prison and paranormal occurences sounds appealing to you, I highly recommend picking up this YA mystery. Once again, I hesitate to share much more for fear of giving away the plot, but I will say that though I have seen some people complain about the ending being confusing, I found it to be a perfect conclusion to the book, piecing everything together in a totally satisfying way.

    Saga Volume 6 The Book Ninja Flowers for Algernon

    Saga Volume 6

    I wrote about this adult sci-fi graphic novel series in my last wrap-up, and I don’t have much to add here except that this has been my favourite storyline since the first issue. I connected with it more on an emotional level and found it less formulaic than the others. I’m glad to have had some excitement for this series restored.

    The Book Ninja by Ali Berg and Michelle Kalus

    Oh, I really was not into this one. I am fairly new to the adult romance genre, but I have to assume there are many better than this. It follows bookstore worker Frankie and her quest for love - she leaves her favourite books (mainly classics) on various trains with a note in them instructing people to contact her for a date. And she writes a blog about the experience. All the while, she is pursuing a relationship with Sunny, a man she scorns for enjoying YA books. Unfortunately, though he was the best character, Sunny has no really personality and Frankie plus her friend Cat (the other MCs) were the worst. I don’t mind reading about evil characters, but I was expected to sympathise with Frankie and Cat? They were totally selfish and didn’t even seem to really have each other’s best interests at heart, despite being best friends. There were so many books name-dropped in this story that instead of them being fun references, they became tedious and forced. It was overkill. It was as though the authors were bragging about the books they’ve read and were shoving it in your face - just like Frankie was. Instead of getting a little burst of happiness that Frankie had enjoyed a book I had also enjoyed, as I expect was the intended effect of these references, I grew annoyed that someone so mean shared something with me. The only thing that made me enjoy some of this book was the fact it is set in my home area and I recognised the places (and train lines) the characters went to. That said, I won’t want to travel on the Frankston live ever again, thank you very much.

    Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

    As simple as this little book is, it packs an emotional punch. The story follows Charlie, a cheerful man that sweeps floors at the bakery for a living, because he only has an IQ of 68. He decides to take part in an experiment to increase his intelligence to genius level and the reader follows him through this journey. Told in epistolary form, the reader really gets a sense of what Charlie is experiencing and how he feels about it, but also because of this, the writing is quite simple and there is a lot of telling rather than showing. I also found my enjoyment was severely impacted by the fact that the blurb TELLS YOU THE ENTIRE STORY. So, yeah, I don’t recommend reading the blurb if you decide to pick this one up. As much as I had my issues with it, I did feel connected to Charlie and experienced emotional ups and downs along with him.

    The Broken Girls Timeless Daughter of the Pirate King

    The Broken Girls by Simone St. James

    This was another book I really enjoyed. There are two timelines, one set in the 1950s and one set in 2014. In the 1950s, there are a group of girls attending a haunted boarding school and in 2014, a character is looking for more answers surrounding her sister’s death 20 years prior in the same town as the old boarding school which is now being renovated. It’s a highly layered story and I appreciated the many well-developed characters and their relationships. I loved the creepy atmosphere and the historical context. There was ultimately a satisfying ending, although I would have liked a few changes - but we won’t get into that because spoilers. I also wish we had heard more from the 1950s timeline. I feel there was some wasted potential there. However, these are only the things that kept me from 100% adoring this book, and I still highly recommend it.

    Timeless (Parasol Protectorate #5) by Gail Carriger

    Huge shoutout to @ayzrules for getting me to pick up this series. I was not disappointed by the ending and quite honestly, I still want more from this cast of brilliant characters - hopefully I will like those featured in the author’s other series just as much. It’s not often that I read a book and can’t bring myself to read the reviews, but this is one of those. I can’t bear the thought of anyone saying negative things about these books and more than that - I can’t understand it. So basically, the Parasol Protectorate series will always have a special place in my heart and I can 100% see myself rereading it in the future.

    Daughter of the Pirate King (Daughter of the Pirate King #1) by Tricia Levenseller

    I had been waiting for a while now for this audiobook to arrive on Libby for me, and I finally got to the front of the queue late this month. I’m not usually an audiobook reader - I much prefer to hear things in the voices I make myself in my mind. Still, I did like that I could speed up the process, haha. Listening on 2x speed whilst cleaning the bathrooms sure did feel like an efficient use of the time I will have on this earth. Fortunately, I did like the story as well. It’s a YA romantic fantasy that follows the pirate captain Alosa after she is captured by an enemy crew. Alosa is a great main character and I mostly enjoyed her personality and witty, self-assured attitude, though I must admit sometimes it made me roll my eyes. I experienced the same feelings towards the romance - it was cute, and I liked it for the most part, but it definitely had its cringe-y moments. The action was all very exciting though and I am looking forward to getting my hands on the sequel.

    And there you have it! My reading wrap up for the month of August. Let me know what you read this past month and if there’s any suggestions you have for me! I would love to hear from you 🙂

    Battle of the Books
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    Comments (8)
  • NANOWRIMO 📝

    HELLO YES I'M SO GLAD YOU FINISHED PARASOL PROTECTORATE!!!!

    BIFFY X LYALL IS THE BEST SHIP AND I WILL FIGHT ANYONE WHO SAYS OTHERWISE. THEIR NOVELLA IS PRECIOUS AND PLS TRY TO CHECK IT OUT IF YOU CAN

    DO LMK IF YOU READ FINISHING SCHOOL, CUSTARD PROTOCOL, OR ANY OF GAIL'S OTHER NOVELLAS IN THE PARASOLVERSE!!!!!! ❤

    also I like this new format!! the colors are not too much at all!!!! i wish URSTYLE would give us a way to put images inline without having to resort to tables but it be like that sometimes i guess hahahaa

  • Battle of the Books

    @ayzrules I'm so glad too but also kinda sad, haha.
    They are so good together! I thought I would be sad forever because of the whole Biffy / Akeldama thing but Biffy and Lyall are a much better fit. Will it spoil the Custard Protocol series, or can I read it right away?
    I'm so lost on the reading order for everything, lol. My library doesn't have Etiquette & Espionage but I've requested it so hopefully I'll be getting to that soon (they have the other books in the series, so I don't know why not the first). Otherwise, do you think I could move straight on to Custard Protocol without being too badly spoiled? There's just so much to get into, lol. Oh and I also have access to Romancing the Inventor, Romancing the Werewolf and Poison or Protect. What would you pick up first, if you were me? :')

    Oh cool, thanks for letting me know! Haha yeah me too. I'm sort of used to it anyway - I always put pictures in tables to align them when I used Blogger. Whether it was necessary or not, I'll never know lol.

  • NANOWRIMO 📝

    @forebodinq ughhh biffy/akeldama seem SO PERFECT until you get biffy/lyall, i feel like??? and then ur like fuck. I got played. thx for that, @ gail carriger

    iirc, the novella takes place right after Imprudence, aka book 2 of custard protocol. So it spoils a little bit, but not very much re: Rue + her adventures

    and yes for sure you can! there's like 1-2 cute lil "hah" moments in custard protocol that I got from reading finishing school series (which is 1850s, in this universe. parasol protectorate = 1870s, custard protocol is 1890s) first, but nothing major. I say go for it!

    Poison or protect is EXCELLENT, but that novella focuses on a character from finishing school series, so I would hold off. Romancing the Werewolf = biffy/lyall, I believe, and romancing the inventor happens post-protectorate so I would start with that one! It doesn't have spoilers for custard protocol iirc

  • Battle of the Books

    @ayzrules Yessss you've described the feeling perfectly, lol. I definitely got played.

    Ooh okay, that's good to know. Thank you SO much for clearing that up, I'll be getting onto those as soon as I can! Just jumped into the queue for Prudence and Romancing the Inventor will be my next ebook borrow 😄

  • Top Sets

    Oh Gosh I was kinda enthusiastic about The Vegetarian and the Sawkill Girls, even though not so many people actually read them both! Very nice wrap-up! Congrats!

  • Battle of the Books

    @teodoramaria98 I can't lie - I don't really recommend The Vegetarian to anyone, haha. Have you read it or Sawkill Girls?
    Thanks! I love reading your book reviews, so I appreciate it 🙂

  • Top Sets

    @forebodinq Oh thank you! 🙂 I haven't read any but I am planning to whatsoever!

  • NANOWRIMO 📝

    @forebodinq ya of course!!! here's a reading order list that gail carriger made, if u were wanting to read the things in chronological order in her parasolverse!!

    https://gailcarriger.com/2018/08/01/the-definitive-gail-carriger-book-reading-order/

    the #1 story is about alexia's dad, actually, & it's pretty funny as well imo hahaha

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