Total books read: 19
Total pages read: 6044
Average rating: 3.35
Most read genre: Contemporary
Average pages/book: 318
Contemporary is not usually my most read genre, but this month it took it by a landslide because I read What If It's Us (see below), and it was so adorable I went and found as many cute teen gay romances as I could and have been reading them ever since. And more to come in October!
The books I read this month are definitely shorter than usual, but it's still a respectable average with 19 books considered.
Side note: I don't give ratings to books that are rereads, because obviously if I'm rereading them they were probably a four or five star book, so I don't want the rereads to skew the average higher than it would be. Rereads are purely for enjoyment. My average rating this month was kind of low, but there are a couple of one and two star ratings that probably contributed to that.
Here are the books I read in September:
1. Siege and Storm (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy #2) by Leigh Bardugo
Rating: ★★★★☆
I liked this installment a lot more than the first book. I loved the addition of Nikolai, and I like the direction the series goes in from here.
2. Ruin and Rising (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy #3) by Leigh Bardugo
Rating: ★★★★☆
This was a solid conclusion to the Shadow and Bone Trilogy.
3. Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1) by Leigh Bardugo
Rating: No rating (reread)
I love the Six of Crows duology!! This is actually the first book I ever in the Grishaverse, and rereading it after Shadow and Bone trilogy makes everything make a lot more sense. You can enjoy it without reading Shadow and Bone, but I personally recommend reading Shadow and Bone beforehand. Especially because Six of Crows is better (IMO), so the universe only improves.
4. Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Read this for the hype, it has major "I'm privileged" vibes. Issues I had with it: You can’t simultaneously argue “you are in control of your own happiness, take responsibility for yourself” and “God is in charge of everything so you ultimately aren’t in control of your own fate.” Also the blatant humble bragging... we get it, you’re the best at everything which is why you are rich and famous and we aren’t. I was totally rubbed the wrong way by the sex chapter. Not because it was too intimate, but because she encourages women to force themselves to like sex even when they don’t.
5. The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
Rating: No rating (reread)
As of yet, this is my favorite Shakespeare piece. And I think it's very important for young readers today. I first read this in high school, and just because of the themes about prejudice, I think it should be a required reading in all high schools (if need be, in place of Romeo and Juliet).
6. What If It's Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
Rating: ★★★★☆
Obviously I liked this book more than the last Becky Albertalli I read, The Upside of Unrequited. I still saw remnants of the things I hated from that book like the signature unlikable supporting character that the narrator swears is the most amazing person in the world (Dylan) and super obvious telling-not-showing. But I shipped Arthur and Ben so hard. They were so delightfully awkward. This book was, to me, what I wish Eleanor and Park had been (that one was only meh for me). At times I was annoyed by Arthur and/or Ben, but then I realized, hey they are literally sixteen years old, and they’re just acting like they are. I can respect how the authors nailed the teenage romance perspective. Their actions and feelings feel immature at times, but that’s because they’re meant to because they’re kids. But seriously... i need a different ending!!! Or a do over ending! A sequel maybe...? Also - loved the narration in the audiobook, highly recommend.
7. The Music of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg
Rating: ★★★☆☆
I really liked the serious parts of the novel, I think they are really important and those topics were handled well but it was still realistic and relatable. Can’t give this one over 3 stars because the best friend characters were so awful and for some reason they are a large part of this book. Like, all of them are terrible. Also there were some chapters that were completely pointless and unrelated to the book. Why did we have an entire chapter about how Jordan adopted his dog?
Another note: I didn’t love the narration of the audiobook. The Max narrator was okay but the Jordan narrator was not good. And for some reason they did these ridiculous voices when they were speaking another character’s dialogue. The Jordan narrator speaking as Pam was kinda stereotypically racist, like she was some 50 y/o sassy black woman and not just a teenager. And the Max narrator doing his two best friends was just bad.
8. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Rating: ★★★☆☆
I spaced out during some of this, but overall I really liked the stories of the mothers and their daughters.
9. More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera
Rating: ★★★☆☆
This book did not turn out the way I thought it would. It was a pretty good story. My major takeaway: read this book if you want to be SAD. It is sad.
10. Been Here All Along by Sandy Hall
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
Just... read my full review HERE.
11. The Giver by Lois Lowry
Rating: ★★★★☆
I actually enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would. I watched the movie afterwards, and I actually didn't hate most of the changes they made from book to screen. Some of them I even think should've been in the book in the first place, such as Jonas getting chased when he's trying to get Gabriel and then escaping.
12. Iron Man (Junior Novelization) by Peter David
Rating: No rating
I can't rate this... I love the MCU and I'm so partial to this story and these characters even if this was not the best rendition of them.
13. The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo
Rating: ★★★★☆
Very whimsical fairy tales. I enjoyed most of this. Some things were just way too descriptive. It's fun to read the actual Grishaverse books and catch some of the references to stories of "monsters in the thorn wood" or "rivers that could talk" knowing that these are those stories. My top three I really liked, and the bottom three bored me.
My ranking of the stories:
1. The Witch of Duva
2. Ayama and the Thorn Wood
3. Little Knife
4. The Too Clever Fox
5. When Water Sang Fire
6. The Soldier Prince
14. Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan
Rating: ★★★★☆
The description of this book makes it seem so much more frivolous than it is. This is deep stuff. The book is told from the viewpoint of individuals who have died from HIV/AIDS as they watch over 7 gay boys trying to make their way through life and accept themselves. Craig and Harry, who were together but aren't anymore, are trying to break the world record for the longest continuous kiss. Peter and Neil have been dating a year, and they must consider their relationship through the difficulties of being a gay couple. Ryan and Avery have just started to go out, and they deal with homophobia and their pasts. Finally there's Cooper. When Cooper's parents find out he's gay through reading his messages in online chat rooms, they are furious enough to drive Cooper out of the house, and right into the arms of the other men in those chat rooms. Some of it is hard to read. The POV is really unique, and I think the story is told beautifully. I love all the different characters' circumstances, and how they're all kind of intertwined as you get to the end of the story. Hearing the narrators talk about the characters' situations while also referring back to when they were alive and fighting the disease was so powerful. I gave this four stars for being really excellent, not quite five stars because some of the lines were too poetic to the point where it felt cheesy and silly.
15. Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2) by Leigh Bardugo
Rating: No rating (reread)
Still love this conclusion! It wasn't as magical as the first time around, but things rarely are *sigh*.
16. They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera
Rating: ★★★★☆
I liked this story. I thought the contemplations of death that the boys were forced into were tragic and deep and really well developed. I think this is a relevant piece, especially for people would are familiar with grief and loss. I got very emotional at the conclusion of the book (the title says it all), and that does not normally happen to me with books.
17. We Are Okay by Nina Lacour
Rating: ★★★☆☆
I guess my overall impression of this book is just underwhelmed. I read this 4 days ago and I can't even remember the main character's name. I know the mystery element was pretty good (but also I was a bit like "is that it?"), and I liked how the story is told in two different timelines. Loved the ending of the book, I thought it was a really good conclusion. But overall, compared to a lot of hard hitting contemporary, it's kind of unmemorable.
18. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Rating: ★★★☆☆
This book was a snooze fest for me UNTIL Tea Cake entered. Not that he was an amazing character, but things just picked up from there. Unfortunately that was literally 50% through the book. I would give the first half a two star and the second half a four star rating, thus three stars.
19. This Book Is Gay by Juno Dawson
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Check out my full review HERE.
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