Stats ~
Books: 20 (we love to see it)
Pages: 6328
Pages/book: 316
Pages/day: 204 (thank you audiobooks)
Rating: 3.39 (I thought this seemed low at first but then I went and looked at previous month averages and 3.39 is actually pretty middle of the road. Rough.)
Most read genre: Classics (who is she???)
1. King of Scars (Nikolai Duology #1) by Leigh Bardugo
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Two books disguised as one, what a deal! This book is the continuation of the Shadow and Bone trilogy and the Six of Crows duology. And it was sort of a letdown! I'm so over the Darkling, I'm not sure if I'll read the next book. I might read it just for the Nina/Hanne bits, but it honestly might depend on how long it is (how much time I would have to invest in it). Check out my full review HERE.
2. Openly Straight (Openly Straight #1) by Bill Konigsberg
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Am I the only one who thinks that what Rafe did wasn’t crazy? I was intrigued by the concept of this book because I can relate to his motives. I knew a lot of kids in high school that I admittedly might have referred to as “the gay kid”. I don’t blame him for wanting to shed his labels. I took issue with a few aspects of Rafe’s character apart from this though, as I previously mentioned the part where he fantasizes about Ben’s parents kicking him out of the house for him being gay. There were also some really stereotypical that-doesn’t-really-happen-in-high-school characters, relationships, scenes and dialogue. Slightly related, are there actual moms that say the phrase “oh sweetie...” because it was in this book a lot. So overall, it’s a fine read. Not the best in gay teen contemporary either in the story quality or the writing style.
3. A Closed and Common Orbit (The Wayfarers #2)
Rating: ★★★★☆
I didn't read the description before reading this book, I just read the first one, so I kind of thought it was going to continue the Wayfarers' storylines (Rosemary, Jenks, etc.). Needless to say I was surprised to find the entire book was about Pepper and the new Lovelace. Still, it was beautifully done. This science fiction world is flawless, and Becky Chambers always finds ways to make big statements about our own lives and society through these worlds. It didn't quite keep me as rapt as the first book, which I think is because there were only 2 POVs and like 5 characters whereas the first one had a lot more, but still I love the characters, emotions, and relationships in this story. And this series in general has altered my views on AI and what it would be like if machines could think or even feel for themselves. I am excited to read the third one. Side note: I've read this and the first book of the series as an audiobook, and I highly recommend.
4. Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
What can I say? It was boring. I didn't connect to Tiger Lily as a protagonist at all, and in fact all the characters (including Peter and the lost boys) fell flat for me. I did like that it was told from Tink's perspective, I thought that was cute. And I did feel some of that emotion that Tiger Lily had near the end of the story. But overall, the book is anticlimactic.
5. Evernight (Evernight #1) by Claudia Gray
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
I was very uncomfortable how Bianca kept referring to Lucas as her “protector” after they’d had like one conversation together. I guess it’s just instalove but it was creepy. Also the fact that Lucas was 20 and knew Bianca was 16 and was still pursuing her... like what. Gross. As for positives, the world is not terrible, and I did feel the creepy ambiance of Evernight Academy.
6. Autoboyography by Christina Lauren
Rating: ★★★★☆
I really loved the messages in this book, and the writing style. This is a truly stunning novel. Only two reasons this is four stars instead of five: first, I wish it wasn’t instalove. The love story here is the definition of instalove, and it’s actually pretty well done, but the love story would’ve been more meaningful (IMO) if it was a friends to lovers story instead. Secondly, I wish we had gotten more of that closure with Sebastian and his family! It just left on a cliff hanger and then cut to the epilogue. I want the drama, I want to know how it went down.
7. Record of a Spaceborn Few (Wayfarers #3) by Becky Chambers
Rating: ★★★☆☆
I was so looking forward to a continuation of the Wayfarer story uggghhhh!
This is basically just a collection of semi-connected stories in the same universe as the first two books in the series, and IMO it is less compelling than both the previous installments. It's still good, just not amazing.
8. Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne
Rating: No rating
I can't rate a children's classic! I hate rating classics, especially near-and-dear children's classics. I really enjoyed this audiobook, and it was definitely interesting to see some of the changes that were made when making the animated characters.
9. Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Rating: No rating
Like I said I don't rate classics... I don't really know what to tell you. It's Shakespeare. It had no chance of becoming my new favorite read. This is often referred to as Shakespeare's darkest tragedy, which I definitely understand. Overall, a really good spooky October read. And the audiobook (audioplay?) was very atmospheric.
10. Watchers by Dean Koontz
Rating: ★★★★★
I finally finished this and WOW I was literally on the edge of my seat!! So many spooky fall vibes, and the author does such a good job of giving characters creepy personalities realistically. And the themes in the novel... and the alternating storylines... and the ending. Shook.
11. Beartown (Beartown #1) by Fredrik Backman
Rating: ★★★★★
I know a lot of people say this but I really don’t cry at books but this one got me!! The injustice, and the fact that it’s all so common irl.... wow.
At first when I heard the ending (both the climax and the 10-years-later bits), I was not happy. I wanted it to actually happen. But the more I reflect, the more I like how it ended. I did think that is was a little cheesy that (view spoiler) But other than that the ending was really appropriate and honestly just realistic in such a beautiful and sad way. Also he just off-handedly mentions that (view spoiler) What the heck! Benji and Amat were my favorite characters and I just love them so much.
I need this to be a mini series and in honor of that here’s some people in my dreamcast (I know I didn't get everyone, but some of the characters I didn't immediately think of anyone that I would want to play them, ex. Amat and David):
Maya - Joey King
Ana - Sophia Lillis
Kira - Jessica chastain
Peter - Aden Young
Benji - Timothee Chalamet
Whatever the bass player’s name was - Cole Sprouse
Bobo - Jeremy Ray Taylor
Kevin - Ty Simkins
Kevin’s father - Gabriel Macht
Kevin’s mother - Connie Britton
Jeannette - Saoirse Ronan
Ramona - Viola Davis
12. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Rating: ★★★☆☆
I never had to read this in high school, but I decided to pick it up now just to see what it's all about. I knew the general plot going into it. It was fine, it was good, I will probably never read it again.
13. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Rating: ★★★★☆
Here's a book I did not think I'd like as much as I did. This is another one that I didn't have to read in high school and I just knew the bare bones of the plot. I really liked the writing though, and I liked the ending a lot too. To me it had a lot of The Giver vibes mixed with The Book Thief and just Nazi book burning in general.
14. Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach
Rating: ★★★★☆
I love Mary Roach's books! This one was super fun, and way less boring than I expected. It explores all the weird questions about digestion and eating that I wouldn't even think to ask. If you're into quirky nonfiction (and can stomach stinky science) this is a great choice.
15. Animal Farm by George Orwell
Rating: ★★★★☆
I love a good social commentary; this one kept me engaged the whole time.
16. Misery by Stephen King
Rating: ★★★☆☆
The imagery was so vivid, and it was fascinating to watch Paul's descent into madness the longer her spends with Annie and with Misery. Three stars because it was just so slow (I've only read one other King book, but I'm going to assume that that is a staple of his stories: the slow burn). At first I didn't know if I liked or disliked the interruptions of Misery's Return chapters; I read them and I could tell how they showed that Paul's mind was getting darker but other than that I wasn't that interested in them (probably because a series like the Misery one Paul wrote is not my cup of tea). By the last Misery chapter that was included in the book I skimmed and then skipped over most of it, because I was a lot more interested in Paul's real life story than his fiction one, no matter how it showed his inner darkness/madness. I guess that's just the gotta in me!
17. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
The only thing more boring than this book might be the activity of fishing itself. I did like this one more than Fiesta though.
18. Matilda by Roald Dahl
Rating: ★★★★★
This was actually my first time reading this book! I didn't read it as a kid, although I did read The Witches and The BFG, so I was fairly certain I'd love this book (and that's not to mention that I did watch the movie of Matilda as a child several times, and I loved the movie). This book brought so much welcome nostalgia, and I love the dynamic characters and Matilda's resilience and charm. I also loved Kate Winslet's narration of the audiobook; overall this was just a really enjoyable time for me.
19. Stargazer (Evernight #2) by Claudia Gray
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
I own four of the books in this series, but I've decided that I just cannot continue with it (I did finish this book, but won't read the next three). It felt like so little was going on. I don't like Bianca as a protagonist, I don't find her to be a strong female lead, I find her to be a bad example for young girls who might be reading this book because she is always pining after Lucas talking about how she needs him to be her protector even after he hurts her and her family. Also some of the stuff in this is just so ridiculous! A vampire joining a band of vampire hunters? I just... I can't. It must be noted that if I'd read this when I was 14 I probably would have loved it. *insert cringe here*
20. The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
Rating: ★★★☆☆
The first plot twist - or rather, change in plot direction - was interesting and I liked it a lot. The second one had less effect on me. Then there were just so many reveals that it was cheesy. Oh, this person? That's actually the same as this OTHER person! And that happened like three times. I was intrigued by the story, but there were no shocking plot twists and there was not a ton of suspense. It's kind of just your run-of-the-mill domestic thriller. Good, but not life-changing.
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