Reading Challenge | Reading a Shortlist Vol. 1 Update

March 25, 2021February 20, 2021 bookishluna2 Comments

Hello and welcome to my first checkin for one of my largest reading challenges of the year where I read the shortlist for the 2020 International Booker Prize. If you would like a breakdown of my challenge you can do so by reading my post, Reading Challenge | 2021 Reading Goals. Even though it is already February, I have already read 2 of the 6 books on this list so I wanted to take a moment to share my thoughts on these books before too much times has passed and the details begin to get fuzzy. Anway, on to the reviews!

The Books

The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am not a huge fan of dystopian novels and have not been for a long time. I read this novel mainly because it was part of my challenge to read the shortlist for the 2020 International Booker Award. I have to say I am thrilled it was on this list because I loved it. It was a dystopian novel, but was more. It had elements of science fiction and fantasy as well. The writing was grand and I give huge credit to the translator because it seems a lot of the magic of this novel remained in the tale.

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Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was an interesting read. The murder of the witch is told through the POV of multiple people. With each perspective you learn more about the past and the murder itself. I liked how it also was a social commentary with a mixture of a thriller.

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Overall, I am feeling very good about the books on this list so far. I enjoyed both of these books and even enjoyed loving one of them. Starting off the list by finding a 5 star read is just phenomenal. Last year, I didn’t have the best start to this challenge so this is a great contrast. I have very high hopes for the rest of these books and I am loving that my enjoying percentage is 100%!

Liked: 2

Hated: 0

Have you read either of these books? Would you add either of these to your TBR?

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Wrap Up

Wrap Up | January 2021

January 31, 2021January 30, 2021 bookishluna17 Comments

Hello and welcome to my wrap up for the first month of 2021! I ended up reading a lot of nonfiction, but honestly I really liked what I read. Who would have thought the year would have stated off like that? Anyway, here are the books I finished reading this month.

The Deepest South of All: True Stories from Natchez, Mississippi by Richard Grant
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This short book ended up having a ton inside of it. It had the story of Price Abd al-rahman Ibrahima, a history of a town built on slavery. The author goes into the history without sugar coating like quite a few of the people who live there do. He discusses the relationships and views between many of the towns citizens and how varied they are on the topic of their history itself and racism. He also highlights that there has been progress, but a lot more needs to be done. This town in particular was a very interesting microcosm of society as a whole to read about. I really liked how the author went to the town itself and interviewed many people within the town. Older people, younger people, white, black and those who lived there for generations and those who recently moved in.

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Assassin's Apprentice: The Illustrated Edition (Farseer Trilogy, #1)

Assassin’s Apprentice: The Illustrated Edition by Robin Hobb
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed the start of this trilogy so much more than I thought I would. I thought it would be bogged down by world building, but it was done in such a masterfully natural way. I enjoyed the 1st period perspective, mainly because I enjoyed our main character Fitz so much. I am excited to continue this series next month.

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Not Quite Out by Louise Willingham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Given review copy via publisher in exchange of an honest review.

I really enjoyed the story quite a bit, a more detailed review will be posted on my blog on February 16th!

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Tomie by Junji Ito
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have read quite a few of Junji Ito’s work and I have loved all of those very much. As with those, his imagination and ideas are very original and the artwork is wonderful. Unfortunately about 1/3 of the way through this I started to loose interest because the plot began to feel repetitive.

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A Promised Land by Barack Obama, My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare, and a Scottish Adventure Like No Other by Sam Heughan, My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab, My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys, My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I managed to read a total of 9 books, 3,986 pages. Six of those books were fiction and the remaining 3 were nonfiction. I read 1 ebook, 1 audiobook, 5 hard cover and 2 soft cover books. I borrowed one of the books read this month from the library. I have 2 5 star reads, 6 4 star read and 1 3 star read.

What was your favorite book you read this month?

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Reviews

Someone Picks My Books | Heidi – This is My Book Shelf Blog | The Test by Sylvain Neuval

September 27, 2020September 6, 2020 bookishluna4 Comments

Hello and welcome to another installment of Someone Picks My Books! This month I had the extremely kind and amazing Heidi pick my book, you can find her over at This is My Book Shelf Blog. As the title states, Heidi picked The Test by Sylvain Neuvel. Thank you so much for helping me out and picking this book for me!

One Sentence Review

A very intense book that messes with your mind and really makes you think about human psychology.

Description

Britain, the not-too-distant future.
Idir is sitting the British Citizenship Test.
He wants his family to belong.

Twenty-five questions to determine their fate. Twenty-five chances to impress.

When the test takes an unexpected and tragic turn, Idir is handed the power of life and death.
How do you value a life when all you have is multiple choice? –goodread.com

What I Liked

First and foremost, this book is nothing short of intense. It really pulls you in at the start being calm and you think you know what you are getting into, but you really don’t. Everything in a moment got turned upside down and I don’t want to say more than that.

This book is nothing short of amazing for a few reasons, but yes this is going to be a gush review. Sorry, not sorry. This really makes you think about human resilience, human psychology, and what society wants from its citizens. I am writing this review a few days after reading it and I keep thinking about things that characters say and do. Everything in this short novella has a point to it and it is really written to make you think. Even in this short story it has so much to it, it does not fee3l like the author was cutting corners or rushing the reader in the slightest.

What I Didn’t Like

Honestly, I can’t think of a thing I disliked about it personally, but I can see some readers having a difficult time reading this story (spoilers ahead) so here are some trigger warning; murder, brutal violence, terrorism, and racism. I am not the end all be all for trigger warnings, look more into them from other readers before reading this book because they might have picked up on other triggers that I have personally missed.

Overall

Overall, this was a very impactful book to me because it really makes you think about human nature, society, and a laundry list of other things such as prejudices and racism that are ingrained in society. I feel like this little story really packs so much into it that it shows the talent of the author. This will be a story I reread again I feel like and it will have a place on my bookshelf for the years to come.

Next month I am reading a book picked by the wonderful Maggie from the blog Storme Read a Lot. They have wonderfully well written reviews and other awesome posts. Also, their twitter is just as wonderful!

Have you read this book before or is it on your TBR?

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To Be Read

TAG: Books I’ll (Probably) Never Read

May 25, 2017June 19, 2017 bookishluna5 Comments

Tag Tuesday So I was on booktube, yet again, and was watching some of Ariel Bissett’s videos and I came across this tag. Even though I was not tagged I thought it would be a ton of fun to do! I will insert her video at the end so you can watch it too if you would like.

The Questions:

1/ A really hyped book you’re not interested in reading?

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
Mountain View

A year or so ago this book was featured in book hauls, review, blogs, and it seemed like everyone was reading it and was super excited. I on the other hand just was not interested. When I buy or read a book I want to know a little bit about the plot and such, but this book had a description that didn’t really tell me much. Plus, since all the hype I have heard some not so god things.

2/ A series you won’t start/won’t be finishing?

Fallen Kingdoms

Mountain View I read the first book in this series and really enjoyed it, I gave it four stars. Even though I liked it so much I decided not to continue with the series because I did not want to commit.

3/ A classic that you’re just not interested in?

Fahrenheit 451

Mountain View

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Mountain View

Both of these have been talked about by my friends and family members. I have been told “you have to read it” so many times, but I just don’t feel inclined to do so. If you have read either of these let me know, I am curious to what you think.

4/ Any genres you never read?

Satire, I don’t really gravitate towards it. Maybe one day I will give it a go, but not today.

5/ A book on your shelves you’ll probably never actually read?

Book of the Unnamed Midwife by Meg Elison

Mountain View

The reasons I don’t think I am going to read this is because it is a dystopian/end of the world book, which is a subject I don’t always enjoy and when I picked this up I was unaware it was a series. Lately, I have been getting tired of reading series. I am gravitations towards stand alone books.

What book on your TBR are you unlikely to read?I hope you enjoyed the tag, if you want to do it please feel free!Ariel Bissett’s Video