Wrap Up

A Week in Review | September 23th-30th

September 30, 2018December 2, 2018 bookishluna2 Comments

This month has been a roller coaster of reading. Some weeks I read next to nothing and other weeks I finished more than one book. I am happy to say that I feel like I am ending this month on a good note. If you want to go through all of the wrap ups for this month I will link them for you to explore.

A Week in Review | September 16th-22nd, A Week in Review | September 9th-15th, and A Week in Review | September 1st-8th

The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne

This book was so beautiful and yet so heart breaking. I think this is going to be a book I think about from time to time in the future and it may even be one of my favorites from this year. This novel brings you through a very interesting time of history through the eyes of a man and his mother. There were references to WWII, the AIDS epidemic and the stigma that came with it, and much more. I felt raw emotions while reading this and I really cannot recommend it enough. I truly wanted to take the main character in and take care of him.

Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson is one of my favorite writers, she wrote one of my all times favorite books, The Haunting of Hill House. This book is very different from that. It follows a young lady that is a very unreliable narrator during her first few months of college. Now I will say I was not blown away by this book and I cannot pin point the exact reason. I don’t know if it was due to the story line not living up to the description or is it just not a great story written. All authors have a book here and there that is not as great as their others. I will admit I did really enjoy the fact I felt that at times I was reading something akin to The Yellow Wallpaper and the atmosphere at times. I also found myself really disliking a character so much I wanted someone to throw an encyclopedia at them, ahem Jenna.

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

I found myself enjoying this book for the most part, but I also felt that a lot more could have been done. I am not sure if this is because I was mad at a particular character, I may have yelled a bit, or because I just did not like the insta love so much. I have not read YA in a long time and I think that is part of the reason why I don’t. A lot of YA has a lot of tropes I just am sick of. But, I will say that the over arching or underlying, depending on how you look it, theme is an important one to have seen.

The Navigator’s Touch by Julia Ember

Now, I don’t want to go into too much detail here because I wrote an entire review, REVIEW | The Navigator’s Touch by Julia Ember. But, I will say that I really enjoyed this retelling that pulled from Norse mythology and Peter Pan. It was unique, had flawed unreliable characters, and the world that Ember created had just the right amount of magic. Also, I want to add that I received this book from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Outsider by Stephen King

I have 50 pages left and I need to type this and then go to sleep. So be prepared to see this book cover one more time with my full thoughts. I will say I am loving this book so much more than I thought it would. I loved seeing past characters from King’s other books pop up and the mixture of our world with a little bit other is just great in this one.

To Be Determined!

What did you read this week?

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Wrap Up

A Week in Review | September 16th-22nd

September 23, 2018December 2, 2018 bookishluna10 Comments

This week I surprisingly finished 2 books. I am not sure how I was able to do that with all of the personal things that happened to me this weekend. I did not think I would be able to concentrate on anything or really find time to get on the computer, but it actually really helped me a lot in the few min. here and there that I found I needed to fill up.

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

I was partially surprised that I liked this novel as much as I did, I also put the second book on hold at my library already. Oops! With all of the hype surrounding this book when it first came out I was a little worried. While, I have always enjoyed Blacks writing, when a book is hyped I always become suspicious. I am happy to say that in my eyes this book deserves the hype. I enjoyed that the character was not “saving the world” like a typical YA politically driven novel. Honestly, I hate when novels are like that now. Might be why I have moved away from reading YA. I also loved the use of myths and other folklore that was used to develop this world. Also, the ending make my head spin, I really came to care for and respect the main character and how human she felt.

A Fierce Glory by Justin Martin

This past week I started and finished A Fierce Glory, overall I really liked it. I thought it was a well written and unique way to look at the Battle of Antietam. If you want more information and a full review you can find that here, REVIEW | A Fierce Glory by Justin Martin. I recommend this book to those who want to read more nonfiction because it is not a detailed account of troop movements, it focuses on the people and the big picture.

The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne

I am officially 74% through this novel and I am heart broken! This book has been such an emotional rollercoaster, I just want to take the main character and protect him from everything. Sadly, I can’t and I need to watch him make life decisions, some I agree with and others I did not and the unplanned happen. There are a few times where I cheered for the by chance things that happened while others I wanted to throw the book. John Boyne has written a great novel and if you are looking for something that is beautifully written and heartfelt I am already recommending this book, just get some tissues if books make you cry.