July Wrap-up

Hello! July is finally over and I have to talk about what I read. This month I focused on bigger books, so I didn't do a mid-month wrap-up because I only had finished a couple of books back then. I did manage to finish 10 books this month, but there will only be 9 in this wrap-up because the 10th one is part of the Booktubeathon that I'm attempting this week and there will be a different post for those books. This post will be extremely long so let's get into the books!

Cathedral of the Sea by Ildefonso Falcones

Cathedral of the Sea follows the fortunes of the Estanyol family, from their peasant roots to a son, Arnau, who flees the land only to realize spectacular wealth and devastating problems.

During Arnau's lifetime Barcelona becomes a city of light and darkness, dominated by the construction of the city's great pride -- the cathedral of Santa Maria del Mar -- and by its shame, the deadly Inquisition.*

I found this book from a "books about Barcelona" list after finishing my beloved The Cemetery of Forgotten Books series. This book is nothing similar, but it is set in Barcelona, which is amazing. It takes place in the Middle Ages and follows the story of Arnau Estanyol, from before his birth and throughout his adventurous life. It is definitely a saga and even though my copy only has 570 pages, it is a massive book that took me ages to finish. I enjoyed this a lot, don't get me wrong, but the language it is written in is quite archaic and there is lots of history in it, which makes it kind of hard to go through for someone who doesn't know anything about medieval Spain. Despite reading this in my native language, it was the first time in many years when I had to look up Romanian words in the dictionary. The story is beautiful but it isn't lighthearted at all. This book contains rape, misogyny, violence and antisemitism, just to name a few. So it's more on the serious side of historical fiction. There are some faults to this book but I admire Falcones a lot for writing such an intricate and well researched work, so I gave it 4.5 stars. 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

The critically acclaimed debut novel from Stephen Chbosky, Perks follows observant “wallflower” Charlie as he charts a course through the strange world between adolescence and adulthood. First dates, family drama, and new friends. Sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Devastating loss, young love, and life on the fringes. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie must learn to navigate those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.*

After finishing Cathedral of the Sea, I needed some light YA to cleanse my palate, so I picked up a "classic" YA contemporary that has been on my tbr for ages. I don't have much to say about this book, since for me it was an average read. I know many people love it and I can see why. I would probably have liked it more if I was a teenager myself. There are many themes in this book, but none of them is visited in depth, so I feel that the author tried to do too much with it and didn't achieve anything in the end. I ended up giving it 3 stars, although now I think I was a bit too generous. Maybe 2.5 would be a more accurate rating. 

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

At a gala party thrown by her parents, Evelyn Hardcastle will be killed--again. She's been murdered hundreds of times, and each day, Aiden Bishop is too late to save her. Doomed to repeat the same day over and over, Aiden's only escape is to solve Evelyn Hardcastle's murder and conquer the shadows of an enemy he struggles to even comprehend--but nothing and no one are quite what they seem.*

This book has been all over the internet lately and I gave in to the hype. I usually don't read mystery thrillers, but this has a historical setting and an interesting premise, so it looked like something I would like. And yes, I liked it a lot! I feel like you can't talk too much about this book without giving stuff away, and it is better to go into it without knowing too much about it. To me the ending was totally unpredictable, which I feel is good for this type of books. It felt a bit confusing at times, so I gave it 4.5 stars, but I rounded it up to 5 on Goodreads, because this debut author deserves it. 

Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier

High in the Transylvanian woods, at the castle Piscul Draculi, live five daughters and their doting father. It's an idyllic life for Jena, the second eldest, who spends her time exploring the mysterious forest with her constant companion, a most unusual frog. But best by far is the castle's hidden portal, known only to the sisters. Every Full Moon, they alone can pass through it into the enchanted world of the Other Kingdom. There they dance through the night with the fey creatures of this magical realm.*

So, an Australian author wrote a book inspired by Romanian myths and fairy tales and I totally loved it! This book had everything I wanted from Războiul solomonarilor, even though it wasn't heroic fantasy but more of a historical/fairy tale type of fantasy. Even though this is YA, it is truly well written and totally charming, a book that you can totally immerse yourself in. It does have a few faults and that is the reason I gave it 4 stars. This book has really strong female characters but I felt like the male characters could have been more complex. As with all YA fantasy, there are a few tropes in this book, but I didn't mind too much. I think that if you read this book without prejudice and let it take you away you will have a great time.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

This is the riveting first-person narrative of Kvothe, a young man who grows to be one of the most notorious magicians his world has ever seen. From his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, to years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-riddled city, to his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that transports readers into the body and mind of a wizard.*

This was a month long enjoyment and a mammoth of a book. This was a reread as I want to pick up the second book in the series, which I haven't read. I decided this was perfect to reread as an audiobook and I was totally right. I started it at the beginning of the month, then took a long break half way to listen to The Poppy War, then listened to the second half. It seemed that back in 2016 I was a little stingy with my ratings, because I only gave this 4 stars, but now changed my rating to a 5. This book is amazing and so enjoyable to listen to, especially in the Nick Podehl version of the audiobook. I was going to read the second one physically but now I'm not sure, because this was such an amazing audiobook. Patrick Rothfuss' writing is beautiful and listening to it is very relaxing. This is definitely a must if you are into fantasy and you might like it even if fantasy is not your genre. So amazing!


Not pictured, but also finished:

I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara

The haunting true story of the elusive serial rapist turned murderer who terrorized California during the 70s and 80s, and of the gifted journalist who died tragically while investigating the case—which was solved in April 2018.*


True crime is a genre I haven't tried out yet, but this book intrigued me. I must admit that I was drawn in by the hype, but I also was intrigued by the resolution of this case and I wanted to read the book before looking up who the actual killer is. I usually struggle with non fiction, but this was a delight to read. Michelle McNamara was a great writer and this reads like fiction most of the time. It is also a bit like a memoir as she talks about her life and the time she dedicated to solving this case. It is also very sad that she died before this was solved, but she was confident that it would get solved in the end. I'm not sure if this is a genre for me, but this book was so good. I read it as an ebook and gave it 4.5 stars, rounded to 5 on Goodreads.

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising.*

It seems like this month was all about new hyped books. I tried a chapter from this book on my Kindle and immediately had to continue. I had some Audible credits so I decided to get the audiobook and I didn't quite like the narrator, but I loved the book. It begins as a classical coming of age story, but then turns into something mind blowing. The Asian inspired setting really brings something to this story. It also reads like a YA most of the time but contains some violent scenes that make it an adult book. I can't wait for the second book in this series to come out. I gave this 5 shiny stars!

American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang

A tour-de-force by rising indy comics star Gene Yang, American Born Chinese tells the story of three apparently unrelated characters: Jin Wang, who moves to a new neighborhood with his family only to discover that he's the only Chinese-American student at his new school; the powerful Monkey King, subject of one of the oldest and greatest Chinese fables; and Chin-Kee, a personification of the ultimate negative Chinese stereotype, who is ruining his cousin Danny's life with his yearly visits.*

I found this graphic novel on Scribd and read it on my phone during off-times at work. It was a quick and entertaining read, with an interesting twist at the end. I didn't find the art amazing but it wasn't bad. The story on the other hand I quite enjoyed. I found it quite compelling for a YA graphic novel, so I ended up giving it 4 stars. I think this is better if you go in it without knowing much about the story so I won't give anything away.

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

The Great Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon away from life as a San Francisco web-design drone and into the aisles of Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, but after a few days on the job, Clay discovers that the store is more curious than either its name or its gnomic owner might suggest. The customers are few, and they never seem to buy anything; instead, they "check out" large, obscure volumes from strange corners of the store. Suspicious, Clay engineers an analysis of the clientele's behavior, seeking help from his variously talented friends, but when they bring their findings to Mr. Penumbra, they discover the bookstore's secrets extend far beyond its walls.*

This book was the oldest one on my "want to read" list on Goodreads and it was on there for almost 6 years so it was high time I gave it a try. This is featured as as a "book about books" and I guess it is, only it doesn't feature anything but made up books so nothing I can relate to. It also features a mystery and lots of technology that seemed more or less accurate, although I don't have enough knowledge to know if it was. I didn't care too much for the writing, which made me struggle with the first half of the book. Even though this is slightly under 300 pages, it seemed to go by so slow at times. The ending, or should I say the resolution of the mystery, was quite cool, so I ended up giving this ebook 3 stars but I'm not sure this was worth it.

This is it for July! Hope August will be a great reading month!

*Source: Goodreads

June Final Wrap-up

Hello! It is the first day of July, which means it's time to wrap up another month. I managed to finish a couple more books this week, bringing my total for June to 12 books. I did however read more pages than in May, due to the fact that I read a book of almost 900 pages and 4 books of over 400 pages. What I realized is that I often shy away from bigger books because I'm afraid that they are going to take a longer time, lowering my monthly total. But now that I have surpassed my original goal of 50 books (I already finished 65 books this year), I decided to read more of what I want and less of what I feel like I "should" read. I also want to favour bigger books instead of shorter ones that might look like quick reads but then end up being bad. Judging by this month's ratings, my 2 star and 3 star reads have been these short books that I picked up as quick reads. So I'm going to try to get away from the pressure of finishing over 10 books next month. Meanwhile, here's what I read in the second half of June.

Awakenings by Oliver Sacks

Awakenings--which inspired the major motion picture--is the remarkable story of a group of patients who contracted sleeping-sickness during the great epidemic just after World War I. Frozen for decades in a trance-like state, these men and women were given up as hopeless until 1969, when Dr. Oliver Sacks gave them the then-new drug L-DOPA, which had an astonishing, explosive, "awakening" effect. Dr. Sacks recounts the moving case histories of his patients, their lives, and the extraordinary transformations which went with their reintroduction to a changed world.*

Oh, nonfiction! The bane of my existence. I have always been fascinated by neurology, and even though I didn't end up choosing it as a specialty, I continue to be fascinated by this subject. I loved Oliver Sacks'  The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat short story collection and I wanted more from him. That being said, I started this book almost 3 years ago and only now managed to finish it. I struggle with nonfiction, as I mentioned before. In this one I got stuck in the case report part. Basically, it was a brief account of each patient's life story and then their history before and after the L-DOPA treatment. I found this part quite repetitive, which made it hard for me to pick it up and read more than 2 pages. Finally, what saved me was the audiobook. I was only about 30% into the book when I switched to the audiobook and managed to listen to it through the end. Although I didn't remember much from the first part of the book because it's been ages since I read it, I quite enjoyed listening to the rest of it. I'm not sure I learned much information from this book, but I'm happy I read it. Now I'm curious to watch the movie as well as the documentary that goes with this book, if I can find it. I gave this book 4 stars.

How to Stop Time by Matt Haig

Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare condition, he's been alive for centuries. Tom has lived history--performing with Shakespeare, exploring the high seas with Captain Cook, and sharing cocktails with Fitzgerald. Now, he just wants an ordinary life.*

First off, let me just say that this book was a big disappointment for me. I love books about time traveling and immortality, so I was very excited to pick this one up. The premise of the book is great and there are some great ideas in it, but there was so much I didn't like about it. The writing was really strange, with the story being told in a really simple way, but then with lots of motivational and uplifting quotes. Another problem I had was with the historical parts which were really poorly described. I just couldn't feel like I was there at all, which is sad because that's the main reason I like historical fiction. Then there was the issue of the characters, most of them so underdeveloped. Finally, some of the events in the book felt a bit forced and illogical, but I won't get into that because I don't want to give any spoilers here. All in all, this book was average at best, so I gave it 2.5 stars, which is exactly half of the maximum rating.

As usual, multiple books have been ebooks or audiobooks, so no picture. Here they are:

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Twenty-seven-year old Anne Elliot is Austen's most adult heroine. Eight years before the story proper begins, she is happily betrothed to a naval officer, Frederick Wentworth, but she precipitously breaks off the engagement when persuaded by her friend Lady Russell that such a match is unworthy. The breakup produces in Anne a deep and long-lasting regret. When later Wentworth returns from sea a rich and successful captain, he finds Anne's family on the brink of financial ruin and his own sister a tenant in Kellynch Hall, the Elliot estate. All the tension of the novel revolves around one question: Will Anne and Wentworth be reunited in their love?*

This month I continued my Jane Austen series with her last novel, which is also considered her best one by many people. To me it was the least favorite from what I read from her. The story was uninteresting, the characters were uninteresting, this book just felt boring and less than average. I considered dnf-ing it a few times but decided to power through it at 1.2x speed, since it is pretty short and the audiobook was quite nice. That being said, I think I'm done with Jane Austen, at least for this year. I will accept that this is an author I'm not a fan of and move on. I've read 4 of her books and only enjoyed one (Pride and Prejudice), her most famous book and I must admit that there is a reason for it to be so famous. But all her other books have not been for me. I gave Persuasion 2 unimpressed stars.

The Tower of the Swallow by Andrzej Sapkowski

This is the sixth book in The Witcher series, an adult fantasy series that is famous for inspiring the PC games with the same name. I didn't include the synopsis for this book because I think it would spoil too much of the first books, but I will say that this series should be better known in the book world. It is beautifully inspired by Polish folklore and is something different from what I've read before. This book was a bit slower paced than the previous ones and felt more like a bridge between the first books and the next ones, where I feel like a lot is gonna be revealed. I quite enjoyed the read and was happy to be back with these characters cause it's been a while since I read the previous book. I will definitely not be waiting so long before picking up the next book. I read this as an ebook because my physical copy was borrowed by some friends and gave it 4 stars.

The Humans by Matt Haig

Our hero, Professor Andrew Martin, is dead before the book even begins. As it turns out, though, he wasn’t a very nice man--as the alien imposter who now occupies his body discovers. Sent to Earth to destroy evidence that Andrew had solved a major mathematical problem, the alien soon finds himself learning more about the professor, his family, and “the humans” than he ever expected. When he begins to fall for his own wife and son--who have no idea he’s not the real Andrew--the alien must choose between completing his mission and returning home or finding a new home right here on Earth. *

Another Matt Haig book that wasn't quite what I expected. Granted that after reading How to Stop Time, I wasn't that excited anymore. I still wanted to give it a chance, since a lot of people found it extremely funny. For me, it was moderately funny at best. Most of the jokes were cliches, and so were the characters. The first couple of hours of the audiobook made me roll my eyes many times. After that, it was acceptable. In the end it was ok, I gave it 3 stars on Goodreads, but I guess it was more of a 2.5*, like the other Matt Haig book. In conclusion, his books seem average to me and I probably won't pick up any of his other books. I only had these two on my tbr anyway, so no hard feelings.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb…. 

As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all. *

This was another quick read that I squeezed in on the very last days of the month. One of those "books about books" that seemed cute and fluffy. And that's what it was. The story isn't particularly believable and the letters didn't seem like they were written by British people in the 40's, but if you take this book for what it is you won't be disappointed. That's what I did and I enjoyed it. It's historical fiction bordering on romance. It did teach me about the German occupation of the Channel Islands during WW2, a subject I had no idea about. And that's why I read historical fiction, to go to places and find out about events I didn't know much about. Pick this up if you are in the mood for something light and enjoyable, with a touch of history. I read it as an ebook and gave it 3 stars.

That's it for June. Hope July will be a great month! 

*Source: Goodreads