What I Read in August 2015!

I believe I missed doing this last month and I think it was because I didn't think I had enough books to tell you about? I'm not entirely sure, my memory doesn't stretch that far, I have a sneaky suspicion it was probably because I'm lazy.

"Alfie: The Doorstep Cat" by Rachel Wells. 

To cut to the chase, I DNF'd this book. It was a cute and interesting idea - an adorable Alfie becomes homeless after his owner dies from old age, he takes to the streets, and then finds a road that needs him maybe even more then he needs them. How it was delivered is what ruined it for me. I just didn't like the writing style, it was slow for me. Too much was given away too quickly, and at the same time, not enough was going on. There wasn't really any sub-plots going on, or character development. -I think this was her first book, so I can understand it probably wouldn't be a very well-rounded novel because of that. It was just disappointing, I wasn't fond of it.

"Eleanor and Park" by Rainbow Rowell. 

I had mixed thoughts on this book but I have a book talk on here for the novel, I will be brief. It made me feel good, I liked it a lot. The romance was kind of forced to me, they fit together but more in a friendly kind of way - when they started to do romantic things, any chances of having a discussion fell out the window and I think friendship in relationships is important, it was lost between the two. Otherwise, I really enjoyed it, I think it was a three or four star rating on Goodreads.

"My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult.  

This book used to be a well-loved read of mine, but I think I grew out of it as the pace of the book is far too slow for my taste and Julia and Campbell ruined the story. I probably will re-read it again in the future, just because I want to keep my love for it. This month was probably just a bad time to get into it.

"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" by J.K.Rowling.

I needn't bother saying what I felt about this, you know I loved it! I read it for my Harry Potter Read-A-Thon (and didn't do so good on the updates...), it left me as satisfied as they usually leave me.

"Am I Normal Yet?" by Holly Bourne. 

A book on feminism, stereotypical OCD and how being yourself is better then trying to fit in. It's a wonderful story, Holly Bourne might be one of my new favourites, we'll see when I read her second two books. She's only been an author since 2013, so I guess that's why she isn't well known yet? I'm hoping more people notice her existence soon, she's a good writer and a good person.

"Star Wars: Darth Bane: Path of Destruction" by Drew Karpyshyn. 

I really enjoyed this. It was like the starter book for the other two books in the trilogy, and it was the perfect example of character development. A flaw I can say about it, though, was that it was slow in parts and I wanted more people-presented women in there, I think there was only one. I have higher hopes for the next two books though, I won't give away any spoilers but that cliffhanger, that cliffhanger. 

"Hens Reunited" by Lucy Diamond.

I enjoyed this read, but I can't say it's something I actually wanted to spend so much time reading. It was okay and everything, but it had a lot of major flaws I mention in my review, like the terrible Instalove and how I jumped from the previous book to this one without much consideration of their differences. I just didn't want to jump onto another hefty book.

"Horrorstor" by Grady Hendrix. 

Again, you can read my review on this book if you want to know my full thoughts but seeing as that post won't be up for another few days, I really enjoyed this. It was filled with the paranormal, torture devices, zombies, people going mad - it was dark, and I really enjoyed it, always with that subtle humour on working in retail. Highly recommended read for anyone into horror and parody, or anyone who has ever worked in retail, you will enjoy it!

"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" by J.K.Rowling. 

Yes, for my Re-Read-A-"Thon" of the summer, I finally moved on to the second book and plan on doing regular updates throughout so you can read my thoughts on it and so you can give your input on what you thought about it. Personally, this one is my favourite tied with "Prisoner of Azkaban", so I'm even more exited to read this then I was about the first one.

Thank you ever so much for reading, let me know what you've been reading this month, and I'll see you all tomorrow, bye!

- Loz x

  

My Very Short July Reading Wrap Up!

For some reason, July has been a slow reading month for a majority, and whether this is because of the sudden change in weather, the end of school/college, etc, I don't know. I only ended up reading four books last month, and one book that crossed over into August ( that I'm still barely passed halfway with!). Enough rambling, lets get into my July reads!

I'm very sorry for the lack of photos, by the way! I'll try my best for the upcoming posts to provide photos! 

"Misery" by Stephen King. 

After reading "Carrie" by him, I was still in a bit of a reading slump but something about King's writing had me hooked and no other book really appealed to me. I watched a review by InkyLeaves (Becky) on YouTube from years ago, and the way she talked about it appealed to me so much, I decided that who cares about my rule of not reading the same author back to back, I'm just going to jump right into it! The first half of the story was really, really slow, but somehow he manages to write about (mostly) two characters in a way that chilled you, and kept you entertained...at least for the second half. 

"Coraline" by Neil Gailman. 

By this point, I was in the mood for something creepy but I wanted to get out of this and move onto other things as I was saving my creepy reads for my October reading month and this one seemed perfect for the job, as it's been sitting on my shelves for a while. The cover is so stunningly beautiful that it was hard to turn away from it, and the story was just as magical. It was written very fast paced, and I'm not new to Gailman so this didn't push me off. It's exactly the kind of book I would have loved to had known about when I was young enough to read this. 

"A Monster Calls" by Patrick Ness. 

Guys...this book, I am still raving about and it's been a while since I've read it. I picked it up when bored, after finishing watching a movie with Austin, the book just staring at me from the corner of the armchair. I began to read...and read...and read and read and read. By the time I had finished it, it was 3am, tears were streaming down my face and I had great difficulty sleeping after feeling like I had just been pulled through a bush made of thorns. Very beautifully written, and I would recommend to everyone. And I don't usually like popular, hyped up books. 

"A Diary of a Young Girl" by Anne Frank. 

I was reading this alongside the other three books pretty much for most of July, and only finished it a couple of days ago. It was beautiful and heartbreaking, just like I remembered it to be. She is so wise for her age and I'm sad to know that we will never see her in her adult form. Her death was in such unfortunate circumstances, something that could have been avoided and something that, if she was in a "slightly better" concentration camp, she and her sister Margot might have even survived the end of the war. A devastating read, but a crucial one, especially to young girls. 

"Alfie: The Doorstep Cat" 

This book I really, really wanted to love. It's about a cat, called Alfie, who was abandoned as his owner died of old age. Heartbroken, but not wanting to go to a shelter, he spends a little time out on the streets before finding a road where he finds people who need him just as much as he needs them. Sounds interesting, huh? An interesting premise just not written well enough to keep me hooked and I ended up having to move on to another book that I have been wanting to read for a while. I am not going to DNF it just yet. I will plough on through, and hope that by the end of August, we are through with it.

Thank you so much for reading, and I will see you all tomorrow for my Monday Missions post, bye!