August & September Reading Wrap-Up + Future Reading Goals

Hi, everyone! August was an incredibly overwhelming, but amazing month for me. It was hands down my busiest month so far this year. I moved into my apartment, went to two leader camps (one for band and one for the Christian organization that I belong to), attended band camp, and started school. College life is busy! September was also busy and I didn't really read much. I read, but not for pleasure. It was mostly for school or because I wanted to read my Bible. September was my slumpiest reading month.

Books Read in August:

   

The Stepford Wives by Ira Levin 4 stars This was an interesting and quick read that focuses on women in an idyllic neighborhood. It's very scary and creepy. I definitely recommend it. It's not amazing, but it has a lot of really captivating parts and the commentary is interesting.
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty 5 stars Everyone loves this and everyone is obsessed with it and now I understand why. I could not stop listening to this book. Daycare drama is so addictive, but it's even more addictive when it's intertwined with murder and abuse. The twists were great. I love this so much. It's worth the hype.
Death Note Volume 1: Boredom by Takeshi Obata & Tsugumi Ohba 5 stars I love the anime for this series. I think Death Note is one of the most interesting, layered, and haunting stories. It is creepy and unsettling. I picked this up for BookTubeAThon and it was so fun to go back to the very beginning when things were wild but not WILD. It's brilliant. Check out my review here.
The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton 5 stars This memoir is gripping and heartbreaking. Anthony Ray Hinton spent 30 years on death row for a crime he didn't commit. This story is as uplifting as it harrowing and I can't recommend it enough.
Bellewether by Susanna Kearsley 2 stars Well, this was extremely disappointing. I've heard praising about Kearsley for a long time and I've been so excited to check her work out, but this was so boring. I was so underwhelmed and it was disappointing. Check out my review here.
Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis 4.25 stars This wasn't nearly as beloved or lasting as The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It's not a bad story, but it isn't as wonderful and it is kind of forgettable. I did enjoy listening to it, but I had wanted and hoped for more.
Holy Bible 5 stars I have officially read the entirety of the Bible. Every single book. I've read them all. Now I'm on my second read.
To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han 3.5 stars This is fun and adorable. The audiobook is uplifting and really enjoyable. I like Lara Jean's character and the story is endearing. I also really loved the movie. It's a really nice contemporary novel and as far as contemporary YA goes it's one of the better ones.
The Favorite Sister by Jessica Knoll DNF 2 stars I was very unimpressed by this one. I like the concept of a mystery surrounding by a cast on a reality TV show, but this was unbearable to listen to. I couldn't keep up with the characters and the plot was so boring. It took me forever to get 15% of the way through and at that point I couldn't do it anymore. Check out my review here.
Rust & Stardust by T. Greenwood 5 stars Sally Horner just wanted to fit in. She didn't plan on getting stopped by a man who claimed to be an FBI agent. Next thing Sally knows he has convinced her mother that he is a father of Sally's classmate and that he is taking her to Jersey City. Sally embarks onto a dark journey with a sadistic kidnapper. This is a fictionalized account of Sally Horner's story and it is so heartbreaking. When I was reading it I didn't realize it was based off of a true story, but Sally's story is tragic in all ways. Check out my review here.

Summer TBR Check-In:
I did not read any of the physical books I own on my summer TBR in the month of August. 4/20 I also didn't read any audiobooks that were on my Summer TBR.8/20 I didn't end on the best note for the summer TBR, but I read a total of 12/40 books and that's pretty darn awesome. I don't stick to TBRs anyway, so I thought I would've done worse.

Overall Thoughts (for August):
I read a total of 10 books in August which is great because I was so busy and overwhelmed. Most of my reading consisted of favorites, which is very uplifting. I gave 5 stars to Big Little Lies, Death Note Volume 1, The Sun Does Shine, The Bible, and Rust & Stardust. I am also so incredibly happy that I finished reading the entirety of the Bible because wow, I never thought I would do that! (If you're wondering my favorite book is Isaiah. I'm also a huge fan of the Corinthians and the gospels. My favorite gospel is John.)


Books Read in September:
 
The Case for Jesus: The Biblical and Historical Evidence for Christ by Brant Pitre 5 stars I really enjoyed listening to this. I felt like I was in a theology class and I greatly enjoyed my experience. I learned a lot and I could definitely see myself returning to it in the future. If this topic interests you, I highly recommend it, especially if you are interested in C.S. Lewis' theory on this topic and it being dug into deeper with historical arguments.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley 4 stars I read this one for my British literature class and it was a bit of a slog. I loved the story itself, but Shelley's writing is so dense. This is one of those Gothic novels that I want to love with my whole heart, but it doesn't hit me like I think it should. It's not horrible and I did enjoy the process of experiencing Frankenstein's monster and madness for the first time.
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood 5 stars This story is wild. We follow Snowman who is the last man on earth and is surrounded by the green-eyed children of Crake. We also experience Snowman's recounting of his life as Jimmy, his friendship with Crake, and his obsession with Oryx. This is a dark story that envelops a variety of topics, but I absolutely loved where Atwood took this story. This satire was shocking and horrifying and the big reveal of how everything came to be how it is was absolutely heart stopping.
Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys 5 stars This was a reread for me, but this time I listened to the audiobook. I absolutely loved it and experiencing it out loud made Lina's story absolutely heartbreaking and more tangible. This was so incredibly moving. If you haven't read a Sepetys before, I urge you to do so because her prose and the stories she sheds light on are so important to the human experience and history.
"The Garden Party" by Katherine Mansfield 3 stars I read this for class and it wasn't horrible, but I was not a huge fan of it. I enjoyed the discussion for it more than my reading.
"The Dead" by James Joyce 2 stars Joyce is one of those authors that everyone loves, but that I'm not a fan of. I want to like him, but I never can seem to. I do hope to read more of him in the future and hopefully be able to come a conclusion about him.

2018 Goals:

 -I want to finish at least three series (five doesn't seem doable). COMPLETED 4/3 

*I finished The 5th Wave Trilogy with reading two novels!

*Burn for Burn trilogy was finally finished!

*I read and started The Lord of the Rings trilogy in one month! 

*I finished the original Sevenwaters trilogy by Juliet Marillier with two novels read.
-I want to read five sequels (I don't have to finish the series). COMPLETED 10/5 

*Flawless by Sara Shepard is book 2 in the PLL series. 

*The Infinite Sea and The Last Star by Rick Yancey are the 2nd and 3rd book in The 5th Wave series.

*The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon is the fifth book in the Outlander series. 

*The Lord of the Rings: The Towers and The Return of the King are the first and second in the LOTR trilogy.

*Ashes to Ashes by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian is the last book in the Burn for Burn trilogy.

 *Son of the Shadows by Juliet Marillier is the second book in the Sevenwaters series.

*Child of the Prophecy by Juliet Marillier is the third and final novel in the original Sevenwaters trilogy. 

*A Court of Frost and Starlight is the novella in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series 

*Prince Caspian is the second book in the Chronicles of Narnia.
-I also want to read four short story collections. COMPLETED 6/4 

 *Harry Potter and Philosophy. 

*Manga Classics: The Jungle Book

*Starlings

*Manga Classics: The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe.

*The Merry Spinster 
*A Wilderness Station
-I want to read three classics that are not Stephen King novels. COMPLETED 17/3 

*Manga Classics: The Jungle Book

*Anne Frank Remembered

*The ABC Murders

*Manga Classics: The Stories of Edgar Allan Poe

*The Master Plan of Evangelism (Christian Classic) 

*The Lord of the Rings Trilogy 

*Heaven (It's one of the few real V.C. Andrews novels.)

*The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

*The Pursuit of Holiness (Christian Classic) 
*A Wilderness Station
*Against Forgetting 

*The Stepford Wives

 *Prince Caspian

*The Bible

*Frankenstein

-I want to read five Stephen King novels (I've already read one in 2018). 4/5  

*The Long Walk (5 stars)

*Gerald's Game (5 stars) 

*IT (5 stars-reread) 
*The Shining (5 stars)

Read 2018 ARCs. Read 25!
Books I Posted on End of the Year Survey. YES! 6/18

*The Fiery Cross

*Ashes to Ashes

*Gerald's Game 

*God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater

*Son of the Shadows 
*The Shining 

Overall Thoughts (for September):
I didn't do much reading in September. I'm kind of disappointed because this is the least amount of books I've read in a month all year, but I was so busy that if it wasn't for having to read two books for class I would have probably read less. The best books I read were The Case for Christ, Oryx and Crake, and Between Shades of Gray.


Currently Reading/Hoping to Finish in October:
  
Netgalley ARCs: The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle & A Darker Shade of Magic
Eldeweiss ARC: Amity
Will I finish any of these books in October? Probably not. LMAO College is hard, y'all.

Books I'm Thinking About Picking Up:
Ebooks
 
I haven't been doing well when it comes to reading my e-ARCs. I would like to get to this one this month though because I love Amy Lukavics and I'm so excited that I was approved for this one. Plus it's Halloween!
Audiobooks
 
I'm hold for all these audiobooks at my library. I'm currently listening to The Death of Mrs. Westaway. I started P.S. I Still Love You and The 5 Love Languages, but they expired and I'm waiting on them again to finish them.
Books I Own
 
I'm going to listen to the audiobooks of these novels!!

Have you read any of these books? What books do I need to make a priority for the month of October? Let me know down below in the comments!

Books I've Read in 2018 #17-20

 

Wow! Hey, everyone! It's been a while. It's been far too long and I'm sorry for that. Here's a video I filmed in July and it's now October. Time has just gone by really fast and my presence on the Internet has been fleeting. I'm here sometimes, but not usually for long. I'm currently on Fall Break, so I have a bit more free time. So, here's a video of some books I read in April. LOL

THE BOOKS:

The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton- 3 stars DNF Check out my review here.

I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman- 4.5 stars Check out my review here. 

School for Psychics by K.C. Archer- 1.75 stars Check out my review here.

Gerald's Game by Stephen King- 5 stars This is one of my favorite King novels. It's dark, gritty, and uncomfortable to read. 

Recommend the Most:

Gerald's Game is an absolute treat, but if you are easily squeamish and can't handle dark content then I Have Lost My Way is the way to go. Oddly enough, both of these have triggering subject matter though. I like darker novels!

STATS:

Books Reviewed: 3
Books Rated Over 4 stars: 2
New Favorites: 2
Books That Changed My Life: 1
Owned: 1

 

Have you read any of these novels? What are your thoughts on them? Let me know down below in the comments!

Books I've Read in 2018 #14-16

 

Hey, everyone! It's been a while since I've done video reviews. I'm incredibly behind uploading them. Today I talk about three books that I read in March. 

THE BOOKS:

 

The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror by Mallory Ortberg- 3.75 stars Check out my review here.

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones- 4.5 stars The audiobook is amazing and I can't recommend this enough! My biggest hangup was the characters and their choices; they are all flawed and make bad choices. Those choices made me want to DNF for a little bit.

The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon- 2 stars This one killed my love for Outlander. I'm done with the book series.

Recommend the Most:

An American Marriage is the best of this bunch! The narration is absolutely stunning and this story is hard-hitting.

STATS:

Books Reviewed: 1
Books Rated Over 4 stars: 1
New Favorites: 1
Books That Changed My Life: 0
Owned: 1

 

Have you read any of these novels? Do you plan to check any of them out? What's one series that you've given up after loving it? Let me know down below in the comments!

Rust & Stardust by T. Greenwood

Rust & Stardust by T. Greenwood

5 stars

“Florence Flogg, what an odd little girl, and what an odd name, like something from a novel. Like an imaginary girl.”

In 1948 Camden, New Jersey, Sally Horner was eleven-years-old. She had hopes and desired to be friends with a group of girls. Her chance to belong comes with stealing a notebook, but when Frank LaSalle approaches her and pretends to be an FBI agent with the ability to lock her up and punish her for her crimes, Sally’s whole world is changed. After weeks go by, Sally can breathe a little but she still knows he’s there. When he shows up again he claims that she is needed for court in Atlantic City. He poses as a classmate’s father and convinces her mother to allow her to board a bus with him. The charade turns deadly for Sally and this harrowing novel provides a fictionalized account of the real-life inspiration for Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita. I didn’t know this was a true story until I read the acknowledgements. This changed my perception of the ending. I am a huge fan of Rust & Stardust. It’s depressing, hard-hitting, and it seems slightly out there. I mean what mother would willingly give her child to a convicted sex offender? But people were much more trusting in the 1940s and Ella Horner, Sally’s mom, was a single mother with rheumatism. Greenwood’s strength lies in her multiple POVs. We not only follow Sally, but mom, sister, brother-in-law, a nun, the girl she tried to impress, Ruth (the woman who saved her), and a circus performer. A lot of these characters are fictional and expanded upon from the real-life people. It’s important that in mind. I was drawn into Greenwood’s writing style and her presentation of Sally being manipulated and scared was overwhelming and captivating. I love lost history. I’ve never heard of Sally Horner before this and I feel like I missed out on this incredibly impactful kidnapping case that set to tone for many of the ruses that have become popular today that we warn young children about.



Whimsical Writing Scale: 4.5

“That winter of 1949, Sally felt herself slipping away, disappearing. Like her namesake, she was only Fogg, now. Only mist.”

Sally is a very endearing little girl. Like most children her age. Her biggest desire is to belong and be loved. She is just looking to fit in and in that she becomes one of the lost girls. The girls stolen from home. The girls who lose their innocence before they even realize it’s there. Greenwood does a fantastic job of painting a girl who was trusting and lead to believe lies. The saddest part about this story is the complete mistreatment of child rape at the hands of her abductor. She was branded as undesirable and basically seen as a “slut” by the general public. I kind of wish Greenwood had expanded upon the struggles Sally faced more with integrating and belonging in society after being subjected to utterly cruelty and no one accepting and loving her the way she needed because those resources were not available. This is this very much a character study. Now, I’m going to talk about what happened to Sally So, I was so angry when I read last couple chapters because I couldn’t understand why a writer would spend all this time towards bringing Sally home only for her to die at such a young age. I was going to lower my star rating because I was that mad. After reading the acknowledgements and doing some research, I learned that Sally Horner was a real victim of kidnapping, rape, and abuse and that she really did die in a car accident with a drunk boy she spent the weekend with at the age of fifteen. That really hit me. My appreciation for this story shifted and it became an absolute favorite. Sally died young and lived a tragic life, but I think this fictionalized does some justice to the hopes of a little girl who just wanted to belong and who was stolen in the process.

Kick-But Heroine Scale: 5

“Her life had been filled with thieves.”

There is a lot of characters in this story. Ella has the strongest presence and is very complex. Her narrative is sad and full of guilt. Susan and Al are really interesting pieces to this family. Seeing Vivi’s guilt over Sally was very raw and I admired Greenwood for trying to spin a fictional narrative about a girl who put Sally into the hands of a monster without meaning to. I really appreciate Sister Mary Katherine’s narrative because it offered an in depth look into the cover-ups of the Catholic Church and how it prevented Sally from being saved sooner. I also loved Ruth and the fictional take that was presented. She is probably my favorite character apart from Sally in this novel. Lena is a bearded woman who performers in the traveling circus that houses in the trailer park Sally winds up in and she was interesting, but I feel like she was also problematic. The traveling circus may have come into contact with Sally and “freakshows” were very famous at the time, but I just feel like her character was too fictional for this story.


Character Scale: 4.5

The Villain- I hate Frank LaSalle.

Villain Scale: 5

Overall, I definitely recommend Rust & Stardust if the story of Sally Horner interests you or if you like dark fiction. It’s a beautiful fictionalized account and I think many will enjoy it. I really appreciate the story and I’m so glad I read it.


Plotastic Scale: 5

Cover Thoughts: I feel like when I look at this cover I know that innocence is being stolen and I think it’s conveyed really well through the simplistic coast and the rusty safety pin.

Thank you, Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press, for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

 

Have you read Rust & Stardust? Have you heard of Sally Horner before? What are some of your favorite lost history cases? Let me know down below in the comments! 

The Favorite Sister by Jessica Knoll (DNF Review)

The Favorite Sister by Jessica Knoll

2 stars (DNF @15%)

The premise for this novel is heavily intriguing. It follows five perspectives of women on a reality TV show and the intense backdrop of what happens when the cameras are off. It sounded so promising. I've heard mixed things across the radar and decided to take the plunge and request the audiobook from my library. The narrators were absolutely atrocious. I couldn't listen to them without wanting to immediately pause. Due to my lack of enjoyment in the narration I think that also contributed to my complete disconnect from the story. There was a lot of feminist conversation and introspection, which I liked, but even that felt boring and uninteresting. I just couldn't connect to the storylines and it all seemed so trivial, which it is in the context of reality TV. However, I thought that the story would have more of a hold on me and that it would completely captivate me. That didn't happen right away and since starting university again, I don't feel like slogging through an audiobook that felt like a chore to listen to. My required reading has been more captivating than this drivel. I'm good at leaving this one as a DNF. It had potential, but I don't think I'll ever pick this one up.


Cover Thoughts: I do love the cover scheme with the umbrella. It's bold.

 

Have you ever listened to an audiobook that made you lose interest in the story? Have you read The Favorite Sister? What were your thoughts? Let me know down below in the comments! 

Book Unhaul

Hey, everyone! For me summer always brings a ton of new books and the realization that my three bookshelves, shoe rack turned bookshelf, and nightstand turned bookshelf are packed with books I don't want any more. I love going through my bookshelves and asking myself if this is a book that I want to read or if I still have a personal connection to the book. I usually do book unhauls yearly. I'm also a broke college student who is about to have to purchase textbooks for the upcoming semester, so I need extra cash to purchase those texts. Whatever money I make from selling these books I will put towards my education. Any books that aren't taken will either go to a secondhand bookstore or my library.

BYE, BYE BOOKS!

Books Read 

 

Books 1-9 from the House of Night series by P.C. & Kristin Cast. I really enjoyed this back in the day, but I can't stand them now. I also met the Casts at a book convention and they were the rudest authors I met at the convention. I've had a bad taste in my mouth about them for a while, but I just finally decided to ditch these books. (Never reviewed this series on my blog.)

 

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll 3.75 stars I plan on repurchasing a B&N paperback classic with the sequel in the edition. 

I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder 3 stars

Kissed by Angel by Elizabeth Chandler I read the first book in this collection and never finished the second one back when I was in fifth grade. That was ten years ago. I'm not going to finish this one and it's time to part with it.

Switched by Amanda Hocking 4 stars (originally 4.5)

City of Bones & City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare (haven't reviewed on blog)

Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles 4 stars (originally 5)

Return to Paradise by Simone Elkeles 3.5 stars (originally 5)

Honey, Baby, Sweetheart by Deb Caletti 3.25 stars

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen (haven't reviewed on blog)

Hold Still by Nina LaCour 3 stars

Wither by Lauren DeStefano 2.5 stars (originally 3.5)

Wake by Lisa McMann (haven't reviewed on blog)

Collected Stories by Raymond Carver 3 stars 

 Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr (haven't reviewed on blog)

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher 4 stars (originally 5)

 

The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks

Savannah by Eugenia Price

Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice (started and never finished)

Hearts at Stake by Alyxandra Harvey

How to Say I Love You Out Loud by Karole Cozzo

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Torn by Amanda Hocking

The Dead and the Buried by Kim Harrington

The Book of Spells by Kate Brian

Tempest by Julie Cross

You Know Where to Find Me by Rachel Cohn

Keep Holding On by Susane Colasanti

Crave the Night by Lara Adrian

 

The Gentlemen's Alliance Cross Volumes 1 & 2 (rated 5 stars; never reviewed)

A Devil and Her Love Song Volume 1 3 stars

The Earl & the Fairy Volume 1 4 stars (not yet reviewed)

Me & My Brothers Volume 1 (rated 4 stars; never reviewed)

Millennium Snow Volume 1 & 2 (both 3 stars)

Crossroad Volume 1 (rated 5 stars; never reviewed)

Ultra Maniac Volume 1 (rated 3 stars; never reviewed)

Sugar Princess Volume 1 (rated 3 stars; never reviewed)

 

Velvet

Sway

Unspoken

These are all ARCs and I plan on putting them in my future classroom for my students.

Have you read any of these books? Do you love unhauling books? Let me know your thoughts on book unhauls!