Weekly Wrap Up 13 – 19 July: All over the place

Hello readers!

Sooo… this week was a bit all over the place. At work we had an issue which meant I had not much to do there and so I reduced my extra hours and took two days off, which gave me more time to read!

I loved one of my reads and was immediately in the mood for picking up more books, and then I started a sci-fi that bored me so much I had to summon LOTS of motivation to read anything else after DNF-ing it. After a couple days of not reading at all (which is pretty rare for me), I read a book club read that was 150 pages long and got me back on track – and then nearly got into a slump again after reading an eARC that was fun but also exhausting. I think I’ll take a bit of a break for another couple days and not read so much next week.

I will also step away a bit from blogging so I can focus more on work, getting back into a routine of exercising and so on. My routine pretty much non-existent since the start of the pandemic and I really miss it (plus it’s definitely taken a toll on my mental health), so I will put more time and effort into doing the things I know make me feel better and healthier.

Weekly Wrap Up

Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb (4 stars)

Despite a rather slow start, I was very impressed by this second installment in the Farseer trilogy (although why this is 650 pages long is beyond me – and the next one is even more of a brick, with nearly 800 pages) and by how Robin Hobb writes character relationships. This is definitely a character-oriented kind of fantasy and I’m quite enjoying it, although sometimes it does bore me a little.

If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha (5 stars)

Gosh this was such a great read! It’s the story of five girls in Korea and touches on several themes, such as obsession with K-pop idols, extreme surgeries, motherhood and friendship. I loved this so much I am considering getting another copy just so I can have the cover I like best (the blue one! So pretty!). This slim novel is sharp, witty and a very gripping read. I could hardly make myself put it down!

Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang, translated by Ken Liu – DNF

This is a science fiction story translated from the Chinese and it’s been on my radar for a while – it’s a scifi quite different from the usual stories revolving around some sort of war, a more introspective story. It tells the story of a young woman who was born in Mars and lived in Earth for a few years as part of an effort between the two planets to improve their relationship with each other. When she and the other four students come back, the two planets are still in the brink of war, and she must find out the real reason why she was sent to Earth.

I was… so bored. This has an interesting premise (and I do love an introspective, quiet book) but somehow it fell flat for me. This has put me in a little bit of a slump. Obviously it doesn’t look like it because I still finished 2 books after DNF-ing this but I am used to reading a LOT everyday and I didn’t read at all for a few days because of this book. So… pity!

O que eu vi, o que nós veremos by Alberto Santos-Dumont (4 stars)

This put me back on track – it’s a 150 page book and it’s my book club read with my family & friends, so we all read this by recommendation from my dad and I actually really enjoyed it. Santos-Dumont was a brilliant inventor and had such an interesting life – he was inspired by the works of Jules Verne and received a letter from Edison and a lunch basket from Princess Isabel. Such an interesting life!

How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie (3 stars)

This kind of nearly put me again on a slump-y mood. I mean – this was a fun read, mostly. The main character is sarcastic, calculating and laser-focused on her revenge, and this reminded me a bit of They Never Learn and The Kind Worth Killing. But two things bothered me a bit: first, how endlessly rambling the MC is. She just goes on and on talking and judging everyone and it got tiring. She has a witty and judgmental opinion about everything. Secondly, that ending! It did not feel quite as cathartic or satisfying as I hoped. It kind of ruined what had been a pretty strong book until then, if definitely overwritten. But still, this was an entertaining read.

What did you read this week?

2 thoughts on “Weekly Wrap Up 13 – 19 July: All over the place

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