Monday, July 7, 2014

June 2014 Recap

Hello! As you may be able to tell, I've been quite indecisive in my monthly wrap ups and how I want to present them. I can't find a format that I like, so you may be seeing a bunch of changes for a while. (I guess switching things up could be quite interesting :p)



A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness was a beautiful book. After hearing all the good things about Patrick Ness and the weight of this story, I had to read this. And it is a great book. But I felt like I already knew what was going to happen, which took away from my experience. My heart still hurt after reading this, and the illustrations are beautiful.

I didn't think The Prince, the first novella in The Selection Stories by Kiera Cass, provided any new information, not even about Maxon, but I really liked The Guard (the second novella). Although I would prefer seeing America end up with Prince Maxon for many reasons, I loved reading about Aspen's interactions with America's maids, Avery (a guard he rooms with), etc. I personally don't think these two novellas are integral in this trilogy, but it was nice to see different perspectives.

Hungry by H.A. Swain started off TERRIBLE. It was so bad that I considered ditching it (and I've never put down a book before.) However, it picked up toward the middle and the exciting events kept me curious throughout the entire book.

I really liked the use of technology — not necessarily how the characters used it, but just the detail that was put into creating and describing every little thing. (It was a little confusing at first, but it turned out to be pretty cool.) The whole idea of someone being "hungry" and "needing food" puts a lot of people off from reading this book since it's a silly idea but if you've been interested, just tough it out in the beginning. A lot of interesting points are brought up and it's not as absurd as it sounds.

Biggest Flirts by Jennifer Echols
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

I typically have a hard time getting my words across, so I thought I'd push myself this month to write more book reviews. They aren't superb by any means, but it's nice to have a record of the books I've read and enjoyed.

  • I was tagged for the very first time on YouTube by Sarah from Beauty and the Books to do the Summertime Madness Tag!
  • June marks the middle of the year, so I thought it'd be appropriate to share an update on how my reading goals are going.
  • I tried setting a TBR for the first time (and failed, no surprise there!) I also discussed the  June releases I was most excited for.
  • I participated in two "Top Ten Tuesdays" — Books That Should Be in Your Beach Bag and Childhood Favorites (an oldie but goodie!)
  • I also filmed a book haul. It could possibly be the last one for this summer. Maybe.
  • I went to Anaheim (aka Disneyland) for a week and decided to start a small discussion about reading on vacation. Are you someone who brings a book with you on vacation?


Books read in June: 8
Books read this year: 39/60
Reading goals completed: 0/7

Other places to find me: Bloglovin'  •  Goodreads  •  Instagram  •  Twitter  •  YouTube

3 comments:

  1. I need to keep reading the Selection series! I stopped somewhere in the second book!!
    ~Sara

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ooh, I really liked the idea of Hungry to begin with, but I saw some reviews and read a bit for myself, and I really couldn't get past the writing. Glad you liked it well enough though! I've only read The Prince in the Selection novellas, but I agree that that one didn't add much. It's kind of why I didn't read The Guard. :)

    Well, I like the arrangement of this, but I'd agree that changing things up every month would be fun!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've seen Hungry around quite a lot, but I don't think I'll pick it up...I've heard amazing thing about A Monster Calls. Glad you enjoyed it! I've only read The Prince out of the novellas, but I plan to continue reading them in order before and after The One! I can't wait to see who America chooses! :)

    Emily @ Books & Cleverness

    ReplyDelete
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