July 2018 Wrap Up

Somehow August has arrived. I always am taken by surprise by the end of the month. I read 6 books this month and I loved most of them.

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In the After Light by Alexandra Bracken

I finally finished this series. I wish I hadn’t taken so long with it because I have certainly outgrown the series a little and I know I would have enjoyed it much more had I read all of it 3 years ago when I first picked it up. That isn’t to say I didn’t like the book. There was more unnecessary, teenagey angst than I strictly speaking look for in my books these days, but all in all, it was a solid 3/5 stars.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

This was my audiobook for July and it is a fantastic book and a fantastic audiobook. It’s narrated by Richard Armitage! It’s a true story and it’s both heartbreaking and fascinating. I love World War II stories. I think they’re fascinating and also important. So much went on during that time that we still don’t know and I think that it’s important as more and more stories come out, for people to hear them. 5/5 stars

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Listen, I don’t know how to explain to you my love for this book. I really enjoyed the anime, so I had this on my amazon wish-list and my friend got it for me and I love him for it because it is beautiful. It made me happy. It’s just the kind of story that is the right combination of whimsy and magic and absurdity. It makes me happy. 5/5 stars

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie

I was wary of this book. I was interested, but I was also a little bit unsure for some reason. I was wrong. It was awesome. The characters are so freaking good that nothing else matters to me. Not that the story and the world aren’t good, they are, but I wouldn’t say they’re mind-blowing. At least not in this first one. There’s not actually as much going on in this one besides introducing us to the characters and setting up the story. You can tell there’s a storm brewing, but it doesn’t actually break out into it in this book. But it’s done so well and the characters are so great, I don’t care. 5/5 stars

Grace and Fury by Tracy Banghart

This one was just meh. It was tropey and cliche. The characters were boring. The story was boring and predictable. It just fell flat in every way possible. I appreciate the gender equality, feminist message it’s trying to convey. But it’s done poorly. And as with any kind of ‘diverse’ books, diversity and a good message is not enough to make it a good book. 2/5 stars

The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis

As with every C. S. Lewis book I’ve ever read, I loved this. So simple and yet so thought provoking. It just pokes holes in the illusion of “Oh, I’m a pretty good person.” and it points out all the ways in which we suck on a day to day basis. All the little hypocrisies and absurd behaviours that if we’re honest, we’re all guilty of. Wonderful satire. 5/5 stars