June Wrap Up

I completed my goodreads goal this month! I’m so excited! My goodreads goal was set to 50 books and I have now surpassed that number. My reading this month has been all over the place since I’ve been traveling, sick, and preparing to move to a new apartment. So many life changes and decisions have taken place the last few weeks and I’m excited about each and every one of them. July will be filled with moving boxes, planning for the start of my teaching job in the fall, as well as getting to know the great city of Houston. Hopefully, I will be able to sneak some reading in as well between everything else I have to do.

The Flight Girls by Noelle Salazar – I had a mixed experience reading this book. I loved the characters, I thought the characters were very well developed and well written, but, there were a lot of distracting inaccuracies. As a person who has read a good amount of historical fiction inaccuracies can drop me out of the story really quickly. I felt like more research and editing was needed throughout the book to help control the pacing. I feel like a lot of the things I noticed are fairly minute and unless you have read a lot of historical fiction might not bother you. Personally it threw me off and even though I loved the story I struggled with other elements. I have a full review on my site here if you are interested in checking it out. **

The Library Book by Susan Orlean – I had so much fun learning about libraries while reading this book. I knew how important and cool libraries were but there was still so much information that I had no idea about when it comes to the inner workings of a library. The story is presented as a true crime novel about the fire at the Los Angeles Central Library in 1986 but it deals more with the history of the library then it does the investigation of the crime. The research into the crime was fascinating but it’s a love letter to libraries and the librarians that have worked there throughout the years. I was so fascinated by the history of the librarians and how they made the L.A. Library what it is today. I recommend this for anyone who is interested in learning more about how libraries are run and why they have not yet ceased to exist despite many predictions that they will eventually go extinct.

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson – I seem to be on a bit of a roll when it comes to books about libraries. Sorcery of Thorns is a Young Adult fantasy that follows an apprentice librarian in on of Austermeer’s Great Libraries as she fights to keep the library safe from evil. I started this book on Saturday afternoon and had it finished before lunch on Sunday morning. It was so much fun. I’ve been shying away from a lot of young adult fantasy books lately because they haven’t been as interesting to me as they were. This one is definitely worth all the hype that is about to surround it because it is so well written. I loved getting to know Elisabeth and Nathaniel throughout the novel and I’m a little sad that this is a stand alone. I have noticed a lot of people mention that it takes place in the same world as An Enchantment of Ravens but I want to let people know that this book is completely separate from her first. It’s not a companion novel.

The Chelsea Girls by Fiona Davis – This didn’t seem to be the right book for me. I picked it up because I liked the synopsis but the ending was frustrating. It’s a dual perspective historical fiction novel about two women living in New York City at the Chelsea Hotel. When the novel opens the women meet while on the USO Tour in Italy and become good friends, eventually the tour ends and they go their separate ways eventually ending up in New York at the Chelsea Hotel. Suddenly, Hazel Ripley, now a budding playwright gets blacklisted during the Red Scare, they must figure out how to put on their show despite the challenges of the McCarthy era. I struggled with this book because I disliked one of the main characters and reading their perspective frustrated me. That being said the writing was well done and the historical accuracy was well done. I appreciated that this is a topic that’s being discussed in literature now because many authors have avoided talking about the McCarthy Era. But in my opinion, we need to talk about it if we want to learn from it. *

After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid – Are we surprised that I picked up and enjoyed another Taylor Jenkins Reid book? I think this book is quite fascinating it’s definitely a book for more modern and progressive thinkers because it deals with Ryan and Lauren a married couple who have begun to feel unhappy in their marriage. In the book they decide to take a year off from being married in order to learn how to be happy together again. It was really interesting to read and watch the main character that the reader follows, Lauren, in her year away from Ryan. While I can’t imagine handling unhappiness in a marriage the way they did. I didn’t think their decision was a healthy way of handling the situation, I did appreciate the conclusions they came to throughout the novel about marriage. I enjoyed reading it, I enjoyed the drama and the family dynamics of Lauren’s entire family.

Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune by Roselle Lim – I loved this book. I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC of this book in advance but I had some issues with my kindle copy so I was only able to read part of it before it came out. It was enough to know that I wanted to get it and I’m so happy I did! I really enjoyed getting to know Natalie as she grieves her mother and learns how to open her restaurant. The book contains many fabulist elements which helped to create a fantastic setting for the plot of the story. I enjoyed reading all the recipes in the book and I’m amazed at how light and pleasant this book felt. The book deals with a heavy topic, grief, but it never felt overwhelming while I was reading the book. It felt natural. **

Memento by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kauffman – So goodreads keeps deleting this from it’s database but I’m documenting on my blog that I’ve read this, despite what goodreads says. Memento is a pre-order incentive novella sent out to anyone who pre-ordered Aurora Rising. Memento is set in the world of the writing duo’s other book series The Illuminae Files. I really enjoyed reading the prequel story and I’m excited that I got the chance to read it. It’s not really a necessary story for world building or plot but it is interesting to learn about how one of the characters in The Illuminae Files became that character. If you like The Illuminae Files, and got your hands on a copy of this you will enjoy reading it, but if you didn’t, don’t stress about it. It’s fun to read but it’s not necessary to understand what’s happening in the rest of the series.

Glamour in Glass by Mary Robinette Kowal – I really enjoyed diving back into this series! Glamour in Glass is the second book in the Glamourist History Series which is a historical fiction based fantasy set just before and during the Napoleonic Wars. (It’s been described as Jane Austen with magic) I love how sweet and wholesome these books are while also containing the elements of fantasy that I love. I love the way the magic is described and every-time I read these books I wish that I had the ability create glamours as cool as Jane, the main character in the book. So far the books in the series have been quick reads although this one doesn’t end quite as happy and perfect as people might expect it to. I can’t wait to continue on with this series because I’ve heard it gets even better with each book.

*ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

** ARC provided by Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review