I'm having terrible luck with books this year. Aside from being terribly behind on my Goodreads Challenge, I really haven't read anything that I've actually liked this year.
At the end of last month, I set the ambitious goal to read 8 books in June. With 5 days left in the month, I know I won't hit that, but I'm hoping I'll have hit 6. Carolann and I are hosting our monthly "Beyond Bloggers" book club this week, so here's a look at what I have been reading.
1. The Coconut Latitudes by Rita Gardner
My sister is in a creative writing class with Rita Gardner and brought me a signed copy of her memoir, telling of her childhood growing up in the Dominican Republic. My mom is from the DR so I was intrigued to read this. It was ok. The entire book was told in the present tense, which made it really difficult to assess the passage of time. I was shocked to find at one point, that the author was starting high school, when it seemed like only a few pages before, she was still a child. There was a great deal of mystery and tragedy surrounding an event with her sister, which was never fully explained. In the Afterword, there's a note about her never having really learned what actually happened, but it was such a focus of the book that to never fully understand what happened leaves the book seeming unfinished.
2. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J.K. Rowling
I read this in a day and loved it. It's an easy read and I think it leaves plenty of room for creative interpretation with the film coming out later this year. My favorite part of this book is the history behind how the wizarding community has allowed muggles to believe that beasts like unicorns, mermaids, and dragons are fictional, and the measure they have taken to protect those creatures and let us mere muggles keep believing that!
3. You by Caroline Kepnes
This was the book that was selected for our bloggers' book club this month. I hated this book...absolutely despised it. I gave it 1 star on Goodreads. The entire book was written in the present tense, which became really annoying after awhile. By the end of the book, you still had no idea how long he had been stalking her for. There was no character development, you didn't learn anything about Joe, or anything about Beck, really, other than what he learned from stalking her (which was a lot, but that isn't character development). The book was exceptionally vulgar and I didn't find it "captivating" or "engaging" at all.
4. Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone: The Illustrated Edition by J.K. Rowling, illustrated by Jim Kay
I've been saying for years that I want to reread the Harry Potter series. I haven't read all of the books since The Deathly Hallows came out nine years ago. The Pilot bought me this copy for my birthday and I loved rereading the story. The illustrations were stunning!
At the end of last month, I set the ambitious goal to read 8 books in June. With 5 days left in the month, I know I won't hit that, but I'm hoping I'll have hit 6. Carolann and I are hosting our monthly "Beyond Bloggers" book club this week, so here's a look at what I have been reading.
1. The Coconut Latitudes by Rita Gardner
My sister is in a creative writing class with Rita Gardner and brought me a signed copy of her memoir, telling of her childhood growing up in the Dominican Republic. My mom is from the DR so I was intrigued to read this. It was ok. The entire book was told in the present tense, which made it really difficult to assess the passage of time. I was shocked to find at one point, that the author was starting high school, when it seemed like only a few pages before, she was still a child. There was a great deal of mystery and tragedy surrounding an event with her sister, which was never fully explained. In the Afterword, there's a note about her never having really learned what actually happened, but it was such a focus of the book that to never fully understand what happened leaves the book seeming unfinished.
2. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J.K. Rowling
I read this in a day and loved it. It's an easy read and I think it leaves plenty of room for creative interpretation with the film coming out later this year. My favorite part of this book is the history behind how the wizarding community has allowed muggles to believe that beasts like unicorns, mermaids, and dragons are fictional, and the measure they have taken to protect those creatures and let us mere muggles keep believing that!
3. You by Caroline Kepnes
This was the book that was selected for our bloggers' book club this month. I hated this book...absolutely despised it. I gave it 1 star on Goodreads. The entire book was written in the present tense, which became really annoying after awhile. By the end of the book, you still had no idea how long he had been stalking her for. There was no character development, you didn't learn anything about Joe, or anything about Beck, really, other than what he learned from stalking her (which was a lot, but that isn't character development). The book was exceptionally vulgar and I didn't find it "captivating" or "engaging" at all.
4. Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone: The Illustrated Edition by J.K. Rowling, illustrated by Jim Kay
I've been saying for years that I want to reread the Harry Potter series. I haven't read all of the books since The Deathly Hallows came out nine years ago. The Pilot bought me this copy for my birthday and I loved rereading the story. The illustrations were stunning!
So, there you have it. That's what I've been reading this month.
What have you been reading?
I'm in desperate need of good books to read! What's good that you've read lately?
Looking for a summer book club to join? The poll for our July book club is on our Goodreads page!
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