Sometimes I feel like I have no life to write about anymore. I’ve been at a loss for words and have been seeking them out in books. So that’s pretty much my life right now… just books. This has manifested itself in starting a separate book blog and joining bookstagram.
I kept my bookish content separate because I thought the sudden onslaught of it would be too overwhelming here. I thought the intensity of my reading was just a phase, so maybe I shouldn’t subject you to this manic phase of my life. So I kept it apart. I thought, I’m just going through a phase—lost for words, lost for inspiration, lost in life—but I’ll figure it out and then it’ll be back to the regularly scheduled programme.
But no, this “phase” isn’t a detour from who I am. This “phase” is who I am right now and will shape is shaping who I will be. To reject it would leave me… as empty as this blog has become lately. So I’ve decided to retire my book blog and reunite that part of myself here. (My bookstagram will still be going strong though!)
In an effort to balance the bookish content and lifestyle content here, I plan to share my reads in monthly round-ups instead of publishing individual book reviews for every book I read (like I did on my book blog) and instead of lumping them in with my monthly recaps (like I used to do here).
So here are my September reads: 11 books, 4402 pages. 9 fiction, 2 non-fiction. 4 fantasy, 1 literary fiction, 1 contemporary fiction, 1 horror, 1 YA romance, 1 classic. 7 women. 1 person of colour.
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Shadow and Bone trilogy by Leigh Bardugo
I hope you weren’t looking to me to be the voice of reason. I keep a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret.
★★★★★ // Goodreads – 1 2 3 // Amazon – 1 2 3
This month I dived into the Grishaverse! The Grisha books include the Shadow and Bone trilogy, Six of Crows duology, and Nikolai duology. Six of Crows seems to be everyone’s favourite (not just of the Grishaverse, but like, in general), which piqued my curiosity and is the whole reason I decided to read the Grisha books.
The Shadow and Bone trilogy consists of Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm, and Ruin and Rising. It follows Alina, who is whisked away from her ordinary life to train as a Grisha when her dormant powers are revealed and is believed to be the only hope of saving the nation of Ravka from the Shadow Fold.
I was hooked from the first book. I finished it in one day, the second book in two days, and the third book in one day. I realise that most people would rate this trilogy 3-4 stars and I’ve heard critiques that this trilogy is just a generic YA fantasy series, but I’ll give 5 stars to any series that can grip my attention like this.
Love a powerful female protagonist like Alina, though the second book felt more political and Alina seemed more like a figurehead, which I wasn’t into as much. I also didn’t like when the men in her life got possessive over her, but I have a soft spot for childhood friends like Mal, the Darkling was a great villain, and Nikolai was my ultimate faveee.
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The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo
Everyone thinks I know what I’m doing but I actually have no idea what I’m doing and that’s the cruelest trick the universe plays on people who have their shit together, little one; the people who seem like they have it together are the most overlooked, because everyone thinks those people never need anything, but everyone needs something.
★★★★☆ // Goodreads // Amazon
Marilyn and David are still madly in love after forty years and four daughters. On the surface, this ordinary suburban family in Chicago seems to be set, but the arrival of 15-year-old Jonah, who was given up in a closed adoption by one of the daughters, shakes the family from their comfortable rhythm–the secrets and insecurities they got used to hiding, parts of their pasts and themselves they’d rather forget.
This family saga resonated with me particularly because I saw aspects of myself in each member of the family–the lost parts of each most of all. Although this is a work of fiction, there was something so familiar in the characters and experiences that Lombardo captured. I want to share this book with all my friends so that I can roll my eyes at them and say that I’m having the most fun I’ve ever had and they’ll get what I mean.
Nothing like a thicc book to cuddle up with in the autumn! At 532 pages, this book may seem intimidating at first, but I was quickly engaged; sometimes literary fiction writing can get flowery and distracting, but this one kept it simple and effective. Highly recommended if you like family sagas. 4.5 stars.
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
This week I’ve been reading a lot and doing little work. That’s the way things ought to be. That’s surely the road to success.
★★★★☆ // Goodreads // Amazon
Anne Frank kept a diary in the last years of her life, starting on her birthday before her family went into hiding and ending abruptly when they were discovered by the Gestapo.
This book has been on my TBR since middle school. I didn’t know much going into it, so I found the basic logistics of going into hiding at the “Secret Annex” interesting, but even more poignant was Anne’s spirit.
Her family couldn’t carry much on them when they left their home in fear of rousing suspicion, so they wore as many layers as they could instead of carrying suitcases of clothes to the Annex. With the precious amount of space Anne had in her bag, she packed her school books; she took classes while at the Annex; she hoped the war would be over soon so she wouldn’t fall too behind in her studies when she got back. She was so bright, opinionated, mischievous, and strong-willed. She was so self-aware, so determined to be better and to stay positive. Hers was a life cut much too short.
The Girl with the Whispering Shadow by DE Night
The most wondrous things, the most impossible of things, are often just ordinary things doing what they are best at.
★★★★☆ // Goodreads // Amazon // (Gifted)
This is the second book of The Crowns of Croswald, a middle grade fantasy series. It follows Ivy, who is whisked away from her life as a scaldrony maid to train as a scrivenist at the Halls of Ivy when her powers are awakened. In the second book, she is secreted away to a magical town when her life is in danger. If the first book is Hogwarts, the second book is Hogsmeade.
There’s great world-building–a world complete with its own magical terminology too, like “scrivenist,” “slurry,” “scaldron,” and more!–but the concepts are nothing new. The structure of the world of Croswald is very similar to the world of Harry Potter. Instead of wizards, they have scrivenists. Instead of wands, they use quills. The orphaned protagonist is actually the chosen one (spoiler, but you saw it coming. I mean, the school is named after her).
I personally always look for something different in my next read, especially with fantasy, but if you’re looking for something similar to Harry Potter and have exhausted other options, this is another one you could consider. It’s well-written and fast-paced. It’s a middle grade series, so the plot is a bit simplistic, but it’s still great fun to immerse yourself in a new magical world.
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Emma by Jane Austen
Why did we wait for anything? Why not seize the pleasure at once? How often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation?
★★★☆☆ // Goodreads // Amazon // Reading buddy: Sofie
I was so excited to read my first Jane Austen novel and rewatched Clueless in anticipation of reading this book, upon which the film was based. Once I started the book, I was amazed to realise how well Cher modernised Emma but also stayed so true to Emma’s energy and personality. That definitely excited me as I continued to read, and it helped this story feel more relevant and accessible to me, which is a struggle I have with most classics.
Even though Emma had her flaws, I found her a likable character; she could be very full of herself, but she was also very thoughtful about other people in her own way. Mr. Knightley was my favourite—both sensible and playful, such a gentleman, but also savage when he wanted to be. I wanted more of him and was constantly waiting for him to enter the scene!
Halfway through, the story started slowing down for me, maybe because the momentum from watching Clueless had worn off. I found the “drama” quite mundane, but I also realise that this “drama” was probably exciting for the times.
The end was sweet and tidy, which I usually don’t prefer, but I think it suited the far-away storybook quality of this story.
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Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich
How can she know me when I don’t even know me? What I say, what I think, I can’t decide which parts are real and which are made-up. I try, over and over, to reach myself. How is that even possible when I’m already here, walking in my own skin?
★★★☆☆ // Goodreads // Amazon
Evan is a nobody at school but is suddenly thrust into the spotlight when he’s mistaken to be the best friend of a recently passed classmate, Connor.
I mean, can anything compare to the original musical? I held out hope for this book adaptation though, because I’ve read Val Emmich’s The Reminders, and it’s one of my all-time favourites. But now in retrospect, I don’t think I would have settled for anything less than an epic work of literary fiction, and this YA/contemporary fiction didn’t quite reach that for me.
This story is told from the perspectives of Evan and Connor. There’s not much about Connor in the musical, so having Connor’s perspective in the book was interesting. As for Evan, I found him more endearing in the musical than in the book, but I mean, Ben Platt is tough competition hehe.
The book incorporated some lyrics from the musical, which was a fun treasure hunt. However, there are pros and cons to this. Pro: They’re the lyrics we know and love. Con: But it can also feel a bit blunt and jolt you out of the story.
I know that not everyone will get the chance to watch Dear Evan Hansen live on Broadway, but I wouldn’t recommend reading this book until you’ve watched the original musical, as I don’t think the book is strong enough to stand alone. Even if you never watch the musical, I think it’d still be better to listen to the Broadway soundtrack and read the musical’s Wikipedia page.
Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton
We were perhaps the most pathetic excuse for an attempted murder on the face of the earth.
★★★☆☆ // Goodreads // Amazon
A zombie apocalypse from the perspective of a potty-mouthed, Cheeto-loving, domesticated crow. Have you heard of anything like it?? Hilarious and loved all the puns, especially about murder, which is reason enough to write about a crow, no?
However, it got a bit slow in the middle and I lost track of the plot at times. The world-building in terms of the zombie apocalypse didn’t feel fully flushed out, and after the initial novelty of learning the quirky personalities of various animals, the characters started to feel like nothing more than mechanisms for punch lines. The end got a bit philosophical, but the tone was so different from the rest of the book, so it felt forced. The philosophical message shows the potential of this story though. I think it could have been shown through the plot and characters throughout the story rather than told at the end.
How I feel about this book is pretty much how I felt about the animated movie The Secret Life of Pets: the trailer was the best part. This book was fun and silly and had so much potential. If you could be bothered, the first few chapters are a delight to read, and continuing on is up to you!
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Emergency Contact by Mary HK Choi
I know I love someone when I can’t remember what they look like in any real way. I can never seem to recall whether they’re handsome or ugly or if other people think they’re cute. All I know is that when I’m not with them and I think about them, where their face should be is this big cloud of good feelings and affection.
★★★☆☆ // Goodreads // Amazon
Sam and Penny have an awkward first encounter, but they swap numbers anyway, and as they continue to text, they become closer than ever.
I wasn’t a huge fan of the characters or their relationship. The nature of Sam and Penny’s relationship made me feel weird. Now, as someone who gets social anxiety, I totally get how it’s easier to text than speak face-to-face, but when Sam and Penny texted each other about how texting was so much better than meeting face-to-face and that they didn’t have any inclination to ever meet face-to-face, I cringed. I feel like there was so much potential for nuance about modern relationships and anxiety that wasn’t tapped into.
I didn’t love Penny (“not like other girls” complex, judgmental, juvenile), but I’d love to have a Sam around to bake for me. I liked Andy more though.
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
Every laugh and good time that comes my way feels ten times better than before I knew such sadness.
★★★☆☆ // Goodreads // Amazon // Reading buddy: Bomi
Going in, I understood this to be a book about how therapists need therapy too. After a crisis in her life, Gottlieb—a therapist—seeks out her own therapist, and we follow her on her journey of self-understanding. We are also introduced to four of Gottlieb’s patients, and we see how Gottlieb guides them on their own journeys to self-understanding as well.
I thought this book would reveal some essential things about humanity in general, but I found this book to be more particular to Gottlieb’s situation and the practise of therapy than I necessarily cared for. Or perhaps it’s just that those aspects jumped out at me whilst reading because they were the parts I was least interested in. I was more interested in her patients’ stories: Josh, “a self-absorbed Hollywood producer”; Julie, “a young newlywed diagnosed with a terminal illness”; Charlotte, an alcoholic with a bad history with men; Rita, “a senior citizen threatening to end her life on her birthday.”. I was especially interested in Josh, who had asshole tendencies that I admittedly identify with.
While all these individual stories were well and good, I didn’t get what the larger point of the book was, except for the obvious argument for the value of understanding yourself instead of simply coping through denial or whatever your poison is, but you didn’t need a book to tell you that. Ironically, there’s a moment in the book Gottlieb observes, “It takes a while to hear a person’s story and for that person to tell it, and like most stories—including mine—it bounces all over the place before you know what the plot really is.”
I do think that her patients’ stories were interesting (there were teary moments for sure), so I would say that I enjoyed the content but would have preferred a more effective structure. And less pages.
LINK LOVE – check out their recent reads:
Evie x Evie Jayne, Sandrine x I Am Sandrine, Macey x Brine & Books