Monthly Roundup: February 2017

Well, this month I read a lot of books. I thought working again would slow down my reading, but it doesn't seem that way!

I read some incredible books this month. When Breath Becomes Air was heartbreaking and fantastic and I highly recommend it to everyone (it's not very long). Daring Greatly was this month's Book Club pick and it was amazing in so many ways. And A Conjuring of Light, the third and final installment to the Shades of Magic series, was everything I had hoped for and more. SO MANY FEELS! I finished it a few days ago and I'm still thinking about it. It was perfect.

1) Empire of Storms - Sarah J. Maas (4.5 stars)
2) The Assassin's Blade - Sarah J. Maas (4 stars)
3) Everything, Everything - Nicola Yoon (3.5 stars)
4) Carve The Mark - Veronica Roth (4 stars)
5) Caraval - Stephanie Garber (3 stars)
6) When Breath Becomes Air - Paul Kalanithi (5 stars)
7) After the Crown - K. B. Wagers (4.5 stars)
8) A Gathering of Shadows - V. E. Schwab (reread) (5 stars)
9) A Conjuring of Light - V. E. Schwab (5 stars)
10) Daring Greatly - Brené Brown (4 stars)

What books did you read this month? What was your favorite? Did you read any of these books? Tell me your thoughts in the comments!

Comments

This Savage Song

This Savage Song - Victoria Schwab Review: The newest book by one of my favorite authors, V.E. Schwab (She goes by "Victoria" for her YA novels). I love the premise for the book: violent acts create actual monsters. The two main characters are a human girl named Kate who desperately wants to be a (figurative) monster: a big, bad crime boss like her father, who runs one half of V-City. The other is August, who is a literal monster, a Malchai, one that drains the souls of his victims through his music, who desperately seeks his own personal humanity. I loved them both, and their personalities and characters and drives are so multi-faceted and real. They interact with other characters in believable and different ways. The juxtaposition of these two characters in and of itself is one of the driving things behind this story, and one of the things that makes it so compelling. Even though marketed as a YA, it really delves into the deep questions: What makes us human? W...

Arcanum Unbounded

Arcanum Unbounded - Brandon Sanderson Synopsis A collection of Sanderson's "short" stories and novellas set in his Cosmere universe. Review It's no secret that Brandon Sanderson is one of my favorite authors. His writing is stupendous, his stories are incredible and his plot twists are mind-blowing. Rarely can I figure out exactly where the story is headed, but I am always exceptionally pleased when I get there! Sanderson isn't as known for his "short" stories. Probably because they aren't short. Two of them in this collection clock in around 40k words, which is approaching the line between a novella and a novel. A few of the stories ( The Emperor's Soul, Sixth of the Dusk, Shadows for Silence ) can be read with no knowledge of his other books, and would perhaps be a good introduction to his writing. Those ones you can get individually or are published in other anthologies. I myself had already read a few of the stories, but withi...

The Reader

The Reader by Traci Chee Synopsis (from Goodreads) "Sefia lives her life on the run. After her father is viciously murdered, she flees to the forest with her aunt Nin, the only person left she can trust. . . . But when Nin is kidnapped, Sefia is suddenly on her own, with no way to know who’s taken Nin or where she is. Her only clue is a strange rectangular object that once belonged to her father left behind, something she comes to realize is a book." Review The main reason I picked up this book was that it got a LOT of hype. I thought it was a good book, but I'd say more for younger YA. I think if I were 12-14, I would have REALLY loved this book. The premise is interesting: In a world where reading doesn't exist, Sefia has a rare book. However, I found at times the story was a bit too meta... stories within stories within stories, and how reading is literally magic. The pacing was quite slow. I also found the feel or tone of the story jumped around. Fi...

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