This post is very belated. I don't like to give excuses, but life has been extremely busy: graduating college, getting married, moving. I'll have several posts up soon with updates and reflections on everything going on. But today is to talk about books, specifically the books I somehow managed to finish in May despite all the craziness going on.
Reading remains one of the biggest stress relievers for me. I have especially been enjoying rereading recently. I find so much comfort in reading old favorites, books I don't have to focus so hard on since I already know I love them. I finished a total of 6 books this month, which is an average number for me that I am happy with!
The first book I finished this past month was the book my now husband and I had to read during our pre marital counseling we followed through our church. This is a book that may not fascinate many, but I at least found it to be an incredibly helpful, yet brief, resource for couples who are wanting to get married. It has a practical, easy to follow outlook on marriage that focuses on the gospel as the core for all relationships. This book provided a good foundation for discussion in our counseling, and if you are getting married soon, I would recommend taking an afternoon to read through it.
Rating: ★★★★★
This is the last book I ever had to read for school. This is an interesting piece of journalism, looking into the brutal realities of life in Northern Ireland during the 1970's and 1980's. While this book was interesting, the way it was written felt very scattered and confusing. However, I could appreciate why it was assigned in my History of Ireland class, and how important it is to understanding the complicated conflicts of Northern Ireland. I don't know if I can recommend it to anyone, since it is quite heavy and complicated to read. But if you find Irish history at all interesting, it's worth checking out.
Rating: ★★★
I was worried about rereading this series since I have such fond memories of reading the Hunger Games books and watching the movies when I was in middle school. But with all the hype surrounding the release of the new prequel, I had to revisit this world. This first installment far exceeded any expectations I had going into the reread! I absolutely loved it! It's not perfect by any means, but it does exactly what it needs to. It's so full of action, I couldn't stop turning the pages! The characters are flawed, but you care for them like they're your children. I got so immersed in the story, and the ending hurt worse than the first time I read it. There are also so many iconic moments in this first book in particular that make it such a classic.
Rating: ★★★★★
I don't know why I keep trying to continue with this series. A Wrinkle in Time is one of the most formative books I read as a young reader, but the subsequent books just don't do it for me. The whole series is a fever dream. This one in particular was very strange. I could not understand what was happening or the significance of it for the life of me, which made it a drag to read to the end. The time traveling and secret family history aspects were interesting, and it did mostly come together in the end, but I know that if I had tried to read this as a child (which is the audience it's intended for), I would have been completely lost.
Rating: ★★
This book was a long journey to read from beginning to end, but it was so worth it! There's not much I can say about it without spoilers. But I will say it built off beautifully from the set up in the first book. The characters grew in astonishing ways. There were so many twists and turns that shocked me. Sanderson is truly a master in the world of modern fantasy, and this series is shaping up to be his magnum opus. I can't wait to read the third book and the fourth once it's released later this year!
Rating: ★★★★★
Upon finishing The Hunger Games, I was dying to binge the whole series as soon as possible. However, I did not quite have the same experience in my reread of this one. I remember my first time reading this book and being amazed at how exciting and unpredictable it was, but apparently there was a lot of filler I forgot about. There are a lot of exciting moments, and watching Katniss's internal struggle is intriguing, but it felt like it dragged more than I remembered. It just wasn't as satisfying. I'm still glad I read this, though, to get a firm opinion on it as an adult, but don't know if I will move on the Mockingjay at this point in my life.
Rating: ★★★
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What did you read in May?
1 comment
I had the same experience with the Hunger Games books. I LOVED The Hunger Games and could not put it down, but Catching Fire just dragged on for me and felt like it had a lot of filler. In May, I read somewhere around 15 books, and my favorites were The Hollow Boy by Jonathan Stroud and The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Congratulations on getting married!!