A huge thank you to Janssen at Everyday Reading for hosting this quarterly link up!
I only read 11 books in April, May, and June, which, coincidentally, is the exact same number of books I read in the first quarter of this year. The reading stars have not aligned for me to be keeping up with my Goodreads challenge. But never fear, I am still determined to make my goal of reading 52 books this year! Happily, several of the books I've read this quarter were really phenomenal, and have pushed me to get out of my slump and not let my reading fall too far behind.
Here's what I read this quarter:
- The Heir by Kiera Cass: Perfectly adequate. This book was exactly what I thought it would be: entertaining and light and completely without closure.
- 5 to 1 by Holly Bodger: This is a great idea, with not-so-great execution. I mostly feel like this book was a missed opportunity. I wanted a lot more than I was given. I enjoyed reading it, but not enough to widely recommend.
- The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty: A thought-provoking novel about choice and identity and family. A sad and poignant story that will fuel many future conversations. I'd recommend reading it with strawberries and chocolate, just to balance your emotions.
- A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness: A compelling, powerful, surprisingly short, and inventive story that will probably make you cry for all the right reasons.
- An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir: A wild and thrilling fantasy adventure, featuring compelling characters living in a violent and dangerous world. This book gets an A+ for its addiction factor. Read it if you need an exciting and absorbing tale.
- A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas: This Beauty and the Beast retelling is a must for adult fairy tale fans. It has everything: suspense, action, romance, beauty, and magic. I have a feeling this won't be the last time I read this book.
- The Wrath & The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh: A sumptuous and epic love story, rife with tension and suspense and a lot of intrigue that will completely consume you.
- The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger: Not without issues, but still an interesting and mostly entertaining read. Especially if you've ever had an impossible boss before. I'd recommend seeing the film over reading the book, though. Meryl Streep is a fantastically horrible Miranda Priestly.
- What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty: A wonderful and moving and hilarious novel about memory, identity, choice, family, and love. Highly recommended!
- The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski: A superb second installment in the Winner's trilogy. The suspense and tension will prevent you from putting this book down even for a moment, and then when you finish you can join me while I pine for book 3.
- Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard: There was a bit of a slow start, and there are definitely parallels to Red Rising, but on the whole I loved reading this electrifying book. (Excuse the pun.) Recommended to fans of X-men, and/or Pierce Brown.
And now, some graphs:
Although I didn't read as many books as I would have preferred, the ones I did read were overwhelmingly good! So glad to have spent so much time on such great reads.
Bring it on, third quarter. Bring. It. On.
Gah! I sitll need to read The Winner's Crime, but I need to wait closer until The Winner's Kiss comes out. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm so torn, because I want you to read it since I think you'll love it, but I also think you're smart to wait until Kiss comes out. You won't be stuck in agony like I am, waiting for closure. :)
DeleteI like the graphs you included of what you read this quarter--what a great idea! I've been debating beginning that Heir series...maybe I should skip it?
ReplyDeleteThanks! Regarding The Heir... it depends on whether you liked The Selection. You'll probably like The Heir just as much or just as little as you liked the first three books, since they're so similar. I'd wait to start until all three books are released, though. They read like one long book, with no conclusion at the end of each installment, so it's a much less jarring read if you don't have to wait a year between installments.
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