Author: Lee

Top 5 Wednesday: July 4, 2018

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Best Books You’ve Read So Far in 2018

To participate in Top 5 Wednesday, head over to their Goodreads Group!

Alrighty, I’m going to do this in the order that I read them, not in the order that I liked them (because that would be way too hard).

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

This was my first Gillian Flynn novel and I was honestly nervous to read it. I liked the movie and was worried that the book wouldn’t be as good. But a fellow blogger assured me Flynn was an excellent writer and Gone Girl did not disappoint. In fact it kind of blew me away how much I loved it. I went online and bought it before I had even finished reading it. I look forward to reading it again sometime.

Tales of the Kingdom series // Cynthia Voigt

Oh come on, you knew this series had to be on the list somewhere, right? I reread them earlier in the year and loved them just as much as always, maybe even more. As always, this is a loosely-connected, non-magical, fantasy series, set in a medieval-esque world.

Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick

This is one of the best autobiographies I’ve read ever, and definitely the best this year. Anna is funny and pithy and pleasantly verbose. What made it even better was listening to the audiobook version where Anna reads you the book herself.

White Oleander by Janet Fitch

This book was recommended to me from another reader because I said I wanted to branch out of my genre comfort zone and I have to admit I didn’t expect to like it. But the prose was engaging and beautiful and I found myself falling into the mind of the protagonist quickly and easily. I definitely want to read more by Janet Fitch in future.

The Martian by Andy Weir

I had one main issue with this book (mentioned in this post), but everything else about it was excellent. It was funny and the format was interesting. If you liked the movie you will most likely like the book as it is extremely similar. I found it really hard to put down.

What are the best books you’ve read in 2018 so far? Leave me a comment or link me to your own post.

QuoteLeeLeave a comment
“Have you ever heard the wonderful silence just before the dawn?” she inquired. “Or the quiet and calm just as a storm ends? Or perhaps you know the silence when you haven’t the answer to a question you’ve been asked, or the hush of a country road at night, or the expectant pause in a roomful of people when someone is just about to speak, or, most beautiful of all, the moment after the door closes and you’re all alone in the whole house? Each one is different, you know, and all very beautiful, if you listen carefully.”

– Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth

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“How can you see something that isn’t there?” yawned the Humbug, who wasn’t fully awake yet.
“Sometimes it’s much simpler than seeing things that are,” he said. “For instance, if something is there, you can only see it with your eyes open, but if it isn’t there, you can see it just as well with your eyes closed. That’s why imaginary things are often easier to see than real ones.”

– Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth

Musing Monday: July 2, 2018

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Musing Mondays is a weekly meme, hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker, that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

I’m currently reading…
Up next I think I’ll read…
I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
I can’t wait to get a copy of…
I wish I could read ____, but…
I blogged about ____ this past week…

THIS WEEK’S RANDOM QUESTION: How do you feel about book of the month type clubs/groups?

I’m really kind of upset by… This Sarah Dessen reread I’m on. I’ve only reread the first two so far, but I definitely didn’t like them as much as I did the first time around. Admittedly these two were not favorites of her books already, so there’s a chance… But I think it’s definitely possible I have outgrown Sarah Dessen.

I still totally recommend her as an author though, seriously. This experiment is not about whether she’s good or not, it’s about whether I can still enjoy the style of her books at my age.

How do you feel about book of the month type clubs/groups?
I mean in theory I think they are pretty cool. I’ve always wanted to try a book of the month style club where we all read the same thing and discuss it, but I have never found one near me that read the type of books I would want to read even some of the time. Like I’m open to trying new genres, but if my genres never come up even a little, that’s not going to work for me I’m just going to be bored.

June 2018 Reading Wrap-Up

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Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour
Rating:  ★★★★☆ – really liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  May 24 – June 14
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  The descriptions of the set design. This book has made me look at movies and tv shows with a whole new eye, sometimes pausing to take it all in, because the character’s love just shines through in a contagious way.
Least Favorite Thing:  I mean… I kinda hate the cover art on this version…

Honestly, everyone should read a book by Nina LaCour, she’s really becoming a real favorite of mine.

My Posts About Everything Leads to You

The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review:  No
Format:  Print
Reading Dates:  June 14
Read Count:  1
Favorite Thing:  Biracial family in a picture book!
Least Favorite Thing:  No one has managed to bottle the smell of a picture book for me yet so I had to pause after every page to sniff the book.

I don’t know what inspired me to read a picture book, of all things, but I really enjoyed this cute little book. If you are looking for children’s books this would be a great one.

My Posts About The Hello, Goodbye Window

That Summer by Sarah Dessen
Rating:  ★★★☆☆ – liked it
Review:  No
Format:  eBook
Reading Dates:  June 13 – 26
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  The descriptions of all the tall girls in the book.
Least Favorite Thing:  The use of the r-slur that one time.

I am working on a Sarah Dessen reread and I prefer to read them in published order, so obviously this one is first. I liked it a little less this time around, but I’m not sure if that’s due to my outgrowing the books or something else. I suppose I’ll figure it out soon enough.

My Posts About That Summer

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Rating:  ★★★★★ – loved it
Review:  Yes
Format:  eBook
Reading Dates:  May 16 – June 28
Read Count:  2
Favorite Thing:  SO PUNNY
Least Favorite Thing:  The Humbug annoys me, but only vaguely.

I haven’t read this since I was a kid and I remembered loving it, so I read it again. And I loved it again! Honestly, I know I’ve said this over and over, but everyone should read this book.

My Posts About The Phantom Tollbooth

June 2018

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Non-Reading Stuff

Oh man there is so much going on right now! I got back into therapy so I’m working on that both with meds and talk therapy. It’s….hard, but it feels worth it. I Do Things sometimes now. There’s still a long way to go, but I’m actually feeling hopeful based on the things I’ve been able to do and the differences other people have even been seeing in me.

In addition to my recovery, we have been preparing to move house. My mom will be living with us in the new place so the logistics of combining households is added to the stress of moving, and moving to a new town for the first time in my life, in fact.

So things won’t really settle down until the middle of July…

Reading Stuff

I finished 4 books in June!
Check out the list of books and my fave/least fave things about them.

I didn’t do as well as I had hoped to do this month, but I did technically meet my goal. I was determined to be halfway through my 75 books by the time the year’s halfway point came around and I managed that, if only barely. So I’m forgiving myself for not reading so much as I would have liked.

Blogging Stuff

Aw sad low activity blog… I have some ideas to help me get back in the swing of things. I made a post about foregoing some of the weekly book memes I was doing in favor of trying to make more original content.

And of course I intend to keep making this new effort with my bookstagrams. I enjoyed doing it and once this move is done I’ll have way more options for where and how to take photos so it will only get easier.

I’ve also been thinking about adjusting the way I do reviews. I enjoy doing full reviews, but that isn’t something I can do for every book, so I thought I might come up with a faster format for books that I don’t have enough to say about for a proper write-up.

How did your June go? Is there something you’d like to see more of on the blog? Let me know 🙂

QuoteLeeLeave a comment
“That was all many years ago,” she continued; “but they never appointed a new Which, and that explains why today people use as many words as they can and think themselves very wise for doing so. For always remember that while it is wrong to use too few, it is often far worse to use too many.”

– Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth