Month: June 2022

June Wrap Up

/ Janelle @ The Meanderings of a Bookworm / Leave a comment

Hello everyone,

Welcome to my June Wrap-up! So this month I read a lot. More so than I thought I would. However, most of what I read was manga. For whatever reason, summer is when I want to read all the manga, along with other things. However, I’m expecting to not read as much in July, and I’m okay with that. Let’s jump into the wrap-up!

What I Read

Books: 33 (including graphic novels and manga) | New books: 7| Re-reads: 4 | Graphic Novels and Manga: 22| DNFs: 0 | Pages: 8,080

Favorite Reads:

Least Favorite Reads:

Re-reads:

June Reads:

  1. The Promised Neverland, Volume 7 by Kuai Shirai
  2. By the Book by Jasmine Guillory
  3. The Promised Neverland, Volume 8 by Kuai Shirai
  4. One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle
  5. The Hacienda by Isabel Canas
  6. Yona of the Dawn, Volume 1 by Mizuho Kusanagi
  7. One Piece, Volume 31 by Eiichiro Oda
  8. One Piece, Volume 32 by Eiichiro Oda
  9. Something Wilder by Christina Lauren
  10. Witch Hat Atelier, Volume 2 by Kamome Shirahama
  11. Witch Hat Atelier, Volume 3 by Kamome Shirahama
  12. Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
  13. Witch Hat Atelier, Volume 4 by Kamome Shirahama
  14. Book Lovers by Emily Henry
  15. One Piece, Volume 33 by Eiichiro Oda
  16. One Piece, Volume 34 by Eiichiro Oda
  17. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  18. Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
  19. Pretty Things by Janelle Brown
  20. Kamisama Kiss, Volume 2 by Julietta Suzuki
  21. Kamisama Kiss, Volume 3 by Julietta Suzuki
  22. Kamisama Kiss, Volume 4 by Julietta Suzuki
  23. Witch Hat Atelier, Volume 5 by Kamome Shirahama
  24. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  25. Giant Days, Volume 1 by John Allison
  26. It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey
  27. Lore Olympus, Volume 1 by Rachel Smythe
  28. Kamisama Kiss, Volume 5 by Julietta Suzuki
  29. Witch Hat Atelier, Volume 6 by Kamome Shirahama
  30. Kamisama Kiss, Volume 6 by Julietta Suzuki
  31. Kamisama Kiss, Volume 7 by Julietta Suzuki
  32. Kamisama Kiss, Volume 8 by Julietta Suzuki
  33. Yona of the Dawn, Volume 2 by Mizuho Kusanagi

Blog Posts

What I Watched

This month I went to go see Top Gun: Maverick for a second time with my parents. I really enjoyed it the second time around! It is a great movie, and I highly recommend it for the flight sequences alone!

My husband and I also went to go see Lightyear. It was okay. There were aspects about it I loved, but other aspects I didn’t. It honestly seemed like a movie that Pixar was planning with just a generic astronaut, but decided since they already had Buzz Lightyear to slap his name onto the film. I think it also doesn’t help that I grew up with the Buzz Lightyear of Star Command animated series, so to me that is Buzz Lightyear’s origin story. I think if that didn’t exist it would be more believable. Also, it doesn’t seem like a movie that would have been made in the ’90s (which it’s supposed to be). I probably would have liked it more if it was a different character as the main character.

As far as TV shows go, I was watching Criminal Minds, however it is being taken off Netflix at the end of June, and I kind of need a break from it too. My husband and I also watched Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney +. We liked it, however we didn’t love it. I don’t want to say anything else because I don’t want to spoil the series for anyone who is planning on watching it.

Happy Reading,

Janelle L. C.

Book Review: Girl Code by Andrea Gonzalez and Sophie Houser

/ Janelle @ The Meanderings of a Bookworm / 1 Comment

Hello everyone,

Today’s review is on Girl Code by Andrea Gonzales and Sophie Houser.

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Andrea Gonzales and Sophie Houser were typical teens just trying to do their best to excel at school. However, the both are intersted in coding and end up attending the Girls Who Code summer camp. They team up and create a game called Tampon Run, a game that addresses the taboo around menstruation, as their final project. At the end of the summer, they decide to release their game to the world, with the hopes of it going viral, but also not expecting it to take off. However, over several days it becomes a viral sensation and they find their lives thrust into the spotlight while both of them are trying to juggle their responsibilities that comes with high school. Even though it comes with its challenges, both girls take part in different opportunities that they might not have gotten.

Girl Code is a memoir about coding and the love for coding, as well as friendship and coming-of-age. The central theme of this book is that of coding and how important it is. As Sophie starts discovering more about how the every-day things rely on code, she states, “If code was essential to almost everything in my daily life, then maybe by learning how to do it I could fulfill my dream of having an impact on lots of people” (28).

Another theme that is woven throughout the memoir is that of feminism and girl power. Both Andy and Sophie are learning what it means to be feminist, and, for Sophie, helping her become more educated about feminism and all the complications surrounding it. Also, Andy’s idea for their final project was to come up with something that tackles the hyper-sexualization of women in video games. They end up developing a game that calls to light the stigma surrounding menstruation when no one bats an eye concerning the gore and violence that is prevalent in video games.

Two other themes that go hand-in-hand together are that of teamwork and how learning coding can be empowering. Two quotes that discuss them are: “I realize that good collaboration means building up your team members and trusting them to accomplish difficult tasks” (93). “Coding is empowering, it’s creative, and it’s fun” (220). This is seen with both Adny and Sophie, but especially with Sophie who previously struggled with public speaking. But with the popularity of Tampon Run, she is pushed out of her comfort zone as she and Andy are invited to a number of speaking engangements and interview. This probably would not have happened if she had not discovered a passion for coding. Andy also discovers that when she is nervous during an interview for an internship she becomes more confident when she starts talking about code.

Girl code is also about how they tried to tackle a subject matter that is taboo – menstruation – and try to make it more normal becuase it is something that every woman has to go through and live with for most of their whole lives. It also explores both Andy and Sophie trying to figure out what they want to do with their lives once they graduate from high school. Andy struggles with this a lot, even though she does enjoy coding and programming, she feels pressure from her parents to excel at it and pursue it as a career, especially since their mantra they’ve always told her is “doctor, lawyer or engineer” in regards to careers.

Overall, this was interesting memoir about coding, but it is definitely target more for teens. 3.5/5 Stars.

Happy Reading,

Janelle L. C.

July TBR

/ Janelle @ The Meanderings of a Bookworm / 2 Comments

Hello everyone!

Today I would like to share with you some of the books I am planning on reading in July. Here are five of the books I will definitely read at some point in July.

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Not only is this one of the books on my 22 Books to read in 2022, but I also recently hauled it. Also, the movie comes out this month and I would love to read it, and then watch the movie. I really enjoy it!

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

I used to love this series – and the movies – when I was a teen, and I think I want to re-read the whole series. My plan is to do a reading journal review for each book as I re-read them that way I can document my thoughts.

The Push by Ashley Audrain

I have heard a lot of great things about this psychological thriller that deals with motherhood. I’m trying to not to know much about it because I don’t want to be spoiled for any of the twists!

Gods & Monsters by Shelby Mahurin

At the time of this post going up, I am currently reading Blood & Honey. I am determined to finally finish this series this month. So far, based on the first book, I do like it. But I also know it has very mixed reviews.

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I currently have this checked out from the library, and I need to read it as soon as possible because there are other people waiting for it. It follows the children of Mick Riva (who makes a short appearance in The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo), and an annual party they throw every summer. It takes place over 24 hours, and it is set in the ’80s. Again, I’ve heard really good things about this book, but I know that there are some people that were let down by it.

And those are all the books I am hoping to get to in July. There will probably be a couple others, as well as some manga.

What are you planning on reading in July?

Happy Reading,

Janelle L. C.

Book Review: Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

/ Janelle @ The Meanderings of a Bookworm / 1 Comment

Hello everyone,

Today’s review is on Radio Silence by Alice Oseman.

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Before I get started, I do want to note that while Radio Silence discusses things that I personally do not agree with (more specifically the issue of sexuality), I did think it was a good book about friendship, identity and isolation, as well as a discussion about how university isn’t the only option for high school graduates. This is also a book I would not normally read, but I had to read it for a project I had to do for one of my classes for grad school.

Frances Janvier has one goal in life – to get into Cambridge – and she has done everything she needs to accomplish this goal. She gets good grades and is head girl of her school. However, when she is not at school she has a secret life that not many know about, she is obsessed with a podcast called Radio Silence, and she anonymously creates fan art for the series on Tumblr. One day the creator reaches out to her and asks to collaborate, and she also discovers the creator’s identity – it is none other than the boy who lives across the street, Aled Last. As they work together, they start ot become best friends, and finally Frances feels like she has found a friend who understands her. However, when the summer is over, her anonymity as a fan artist is destroyed and very soon everyone discovers that Aled is Radio Silence and she starts to worry that their friendship will be over.

Even though Radio Silence is almost 500 pages, it is a fairly quick read becayse the “chapters” are short and read more like vignettes that all connected to each other. It also feels like we could be reading Frances journal.

One of the main themes throughout the novel is that of isolation. Aled has felt isolated ever since his sister left and his mother started mentally and emotionally abusing him more. We see him retreat into isolation even more as people discover that he is Radio Silence, especially since he feels betrayed by his friends because he believes that they are the ones who shared his secret. He becomes even more isolated when he goes off to university – which he doesn’t want to do – and he is not living up to his mother’s expectations, and she continues to do heinous things to push him to achieve acadmically. However, when he starts to do things that are a cry for help, Frances does her best to figure out a way to help him and, in a sense, save him from himself as he becomes increasingly more despondent.

Identity is also explored also in terms of what the characters are going to do after they finish high school. Aled is forced to attend university, but flounders because that is not where he wants to be and he hates every moment of it. Frances has convinced herself that she wants to study English Literature at Cambridge, however, during her college interviews, she realizes that she really does not want to study that subject. However, she feels pressure to be academically minded by everyone around her. However, she does end up deciding to pursue art and her mother supports her.

There is also some exploration of fan culture and how it can easily turn toxic. A big example of this in the novel is when Aled posts a “Goodbye” podcast for his show, Universe City, and he gets hate mail, even those fans don’t realize that he already going through a lot of emotional turmoil.

Overall, while there were some subjects that are not my cup of tea explored in this book, it was still a decent read. 4/5 Stars.

Happy Reading,

Janelle L. C.

Book Review: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

/ Janelle @ The Meanderings of a Bookworm / 1 Comment

Hello Everyone,

Today’s review is on Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

Ever since I picked up Fahrenheit 451, I have been debating whether to write a review for it. That might sound ridiculous to some, and my reasons for being on the fence seem kind of silly, but I’m scared. I’m scared of people coming after me. But, I do really want to share my thoughts, feelings and opinions what I thought was a really great book! The views that I express in this review are my own, and you don’t have to agree with me – and that is fine. I’m not here to tell you you have to believe or think the way I do, because that is not right. With that being said, here is my review of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

Fahrenheit 451 follows Guy Montag, who is a fireman, however, instead of putting out fires, he sets them in order to burn illegal possessions – books. In this near future dystopian world, books are illegal, screens are used to entertain the masses, who are kept dumb of what it really happening in the world around them. Pleasure is king, and anyone or anything that seeks to change that is wrong. However, one night, Guy meets a young woman who challenges how he thinks about the world. He then does the unthinkable, he keeps one of the books he was supposed to burn, and his life will never be the same again.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Fahrenheit 451 for the first time, although it was hard not to see how close we are to becoming similar to the society in the novel. We are quickly becoming a society that wants get rid of that which may seem offensive, or may cause us to look and think through beliefs and values that are different than our own. And I’m not calling out one particular group, the fact of the matter is that all groups have been guilty of trying to censor that which “offends” them. I think back to when I was growing up and some groups were trying to “cancel” Harry Potter and His Dark Materials because of the magic systems depicted in those series. All that to say, censorship or “cancel culture” isn’t something new, no matter which way you try to spin it. And censorship is wrong no matter who is calling for it. Books are important because they can inform our worldview, as well as provide lessons on either how people once lived and/or how we can learn from the mistakes of the past and do better.

Overall, I highly recommend Fahrenheit 451 and I think everyone needs to read it! 5/5 Stars.

Happy Reading,

Janelle L. C.

20 (15? 10?)Books of Summer TBR

/ Janelle @ The Meanderings of a Bookworm / 2 Comments

Hello everyone,

This post is kind of late, but I was on the fence on whether I wanted to do 20 Books of Summer again this year. However, since I’ve started to get my blogging mojo back I’ve decided to do it. Although, if I’m being honest it could potentially just be the 10 or 15 books of Summer, but we will see what happens!

But first, what is 20 Books of Summer? 20 Books of Summer is a reading and blogging challenge hosted by Cathy746books. The goal is to read 20 books between June 1st and August 31st, and post a review for each of those books before the last day. I also appreciate how flexible it is too!

I still haven’t narrowed down which books I am reading for this challenge. I have a couple that I have read and have started drafting reviews for, and a few that I read and I’m still debating if I want to review them. Summer is also when I start binging manga, so that will also be a factor into how much I read.

Here is a tentative list of the books I might plan on reading for 20 Books of Summer. The first two, I’ve already started reviews for, so they will definitely be going up.

  • Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
  • Book Lover by Emily Henry
  • Pretty Things by Janelle Brown
  • One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle
  • The Baxters by Karen Kingsbury
  • Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
  • It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey
  • The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
  • River of the Gods by Candice Millard
  • The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
  • It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
  • The Push by Ashley Audrain
  • The Arsonists’ City by Hala Alyan
  • A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers
  • The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X. R. Pan
  • The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johannsen
  • Ghost Forest by Pik-Shuen Fung
  • Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher
  • Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  • Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

Again, this is just a tentative list, and will most likely change. But these are all of the books I am hoping to get to for this challenge.

Also, if you’re interested, check out my 20 Books of Summer Wrap-up from last year which has a list of all the books I read, as well as links to the reviews.

Happy Reading,

Janelle L. C.

(A Late) May Wrap-up

/ Janelle @ The Meanderings of a Bookworm / 1 Comment

Hello everyone!

Welcome to my late May Wrap-up. I will be using the same format that I used in my April Wrap-up, which is a mashup of Merrily Kristin’s and Whispering Stories’ Wrap-ups. Without further ado, let’s jump into the wrap up.

What I Read

Books: 21 | New Books: 14 | Re-read: 7 | DNFs: 2 | Pages Read: 5,205

Favorite Reads

Least Favorite Reads:

Re-reads

May Reads

  1. Woman, Eat Me Whole by Ama Asantewa Diaka
  2. The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka
  3. The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
  4. Darling Girl by Liz Michalski
  5. Sense & Second-Degree Murder by Tirzah Price
  6. The Department of Rare Books and Collections by Eva Jurczyk – DNF’d
  7. The Empire of Gold by S. A. Chakraborty
  8. One Piece, Volume 30 by Eiichiro Oda
  9. The Romantic Agenda by Claire Kann
  10. Kamisama Kiss, Volume 1 by Julietta Suzuki
  11. Children of the Whales, Volume 16 by Abi Umeda
  12. The Promised Neverland, Volume 1 by Kuai Shirai
  13. Jade City by Fonda Lee – DNF’d
  14. The Promised Neverland, Volume 2 by Kuai Shirai
  15. The Promised Neverland, Volume 3 by Kuai Shirai
  16. The Promised Neverland, Volume 4 by Kuai Shirai
  17. The Promised Neverland, Volume 5 by Kuai Shirai
  18. Conviction by Denise Mina
  19. Witch Hat Atelier, Volume 1 by Kamome Shirahama
  20. Well Met by Jen DeLuca
  21. The Promised Neverland, Volume 6 by Kuai Shirai

Blog Posts:

Happy Reading,

Janelle L. C.

Book Review: Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

/ Janelle @ The Meanderings of a Bookworm / 1 Comment

Hello Everyone,

Today’s review is on Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas.

So Heir of Fire took me a while to get through, not because it was bad, but because I had some other books I had to get to, and it is a chonky book! However, I am glad I had the chance to read it, and so close to when I finished rereading Crown of Midnight. Before I get started in what the story is about, I do want to give a warning that there are spoilers in this review.

Heir of Fire picks up a few weeks after the end of Crown of Midnight. Celaena is in Wendlyn after being sent there by the king to murder the royal family, however, she decides not to do so and defects from her duties to the crown. While hiding in the shadows she encounters Rowan, who works for the Fae Queen, Maeve. He takes her to her, but is told she cannot enter the Fae realm until she can show that she has Fae powers that would be of use to the queen, and it is up to Rowan to train her how to best use her powers.

Meanwhile, back in Adarlan, Chaol is trying to do more research on the rebel group that wishes to take down the king and hope that the missing Terrasen princess, Aelin Galathynius will take charge. Chaol is the only one that knows that Aelin is truly alive. At the same time, Prince Dorian is unsettled by his possession of magic, especially since he knows that his father would use it for cruel intentions. There is one person who might be able to help him, a young healer, Sorscha, who tries to make different tonics to keep is power suppressed.

We are also introduced to a new character, Manon, who is a witch and part of the Blackteeth clan. Her and the other covens are tasked with training Wyverns given to them by the king, in the hopes that they will aid the king in his quest to rule Erilea and Wendlyn.

There is a lot that happens in Heir of Fire. I think the best place to start is to touch on pacing. While there is a lot going on the pacing did seem to drag at times. I also think that it could be said that this isn’t a plot heavy book, but rather there is a lot of character development and even plot development. I am looking forward to seeing how this all builds up towards the end of the series.

I will say that I got wrecked emotionally by this book, especially when Celaena finds out how the king massacred the slaves in both Calvulla and Endovier. I felt like this added another layer to Celaena’s character, especially as she tries to figure out what her purpose is now that the very people she wanted to save are dead.

Overall, I enjoyed Heir of Fire, especially the second half and the emotional roller-coaster ride it sent me on. Now on to my reread of Queen of Shadows. 4/5 Stars.

Happy Reading,

Janelle L. C.

(A Very Overdue) April Wrap Up

/ Janelle @ The Meanderings of a Bookworm / 2 Comments

Hello everyone!

Welcome to a very long overdue April Wrap-up. There have been a lot of different things going on the past few months, so much so blogging got put on the backburner. However, I’m back and I feel inspired! But I still want to share my April Wrap-up because I want to share what I’ve been reading (because I’ve still been reading quite a bit).

I’m playing around with something different with my wrap-ups, it is going to be a mash-up of wrap-up posts I have seen from Merrily Kristin and Whispering Stories. However, since April was almost 2 months ago, I’m not going to include what I’ve been watching because I really can’t remember – although I’m pretty sure I was watching Criminal Minds.

So first I am going to share some statistics, then my favorite and least favorite books, my re-reads, and then a list of all the books I read in April. After that, I will also include a list of all my posts from April.

What I Read

Books read: 15 | New books: 14 | Re-reads: 1 | DNFs: 0 | Pages Read: 4,632

Favorite Reads:

Least Favorite:

Re-read:

April Reads:

  1. The Visit by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
  2. 2043…A Merman I Should Turn to Be by Nisi Shawl
  3. Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev
  4. The Dark Fantastic by Ebony Elizabeth Thomas
  5. Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
  6. Field Notes on Love by Jennifer E. Smith
  7. Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop by Roselle Lim
  8. The Odyssey of Star Wars by Jack Mitchell
  9. The Ghosts of Rose Hill by R. M. Romero
  10. Waiting for Tom Hanks by Kerry Winfrey
  11. Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel
  12. By the Shore of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder
  13. The Kingdom of Copper by S. A. Chakraborty
  14. All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover
  15. The Secret Wife by Mark Lamprell

Blog Posts:

Happy Reading,

Janelle L. C.