Welcome to my September TBR. This month I am planning on taking part in Becca’s Bookopalathon that is taking place over the whole month. Here is her video explaining the read-a-thon.
I’ve decided that I am going to do 10 rolls, I could probably do more because I usually read anything between 15-20 books a month, but I also want to save room for extra rolls due to doubles. One note I do want to make is that instead of writing up Chance and Community Shelf cards, I have decided that if I land on the Chance space, I am going to randomize my Goodreads TBR and read the first option. And if I land on the Community Shelf space, I am going to use a random number generator and whatever number I get, I am going to read the book that corresponds with that number on by Goodreads TBR.
Here are the prompts that I got, along with the books I plan on using to complete the prompt.
Roll 1 – Buildings – A Book with Buildings on the cover. – Station Eleven Emily St. John Mandel
Roll 2 – Summer – A book that reminds you of summer. – People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry OR The Beach Trap by Ali Brady
Roll 3 – Favorite genre – The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa OR The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
Roll 4 – Features a mystery – Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney
Roll 5 – First person perspective – Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen OR When We Were Them by Laura Taylor Namey
Roll 6 – Chance – Randomize my Goodreads TBR – The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd
Roll 7 – Go – Randomize your TBR – The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
Roll 8 (Doubles) – Community Shelf – Random number generator – #333 on Goodreads TBR – The House in the Cerulean by TJ Klune
Roll 9 – Published/ Set in or before 1999 – Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Roll 10 – Community Shelf – Random number Generator – #289 on Goodreads TBR – Axiom’s End by Lindsay Ellis
Roll 11 – Features a mystery – Arsenic and Adobo Mia P. Manansala
I decided to do 4 more rolls to make it 15, however these next four (or more) rolls, are just if I want to switch anything out, or if I want to keep going once I complete the TBR I already have.
Roll 12 – Third person perspective – Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas
Roll 13 – Lowest rated on my TBR – The Secret Guest by Benjamin Black (avg. rating 3.06).
Roll 14 – A book with pattern and text – A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair
Roll 15 – Community shelf – Random number generator – #109 on Goodreads TBR – Float Plan by Trish Doller
These are all the books I am hoping to pick up in September, whether I actually get to them or not, is a whole other story.
Today’s review is on What Once Was Mine by Liz Braswell.
About the Book
The 12th installment in the New York Times best-selling series asks: What if Rapunzel’s mother drank a potion from the wrong flower?
Desperate to save the life of their queen and her unborn child, the good people of Corona search for the all-healing Sundrop flower to cure her—but mistakenly acquire the shimmering Moondrop flower instead. Nonetheless it heals the queen, and she delivers a healthy baby girl with hair as silver and gray as the moon. With it comes dangerous magical powers: the power to hurt, not heal. For her safety and the safety of the kingdom, Rapunzel is locked in a tower and put under the care of powerful goodwife, Mother Gothel.
For eighteen years Rapunzel stays locked away, knowing she must protect others from her magical hair. But when she leaves the only home she’s ever known, wanting only to see the floating lights that appear on her birthday, she gets caught up in an adventure across the kingdom with two thieves—a young woman named Gina, and Flynn Rider, a rogue on the run. Before she can reach her happy ending, Rapunzel learns that there may be more to her story, and her magical tresses, than she ever knew.
My Thought
What Once Was Mine was an interesting take on Tangled, as well as the original Rapunzel tale. I really liked the concept that the reason Rapunzel is locked away is because her hair has the potential to kill people, and that Mother Gothel had nefarious plans to use it to her advantage.
Something that I really liked is that readers get to see Rapunzel question some of Gothel’s toxicity, especially her awful comments that put her down. However, it is also interesting to see how she struggles with coming to terms with the fact that Gothel lied to her and made her feel like a monster.
I’ll admit that the book was a little slow at the beginning, and it didn’t really pick up until the last 100 pages or so, but it was still worth reading. I really liked how it was framed as a brother telling his sick sister a slightly different version of one of her favorite stories. Although there were times when it would cut to them that it was slightly jarring and took me out of the story a little bit.
I loved getting to know the characters, and I loved the addition of Gina and her mother, the Goodwife. It definitely added to the story and I loved how their relationship served as a foil the Rapunzel and Gothel’s mother-daughter dynamic. I also like how the author captures Gothel’s sinister nature a lot more than can be captured in a movie.
I also found myself annotating my book about halfway through – I very rarely do this – because there were some quotes I wanted to highlight as well as some descriptions that stood out to me. Here are some of the quotes I highlighted.
“”Begin your nineteenth year by forgiving yourself, Rapunzel. That’s a far better gift than floating lanterns”” (pg. 297).
“”Thank you,” she murmured. “I…don’t know if I can forgive myself immediately just like that, but just knowing that I can – that I should, that’s a start”” (pp.297-298).
I loved this discussion about forgiveness that Rapunzel had the Goodwife and it definitely resonated with me, especially Rapunzel’s response.
Overall, I really liked What Once Was Mine, however it was a bit of a slow start. But I still enjoyed the twist on one of my favorite Disney movies. I can’t wait to get to the rest of the Twisted Tales series. 4/5 Stars.
Today’s review is on Ghost Forest by Pik-Shuen Fung.
About the Book
How do you grieve, if your family doesn’t talk about feelings?
This is the question the unnamed protagonist of Ghost Forest considers after her father dies. One of the many Hong Kong “astronaut” fathers, he stays there to work, while the rest of the family immigrated to Canada before the 1997 Handover, when the British returned sovereignty over Hong Kong to China.
As she revisits memories of her father through the years, she struggles with unresolved questions and misunderstandings. Turning to her mother and grandmother for answers, she discovers her own life refracted brightly in theirs.
Buoyant, heartbreaking, and unexpectedly funny, Ghost Forest is a slim novel that envelops the reader in joy and sorrow. Fung writes with a poetic and haunting voice, layering detail and abstraction, weaving memory and oral history to paint a moving portrait of a Chinese-Canadian astronaut family.
My Thoughts
Until a few months ago, I had never heard of this book. But by chance, I cam across it at work. I was instantly entranced by the cover and the title and found myself flipping through it. However, at the time I already had a lot of books vying for my attention and decided to not pick it up, but I would see it every time I walked through the stacks, as if calling out to me. Fast forward to the middle of July, in the beginning stages of a reading slump, desperate to pick up something that would capture my attention, I knew I needed to pick up Ghost Forest, and I am glad I did!
Ghost Forest is a beautiful exploration of an immigrant daughter and her relationship with her father, who stays in Hong Kong after his family moves to Canada in the late ’90s. It also shows the clash of the old and new world and how the unnamed protagonist clashes with her father, especially when it comes to tradition and respect and how they view both things differently. It was also interesting to see her look back on who her father was after his passing.
I also liked how the novel was written differently from a typical novel. It was written in short paragraphs and vignettes, and red similarly to a novel-in-verse, even though it isn’t. But I loved that and I love novels that are set up that way.
Overall, I loved Ghost Forest and the unique way in which the story is told. I also enjoyed the exploration of a father-daughter relationship and a clash of two cultures. 4.5/5 Stars.
Today’s review is on Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
About the Book
A lifetime holding it together. One party will bring it crashing down.
Malibu: August, 1983. It’s the day of Nina Riva’s annual end-of-summer party, and anticipation is at a fever pitch. Everyone wants to be around the famous Rivas: Nina, the talented surfer and supermodel; brothers Jay and Hud, one a championship surfer, the other a renowned photographer; and their adored baby sister, Kit. Together, the siblings are a source of fascination in Malibu and the world over-especially as the offspring of the legendary singer, Mick Riva.
The only person not looking forward to the party of the year is Nina herself, who never wanted to be the center of attention, and who has also just been very publicly abandoned by her pro tennis player husband. Oh, and maybe Hud-because it is long past time to confess something to the brother from whom he’s been inseparable since birth.
Jay, on the other hand, is counting the minutes until nightfall, when the girl he can’t stop thinking about promised she’ll be there.
And Kit has a couple secrets of her own-including a guest she invited without consulting anyone.
By midnight the party will be completely out of control. By morning, the Riva mansion will have gone up in flames. But before that first spark in the early hours before dawn, the alcohol will flow, the music will play, and the loves and secrets that shaped this family’s generations will all come bubbling to the surface.
Malibu Rising is a story about one unforgettable night in the life of a family: the night they each have to choose what they will keep from the people who made them . . . and what they will leave behind.
My Thoughts
I enjoyed Malibu Rising. It was a great exploration of familial relationships, especially when one’s father is famous, but also a deadbeat. I also really enjoyed the backdrop of Malibu, it gave it a more summery vibe. I liked the several connections to Evelyn Hugo, as well as the fact that the protagonist of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s next novel, Carrie Soto, makes a couple of appearances, although she isn’t very likable.
I liked how the novel is broken down into two parts and how in the first part we get to see flashbacks to how each of the siblings became who they are, as well as their mother’s relationship with their father, Mick Riva. I also liked how the novel takes place over 24-hours.
I enjoyed getting to know each of the Riva siblings and how the novel is more of a character study of each of them, at least for the first half of the novel. Nina was probably my favorite one of the siblings, maybe because she is the least flawed in some ways. But I also liked Kit, the youngest, who is still trying to figure out who she is as a person. While I did like Jay and Hud, I feel like they were very flawed, each for different reasons.
Overall, I did enjoy Malibu Rising and how the author explores the sibling relationships. I also loved the back drop of Malibu in the ’80s. While not my absolute favorite novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid, it was still really good. I highly recommend it for summer. 4.5/5 Stars.
“‘Ready or not, here I come.” Anne Gibson removed her hands from over her eyes as she yelled. She smiled as she too off in the direction of her bedroom.”
After my failed attempt of strictly reading for several hours on a Saturday night a week or so ago. I toyed again with the idea of doing a personal 24-hour read-a-thon this last weekend. However, I also realized what set me up for failure and that was being to strict with spending time reading, so I decided to just take the weekend, read as much as I could, or wanted to. I did have to work on Saturday, and there were also a couple of movies I wanted to work on to.
Something else that also set me up for failure was that I was going to post every time I finished a book. Instead, I’m just doing this post wrapping up my weekend of reading.
Friday
I had the day off on Friday, so I spent some time reading, I finished reading Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey, I think I read about 90 pages of it. It was a quick read. It also completed one of the prompts for the Magical Read-a-thon (actually, most of the books mentioned in this post completed prompts for the read-a-thon). I really liked it and I would love to read a full-length novel following the librarians in this dystopian, but also not that far-off United States. I have so many questions, but I also, I could buy that something like this could happen, which is kind of scary.
I then decided to pick up A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow and read it off and on throughout the day. It was interesting, I felt like I needed more exposition on some of what was going on, but I also liked how everything was tied up in the end. Although, I am curious as to whether there will be more installments in the Fractured Fairytales series, but it also seemed like a definite conclusion as well.
I finished the night by starting one of my most anticipated reads of the year, A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers. I read about 30 pages of it, and it is a slow and quiet start, but I think that is the point of the novella, and I’m not even mad about it. I then finished the evening by starting Parent Trap – with Lindsay Lohan – and then turned in because I had to work the next day.
Saturday
After breakfast, I had about 40 minutes before I had to get ready for work, so I continued reading A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, and it really started to pick up, and I was sad that I had to put it down until I got home from work.
After work, I finished The Parent Trap, and then decided that I wanted to finish the last 40 or so pages I had of Crown-Shy. I did, and I loved it! I really want some more novellas set in this world, especially following Sibling Dex and Mosscap. However, right now it seems like it is only a duology, but if that changes, the next book is definitely going to be one of my most anticipated reads whenever it comes out!
The next book was partially motivated by my desire to have a bath and read while in the tub, and I did not want to take any of my library books in with me for obvious reasons. I decided to start A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo. I had been meaning to pick it up for a while, ever since I bought it back at the beginning of July at City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco (which by the way, if you are ever in San Francisco, you need to go to City Lights!). I managed to read about 100 pages while I sat in the bath. After than I kind of just took it easy for the rest of the evening, I think I read another 50 pages before I went to sleep.
Sunday
I woke up and made myself some coffee. I decided to curl back up in bed and finish A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers. I loved it, I really enjoyed the writing style and the format. It is definitely an interesting coming-of-age novel, and I want to read more of the author’s works! I had a hard time deciding which book to read next, it was between Forever in Blue by Ann Brashares and A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham, both sounded like great next reads, even though they are very different from each other.
I eventually decided to pick up Forever in Blue, because I knew it would be a quick read, even though it is about 380 pages, plus it was a re-read. After reading about 50 pages, I switched over to a manga, Kamisama Kiss, Volume 15 by Juliette Suzuki. It took me about 35 minutes to finish, and then I read a little bit more of Forever in Blue while I waited for the announcement video for Becca’s Bookopolathon to go up (which I am planning on taking part in in September).
I wanted to get out of the house for a little bit, so I went to Barnes and Noble and got some lunch and coffee there and sat in the cafe and read for about an hour or so. I then did some shopping and picked up three books, which I am really excited to get to soon. After I got home, I continued my re-read of Forever in Blue off and on throughout the evening and finished it just before bed.
Before I went to sleep I wanted to try and read one more volume of Kamisama Kiss, which I did. I read Volume 16 and really enjoyed it. I really like the story arc that has been taking place over the last several volumes. But I am also curious to see how it will wrap-up over the last nine volumes.
Wrap Up
Shortly after finishing Kamisama Kiss, Volume 16, I went to bed. But I started A Flicker in the Dark by Stacey Willingham by reading the first couple of chapters.
All in all, I think it was a great weekend of reading, I don’t plan on doing this every weekend, just every few months or so when I don’t really have much going on. I’ll be honest, it’s easier to do something over the whole weekend and more relaxed. I still feel like I managed to read a lot. Here is a quick wrap-up of the books I read this weekend, as well as the total pages I read.
Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey – the last 40 pages.
A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers
A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers by Xialou Guo
Kamisama Kiss, Volume 15 by Juliette Suzuki
Forever in Blue by Ann Brashares
Kamisama Kiss, Volume 16 by Juliette Suzuki.
The total number of pages I read was 1,414 pages! That’s a lot. Even without the manga, the total number is 1,014 pages. I feel accomplished, and I enjoyed all of the books I read!
Today’s review is on The Tinderbox by Beverly Lewis.
The Tinderbox follows a young Amish woman, Sylvia Miller, as she goes through the stages of courtship and engagement around the time of the 20th anniversary of her parents’ engagement. However, when she open a tinderbox belonging to her father, she discovers something from his life as an Englischer that represents a secret that he never told anyone – not even his wife. The implications of his secret could cause trouble for the family, but he also knows it needs to come out, otherwise it could have further repercussions for the family later down the road, especially if the whole community finds out.
I liked the Tinderbox, although in my opinion it took too long to get to the plot of the story, which is some some of Beverly Lewis’ more recent books tend to do. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it does make it a little bit tricky to get into the book.
I enjoyed getting to know Sylvia and her family, especially her parents – Rhoda and Earnest, both before and after her father’s revelation.
Let’s get to what the secret was. The secret that causes a lot of kerfuffle is that before Earnest joined the Amish community he was briefly married and it ended in divorce when his first wife decided to marry another man. Apparently divorce is a big no-no in the Amish community – I assume so, I wish there had been an author’s note explaining that a bit more. The secret seemed like a very convenient plot device, however, the more I think about it the more I realize that it is something that does happen. It was interesting to watch the change in the family dynamic once everyone found out Earnest’s secret, as well as how it affected his standing in the community.
The Tinderbox is a novel about confession, seeking repentance and forgiveness and how it is never a good idea to hide one’s past, especially from those we love.
Overall, I like this novel even though it took a while for things to get going. Even with that it was still a compelling enough read that me want to find out what happens next in the sequel, The Timepiece. 3.5/5 Stars.
Today’s review is on Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.
About the Book
For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet fishing village. Kya Clark is barefoot and wild; unfit for polite society. So in late 1969, when the popular Chase Andrews is found dead, locals immediately suspect her.
But Kya is not what they say. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life’s lessons from the land, learning the real ways of the world from the dishonest signals of fireflies. But while she has the skills to live in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world—until the unthinkable happens.
In Where the Crawdads Sing, Owens juxtaposes an exquisite ode to the natural world against a profound coming of age story and haunting mystery. Thought-provoking, wise, and deeply moving, Owens’s debut novel reminds us that we are forever shaped by the child within us, while also subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.
The story asks how isolation influences the behavior of a young woman, who like all of us, has the genetic propensity to belong to a group. The clues to the mystery are brushed into the lush habitat and natural histories of its wild creatures.
My Thoughts
I did it. I finally read Where the Crawdads Sing, and I really enjoyed it. I know that I am a little bit late to the game, but I don’t regret just getting around to reading it. I’ll be honest, I was kind of expecting not to love it, however, I found myself hooked from the first page and I could barely put it down.
There are so many things I loved about this book. First, I really liked the historical setting of 1969, as well as the various flashbacks. I also loved how we would have one chapter in the “present,” and then the next chapter would take us back to another point in Kya’s life and how it all leads up to what is taking place in the present day.
I also enjoyed the anecdotes we get about various plants and animals in the marsh and how in some ways we are learning alongside Kya. It was interesting to see how the author drew upon her experience and knowledge as a biologist. Yet she did it in such a way that it didn’t bog down the narrative. I appreciated how the author also tackled prejudice and racism that would have been prevalent in North Carolina t the time, it made the story seem more authentic.
Something else that I enjoyed about Where the Crawdads Sing was that it covers several genres. It is a literary fiction, part romance, part coming of age, part mystery, part court drama, and a historical fiction. And it blends all of these genres flawlessly.
The novel does a great job of exploring how isolation can affect a person, especially when everyone they love abandons them. It was interesting to see how Kya makes a life for herself, but yet struggles with the trauma of abandonment, wile also craving companionship.
I loved getting to know Kya, Tate and even Chase. I also loved Jumpin’ and Mabel and how they try to lookout for Kya as best as they can. I also like how the marsh itself was a character of sorts, it added another layer of depth to the novel.
I will admit, the ending left me guessing a little, but I think that is kind of the point. I don’t think readers are supposed to truly know who did kill Chase Andrews, but the novel ends in such a way that readers can make their own conclusions. I’ll be honest I still don’t know what to believe.
Overall, I really enjoyed Where the Crawdads Sing! It is worth the hype and deserves to be loved by many. This is definitely a book I can see myself revisiting in the future and discovering something new that I might have missed the first time around. I am looking forward to watching the movie when I get the chance, and I eagerly await Delia Owens’ next novel. 4.5/5 Stars.
Meanderings of a BookWorm 