Summer 2020 Books

It feels like I just posted a book wrap-up, but here we are again!

I'm really happy with the books I read over the summer. I mean, I might not have found many new favorites, but there really weren't any that I didn't enjoy in some way.

The order of the books are not necessarily the order in which I read them. I did a lot of binge reading, so I decided I'd organize them by type, author, or series so it would flow better. 

Goodreads Goal Progress: 41/52

Not too shabby, seeing as I struggled to get to this many books by the end of last year! Also, I shockingly didn't have any DNFs? I think? That's pretty awesome!

~Of Literature and Lattes by Katherine Reay~

7/10

*flails* I was so excited to see that this came out! I thoroughly enjoyed The Printed Letter Bookshop, so I figured I'd like this one too! My idiotic self didn't realize it was a spin-off of the previous story, so that was a pleasant surprise.

The romance itself felt a little *vroom vroom* to me. No build up really, just "Hey! We're attracted to each other!" Not that it was bad, just wasn't developed at all in the beginning. Okay, so the romance wasn't developed, period. Like, it just happened. So, didn't quite care for it just because I want a little more to a relationship than just this "hey, we didn't talk about how we feel about each other, we just suddenly started saying 'I love you' and holding hands". 

But I've kind of learned this is what to expect from these books. In the two I've read, she seems to focus more on the non-romantic relationships, which I can get behind. In this one, it was the repairing of a mother-daughter relationship. I would like to see more of these kinds of relationships in books, honestly. So I'll let the lack of romantic build-up slide because I want to see non-romantic relationships way more in books.

But this was the perfect read for me at the time. It was light, fluffy, and felt safe. I needed that. My heart was filled with so much turmoil and I needed some comforting.

Also, Samantha @The Bookshire wrote an amazing post about Katherine Reay's books and I highly suggest you check it out! She definitely encouraged me to try out some more of her work. 

~Ships, Secrets, and Survivors by Yours Truly and Helena George~

Is this cheating? Probably. Do I care? No.

But ya know what? I read this thing at least half a dozen times this year, so we're counting it. 

But I won't rate it because that would be cheating...

~Mark of the Raven by Morgan L. Busse~

6/10

I wasn't sure how I was feeling about this book until the end. Like, it was okay. A decent fantasy, but nothing incredibly exciting. I liked Selene's motivations/struggles. Also, this was one allegory that I actually enjoyed? I liked how Morgan took things that we struggle with and depicted them in a fantasy setting. She does this expertly throughout the series. Spiritual warfare. Depression. Grief. All of that is well-covered here. It's not forced or over-the-top either. It's well-balanced.

 

However, I found a lot of the descriptions and stuff repetitive. Especially when it came to describing the women. Every time a woman entered, we had to hear about what color dress she was wearing and which shoulder her hair was draped over.

But then there was the ending, which included one of the most amusing tropes when done right, so obviously I had to get the next book out of the library immediately just so I could see how it played out. 

~Flight of the Raven by Morgan L. Busse~

7/10

This review and the next one will be somewhat spoilery for the previous books, so if you haven't read book 1 yet, don't read this one. 

But anyway, as I said for the previous book, it ended with one of my favorite tropes: marriage of convenience. So, of course, I just needed to read all about how they awkwardly tried to figure out their new, unexpected, and somewhat uncomfortable marriage. 

I was not disappointed. It was rather hilarious watching the two of them fumble about and deal with all of the political drama that ensues. It's all PG, in case you're wondering. 

The descriptions continued to be repetitive. This particular drawback fades away in book 3. There are fewer of these kinds of descriptions and she does more to delve into descriptions that actually add to the book, which is nice.

But again, I really liked seeing how Morgan wove real-world struggles into her fantasy world, especially how she incorporated them into the dreamscape concept. That was great. I liked watching Selene come into her own as she learned what it means to be a dreamwalker as they were supposed to be. That was awesome.

~Cry of the Raven by Morgan L. Busse~

6/10

Again, this review will be spoilery for book 2, so if you haven't read either of the previous books, don't read this one.

I read this one in almost one sitting (thanks to a babysitting job where my charge took a 3-hour nap and I didn't want to waste my time on my phone). I felt like it was a good ending to a series. I wished that I had gotten more from all the players in the story in the previous books. It felt sudden and weird to have all of them show up in such big ways in this one after having only gotten to know a few of them in the previous books. It might just be because book 2 focused mostly on Ravenwood, Maris, and Luceras and not so much the other houses. Regardless, it was a bit of a shock having so much focus on them in this book when we really hadn't gotten to know them all that much beforehand. 

Namely, I kept getting Raoul and his father mixed up. They were so similar (which, I guess was the point) that I had a hard time telling them apart. Also, Amaya felt randomly placed in the book.

But overall, I enjoyed this book a lot. I could definitely see myself rereading this series in the future. If anything, she gets cudos for writing one of the very few allegories that I actually like. None of it felt too forced. It all felt natural and purposeful. That's how I like it.

~Shouldn't You Be In School? by Lemony Snicket~

7/10

I searched high and low for this book for a while. I'd read book 1 and 2, and owned those plus book 4, but I needed book 3. Amazon had it for $23, which is outrageous for a book I could read in a day. Anyhow, I found it at a used book stand at a local fleamarket for $3. 

Anyway, I immediately dove into it. I read it basically in one sitting while visiting Jules. She was working for part of my visit, so I just spent the time reading. 

Snicket (as the character) was so much snarkier in this book and I LOVED it!! Some of his comebacks were so dry and savage, I just couldn't even! It wasn't the kind where you know the author is trying too hard to come up with something clever. It just was clever. 

The mystery is growing even more confusing and hard to follow, which would be annoying to follow in most books, but it's kind of the point here. 

Seriously, Lemony Snicket is a literary genius and possibly my favorite author.

~Why Is This Night Different from All Other Nights? by Lemony Snicket~

7/10

It took me a surprisingly long amount of time to get around to reading this one after finishing book 3. Partly, I think, because I didn't want this series to end. I just want more and more Snicket content. 

It was a pretty good ending to the series, I think. There's still loads of mystery surrounding VFD, but I think that's Lemony Snicket's intention. I don't think he ever will actually spell anything out for us. But that's okay. I'll still read anything he has on it!

But if you've read and enjoyed The Series of Unfortunate Events, you should totally read this series. It is just...that little extra bit of intrigue. There's several nods to the other series, especially in this book, and it's great. 

~The Vile Village by Lemony Snicket~

6/10

This book is possibly one of the freakiest out of all of them? With all the rules the townsfolk made up and their mob mentality, it's crazy. 

~The Hostile Hospital by Lemony Snicket~

8/10

This one is sooooo good! It's super fast paced and I loved getting to reread it. Also, Esme Squalor is ridiculous.

~The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie (audiobook)~

8/10

Having been slightly disappointed with Murder on the Orient Express, I decided I wanted to read a book more along the lines of a serial killer vibe like And Then There Were None.

This one was great! It gave me exactly what I wanted. The pacing was a lot more upbeat and I liked wondering when/if they were going to stop the killer. Definitely enjoyed this one!

One drawback that I have with all of Agatha Christie's work is her language. She often takes the Lord's Name in vain, plus some mild swearing and numerous racial slurs/anti-foreigner vibes that made me really uncomfortable ( I do understand that it was the time/culture, but it doesn't make it right). So, do be warned about this beforehand. Otherwise, they're excellent. This aspect is just something I don't care for. 

~Dumb Witness by Agatha Christie (audiobook)~

9/10

I had already watched the TV show version of this one, so I knew whodunit. Thankfully, the actual way things unfolded was different, so I still really enjoyed listening to it. Also, the ending was very different. This is probably my second favorite Christie book that I've read so far. One thing I liked about this one was the fact that it wasn't your usual murder weapon. That made it interesting. 

~Death On the Nile by Agatha Christie (audiobook)~

7/10

I picked this one up next because Letitia Wright is going to be in a movie adaptation of this one and I figured I'd take a listen and see if it would be something I'd want to go see. 

I enjoyed it a lot. It took a while for the murder to actually happen and afterwards there was a lot of this way and that before the investigation was wrapped up. The ending was...kinda sad? And disturbing. But I thought it was a good read. 

Well, there you have it! All of the books I read over the summer! Not a bad mix, if I do say so myself. 

I'm now hoping to dive into some Tolkien rereads and then maybe some more creepy/fallish books? Maybe? We'll see.

Also, there's still time to ask any questions you want for my Q&A!

Onto y'all! What have you read over the past few months? Anything notable? Anything you didn't care for? What are you hoping to read next? Let me know down below!