Friday, September 2, 2016

August 2016 | Monthly Wrap Up

August was kind of the high point of stress - when this stress ends, if it evers ends why, maybe I'll be able to blog regularly. The insanity. Anyway, I read a ton during this month even though I probably shouldn't of four two reasons: one, because I wanted to just finish the Sookie Stackhouse series once and for all, and, two, to avoid real life (heyyooo, reading is my favorite form of escapism).

And so as of today - having finish two things already in September, they were short - I'm four books ahead for my 100 books (book books) in 2016 challenge! We'll see how long that lasts but I'm hopeful since I've been suck in a reading book and completely addiction to my Kindle Paperwhite.

I want to talk about that for a few seconds before moving on to the books I read this months and such. I've had a Kindle Fire for years - not entirely sure on when I bought it because it's been at least 4 years (I think? My ability to track time passing is pretty bad but it's... 2 generations past what the current Fire is... i think?) Anyway - new kindle. And the Paperwhite because of the no glare/like paper screen. I don't know what it is about screens but I can't read on them for too long, especially if the print is too small (I make all of my font bigger, thank you kindles). I can read pretty much as long as I want on the Paperwhite, though, and I've also been using my library ebook service.

What was I reading through the library? The Sookie Stackhouse books, mostly. It was easier, and when I first started my reread I didn't know where a good handful of the books had gone (I did end up finding them all but I didn't get up the motivation to find them all until Bout of Books so I could add them to the stack). To wrap it up - I love reading with the Paperwhite and am currently going out of my way to read things on my paperwhite, to the point where it's been a while since I've read a physical book (still can't beat it, though, I love physical books. For instance: read a series digitally this month and loved it so, obviously, had to purchase the physical books).

To show the month in statistics: I read 12 books, 7 graphic novels/comics, no single issues (apparently I haven't read a single issue since March, though I do enjoy just waiting and then marathoning a few at a time which normally ends up it's easier to just count as the trade. Anyway, off topic). And for time spent reading: 51 hours, 29 minutes. I read quite a bit of things that I didn't finish, and the All for the Game books took longer then my normal speed because I kept pausing the highlight things.

Books:
Muted: A Love Story by (3.5/5)
Definitely Dead (Sookie Stackhouse #6) by Charlaine Harris (3.5.5)
All Together Dead (Sookie Stackhouse #7) by Charlaine Harris (3/5)
From Dead to Worse (Sookie Stackhouse #8) by Charlaine Harris (4/5)
Dead and Gone (Sookie Stackhouse #9) by Charlaine Harris (3.5/5)
Dead in the Family (Sookie Stackhouse #10) by Charlaine Harris (3/5)
Dead Reckoning (Sookie Stackhouse #11) by Charlaine Harris (3/5)
Deadlocked (Sookie Stackhouse #12) by Charlaine Harris  (3/5)
Dead Ever After (Sookie Stackhouse #13) by Charlaine Harris (2.5/5)
The Foxhole Courts (All for the Game #1) by Nora Sakavic (5/5)
The Raven King (All for the Game #2) by Nora Sakavic (5/5)
The King's Men (All for the Game #3) by Nora Sakavic (5/5

Graphic Novels/Comics:
Soppy: A Love Story by Philippa Rice (5/5)
Lumberjanes, Volume 4: Out of Time by Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis (5/5)
Fruits Basket: Collectors Edition, Volume 2 by Natsuki Takaya (5/5)
Giant Days, Volume 1 by John Allison, Lissa Treiman (4/5)
Giant Days, Volume 2 by John Allison, Lissa Treiman (4/5)
Fruits Basket: Collectors Edition, Volume 3 by Natsuki Takaya (5/5)
Outcast, Volume 1 by Robert Kirkman, Paul Azaceta (3.5/5)

Have I mentioned how good it feels to have finished the Sookie Stackhouse series? Because so damn good. It's a fun series, sure, but I got a little fatigued reading them back to back by the end - mostly because they're just fun but that doesn't go far when there's editing errors or just shit I didn't care about. Either way, overall the series is alright, I'd say 3.5/5 overall. The last book let me down a little, the final person she ended up with felt so damn rushed, the whole book kind of did, and juggling so many characters went okay but not great.

On the other hand - the All for the Game series. It isn't perfect, not by a long shot, but they're definitely damn good, great even. They're a little silly dramatic at points for me, but there were a few points something would happen - mostly Neil would open his mouth and say something - and I'd have to put my Kindle down and just like pace because sometimes no survival instincts with the talking.

I loved it, though, I just did. It's got problems, and trigger warnings for pretty much all the big things, but none of it felt over the top? Like parts of it really weren't dealt with in a healthy way, but they're teenagers and half of them don't seem to really trust the team psychiatrist or just don't think about it. It felt very real and was just so good, I'm so attached to these characters now. Also it's marketed as a romance series, but - not really? I mean there is a romance but isn't part of the story until the last book, so I'd keep that in mind. Either way: highly recommended if you can stomach some fucked up shit. (Don't let anyone give you shit if you can't, don't worry about it, don't push yourself).

I mini review things, mostly, as I read them over on Instagram, but as soon as the stress calms down I would like to get back into actually reviewing stuff - even just doing mini reviews and lumping a few things into a post. I did do one review this month, though! (Which, I believe, was my first review of the year? Holy books).

On the Blog: 
July 2016 | Monthly Wrap Up
Bout of Books 17 | Announcement 
Bout of books 17 | Update Post
Book and Audiobook review: Skinwalker (Jane Yellowrock #1)
Bout of Books 17 | Wrap Up

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