Reading Wrap Up: November

In the month of November I met my 2016 reading challenge – I’ve read 60 books, and by now I’ve hit 64 books. Only 2 of the books I’ve added into my reading challenge this year have been DNF’s (Did Not Finish), which I think is pretty good. Come to think of it, I rarely put books down, but when I do, I have many reasons to do so. But that being said, here are the books I read in the month of November, including one DNF, because I couldn’t be bothered to waste more time on it.

SIX OF CROWS

Leigh Bardugo / 2015

It took me ages to pick up Six of Crows but once I did I breezed through it. This is a YA high-fantasy book about a group of thieves, who take on an impossible heist. The story has multiple point of views, each one a little more special than the other. There are many characters, but everyone is unique and has their own appeal. The plot is great, flows very nicely and the plot twists are just wonderful. One thing I noticed while reading was the fact that I kept imagining it as a movie, because Six of Crows would be a wonderful movie! And it would be great to see a young adult movie other than dystopian, since those have died off. PS: I did not read the original Grisha trilogy before picking up Six of Crows, but as of now, I have read the first one. So personally, I don’t think you need to read The Grisha trilogy to enjoy Six of Crows.

EMPIRE OF STORMS

Sarah J. Maas / 2016

As you can see, my November turned out great with two very good YA high-fantasy reads at the beginning of the month. The fifth book in the Throne of Glass series was just as good as the ones before, and even though I could try and critique it, I don’t want to. Empire of Storms, like the books before it, was fun and entertaining, filled with great character development and plot twists that had you wondering. After reading Empire of Storms, I also started to feel like I needed to read more adult fantasy. New adult fantasy is awesome on its own but I do think I need to expand my reading habits more. That being said, I will keep reading Sarah J. Maas because I like how easy flowing her writing style is. Plus, I’m way too invested in the characters to quit now.

DNF

LAIR OF THE LION

Christine Feehan / 2002

This marks my second book this year that I started and put down because I couldn’t finish it. Lair of the Lion is a retelling of The Beauty and the Beast, adult version, which means it has paranormal elements AND romance in it. The thing with the book that bothered me, despite it’s 4+ rating on Goodreads, was the writing style. It just didn’t do it for me at all. It felt weird and disconnected, and it might have been the use of Italian words, but then again, using Scottish words didn’t bother me in Outlander. Whatever the reason, Lair of the Lion just wasn’t for me, and after 100 pages or so, I felt like I had had enough. The plot was messy, the characters all over the place, the beasts were lions?, and she was seeing him as a man instead? I just couldn’t be bothered with this one at all.

MILK AND HONEY

Rupi Kaur / 2014

Who would have guessed I’ll be picking up a poetry book in 2016? I wouldn’t have seen this one coming at the beginning of the year but I guess I’m really trying to push myself out of my comfort zone. And since classics aren’t working, I still need to finish Frankenstein!, I’m looking towards poetry and Milk and Honey seemed to be the perfect choice. I’ve seen the poems circulate Tumblr for what seemed to be ages, and when I saw the book at the bookstore I knew I needed to have it. What a great decision! Reading the poems in the order they were meant to be, was a totally different experience, than reading them chaotically online.  Each poem tells a story, and each of the poem belongs to a chapter, a part of the journey. In case you haven’t read Milk and Honey yet, and you don’t know if you like poetry books, try this one, I thought it was wonderful!