Closing the lid of June and July

Due to tumultous events and overall busy times, I missed my June recap post, so I will do a recap of two months now.

 

June-July 2013:

 

* M. Flyte "City of Dark Magic"

* R. Yancey "The 5th Wave"

* D. Leon "Death at La Fenice"

* A. Tarttelin "Golden Boy"

* A.M. Homes "May We Be Forgiven"

* T. Gauld "You're All Just Jealous of My Jetpack"

 

448 + 460 + 338 + 343 + 480 + 160 = 2229 pages in two months. Jetpack-book doesn't actually have page numbers (which I found so odd!), so I'm relying on Goodreads information here.

 

This month it's Austen in August, and also Bout of Books, which I still haven't decided on.

 

I'm currently reading Mansfield Park (2 chapters a day), and The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde - I think Thursday Next are my choice for the best summer read.

Catching up - a bunch of mini-reviews

Since I am so much behind with my book-reviewing, I decided to just take the easy way out and write only a couple of words of those books I have read in the past months. (Except for the Classics Club ones, of which I want to write longer.)

 

 
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde - I loved this book so much. Booknerd's dream. I can't wait to get my hands on the sequels, if what I heard is true, the series will become even better.

 

5/5 on Goodreads.

 

 

 

The Forgotten Queen by D.L. Bogdan - this book is about a less-known Tudor, Queen Margaret of Scotland. Maybe her life has not been covered so much because there was not much to say? This is what I felt when finishing this book. Margaret's character comes out as really annoying by the end (she makes a lot of questionable decisions, especially when it comes to her relations with men, and she seemed to have some serious self-esteem issues). I appreciate all that I learnt from this book, but mediocre plot + nothing-special writing didn't suck me in that much (it took me a long time to finish the book).

 

2/5 on Goodreads (just as a reminder - 2 on GR means "It was okay", so it's not even a negative rating).

 

 

 

The Golem and the Djinni by Helene Wecker - I had problems with this book, partly maybe caused by high expectations (golems? djinn? I am bound to love it, right?) First, the writing just didn't appeal to me that much. I didn't write down a single quote from the book. It wasn't bad, but it just wasn't for me. The characters showed a lot of promise, but in the end, I wasn't emotionally invested into any of them. I see what the author was trying to do and say, but for me it just came out kind of lacluster. It's quite a long book and by the end I really just wanted to get finished. Given my slight obsession with the djinn, I was also disappointed because the djinni in the book wasn't humorous or witty at all, he mostly embodied the negative characteristics (selfish, with anger management issues). I don't know, seeing all the praise for this book I was kind of sad it didn't do that much for me. That all being said, the setting of New York in the turn of the century was kind of captivating.

 

3/5 on Goodreads.

 

 

City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte - this book proved how important it is to choose the right story for the right moment. I chose City of Dark Magic to read for the Prague trip, and it worked well, because the novel is set in Prague and it's the kind of easy reading that suits me when I have problems concentrating. I was bound to enjoy it because I was basically wandering around in those same places where characters of the book did. Aside from those subjective feelings, I got a lot of Dan Brown vibe from this book. At some point I had problems with info-dumping. Some of the things didn't make sense. I had no problems with the paranormal element. I will probably read the sequel, just because, you know, Prague.

 

3/5 on Goodreads.

 

 

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey - this is a young adult dystopian book that I have seen getting a lot of praise. I am not a young adult reader, so I am always in fear that I am being unfair just because the genre is not my favourite. I think it's actually a decent book. I wouldn't jump on the fangirl/-boy wagon, but it was a decent story. A few things disturbed me - given that the novel was written by several different POVs, there was really nothing except for the plot itself to give any indication that these were different characters, so I don't think the different POV-thing was done well at all. But it was a gripping read and the whole idea of by whom the earth was taken over was kind of new and captivating.

 

3/5 on Goodreads.

 

 

Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon - I picked up this detective story after I heard the news that my grandmother has passed away and I knew for sure I won't be able to read anything heavy or actually anything that would require any kind of emotional investment. I think it served its purpose well, although it made me rething whether I want to continue with Leon's Brunetti-series. But I probably will because this being the first book of the series is definitely not the best one. The books are set in Venice, which was a huge pro-factor for me when deciding which contemporary detective series I'd like to start.

 

3/5 on Goodreads.

 

 

Closing the lid of May

May - what an overall successful and pleasant month. So much happened. Spring finally arrived, my Finnish classes ended for this half-a-year, we were reading lots during Bout of Books 7.0, I made some important health-related decisions that should promise for better future. I am happy with you, May!

 

What I read in May 2013:

 

* M. Atwood "The Blind Assassin" (Classics Club big list)

* D.L. Bogdan "The Forgotten Queen" 

* B. Kingsolver "Flight Behavior" (Women's Prize shortlist)

* R. Bradbury "Something Wicked This Way Comes" (Classics Club big list)

* J. Fforde "The Eyre Affair"

* H. Wecker "The Golem and the Djinni"

* G.G. Marquez "One Hundred Years of Solitude" (Classics Club big list)
 



This is my boyfriend reading one of Martin's books. With
Robert. What lovely emotion on this photo.

Page count: 521 + 315 + 436 + 290 + 373 + 484 + 337 = 2756 pages

I think 7 books is the most I've done during blogging since the beginning of the year, so thanks a lot, Bout of Books!
 

In Classics Club May Meme post I set down the three classics I wanted to read in May. Well, I only read the Atwood book - I didn't really get into Conan Doyle and Dickens at all, so I didn't force them - the better time will come. However, I did read three CC books in May, which I am very happy with. And also enjoyed all of them, so that is a good thing too (I really have to catch up with the reviews, though...)
 

Okay, plans for June (and what a busy month this will be).
 

* Classics Spin #2 Summer Edition - I get to read "Villette" by Charlotte Brontë. I am excited! "Jane Eyre" is such a famous book, but it's also a story a bit overly chewn by the world by now, so I am so so curious to discover the later works of Charlotte. I started the book last night after I finished "One Hundred Years..." (very suitably on the last day of May) and read a few pages; I don't have opinions yet but it's definitely Charlotte's style there.
 

* O from Délaissé is hosting 18th Century English Literature Event for June - even though it will be a super busy month  for me, I wanted to take part because I am scared of the 18th century English lit and I am especially scared of Defoe and "Moll Flanders", which I picked to read. So hoping that reading with the rest of the classics-loving folk will make it easier!
 

* We are going to Prague this month for four days (this is like my dream destination for a city holiday ever). I am slightly obsessed with Prague and I want to read two books around the time of the trip - Magnus Flyte's "City of Dark Magic", which is set in Prague, and re-read Milan Kundera's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being", one of my favourite books from high-school reading programme (oh yes, we got to read some interesting books there :) ).




Robert got tired :)

It will be also the Midsummer's holidays this month, coinciding with my week-long vacation from work. We will likely be heading to boyfriend's parents' summer cottage in the middle of nowhere - which is actually the most perfect place for reading, ever (the forest, the lake, the nightless nights of Finland - this one day of the year when sun doesn't set).

 

Also, Women's Prize winner for this year will be announced on 5th of June, which is already next week - I really want to know which book wins.