BOOKS THAT I READ IN AUGUST (AND A DNF)

Over the past few months, I feel as if I've been on the verge of a reading slump. However, unlike last year's Reading Slump of Doom, I actually want to read. I want to pick up a book and read it. I simply feel as if this reading slump is a slump of exhaustion rather than a disinterest to read, if that makes sense. I don't have the energy to read. I know that's quite the contradiction but it's true. Anyway, I read five books in August (two of those being art books).

T H E    R E D    P Y R A M I D

(THE KANE CHRONICLES BOOK 1)

AUTHOR: RICK RIORDAN

GENRE: MIDDLE-GRADE FANTASY

RATING:✦✦✦✦✧

I enjoyed this book immensely. I loved all of Riordan's Greek mythology books. The Heroes of Olympus being my personal favourite. I loved the way that Riordan was able to meld the Greek and Roman mythologies together, despite being very similar. I enjoyed the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgaard series but I wasn't too fond of it. The Kane Chronicles is Riordan's foray into Egyptian mythology. I have to admit that my knowledge of Egyptian history and mythology is limited to Stargate SG-1 and any TV documentary that Bettany Hughes presents. Ergo, I'm not the most knowledgeable. Jaffa kree.

Despite the main protagonists being on the young side, I loved the adventures that Carter and Sadie get up to. I like that the 'gods' and 'goddesses' portrayed in The Red Pyramid weren't as juvenile as the ones shown in the aforementioned Greek and Norse mythology adventures. In those books, the gods appear to be very juvenile and, quite frankly, silly - Poseidon wearing a Hawaiian surfer shirt? Who has that mental image of the God of the Sea? I always disliked that aspect of Riordan's books. Thankfully, the Egyptian gods appear a lot more 'put together.'

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I laughed quite a bit at the jokes; Riordan never fails to make me chuckle at the jokes in his books. I most assuredly would continue on with this series. 

B O O K I S H    A N D    T H E    B E A S T

(ONCE UPON A CON BOOK 3)

AUTHOR: ASHLEY POSTON

GENRE: CONTEMPORARY

RATING: ✦✦✦✦✦

I have such a soft spot for this series. I absolutely love it. Normally, this type of book would not have shown up on my radar. However, this whole series has a place in my heart. It is simply the most adorable and heart-warming book series. It speaks to my heart in the most wholesome way. This whole book series is a collection of fairy tale retellings but with a nerdy twist. All of the main characters are fans (or actors) of (in) a science-fiction television show (turned rebooted movie), Starfield which is an amalgamation of Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Babylon 5, and the kitchen sink. The first book, Geekerella, spoke to my fangirl side. It made me miss fangirling about my favourite shows to people online and bitching about the fact that we didn't need a rebooted movie *cough*StarTrek*cough* but ultimately ended up enjoying it. 

So, Bookish and the Beast is, you guessed it, the retelling of Beauty and the Beast with that geeky twist. Rosie ends up working in the personal library to pay off a debt and falls in love with the beast, disgraced Starfield actor, Vance Reigns. 

Now, I have to admit right away, that nothing about this book was particularly unique. I was able to call pretty much all of the twists and turns as soon as the set up was started. It read like a Hallmark movie - not that that is a bad thing. That simply made it a very quick read and a very cute read. That's all that I can really say about it. It was cute. Is it worth 5 stars for simply being cute? No. That's where the fangirl aspect really brings the magic. I could sympathise with Rosie and the whole aspect of the library of Starfield books and how much they mean to her. I uncovered all of my old Star Trek: Voyager books last year. When I first bought them, I remember being so unbearably excited to read them and to see what adventures my favourite characters get themselves into. Over the years, finding Star Trek books in shops has been like trying to find a needle in a hay stack. It's virtually impossible. The only place to get these books is eBay and even then, I can never guarantee the quality. This book brought up all of these emotions that I had last year when I unearthed them after fifteen or so years. This book series brings up a lot of nostalgia for me. Yes, it's not particularly unique in what happens but I just love it. 

T H E    A R T    O F    C O C O

(THE ART OF DISNEY PIXAR)

RATING: ✦✦✦✦✦

I love the Pixar movie 'Coco'. I absolutely love it. It took me a couple of years to pluck up the courage to watch it; I have a slight phobia of moving skeletons. You read that correctly. I do not like moving skeletons. A stationary skeleton? No problem. A moving one? There will be a Kazzie shaped hole in the door. And yes, I am fully aware that I am a moving skeleton but I don't see my skeleton moving. So guess what 'Coco' involves? Moving skeletons. A. Lot. Of moving skeletons. To my surprise, that never bothered me when I watched the movie. In fact, I absolutely loved the skeleton characters in the Land of the Dead. 

Visually, 'Coco' is one of the most stunning movies that I've ever seen. I love the use of colour throughout the movie, the costumes that the characters wear and the magnolias that prevelant throughout the movie. It is simply stunning. So, I knew that I wante d to read the 'Art of' book. I had wanted to in my collection for a while and decided to treat myself and get it. It did not disappoint. The art within the book is so inspiring and you really understand where the artists got their inspiration for the movie and how reverantly they treated Dia de los Muertos. A lot of people associate death with very sombre colours and silence, but the Mexican tradition is so full of colour and celebration and is ultimately about life and remembering people. Cemetaries aren't places to be afraid of but are for gatherings, celebration, and inclusion. Their ancestors aren't simply forgotten once in the grave. They are remembered and are still full of life. It is a visually inspiring book and I love it. It makes me want to design my own alebrije (spirit guide). 

T H E    H O U S E    O F    D R A G O N S
(THE HOUSE OF DRAGONS BOOK 1)
AUTHOR: JESSICA CLUESS
GENRE: FANTASY
RATING: DNF @ pg. 110

I had such high hopes for this book. I wanted it to be something great. The premise sounded amazing. The characters sounded brilliant. There was a secret magic weilder called Emilia. I was living and waiting for this book to be released. After reading two great novels in August, I was looking forward to this book. The first 50 of so pages at the beginning were dedicated to introducing the five main characters. All good things were happening, if a little slow. 

Then two things happened.

Number One. I read a sentence that read as 'She was more righter than she knew.'

Read that again. 

How did that sentence pass-by a book editor? That is not a sentence. Nobody speaks like that much less write like that. That is the incorrect use of 'righter'. 'Righter' is a noun; a righter is a righter of wrongs. It is not used to describe how correct a person is. I could not get over that sentence. I had to read it several times to make sure that I was actually reading a sentence like that. I previously read Cluess' debute novel 'A Shadow Bright and Burning' and thoroughly enjoyed it. I didn't continue on with the series because I did not see the other books on sale outside of Amazon and so was not inclined to pick it up on a whim. This particular book is Cluess' fourth novel. I would like to think that sentences like the one above would not be in a fourth novel. It doesn't read correctly and it certainly does not sound right. It's a sentence that someone that is just beginning English as a second language would use. 

Number Two: It was boring.

At 100 pages of a book like this, I would have expected the plot to gain some traction. Nope. I was hating the characters. I wanted to hit all of them, even Emilia who up until that point was a favourite. I didn't care for the charaters. I found them all to be abysmal people; I didn't support any of them. I didn't want any of them to win. I was bored by them and their token-ness. I felt as if a lot of these chaacters were simply token characters so that the author appeases all members of society. That's how they read to me. I didn't particularly feel as if the book was particularly well written and there were far too many narratives. Each of the five main characters had their own perspective and I did not care for them at all. It was too many voices that were going over what happened in the previous chapter but from their own perspective. I felt as if the narrative wasn't being pushed forward enough. 

I was ultimately bored with it and simply did not want to continue on with it. I was so bitterly disappointed in it.

T H E    A R T    O F    O N W A R D

(THE ART OF DISNEY PIXAR)

RATING: ✦✦✦✦✦

After quitting 'The House of Dragons', I needed some serious brain bleach. Enter: The Art of 'Onward.' 

I recently watched 'Onward' for the first time, bawled my eyes out at the end and promptly wanted to see the visual development process of the movie. Like with every other 'Art of' Disney book that I have read, this one did not disappoint. I came away from reading this book inspired and wanting to be more like Barley and Ian. I love what these two characters bring to the movie and what they inspire in each other. I love that this movie was based off of the life story of the director who lost his father as a toddler and how he and his brother formed this incredibly strong bond. It was so heart-warming. I lost my father when I was 28, an age where I did not expect to lose a parent, but he had been ill for most of my life. 

I love the magic of this movie. I love the way that the director used so many mythological and fantastical creatures and put them into a modern suburban and metropolitan settings; the Manticore was my favourite character design. Whoever came up with the idea to put lion's paws into high heeled shoes was a genius. It still makes me laugh whenever I see that scene. I just loved this book. I doff my hat to all of the Disney and Pixar artists that work on these movies. Never stop beng epic, guys. 

I know that I said that I read 5 books in August and I did read 5 books in August but I'm including this last book under the umbrella of 'Books I read in August' because I listened to the vast majority of the audiobook in August when I was painting a wall at work. I just finished listening to it yesterday and wanted to include it. It's my blog, I get to do what I want. 

G O L D E N    S O N

(RED RISING BOOK 2)

AUTHOR: PIERCE BROWN

GENRE: FANTASY

AUDIOBOOK NARRATOR: TIM GERARD REYNOLDS

RATING: ✦✦✦✦✧

I had a difficult relationship with this audiobook. To be honest, I feel as if I've been having a difficult time with audiobooks in general right now. My attention span seems to be non-existent at the moment. I listen to a lot of Fantasy and Science-fiction audiobooks and if my attention dips, I find that I'm completely lost as to what is going on. This happened quite a bit during 'Golden Son.' I had to skip back 30 seconds or 3 minutes to understand what was happening to the characters. 

For the most part, I did grasp what was happening and when my attention was there, I was loving everything that was happening. When my attention dipped and I was confused, that was when my enjoyment dipped a little bit too. It would take a little bit to get back into the swing of things but when it did, I was back in the world.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved the development of Darrow and his crew. I loved how this book explores more grey areas and that it wasn't so black and white as it was in the first book. I forgot how young Darrow was in the first book and that this book takes place a few years after the end of 'Red Rising' - I think that's where a lot of my confusion lay.

That ending though! Oh my goodness. I did not see that coming. The last six hours were a whirlwind and I was stuck to my Airpods the entire time. I loved it. Amazing. Tim Gerard Reynolds does an amazing job as the narrator. I loved it. I'm looking forward to getting to 'Morning Star' which is the final book of the original trilogy. Though, I will wait a little longer to get to that audiobook because I want to have the physical copies of the book so that if I need to, I can read alongside it. 

Here's hoping that September is a better reading month. That being said, we're already a week in and I haven't read anything since I included 'Golden Son' in August. Oh well.