Almost there

I am so close to my goal of reading 100 this year. I only have FIVE books left. I used to strive for 150-200 books per year but it started to become a chore. I never want my love of reading to fade. Besides my book club reads and the books I read for conferences, I read only for pleasure.

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter
3 STAR RATING

This genre is such a hard read for me. I always get overly emotional. I was the same way with the Alex Cross books I read. I don't like reading about real life violence, especially towards women. This is a dark book. Claire and Lydia are two estranged sisters that reunite after 20 years when they try to figure out what happened to their long lost big sister; and how Claire's husband plays a role in the mystery.

The author held nothing back. This book is graphic, going into great detail about women being raped and tortured and murdered. Listening to it as an audio book felt like an overload of information to take in. It made it hard to skip the unpleasant parts that were making me uncomfortable. But I stuck through and finished it to the end. The book started to lose me though. I was impatient for the final confrontation and the story just dragging on and on. But the concluding chapter made up for it. It was very sweet and I'm happy that this sad sad story had a somewhat happy ending.





Doctor Strange vol 2: The Last Days of Magic by Jason Aaron
4 STAR RATING


Shit has really hit the fan in this volume for Doctor Strange. The Empirikul have seemingly killed all magic and now Strange has to try and find any hidden magic in the most dangerous places on Earth. And the monster in the basement has finally gotten loose. Honestly, it's scarier than any of the Empirikul. That thing is definitely going to be an ongoing problem for Strange and anyone that comes across it. I feel that the art has improved tremendously from the first volume. But that's maybe because I have now grown used to it.








Prophecy by Ellen Oh
1 STAR RATING

• Slow beginning, slightly boring
• Kira is a dull protagonist
• At page 111, still waiting for book to become interesting
• Kira is obviously the character “at odds” with everyone around her, being treated like a monster because of her demon hunting abilities
• Very generic storytelling, more geared towards a younger juvenile audience than teens

And that was just me being nice. This book was boring and awful to try and read. It took me forever just to get to the halfway point of the novel. Kira is such a lackluster heroine. I didn't care about her struggles. She barely had any kind of character development and she's the main character. Every one in this book fell flat for me. I didn't connect with any of them. I won't be reading the rest of the trilogy. I don't want to be any more disappointed than I already am with this series.






The Real Mrs. Price by J.D. Mason
5 STAR RATING


I love when I can finish a novel in a day, without feeling like it was a chore. This was such a compelling story. The author did a great job of making me care what each character has to say. I didn't necessarily like everyone but I liked to read the chapters from their POVs. Marlowe is the star of the show; being the character I related to the most. Even with that less than desirable ending, I could understand why she did what she did. Not everything gets wrapped up in a neat little bow. I somehow wish this could continue into another novel but the story is definitely finished. How sad for me.







Y The Last Man vol 3: One Small Step
4 STAR RATING

More and more, this series is growing on me. 355 is still avoiding her feelings, Yorick is still feeling the weight on his shoulders, and mother and daughter have reunited. A lot happened in this volume. The astronauts landed from space but the men died in the crash. But the lone female astronaut survived and she's pregnant with either or both of their babies. So man might still survive after all.

New month, New me

I am determined to read everything that is checked out on my library cards and to complete my reading for a conference I'm attending. It's a lot to read in the next two months but I'm determined.




Attack on Titan vol 21 by Hajime Isayama
4 STAR RATING

FINALLY, WE GET SOME ANSWERS! And those answers bring up even more questions. I was both expecting and surprised by who the Survey Corps decided to give the titan serum to. We're finally taking some serious losses again in the story, having lost two main characters in this volume. With all the action and turmoil and drama that just happened, I'm hoping for the next book to be calmer. I need to know what the hell is actually going on and I need it explained to me slowly and simply.















Walk with Me by JairoBuitrago
1 STAR RATING

I don't think this is a very good translation. I didn't like the words. The message of the book itself is very sweet and the art is nice to look at. But I just don't like this book. I wouldn't read this at a story time. I think it'd fail to grab and keep their attention.











Tidy by Emily Gravett
4 STAR RATING

I'm a huge fan of children books that rhyme. The story was very cute, great moral lesson about moderation. The art was bright and colorful and held my attention. I'd suggest this book for a story time, preferably toddlers.










Assassination Classroom vol 16 by Yusei Matsui
4 STAR RATING

So, everything is finally all out on the table. Koro Sensei has told Class 3-E about his past, and exactly how he became to be what he is. The story was very sad and melodramatic. The last teacher of the class plays a very important role that I was not expecting from this story. It succeeded in making Koro Sensei an even more sympathetic character. I knew some of the kids would then change their minds about wanting to assassinate him. But it's only about half to the class that have switched sides. The other half still want to kill him. At this point, I feel like I'd cry at either outcome.