July Review

Holy cow...July went by quick.

I read 4 books this month that I'm putting into this review, I did finish two more, but those will be put into my Booktube-a-thon wrap up next week. Read-a-thon's that start at the end of the month and end at the beginning of the next month throw me off...Because I technically did read 6 books this month.

If you'd rather watch this than read it here's the VIDEO

Any way here are the stats for this month:

Format:

1 -Graphic Novel
1- Audio Book
1 - Soft Cover
1- Hard Cover
0 - Books

Genre:

1- Conteporary
1- Non-fiction Autobiography
1- Horror/Thriller
1 - Historical Fiction

Star Ratings:

0 - 1 Star
0 - 2 Stars
1 - 3 Stars
2 - 4 Stars
1 - 5 Stars

With an average rating of 4

Pages

112
370
256
288

With an average of 33.1 pages per day

Around the Year in 52 Books

8) Read an "own" voices book
48) A book related to one of the 7 deadly sins
47) A book where the main character (or author) is of a different ethnic origin, religion, or sexuality than you

Giants Days Vol. 5 by John Allison

Published June 2017

So I wont talk about this much as it is volume 5 in a series. I continue to enjoy the friend growth, the character growth, we also get more of Ed and McGraw which is turning out to be rather endearing and funny. We get a bit of a peak at their summer vacation which was as entertaining as it was funny. 5 out of 5 stars.

This is Me: Loving the Person You Are Today by Chrissy Metz

Published March 2018

Have you seen This Is Us? If you haven't it's a TV drama on NBC about three siblings going through their lives, the struggles they had growing up, how it effects them today. Chrissy Metz plays the sister of two brothers, one of which is her "twin" but they were all born on the same day. It's a very heartbreaking and heartwarming show that usually leaves me in tears by the end of every episode. I, however, fall out of shows after a bit and have missed a couple episodes. However, this show captivated me not just because of it's drama and life lessons, but because of Chrissy. I'm not sure how I feel about Chrissy character Kate Pearson, as I wasn't able to relate to her. But I was surprised that Chrissy, as a person, fit into this character as herself, no fat suit, and she wasn't the comedy relief or the butt of a joke. Kate has her own issues that she tries to deal with, one of the main ones is her weight, but it becomes so much more than that as the show goes on. I was intrigued with this biography Chrissy published because I was curious about the woman behind the character. I don't think I knew really what I was expecting. I didn't read the synopsis before listening to this on Audible. I enjoyed the sample and bought it. The book over all, was a quick read, and really enjoyable. I didn't expect the life lessons Chrissy incorporates, some of which were really thought provoking, others I felt were too self-help bookish (which is one of the genre's this falls under if I had read the synopsis). I was surprised with some of the experiences that I connected with Chrissy on. Laughed at the embarrassment as she told her stories, and kept wondering how she was the beautiful positive person she was despite her childhood. Not to say that I feel like I "really know her" now that I've read this or anything, it was just honest. And I appreciated that. 4 out of 5 stars.

This book completed challenge 8) Read an "own" voices book.

Horns by Joe Hill

Published March 2010

Ignatius Perrish spent the night drunk, doing terrible things. When he wakes up the next morning he can't quite remember what it was he did, or drank, but does know he has a nasty hang over and horns growing out of his head. On the year anniversary of Merrin William's death, the love of Ig's life, Iggy is trying to figure out his life. The whole town of Gideon believes Iggy is the one who raped and murdered her, though he was never charged, he was never cleared either, believed to be the work of his privelaged and known family name to get him out of trouble and try to sweep it all under the rug. When Iggy goes around town trying to clear his head, people are starting to tell him some strange things, sins that are on their mind, they don't seem to mind his horns. But because of Gideon's opinion of him, Ig feels as though everyone has abandoned him, including God.

I didn't have high hopes going into this book, I don't know if it was because the opinion I keep hearing is "it's Stephen King's son so you know it's going to suck." But it all honesty, I preferred this over the movie. The movie left me going "what the fuck?" by the end while the book was so much smoother and more in depth with it's characters and it's surroundings. The movie did not do it any justice. Don't get me wrong, I had enjoyed the movie too, to a certain degree but this was better. I appreciated the different outlooks of the Devil. I knew what was going to happen, but not how, and the climatic scene where Ig confronts Merrin's murderer was a bit gruesome and better than how it ended up in the movie. And the background of the murderer was definitely chilling and helpful for the story. 4 out of 5 stars

This book completed challenge 48) A book related to one of the 7 deadly sins.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

Published January 2018

Lale Sokolov is a charmer, a well dressed ladies man, who also happens to be a Jew. 1942 Lale is one of the first to transport from Slovakia to Auschwitz, he's supposed to work for the Germans. Better him than his brother, is how he figures it. His brother has a wife and kids. Lale stands out from his fellow prisoners. In the camp he's looked up to, looked out for. He manages to get the priveleged position of the Tatowierer, the tattooist, to mark his fellow prisoners forever. One of the prisoners he marks leaves a lasting impression with a glance, Gita, Lale finds he has a new purpose in life. Through the struggles and suffering Lale is determined to use his position for good.

This is going to sound terrible, but I felt that this book was a bit too casual. I didn't feel as much emotion as I had originally thought I was going to when beginning this book. Ultimately the story felt like it was being told to me fairly distantly, I couldn't relate because I didn't find much emotion to share with Lale. The story was told very matter of fact but felt like there were details being with held on my behalf. This is going to sound even worse, but I'm unsure if it was because the story made it seem as though death was such a normal thing that when someone went missing or died, it wasn't heart breaking. Which, I feel, is an interesting thing, the normalization of death in this book is interesting.I want to look at this from a reader prespective, and that's what I've been doing, so when someone died or went missing, in any other story I'd wonder why I should care, how was this person relevant to the story? But asking that of a book based on a true story makes me feel terrible, because they were real lives that perished in this way, and here I am wondering why they mattered?  But I didn't feel any really danger or fear towards Lale which was frustrating to me because he's in a concentration camp. There were aspects that made me think he should be more cautious, safer, not risk Gita's life or his own for that matter, bu ultimately I didn't worried about his life. He positive outlook was endearing, and there were a couple moments that I felt he wouldn't get it back due to the things he witnessed. Still a very interesting story, don't get me wrong. I loved the multiple perspective point of views from Lale and Gita to know see the difference in how women and men were treated, and how certain women were singled out to be SS toys. 4 out of 5 stars.

This book completes challenge 47) A book where the main character(or author) is of a different ethnic origin, religion, or sexual identity that your own.

And that's it for my July review.

If you've read any of these I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Until next time!

Litta