Book Talk: October Wrap Up

I felt like I hardly got through any books (probably because of some of the books I read this month were slow-going) but I actually did pretty well for myself. Granted, I only actually read two novels but I'll take anything I can get. I did not realize how close I was to completing my Goodreads Reading Challenge for the year. I'm considering extending it from 80 to... 85? 90? What do you think? Thank goodness those productive summer months provided a cushion for the busy school year.

Stats:

• Books Read: 8
• Genre:
• Science Fiction: 4
• Fantasy: 2
• Mystery: 1
• Thriller/Horror: 1
• Page Count: 2,329

Books:

Golden Son by Pierce Brown

This series is everything I want in a sci-fi. Space travel, epic battles, and awesome technology?! Sign me up. I love reading about the politics of this society. It's probably even more exciting learning about it as it's being overthrown. Golden Son gets more into the happenings of the revolution and we get a front row seat to it all. There are lots of secrets that come to light in this installment that only makes you want more. My favorite parts were when Darrow was at the top of the world. I love seeing him in control and I think the way he leads is very fascinating. He creates these cool dynamics in the relationships he's in that are really fun to read. I only wish it didn't take me so long to get through. School gets in the way of everything. I'm glad I got a chance to read Golden Son, though, because I'm curious to see where Morning Star takes Darrow and his crew. Golden Son left off on a weird sorta cliffhanger, but then again, Golden Son didn't go in the direction I thought it was headed when I finished Red Rising so there's that.

Irredeemable, Vol. 2 by Mark Waid & Peter Krause

In this second volume of Irredeemable, we got to interact with the Plutonian as a person, not just a killing machine, which helped us gain a better understanding of his motives. Told through flashbacks and memories, like the first volume, other characters show us what the Plutonian was like leading up to his breakdown. This volume shows us the toll all the pressure of being a superhero takes on the characters -- and not just the Plutonian. There's not much more to say about this volume that I didn't say about the first and I'm excited to continue on and see where this story takes us.

The Queen by Kiera Cass

One of my favorite characters in the Selection series was Queen Amberly. She was so regal and kind and she mentioned her own Selection multiple times so I was curious to hear about her experience. This novella showed a snippet of her time in her Selection and it gave us an interesting perspective of the then-prince. You sorta get an idea of why and how he grew up to be such a terrible person but it definitely doesn't excuse any of his actions (although we do get to see Amberly's impact on him and how she was what he really needed in his life). It also made me appreciate Maxon, their son, more. Growing up with bad parents can take its toll on a person, and while Maxon only had to deal with one bad parent, he came out a million times better. Now that I've read this novella, I can picture Queen Amberly better. She comes from Honduragua, which gives me a better visual of herself as well as how Maxon would look. As far as the novella goes, I loved that Amberly knew what she wanted going in and was determined to get it but I also felt like she was blinded by her love at times. I wish we could've seen how Clarkson's love for Amberly developed because it all seemed very sudden. Ideally, we'd get a full novel but I think the general populace has had enough of the Selection. I really enjoyed getting a glimpse of Queen Amberly's early life and I can't wait to read the final novella, The Favorite.

Saga, Volume 2 by Brian Vaughan & Fiona Staples

This second volume was an emotional roller coaster ride. Picking up right where Volume 1 left off, we get acquainted with the narrator's grandparents and get some more of her parents' backstory. Still on the run, all the characters we were introduced to in the first volume begin crossing paths (they're actually more like brushing shoulders as they pass by) which is not good news for Alana and Marko seeing as pretty much everybody else is on a mission to kill them. I love the fantastical worlds and the space travel (a recurring theme in my reading selections) and the adventure that's unfolding before my eyes. Maybe I'll try marathoning the last three volumes... We'll see how that works out.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

I finally got around to reading Ready Player One! In my head, I'd visualized a story where we followed our protagonist around a Wreck-It Ralph (2012) type of world but it turned out to be much more complex than that, which makes more sense than what I was imagining. You can tell I don't the mind to be a storyteller because I figured it'd be something along the lines of Pixels (2015) meets... um... I'm not sure what. It just never occurred to me that there would be an antagonist besides the other players looking to find the prize. I appreciated that everybody in this Ready Player One was an underdog. From Wade and his friends to even the inventor of the Oasis, each character had to fight for what they had (except for the villains because they are villains). The setting of Ready Player One exaggerated the reason why we enjoy losing ourselves to another world whether it be books or video games or movies. Society has pretty much fallen apart and the Oasis is pretty much their sole reprieve in that desolate world. The commentary on society was unexpected but something I really appreciated. It was also cool when I was able to understand the 80's pop culture references but even the ones I didn't get were described in a manner where I could easily visualize what Wade's avatar was experiencing. I'm excited to see this as a movie because it's definitely adventure-y enough for that. And it's a virtual world so literally anything goes. I'd highly suggest this to anybody who likes gaming or a good underdog story. Or an adventure story. Or a dystopian-ish story... If you can read, you should read this book.

The Marvels by Brian Selznick

When I first heard of Brian Selznick's work (despite only hearing the best things) I was skeptical. I wasn't sure how well illustrations on their own could tell a story. I mean, yeah, comic books and graphic novels are mostly pictures but they still have dialogue and captions. I should've blindly trusted the word of mouth because there was nothing to be worried about. The illustrations were gorgeous and they tell the story in a succinct manner. It almost feels like a new medium. The book starts out in 1766 and tells the story of Billy Marvel and his lineage entirely through drawings. It isn't until almost 400 pages later that the words kick in, telling the story of Joseph in 1990, who is trying to connect the period-piece house his uncle lives in to the stories he uncovers about Billy Marvel and his family. The Marvels is a middle grade (kinda) historical fiction novel but it feels like a mystery at the same time. After we hear the story of the Marvel family, we take Joseph's perspective and try to piece together why it's relevant. I found myself a little frustrated when the prose started because I didn't understand that I wasn't supposed to know how these two stories were linked but once I accepted that fact, I could truly take in the story. It's also cool that the house described in The Marvels was inspired by an actual preserved house that you can visit in England. I found my mind drifting back to this story long after I finished it. For some reason, it's left its impression on me.

Slasher Girls & Monster Boys by April Genevieve Tucholke & Others

Slasher Girls & Monster Boys is a thriller/horror anthology so I made sure to take notes as I finished the stories in order to avoid forgetting about a story. You never really know what you're going to get in an anthology (quality-wise) but I thought the concept for this one was pretty neat. Drawing inspiration from movies, music, or stories that we already know, fourteen authors come up with their own take on tales that have been immersed in our culture. As I said previously, I took notes on all fourteen stories but I don't want to go through them one by one because we would all be here forever. Instead, I'm going to give my overall impression of this collection and maybe point out a couple stories that stood out to me. First of all, it wasn't so much thriller/horror as it was monster and supernatural stories. Some of them were kind of gross or predictable or even beautiful in a twisted way but most of them didn't scare me. The two stories that stood out to me the most were Carrie Ryan's "In the Forest Dark and Deep" (inspired by Alice in Wonderland) and Marie Lu's "The Girl Without a Face" (inspired the monster hiding in your closet). These stories made my hairs stand on end with the vivid, gruesome imagery from Ryan and the general terror anyone would feel when they're dealing with a person with no face. There was a great variety in this anthology and while I wasn't scared by a majority of the stories, I definitely enjoyed most of them from a reader's standpoint. Good writing, just not scary. Disclaimer: I say "not scary" but that's just because I have been over-saturated with reading murders from my fantasy novels and whatnot. If you're sensitive to that sort of stuff, I'd stay away. 

The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman & Chris Riddell

I was drawn to The Sleeper and the Spindle because I love the story of Sleeping Beauty and it's Neil Gaiman so not reading it actually goes against all logic. The illustrations were beautiful and the art style fit the tone of the story really well. I also liked that it was black and white and gold. Keeping the colors to a minimum allows the story to take center stage and use the visuals as a guide. One of the things I noticed as I was reading was that the illustrations tell you parts of the story that the words don't, while still following the words. Does that make sense? Maybe not. Towards the end, the twist is unveiled and with the words alone, I would've had difficulty keeping who was whom straight. Another thing I appreciated about this retelling was the twist. It turned the genre conventions around and we have a brave and fearless queen that's not the main character but is the protagonist. I'm not sure any of this is making sense but I really liked how the story played out. It's also ridiculously short so it wouldn't hurt anybody to pick it up. 

I didn't do as bad as I thought I did this month, just by looking at the numbers, but more than half of these books have illustrations so I'm not sure if I was actually that successful. That being said, I technically read 21 stories and that's more than anything month thus far. Have you read any of these books? Are there any that you want to read? What have you been reading this month? You know I'm always in the mood to talk about books. Let's chat in the comments! If you want more Book Talk, check out my Duology Recommendations! Don't forget to follow xo, Yvette on bloglovin, via email, and on Google+!

Talk to you soon!

xo, Yvette