Happy September! August was a pretty good month – nothing insane happened for once (well, nothing that wasn’t already happening). So I took the brief reprieve to read some books. This is what I read:
Books
Harp of Kings by Juliet Marillier – This author has quickly become an auto-buy for me. There’s just something so whimsical about her writing that almost makes me feel… homesick? It’s weird, but I love it. Speaking of, the second book in this series comes out today and I am gonna go get it after work!
This book follows a small cast of characters, trained warriors going undercover has bards to discover who took the missing Harp of Kings, an ancient artifact given to humankind by the fae. While the beginning of his book was a tad slow, it really picked up towards the end, and it and had some great character development. One of the characters I kinda hated at the beginning of the book, and by the end he was my favorite.
4.5 stars
Reamde by Neal Stephenson – This book I picked up on audio because it was a chunker. Coming in at over 1000 pages, the audiobook was something like 38 hours long. I gotta say though, it was pretty decent. I did definitely have my issues with it, which I might get into if I decide to write a full review on it. But story-wise it was pretty good. I can’t say I’ve ever read a 1000 page thriller and was actually thrilled the whole time. This didn’t seem to lag at all, which really surprised me. So yes, it was good, but fair warning: some of the terms used to describe people are dated.
3.75 stars
Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert – This was also an audiobook pick up. This is a romance focused around Chloe, the woman on the cover, and Red, the man on the cover. It was a very neat read – it had really good representation as far as race, sexuality, and chronic illness. And the characters were actually like… nice to each other. I realize that shouldn’t be the bar, but I don’t know what to tell you. The ending ‘conflict’ fell a bit flat for me, as it teetered a bit into the miscommunication trope, but overall this was a sweet, nice read.
3.75 stars
Manga
Shaman King vol 7 by Hiroyuki Takei – I finally picked up manga again! Albeit I did it on like August 29th, but it counts. This series is getting more interesting, and I’m liking it more now that we’re getting some character development on ‘the villains’.
So far I’m not smitten with this series like my sister is – she’s the one who wanted me to read it – but I’m enjoying it and I can see myself getting smitten if it keeps going the way it is.
3.5 stars
Hands Off! vols 1-2 by Kasane Katsumoto – The last time I was at an anime con in February, there was a stall selling manga for three bucks each. They had this entire series, and since I remembered reading it in high school and liking it, I picked it up – all eight volumes and the two sequel series volumes.
So far, reading it again for the first time in fifteen years, it’s actually pretty decent. It’s funny, and the plot it’s hinting at is interesting. So far though it’s been rather episodic with hints of character development so I’m hoping it enters an arc of some kind. But overall, not bad!
Other Stuff
- I turned 30 in August! I’m old now
- I had my third wedding anniversary in August! We’re old now
Reading Goals
- Read 50 books – 145/100
- Maintain a consistent posting schedule
January – Fail
February – Pass
March – Pass
April – Pass
May – Pass
June – Pass
July – Pass
August – Pass - Keep track of reading statistics – In progress
- Reduce physical TBR to 200 – 235
And that’s it! Lemme know if you’ve read any of the above. Happy reading!
Embuhleeliest 