May/June 2017 Wrap Up

Books read: 11

Hello everyone! I’m back on track with my wrap-ups. I tried to take a good photo of them all, but then remembered that some were from the library. So, not all of them are pictured, but I tried my best! Overall, I had a solid reading month and got through many requests and books from BookCon. My reviews averaged a little lower than usual, at a 3.09. Here’s the breakdown:

– I Must Have You by JoAnna Novak // fiction // 3 stars.
~~~~I picked this up because it was the first book I’ve seen in a long time that deals with eating disorders. To build on this, most books about eating disorders are YA, so they often don’t elaborate on the ugly parts of the illnesses. This book really showed how scary anorexia and bulimia can be. Unfortunately, I wasn’t a big fan of the plot, so that affected the review for me. If you want to see my full review: click here x.

–It’s Not Like It’s a Secret by Misa Sugiura // YA fiction // 4 stars
~~~~I was so excited that my workplace was sent the ARC for this title. It’s about a queer, Asian-American girl who moves to a new school and finds herself crushing on a female classmate. It’s such a wonderful story that also touches on racism and homophobia. There was one chapter that made me cringe, so my review went down one star. Other than that, I loved this book!

–Our Own Private Universe by Robin Talley // YA fiction // 4 stars
~~~~My first Robin Talley book! It was everything I could want from a ‘queer girls goes off to summer camp and finds herself’ novel. I went to the Harlequin booth at BookCon, in search of recommendations, and they named this book. I had already read it, but I was so happy that the representative and I got to chat about it briefly. Beware, this is a really cute book. In addition, has a few sexual scenes, if that bothers you. This was my favorite book of May!

–Rest in the Mourning by r.h. Sin // poetry // 4 stars
~~~~This is the best poetry book I’ve read in a while. I had a dry spell where I couldn’t really get into any poetry books I picked up. This one definitely got me out of that funk. The poems were mostly short, but they touched on delicate subjects, like consent and rape. r.h. Sin really captured me with this work.

–Cottonmouths by Kelly J. Ford // fiction // 3 stars
~~~~I picked up this book because I hadn’t read a F/F mystery in a long time. It ended up not being very F/F or mystery at all. It is mostly a very, very uncomfortable fiction novel with a queer main character who is super unlikeable. I kept reading because I was intrigued at how squirmy I was getting. If you want to see my few review of this book, click here x.

–Memories by Lang Leav // poetry // 3 stars
~~~~I didn’t care for this collection of poems very much. This is probably because I can’t relate to break-up and broken hearted themes. I ended up skipping through most of the book just for the sake of getting through it. I’m disappointed, because I’ve heard so many great things about Lang Leave, but I just couldn’t do this one.

–Smack by Melvin Burgess // fiction // 3 stars
~~~~I picked up this book because it was on a Goodreads list with Crank and Go Ask Alice, both which I loved. I aim to read a lot of books about addiction, as I believe that it’s a disease that the general public needs to know more about. This book was a very quick read, similar to the two books I mentioned before. Unfortunately, it wasn’t executed as well as the other ones and was much less interesting. Still, a great read with important takeaways.

–Charlotte and Daisy by Amanda Rotach Huntley // science fiction // 4 stars
~~~~This was the first book I read after I got back from BookCon. It was the perfect start to my enormous pile of 27 books. The story touches on mental illnesses, specifically depression and PTSD, and has many educational scenes in it. I am very pleased with the amount of research and effort Amanda Rotach Huntley puts into her writing. If you want to read my full review, click here x.

–Nothing is Strange by Mike Russell // science fiction // 4 stars
~~~~I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All 20 short stories brought me into their own wacky world. I’m not a short story fan, but these really blew me away. If you’re looking for a quick, weird sci-fi read, this is it. My full review can be found here x.

–10 Things I Can See From Here by Carrie Mac // YA fiction // 3 stars
~~~~I’m really looking forward to writing a full review of this. This book touches on anxiety, alcoholism, and LGBT themes. I was not a fan of how the anxiety piece of this book was executed. It wasn’t written in a way for neurotypical people to enjoy reading it. Once the book got past that and into the second half, it was AMAZING. The way the main character’s budding queer relationship developed and the scenes with her alcoholic father played out were very well written. Be on the look out for a review in the future!

–Understanding the Alacran by Jonathan LaPoma // fiction // 3 stars
~~~~This was another request that the author kindly sent to me in exchange for a review. This book truly showed the reality of alcoholism. The characters were also very developed, although unlikeable. I’m so glad this book made its way to me, because I learned a lot from it. If you want to see my full review, click here x.

That’s it for my wrap-up! I’m noticing that I mostly stuck to fiction for the past 2 months. I did read a lot of YA, though, which is different. I’m glad that I read so many LGBT themed books, since June was pride month. Thanks for tuning in with me and I’ll see you at the end of July!