Wednesday 3 September 2014

august wrap-up

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hi guys! today i have my august wrap-up for you! so, let's get right into it:

'the tooth' by shirley jackson (goodreads) - this is a collection of short sinister stories by the queen of creepy. it's part of the penguin mini modern classics collection which i adore, they're very short reads and a great way to take a break in the middle of a monster 800-pager or something. the stories were about having a tooth pulled, a creepy man on a coach, a bad child at nursey, a village lottery, and a young girl at an adults party. the first and last stories didn't have any real effect on me, but i found the three in the middle to be really unsettling and creepy. they're too short to give any kind of explanation of the events so you're just left going, "oh my god, what?! what?! what was that about?!", and i LOVED that reaction.

'peter pan' by j.m. barrie (goodreads) - 'peter pan' is my favourite disney film and i adore the characters, and felt it was about time that i read the book. we're all very familiar with the beautiful story, so i won't explain the plot. it was so charming and wonderful, and it was such a pleasure for me to read. i feel like j.m. barrie knows and understands both children and adults really well, and he appealed to both the young and old in me.

'scott pilgrim' #4, #5, and #6 by bryan lee o'malley (goodreads 4, 5, 6) - as i said in my last wrap-up, this was a re-read for me, and i adored getting back into this world. it was like putting on a lovely warm blanket in winter. we all know what 'scott pilgrim' is about so i won't say much about it other than it is pretty much the original graphic novel series and i really enjoyed reading it again.

'so long, and thanks for all the fish' by douglas adams (goodreads) - this is the fourth book in the 'hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy' series that i've been reading for quite a while know. it's a widely celebrated sci-fi story most well known for it's PERFECT british humour. this book is kind of a bit of a love story as the protagonist, arthur, returns to earth and meets fenchurch, who is an adorable character, and it's essentially about their relationship and how they spend their time together. fenchurch really made this book for me, i thought she was excellent.

'mostly harmless' by douglas adams (goodreads) - this is the final book in the 'hitchhiker's series. sadly fenchurch was absent in this book, which i was really sad about, but it did feature a lot of hilarious ford/arthur dialogue, which i adore. overall i feel like the ending was a bit sudden and kind of underwhelming but, having thought about it, it did resolve the series nicely. i'm actually really sad that the series is over; i've been reading it so gradually over the past year that it's become a part of my life and i don't really know what to do with myself now, haha!

'four: a divergent collection' by veronica roth (goodreads) - earlier this year i read and loved the 'divergent' series (i wrote about it here, here, and here) so of course i had to pick this up. it is a bind-up of four novellas from four/tobias' point of view, and also a few extra scenes from 'divergent' from his point of view as well. i have mixed feelings about this book, really. i really enjoyed learning about four's initiation and his transfers to dauntless, but getting his perspective on scenes i had already read from tris' point of view just didn't add anything for me at all, and i found them quite boring. i felt the same about the extra scenes at the end. overall, i liked getting back into the world, and i love veronica roth's style and i can't wait to read more from her, but this book just didn't excite me. if she were to write some stuff about eric, however, THAT would excite me.

'the disenchantments' by nina lacour (goodreads) - this book is about a group of friends who go on tour with their band the summer after they finish high school. the protagonist colby thinks that he and his friend bev are skipping college and going to europe after the tour, but it turns out that bev has other plans, which she breaks to him just after they set off, and the story unfolds from there. i ADORED this book! it's the perfect road-trip story and made me so eager to go travelling. i loved the approach to life that was shown through their adventures as well - starting a band and playing shows even if you suck, travelling across states just to talk to a guy with a tattoo you're interested in, drawing and creating things all the time, making friends and coming together to collaborate on artwork, just DOING STUFF. it's exactly the kind of life i want to lead and i actually found this book so inspiring. other than that, the story was excellent and i loved the characters, but it just really spoke to me.

'the bermudez triangle' by maureen johnson (goodreads) - i was in the mood for the some contemporary this month so of course i turned to the queen of contemporary, maureen johnson! i've adored every maureen johnson book that i've read so far and this one was no exception. it's about 3 girls who are all best friends, and during the summer one girl goes away to a summer school, and when she returns she finds the other two friends have started seeing each other. i adored the characters in this book, and it approached the issues of exploring your sexuality as a teenager and dating a close friend really really intelligently. i loved it!

'horrorstor' by grady hendrix (goodreads) - i wrote a whole review on this incredible book so you can click through to read that here, but let me tell you: it is FANTASTIC. i loved it. it is incredible. go read it right away.

thanks for reading guys! hope you had a great reading month, and please link me to your wrap-ups in the comments below! x

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