Goodbye, July! I feel like I say this in every single wrap up post I ever do, but I honestly cannot believe it is over. Now August is here, I'm going back to Uni in two weeks, and it is as hot as ever here in the southeast. Like 90% humidity, 100 degree days. (which I HATE) But you don't want me to get off on a rant about how much I hate hot weather, so I'll just stick to the books. For the past two weeks, you may have noticed that this blog went a little dark. That is because I have been living at the beach, the little bit of vacation time in my summer. Its amazingly beautiful and relaxing there, but the problem is that there is no wifi. No wifi = no ability to post. So I apologize for that, but I am back now! July was an awesome reading month for me, on account of the vacation time. I read fifteen books but only got around to posting four reviews. I would've posted more, because I did read some truly amazing books this month, but the no wifi thing really cramped my style. But despite it all, here is my July wrap up!
1. The Potion Diaries (US title: Madly) – Amy Alward ☆☆☆
When the Princess of
Nova accidentally poisons herself with a love potion meant for her
crush, she falls crown-over-heels in love with her own reflection. Oops.
A nationwide hunt is called to find the cure, with competitors
travelling the world for the rarest ingredients, deep in magical forests
and frozen tundras, facing death at every turn.
Enter Samantha
Kemi - an ordinary girl with an extraordinary talent. Sam's family were
once the most respected alchemists in the kingdom, but they've fallen on
hard times, and winning the hunt would save their reputation. But can
Sam really compete with the dazzling powers of the ZoroAster megapharma
company? Just how close is Sam willing to get to Zain Aster, her dashing
former classmate and enemy, in the meantime? And just to add to the pressure, this quest is ALL OVER social media. And the world news. No big deal, then.
~~~
(I'll let my goodreads review speak for this one) you can find that
HERE
2. The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell – Chris Colfer (reread) ☆☆☆☆
Alex and Conner Bailey's
world is about to change, in this fast-paced adventure that uniquely
combines our modern day world with the enchanting realm of classic fairy
tales.
"The Land of Stories" tells the tale of twins Alex and
Conner. Through the mysterious powers of a cherished book of stories,
they leave their world behind and find themselves in a foreign land full
of wonder and magic where they come face-to-face with the fairy tale
characters they grew up reading about.
But after a series of
encounters with witches, wolves, goblins, and trolls alike, getting back
home is going to be harder than they thought.
~~~
I first read this book a couple of years ago at the suggestion of some very smart girls that I babysit for, and I ended up falling completely in love with the series. Every year when a new book comes out, I can't resist rereading all of them. I think they're funny and clever without being too juvenile, and I love it when all of my favorite fairy tales are tied together in one world.
3. The Land of Stories: The Enchantress Returns – Chris Colfer (reread) ☆☆☆☆☆
spoilers! After decades of hiding, the evil Enchantress who cursed Sleeping Beauty is back with a vengeance.
Alex
and Conner Bailey have not been back to the magical Land of Stories
since their adventures in The Wishing Spell ended. But one night, they
learn the famed Enchantress has kidnapped their mother! Against the will
of their grandmother, the twins must find their own way into the Land
of Stories to rescue their mother and save the fairy tale world from the
greatest threat it's ever faced.
~~~
Again, I've read this before, but I think this one is tied with the last addition to the series as my favorite one. Also, this cover is for sure my favorite, it's so gorgeous!!
4. The Land of Stories: A Grimm Warning – Chris Colfer (reread) ☆☆☆☆
spoilers! The Brothers Grimm have a warning for the Land of Stories.
Connor
Bailey thinks his fairy-tale adventures are behind him - until he
discovers a mysterious clue left by the famous Brothers Grimm. With help
from his classmate Bree and the outlandish Mother Goose, Conner sets
off on a mission across Europe to crack a two-hundred-year-old code.
Meanwhile,
Alex Bailey is training to become the next Fairy Godmother... but her
attempts at granting wishes never go as planned. Will she ever be truly
ready to lead the Fairy Council?
When all signs point to disaster
for the Land of Stories, Connor and Alex must join forces with their
friends and enemies to save the day. But nothing can prepare them for
the coming battle... or for the secret that will change the twins' lives
forever.
The third book in the bestselling Land of Stories series puts the twins to the test as they bring two worlds together!
~~~
This is is the book in the series that has the most twists and turns, and though it isn't my favorite, I appreciate that fact. It also sets up the next novel nicely with the mystery of the masked man and the fate of the twins' grandmother.
5. The Land of Stories: Beyond the Kingdoms – Chris Colfer ☆☆☆☆☆
spoilers! Fairy tales are just the beginning. The
Masked Man is on the loose in the Land of Stories, and it's up to Alex
and Conner Bailey to stop him...except Alex has been thrown off the
Fairy Council, and no one will believe they're in danger.
With
only the help of the ragtag group of Goldilocks, Jack, Red Riding Hood,
and Mother Goose and her gander, Lester, the Bailey twins discover the
Masked Man's secret scheme: He possesses a powerful magic potion that
turns every book it touches into a portal, and he is recruiting an army
of literature's greatest villains!
So begins a race through the
magical Land of Oz, the fantastical world of Neverland, the madness of
Wonderland, and beyond. Can Alex and Conner catch up to the Masked Man,
or will they be one step behind until it's too late?
Fairy tales
and classic stories collide in the fourth adventure in the bestselling
Land of Stories series as the twins travel beyond the kingdoms!
~~~
This is the newest addition to this series, and the only one I hadn't read before, and I have to say, I was not disappointed. I loved the addition of classic stories to the fairytale characters we've already gotten to know in the previous three books, and the twinge of romance and sacrifice reminds us that the twins aren't 11 anymore... they really are growing up throughout the stories. I would highly recommend this series to anyone who loves retellings! I have a full review of this up
HERE!
6. I'll Give You the Sun – Jandy Nelson (reread) ☆☆☆☆☆
A brilliant,
luminous story of first love, family, loss, and betrayal for fans of
John Green, David Levithan, and Rainbow Rowell
Jude and
her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah
draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next
door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and
does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah
are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in
different and dramatic ways . . . until Jude meets a cocky, broken,
beautiful boy, as well as someone else—an even more unpredictable new
force in her life. The early years are Noah's story to tell. The later
years are Jude's. What the twins don't realize is that they each have
only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one
another, they’d have a chance to remake their world.
This radiant novel from the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Sky Is Everywhere will leave you breathless and teary and laughing—often all at once.
~~~
If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time, you probably know that this book is absolutely in my top five most favorite books ever. In fact, it might be number one. I read it in November 2014, and I just felt it calling to me in the past couple months, begging for me to reread it. I have to say, I loved it just as much the second time, as I went through and really marked all of my favorite passages. It's lyrical, bittersweet, beautiful, and tugs at something inside me. The love I have for this book is a little bit unexplainable, you just have to trust me when I say that this is a MUST READ.
7. Nimona – Noelle Stevenson ☆☆☆☆
The graphic novel debut
from rising star Noelle Stevenson, based on her beloved and critically
acclaimed web comic, which Slate awarded its Cartoonist Studio Prize,
calling it "a deadpan epic."
Nemeses! Dragons! Science!
Symbolism! All these and more await in this brilliantly subversive,
sharply irreverent epic from Noelle Stevenson. Featuring an exclusive
epilogue not seen in the web comic, along with bonus conceptual sketches
and revised pages throughout, this gorgeous full-color graphic novel is
perfect for the legions of fans of the web comic and is sure to win
Noelle many new ones.
Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter
with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a
vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are
about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom
that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law
Enforcement and Heroics aren't the heroes everyone thinks they are.
But
as small acts of mischief escalate into a vicious battle, Lord
Blackheart realizes that Nimona's powers are as murky and mysterious as
her past. And her unpredictable wild side might be more dangerous than
he is willing to admit.
~~~
I am not a graphic novel aficionado. I do not know anything worthwhile about them, and I rarely venture into reading them, mostly because I'm intimidated and have no idea where to start. However, I have seen Noelle Stevenson's work around tumblr and the like, so when I saw this in my local bookstore, I felt like I should at least give it a try. I ended up finishing it in one sitting, laughing the entire way. I absolutely loved it, and it made me want to try more graphic novels for sure. (if you have any suggestions, let me know in the comments!)
8. Tiny Pretty Things – Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton ☆☆☆☆
Black Swan
meets Pretty Little Liars in this soapy, drama-packed novel featuring
diverse characters who will do anything to be the prima at their elite
ballet school.
Gigi, Bette, and June, three top students at an
exclusive Manhattan ballet school, have seen their fair share of drama.
Free-spirited new girl Gigi just wants to dance—but the very act might
kill her. Privileged New Yorker Bette's desire to escape the shadow of
her ballet star sister brings out a dangerous edge in her. And
perfectionist June needs to land a lead role this year or her
controlling mother will put an end to her dancing dreams forever. When
every dancer is both friend and foe, the girls will sacrifice,
manipulate, and backstab to be the best of the best.
~~~
What a roller coaster ride this one was!!! I have a pretty extensive review where I talk about this book, up
HERE, but really what you need to know is: shit gets REAL.
9. Lois Land: Fallout – Gwenda Bond ☆☆☆☆
Lois Lane is starting a
new life in Metropolis. An Army brat, Lois has lived all over—and seen
all kinds of things. (Some of them defy explanation, like the
near-disaster she witnessed in Kansas in the middle of one night.) But
now her family is putting down roots in the big city, and Lois is
determined to fit in. Stay quiet. Fly straight. As soon as she steps
into her new high school, though, she can see it won’t be that easy. A
group known as the Warheads is making life miserable for another girl at
school. They’re messing with her mind, somehow, via the high-tech
immersive videogame they all play. Not cool. Armed with her wit and her
new snazzy job as a reporter, Lois has her sights set on solving this
mystery. But sometimes it’s all a bit much. Thank goodness for her
maybe-more-than-a friend, a guy she knows only by his screenname,
SmallvilleGuy.
~~~
(from my goodreads review) 4.5
stars!!! I enjoyed this a lot more than I was even expecting to, and
that's saying a lot. I love the idea of giving Lois Lane her own voice,
and then letting her say really important things with it. she's snarky
and fearless and utterly independent with a permanent record to match. I
couldn't help but love her, flaws and all, because underneath her
bravado and brass, Lois is a lonely girl who is dedicated to telling the
truth, even when it isn't easy. I appreciated her character so much,
and with this portrayal it's easy to see how Lois Lane, ordinary girl,
stands up proudly next to Clark Kent.
aside from the brilliance of
Lois' character, the plot of this book was fast paced, with heist and
high jinks abounding. it was a ton of fun to read, and based on what I
saw in this novel, I think this could be an awesome new series. I was
swept up in the fun of it all, I almost didn't even notice how scary the
adversaries were. Lois and her band of friends handled danger with
bravery and ingenuity, and backing down is never in the cards.
if you like superheroes and kickass women, strange supernatural happenings and lots of sass, I'd say this is the book for you.
10. I Am Princess X – Cherie Priest ☆☆☆☆
Best friends, big fans,
a mysterious webcomic, and a long-lost girl collide in this riveting
novel, perfect for fans of both Cory Doctorow and Sarah Dessen;
illustrated throughout with comics.
Once upon a time, two best
friends created a princess together. Libby drew the pictures, May wrote
the tales, and their heroine, Princess X, slayed all the dragons and
scaled all the mountains their imaginations could conjure.
Once
upon a few years later, Libby was in the car with her mom, driving
across the Ballard Bridge on a rainy night. When the car went over the
side, Libby passed away, and Princess X died with her.
Once upon
a now: May is sixteen and lonely, wandering the streets of Seattle,
when she sees a sticker slapped in a corner window. Princess X? When
May looks around, she sees the Princess everywhere: Stickers. Patches.
Graffiti. There's an entire underground culture, focused around a
webcomic at IAmPrincessX.com. The more May explores the webcomic, the
more she sees disturbing similarities between Libby's story and Princess
X online. And that means that only one person could have started this
phenomenon---her best friend, Libby, who lives.
~~~
I loved the format of this book – comics mixed with prose, and I unexpectedly really
really enjoyed the story. It was fast paced and twisty, throwing me into plot twist after plot twist as I tried, with May, to get to the bottom of the mystery that is Princess X. I think the less you know about the story, the better. It is pretty short and very readable, so I think anyone could get into this one.
11. Emmy & Oliver – Robin Benway ☆☆☆☆☆
Emmy’s best
friend, Oliver, reappears after being kidnapped by his father ten years
ago. Emmy hopes to pick up their relationship right where it left off.
Are they destined to be together? Or has fate irreparably driven them
apart?
Emmy just wants to be in charge of her own life. She
wants to stay out late, surf her favorite beach—go anywhere without her
parents’ relentless worrying. But Emmy’s parents can’t seem to let her
grow up—not since the day Oliver disappeared.
Oliver needs a moment to figure out his heart. He’d
thought, all these years, that his dad was the good guy. He never knew
that it was his father who kidnapped him and kept him on the run.
Discovering it, and finding himself returned to his old hometown, all at
once, has his heart racing and his thoughts swirling.
Emmy and
Oliver were going to be best friends forever, or maybe even more, before
their futures were ripped apart. In Emmy’s soul, despite the space and
time between them, their connection has never been severed. But is their
story still written in the stars? Or are their hearts like the pieces
of two different puzzles—impossible to fit together?
Readers who
love Sarah Dessen will tear through these pages with hearts in throats
as Emmy and Oliver struggle to face the messy, confusing consequences of
Oliver’s father’s crime. Full of romance, coming-of-age emotion, and
heartache, these two equally compelling characters create an
unforgettable story.
~~~
FAVORITE NEW READ!!!! I fell head over heels in love with this story, its characters, and the relationships between the two. I have a full review
HERE, just know this one of the best contemporaries that I've read. (ever)
12. Every Last Word – Tamara Ireland Stone ☆☆☆☆☆
If you could read my mind, you wouldn't be smiling.
Samantha
McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior
class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied
makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has
Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and
worries that she can't turn off.
Second-guessing every move,
thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn't help that
her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong
outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she'd be truly
crazy to leave the protection of the most popular girls in school. So
when Sam meets Caroline, she has to keep her new friend with a
refreshing sense of humor and no style a secret, right up there with
Sam's weekly visits to her psychiatrist.
Caroline introduces Sam
to Poet's Corner, a hidden room and a tight-knit group of misfits who
have been ignored by the school at large. Sam is drawn to them
immediately, especially a guitar-playing guy with a talent for verse,
and starts to discover a whole new side of herself. Slowly, she begins
to feel more "normal" than she ever has as part of the popular crowd . .
. until she finds a new reason to question her sanity and all she holds
dear.
~~~
This was such an interesting novel, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I didn't get a chance to write a full review for it, but I do have a lot of thoughts about it, so it might find its way into a spotlight post or something. It is new and different to me to read from the perspective of a person with OCD, especially the type that Sam suffers from. I appreciate the fact that Tamara Ireland Stone was dedicated to a true, raw portrayal of this condition, and I felt like I was educated through this fictional story. I felt for Sam, because of everything she has to go through, but I was also so proud of her when she progressed throughout the novel. If you're looking for something different and engaging, this is it.
13. Love Fortunes and Other Disasters – Kimberly Karalius ☆☆☆
In the tradition of Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic, one girl chooses to change her fortune and her fate by falling in love.
Love
is real in the town of Grimbaud, and Fallon Dupree has dreamed of
attending high school there for years. After all, generations of Duprees
have successfully followed the (100% accurate!) love fortunes from
Zita’s famous Love Charms Shop to happily marry their high school
sweethearts. It’s a tradition. So she is both stunned and devastated
when her fortune states that she will NEVER find love.
Fortunately,
Fallon isn’t the only student with a terrible love fortune, and a
rebellion is brewing. Fallon is determined to take control of her own
fate—even if it means working with a notorious heartbreaker like
Sebastian.
Will Fallon and Sebastian be able to overthrow Zita’s tyranny and fall in love?
~~~
Let's be real: the reason I bought this was because of the cover. And what a gorgeous one it is, too. I must report that the story inside reflects the cuteness of the cover, and so even though it wasn't my favorite story of the month, I did enjoy reading it. I think Swoon reads does a fabulous job, so I will read pretty much anything they publish, and this one follows the tradition of adorableness.
14. Looking For Alaska – John Green (reread) ☆☆☆☆☆
Before.
Miles "Pudge" Halter's whole existence has been one big nonevent, and
his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave the "Great
Perhaps" (François Rabelais, poet) even more. He heads off to the
sometimes crazy, possibly unstable, and anything-but-boring world of
Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe.
Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny,
sexy, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska
Young, who is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world,
launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart.
After. Nothing is ever the same.
~~~
This was actually the first John Green book that I read, back in maybe 2010, and it remains my favorite one, to this day. I hadn't read it in a couple of years, so I decided to pick it back up in honor of paper towns and all the amazing things that John Green is doing. It was different than I remembered it being, but I love that you can read the same book at different times in your life and see different things, read it in a different way. I love this story just as much as I did the first time I read it.
15. Paper Towns – John Green (reread) ☆☆☆☆
Who is the real Margo?
Quentin
Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous
Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and
climbs into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an
ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows. After their all-nighter ends,
and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always
an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are
clues—and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer
he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew...
~~~
I had to reread this one in honor of the movie coming out!! Honestly, I hate Margo. I hate her so much. But! I actually liked the movie portrayal of her better than the book, just because they made her less abhorrent. haha I do really enjoy Paper Towns as a whole, though.
what did you guys love in July?
xx
Sunny
