It's that time again to share what books I've read over the past couple of months. My 2020 reading was not going great, but in May and June it has actually improved quite a bit. I'm really hoping it stays the same over the next few months as I feel that I've finally gotten out of my reading slump. I've been tackling my TBR books and really enjoying getting through as many as possible.
May
In May I read a total of 8 books, which makes May my best reading month of 2020 so far. I think this is because I've started choosing a few books to read each month as a mini TBR type thing.
The first book I finished in May was Johnathon Strange and Mr Norell by Susanna Clarke. I had had this book on my TBR for about four years. It is an adult urban fantasy novel set in the Georgian era and follows the two titular characters as they are magicians. I had watched the TV show many years ago and really enjoyed it so my dad kindly bought me the book. This book just ended up being very dense and difficult to read. It was over 1000 pages and the author would go on major tangents in footnotes. I just sadly feel this book wasn't for me in the end. I gave it 3/5 stars.
I then read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I was taking part in the HP Quarantine Readathon on Instagram, which has since been delayed due to JK Rowling's horrific actions. Due to this I will be keeping my comments on the HP books very short. This one is my favourite one in the series. I gave it 5/5 stars.
Next I read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I had been meaning to read this as the movie was coming out but I ended up seeing the movie first. I'm very glad I did this as I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much as I did. Again, it was another book that was a bit dense in places, but still enjoyable. I gave it 4/5 stars.
My next read was If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo. Another book I'd had on my TBR pile for a while. The nicest thing I can say was that this was short. You could clearly tell it was a debut novel. It was fun and fluffy. If you're interested in my full thoughts, I do have a review on it, linked here. I gave it 3/5 stars.
An anticipated release of mine was The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller. I had seen this book floating around and it was described as a book where the main character wanted to take over the kingdom for herself. She was shown to be a villain. Sadly, it ended up being quite disappointing. You never found out Alessandra's motives for wanting to kill the king and ended up being quite cliched at times. This was another 3/5 stars.
I then jumped back to the HP readathon with Goblet of Fire. This has always been my least favourite in the series. It just misses a lot of the charm of the other books. I still love it, but it's not my favourite. I gave it 5/5 stars.
Then I read The Miniturist by Jessie Burton. I had really enjoyed her other novel The Muse, which I read in February. Again, it was another let down. I think I had gone into it expecting one thing but ended up with a totally different thing. I just didn't care for it at all. It ended up being a 3/5 stars.
My next read ended up being my lowest rated one in 2020 so far and that was The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro. I loved the first few chapters but then it just went off on one and I could not stand it. I liked the idea of this journey these two people have to go on but then I just lost interest. I gave it 2/5 stars.
June
In June I read a total of seven books, which I'm very happy with. I didn't manage to read all of the books on my mini TBR list, but I did start and complete a series which I was very happy about.
My first read was Order of the Phoenix. This used to be my favourite one in the series, but now holds second fave instead. There was some things I read this time that I never realised happened as I normally listen to it on audiobook. I gave it 5/5 stars.
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I then read Another Day in the Death of America by Gary Younge. This is a non-fiction book about several young people who were killed in gun related deaths on the same day. It was a very interested look into gun crime in America and how it mostly effects young people of colour. The only downside to this book is that it would occasionally go off on tangents, but apart from that it was an insightful book into a horrible thing that impacts people on a daily basis. I gave it 4/5 stars.
Next I read An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. I know this is a beloved YA book, but I just did not like this book. I did actually enjoy the first part of this book, but I slowly lost interest. Laia and Elias ended up being just okay characters. I sadly have no interest in continuing this series as it just wasn't for me. To read my full thoughts on this book, click here. I gave it 3/5 stars.
I finally decided to continue with the Witcher series by picking up the third book, Blood of Elves, by Andrzej Sapkowski. I really enjoyed the first book but have not enjoyed the other two as much. This book had so much dialogue I started tuning out in places. I know that my mum really enjoyed it when she read it so it might just be the writer in me. I gave it 3/5 stars.
I then binged the entire Legend series by Marie Lu, well the original trilogy. These were fun fluffy books that were very easy to read. I read the entire series in about eight days. June and Day were solid characters. The only thing I didn't like was the ending of the final book. It just felt like a bit of a cope out to me. I gave the first two books 4/5 stars and the last one 3.5/5 stars. I don't think I will be reading the fourth book in this series.
So that concludes the books I read over the past two months. I did read a lot of 3 star books so I'm hoping to read some more high star ones soon.
Carenz :) x
