August Book Recap

[asphaltcowgrrl]

I did not have a good month. I’ve never DNF’d so many books in one month.

What I read (or tried to):

Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover. Didn’t make it more than a few chapters because all of the hero’s POV was written centered on the page as if it was poetry. Spoiler alert: it was not.



A Summer to Die by Lois Lowry. A sweet and sad story about two sisters growing up.

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena. SO MANY people hated on this book, but I really liked it. So much so that I got her newest – Not a Happy Family – for my BOTM choice.

Runes for Beginners by Lisa Chamberlain. I only have one rune book, thought I’d look at some more.

Numerology: Uncover Your Destiny with Numbers by Jason Williams. Part curiosity, part research for a high school crossover AU thing I’m trying and failing to work on.

Sail by James Patterson. Not the best James Patterson book ever, but I did enjoy this.

VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6:00 to Lose Weight and Restore Your Health by Mark Bittman. I borrowed this from the library in hopes of getting some good vegan recipes for Taylor. I love the author and own three of his cookbooks (no, none of those got culled this weekend). I have no intentions of ever going vegan, but I do like his approach here.

The Guncle by Steven Rowley. Probably one of the best books I’ve read all year. So much humor, but also a lot of real hurt and pain. Patrick is 1000% selfish and self-absorbed for a good half of this book, but as soon as the author allows him to make peace with a piece of his past, he comes around. He’s not perfect, but he’s a much better person by the end of the book. The blurb says he’s dealing with the loss of his great love and for some reason I took that to mean that they’d just split up. Yeah, no, dumbass, that is not what happened. Cue me sobbing during portions of this otherwise funny and heartwarming novel.

Home: Habitat, Range, Nice, Territory by Martha Wells. A short story set in the Murderbot world.

The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix. Another DNF at about 20%. Slow to start, which is fine, but once the Big Thing happens, the main character’s PTSD kicks in. Which I could deal with except that her internal dialogue is manic, repetitive, and honestly induced an anxiety attack in me. I might pick it up again in the future, but man, I cannot handle it right now.

What I’m currently reading:

Arrogant Officer: Falling for an Aries by Lauren Runow. So far, I’m loving this.

Stone Cross by Marc Cameron. Not too far in, but enjoying it so far.

Roll against Regret by Allyson Lind. Smutty, short pwp gaming novels. Hahaha. Yeah. I know. Don’t judge.

What’s up next:

Thanks to your input, this is what’s on my TBR shelf (minus any library holds):

56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Blue Flag by Kaito.

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

I think that’s about it for now. Hoping to finish something here soon and move the heck on. LOL

Comments

[kaige68.livejournal.com]

There is no way I could read that book you showed. NO WAY!!!

But I am impressed that you were able to walk away from some and not just back-burner it!!!

[asphaltcowgrrl.livejournal.com]

I used to not be able to DNF a book. I always felt like I had to finish it. That has thankfully changed.

Thanks! It's progress for me. I snuck a peek at some of the reviews and so many of them said that Miles' POV chapters were almost always in the past, dealing with his dead ex, and that was pretty much what killed it for me. Some flashbacks for backstory are fine. But one character living in the past? Nah, pass.

[kaige68.livejournal.com]

Well, now you've got arrogant officer! Life will be good!

[asphaltcowgrrl.livejournal.com]

Hah, I do! And I'm enjoying the heck out of him. I mean, it. Right. The book.