July 2017 Reading Wrap-Up

As July has somehow flown by already, I wanted to share the books I read in July. I had a pretty good reading month and loved several of the eight books I read :) 

1. Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson ⭐⭐⭐

This was the first book I read in July. As I've written a full review for this book, I'm not going to say too much about it here. I went into this book with very mixed expectations, it has a reputation of being difficult to follow and so detailed that it can be hard to get into. My experience with this book was kind of like that, but I still quite liked it. The audiobook for this is really good, so I mostly listened to that. The narrator has a really soothing voice which is very nice to listen to, and he did an amazing job of giving each character a unique tone and accent. I'm sure there was much I missed, though, because I'm easily distracted when listening to audiobooks. But all in all I quite enjoyed the story, it combines so many cool elements of the fantasy genre, such as different kinds of people, magic and creatures, and the plot is fast-paced and full of interesting turns. I don't know when, but I think I will continue this series as I am curious to see how it goes on, and would love to understand a bit more about that fascinating world full of magic and gods! 

2. Wie ein flammender Schrei by Mats Wahl⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is a book that was originally published in Swedish. I read it for a seminar at uni, and boy was this a surprise. I hadn't liked any of the previous books read in that class, so my expectations for this very rather low. The story follows a young girl, Ella, who is being raised by her alcoholic mother. We meet Ella as she is about to attend a new school, where things don't go as expected. The school has a very bad reputation, but no one seems to be able to put a stop to the handful of miscreants. Young girls are being harassed in the halls, teachers are brought to the verge of tears and fires are laid in the bathrooms by a group of boys. Authorities don't really seem to act and are even portrayed as ignoring the teacher's calls for aid, and the short span of the narrative leads up to a catastrophe. Wahl mentions in his epilogue that he built his story roughly on real events, but that he exaggerated parts and invented the calamity with which the story ends, in order to call attention to what might be happening in schools without the authorities' awareness. 

As I said, I was absolutely surprised by how much I enjoyed this short novel. The writing style is very different from what I usually enjoy, with very short sentences and chapters, but in this case it worked brilliantly. I was completely invested in the story and quite liked the protagonists, so I was actually shocked at many things that happened and really felt for the characters. I'm very glad I had to read this book and would recommend it to anyone, even if contemporary novels aren't the genre you'd normally reach for! 

3. A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was the third time I read this, and the first time I listened to a full-cast adaptation while reading. It was the recording with Sir Ian Mckellen and others, which you can find on Spotify and iTunes and many other platforms. I can only recommend it, as it was a great reading/listening experience! 

I find that listening and reading to the plays at once is a great combination, I get so much more of the word play and the funny language, things that I would sometimes miss while reading. My first readings of this comedy have already been amazing, but now it was even better. It's just so silly and funny, I love all the banter, especially the fight between Helena and Hermia in the woods. The language is of course simply beautiful, and I particularly like the setting of the forest and the parallel plot with the Fairies. It's just such a fun play, I would love to see a performance of this one day :) 

 

It also didn't hurt to read it in this gorgeous edition with illustrations by the amazing Arthur Rackham! 😍

4. The Golden Bowl by Henry James ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Another book I wrote a full review on, so if you care to find out more about this book and my thoughts on it, don't hesitate to check that out. Although this was a very slow read, and I caught myself being sometimes bored by it and having to reread some passages, I ended up enjoying it quite a bit. Henry James has become one of my new favourite writers this year, and this book is, despite its slowness and its rather small amount of plot, a very fascinating one. Human nature and behaviour are thoroughly analyzed in this book, and the few characters we get are all perfectly fleshed-out and highly individualized. It was sometimes boring, yes, but also extremely interesting to read about how they act, why they act, and learn about their every thought and motivation behind these actions. If you are looking for a fascinating character study of how differently people deal with, and regard, betrayal, I can only implore you to give this book a chance. It is definitely worth it! 

5. Dune by Frank Herbert ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

As I'm not the biggest fan of science fiction in general, I wanted to read this because it is said to combine fantasy and sci-fi elements and is regarded as a classic of the genre. My rating shows how much I ended up loving this brilliant novel, and I'm much keener on the sci-fi genre now. I don't want to repeat everything I already wrote in my review for this, please have a look at that one if you're interested in reading this lovely book. 

There is hardly anything I would criticize about it, I loved the characterizations and the mysterious, gripping plot. From the very beginning, I was completely hooked and it always made me sad to put the book down. Despite the fact that the world building is rather intricate and not every new expression is explained, I found the writing made the book very easy to get into. Information you may need, in order to understand the world and the plot, is given eventually at one point or another, so it doesn't matter if you don't understand everything at first. Thus, the pacing isn't interrupted and the story evolves quickly. I wasn't bored at any point and was always completely drawn into the narrative. 

It was also fascinating to see how the characters dealt with issues like cultural clashes and the differences between people, so there isn't just a gripping plot in this but also an examination of very important themes! 

6. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Every year, I'm rereading this series. There is no book or series I love more than this, and it just gets better upon every read. The third one is probably one of my favourites, although it is likely I'm going to say that for the next books as well 😅. There is so much friendship and love in this, and I love that Harry finally meets someone who can actually be family for him. I know he has the Weasleys, but his godfather and the best friend of his parents is a different kind of family. It breaks my heart every time when this chance at a happy home slips away from him, even though I know it wouldn't have been possible either way. Hagrid becoming a teacher and his happiness about it is another favourite part of this book for me, he deserves this so much! 

Hermione's ambition to learn as much as possible, and her acceptance of defeat is another part I adored, it's so inspiring and relatable. I'm going to stop now, because I love everything about these books and we'd be here forever if I were to mention every single scene 😍

7. The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This series is just so much fun. I'm reading it slowly, one book here and there, as they are so short and fast paced that I usually read them in one sitting. I need to take breaks between them, however, as they get a bit repetitive. I can't really blame the series for that, it is primarily for children and the repeated tragedies befalling the Baudelaires are the central point of the plot, after all, but it sometimes makes them a little bit less enjoyable for me. But only a little. 

I think this fifth installment was my favourite so far. It was very refreshing to see the three orphaned children make some friends. The Quagmires are such likable characters, I loved reading about them and sincerely hope to meet them again in the next books! The plot was, as usual with these books, very gripping; The way the children dealt with Count Olaf's new treachery was again a lot of fun. I'm so curious to see how the whole series ends, but I'll take my time with these books :) 

8. The Golden Fleece by Robert Graves ⭐⭐⭐

Again, see my review for more detailed information and thoughts on this book, as I'm going to try and be brief here. The Golden Fleece is a re-telling of the myth of Jason and the Argonauts, who sailed to Colchis to steal back the golden fleece of Zeus. Graves made it his task to give a full version of the myth, pieced together from different sources and telling not only of the Argo's voyage, but also what happened before and after the adventure. I really liked how much there was to learn about several other myths and the Olympic religion in this novel, Graves does a fantastic job of giving background information and weaving one full tale out of many smaller stories. 

This was another read that sometimes bored me, however. I think it was due to the writing style, I had trouble really getting into the story and I just couldn't get attached to any of the characters. I felt very distanced from what I was reading in general and wasn't hooked by the plot. 

What I liked about this, then, was the already mentioned amount of information and the amount of depth there is to the book. There are no heroes in this, at least in my eyes, but only human and faulty characters who have all different struggles to deal with. Over all, this was a very thought-provoking book, and I am truly glad I read it. If you're looking for an entry into mythology, I would definitely recommend this! 

Thank you so much for reading! Have you read any of these books? If so, what did you think of them? And what were some of the best (or worst) books you read this month? Don't hesitate to share them below 😊💕