Finished since last week:

Six Of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo - Not quite Lies Of Locke Lamora, but has a good bit of similar excitement. The writing is crisp and snappy, there's a good bit of humor, and a lot of passages that left me smirking at their (or the characters) cleverness.

Paper Girls Vol 1, by Brian K. Vaughn It was really hot during the week so we went and spent a few hours in the local library taking advantage of the air conditioning. Ended up hanging out near the graphic novel section and I spotted this. The same excerpt had been showing up at the back of each book of Saga, so I grabbed the first one. It's good, and rather different from what I had been expecting. Checked out volumes two and three and will get through those in the next couple of weeks I'm sure.

Meddling Kids, by Edgar Cantero - I'm conflicted here. The story itself was pretty good, but the writing was not. I didn't find out until the postscript that English was not the authors main language, which maybe explains some of the issues, but isn't that why books have editors?

I never figured out exactly why the book would change, sometimes mid paragraph, from traditional structure to stage directions. And then sometimes break the fourth wall sort of with things like "Before they could notice the ellipsis," following a ... in the previous sentence. Or " “NO!” Andy capslocked." Or after a paragraph break with a hypen, "The electric lamps on the left wall magically blinked on a space break later". Was this supposed to be amusing? Was it supposed to enhance the plot? I have no idea.

What about this passage describing a heart beat? "frantic to vivace, and then to piano," So, really fast, to really fast... to quiet? The latter does not describe speed but volume. This does not make sense. Did no editor with any music background look at this?

Or anyone with wikipedia to date check date things? The book was supposed to take place in 1990, but we have this "Myriad tiny voices within Kerri’s hair went yeah like a Rage Against the Machine chorus". Rage Against The Machine formed in 1991, and their first album came out in 1992. Yes I'm nitpicking on a date check given that this is a book with fantastical Lovecraft style monsters, but I really can't be the first to notice that can I?

Again, the story is decent. It's amusing. It has nice turns and twists while at the same time playing on and parodying classic young detective tropes. But it's a bother to read at times, definitely taking away from an amusing story.

Currently reading:

Crooked Kingdom, by Leigh Bardugo - The sequel to Six Of Crows, and picks up exactly where the first book left off. About halfway through and loving this one as well. Her writing continues to be great and full of wit and cleverness and I'm still enjoying how swapping between characters to show action from a slightly different and vaguely obfuscated view point is working.

Finished:

All the Light We Cannot See, by Another Doerr - beautiful book. It took me a little to get into it but the beautiful writing kept me motivated to continue and I am glad that it did.

Six of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo - it was good enough that I will read the follow up when it becomes available at my library, but just barely. I found the writing flat and the characters poorly developed and quite frankly, unbelievable. It was fast paced and an easy read though, a good "popcorn" summer book.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, by J.K. Rowling - I have been reading this to my son at bedtime for the past few months and just finally finished. Best out of the three I have read so far but if it wasn't for my son's investment and delight I don't know that I would find it as interesting. We are reading the illustrated versions and are waiting until the next one comes out in October.

​

Started:

Iron Gold, by Pierce Brown

The Thief of Always, by Clive Barker - this is a re-read for me but I am reading it to my son before bed at night (7.5 years old). So far he is captivated which warms my heart as I loved this book as a teenager when it first came out.

This week I finished reading:

American War, by Omar El Akkad. 4/5. Well written and fascinating, I left with a lot of question and weird thoughts about how war works, and how it affects us. I found the character of Sarat absolutely fascinating. She's big, she's angry, she's absolutely broken. I can't even call her an anti-hero. She's more of a very sad villain. Lost a star because it was hard to follow at times. I wish there was a timeline because the whole time I thought this big plague had already happened when it actually happened at the end of the book. It was also really slow and overly flowy at points.

The Book of the Unnamed Midwife, by Meg Ellison. 5/5. Holy shit this book!! I honestly can't believe I read something as amazing as this novel. Gruesome and lonely, so very lonely. I think what I liked most about this was that it wasn't about survival of self, but survival of humanity itself. I cannot wait to pick up The Book of Etta.

Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel. Okay technically I haven't finished this yet but I have like half an hour left so I definitely will today. Great book, rounded out my dystopia/post-apocalyptic week.

I am still reading/started reading:

Six of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo. Honestly I'm not super interested in the plot of this book but people won't stop telling me to read it so here I am. I'm one chapter in and it hasn't caught my attention yet but I have hope. Started this after finishing Book of the Unnamed Midwife.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers. So far, I'm loving this book and I am loving Dr. Chef so much.

I just finished A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab this past week and I loved it! Schwab is a greater writer and I am a little sad that I won't get to read about the characters anymore!

This week I am starting Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews and Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Finished Six of Crows, by Leigh Burdough. This book was a lot of fun and I'll be picking up the second one soon. Considering I checked it out of the library completely at random, I'd say it's a win.

Started (again) Ancillary Sword, by Ann Leckie. I like this series, but I fell off this book a little at the 150 page mark and got distracted by other things.

Finished since last week:

The Black Tides Of Heaven, by J.Y. Yang Very intriguing and packed a lot into a novella. The world building was very cool and I'm excited about the second novella in the series.

Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline - Very enjoyable for what it was, a fast paced love letter to just about everything 80s. I grew up 80s-90s, so the nostalgia thing hit hard, although it felt like the book leaned a little too heavily on that as a crutch, and then would sometimes over explain. I saw a few of the 'twists' coming, but that's ok. This seemed like it wasn't meant to be heavy literature, and it wasn't, and it certainly didn't need to be.

Currently reading:

Six Of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo - Not quite Lies Of Locke Lamora, but has some of the humor and amusement due to the heist nature of it. I'm quite enjoying this.

I finished Circe, by Madeline Miller this weekend and started Six of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo last night!

Finished:

• City of Ashes (The Mortal Instruments, #2), by Cassandra Clare

I’m still not feeling this series. I’m going to put it on hold for now.

Started:

• Six of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo

This is fantastic so far!

• Whip Smart: The True Story of a Secret Life, by Melissa Febos

This is actually a re-start. It’s nowhere near as interesting as the subject matter might indicate (the author was a dominatrix) and I’m having trouble warming up to the author herself.

Still working on:

• Proxima, by Stephen Baxter

• Devil’s Night Dawning (Broken Stone Chronicle, #1), by Damien Black

• Authority (Southern Reach, #2), by Jeff VanderMeer

Finished Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman

And started Six of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo

Fell in love with Neverwhere and I’m excited to read more of Gaiman’s work!

Thunderhead, by Neal Shusterman I just finished this one and now have to wait for the next book. It left off with some pretty interesting setups for the next book.

Six of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo I just started it and am about 60 pages in. So far I like it and can't wait to see where this goes.

As planned, started Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo.

I had a little difficult start, it is now getting better and I hope it will grow on me; maybe I am too tired to read in English at the moment but it was suggested to me as a very captivating book and I don’t want to wait for the translation to come out.

I suspended Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo because I can’t seem to get into it; we’ll see if I feel less tired in the next future.

I started reading My year of rest and relaxation by Ottessa Moshfeg and Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

Finished:

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

It was a really enjoyable fantasy YA book. There's a cliff hanger at the end and now I need to read "Crooked Kingdom".

The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood

It was okay. It felt like a lot of the story she was trying to be edgy especially with the whole sexbot story line. It fell a bit flat and the ending was a bit confusing.

​

Reading:

American War by Omar El Akkad

Really enjoying this so far.

I finished: Angels and Demons, by Dan Brown and Wilder Boys, by Brandon Wallace. I'm reading: Six of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo and For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood..… , by Christopher Emdin .

Finished Six of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo

Very good, highly recommended especially to those who enjoy YA fiction and/or heist novels

Started The Drawing of the Three, by Steven King

I finished Vicious by VE Schwab - I took my time reading it but after halfway, I zoomed through it. I’ve tried reading it before and I think the slow start got me at the wrong moment and I ended up putting it down. Wrong choice.

I started Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo - this has been on my shelf since it came out, and I’ve been enthralled by it this holiday weekend. I can’t believe I’ve waited this long to read it. I’ve already pre-ordered the paperback sequel since it comes out tomorrow.

Finished: Rogue Dragon, by Avram Davidson and The Alchemist, by Paulo Coelho

Gave up on: Six of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo I understand why this is loved by others, but it is not for me.

Started: Sky Without Stars, by Jessica Brody & Joanne Rendell This is a Le Mis retelling, so it'll count on my SFF bingo chart. I've only a quarter of the story left and I've got to say, I think this would be a great introduction to Le Mis for teens who aren't ready to tackle Hugo's work. I think it might even inspire them to read Le Mis later.

I finished The Bastards of Pizzofalcone by Maurizio De Giovanni. Loving the series, but in order to take a break and not binge I’m planning to read Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo.

Finished:

The Door into Summer, by Robert A. Heinlein

To be honest, I'm quite surprised by so many good ratings on both bookreading sites I use. This book was questionable on quite a few levels and just generally nonsensical. The cat was the only favorite character of mine, though I didn't like the way protagonist described him. All in all, I didn't expect anything and I'm still disappointed.

Started:

The Summer Book, by Tove Jansson

Still reading:

Six of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo

Finished Six Of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo and loved it

Started Foundryside, by Robert Jackson Bennett

Still plowing through Oathbringer, by Brandon Sanderson

I just finished Anne Fadiman's "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down." I felt like a few parts could've been better edited, and while I totally understand why so much historical background on the Hmong was necessary at the time of publication, I felt it sometimes took away from the Lees' story. It was a solid book, though, and written with a lot of compassion.

Right now, I'm about a quarter of the way through "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo, and I see why people are "meh" about the original Grisha trilogy and lap this book up. It's much better written, and the characters are more interesting, though I think Bardugo made all of them 17 to appeal to the young adult demographic and it doesn't quite fit. Also, I just received the copy of Audre Lorde's "Zami: A New Spelling of My Name" I had on hold at the library.

I finished a lot of books this past week, but the one I liked the best was The Thorn of Dentonhill, by Marshall Ryan Maresca. It was a fun read.

I started reading Six of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo. It's a good book so far.

Finished:

Six of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo

I just finished this book and I loved it so so much. It was everything I've been looking for in a book and much more, and it was honestly such a page turner for me. I couldn't put it down!

Currently waiting for the second book in the duology (Crooked Kingdoms, by Leigh Bardugo) to arrive!

Finished: A Court of Wings and Ruin, by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Frost and Starlight, by Sarah J. Maas

Currently Reading: Six of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo

Next: A Crooked Kingdom, by Leigh Bardugo

The Paper Magician, by Charlie N. Holmberg

Finished City of Ghosts, by Victoria Schwab. It's definitely intended for a younger audience but the fast and fun writing was exactly what I was in the mood for.

​

Started Six of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo which looks promising so far. I just picked it up on Libby today, so we'll see, but I've heard pretty good things.

Finished:

Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman

Pretty meh. As usual with Gaiman's books, I loved the idea, but wasn't impressed with execution.

Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes

I was expecting some heavy stuff and knew the ending (spoiled it for myself years ago, but thankfully it didn't stop me from wanting to read it), and... whoa, it was a very well put "heavy stuff". It was a heartwrenching journey, but it was good and I loved it.

Started:

Six of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo

Oh boy. I DNF-ed this book months ago and now picked it up again. Still not impressed, to say the least. Because of this book and its hype I'm so wary of other YA fantasy, that I'm finding a hard time giving other titles a chance. I mean, if this is a top-YA fantasy book, I really don't want to know what average picks look like.

Finished : Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo.

​

I think I need more time to digest it or I need to read it again. I enjoyed it but just dont know if I will read the 2nd one, even though I probably should. I actually would love to see if someone else on here has recently read it and maybe we can discuss it.