Here are the books I finished this past week. I had a bunch of books that I was almost done with, so it looks like I read more than I did. Also, two of these were novellas.

• Vicious, by V.E. Schwab. Lots of memorable characters. An exciting plot. The sequel is coming out at the end of the month, so I wanted to read this.
• A Closed and Common Orbit, by Becky Chambers. I liked this book even more than the first book in the series. I think that I could sympathize with Sidra on lots of things. Not on the whole AI thing, but on a lot of other things. Also, Pepper's story was really sweet.
• The Black Tides of Heaven, by J.Y. Yang. This book was too rushed and wasn't fleshed out enough, which I've noticed happens in a lot of novellas. The novella is hard to get right, I think. The story had a lot of potential.
• Annihilation, by Jeff Vandermeer. I liked the last chapter of this book. I liked the descriptions. I didn't really like the rest of it. I was disappointed because I loved Borne.
• Parable of the Sower, by Octavia E. Butler. Lots of interesting ideas. Definitely the product of a different time, but cool to see someone writing about a climate change-caused dystopia in the early 90s. It's like a hipster climate change novel - "I was terrified of climate change before it was cool." I didn't like the main character, Lauren, very much, which made me not like the book as much as I'd hoped.
• Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, by Douglas Adams. It's a clever book. It's not as hilarious as The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and it has more "ideology" in it (if you can call it that). The Electric Monk is now one of my favorite characters ever in any book, though.

Vicious, by V. E. Schwab

My first read of the year and finished it in between my required reading for school. I absolutely loved how sinister and compelling each character was. Didn’t expect a book about college students getting superpowers being so realistic with their motivations and flaws. Each character is so complex and has a dark side to them.

Macbeth, by William Shakespeare

Reread this for my College Honors literature class and learned to appreciate it a lot more. Really fell in love with Shakespeare’s wordplay and got a lot more out of it then I ever had.

Paradise Lost, by John Milton

Currently reading this book for school. I did not think I would like it, hearing it was hard to read and the amount of biblical allusions can be overwhelming. IM ABSOLUTELY ADORING THIS BOOK. I haven’t been this fascinated in a mythology like this since I was a teen reading about Greek mythology!

Finished Vicious, by VE Schwab. I've commented before about how much I love her after reading the Darker Shades series. My love is still just as strong. She has created some of my favorite characters, ever.

I will be finishing A Walk In The Woods, by Bill Bryson this week via audio book. I haven't listened to an audio book before but I really loved listening to this while painting my living room.

I'm currently reading Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury as part of my "spooky" October and part of r/bookclub's monthly read. I'm also reading Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, by Irin Carmon.

Finished:

The Likeness, by Tana French
Holy hell this was GOOD. So here's the thing: I hated the first book in this series, to the point where I was sure I wasn't going to continue. But then I realized, while starting this one, that intense dislike was due to Rob Ryan; a simple switch of the narrator did wonders. This was magical. Daniel March was everything. I LOVED it.

Reading:

Vicious, by V.E. Schwab
I'm 30% in and I'm pretty much done at this point. I just have no interest and don't think I'm going to suddenly develop interest. I really struggle with Schwab's books. I've never been able to really engage in any of the few I've tried, and that bums me out.

The Spellbook of the Lost and Found, by Moïra Fowley-Doyle
I'm about halfway in. This started really good, but I'm edging on losing interest. I have no idea what's going on with why books just aren't pulling me in. Other than The Likeness, which, again, was amazing.

I finished reading a couple of books recently,

The Way of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson

A Mother's Reckoning, by Sue Klebold

The Day the World Came to Town, by Jim Defede

Vicious, by V.E. Schwab

I started reading,

Warbreaker, by Brandon Sanderson and Speaking Truth to Power, by Anita Hill

Finished:

Strange Practice, by Vivian Shaw
This was a giant surprise of a book. I'm trying to stick to "Halloween"-ish themed books, so I was just kind of picking up whatever seemed to fit that category. I knew nothing about this book, but it was an absolute joy. Fun, smarter than I was expecting, and great characters. Great surprise.

Reading:
Vicious, by V.E. Schwab
I'm about 15% in, and this is just meh. I've tried with V.E. Schwab many times, and have only managed to actually finish one of her books before (A Darker Shade of Magic, which was a GIANT meh.) Something about her writing or characters or something just doesn't connect with me. I'm going to keep trying with Vicious though because I've heard such good things.

Finished:

• The Silence of the Girls, by Pat Barker - In my opinion, this book is not as strong as The Song of Achilles.

• The Gentleman’s Guide to Getting Lucky, by Mackenzi Lee

I also received some ARCs this week and finished:

• A Fire Story, by Brian Fies
• The Sustainable Home, by Christine Liu
• Slothilda: Living the Sloth Life, by Dante Fabiero
• A Holiday by Gaslight, by Mimi Matthews

I am still reading:

• Vicious, by VE Schwab

I am currently reading Vicous by V. E. Schwab which I am thoroughly enjoying and listening to The Night is for Hunting by John Marsden

Last week I finished Stranger on a Train by Patricia Highsmith which I thought was alright but had some issues with the writing style which may be a result of something written in the 50s and I finished listening too Burning for Revenge by John Marsden which has put me at 17 books & 11 audiobooks completed this year.

Finished Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff.

Currently reading Vicious by V.E. Schwab

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.

This weekend I finished Vicious, by VE Schwab and this week I started Under the Udala Trees, by Chonelo Okparanta

I didn't finish any books last week but I am chugging along with Dread Nation, by Justina Ireland and Vicious, by V.E. Schwab

I am really enjoying both so far, I really enjoyed the A Darker Shade of Magic series so I hope I enjoy this one just as much.

I started rereading Vicious, by V.E. Schwab in preparation for the sequel coming out in September!

Finished:

Vicious, by V.E. Schwab

I really adored this book. The tension between Victor and Eli really carried throughout the whole story. I found this to be right up my alley because of the suspense, minimum romance, and that it isn't a completely wholesome story where it is really clearly defined who is good or bad.

Did not Finish:

My Best Friend's Exorcism, by Grady Hendrix

I thought this could've been a horror I could really dig into. I got about ~30% and was just not captivated enough.

Currently reading:

The Island of Sea Women, by Lisa See

Stay Sexy & Don't get Murdered, by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark