The highest monthly total yet this year!

I’ve been dying to get my hands on Children of Blood and Bone, I’ve heard so much about it and then, of course, Stephen King recommended it.  I’ve been reading a lot of YA fantasy lately, but this one had such different world-building. For such a huge book, it took me less than a week to read, so that should tell you something about how great the pacing is!

I read another from this stack, the terribly written Playmates.  It was everything I could have hoped for from an 80s horror paperback.

I picked up Here from a used book sale at my local grocery store – I just loved this creepy cover.  Then it sat on my shelf for 2 years… The book appeared to be self-published, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was.  There was a cool twist that unfortunately did not involve ghosts or dead girls or murder, but still: love the cover, loved the book.

I requested this book before I watched the movie, but ended up watching the movie before the book came in.  This was quite angsty and brought me back to my own teenage years and the way I’d examine every minute interaction with someone I “liked.”  The language was quite lovely, and most of the dialogue ended up in the movie – it was Elio’s internal dialogue that was missing.  I will say that I will never look at apricots or peaches in quite the same way.

Heart of Iron was a good change from all the YA fantasy I’ve been reading.  It was basically Anastasia in space, but had some fun romantic subplots and the story moved at a great pace.  Plus, it was so gorgeous!  Here’s another picture, because I couldn’t stop:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh85Cp4lpo5/ 

Overall, not the most prolific reading month, but I was also trying to finish Warriors for Camp Nanowrimo, and I attended the New England SCBWI conference – both of which I will talk about in future posts!

• Prettiest: Heart of Iron
• Least Favorite: Red Riding Hood and the Big Sad Wolf, Volume 1
• Most Overblown Writing: Playmates
• Coolest Concept: Heart of Iron
• Creepiest Cover: Here
• Fastest Read: Snow White: A Graphic Novel (1 day)
• Slowest Read: Uncommon Type (14 days)

The full list (links take you to my Goodreads reviews):

1. 1. We Are Okay by Nina LaCour (audiobook)
   2. Children of Blood & Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
   3. Never Alone by Elizabeth Haynes
   4. Red Riding Hood and the Big Sad Wolf, Volume 1 by Hachijou Shin (manga)
   5. The Summer Palace by C.S. Pacat (ebook)
   6. Playmates by J.N. Williamson
   7. Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks (audiobook)
   8. Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman
   9. Here (On the Otherside #1) by Denise Grover Swank
   10. Snow White: A Graphic Novel by Matt Phelan (graphic novel)
   11. Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston