September Wrap-Up

This month was fantastic for awesome books, mostly thanks to all the free time I had during my family's annual beach vacation. Yay for YA!!! Maybe I'm finally out of my slump?

Books I Read

The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

5/5

It's not quite Aristotle and Dante levels of wow, but WOW. This author's ability to keep my interest throughout an unusually long contemporary with little plot is largely due to how good he is at writing characters. I love his characters, every single one of them. The friendship, family dynamics, love of dogs (dogs who don't die, might I add!), and food (homemade tortillas . . . *drools*) made this story something I missed reading when I was doing something else. It was such a cozy book to curl up with before bed, even if it made me cry like twelve times.

Made You Up by Francesca Zappia

4/5

It was wacky, unique, and not at all what I expected, but I really enjoyed it! I liked Alex and Miles a lot, even though they semi-hated each other at first. And I loved Alex's younger sister, Charlie. She was adorable. I can't remember ever seeing schizophrenia portrayed in any YA novel I've read before, so that was fascinating (and anxiety-inducing). THAT PLOT TWIST, THOUGH. No spoilers, but if you've read the book, you know what I'm talking about.

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

5/5

September was the month of Francesca Zappia, and this book did not disappoint. I LOVED it. I especially identified with Eliza as an introverted fangirl who spends lots of time online and on my phone, but, like Eliza, I'm actually being very social online! Some of my best friends were made through fan-fiction and forums, and they live in other states and countries and time zones, but they're still great friendships. The romance was super cute and the story reminded me a lot of Fangirl if it were set in high school. I highly recommend this one.

History Is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera

4/5

I finally read an Adam Silvera book after much hype from the internet, so thank you, internet, for a great recommendation! These characters were all kinds of broken and full of bad decisions, but I couldn't blame them for most of them, because they're in a terrible situation. Don't expect a light and fluffy read when you pick this up. It's dark and sad and will break your heart, but you'll love it anyways. Other than a plot that was a little too slow for my liking, I enjoyed this one a lot.

Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven

3/5

I should have loved this, seeing as it's Jennifer Niven and I adored All the Bright Places, but I . . . did not. I liked it. I liked Jack, even if he did some crappy things sometimes. I felt bad for him. I felt bad for Libby, too, and even though she's not a bad character, I couldn't connect with her. Something about her didn't feel real to me. She was too perfect and a little self-righteous. I didn't believe the romance and there was definitely a big plot hole or two. However, yay for diversity! It dealt with some really tough issues and I liked how it was handled. Not a bad read, overall.

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

5/5

So. Many. Plot twists. I really should've seen some of them coming, but I didn't, and that's largely due to the really freaking great use of four unreliable narrators. Seriously, they're written so well that you can't help but love them and simultaneously suspect they're murderers. I heard it's being developed into a TV show, too, which is an excellent choice, because I binged this book late into the night and enjoyed every second of it.

Crosstalk by Connie Willis

2/5

God, I was so. Bored. If I hadn't read it for a book club, I would have called it a DNF a hundred pages in. But no, I forced myself through 600 PAGES of nonsense. I didn't like the main character, couldn't stand most of the side characters, found the romance forced, and wondered how in the world an author managed to make telepathy a snooze-fest. The concept was really cool and should have worked, but thanks to a wandering plot and poor editing, it was so hard to keep my focus on the book.

Lumberjanes, Vol. 1: Beware the Kitten Holy by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Shannon Watters, and Brooke A. Allen

5/5

This was adorable and I'm sad my library only has the one copy. Reading Lumberjanes was like reading a paranormal, outdoorsy version of my writer's camps. The quirky characters really made the story pop. Such a fun, cozy read.

Movies I Watched

No movies for me, just a bunch of really good books.


Quotes I Wrote

Didn't get to a whole lot of writing, either, but I did start planning my NaNoWriMo novel, which is turning into a much improved version of my novel from last year, which totally failed. But I'm okay with that, because this novel is shaping up to be much better.

Obsessions I Acquired

This cover of "Waving Through a Window" - aoisdjfoaiuweroajsdf Just when I thought I couldn't love Thomas Sanders and Dodie more than I already do, they do THIS. Petition for Thomas Sanders to play Evan Hansen on Broadway??? PLEASE?????? They're all so adorable.


Picture of the Month 

My friend Sam had a "Psycho" themed birthday party and the decorations were awesome. I didn't realize I was the only one in this picture making a normal face until afterwards.

Beach vacation!

Some books I was considering getting. I managed to pare down the possibilities eventually.

Scout tried on my brother's sunglasses.

Teaching my mom how to dab.

My dad and I spent an entire day making this Wonder Woman costume from scratch for Time Traveler's Day at the Renaissance Faire. It looked so cool once it was finished. I got a bunch of comments from the actors about the "woman of wonder" and several wide-eyed expressions from little girls. A cello player even started playing the Wonder Woman movie theme when I walked by.

We found the TARDIS!

 

 

How was your September?