Four. FOUR!? Four total books.
Welp, that about sums up May for ya! Shake ups at work, the end of the school year, and a trip to celebrate graduates. Time to elbow my way into June by cracking open some books!
Total Books: 4
Audio: 3
Physical: 1
Mix: 0
DNF: 2
Genre: Middle Grade Fiction/Fantasy
Format: Audio
Rating: 2.25/5
Summary: Twins fall into a book and go on a series of quests meeting fairy tale characters.
The audio book contains a full soundtrack and the story has amazing potential. However, this exciting setting had a brother/sister duo go on a bunch of errands for 400+ pages. We need this! Peril! Okay, got it! Now we need this! Peril! Okay, got it! (repeat x 10) My husband caught me in the act of rolling my eyes while listening to the twist. I’m sorry to say it fell very flat.
Genre: YA (Dystopian)
Format: Audio *reread
Rating: 3.25/5
Summary: A community lives in factions based on characteristics meant to help the greater good. Uh oh – what if this is a corrupted system!?
This book didn’t hit as hard the second time – maybe because I first read it 15 years ago or maybe because I’ve read so many similar books since then. Tris, the main character, breaks from her family’s expectations (abruptly), falls in love (abruptly), and gets involved in a revolution (abruptly). You must suspend a lot of disbelief. I heard there was a “sliding doors” book coming out in the next year on what happens if she made a different choice, so I wanted to remember what happened the first time around.
Genre: The least thrilling legal thriller
Format: Audio
Rating: 3/5
Summary: An old lady dies and the lawyer is suspected of murder.
There is nothing really bad about this book, but the description of “MYSTERY LEGAL THRILLER” while being a snooze fest is the real twist. Don’t say the intrigue will keep me up at night when an old lady dies, and then we find out that the guy we know didn’t do it…..didn’t do it. It is very okay.
Genre: Reality TV Memior/Non-fiction
Format: Physical – with illustrations!
Rating: 5/5
Summary: A history of Survivor and Rob’s path to make a career out of the show.
This was written for a very specific group: Nostalgic Survivor fans and listeners of Rob Has a Podcast. I started listening to RHAP a few years ago and became a bigger fan during the Covid times. Where else was I going to find a song parody contest about the previous week’s episode?? How else can I partake in one of my favorite New Year’s traditions of listening to a 4-hour podcast using pop culture references in a fake game simulator?? I warned you – this caters to a very specific fan base. I just happen to be one of those fans, so 5 stars, no notes.
THE QUIT LIST: SUPER PICKY EDITION!
This book has potential. At 40 pages, the main character was annoyed at another character for pronouncing her name incorrectly. I had also been pronouncing her name incorrectly in my noggin. Now the main character is annoyed at ME!? Life is too short. NEXT!
I was pessimistic about this book to begin with, as it had popular Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow vibes. By 20 pages, I was thinking, “Ew, it actually has The Great Gatsby vibes”. (Yes, I should have known by the cover.) At page 21, it made a The Great Gatsby reference. NEXT!
Okay, okay. Seriously, next. I need to get back to it, big time! Happy Summer Reading, friends!