About a month ago, I
posted about the summer reading challenge I decided to do. Today, I decided I'd take a look at how I'm doing and do mini-reviews of the books I've read. Here are the books I said I wanted to read this summer.
El Deafo by Cece Bell
Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
Ensnared by A.G. Howard
Half a Chance by Cynthia Lord
My Life With the Walter Boys by Ali Novak
Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin
The Mistborn series (only the first four books) by Brandon Sanderson
Lumberjanes by Noelle Stevenson
Analyzing Mad Men: Critical Essays on the Television Series edited by Scott F. Stoddart
So far, I'm not doing too well with my goals. I've read
El Deafo,
Better Than Before, and
Ensnared, and I started the
Mistborn series last night. I like having flexible goals for reading challenges because even though I made a list of books to read this summer, I wanted to read other things instead, and that's what I've been doing. I still have time to get through some of the books on my original list, since the library's summer reading program doesn't end until July 25. I'm hoping to finish half of the
Mistborn series, as well as
Lumberjanes by then.
Mini-reviews
El Deafo by Cece Bell: I loved it. I wanted to read it primarily because of the diversity, and I wasn't disappointed. The book is based on Cece Bell's childhood, and she did an excellent job of conveying how it felt to be the only deaf student at her school. I especially liked it that she acknowledged that she was not trying to write about all the experiences all deaf people has, because as she pointed out, it's different for everyone.
Ensnared by A.G. Howard: I have to admit that it took me a while to get into this book. When I started it, I wasn't sure if I liked where it was going, but I kept reading, and I'm so glad I did, because this book was a fantastic conclusion to the trilogy (although there's a fourth book coming out next year!). It's not often that I find myself so emotionally tied to characters in fairy tale retellings, but I fell in love with the characters in this book, and because of that, the ending broke my heart. If you love
Alice in Wonderland, definitely give this series a try.
Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin: I adore Gretchen Rubin's books, and this book was no exception. The book is all about developing and changing habits, and I started changing my habits and developing new habits almost as soon as I started the book. The book was fun and insightful, and I can't wait to read it again.
At the end of the summer, I'll probably do a final post to conclude how my reading challenge went. Did anyone else set any challenges or goals? Tell me about them in the comments!
