March 2016 Wrap-Up

March started well. Finished a book on the 2nd! I am on track right now for my yearly goal, but I want to try and push it a little. Maybe I will start reading more manga like I read last month. 

Sorry about being late with this blog post. My laptop crashed and I had to wait for my father to fix it. Now that he's done what he can, I am back to posting monthly hauls and wrap-ups for you.

I read 8 books in March.

Book #1: Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

When Emma Rouault marries Charles Bovary she imagines she will pass into the life of luxury and passion that she reads about in sentimental novels and women's magazines. But Charles is a dull country doctor, and provincial life is very different from the romantic excitement for which she yearns. In her quest to realize her dreams she takes a lover, and begins a devastating spiral into deceit and despair. Flaubert's novel scandalized its readers when it was first published in 1857, and it remains unsurpassed in its unveiling of character and society.

I did enjoy the book. There were just a lot of places where the content seemed to have very little, if anything at all, to do with the actual book itself. I didn't understand the inclusion of certain facts that were not relevant to the storyline. I don't think Emma realized that the world is not often how we perceive it, and she set her goals far too high to ever be attained. I rated this book a 3/5 partly because of the randomness of some facts in the book and partly because of the absolute selfishness that Emma showed as a human being.


Book #2: The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff

With pre-publication media and buzz, and sales in ten foreign countries to date, David Ebershoff's The Danish Girl is poised for international success. Inspired by the true story of Danish painter Einar Wegener and his California-born wife, this tender portrait of a marriage asks "What do you do when someone you love wants to change?"Set against the glitz and decadence of 1920s Copenhagen, Dresden, and Paris, The Danish Girl eloquently portrays the intimacy that defines a marriage and the nearly forgotten story of the love between a man who discovers that he is, in fact, a woman and the woman who would sacrifice anything for him. Uniting fact and fiction into a unique romantic vision. The Danish Girl explores the wry heart of what connects men and women -- and what separates them. But this book, like Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha, transcends the confines of sex and gender and historical place. Ultimately, The Danish Girls lush prose and generous emotional insight make it, after the last page is turned, a love story that no reader will soon forget. With The Danish Girl. David Ebershoff will make one of the year's dazzling literary debuts.

I heard about this book because I had seen a trailer for the movie and wanted to see it very very badly. I have several friends who are part of the transgender community and I wanted to know how they were represented in the book. The support Lili's family showed for her was amazing and I loved it. I hate to admit it, but I had to agree with Greta on part of it. There are just some things that they are scientifically incapable of doing yet in 1932 or whenever this was (that part was not very specific). I took the star off, because the book literally just stops. There's not much of an ending to it. She's thinking about things on the banks of a river and then poof. No more words. There should have been some much better resolution to the story, beside all of a sudden having the Author's Note section of the book. Either way, though, I'm glad I've read it and I can't wait to see the movie.

Book #3: Trinity Blood (vol. 2) by Sunao Yoshida

All roads lead to Rome and the Vatican, as Abel, Tres, and Esther set off to meet up with the rest of AX after the death of Gyula and the destruction of Esther's home church in Istavan. Esther's on a new mission, seeking to find herself and the source of her suffering, and new orders from the Vatican may lead to the answer. But the journey is filled with many twisted turns, including a formidable vampire, a bloodsucking tree, and a dangerously beautiful mermaid! In these original, never-before-told stories - which you will not find in the Trinity Blood novels or anime - all's fair in blood and war!

I finished this in about an hour. I've read them before, and I love the story. It's so incredibly far-fetched that you almost don't believe it can happen. I enjoy the way that Esther just invites herself along with Abel and Tres as they head back to Rome to meet up with the rest of AX. Because that's something normal people do. And they don't even stop her! How is that? They're just like “Okay....you can come with too.” They make up a very funky trio that I love reading about.

Book #4: Trinity Blood (vol. 3) by Sunao Yoshida

The newly initiated Sister Esther has joined up with the warriors of the Vatican, but distrusts the relationship between the Cardinal Caterina and Abel...especially when Caterina starts to make friendly diplomatic gestures towards the Empire in the East, where vampires rule! When two emissaries appear, suspicions are deepened once again - but just who are these mysterious men?

The only thing I have found I don't like about manga is that they don't have individual volume names. Like “Such-and-Such (Trinity Blood #3)”, that would be brilliant and not weird looking on written wrap ups and what have you. Anyway, I think the story is just as good as it's always been. I would always recommend this manga to people I know because they should read it. It's a great look into the possible dystopian future if vampires were a real thing and if they were, what could possibly eat them? 

Book #5: Trinity Blood (vol. 4) by Sunao Yoshida

The Gothic-action masterpiece continues as Esther remembers the cold, cruel day when a heartless Dietrich betrayed her. And now, among the flames, Radu is about to do the same to Ion...until Brother Petros and his Department of Inquisition arrive. Weakened after his previous fight with Petros, Abel is just barely keeping himself under control and, as the battle rages, Esther may once again find herself betrayed by someone she trusted...

I haven't even thought about these in so long that it was wonderful to read them all again. I love the story line and I plan to pick up more when I get the chance (downside of being poor). I don't know why I feel so badly as I do for Ion, but I'm just a weird person I guess. There's a lot of things I would have changed about the book, such as not having the speech so close to the inside margin, there were a few times were I had to just about rip my own book in half to be able to read it. Other than that, fantastic!

Book #6: The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people's minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing. It is raining the day her life changes for ever. Attacked, drugged and kidnapped, Paige is transported to Oxford – a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite with mysterious motives. He is her master. Her trainer. Her natural enemy. But if Paige wants to regain her freedom she must allow herself to be nurtured in this prison where she is meant to die. The Bone Season introduces a compelling heroine and also introduces an extraordinary young writer, with huge ambition and a teeming imagination. Samantha Shannon has created a bold new reality in this riveting debut.

Okay, so I borrowed this book from a friend of mine. I rated this book a 5 out of 5 stars and I am absolutely excited to get my hands on the next volume. I was told “Oh, she writes like J.K. Rowling!” with no explanation of what that even meant. It turns out that the person had meant the world building was similar to that of J.K. Rowling. I disagree here. It reminded me more of Stephenie Meyer's book, The Host, with the way that things were set up and how the story was progressing.


Book #7: In the Forest of Light and Dark by Mark Kasniak

After the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill shut down the fishing industry in the Gulf causing Cera’s Step Daddy Cade to lose his job, Cera and her parents find themselves in dire straits when they learn that their local bank is planning to foreclose on their home. Now just when Murphy's Law seems to be at its all time worst for Cera and her family, news comes that Cera's grandmother, Lyanna Barrett, has passed. But soon, Cera and her family quickly find out her passing isn't all bad news. In an inheritance letter that Cera's mama (Janine) receives in the weeks that follow her mother’s death, she is informed that she is to receive all of her mother’s assets which are to include a house in New York, a new Cadillac, and a substantial amount of cold, hard cash. Reluctant to leave Saraland and move back to New York, Cera's mama is torn but sees no other option other than accepting the inheritance that her mother bequeathed to her and make a fresh start back in her place of birth, Mount Harrison. After arriving in Mt. Harrison, a picturesque, little Western New York village nestled in a valley below the forest covered mountain from which it gets its name—Cera quickly comes to the understanding as to why her mama, at age eighteen, had elected to run away from her home and head for the Deep South. Nearly all the village’s residence, acting under a curse put upon them by Abellona Abbott (a three hundred-year-old witch that still resides in the forest atop Mt. Harrison and takes the embodiment of her teenage former self) treats Cera and her mama with utter contempt for bringing the Barrett blood line back into the village and thereby angering Abellona Abbott even further because of a grudge the witch still carries against the Barrett family that stretches back to the time of her death. As Cera and her family try their best to settle into their new home and community, Cera immediately finds out, even before her very first day at her new school, that she along with her mama are not going to be welcomed in their new village which quickly becomes evident to Cera by the lack of acceptance she receives from several of her new classmates and her neighbor’s disdainful attitudes towards her and her family. If Cera hopes to survive her senior year of high school, then together with the help of another village outcast named Katelyn, she has to piece together her family’s history in Mt. Harrison in connection with Abellona Abbott, and quickly develop her newly found magic skills before it’s too late.

I got this book on a whim because it looked good. I was a little bit let down. It wasn't quite as good as I thought it was going to be, but that's cool because it was still very good. I liked the way they portrayed the girls as not actually realizing what was going on at first. It was very reminiscent of Mary Downing Hahn's Deep and Dark and Dangerous as far as the reveal of the antagonist went. I must admit that at first I thought it was going to be Katelyn. I hope to read more by Mark Kasniak in the future. His book was really good and I liked the idea of it. I want to know what happens to Cera now. Do they keep the house and stay in Mt. Harrison or do they move back to Saraland after the year is up?

Book #8: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of curious photographs. A horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

Yes. I finally jumped on the Miss Peregrine's bandwagon. It's been in my possession (sort of) for quite a while and I just hadn't picked it up yet. Other books kept catching my attention and drawing me away from this one. I'm glad now that I've managed to get to it. I'd meant to read it in October, because it's paranormal, not because it's scary. It's not. It was very interesting and I will be starting volume two just as soon as I finish Vanity Fair. 

March 2016 Book Haul

I told myself I would be a good girl and not buy new books outside of my own set guidelines this month. I would stick to my buying rules!! I immediately failed. Immediately. I was already buying new books before the first week of March was even up.

In March I bought 1 book.

Book #1: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Of course mine has the little gold circle on the side telling me it won a Pulitzer Prize. That's fine though. I'm not as uptight about it as everybody else seems to be. I just thought I'd mention because mine doesn't quite look like this one. I've seen this particular novel on BookTube a few times and I was like "No. We must have this." A few months ago, I had forgotten the title and grabbed another blue colored book (only remembering that about it) from a library sale called Light Between Oceans and much to my surprised delight, the author of that book has a blurb on this one.  

Marie-Laure, a young French girl, lives with her father in Paris. She uses a small perfect miniature of the city to learn to navigate it, for she's blind. One day she and her father must flee Paris to Saint-Malo in the countryside because the Nazis have invaded Paris. It is there she meets a German boy named Werner who was put into Hitler's Youth and sent to repair radios. It sounds absolutely beautiful and sad and just perfect for the mood I've been in lately. I started reading it as soon as I got it.


Book #2: Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

This is new. I'm actually buying relatively new books now instead of old books like before. I'm almost on top of the game. Being broke (and unemployed) does that to a person.

Anyway, I read the synopsis for the book and was like "No, I need to have this." Apparently Dorothy goes back to Oz a final time, and sets herself up as what I'm assuming amounts as Supreme Empress over all of Oz. She takes the power for herself and the Good Witches support her? I don't know. Then Oz summons another girl from Kansas to work in the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked (don't quote me) to help them bring Dorothy down from the throne and restore order to their home.