July 2016 Wrap Up

I have finished 10 books for July.


Book #1: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

When Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are sent to stay with a kind professor who lives in the country, they can hardly imagine the extraordinary adventure that awaits them. It all begins one rainy summer day when the children explore the professor's rambling old house. When they come across a room with an old wardrobe in the corner, Lucy immediately opens the door and gets inside. To her amazement, she suddenly finds herself standing in the clearing of a wood on a winter after-noon, with snowflakes falling through the air. Lucy has found Narnia, a magical land of fauns and centaurs, nymphs and talking animals -- and the beautiful but evil White Witch, who has held the country in eternal winter for a hundred years.

My friend and I (the same friend who did the HP read-along with me back in January that I have yet to finish) decided we would start our Chronicles of Narnia read along. I did fall a little bit behind, having a lot of other things to do this week, but I managed to pull through and finish it early in the month. If the rest of the series reads like this one did, we will be done before July is even over. I rated this 4/5 because sometimes I just had to wonder how dense these kids really were. In the Professor's own words....what did they teach at their schools? How could they be so....so....the only word I can come up with is dumb. I loved the movie, and I've read this book several times. I love the story and I can't wait to actually read the rest of them.


Book #2: Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

The Pevensie siblings are back to help a prince denied his rightful throne as he gathers an army in a desperate attempt to rid his land of a false king. But in the end, it is a battle of honor between two men alone that will decide the fate of an entire world. 

I liked this one well enough. It's hard when you're intentionally reading them out of order. On mine the spines are labeled so that way you read them in the order he intended, not the order he published. We are reading them in the order they were published (and I plan to do another read through later in the order he meant).

In this one, they all return and don't really even question anything when they are asked to help Caspian hide and get rid of his Uncle Miraz. They know nothing of this era in Narnian history (as it has been roughly a thousand years since they were there last in Narnian time) and they are willing to just lay down their lives for someone they don't know? It broke my heart to learn that Peter and Susan were not coming back. What?

Book #3: Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige

I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero. But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know? Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little blue birds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still the yellow brick road, though—but even that's crumbling. What happened? Dorothy. They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe. My name is Amy Gumm—and I'm the other girl from Kansas. I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked. I've been trained to fight.

And I have a mission:

Remove the Tin Woodman's heart.

Steal the Scarecrow's brain.

Take the Lion's courage.

Then and only then—Dorothy must die!

I....what? I love this. It's so good. She based it on the way things worked in the movies, with characters from the book, so that was a bit confusing. I liked how she included people that weren't even IN the first book, like Mombi and the girl who used to work for the Scarecrow who's name I've suddenly forgotten. I think Jinjur is also in it. I'm glad I bought it and I can't wait to get to the rest of them. Solid 4/5 for this one.

Book #4: Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

A voyage to the very ends of the world. Narnia... where a dragon awakens... where stars walk the earth... where anything can happen. A king and some unexpected companions embark on a voyage that will take them beyond all known lands. As they sail father and farther from charted waters, they discover that their quest is more than they imagined and that the world's end is only the beginning.

This one made me laugh a little. I felt bad at first for Eustace. Being pulled along by Aslan into a world he didn't believe in at all....but when I found out why I felt worse for Lucy and Edmond. It's their last journey just as it was Peter and Susan's in the beginning. It's rather sad that they are only in a few of the books and they are the most known characters. I don't know how exactly I feel about it in some ways. I mean, what exactly was the point of this book? Going out on an adventure because we can? It had almost no relevance that I could find to the story line as a whole other than it being the end for the younger Pevensie siblings. This one got a 4/5. 

Book #5: Paper Towns by John Green

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they're for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew...

Holy shit! I don't even care that I'm cursing. Everybody who actually knows the girl behind the green curtain (ha Wizard of Oz reference) will know that I don't read modern contemporaries or much in the way of YA. My book case is made up almost exclusively of manga, regency romance and historical fantasy. Books being written about a time back when things such as electrical lighting and toilets didn't exist (or did, but were still incredibly new). I am amazed at how much I enjoyed this novel. I picked it as my book to read for the read a book and watch its movie adaptation. I read the entire thing in one day. I've never done that with a book over 200 pages long. I was in love with the story and I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen. I rated this book a 5/5 stars and my full review is on Goodreads if you want to actually read it and find out what all I thought.

Book #6: The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis

Jill and Eustace must rescue the Prince from the evil Witch. NARNIA...where owls are wise, where some of the giants like to snack on humans, where a prince is put under an evil spell...and where the adventure begins. Eustace and Jill escape from the bullies at school through a strange door in the wall, which, for once, is unlocked. It leads to the open moor...or does it? Once again Aslan has a task for the children, and Narnia needs them. Through dangers untold and caverns deep and dark, they pursue the quest that brings them face and face with the evil Witch. She must be defeated if Prince Rilian is to be saved.

It took me so long to read this. I was just so bored for the entire thing. A good number of these are just adding the characters for future use or getting rid of the ones that aren't going to be seen again. I don't follow why we needed to have them. This could all have been written in one book with parts and been just as good as the series as a whole was. Of course I named one of my dragons in another game after the Prince. That's entirely beside the point. I rated this book a 5/5 for the story itself. It was very well written and I liked it. I just think it could have been put all together.


Book #7: The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis

A wild gallop for freedom. Narnia...where horses talk...where treachery is brewing... where destiny awaits. On a desperate journey, two runaways meet and join forces. Though they are only looking to escape their harsh and narrow lives, they soon find themselves at the center of a terrible battle. It is a battle that will decide their fate and the fate of Narnia itself.

This had nothing at all to do with the actual story. It takes place while Peter, Susan, Lucy and Edmond are still on the throne at Cair Paravel. Only this story doesn't take place in Narnia until the very very end. Almost the entire thing is told by a boy who is a slave in Calormen. Which until this book....was never even talked about. There was no mention of Calormen at all. Even Archenland had only previously been mentioned in The Magician's Nephew (which I read later). This made no sense. What was the purpose of this? What? Someone tell me. Was it because he wanted to tell of some evil dark-skinned people during a time when we thought Africans were evil? The hell was wrong with him? I don't get it. I gave the book a 4/5 stars because the story was good but I have no idea what  it had to do with the series as a whole.

Book #8: Murder is a Witch by John Bingham

It was as easy for her as falling into bed. A few passionate kisses, a moment when her body clung to his, a promise of more to come–and he was hers, for anything she wanted. What she wanted was money, and she knew where he could get it. She wanted a great many things, and few of them were nice–or legal. When he tried to steal for her, and stumbled into murder, she discarded him like a broken toy. There were other men, and other crimes, and she would stay alluring for a long, long, time.

I didn't get it! I gave this one a 4/5 because honestly, for a thriller...it wasn't very thrilling. The whole back of the book makes me think that the girl on the cover will be more involved in it. That she will play some sort of pivotal role or something. No. She just happened to be dating both of the men in question and tried to extort money from one of their mothers. Seriously. That was it. The title has nothing to do with the story. I'm hesitant to call it a book because seriously. This is just awkward. And the guy who she ditches? He was completely innocent and wouldn't have even been charged with the crime in the first place. They wanted to talk to him and he got himself killed. Way to go there guy. Way to go.

Book #9: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one. Now, it's the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth's last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie's only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.

I liked it. I really liked it. It took me a while to finish it because I had a headache from trying to read so many books for Booktubeathon a few days ago. It made my brain felt like it was melting. I had chosen this one for "A book with yellow on the cover." It was great. I love the way that we are lead to believe certain things when they may or may not be true. I was able to guess Evan's role really quickly though. That was a bit obvious. I'm going to avoid giving spoilers here because let's be honest. People will read this. People will probably not (unless they're me) be reading an obscure book from the fifties. I gave this one a 5/5 stars.

Book #10: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Recounts the adventures of a young boy and an escaped slave as they travel down the Mississippi River on a raft.

I have no idea what I thought this one was going to be. I have read Adventures of Tom Sawyer (though I cannot remember much) and this just seemed dry and very boring to me. I had chosen it as my "book older than you are" for Booktubeathon and struggled to finish it at all, let alone finishing it on time for the read along. That I didn't do. I didn't even read this until the Monday afterward. 

I have no clue why this was written. Was he bored or being paid by companies to write books and he wanted to get something out. That's all I can think of. There was no reason for a book about a boy and a slave on the river. I don't follow. I rated this book 4/5 and honestly, I have no idea why. I don't remember.