What I’m reading, September 2014

2014 book count: 93. Even if I stop reading now and pick up again in December, as is usually the case with NaNoWriMo season, I can still reach 100 books easily.

Here’s what I’ve read since the last book review batch:

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson, aka The Bloggess: This book was hilarious, and it made me think and feel and laugh and so many other things. Her writing style is raw and unfiltered, and I felt like I was reading these thoughts inside her brain. Literally inside her brain, making myself comfy on a brain wrinkle while she thought her thoughts. And that made me think of how I pause so much before writing things down (because heaven forbid I run out of paper or want to make things sound good) and try to make all these thoughts in my brain into words that sound good. Also, I am now even more convinced that without the Internet, more people would wonder what the hell was wrong with me. Oh right, I was writing a book review. Back to that…
Goodreads rating: 4 out of 5 arm condoms

Peachville High Demons series (books 2-6) by Sarra Cannon: I’m grouping the series together because I can (and because I don’t remember which book some elements were from). I already reviewed the first book, Beautiful Demons. But the series really picks up at book two and maintains that fast pace throughout the rest of the series. Book 6 ends the series brilliantly and wraps things up in a way that didn’t leave me questioning major elements.
Goodreads rating: 4 out of 5 ritual items (Inner Demons, Bitter Demons, Shadow Demons, Rival Demons)
Goodreads rating: 5 out of 5 priestesses (Demons Forever)

Walk Me Home by Catherine Ryan Hyde: This book was… okay. The main character was stubborn to the point of not recognizing the reality of the situation; she couldn’t be a guardian at all, their journey is hard to the point of unbelievable (how did they make it that long? How did they not die?), and the use of multiple timelines frustrated me rather than enlightened me. I did appreciate the ending for the most part, but how did it take Carly that long to figure things out? Geez.
Goodreads rating: 3 out of 5 quarters

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell: I loved almost everything about this book. Almost. The characters were well-rounded and complex and the plot flowed smoothly for the most part. But the ending left me wanting so much more than what was there. The book was great great give me more… and then all of a sudden it ended and fell flat. Still, I enjoyed this book enough to seek out her other work.
Goodreads rating: 5 out of 5 fanfics

Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed: I see him retweeted in my feed at least once a day, so I gave his book a try. I tried so hard to like it, but in the end it was just okay. The worldbuilding is excellent, but I just couldn’t get into it from the beginning. And it wasn’t the unusual names and world, or at least that wasn’t a big factor; the best way to get used to things different than your norm is to expose yourself to them, after all. But I just found myself reading, checking to see when a chapter ended or how many pages I had left (which I sometimes do when I’m not loving the book). My thinking was “how much more?” instead of “what comes next?”. But I’m mostly indifferent about the book, so a 3 it is.
Goodreads rating: 3 out of 5 thrones

The Key to the Golden Firebird by Maureen Johnson: She is one hilarious woman, at least on Twitter. And while there’s definitely some humor in this book, the humor isn’t the main focus. In fact, most of the topics in this book aren’t particulary humorous. Given that this book tells the story of three sisters recovering from their father’s death, that’s understandable. It’s a good read, and I’d pick up another one of Maureen’s books. Recs welcome!
Goodreads rating: 4 out of 5 car keys

The Archived by Victoria Schwab: The premise of this book is so good (an archive of the dead, and chasing after them when they escape), and the author does it justice. I love the main character. She’s enthusiastic, but she screws up often, and a lot of the action from this book comes from her screwups. And the story itself is just beautiful and touches on lots of themes like death and deception and identity. Beautiful.
Goodreads rating: 5 out of 5 histories

Lock In by John Scalzi: So good. Just… good. So many themes dealt with and so many parallels to current society and funny characters and geez, just go read it already. Sometimes that’s all there is to say.
Goodreads rating: 5 out of 5 treeps

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore: I knew I’d like this book from the time someone recommended it. I mean, a bookstore, mysteries, and technology. Sounds great, right? The first half was great, but the pacing felt a little off at parts and I couldn’t get all that into the main story of the second half, but overall a good read.
Goodreads rating: 4 out of 5 logbooks

Dreamwood by Heather Mackey: This book is lovely, and it grabbed me straight from the start. The main character, Lucy, is a bright and energetic twelve-year-old who won’t let anyone tell her what to do. I would have liked her in my teenagehood. The book flowed well, the characters were complex and multifaceted, and the ending tied everything up together nicely.
Goodreads rating: 4 out of 5 spirits

Up next: …nothing at the moment, believe it or not. It’s close enough to NaNo relaunch that all my energies are devoted to putting up flyers and updating Wikiwrimo and getting the rest of my life in order. The writing replaces the reading this time of year. Book review posts should be back in December, and then I figure out my 2015 reading goal.