August Wrap Up!

Hi everyone and welcome back to my blog! I'm Genni, and today I'll be looking at what I read in August! August was a time of getting reading for university, so I didn't read as much as these past couple months.

Now onto the 13 books I read in August!

1) Stars Above by Marissa Meyer

Review

Stars Above is a compilation of short stories set in the Lunar Chronicles universe. The last time I read something by Marissa Meyer or part of the world was when Winter released, so I loved going back into the world and reading more from Meyer. There were stories that I liked, loved, and others I felt indifferent towards. Check out my review here! 

2) Come for Me, Darling by Alexis Anne

I received Come for Me, Darling via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. As of now, that review hasn't been posted, simply because I didn't enjoy it that much. I always feel a bit bad if I don't enjoy an ARC that I requested. I'm thinking that I'll be doing a mini review post and include Come for Me, Darling in that. Basically, the romance was cheesy and the book read like countless of other romances. 

3) Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

Review

Oof...I did not like this one. I read Red Queen for the #MakeMeRead readathon, which I also didn't do that well in, haha! I thought the characters and world needed more complexities. Red Queen was a formulaic entry into the dystopian subgenre. I've heard mixed things from the other books, and I probably won't be continuing with series. I do, however, own the second boo in the series, so I might read it anyways just to see what happens. 

4) I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

Thoughts While Listening To...

I've Got Your Number was the only audiobook I read this month. I thought it was wonderful! I didn't love the book, but Poppy had such a distinct voice and I thought her story was a great mix of endearing, comedic, embarrassing, and heartfelt. I'm definitely interested in reading more from Sophie Kinsella.

5) Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren

After a stressful day of moving into university and walking everywhere, I really needed to relax and not think. Beautiful Bastard was the perfect solution. I've really enjoyed other books by Christina Lauren, so I imagined I would have the same experience. However, I didn't love Beautiful Bastard! The romance was lackluster, to be honest. I'm writing my review now, and expect to see it within a week!

6) Nuts by Alice Clayton

After the (unfortunate) disappointment of Beautiful Bastard, I decided to try out a new-to-me author, Alice Clayton! I have heard wonderful things about Nuts, and the series in general, and decided to pick them up. Honestly, this was a little bit of a disappointment as well. I simply didn't care for the characters that much, and thought that the plot points were predictable. However, the sex scenes were written wonderfully, and for that reason, I am planning on continuing with the series. 

7) The Deal by Elle Kennedy

This is where my luck started going up with romance novels! The Deal is a very popular NA romance novel, and when I saw it was on Scribd, I had to pick it up. There were some instances where I thought the language and underlying sexism was troubling. Though the romance was written well, and I my heart was hurting for the characters, the language left me a bit unsettled. 

8) The Mistake by Elle Kennedy

After The Deal, I decided to read its companion novel, The Mistake. Basically, I had the same experience with The Mistake as I had with The Deal. I loved the romance, but there was sexist language throughout the book. I understand if there is a douchebag saying these things, because it's presented as wrong, but it was from the main characters, who we are supposed to agree with. *sigh*

9) Love and Friendship by Jane Austen

And this is when you can tell I started reading because of school! It's been YEARS since I've read something by Jane Austen, and now that I'm taking a class centered around her works, I'm reading much more of her and seeing many movie adaptations. Love and Friendship was simply put, entertaining. Written when Jane Austen was around 15 years of age, her adolescence shines through. Love and Friendship doesn't have much social commentary. Instead, it's just a fun little novella to read if you want to be humored. 

10) We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

"We Should All Be Feminists" is a reread for me. This time, I read it for a class. I liked reading this for a second time, because I think I got more out of it. However, I don't think that the essay is pure perfection, as I did when I first read it. Still, I recommend it! 

11) A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare

I also read this for class as well! I'm taking a Shakespeare class, and this is the first play we read. I read this play around six years ago and didn't remember much. Now that I've had more reading experience, I understood the appreciated the text much more than I did when I was 13 years old. 

12) The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

This is, no question, my favorite book of the month. I was reading this while reading the last three books, and it was a great reprieve from all my required reading. The Kiss Quotient was sexy, funny, and most importantly, diverse! The author is own-voices for both Asian and high-functioning autism, and pushed the book to another level for me. Expect a review soon!! 

13) The Unwritten Rule by Elizabeth Scott

The Unspoken Rule was my last book of August, but not my least favorite of the month. I didn't love it, but I am a sucker for the whole "falling in love with my best friend's boyfriend" trope, even though it is troubling and I would never want that to happen in real life. Nonetheless, the book was entertaining and a pleasant distraction from the plethora of readings I did for school.

Updates!

Currently Reading

I moved into university, and once school started, I needed to read romance. After critically thinking all day, I need a break and just indulge in some romance. I got Scribd for a free monthly trial, and have read several romance books from there. I just finished reading Beautiful Stranger by Christina Lauren yesterday, and I'm thinking of starting Stray by Rachel Vincent. I also just finished the audiobook of Contagion by Erin Bowman The next books for me are Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen and Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh.

Goodreads Challenge! 

Now that school has started, I've really gotten my shit together when it comes to the goodreads challenge. I used to be 5-7 books behind, and now I'm five books ahead! This semester has already demanded that I read more than I was during the summer. I'm reading plays by Shakespeare and novels by Jane Austen quite regularly because of my classes, and I'm also reading for fun to get some of that stress out of my life. So far, I've been able to find a balance between reading for school and reading for fun! Now I just need to figure how to add blogging into the mix, as I've been pretty absent since the semester started. 

Life Update! 

 Whew, life has been hectic. I moved into my dorm, and the academic year is tarting off strong. Right now, I'm not loving any of my classes (which is a little disappointing), but I'm not hating them either. I'm a sophomore this year, and I've been having such a better time than last year! Last month, my goal was to be more social and I'm happy to announce that I have been! I've made a couple friends from my hall and some others from my classes!

This month I also interviewed for an internship at a publishing house that has a branch near my university. They did a trial run for me, where I read an unpublished manuscript and then gave a report to them recommending that they buy it or not. I loved doing it, but realized that I struggled balancing my 6 classes with the internship. Luckily enough, they offered the internship (yay!!) to me, but for next semester! This works out better for me, because I won't be taking as many classes and I can come into the office more.

 So that was my August! Pretty hectic, but I'm loving the busy pace and having something to do everyday. My main goal for September is to plan ahead my posts so I'm still blogging regularly! 

How was your August? What did you read?

Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you soon with another post!

Happy Reading!

Genni @ Ready, Set, Read!