"Thank you for being my light in the darkness."

[alittlehuntress]

It's still Monday over here so I wanted to write about the books I read last month. I'm keeping up with my resolution of reading thirty books this year over at Goodreads, and thanks to the Better World Reading Challenge and the buddy system over at thestoryinside (an awesome Book Club LJ community where you get paired up to choose each other's books for that month) I'm not having a problem in picking my next book.



THE GIRL IN THE FRIDGE

My first book was The Girl in the Fridge by Etgar Keret, a collection of short stories. I picked this one from my box of books I've yet to read. I've only read two other books by the author and I ended up loving them, he's got a warped sense of humor and there's an underlying darkness in his work that's thought provoking. But I didn't love this one as much. The stories are very short--there's nothing wrong with that--but I couldn't enjoy them the same. I can't pinpoint the exact reason why that was, maybe something was lost in translation, but I couldn't care for every single story, some where even boring. I gave it three stars. Still, I liked some of the stories a lot. I'm full of contradictions when it comes to The Girl on the Fridge.

SYNOPSIS
A birthday-party magician whose hat tricks end in horror and gore; a girl parented by a major household appliance; the possessor of the lowest IQ in Mossad -- such are the denizens of Etgar Keret's dark and fertile mind. The Girl on the Fridge contains the best of Keret's first collections, the ones that made him a household name in Israel and the major discovery of this last decade.

This book ticked off the following boxes from the BW Reading Challenge:
✔A collection of short stories
✔A book by a person of color
✔A book translated from another language

THE LAST DRAGONSLAYER

I finally listened to my friends--one in particular who has been very vocal about her love for Fforde--and read The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde and I must say I don't know why it took me so long to do so. The book had been stored on my kindle app for nearly a year and I regret it took me all this time to read it. Fforde has a way with words, they're full of whimsy and an unique cleverness, and I loved the fantastical world he created.

SYNOPSIS
In the good old days, magic was indispensable—it could both save a kingdom and clear a clogged drain. But now magic is fading: drain cleaner is cheaper than a spell, and magic carpets are used for pizza delivery. Fifteen-year-old foundling Jennifer Strange runs Kazam, an employment agency for magicians—but it’s hard to stay in business when magic is drying up. And then the visions start, predicting the death of the world’s last dragon at the hands of an unnamed Dragonslayer. If the visions are true, everything will change for Kazam—and for Jennifer. Because something is coming. Something known as . . . Big Magic


✔A fantasy novel
✔A book that's been adapted into a movie *(I need to watch the movie)

HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD

Next it was Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by John Tiffany, Jack Thorne. I'll try to steer away from spoilers with this one, because I have a lot of feeling about it. It ended up being a 2.5 stars book for me. It was nice to be back in the Wizarding World with Harry and Co. and their progeny but I was disappointed. I felt some of the characters were OC and that their growth doesn't show. Plus, the plot wasn't exactly stellar. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either. It just was. But I do have to say that my faves where Draco and his son Scorpius, they have such a beautiful relationship, I wouldn't mind an entire book about them. Another highlight is the cute bromance between Scorpius and Albus. Though Albus annoyed me sometimes, lol.

SYNOPSIS
It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband and father of three school-age children.

While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes, darkness comes from unexpected places.

CURRENTLY READING



So far One Man Guy by Michael Barakive is a light, cute book about first loves. We'll see by the end ;)

SYNOPSIS
Alek Khederian should have guessed something was wrong when his parents took him to a restaurant. Everyone knows that Armenians never eat out. Between bouts of interrogating the waitress and criticizing the menu, Alek’s parents announce that he’ll be attending summer school in order to bring up his grades. Alek is sure this experience will be the perfect hellish end to his hellish freshman year of high school. He never could’ve predicted that he’d meet someone like Ethan.

Ethan is everything Alek wishes he were: confident, free-spirited, and irreverent. He can’t believe a guy this cool wants to be his friend. And before long, it seems like Ethan wants to be more than friends. Alek has never thought about having a boyfriend—he’s barely ever had a girlfriend—but maybe it’s time to think again.