I started my “Mid-May Reading Challenge”, two weeks ago (ish), and out of the 10 books I planned to read, I only ended up reading 6! Which isn’t too bad for my first month (haha I guess). I may have overestimated how fast I can actually read & just how much time I really have every night to do said reading… However for my “June Challenge” I will have no problem reading 10 🙂

So the books I ended up reading were,

1.) “Anna and the French Kiss”, by Stephanie Perkins 8/10

2.) “That Night”, by Chevy Stevens 9/10

3.) “All The Bright Places”, by Jennifer Niven 10/10 AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4.) “We Were Liars”, by E. Lockhart 5/10

5.) “The Dinner”, by Herman Koch 7/10

6.) “A Monster Calls”, by Patrick Ness 10/10 SO WONDERFUL!!!!

Of all the books I read this month my two favs were for sure “All The Bright Places”, and “A Monster Calls”. Both of them made me cry harder than I have since “A Fault in our Stars”, but isn’t it great when a book is that good, that it moves you to actual tears?

Don’t get me wrong the other books were really fantastic as well. I have had a lucky first month. Thanks for all the suggestions Book-Tube!

A brief note on the other books,

“The Dinner”, by Herman Koch: This book was a bit disappointing actually. Gillian Flynn (author of “Gone Girl”) “recommended” it and I love her so much, that I of course trust anything she recommends… but this just wasn’t great. It was quite interesting the way it was set up. Two couples, meeting at a restaurant to discuss a horrific act both of their sons have been involved in. I won’t give any spoilers, but the “horrific act” was in fact quite horrific, and actually very sickening to read about.  It was neat how the chapters were laid out, in Aperitif/Main Course/ Dessert.. just like being at a real restaurant! Also the narrators strange observations and commentary about pretty much everyone in the restaurant and just social conventions as a whole.. was really entertaining. I’m not sorry I picked this up, but for some reason I was left with a very bad taste in my mouth after reading this book. Just overall a bit all over the place, and deeply disturbing.

Next up is “We Were Liars”, by E.Lockhart. This book was suggested to be by literally EVERYONE. Saying how good it was etc etc. And it was really quite good. Beautifully written, lyrical, whimsical.. and so on. Also there is a major insane plot twist, that was so shocking it made the book worth reading. Also the book cover is so gorgeous. The only real flaw I found, was just that I found it to be a tad slow-moving, and I just couldn’t get that into it. It was also pretty short, so there wasn’t enough time for any real deep character development, or for the reader to grow attached to the characters. But overall it was pretty good, and I don’t know why but I have mixed feelings about it. I got it for free at the “little free library” near my house, and if nothing else, it really does look beautiful on my shelf 🙂

******* For other reviews about my favs on this list, please read my few previous blog posts! Also, I have yet to review “A Monster Calls”, by Patrick Ness. Only because it was SO amazing, and gorgeously illustrated, that I want to dedicate one single post to it (full of photos and fan-girl-ing type stuff).