I'm taking a page from nightwraith17's book. 😁

I read a grand total of fifteen books this month. HOWEVER, some of them were textbooks for school so I finished them in May for obvious reasons.

That's right, I'm done with school for the year. FREEDOM!!!!

Anyway, I now have more time to read and write...actually I don't. *sighs*

I honestly have too many camps/vacations planned. 

But on to books! What did I read last month?

1. All the Light We Cannot See

This book was interesting. This author is amazing at describing the world and setting of the book. I also adored all the characters, even the MCs, who I usually dislike. 

It also made me appreciate that we live in a world with hope, which isn't what this author's trying to say here. He portrays a world with sin and cruelty, without any hope of it getting better. No spoilers here...but the ending is depressing. 

I'd definitely recommend it for older teens, but be warned that this book is realistic...and I mean realistic. 

2. Introduction to Psychology and Counseling: Christian Perspectives and Applications

I hate this textbook. The authors try to argue that psychological disorders can be solved though ceasing sinful behaviors and "getting right with God."

Now, I'm not trying to say that disorders don't occur because of sin, because they do. They're caused by the sin in this world though, not necessarily because of a person's specific sin. Some disorders, however, are caused by medical problems and not necessarily spiritual problems.

In short, there needs to be balance and a understanding that all knowledge comes from God.

3. A Rhetoric of Love

This textbook (yes, another textbook) was okay. I liked some of the chapters, but for the most part, this author annoyed me. He kept pushing for us Rhetoric students to embrace the "new" as opposed to the "old" and as a classically educated student, this bothered me. 

This wasn't dull to read, by any means. He is a good writer. But...my word dude. Let's not throw out all the ancient philosophers' ideas just yet, okay?

Thankfully, I wasn't the only one with these issues, as we bashed and debated with the book in class. My teacher felt the same way, actually. 😂

Also, I may have just revealed where I go to school. Whoops...😅

4. Romanov

This was just disappointing. 

As you may know, I absolutely adore Fawkes, another book by Nadine Brandes. My mom and I enjoyed fangirling about the magic system and the hidden allegorical elements. We were so excited for this book...

And were immediately letdown when this book wasn't as good.

The first sixty percent of this book is good, I promise. I love the family's interactions and the budding romances featured. The magic is there, but it's subtle like it should be.

Then, because this is a thing now thanks to Ms. Brandes, the magic really kicks in. 

And it all goes downhill from there. 

It...just gets weird. And unlike Fawkes (because I have to compare the two now), the magical elements just don't work for me. 

Yeah, I gave it four stars, because it did end reasonably well and I love the first 60% of it. It's just that magic system that drags this book down.

5. Cinder

I hated this book.

I already ranted about it on Goodreads, so I'll just copy and paste it here. 

Yay...another popular book that didn't live up to the hype for me.

Don't get me wrong, I adore fairytale retellings. It's one of my favorite genres to read. But when you can predict a novel's ending within the first 50 or so pages, it kills any sense of excitement or tension in the rest of the novel.

Did I like anything about this book? Sure. The futuristic aspect was interesting, but there were so many missed opportunities. Cinderella as a cyborg was an interesting idea, but again, so many missed opportunities.

The world building in this book was terrible, since there was no sense of atmosphere in the book. And for a retelling, that's absolutely essential. You need good world building to set a retelling apart. And unfortunately, I don't remember anything about this futuristic society, because I was confused for the entire book. So many gadgets were shown, but not explained. That annoyed me to no end.

Characters were pretty flat; I don't remember much about them either, other than the prince gets angry and punches walls a lot. Oh, and Cinder is a mechanic. That's literally the only trait she has. Oh, and the big "twist" at the end that I'm pretty sure everyone saw coming.

Also this book ends on a cliffhanger. Why must authors do that? To sell more books? That has to be it...
I'll give this book an extra star because the concept was cool and executed properly, it has potential. I might read the rest of the series, to see if it gets better, but for now, I'll remain blissfully unaware about the fate of Cinder...and the prince...whose name I can't remember. 

6. Death of a Salesman

My word, this was good. Yes, it's depressing, but it's realistic and worth reading. Now I want to see it live. 

7. Postmodern Times

This, like Death of a Salesman, was required for school. But my goodness, I loved it. Veith is an engaging writer and he provides a valuable resource for understanding today's postmodern culture. 

8-12. Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 1-5

Yep, I started reading this series. And I'm reviewing them all together because I'm a bit lazy.

And my library doesn't have all the volumes so I'm stuck for a while. *sighs*

This series has amazing characters, a fascinating "magic system" and interesting themes and ideas. 

Who could ask for anything more?

13. The Graveyard Book

Not my favorite middle-grade fiction that I've read this year, but Gaiman is a talented writer. He needs to write more MG fiction. 

14. A Tale of Two Cities

While I didn't like most of the characters...because they're too perfect and a bit boring (especially Lucie), I love the plot and setting of this novel. Also Carton. He's definitely my favorite.

15. How Should We Then Live?

I enjoyed this book for the most part. It was a fascinating look at the history of Western Culture and how far we've fallen from our Christian heritage.

The art discussions were fascinating and my favorite part was definitely the discussion on movies and literature of this century. 

I definitely recommend this book. 

And that's it! Here's to another month of finishing Omnibus books and actually reading fun stuff for a change.