This month was actually a decent reading month for me, I read six books and I also surpassed my Goodreads reading goal!  I’m also behind schedule in my fall reading challenge, however, I am not too worried about it. The last two books I read this month were definitely my favorites.

Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- I really loved this book.  The writing was charming and very creative.  There was a lot of magic in this book, and it was so different from the magic in books that I have read before.  I found Alice to be such beautiful character, colorless, in a world of color.  There was an adventure in this book, and I feel that Alice really grew during it.  At first, I thought that Oliver was really annoying, however as the story went on, he grew on me, and I loved how his and Alice’s friendship developed on their way to finding Alice’s father.  If there is one thing that this book could have done better, it could have explained how the magic worked in more detail.  Overall this book was a lot of fun to read, and I felt like I was on the adventure with Alice and Oliver.

*The Rise of Athens: The Story of the World’s Greatest Civilization by Anthony Everitt ⭐️⭐️⭐️-

Received for Review from NetGalley

There were things that I enjoyed about this book and others that I didn’t.  With the Rise of Athens, I felt like I was reading a textbook, and it was a slow read.  I loved learning about the history of Athens, there were a lot of interesting things.  I found it interesting how the Ionian Greeks didn’t want the Spartans to lead them, but instead wanted the Athenians to lead them (pg. 91), the Greek alphabet was first used in the eight century (pg. 214), The Oresteia is the only surviving Greek trilogy (pg. 220), and I thought it was really interesting how the Greeks invented the tragedy (pg. 220).  I really enjoyed reading about how Athens and Thebes, while not very friendly decided to go to war against Sparta together (354).  On the topic of war, there was a lot of it, and it seemed to get a little repetitive.  Despite my issues with this book, I still learned a great deal about Ancient Greece that I never knew before.

Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists by J.K. Rowling ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- How could I not love this? It was short but enjoyable and there were some things that made me laugh. I loved the description of Dolores Umbridge, “Dolores Umbridge may have looked like an iced cupcake, but she was anything but sweet.” I can’t think of a better description for her, the fact that she’s a former Slytherin explains a lot. The Chapter on Horace Slughorn proves that not all former Slytherins are bad or evil. The history of the formation of the Ministry For Magic and how Azkaban came to be was really interesting. While these stories are short, they pack in a lot of information.

*Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️-

Received for review from NetGalley

The elements of steampunk, among other things, made this book interesting.  For one, original editions of books are considered illegal, the main character Jess is a book smuggler for the family business.  Speaking of Jess, he wants nothing to do with the family business, and his father, in my honest opinion is a complete asshole.  There are these characters called burners, they’re  objective is to destroy books.  Everything in this book has to do with The Great Library of Alexandria.  The Great Library controls all reading material in other libraries around the world, meaning they decide what books are appropriate to read and what books aren’t.  There was a diverse cast of characters in this book, and they were all equally important to the story.  This book had a lot going on, which made it fast-paced and fun to read.  I can’t wait to read the sequel to see where the story goes next.

The elements of steampunk, among other things, made this book interesting.  For one, original editions of books are considered illegal, the main character Jess is a book smuggler for the family business.  Speaking of Jess, he wants nothing to do with the family business, and his father, in my honest opinion is a complete asshole.  There are these characters called burners, they’re  objective is to destroy books.  Everything in this book has to do with The Great Library of Alexandria.  The Great Library controls all reading material in other libraries around the world, meaning they decide what books are appropriate to read and what books aren’t.  There was a diverse cast of characters in this book, and they were all equally important to the story.  This book had a lot going on, which made it fast-paced and fun to read.  I can’t wait to read the sequel to see where the story goes next.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️-I don’t think I have ever read a book as beautifully deep as A Monster Calls, and I feel that everyone should read it at least once. I have read two other books where cancer is one of the central topics, but this is definitely the best one I have read. I did everything I could to not cry when I got to the end. And I loved the Monster and what he represented. A Monster Calls is the epitome of #AllTheFeels.

Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️–

Review contains spoilers

This book really is Everything Everything.  First, Madeline the main character is very endearing.  She has a rare immune disorder that makes her allergic to everything.  She also loves to learn and read.  Everything about Madeline’s life is extremely controlled by her mother, who just happens to be her doctor.  At one point, new neighbors move in, and she begins a friendship with the boy, Olly.  Their friendship eventually develops into a relationship.  I really enjoyed how both the friendship and relationship were written.  Maddy doesn’t have much human contact other than her mother and nurse Carla.  Maddy wants nothing more than to meet Olly in person, and Carla helps her do that.  As for other characters, I couldn’t stand Olly’s abusive father, and at times I even got annoyed with Maddy’s mother.  At times I found Maddy’s mother to be way too controlling, and this pushes Maddy over the edge to run away to Hawaii with Olly.

I love the artwork, and how a part of the book is written in little diary type entries.  The plot twist annoyed me to an extent, it just felt rushed, and I think it took away from the story a little bit.  I will definitely be reading this book again, it pulled on my heartstrings and was fast-paced.