October was a slow reading month for me. It was just one reading slump after the other. I’m still hopeful that I will reach my goal of 50 books by the end of the year. Anyways, this month I read:

Gemina by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

My rating: 5/5 stars !!!

Hands down the llluminae series is one of the best series ever written. I first read Illuminae earlier this year & my mind was blown away! & then Gemina just shredded my already blown brain into even tinier brain bits. That’s how amazing it was. I love how both stories cross paths. If you’ve read Illuminae (SPOILER); the story ends with Kady Grant & Ezra Mason aboard Hypatia fleeing from Beitech Industries and trying to make their way to Kerenza for safety,

Now, Gemina, tells the story of what is happening aboard Kerenza. With Beitech Industries not wanting to leave any evidence of their evil mess behind they have planned to wipe out all the residents aboard Kerenza. This is where we are introduced to our heroine and hero of this story: Hannah Donnelly & Nik Malikov & just like in Illuminae the catastrophe that unfolds is insane, glorious, & all the adjectives in the world won’t do it justice.

Cannot wait for the 3rd book in the series ‘Obsidio’. Can you imagine, Kady, Ezra, Hannah, Nik and 2 more characters that I already know I’ll fall in love with.

 

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

My rating: 4/5 stars

Things Fall Apart was given to me by a coworker. Her son had lent it to her and she had just finished reading it. Knowing the avid reader that I am, she thought I might enjoy it as well, so she passed it on to me. She was right. I very much enjoyed this book.

I must admit, it was a bit unsettling at the start: the obvious display of sexism, abuse etc. But  as you read on, you realize all of that is necessary in order to develop a complete understanding of our main character Okonkwo. Also bear in mind, the story is set in pre-colonization times, in a small village in Nigeria.

Things Fall Apart tells the story of “Okonkwo”; his rise to greatness and his subsequent downfall. It also tells the story of the villages’ first introduction to British colonizers. Achebe keeps you intrigued; whether you like Okonkwo or not, you want to know what this hot-headed man is going to do next. What fate awaits him? Will there be consequences for any of his actions?

The most surprising and brilliant thing about this book was the ending. I’m not quite sure I can put into words how it made me feel. It was abrupt. I felt rage, confusion, sadness. I felt SO much for a character I wasn’t even sure I liked? I went up to my coworker the next week  and screamed “OMG the ending!!” and she replied “After I reached the last page, I walked into my son’s room and smacked him right on the head with the book”.

 

The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo 

My rating: 5/5 stars !

WARNING: It is advisable to have a box of tissues on hand when reading this book.

I can honestly say that out of the 42 books I have read in 2017 thus far, The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo has been my favourite!  To say this is a beautiful & heartbreaking story about love would be an understatement.

I recently started doing this thing where I read 2 books at a time. I read one book during the day (aka during my lunch breaks at work) and I read the second book at night before I go to bed (a chapter a night). Solid plan right? Yeah well this book came along and threw that plan out the window. Once I started reading it, I couldn’t put it down. I stayed up until 4am reading and then woke up 4 hours later at 8am to finish what I started. At about 9am, I was laying still, vision blurred and drowning in a puddle of my own tears.

Do yourself a favour and add this to your reading list. Right now! Thank me later.

Thanks again to the belletrist book club for suggesting yet another magnificent read!