Reading Challenge update Monday

It has been an exciting week since last month for my Summer reading challenge . I have finished two books and started on the third one! I was holding out for Serpentine (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #26) by Laurell K. Hamilton which was supposed to arrive  in paperback edition I pre-ordered earlier this year. Two weeks ago I got the message from Book Depository that the book arrived earlier and is being sent. I’m still waiting on it to arrive though. Two or three weeks is normal waiting time but I was really hyped after that message.

Since the last Reading Challenge update Monday  the two books I’ve finished are Dune (Dune #1) by Frank Herbert and Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause. I started on The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard book 3) by Rick Riordan.

Dune (Dune #1)

by Frank Herbert

★★★

I speed trough this 500+ pages science fiction classic. Conveniently, this book was voted as a summer reading assignment by my book club. While filled with thoughtful quotes it also made me question my grasp on English language. As it happens with some science fiction books author used a wide variety of words he made up and added some new uses to words that were used through the past. Throw a mix of different languages in there and you get a rich and colorful landscape of Dune. It was interesting to find a few verses in one of the Slavic languages and see it being interpreted by the characters a bit wrongly. I can also feel the test of time since this book was written in the 1965. Parts of this book were filled with such passion and from another angle the book was cold and calculating just like the ideas and politics it spoke about.

Blood and Chocolate

by Annette Curtis Klause

★★★★★

I did not know much about this book. It was a present and for years it was left forgotten on my shelf. I picked it out because the authors name matched the letter A I needed for my Summer reading challenge. The book and the characters pleasantly surprised me. I liked this perspective on the werewolf theme and coming of age characters. It’s a very charged and a bit raw book. Definitely a guilty pleasure type of a book. Intriguing use of the chocolate motive in between the lines got me thinking. The amount of chocolate through the book was less than expected though.

I’ve officially read more than half of the books for my Summer reading challenge! I’ve read eight out of the fifteen titles and I’m currently reading the ninth one!

A✔ Anna Dressed in Blood (Anna book 1) by Kendare Blake
N  Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
A     Angel & Faith: Live Through This (Season 9, Volume 1) by by Christos Gage, Rebekah Isaacs (Artist)
S *  The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard book 3) by Rick Riordan
T   Wayward, Vol. 4: Threads and Portents (Wayward volume 4) by Jim Zub
A ✔ The Demon Prince of Momochi House, Vol. 1 by Aya Shouoto
S ✔ Sigvald (Warhammer Heroes #4) by Darius Hinks
I ✔ I, Strahd: The Memoirs of a Vampire (Ravenloft #7) by P.N. Elrod
A    Serpentine (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #26) by Laurell K. Hamilton

A     All These Things I’ve Done (Birthright #1) by Gabrielle Zevin
D ✔ Dune (Dune #1) by Frank Herbert
A  ✔ Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause
M ✔ 9 From the Nine Worlds (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard) by Rick Riordan
O ✔ Ouran High School Host Club, Vol. 1by Bisco Hatori
V    Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1) by Richelle Mead