Monthly reading review – August 2015

This August I have read

The Duchess War (Brothers Sinister book 1) by Courtney Milan ★★★★
The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald ★★★★
20 pasos hacia adelante by Jorge Bucay ★★★
Fifty Shades Darker (Fifty Shades book 2) by E. L. James ★★
The Rosie Effect (Don Tillman book 2 ) by Greame Simsion ★★★★
Animal Farm by George Orwell ★★★
Red and her Wolf (Kingdom series book 3) by Marie Hall ★★
The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus book 5) by Rick Riordan ★★★★ ❤
Dnevnik Gradske Cure by Andrea Andrassy ★★★
Seven Nights in a Rogue’s Bed (Sons of Sin book 1) by Anna Campbell ★★★★
Training Their Mate (Pack Wars Book 1) by Vella Day ★★

1. How many books you’ve read last month? Are you happy with the amount you read?

This August I’ve read 11 books which is two times more than in July. I’m happy with this amount. Hopefully I will balance out and stay in the double digits next month as well.

2. What was the best of all the books you’ve read in August? Any scenes or characters that made a lasting impression?

With reading more books comes the reading of more good books in general. This August there were 5 very good books for me. The best was finally finishing Heroes of Olympus series with The Blood of Olympus. I loved those characters and travelling trough not one but two book series with them has been a great experience.

3. Were there any not so good books for you last month? What made it hard or not enjoyable to read?

At first I thought that trudging trough Fifty Shades Darker was the worst book experience for August. I’ve been going at it for more than two months trying to finish it. Then came two more books whose reading I will consider test in patience and a learning experience for spotting not so good books. First was Red and her Wolf – third book in a box set of Kingdom series. I honestly don’t know what went wrong with this one since I usually love the fairy retelling books. Second one was Training Their Mate which I reviewed and was really easy on it since going about all the things that were wrong about that book would have put my blog in the RATED R and PROCEED WITH CAUTION area. You can read the review HERE. 

4. How did the books you were reading last month fit in your reading plans if you had any?

Well the general plan was to up my reading which was a success. Also finishing a series or getting a series up to date is always a good opportunity to do a happy dance since I finished one series and got two other up to date. I added a few new books to my TBR and read them in August which made the reading more fun. 

I’m pleased as punch with my reading in August

5. Any updates on the series you are reading or are you starting any new series?

When it comes to book series in general I’ve had a busy month.

One finished – Heroes of Olympus series

Two up to date – Kingdom series (third bad book is as far as I want to take this series); Don Tillman book series ( I do hope there will be more books in this series)

Two continuing – Fifty Shades (I will make myself read the third book … eventually); Brothers Sinister series ( I count this as continuation since I started the series with a prequel)

And two more started on – Sons of Sin book series (I’m planing to continue); Pack Wars book series ( probably not going to keep reading this one)

6. Would you like to recommend any books or authors you’ve been reading this last month?

I would like to recommend The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald. I’ve seen that the US edition is finally announced so for those of you who rely on English edition go for it!

Courtney Milan stays as one of the best authors I met by reading the freebies. Her characters are interesting and I love her writing style. 

The Rosie Effect (Don Tillman book 2 ) by Greame Simsion I have already praised and you can read my review HERE. 

Once more I must add a recommendation for all readers who have not lost the ability to feel young and can join on the learning experience with some of the most amazing characters I have been reading about in Heroes of Olympus series.

READING IN PROGRESS

Women who run with the wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes – Book club assignment

Neuromancer (Sprawl Trilogy book 1) by William Gibson – personal challenge as a book from the year I was born

Wallbanger (Cocktal series book 1) by Alice Clayton – Laughing out loud reading!

Les Contes de Grimm by Marc Girard – still at it!

The Blood of Olympus – Book Review

Finished reading:

The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus book 5) by Rick Riordan ★★★★

Expectation:

This was the last book in Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan. For those who are not familiar with these stories here is a small guide:

First there was a Percy Jackson series of books.

It had five books and the first two have been made into movies. Compared to the books first movie was so bad that even recasting and filling in the plot gaps with second movie did not help much. But I must say that cast for the second movie was so much better that I felt even worse thinking how; if they only did that for the first movie; all the books could have been turned into movies. Instead they ended up like Eragon book series.

After the five Percy Jackson books comes the next five books called Heroes of Olympus series.

The Heroes of Olympus expands the Percy Jackson’s world and continues to follow Percy and few other demigods POV.  This last book promised epic battles and lots of action!

Summary

Blood of Olympus sure delivered! It was fun fast paced 450+ pages filled with deadly adventures and battle action. This book series is one of the rare books I’ve read that are so “politically correct” that covers every possible territory.  Rich, poor, white, black and all American minority in between, Hispanic, Native American, Asian,…

But what really impressed me is how the gay character was introduced trough the books. From early teens to almost grown up, we see battles with gods, monsters and humans. These characters grow and take the readers along for the ride.

Reading these books I met some really amazing characters who stole my heart and brought on “FAN GIRL MODE”. And yes it was embarrassing at times but I regret nothing!

Conclusion

I am glad I read these books. The more I read the more convinced I was that these books need a TV series of some kind, even if Disney has to make a cartoon series for it! I will continue to follow next books in the Percy Jackson universe.  Can’t wait for the next one! This one is about Norse mythology!