August and September Book Wrap-Up!

August and September were crazy months for me. Between starting back at school, cheer leading, and other various responsibilities, I've barely had any time to sit down and review the books I read during those months. Better late than never, right?

Anyways, for the month of August I read "Four" by Veronica Roth and I re-read "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner in honor of the movie coming out in the beginning of September,

I am a huge fan of the Divergent Series, so when this book came out in July I knew I had to get it. I devoured it quickly during the month of August and couldn't be more pleased with it. 

For starters, I was never a huge fan of Tris, who is the protagonist of the Divergent series, so when I found out that these stories were in her love interest Four's point of view, I knew that I was going to be in love with this book. The world that Veronica Roth created is as beautiful as it was throughout the trilogy, but this time as I read it I got to see it through the eyes of Tobias, and it was such a sweeter view. Sorry to Tris lover's everywhere, but I find her annoying.

"Four" is exciting, insightful, and exactly the kind of book you could read over and over again. The only downside being that, you really need to read the other three books first to truly understand what is going on.

Favorite Quotes:

“Dead people can be our heroes because they cant disappoint us later; they only improve over time, as we forget more and more about them.” -Veronica Roth

“I'm not sure bravery is something you acquire more of with age, like wisdom --but maybe here, in Dauntless, bravery is the highest form of wisdom, the acknowledgement that life can and should be lived without fear.” - Tobias

I read "The Maze Runner" in the seventh grade, and became enthralled with the scene that Dashner set. However, reading it five years later, and five years wiser, allowed me to see the parallels that Dashner's story holds to other stories and to our culture and History. I love when books tell a story that makes you think about your own life, and "Maze Runner" does just that. 

Minho and Newt are my favorite characters in the book, and their humor is not only so similar to my own that it scares me, but breaks up all of the stress and tension in the novel. 

Favorite Quotes:“If you ain’t scared… you ain’t human.” -Alby

“If you're going to decipher a hidden code from a complex set of different mazes, I'm pretty sure you need a girl's brain running the show.” - Teresa

In the month of September I was able to knock three books off of my "To Be Read" list. These books were great stress relievers as school made me change my day to day schedule. They allowed me to relax and stop freaking out about tests and what-have-you, which is really all I look for in a book.

 

I started the month off by reading "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn, because of the great reviews my friends had given it and because the movie came out in September as well. (There is a common theme with my book reading...)

This book was creepy, twisted, and just full our crazy, but I loved it! It really makes you think about the people and your life and totally freaks you out, which is great. I honestly raved about this book for a week after I finished reading it; I just couldn't stop talking about it. The characters are a mix of terrifying and real, that makes you want to avoid all human contact for the rest of your life, and I just loved it.

Favorite Quotes: 

“It’s a very difficult era in which to be a person, just a real, actual person, instead of a collection of personality traits selected from an endless Automat of characters.” 
― Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl

“Tampon commercial, detergent commercial, maxi pad commercial, windex commercial - you'd think all women do is clean and bleed.” 
― Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl

"There's a difference between really loving someone and loving the idea of her.” 

― Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl

I then decided to pick up "Noggin" from the school library after hearing a great review of it a while back  by PeruseProject. Noggin is the story of 16-year-old  Travis, who opts to have his head frozen instead of continuing to fight his cancer. This story sounds really weird, but is truly remarkable in the way that it handles growing up. It's the strangest "Coming of Age" book I have ever read, and I really like that about it. I understood the message that Whaley was trying to portray, and he was able to do it in a interesting, cool, and sometimes humorous way. Travis deals with moving on in a way that is so real and human, you almost forget that you're reading a book about a kid that had his head sewn on to someone else's body.

Like I said... weird.

Favorite Quotes: 

“I thought maybe a day was coming when I'd stop constantly worrying about how to live. Maybe at some point I'd just start living, no questions asked.” 
― John Corey Whaley, Noggin

“But in that moment I understood what they say about nostalgia, that no matter if you're thinking of something good or bad, it always leaves you a little emptier afterward.” 
― John Corey Whaley, Noggin

 The last book I read in the month of September was "'Love' and Other Foreign Words" by Erin McCahan. This book is so adorably quirky that it would make a great movie some day. Josie is such a realistic character, and even if you don't relate to her, I'm positive you know someone that does. McCahan's writing style reminds me of a mix of John Green and Rainbow Rowell, so of course I was hooked from the first page, and I love that like those authors, McCahan isn't afraid to make the nerdy girl nerdy. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but I think that a lot of times people take the glasses off of the 'nerdy' girl and suddenly she is pretty, but McCahan creates a character that literally refuses to take off her glasses.

I found myself crying towards the end of this book, not only because I felt Josie's pain, but because it was so heartwarming at points my soft heart just couldn't contain it. Josie truly is a character that girls everywhere can relate to.

Favorite Quotes:

“Good becomes perfect, but perfect is an illusion. And illusions are like all spells—temporary and soon broken. And when that happens, feelings change.” 
― Erin McCahan, Love and Other Foreign Words

“I think I'm nostalgic for a time I never experienced.” 
― Erin McCahan, Love and Other Foreign Words