Tuesday, 4 August 2015

July Reading Wrap Up

Before I begin, I would just like to apologise for how empty this blog has been for the past month. I have so many half-finished reviews waiting for me to complete them, but I haven't found the time as of yet to finish any of them! I promise I will get to them as soon as I can!

Not unlike the previous few months in 2015, the month of July hasn't been too shabby in terms of reading, for me, but neither has it been incredible. As a total, I have completed 9 books. They are as follow...
Despite this fairly large number of book, I only actually read 3137 pages in July, averaging at 101 pages per day, which is roughly the same as my average for last month, and isn't too impressive, but is still just over my target.
I have actually read all of these books before on a previous occasion, so even though I absolutely love rereading old favourites, it has been quite a rarity for me to go for a whole month without reading anything completely new.

On to the reviews!

It had been such a long time since I last read The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and since I love the story so much, I wanted to give it another go. I saw the film for this before I actually read the book, which is something I very rarely do, and even though it was a fantastic film, it didn't quite live up to the huge standard set by the book, which I read and discovered soon after watching the film.
Charlie is a freshman. Shying away from social activities and dealing with trauma over the death of his aunt and the suicide of his only friend, he struggles to cope with high-school life. But when Charlie meets seniors Patrick and Sam, he starts to experience everything life can give you.
It's quite hard to talk about this book without spoiling it, but The Perks of Being a Wallflower is really not to be missed. It quickly became one of my favourite books of all time, and even though Charlie's story isn't the most pleasant, it is deeply affecting and brings a tear to my eyes each time I read it.
I would recommend this book to anybody, however the book itself does suggest you should be over the age of 15 (Charlie's age) to read it. If you have not yet read this book, you are really missing out.


Charlotte's Web is actually a book I regret reading again this year. As a young child, I really loved this story. Not only did one of the main characters share the same name as me (which, believe me, felt great at the age of six!) but I have held really fond memories of my Mum reading this to me when I was little. As a matter of fact, it was the very first book I remember crying over. I thought it would be a great idea to relive this experience once more.
As it turns out, some things should just be left as fond memories. It has never taken me so long to read such a short book, simply because of how tedious I found it. I have never viewed myself as a vicious person, but the anger I felt toward Wilbur in this book was unreal.
I continued reading to the end, just to see if I could find in it the amazing story I discovered all those years ago, but unfortunately Charlotte's Web did absolutely nothing for me this time around, which is a shame because I have always viewed it as one of my favourite children's books. I guess this just goes to show that you can reread books a little too much!



The Wee Free Men, by Terry Pratchett is a book I have never been able to fully get into. I have tried on numerous occasions to finish this book, but up until now, I have been unsuccessful. Terry Pratchett is a highly successful and widely known fantasy author with about 100 books published. I have always wanted to become immersed in his worlds of fantasy, like many people I know have done, but it just couldn't be done.
Tiffany Aching is a young witch-to-be, and is forced to journey from her homeland of The Chalk to Fairyland, armed with only a frying pan, to rescue her kidnapped brother. However, Tiffany is not alone. The Wee Free Men, also known as the Nac Mac Feegle -a clan of sheep-stealing, sword-wielding, six-inch-high blue men who are as fierce as they are funnyare with her every step of the way. Together, they must battle through the ever-shifting landscape, facing fairies, dromes and grimhounds, before Tiffany can face the Queen of the Elves and bring her brother back home.
Despite The Wee Free Men being the 30th book in the Discworld Series, this is the first book about Tiffany and can be read first.
I honestly don't know why I disliked this book as much as I did. The story was entertaining enough, but I don't think the writing was really in my style, which made it quite hard for me to get through, and for this reason, I don't plan on continuing with any other Discworld novels.
I do, however, know many people obsessed with this series and author, so I think I would recommend it to fans of Philip Pullman and J.R.R. Tolkien, as lots of people have enjoyed these books too, and the writing styles are fairly similar.


That's all for this post, but I hope to be back with more fairly soon!

Bye!

Charlotte xxx




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