August Wrap Up

I am posting my august wrap up quite early since I will be flying to Hawaii next week and I don’t think I will get to finish any more books this month. I mostly read tiny books or books with hardly any text this month, just because I wanted the satisfaction of finishing a book, even though I did not have enough time to read. I wanted something quick that I could finish in a hour or so and that’s how ended up reading these short books or comic books.
But still I managed to finish 2 full length novels – one on audiobook and one physical book and a play – all of which got 5 stars from my side. It was a great reading month as I loved most of the books I read, which rarely happens.

The following are the books I finished this month –

• The Princess saves herself in this one by Amanda Lovelace – 3 stars – It was a good poetry collection. I loved some of the poetry in this book a lot, some were pretty okay. The poems are about feminism, losing mother, sister, lover and most of them are sad. This is very similar to Milk and Honey but I think Milk and Honey was a better collection than this one just because I could relate more with the poems in that collection. Do read this book if you liked Milk and Honey or just want to read feminist poems.E.g: a favorite of mine –
  

  repeat after me:
  you owe
  no one
  your
  forgiveness.
  – except maybe yourself.

• Love & misadventure by Lang Leav – 2 stars – I have not read a lot of poetry and I am still an amateur so don’t take my word on this. I felt this collection was pretty okay-ish. I am not a very romantic person or a fan of tragic romance. Maybe those who have been going through a heartbreak will be able to relate more to this collection. I found couple of poems heart warming, rest were not that interesting to me. Also many of these poems were pointless/meaningless. Just that this book was not for me. Others may love it.
• Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik – 5 stars – This is the second book in Temeraire series on which I have been planning to make a separate post for quite sometime now (it will be posted soon). I loved this second part even more than the first one. Temeraire is my most favorite dragon ever and the audiobook narrator for this series is amazing.
• The Gentleman’s guide to vice and virtue by Mackenzie Lee – 5 stars – This is one of the best books I have read this year and I had loads of fun reading it. I have a complete review of this book here.
• Hamlet by William Shakespeare – 5 stars – I had read an abridged modern English version long back and had seen few adaptations so I knew the story of Hamlet. My favorite adaptation is Shahid Kapoor’s Haider (which is a Bollywood movie). We recently saw Lion King movie again (which is also an adaptation of Hamlet) and I immediately felt like reading this story. And reading it in the original form was great. I love Shakespeare’s tragedies a lot so loved this one!My favorite quotes –
  

  ” Rightly to be great
  Is not to stir without great argument,
  But greatly to find quarrel in a straw
  When honor’s at the stake.”

  “My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!”

  “Call me what instrument you will, though you can fret me, yet you cannot play upon me.”

I also read a few comic books and a non-fiction book –

• Weird things customers say in bookshops by Jen Campbell – 5 stars – I had read few snippets from this book here and there but had not read it completely. Finally I read it from the beginning in one go and loved it. These are some real funny conversations that booksellers have had with their customers in bookshops. Especially the ones about Harry Potter and Enid Blyton were extremely funny. Definitely going to read this book again when I want something cheerful.
• Paper Girls volume 3 by Brian K. Vaughan – 3.5 stars.
  I love the fact that the girls in this series are pretty kickass and I have not read about such women in any comic book (maybe except for WW). I also love the fact that there are aliens, monsters and lot of time travel. But… I don’t understand the story yet. I have no idea what’s happening. What exactly these foldings are and who the hell are these folks who claim to be from future. And also where did those monsters come from – in this volume and in the previous volumes.
  Nevertheless I have fun while I am reading these and that’s what matters the most. I just can’t wait for the next volume.
  Look no further if you are looking for a comic book with strong female protagonists.
  
• Ms. Marvel volume 1 by G. Willow Wilson – 3 stars – This was a pretty okay read. I liked the fact that characters in this comic are pretty diverse. Seeing a muslim protagonist made it little bit interesting because of the cultural aspects and differences. The way Kamala’s parents treat her reminded me a lot about South Asian culture.
  Other than the diversity, I did not like anything about this comic.
  The story was pretty cliché and her origin story was meaningless almost… you ask for powers and you get it? that’s it? Artwork was great though.
  I have never read a Captain Marvel comic before so I couldn’t get the references. There were plenty of lines in Arabic which were not translated in English, which might bother folks who cannot understand it.
  Also seeing a teenager superhero dealing with silly problems was a bit boring I guess. I am hoping that the story evolves further in the next volume as this one was just her origin story.