Oct Wrap Up + Nov TBR

October was a good reading month for me as I read 6 novels. One of these books was in audiobook format and the rest were physical books. I had two 5 star reads which rarely happens in a single month. Two books got 4 stars and one book got two stars. So only one book in October disappointed me.

Books I read were –

1. Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan – 5 stars. The second book in this volume was even better than the first one. It is an amazing fun series. I am a huge fan of the main protagonists – Hadrian and Royce. They are thieves yet so nice. And who is the heir of Novron? I am so desperate to know. I have made some guesses and now I need to read the other parts to know if my guess is right. The book ended with a cliffhanger.
   This book reminded me of Lord of the rings a lot without feeling like a rip off. Human, Elf and Dwarf companionship reminded me of LOTR so much. There are plenty of twists in the story and all the characters are interesting, including Esrahaddon who reminds me of Gandalf.  If you like LOTR, you must read this series.
2. Astrophysics for people in a hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson – 4 stars – I loved Tyson’s show Cosmos and have been his fan ever since that show aired on TV. So when I saw that he had a new book on Astrophysics, I was tempted to pick it up. It is a short book (just 200 pages) and he has packed a lot of information in such a small book. I think this book assumes that you know the basics and are looking to learn more about the Universe.
   I already knew most of the information presented in this book but there was plenty that I did not know. It was informational and I enjoyed it. The only problem I had with this book, which was also a problem with the show is that he goes off tangent a lot. He talks about Pulsars and next minute he is talking about microorganisms and then about Helium. That kind of made me lose focus on the topic that was being discussed. I think he is not that great at organizing and presenting his thoughts. Otherwise, it’s a great book for anyone wanting to learn more than absolute basics of astrophysics.
3. Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede – 5 stars – I didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I did. This is such a humorous take on fairy tales. The princess chooses to stay with a dragon instead of getting married to some dumb prince who is only interested in swords. The premise itself is so amazing. And then the knights are sent to defeat the dragon and bring back the princess, but the princess isn’t willing to go back. This book reminded me of Brave movie but this book is so much more fun with witches and wizards and magical spells. If there is one series that I will get for my son, it has to be this one. Highly recommend it for kids. I wish I knew about this series when I was younger.
   The audiobook is great as there is a whole cast of characters narrating the story. Loved the experience of listening to this story instead of reading it.
4. Turtles all the way down by John Green – 2 stars -I cannot believe I disliked a John Green book. Like the main character in this book, I had to make sure I was not dreaming and that this was happening in real life. I went into this book blindly without reading the synopsis or any of the reviews. I have read 4 and 1/3 (short story) books by this author and LOVED every single one of his books. One of his books is one of my most favorite books of all time. How is it even possible to not like his newest release?!!!But I found it extremely boring. For some reason, I didn’t like the plot or the characters in this book.Daisy was extremely annoying and irritating. The whole plot around the missing billionaire was stupid. Taking money from Davis and how casually everyone thought it was okay to do that, including Aza’s mother was unbelievable. Also after Daisy has been so mean to Aza, everything is great again. Also instalove – I just hate how two characters meet for 10 mins and they are in love. Does the billionaire kid not have a single friend in the whole world, except for our money hungry protagonist? Does he not care for any of his friends, except for the one girl he meets after 7 yrs?

   The only thing I did like was his descriptions about what an OCD person feels like. That was great and that was the only reason for my 2 stars.

   Extremely disappointed with this book. I think John Green has lost his charm. 😦
   

5. The Sun and her flowers by Rupi Kaur – 3 stars – This book wasn’t as good as her other poetry collection – Milk and Honey. First half of this book was boring since it was mostly talking about broken relationship/romance turned sour. I am kinda bored of cliché poetry topics like these. I prefer poetry about something positive instead of the same old pessimistic broken heart ones. The second half was much better as it spoke about other topics like immigration, refugees, feminism etc.
   Overall, I didn’t enjoy many poems in this collection.
   Some of the poems that I did like –

   “i hear a thousand kind words about me
   and it makes no difference
   yet i hear one insult
   and all confidence shatters

   – focusing on the negative”

   “to hate
   is an easy lazy thing
   but to love
   takes strength
   everyone has
   but not all are
   willing to practice”

6. Dracula by Bram Stoker – 4 stars – I already have a detailed review for this book here.

November TBR

This is how my November TBR looks like

I am currently reading The Bear and the Nightingale, Interstellar Age and Do Androids dream of electric sheep. I read some 25% of Phasma but have kept it aside for now as I found it boring. Hoping to somehow finish it this month. I also have Reality is not what it seems on audiobook so hoping to get to it as well this month.