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The Best and Worst of Summer 2017

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I don't think I've ever read so many books in a single season. (And I think July is topping the amount I've read in a single month ever.) But with the combination of an operation and recovery time and my lack of summer classes and the fact that most of my friends stayed near their respective universities for the summer, I had so much time to read.

And because I don't want to write this post out for twelve years, here is a quick rundown of all the books I've read between the months of July and September with my star ratings, and at the end I'll tell you my favorite and least favorite reads of the summer.

(Sorry if my graphics are wonky and weird, Pic Monkey is a dick and decided to basically shut down the entirety of their free services and I haven't found an alternative I like yet.)

Books marked with a single asterisk (*) were provided via the publisher or Netgalley for review purposes. All opinions are my own.
All links direct to my goodreads reviews of each book

A MADNESS SO DISCREET - 4.5 stars | LUMBERJANES, VOL. 6 - 3 stars
THE ROYAL WE - 3.5 stars | THE UPSIDE OF UNREQUITED - 5 stars
GOLDIE VANCE, VOL. 2 - 4 stars | MARCH: BOOK TWO - 5 stars
SLEEPING GIANTS - 3 stars | GIANT DAYS, VOL. 5 - 3 stars
OUR DARK DUET - 2.5 stars | EXIT WEST - 5 stars

**I didn't rate Fantastic Beasts because rating it felt like rating an article(s) on a wikipedia page. This is all information I could have just gotten on the HP Lexicon or the HP Wikia, but I wanted to listen to Eddie Redmayne read the audiobook.


FINAL GIRLS - 2 stars | THE BACKSTAGERS, VOL. 1 - 5 stars
BLOODLINE - 4 stars | POE: STORIES AND POEMS* - 4 stars

**You can check out my Goodreads review, where I talk about each story individually. Overall, this book was kind of a mess. (Not going to lie, half the reason I didn't rate it was because it probably averages out to a 2/5 or lower, and I didn't want some booktube stans coming after me.)



THE CHAOS OF LONGING* - 2 stars | SECRETS FOR THE MAD* - 4 stars
THE PENELOPIAD - 4 stars | GIANT DAYS, VOL. 7 - 4 stars
THE PARK BENCH* - 3 stars | THE HANDMAID'S TALE - 4 stars


OKAY

Whew. I'm actually so happy with the books that I read these past three months. There were a few flops, but they were vastly outnumbered by the amount of books that I absolutely loved and ones that I really enjoyed. I also read a fair number of adult books, which feels like such a big accomplishment. 

ALSO, I finished my 52 book Goodreads challenge!! *celebrates* *bakes cake* 

The arbitrary number that I'm shooting for by the end of the year is 80. I'm already past 60 at this point, so it's possible but I'm not holding myself to that number.

Now, onto . . .


None of these are bad books. Most of them just aren't for me. Additionally, most of these are victims of hype. I was too excited and expected too much from these.

  • Because You Love to Hate Me: I think there were three stories out of thirteen that I actually enjoyed from this collection. Had this just been an anthology (sans booktuber essays and prompts) I might have actually enjoyed it. The villains weren't very villainous and the stories that I enjoyed the most were mostly from contemporary authors, which was a weird surprise.
  • The Chaos of Longing: I think if you like modern poetry like milk and honey and the princess saves herself in this one then you will like this, but I'm not the biggest fan of that type of poetry and if I didn't have to review this book, I would have DNFed it.
  • Our Dark Duet: I'm going to defer you to my Goodreads review for this one because I have a lot of thoughts. Mainly, this felt very contrived and didn't have much of a plot for the first half of the book. I wasn't impressed.
  • Final Girls: This may be because I don't read a lot of thrillers or it may be because I start off reading thrillers with a much more skeptical eye than other books. But I definitely guessed the ending thirty pages in, and I wasn't on the edge of my seat or anything. Also, this book does that thing where a man writes under a feminine sounding name so that they gain an audience quicker. Not a fan.


I actually have a pretty even split between graphic novels/comics and actual real books for this list, which is exciting because it means that I had time to read multiple physical novels, which is always exciting.

COMICS & GRAPHIC MEMOIR
  • Giant Days: I'm so happy that Giant Days is still on this list. It continues to be one of my favorite comics on the market right now, and I've never read seven volumes of a comic and still love the most recent issues as much as I loved the first ones. 
  • March, book two: This is such an important and beautifully written memoir by Congressman John Lewis about his time and involvement in the Civil Rights movement. This specific volume talks about the freedom rides, the march on Washington, and more. 
  • The Backstagers: I love finding new comic series, and this is an incredible one. If you like Lumberjanes and theater, you will love this. 

NOVELS
  • The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue: BI-SEX-U-AL MAIN CHARACTER. Also, historical fiction. Also, alchemy. Also, a kick-ass female character. It was amazing. I'd be shocked if you haven't heard of it. It was so amazing, and I loved Lee's writing style. It was funny and also heartbreaking and I cried 1000% more than I thought I would.
  • Exit West: Okay, this was absolutely fantastic, and my favorite adult book of the year thus far. This is a magical realism refugee story. It's so short, and if you need a push to pick this up, this is that push.
  • Dress Codes for Small Towns: Duuuuudees. This is the best book I've read this entire year. Oh my gosh. Read my full review because I cannot coherently talk about this book in fewer than 500 words.

*gives you a cookie for making it to the end* You did it! Tell me what your favorite book of the summer was down in the comments. Also, have you read any of these books? Tell me what you thought of them!


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