June Wrap Up + Current Reads!

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Hello, lovely people! It’s been awhile, but I have returned from the dead to write a fun post talking about the books I read in June. As you may have guessed from my lack of blogging, I, sadly, did not have a lot of time to read last month. I ended up completing three books, but I started a few others in June (which are being carried over into July) that I’d like to talk about as well.

Without further ado, let’s get into the books!

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The Ocean at The End of The Lane by Neil Gaiman

Starting off with a bang...I thought this book was strange, and I realized just how strange when I tried to explain the story to my friends and was met with looks of confusion and terror. I’ve heard a lot of good things about The Ocean at The End of The Land, which was the reason I picked it up in the first place, but the further I traveled into the pages of the fantasy, the weirder it got.

I enjoyed the characters (except for the dreaded Ursula Monkton) and the beginning of the story. I liked Gaiman’s writing style and voice. I was quite confused by the magic in this book, so that was my biggest area of dislike. If Gaiman would have expounded on the magic and the world, I would have enjoyed the story more. Overall, I gave the book three stars, and I plan on picking up other Gaiman books in the future.

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

I was greatly looking forward to reading this book, and I thought the story started off beautifully—Anne was an intriguing, playful protagonist, the storyline was well written and entertaining and explored a bevy of emotions. I even had a beautiful edition! It seemed like the perfect quick and relaxing read…until I realized my copy was a dreaded abridged children’s edition.

The sad thing is that it took me a good three days to figure this out and by that time, I was already over halfway through the book. I did enjoy the story though and the small taste of Anne of Green Gables that I got was enough to convince me to pick up the original, complete-text copy because I need more Anne in my life.

The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer

I mentioned at the beginning of 2021 that I wanted to get into more historical fiction this year. The Things We Cannot Say was my first attempt at this goal, but here’s what I’ve found when it comes to historical fiction—a majority of the popular books are centered around World War II.

It’s not that I don’t find this time period interesting or appreciate the authors who decide to shine light on the experiences of those who persevered through this time of war and suffering through a fictional lens (these memories and stories need to be told and preserved), but I’d like to find well-written historical fiction that focuses on other time periods as well.

Overall, the story itself was exciting—it had lots of conflict and plot twists, and I was invested in the characters and their survival. There were even several occasions where I found myself tearing up. Sadly, I found the writing lacking and came across several typos and general hard-to-read sentences. There were also some cliches when it came to the romance in the book. The relationship between the characters was compelling, but the writing that made up the romantic scenes themselves lacked some finesse and originality.

Atonement by Ian McEwan

I’ve been (slowly) making my way through this book over the last few weeks. I went into it with very little knowledge of what the story was about and mainly chose it because it was on my one-hundred-books-to-read-before-you-die list.

I just started part two, but had to return my copy to the library, so I bought a copy. So far, I find the book well written—the characters push the story forward and create a lot of conflict, both external and internal. They are individuals and each contribute something unique to the story. I’m drawn to Briony, even though she is kind of a brat at times, and would also love to see more from Leon.

The themes this book explores (and the content) are mature, so I would recommend doing more research on this book before you choose to pick it up (unless of course you want to be completely and utterly shocked like I was).

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

The last book. Yay! I started reading this over the weekend and have been enjoying it so far. This is another title on my books-to-read-before-you-die list. I’m only 100 pages in, but I love Pip and Joe. Pip is such a well-written male character; he is thoughtful about the world and the situations going on around him.

The narration is engaging and I was surprised to find myself laughing at some of the wry humor Dickens incorporated into the text. As of right now, I’m having trouble gauging the direction of the plot, but I look forward to reading more!

Thank you so much for reading this post. If you’ve enjoyed it, please consider subscribing to my blog so you don’t miss out when I post.

It’s been a pleasure writing for you, and until next time—stay weird and stay writing. - Lexi