It is once again time for the best post of the month!
Here are my September Reads:
Unnatural Creatures by Neil Gaiman- This is actually a book of short stories and as some of you may know I have a love/hate relationship with short stories. One one hand they can be brilliant and on the other they feel rushed and unfinished. This book had a mix of both but I am happy to say that most of the stories were completely brilliant and there was only one that just bored me to tears so I gave up and moved on to the next. I am a recent follower of Neil Gaiman. Yes I had seen Stardust the movie and loved it and I had seen Coraline and enjoyed it but I had never read anything by him until this year. I can say that I very much enjoy his sense of magical and strange. This book is filled with that sort of thing and I highly recommend for those that have a love of the truly strange and wondrous creatures.
You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day- I wanted to love this book more than I did. While I was very interested in one of my favorite female actor/director/writer/producers and wanted to know her story this was prone to a lot of tangents. It was also at times too nerdy for even me. I I struggled to finish simply because it too SO LONG to get to the point. However I do admire that she doesn't gloss over the not so pretty parts of her journey. She openly admits the dysfunctional moments of her life. She goes into detail about how online gaming was an addiction and even reveals just how much work she put into something that to most people doesn't even understand. (World of Warcraft) My favorite section by far was when she decided to write the pilot for The Guild and then made it happen on YouTube. I love how she and the others involved threw themselves into a project that they literally were doing for free. It was awesome that she managed to make something from nothing. Long story short, I so admire Felicia for her work ethic and I think she is very talented but this book was just okay for me.
Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling- I read Kaling's first book and enjoyed it well enough. I liked her story even though it seemed repetitive at times. I picked this one up simply because I thought that she must have more to say that somehow got edited out of the first book. Well....not so much. I really felt like this was just a rehash of the same book. Same points....same struggles........and a whole lot of The Mindy Project fluff. Now this might not bother some but I personally did not even make it through the first episode of The Mindy Project. I didn't like any of the characters and it just felt like a Scrubs/Grey's Anatomy/ Doctor Love Show and eh just not my thing. She seems a a nice enough person but honestly this book didn't really need to be made.
Books that I started but haven't finished yet:
Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers- This is a good book but it has a lot of things in it that are very similar to personal experiences of my own and honestly it keeps bringing up very bad memories...I may not be able to finish this one but I am trying.
I didn't get much new reading done last month. I seemed to be struggling to keep up the ones I actually did read and I'm not sure if it was the books or the fact that I was busy but thankfully I think November is turning out to be a better reading month!
Be sure to checkout the linkup for more reading recommendations!
It's such an awesome/terrible thing when a book makes you feel things so much ... but those things may hit too close to home (like you mention with Some Girls Are). I find that I'd been reading things a lot quicker than my normal pace. When I slow down to read and absorb a story, I start asking myself if I'm not reading it quick enough. I don't like that. I want to read at whatever pace the story takes me...and sometimes that's a slower pace...and I should be okay with that. Just a thought based on your last paragraph.
ReplyDeleteI had the reverse happen. I wasn't into Mindy's first book at all. I actually kept falling asleep while listening to it. As for the show, ehh. I just wasn't interested in watching it to begin with. But her new book, for some reason I found that one to be entertaining and was able to stay awake :)
ReplyDeleteI wasn't a fan of the first book of Mindy's & really cant imagine this one being any better. But I'm loving hearing everyone's reviews on it. Maybe I'll try it at the library
ReplyDeleteI had Mindy's latest book in my audio book queue from the library but didn't get to it. It'll still be one I try just for the sake of it.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed Mindy's first book but I keep wondering if I should bother with the second. I feel like I'm going to have the same reaction you did. I thinks she's hilarious but never actually got into her show either.
ReplyDeleteI didn't like Kaling's first book as much as I liked her second. I finished it in October and it's on my post! I also just finished Some Girls Are on audio and will be on next month's link-up. Heavy stuff there. I don't enjoy short stories so probably wouldn't enjoy Gaiman's book.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize the Felicia Day book included WoW, which definitely interests me more now. I had kinda been on the fence about it before, but now it's been added to The List. I'm torn on the 2nd Mindy book. I read the first one and it was ok, but I'm hearing good and bad things about the 2nd one.
ReplyDeleteI didn't like the first Mindy to read the second.
ReplyDeleteI like the color of the Felicia Day book but it sounds like the execution was maybe meh?
hmm i didn't know neil gaiman had a book of short stories. i'm not normally a fan of short stories either, but i have enjoyed what i read of gaiman's, i just have to be in a certain mood for them.
ReplyDeletei also know what you mean about books bringing up bad memories and such. sometimes it's worth it to push through, sometimes it's not. definitely take a break!
i watched the first season, i think, of the mindy project, and i liked her book, but i didn't LOVE either. however, i do quite like memoirs, so it's on my list, but no rush.
Some Girls Are was HARD to read. But I'm so glad I did because it really was a great book.
ReplyDeleteYou are the third or fourth person to review Mindy's book this month and it just keeps getting pushed farther and farther down the priority list.
I've heard such great things about Some Girls Are, and I'm glad that you're enjoying it so far! I might have to pick it up soon!
ReplyDeleteNeil Gaiman is my favorite author of all time, although there are some books I still want to read by him, including Unnatural Creatures. Although, the cover is so cool, I want the actual book and not the Kindle edition :). I read the first Mindy Kaling book, and it was entertaining and cute, but I couldn't really relate to her upbringing that well. I mean, doctor parents and calling the college she went to 'in the middle of nowhere' when it was an Ivy League school.
ReplyDeleteI've only read one book by Neil Gaiman (The Ocean at the End of the Lane) which was for book club, and it was just a little too out there for me, but maybe I would like his collection of short stories better. So disappointing that Felicia Day's execution wasn't great. It sounded like an interesting read and was on my list! I had the same problem you're having with Some Girls Are with Love You Better; though I did finish it, it took me a bit longer than usual. Good luck this month!
ReplyDeleteSomeone else is reading or has recently read Some Girls Are (I just can't remember who). I may definitely have to check out this book! Have a great evening!
ReplyDeleteSome Girls Are is on my list to read. Sorry it is bringing up painful memories. Hope you can push through and get something out of it.
ReplyDeleteI'm a little leery of short stories too. I don't mind if they are part of a larger series, like from a different POV or in between books, but standalone ones have never done it for me.
ReplyDeleteI recommend The Graveyard book by Neil Gaiman. He not my favorite author but, I like the most of the books I read by him. I didn't like American Gods. It was too long of a book.
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