Date Read: June 6
Author: Tina Connolly
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4/5
Following the Great War against the fey, some people are left with curses upon their skin. Jane is one of the cursed, forced to wear an iron mask to contain her curse. When she finds a job taking care of a child that she is sure is like her, she has no idea what to expect.
My favorite book of May was The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black. For my original post, go here.
Date Read: May 27
Author: Lorraine Hansberry
Genre: Drama
Rating: 4/5
I first read A Raisin in the Sun my freshman year of high school, and this was the first time that I reread it. It’s just as amazing and thought-provoking as I remember it being, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys plays.
Once upon a time freedom used to be life – now it’s money.
– A Raisin in the Sun
Date Read: May 26
Author: Matt Ruff
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 3/5
In an alternate history, it’s Christian fundamentalists who hijack airplanes, leading to an entirely different, and yet oddly familiar, timeline.
Date Read: May 25
Author: Kawai Strong Washburn
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 5/5
When Noa is a child in Hawaii, he falls into the water and is returned to his family by sharks. Noa and his brother and sister all end up on the mainland seeking their own paths, but the island is calling them. I expected the novel to be more fantasy-oriented than it ended up being, but it was definitely still a good novel.
Date Read: May 24
Author: Laurie R. King
Genre: Mystery
Rating: 3/5
While I generally love any book that involved Sherlock Holmes, I did not realize that this was the sixth book in the series. By the time I was a few pages in it felt as though I had started watching the second season of a TV show rather than the first, and it was hard to recover from that throughout the book. Perhaps I’ll read the others and then try this book again.
Date Read: May 23
Author: Alix E. Harrow
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 5/5
When January was nine years old, she found a Door. The first Door leads to a life of searching for more, but January is not the only one who knows about the Doors. A story about family, magic, and belonging, The Ten Thousand Doors of January is a good book for anyone who wants to feel that there are worlds beyond our own.
The will to be polite, to maintain civility and normalcy, is fearfully strong. I wonder sometimes how much evil is permitted to run unchecked simply because it would be rude to interrupt it.
– The Ten Thousand Doors of January
Date Read: May 23
Author: Holly Black
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 5/5
Yesterday I read The Darkest Part of the Forest, and today I read another book by Holly Black. When the vampire infection spread out of control, entire cities were converted into prisons within the United States. Humans can enter, but few return once they have entered. Tana goes to a party, but when she wakes up and everyone else is dead she finds herself heading towards the vampires, instead of away.
But if you didn’t believe in monsters, then how were you going to be able to keep safe from them?
– The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
Date Read: May 22
Author: Holly Black
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 5/5
In a town where faeries and humans exist side by side, a glass coffin in the woods holds a boy with horns on his head. For generations he has slept without waking, and, growing up, Ben and Hazel created stories about the fae prince in the coffin. When he wakes, they find themselves thrown into an adventure they might not be ready for. The Darkest Part of the Forest is magical, weaving together old folk tales and modern life.
We love until we do not. For us, love doesn’t fade gradually. It snaps like a branch bent too far.
– The Darkest Part of the Forest
Date Read: May 20
Author: Erik Larson
Genre: Nonfiction
Rating: 4/5
Erik Larson writes about British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, starting with the day Churchill becomes Prime Minister and Hitler invades both Holland and Belgium. While there are many books about World War II, The Splendid and the Vile takes an in-depth look at Churchill and his family.
It would be foolish to disguise the gravity of the hour. It would be still more foolish to lose heart and courage.
– The Splendid and the Vile
Zoey's Year in Books 2020