August: Best and Strangest

Can you believe it’s autumn already?! Only a few more months in which to finish up any reading challenges you’re doing - whether it’s a Goodreads Challenge, Book Riot’s Read Harder challenge, or any other reading challenge you’re doing to push yourself. Here’s what I read this month to keep up with my challenges:

BEST

• Saga Vol. 3 by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples - I’ve really loved this series and it’s consistently been a fantastic read. Saga is bizarre, hilarious, and so emotionally involved that I need a break before picking up the next one. I’m excited to keep reading it and thrilled that I have no idea what’s going to happen next.

• Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo - I’m surprised this is one of the best books I’ve read this month because it was good, but not excellent. My reading this month has obviously been a bit rough. Regardless, I’ve been hearing about this book for ages and I finally got around to reading it. I was delightfully surprised. While it’s very much a YA fantasy, I enjoyed it a lot and I’m excited to read Crooked Kingdom. If you like heist stories, this is a good book for you.

STRANGEST

• The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King - This series has consistently been really strange…..but it’s getting better. This book involves possessing other people’s bodies (kind of?), traveling through the desert with a wheelchair, and fighting lobstrosities (they’re actually called that in the book). It’s bizarre and exciting and unlike anything I’ve ever read before….in such a good way. Highly recommended for fantasy readers.

EVERYTHING ELSE I READ THIS MONTH

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What’s the best book you’ve read this month? The strangest?

April: Best and Strangest

It’s been a weird month for a lot of reasons: 1) I had a subscription to Comixology for the first half of the month, so I read a BUNCH of comics, 2) I hardly listened to any audiobooks - I decided to listen to music on my commute instead, and 3) I found out I’m moving in a couple months, which is both exciting and stressful (but mostly exciting). Because of these, I read a lot of things I normally wouldn’t and I also didn’t read as much as I did the past few months, which was probably good (I think I needed a breather), but also made it so that I have a lot of egalleys and ARCs to catch up on next month - so no new library books for awhile :(.

Regardless of the weird things about this month, I still read quite a bit and I still read some wonderful and strange books:

Best:

• The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber - This sci-fi novel about a missionary proselyting on another planet is one of the most unique things I’ve read in a long time. It’s a bit gritty, very thoughtful, and incredibly rewarding. I simultaneously rooted for the characters and kind of hated some of them, which (in my mind) is a sign that they were complex and real. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes moral dilemmas or science fiction.
• Saga by Brian K. Vaughn - This graphic novel is bizarre and incredible. Two star-crossed lovers travel the galaxy joined by a motley crew of companions as they try to escape the war that brought them together. It’s a drama and a comedy, a war story and a family story, a science fiction and fantasy tale all at the same time. It’s an absolutely beautiful book.

Strangest:

• Saga by Brian K. Vaughn - In addition to being one of the best things I read in April, this was also one of the strangest books I’ve ever read. The characters are what make it especially bizarre. There’s a royal family with televisions for heads, a lie-detecting cat, a ghost babysitter, and all sorts of bizarre species to meet along the way. It’s a trip, but a good one. I highly highly recommend this book.

What did you read in April? Anything especially wonderful or strange?