May Book Wrap Up

hmmm didn't read that much this month, had a bit of a reading slump for a few weeks, but now that its summer I should get a lot more reading done.


The Martian by Andy Weir
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book! Funny and suspenseful, I really started to care about the main character and how he was going to survive on Mars by himself. Some people did not like the writing style and the format of the book, but I thought the log format worked great. It really helped create a sense of suspense by having the dates written out, knowing that the date he will will run out of food is approaching.

If you want a light sci-fi read, this would be one to grab.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Beautifully written but really boring at the same time. I don't get the hype about this book, it was boring and predictable and I really didn't like any of the characters. I have read books before where I didn't like any of the characters and rated them higher but I can't here since I found the main character to be way too whiny, and the main male character to be...um how to put this politely, a dick. I know the main female character is written the way she is to try to put across how innocent she is, but after what she went through when younger and then things that happen before the big main event/ending in the book, no one is that innocent and naive. It become annoying to read and there is only so many times you can tell yourself a character is written for the time period before you roll your eyes.

I probably would have only given this book 1 star, but it is beautifully written and often the language does make a person feel like they are actually witnessing the story first hand.

Habibi by Craig Thompson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm torn on rating this graphic novel. On the one hand the art is gorgeous, on the other its full of stereotypes and at times the story gets confusing. If it wasn't for the sexual themes, some of the characters would fit right in with the stereotypical drawn Disney characters. There is sex and rape in this, so avoid it if that is a trigger for you, and lots of naked women, not so many naked men.

If I was rating this novel on just the art, it would get 5 stars but the story is too convoluted and I think part of the reason is that you never really know where the story takes place or when it takes place. This sometimes makes reading this confusing.


The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Finally finished :p I actually found this pretty easy to read and it wasn't until the end did the book seem to lag. But at over 800 pages, unless a person has an interest in the gold rush they might find this book boring. There are a lot of characters in the story, but I didn't find that confusing since you are pretty much told at the begging of the chapters which are the main characters that will show up. The "mystery" wasn't much of a mystery tho, if it was supposed to be a surprise, it wasn't since it was pretty easy to figure out what was going on pretty early in the book.