I can’t believe that we only have 11 months left for the new year. Time surely flies when you are having a good time.
My 2020 reading year is doing quite well. I finally managed to find the jive in reading and working. I think it also helps that I worked from home 4 times a week and I only go to the office once a week. I have been doing a lot of reading with the help of audiobook and it is life changing.
With that being said I read a total of 8 books this month. Which is surprising! I have never read that much in a month and I am excited to share with you the books that I have read. So without further ado, let’s dive into the books!
The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
Rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗
Thoughts: This is a carry over from last year’s books that I am reading before the year ends but I read more than half of it this year. I love the concept of this book.A mystery that needs to be solved in 8 days with 8 hosts that holds different qualities that would helped piece together the clues. This concept alone is what convinced me to read this book. I have seen a lot of bookTubers and bloggers alike who recommends this book and boy they were not wrong! Highly recommend!
Monster (Volume 3) by Naoki Urasawa
Rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Thoughts: This was also a carry over from last year. I have been into manga last year that a friend recommend this to me. I enjoyed the concept and the first and second volume.
The story follows a Japanese doctor in Germany who saves a boy that was meant to die because he is an epitome of the word evil. But without knowing what he did, he protective and cared for the child as it recovers. But then tragedy strikes in the hospital that benefited the doctor and in turn, he became the suspect to the said tragedy. But as the doctor learns the connection of this tragedy to the said boy that he saved, he then realized the mistake that he has done years ago and he was determined to correct that.
It was a good mystery thriller from the beginning but it gets weirder and weirder every chapter. Although it looks promising, I still haven’t picked up the next volume yet. Hopefully I could finish it this year. Do check it out if you like psychological thriller.
Warcross by Marie Lu
Rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑
Thoughts: Warcross is a famous game that is set in the futuristic world and everyone who is anyone is into it. But as the hacker and bounty hunter Emika Chen glitched herself in the game, she did not know that her life would changed completely after that.
The world that Marie Lu created in this book is easy to understand. You could comprehend the impact of the game and you could visualize the future with how the author puts it into word. It was a good book for those who wanted to read a not so hard sci-fi book. It is fast paced and enjoyable. Highly recommend!
One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus
Rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑
Thoughts: If I were to describe it, this book is more of a mixture of Gossip Girl & Pretty Little Liars, except everyone knows who the Gossip Girl is and he is the one who died.
This book a reread from me. I read it when it first came out. But since the sequel just came out, I decided to reread this book before diving into the second book. And like the first time, I really enjoyed the whole mystery and the school setting. I just don’t like the ending.
Wildcard by Marie Lu
Rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌖
Thoughts: This is the concluding novel to the Warcross Duology. I could say that this is one solid conclusion. The story wraps up so well and the ending is realistic that I am here for it! I love this book more than I do with the second book. We get to dive in the world deeper and we get to know a lot of secrets that are left unanswered in the first book. The characters in this book are like my babies now, they are that precious. Do check out this duology if you have not read it.
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
Rating: 🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
Thoughts: I have been a fan of murder mystery even before I became a reader. And I feel ashamed that I haven’t read the famous Poirot. So decided to give it a try since I’ve been seeing a lot of Agatha Christie books in my bookstore. But this is bad.
At first I was hesitant to gave this a low rating but after reading the second book? Gosh this is bad. The narrator is irritating at its finest. And the mystery unfolds with just a narrative of what transpire in the 100 pages that the reader is in the dark because of the unreliable character who could not keep up with the detective and thinks that he is mad. The more that I think about this book, the more that I hate this. I will stop ranting now because I am planning on writing a full book review about this book.
The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie
Rating: 🌕🌕🌖🌑🌑
Thoughts: I have mentioned earlier that I did not like the first book in this series but I still decided to give this book a chance because I have this mindset that it is only the first book maybe it gets better in the second one.
Did it get better? Somehow because the way the mystery unfolds is not as info dump like before. You get to see the threads that could somehow connect someone with the murder. But did Mr. Hasting gets better? He was starting to revive himself in some ways but failed. I really hate Hasting as a narrator. Plus I could see a pattern with this series and if this continues to the third book I am not continuing this series. I have a lot of thoughts about this book so I will definitely write a full review for this.
A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
Rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑
Thoughts: After getting frustrated with Hasting, I need a good detective story as a cleanser. So of course I have to pick up Sherlock Holmes. This is my second time rereading this story. I first read it in a bind up of The Complete Collection of Sherlock Holmes and I thought that I would not recognized the story considering the number of stories that I have read there. But I remembered it all. The details and even the back story.
Reading Sherlock Holmes is really a good way to end my month. And I would definitely continue with this reread of Sherlock’s story.
That’s all for the wrap-up part of this blog! Now for the book haul.
I don’t normally posts book haul in this blog because I have been doing a good job at accumulating only the books that I really wanted. But I think this month I let go of my restraint since I am getting back to reading again. And so I ended up hauling 8 books this month which is already a lot for me.
So here is my book haul for the month (from top to bottom):
- Noli Me Tangere & El Filibusterismo by Jose P. Rizal – these books are the classics in my country. While others studied Shakespeare in High School we have these two books to study in our Junior and Senior year in High School. These book follows the story of the life of the Filipino during the Spanish colonial area. I really love this back in the days and I wanted to read this now as an adult. These books were also published in Penguin Classics (which I also have) but a local publisher in our country released these covers for his death anniversary and I love the covers to I have to haul it.
The covers on the left side is the Penguin Classic Edition while the cover in the right side is the edition in this haul. I think the covers are much prettier as it depicts some events in the story.
- First Time in Forever by Sarah Morgan – I have already read this book in e-book format but I haven’t bought a physical copy because my local bookstore does not sell it. So I always look for a Sarah Morgan book in my used bookstore and I am always lucky to spot some of it although the condition is not that good, like this book it has a spine crease but it’s fine.
- Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke – I have heard about this book from Reagan of peruseproject in YouTube and I felt intrigued. So when I saw it in my used bookstore for only 3 dollars, I know have to buy it. I can’t wait to read this!
- Just One Trilogy Bind Up by Gayle Forman – I have not read any Gayle Forman books before but this was on sale so I know I have to get it. And I feel like I am craving for some contemporary or insta-love kind of story so I pick this book up.
- Warcross and Wildcard by Marie Lu – I started reading Warcross the moment I came home after buying these babies and what did you know, I have already read both books before the month ends. That makes me less guilty for it.
- The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern – So I asked my aunt from California to buy me this book because I believe that they are not selling the hardcover copies in my country (which they rarely do and if they did this is too pricey). She bought it last December BUT the packaged just arrived in our house last month so of course I am hauling this. I enjoyed The Night Circus and I am excited as to what the author has to offer with her new book.
So that is all for this wrap-up and book haul. It turns out longer than I thought but oh well.
Let’s all hope that February will also be a good reading month for all of us!
Until next time guys!
Maria❤
A Daughter of Parchment and Paper 