June and July 2017 Reading Recap

Time for another reading recap. Things have been going on rather hard in my life, so this time I have to do a bi-monthly recap. Most of the books I read in these past two months are ARCs that I received through NetGalley. I join in June and I can’t believe that some of the authors would pick me to read their books. I have to admit I’m a bit overwhelmed by the number of the book I need to review, but I will do my very best since I feel really honored that the publishers and the authors have chose me. So without further ado, here are all the books I read in June and July 2017:

June 2017 Recap:

1) The Cherry Pickers by Gregory C. Randall (4★) 

I have a great time reading this book. The prose is wonderful and I easily swept away in its atmosphere. The writings is beautiful and it feels almost cinematic. If you like a detailed writings with clear imagery of time and place, you will like this book. It holds a certain allure that makes this book quite unique. The writings and the pace that the author creates gives the book a very light and refreshing feels, while still give us many important and realistic moments that we can relate to in real life.

Read my full review of The Cherry Pickers here.

Purchase The Cherry Pickers on Amazon.

2) Charm and Strange by Stephanie Kuehn (4.8★)

I like this book a lot. I was buddy-reading this book with Stella from stellabookishart. This is definitely one of the strongest YA contemporary that I’ve ever read. There are a bunch of cringe-worthy scenes and the story is actually very grim but I love it. Kuehn did a really great job using her unreliable narrative and symbolism in this book. I haven’t got the time (or right state of minds) to write a review about this book, but I will write it soon. This is definitely one of my favorite read this year.

Purchase Charm and Strange on BookDepository.

3) Coraline by Neil Gaiman (4★) 

To be honest, I watch Coraline the movie first before I read this book. It’s one of my favorite animation/stop-motion movie so I have great expectation of this book. I ended up loving the book more than I love the movie (of course, this thing always happens). This is not like any other children book that I’ve read before. There’s a beautiful rawness in it that brings an edge to the whole story. The characters are superb, especially the talking cat. This book might have become one of my favorite children literature. I’m planning to read more of Neil Gaiman’s works but not sure where should I go from Coraline, so if you have any recommendation on what Gaiman’s works I should read next, please let me know.

Purchase Coraline on BookDepository.

July 2017 Recap:

1) Caterpillars Can’t Swim by Liane Shaw (4★)

This book quite surprised me in many way, but mostly on how honest and true the story development and characters were. It’s definitely not a feel-good book, this is more like a book that give you some lesson and hard truth about the world and human being. Liane Shaw, the author of this book, used to be a teacher and I feel like this book is one of Shaw’s method to teach us about being open-minded and how to treat other humans. I guess I can say that this book is one of those YA fiction that is leaning more and more toward realistic fiction and honestly I really like it.

Read my full review of Caterpillars Can’t Swim here.

Purchase Caterpillars Can’t Swim on Amazon.

2) Paintbrush by Hannah Bucchin (4.5★) 

I can’t remember the last time I read something so charming and light like this. In my opinion, this is one of the best “feel good” book. The plot isn’t as big or long as the other YA books, but it’s so refreshing. The characters are all so colorful and interesting and I love almost all of them. The story is charming and has a slow burn, lovely and pure budding romance. Totally recommend it for a sweet summer read!

Read my full review of Paintbrush here.

Purchase Paintbrush on Amazon.

3) The Inevitable Collision of Birdie and Bash by Candace Ganger (3.8★)

Waiting for the truth to come out when you’re reading this book is like watching a bad meteor collision about to happen. It most likely will end up in a really bad way but still, you can’t look away. Though the beginning is kind of hard to get into at the beginning, this is a sort of book that grows on me along the way. I only hope that the publisher will change the cover to something more fitting to the story. Some parts of the writing also reminded me of John Green writing style in Looking For Alaska and Paper Town, so if you really enjoy both books, you might want to give a chance to this one.

Read my full review of The Inevitable Collision of Birdie and Bash here.

Purchase The Inevitable Collision of Birdie and Bash on BookDepository.

Those are all the books I read in June and July. I have to say that I quite surprised that I like all the books I read in these past two months, especially those from NetGalley. I didn't expect that I would like them as much as I do. I planned to read more than three books in August, and so far I’ve already finished one. I also plan to reread the whole Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas in anticipation of Tower of Dawn which will come out next month. Wish me luck!