I cannot believe that it’s already September… but I absolutely love the fall so I’m ready! August went by in a flash. With all of our wedding celebrations officially behind us, we were able to take a little breather before the crazy starts up again! I got a lot of reading done, and I am looking forward to even more in September as I have a roadtrip or two and a beach trip to get some reading in! Without further ado… here’s what I read in August!
THE HUNGER GAMES BY SUZANNE COLLINS – 5 STARS
An oldie but goodie – I’ve been on hold for the newest Hunger Games novel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes for a while now so I wanted to try to reread the rest of the series before I started. I forgot just how engrossing this trilogy can be! I recently learned that Evan has never read the books or seen the movies, so that’s my next project!
CATCHING FIRE BY SUZANNE COLLINS – 5 STARS
This is the second in the trilogy, and probably the most interesting to me from a plot-level. I’m not going to go too into these books because I believe most of y’all have already read them and seen the movies several times.
MOCKINGJAY BY SUZANNE COLLINS – 5 STARS
This is the last in the trilogy, and it has an ending you wouldn’t expect. I love this series and the detailed society that Collins created within The Hunger Games. This was one of the first, if not the first, dystopian YA book that I ever stumbled across, and so began my love for this genre.
CINDER BY MARISSA MEYER – 5 STARS
Another dystopian YA series, The Lunar Chronicles is one that I would’ve never in a million years picked up on my own, but I love this series with all my heart. The main characters in this series are almost all recognizable from fairytales, but with a twist – this series is set in a future world where there are cyborgs, androids, hovercrafts, and spaceships. I thought it was going to be very corny, but I ended up falling in love with these characters and their story. Book one begins with, you guessed it, Cinderella.
DIVERGENT BY VERONICA ROTH – 5 STARS
Yet another dystopian YA series that I love. Can you tell I’ve been on a kick lately? Since I’m rereading every other series I’ve loved, I figured I should add this one to the mix. Divergent is set in such an interesting society, and I love the story of Tris and Four and all the secrets that they begin to uncover. You’ve also probably read this series and seen the movies, as well!
REDEEMING LOVE BY FRANCINE RIVERS – 10000 STARS
One of my very favorite books of all time – if you haven’t read Redeeming Love, read it now! A movie is being made to premiere in 2021, so it’s the perfect time. Redeeming Love is about the story of Hosea from the Bible, but set in the California Gold Rush era. I love historical fiction, and there are so many nods to the time period throughout this novel. You’ll fall in love with Michael Hosea and Angel, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll have your heart broken. Phenomenal. Of what I read in August, this is my favorite!
INSURGENT BY VERONICA ROTH – 5 STARS
The second in the Divergent series, I know you’ve all seen the movies so I won’t keep lamenting on these.
ALLEGIANT BY VERONICA ROTH – 4 STARS
The final in the Divergent series, our story with Tris and Four wraps up in this book. I definitely dislike the ending to this book, but the entire series is just so good, I can get past it.
THE ROAD TO JONESTOWN BY JEFF GUINN – 3 STARS
I am weirdly interested in all things cult-ish, so a deep dive into the life and times of Jim Jones was so interesting. The book is definitely well-researched, starting with the lives of Jones’ parents all the way up to the events of the Jonestown Massacre and what came after. It’s a wild story that you almost can’t believe really happened. Even if you think you know the story of Jonestown, I can guarantee that you’ll find something here that you didn’t know before.
THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES BY SUZANNE COLLINS – 2 STARS
I absolutely love The Hunger Games trilogy, so I was thrilled to read the newest book in the Panem world, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. It’s a prequel to the original trilogy told from the point of view of Coriolanus Snow (aka President Snow). I had such high hopes for the story – hopes that maybe his character would be redeemed in some way, that the readers would finally learn why Snow was the way he was and that it would all come together. We do learn about his beginnings in the Capitol and what happened leading up to his rise to power, but I was so disappointed with how it all turned out. The book was honestly pretty depressing, very long, and quite dry. I did appreciate several nods to the original trilogy and things that tied up nicely, but overall I would not recommend.
SCARLET BY MARISSA MEYER – 5 STARS
Continuing on with book two in The Lunar Chronicles series, we follow Scarlet (Red Riding Hood) through this futuristic world as she looks for her grandmother along with her new friend Wolf (lol). All of The Lunar Chronicles books carryover and all characters are present throughout the novels, so you’ll meet old and new friends in each book. Marissa Meyer is the queen of a cliff-hanger, so you’ll find yourself picking up the next book as soon as you finish the last.
THE WIVES BY TARRYN FISHER – 3 STARS
I was in the mood for a good thriller, so I picked up The Wives while waiting on my hold for Cress to become available. I was initially intrigued by the story – for some reason it seemed reminiscent of A Handmaid’s Tale to me, even though the stories are quite different. I enjoyed the pace of the book and constantly found myself trying to figure out what the ending would be, although the true ending did fall flat for me. I’m just a little bit tired of the
CRESS BY MARISSA MEYER – 5 STARS
Cress is book three out of four in The Lunar Chronicles series. This book focuses on Rapunzel and brings back all of your favorite characters from previous books. I absolutely adore this series, and I feel like I can’t find adequate words to describe this series! Highly recommend!
You can follow along with all of my 2020 reading here:
What I Read in January
What I Read in February
What I Read in March
What I Read in April
What I Read in May
What I Read in June
What I Read in July
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