Monthly Wrap-Up | April 2019

I had a pretty slow reading month.  I really wanted to read way more, but work was crazy busy and I didn't read as much as I wanted to.  I also DNFed two books, which is a bummer and I honestly didn't want to waste my time on books that I personally wasn't enjoying.  One of my 5 star reads will definitely be a favorite for the year.  I also read three books with the word Girl in the title, weird!  

Monthly Stats

Books

Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Wayward Children #2) by Seanan McGuire | This is a standalone/prequel to the first book in the series Every Heart a Doorway.  This follows Jack and Jill in their magical world before they went to the Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children.  I was really excited to learn more about the doors each of the children went to before they went to the Home for Wayward Children.  However, I felt like the world building was super lacking.  I wanted to know more and I felt like in a way it was kind of vague in description.  I did like how the characters were well developed.  I am glad the twins figured out who they wanted to be, despite what their parents made them do.  I do not agree with parents who make their children wear only pink and play with barbies or to wear only blue and play with matchbox cars.  You should be able to wear whatever you want and play with whatever toy you want, despite the gender identities/roles.  I loved Jack the best and her relationship is so dang cute!  I will definitely continue on in the series!!  

Saga Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan | I haven't read a graphic novel in over a year and I heard the hype around this one and really wanted to give it a shot.  I thoroughly enjoyed this one and devoured it in one day.  

Saga Vol. 2 by Brian K. Vaughan | I couldn't wait to read the next installment of Saga so I eagerly picked this one up right after the first volume.  I enjoyed this one too!  I will be definitely be continuing on in the series.

The Wartime Sisters by Lynda Cohen Loigman | Two sisters Ruth and Millie are raised in Brooklyn.  Ruth is the older dull sister and Millie is the younger beautiful sister.  Their parents treat them differently and Millie is the favored sister.  This puts a huge strain on the sisters relationships.  The girls grow up and get married.  Ruth gets married to a scientist who works at the Springfield Armory.  Millie also gets married but is married to someone completely opposite her mother wanted her to marry.  Millie eventually goes to Springfield to live with her sister to escape her marriage.  I really enjoyed this one. I love the family aspect and the drama between the two sisters. I also loved where this book mainly took place in Springfield, MA.  I learned that was where the Springfield guns were assembled and the women were the ones working there while the men were off at war very fascinating! Overall, I really like this book and I highly recommend it!

Becoming by Michelle Obama | As First Lady of the United States of America, the first African American to serve in that role, she helped create the most welcoming and inclusive White House in history, while also establishing herself as a powerful advocate for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world, dramatically changing the ways that families pursue healthier and more active lives, and standing with her husband as he led America through some of its most harrowing moments.  I rarely read nonfiction and I was blown away by the amazing review of this book and I knew I needed to read this one.  I really loved this I learnt so much about Michelle Obama, her family and about politics. I'm usually not into politics, but I found this super fascinating. If you haven't read this yet, you definitely should it was sooo good!!

Girls with Sharp Sticks (Girls with Sharp Sticks #1) by Suzanne Young | The Girls of Innovations Academy are beautiful and well-behaved, it says so on their report cards. Under the watchful gaze of their Guardians, the all-girl boarding school offers an array of studies and activities, from “Growing a Beautiful and Prosperous Garden” to “Art Appreciation” and “Interior Design.” The girls learn to be the best society has to offer. Until Mena starts to realize that their carefully controlled existence may not be quite as it appears.  I devoured this book!  I love books about boarding schools, so I was super eager to get to this one and boy am I glad that I did.  Mena and her friends are forced to act like ladies and do anything that men ask of them.  The poor girls were drugged to act that way and they were soo manipulated!  I love how Mena stood up for her and her friends and realized what the heck was actually going on in the school.  The ending was AMAZING and I was not expecting it at all!!  I can't wait for the sequel to come out!!  I highly recommend this one if you like books about boarding schools.  

Girls of Paper and Fire (Girls of Paper and Fire #1) by Natasha Ngan | Each year, eight beautiful girls are chosen as Paper Girls to serve the king. It's the highest honor they could hope for and the most cruel.  But this year, there's a ninth girl. And instead of paper, she's made of fire.  Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most oppressed class in Ikhara. She lives in a remote village with her father, where the decade-old trauma of watching her mother snatched by royal guards still haunts her. Now, the guards are back, and this time it's Lei they're after the girl whose golden eyes have piqued the king's interest.  Over weeks of training in the opulent but stifling palace, Lei and eight other girls learn the skills and charm that befit being a king's consort. But Lei isn't content to watch her fate consume her. Instead, she does the unthinkable, she falls in love.  I loved this Asian fantasy!! I loved the world building and I found the different castes very interesting. You usually don't read about a demon being king over a human, which I found captivating. I loved the main character Lei she was a powerful female that stood up for herself! The love interest is also adorable!! Loved it soo much!! I definitely recommend this book!! 

Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children #1) by Seanan McGuire | Nancy arrives at Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children, where all the children have gone to different magical places through doors for just them.  Most of the children there must learn that they may never be able to go back to their magical place that a door may never appear again.  The children learn to cope with the real world since their travels.  But since Nancy arrives tragedy strikes in the worst way.  I loved this one!!  I loved the different worlds that each of the students traveled too and getting a glimpse of what they experienced there.  I also loved the diversity, there was soo much of it!  I was pleasantly surprised by the mystery aspect in this book and loved that about the book.  There was soo much packed into this novella that there was never a dull moment!  I highly recommend this one!  

The Girls at 17 Swann Street by Yara Zgheib | Anna Roux was a professional dancer who followed the man of her dreams from Paris to Missouri. There, alone with her biggest fears - imperfection, failure, loneliness – she spirals down anorexia and depression till she weighs a mere eighty-eight pounds. Forced to seek treatment, she is admitted as a patient at 17 Swann Street, fragile women with life-threatening eating disorders live. Together, they must fight their diseases and face six meals a day.  This book was soo powerful and heart wrenching! This is about a woman who suffers anorexia and is sent to a home to help get her better. You learn how she she got there and how she suffers through the disorder and every step of the way you are rooting for her to get better. I was amazed at how many calories they were feeding the girls.  Her husband plays a huge roll in her life and honestly if it wasn't for him I don't think she would of survived. I loved the format of this book and the different mixed media throughout it. This was a very emotion book and I really liked it! This was by far my favorite book of the month!!  

  Have you read any of these books?  Any of these on your TBR?  Let me know in the comments!!