July In Books

I like taking my time with a good book. I like lazily wandering through a chapter or having the time to really appreciate a well crafted sentence. Oh, what am I saying--sometimes I like to read to finish. I plow through books with a grim determination, recording their titles like victories.

So. In the spirit of conquest (I'm playing online Risk right now and watching Battlestar Galactica--sorry for all the war references), here are the ten books I read this July:

1. Delirium by Lauren Oliver - 4.5/5 such a good book! Characters and a universe that I can't wait to explore in the sequel, Pandemonium
2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson - 3.5/5 Not really my kind of book, but I enjoyed the mystery and action
3. The Name of the Star - Maureen Johnson - 3.5/5 A fun read, and a little spooky, that let me play out all my English boarding school fantasies
4. City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare - 4/5 Very entertaining and fun to read. I've grown to love these characters through the Mortal Instrument series (especially Jace and Simon!)
5. Forest Gump by Winston Groom - 4/5 Surprisingly fast paced and entertaining; this was so much fun to read--although it took a little time to get used to the way Forest speaks
6. 1984 by George Orwell - 4.5/5 Even though it was a little tough to get through, I'm so glad I read it. A brilliant, thoughtful novel that really makes me look at other dystopian novels differently.
7. Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins - 3.5/5 A fun, lighthearted book that made me smile and fall in like with the quirky, charming Cricket
8. Daughter of Smoke and Bone - 5/5 A beautifully imagined book that was so incredibly unique--I haven't read anything like it before
9. The Shifter by Janice Hardy - 4/5 A passport to a completely different world that was absorbing and fast paced
10. A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews - 5/5 Fantastic. Just a brilliant book that was full of thoughtfully crafted ideas and characters that made me happy sometimes and gut-wrenching-sad at others

Can't wait for August!