Books, Books, Books: June

My goal for 2014 was to read 100 books, and I probably won’t hit that (ah, new years resolutions) but for now I wanted to share some of the books I’ve read recently and encourage you to check them out! I post reviews on my Goodreads page if you would like to see them and feel free to comment with your current favourite book! I’m always looking for more 🙂

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Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend
Matthew Dicks
This book! It’s equal parts sad, funny and fuels you with compassion as you root for Buddy, the longtime imaginary friend of Max as he tries to help his autistic creator cope with a society who doesn’t understand him, and when his friend is put into serious danger, he breaks the confines of Max’s rules and helps him out of danger, but there is a huge sacrifice that goes with doing what is right. I won’t spoil it because it is such an amazing story and I tore through it in a few hours. The ending is bittersweet and so so perfect.

 The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Neil Gaiman
I wasn’t sure how I would feel about this book. I love Neil’s books, especially Stardust and Coraline but I didn’t know if I could wrap my head around this book because of it’s vague description but I gave it a shot and was not disappointed. When the unnamed narrator comes home as an adult, he is flooded with the memories of a childhood trauma he experienced with his old friend Lottie and he relives it, in terrifying detail. Neil’s books are always so well written and flow with the perfect amount of creation that his fantasy worlds command and this book fell right in line with it. I ended up really enjoying it and liken it to an adult Coraline (although this is such a simple and light comparison, I almost find Coraline to be scarier but both were great).

 The Fault in Our Stars
John Green
Hazel, a teenage with cancer falls in love with Augustus, another cancer patient and they navigate their disease together, realizing that life is too short to tread lightly. This book physically, emotionally and metaphorically wrecked me in every way possible. I’m not ashamed to admit that I love YA books and read this one a long time ago in one sitting, on a flight home from Chicago and I literally sat sobbing in my seat (there was no one else in my row to make a fool of myself in front of, but the flight attendants were convinced someone had died when they saw that book I was reading, they gave me some free alcohol, they understood the struggle). As the movie was just released, I re-read it and was just as wrecked. This book is so freaking sad and it was a great reminder that sometimes you have to dive head first into whatever you are doing because we are dying from the moment we are born and can lose everything in a blink.

Ten Tiny Breaths
K.A. Tucker
When Kacey’s parents, boyfriend and best friend are killed in a drunk driving accident and she is the sole survivor, she experiences some horrific PTSD and she comes to terms with the tragedy over time but not before she hits rock bottom. I liked this story, it was okay and moved fairly well but it was definitely predictable and featured some um…graphic sexual moments. I didn’t really like Kacey, she rode the “I’m damaged” line far to hard but I absolutely loved the other characters in the story and am excited to see the rest of the series that K.A. Tucker is writing, which is their solo stories.

The Story of Her Holding an Orange
Milos Bogetic
Milos recounts his problem to us readers, as he has been haunted for most of his life by a woman, who holds an orange to him and continuously asks him to join her, with no other explanations. I’m clearly a fan of suspense stories (and yet, I still hold out on reading Gone Girl, go figure) so I really enjoyed this novella. It was creepy, frustrating and you really felt like you were experiencing Milos’ terrifying ordeal. I originally read this as a creepy-pasta short where he posted it a few years ago and was delighted to see that he self-published and is getting some recognition for his work. Just read through, enjoy the fear and do not skip ahead, the ending is worth reading thorough (or maybe it isn’t for you, I can’t be too sure).

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