I had bought, started, and read July Book 1 and July Book 2 before July 5th. What a weekend that was. I traveled to St. George with one book (Still Alice… I just couldn’t do it you guys I just COULDN’T. Scarier to me than a Stephen King novel), and ended up buying and reading two completely different books instead. I read quite the variety of books in July, reminding me that I need to continue broadening my horizons when it comes to my book list.

Room

Jack has lived his whole life in Room with his Ma. He knows nothing but the four walls and the objects within them. For five years his Ma has raised him and created a life for him in this meager shed with few belongings or resources. Eventually through bravery, a master plan, and a healthy dose of luck, Ma and Jack are able to escape Room, where Jack has been held captive by “Old Nick” for five years (since his birth) and Ma for seven (since being snatched in a parking lot in college). Discovering the outside world is scary and challenging and wonderful, as Jack is introduced to everything he’s never known before. 

I’ve never read anything quite like this book. It somehow reminded me of Wonder, A Child Called It, and an episode of Criminal Minds I saw where the lady had kept a secret kid in a cabin. But somehow, and I mean this, it wasn’t dark. It really wasn’t! There are a couple of parts that get heavy and times when I welled up with tears of pity and anger, but the perspective of a five year old boy allows the focus to be on the positive, the light, and the love of his Ma. I can cautiously recommend this book – very, very interesting and well-written, but the content is definitely intense and will stay with you.

Good

• So detailed and interesting. You would think that being in a room all day, every day would get boring, but Ma keeps it so interesting and fresh.
• The LOVE. Just the love you feel between Jack and Ma keeps this book from taking really dark, really scary turns. At the end of the day that is what the book is about.
• MA! I absolutely loved her. She was so smart, so disciplined, so careful. I thought it was so incredible that she created all of these routines and exercises to develop Jack’s skills and abilities in every area. If you think I wouldn’t be watching TV 12 hours a day… man.
• The way Jack explains things, and the way Ma explains things to Jack just really puts you right there in Room with them. You think about what it’s like to be five, and how challenging it would be to have such limited resources as a parent.
• I really felt like the family relationships were so well written. Her mom, stepdad, her father, brother, his family… it all just seemed so real and tangible.
• You can’t put it down. You just HAVE to know if they get out, if they’re safe, if they’re happy, if everything works out.

Less Good

• I am NOT a fan about the route Ma takes when they are released. I didn’t feel it fit with the storyline or with her character at all. I also don’t think the media would be coming out swinging at her like the did in the interview, prompting her dark spiral and suicide attempt. I think everyone would be in absolute awe of her, commending her for doing such an incredible job in such dismal circumstances. Instead they accuse her of being selfish? And that makes her want to kill herself? Nah.
• Didn’t love the nursing. I mean I get it. But still. *shudders a little*
• I started to get a little wound up right before they escape. Like “I don’t know how much more of this I can take!” wound up. Thankfully it wasn’t long before the escape happens.
• This sounds awful, but I like the Room part of the book better than when they were outside. Part of that has to do with Jack’s discomfort outside Room that you can feel as he narrates.
• I mean, I don’t know much about young children – I’m a teenager kinda girl – but even with the one-on-one tutelage of his mother I’m not sure everything about Jack was quite age-appropriate.
• The book ends pretty well, but there’s something about it that feels like it’s always going to weigh on me a little bit? I don’t know. It’s hard to explain.

Ready Player One

Wade Watts, AKA Parzival, is a teenager living most of his life in the online world of the OASIS. He attends school, watches vintage movies and tv shows, makes friends, and most importantly – searches diligently for the hidden puzzles, the quest left by the mysterious creator of the OASIS within it’s unlimited planets and virtual cities. Halliday programmed a quest based on 80s references to his favorite books, games, movies, and songs, and leaving the winner with his enormous fortune and ownership of the OASIS world. When Wade finds the first key, when many have discarded the contest as a hoax, he is suddenly a target and the race is on!

This is such an original and awesome book. I guess I need to read more science fiction! It was so fun to experience all these different worlds and settings and characters in rapid succession. As someone who isn’t that into video games or virtual reality, I worried I’d get lost or bored in a book that takes place primarily online. I was also born in 1989, so my taste of the 80s was fleeting, and mostly from the preferences of my parents that bled into my 90s childhood. Still, even without a video game or 80s obsession, I was intrigued with the quest and the characters. I flew through it quickly and cannot WAIT to see a movie interpretation.

Good

• You never really know where it’s going, or what is going to happen. Even when the ending is coming up and you’re like “Yay they’re gonna win” it still doesn’t happen quite the way you think it will, and you’re still stoked.
• I loved the characters Aech and Art3mis! The way these characters are revealed and developed, and their relationships with Parzival just bring some much needed humanity to the virtual story.
• The 80s references are really fun, even if you only get some of them.
• I couldn’t help but think about recommending this book to teen students who love to game and hate to read. Sometimes those worlds have difficulty with crossover, but this book just bridges that gap in such an amazing way.
• It’s a pretty fast-paced read, great for vacation!
• I have a feeling this is gonna be a pretty big cult classic. I’m glad I read it before the movie comes out!

Less Good

• There is swearing and violence. Nothing crazy, nothing I would say was over the top. But it is there so people need to be aware of that. I’d be wary of recommending it to young teens.
• I didn’t really like Wade all that much? I liked him at first, then got so annoyed with him, and was honestly happy that his actions had consequences. He just didn’t feel that real or deep to me.
• This punk kid that’s been basically living in an abandoned van is suddenly a secret agent capable of infiltrating the Sixers organization and bringing them down from within? k.
• Maybe I just don’t have the video game/virtual reality background that you need to imagine the descriptions accurately for a mental picture. I found it hard to visualize in my brain. Maybe it was weak description, maybe it was just me? Idk.

The Cuckoo’s Calling

Three months after the supermodel’s highly publicized suicide, Lula Landry’s brother contacts private investigator Cormoran Strike for help proving that it actually wasn’t a suicide. Sorting through the secretive and indulgent lives of Lula’s friends and family is trickier than the no nonsense, former military police detective expected. 

Clearly this isn’t JK Rowling’s best work, but I LOVE that she wrote a completely separate novel and published under a pseudonym just to see if she could do it. And even though she’s no Agatha Christie in this genre, she did it. She wrote an interesting and successful mystery. It’s weird because I wouldn’t have read this if it wasn’t her (I’m not big into the mystery genre), but at the same time I think I held it to too high a standard because of Harry Potter. Once I tried to forget it was her – which wasn’t hard to do because it’s so so different – I started liking it better. So what I’m saying is it’s definitely worth a read if you like mystery, but if you’re just reading it because it’s JK Rowling then you may be a little underwhelmed.

Good

• I really LOVE Cormoran Strike. He was very visible and real to me. I found myself guessing what he was about to say or do accurately enough of the time to feel like I knew him, but surprised by his actions enough to keep me interested.
• I liked the diversity of characters – from the supermodels, to fashion designers, to drug addicted actors, to lowlifes, to cops, to rich lawyers and bluebloods. The juxtaposition of rich to poor, young to old, guilty to innocent, made it very interesting to see how everyone interacted and affected one another.
• She does a lot to get you invested in Cormoran Strike, his secretary Robin, and where the success of this first case will take them. I requested the second book immediately upon finishing this one!
• I listened to the audiobook and the guy who reads it did a great job!

Less Good

• My number one complaint about this book is the excessive amount of swearing. Bad swearing, which is in my book the f- and c-words. So much. Too much. There’s a little bit of sexual content, but it’s short brief and not explicit.
• It does get a little boring and repetitive, especially in the middle portion where he isn’t really discovering much and is just doing preliminary investigation. You have to push on.
• For someone who is clearly meant to be a main character, Robin is very under-developed. The majority of description surrounding her is in regards to her engagement and her relationship with her fiance. JK Rowling obviously knows how to write strong female characters and I’m sure she has big plans for Robin in the following books, but I felt she was poorly represented in this one.
• This is not a book I’m likely to recommend when I’m asked “So what should I read next?” Nor is it a great book for a book club or discussion. But if you’re looking for a mystery to read or listen too I suppose it will do just fine!

About The Cursed Child

Yes, obviously I read it. More than once. And discussed it with my Harry Potter Book Club at length. And I have A LOT of thoughts and feelings to work through about it, so a completely separate, dedicated post is coming on Friday. I am anxious to hear what you guys think about it too!

It was a great month of reading. If you’re looking for your next book I’ll be reading The Martian, How May We Hate You, and The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up for August!