First Books of the Month Post! July Favorites
Welcome to my first books of the month post! One point of criteria that I look for in a good book is whether the book is easy to get through. I think that people don’t read books that often anymore because our attention spans are so short due to the videos on social media we’re all constantly watching. I like a book that keeps my attention the whole time, and I know a lot of my friends need books like that too. So I hope you like reading about the books that I enjoyed this month and if you choose to read any of them, you feel safe knowing they will keep you interested throughout the whole story!
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
I LOVED this book! It gives insight into the worlds of gaming and programming while also telling the story of three characters and their relationships all from childhood to adulthood. While this book is on the longer side, I was so captivated that it only took me a few days to read. I literally didn’t want to put it down. An aspect of the book that I really like is the different art styles that they describe being used to design video games and also the writing techniques for the actual book. The book is split into different parts and some parts are written from different characters’ perspectives. There is also a lot of character development which I always love. The last thing I like about this book is how relatable it is. The book brings up the thought of always feeling alone or misunderstood. I think that most people have this thought, I do often, and seeing the way the characters dealt with this and talked about it honestly helped me to understand that it’s a common feeling and is really just all in our heads. There are many other themes present, similar to this one, that I also found really relatable.
There were also a lot of quotes that stuck out to me which I don’t normally notice happening when I read. It made me kind of want to take notes for fun. One quote that I did want to share from the book is, “If you’re always aiming for perfection, you won’t make anything at all,” (Zevin, 2022). I like this quote a lot because I need to keep that in mind as I continue with this blog. I have no clue how to design a website and I’m not a professional writer so obviously it’s not going to be perfect, but I just have to keep on posting and work out the kinks over time.
Behind the Ivy Walls
So I might be a bit biased about this one because it is written by my boss and about his life BUT it truly is a fascinating book. The book goes through the life of Hal English starting from childhood with his crazy family life where he was abused by his father, all the way to becoming a very accomplished and admired man. As I read this book, I kept thinking, “his life can’t get much crazier than this,” but I kept being proved wrong. My boss had a hard life and he navigated it all on his own. When I began researching blogging, I learned that people don’t want to hear about me, which makes sense. So when I picked up Hal’s book and learned it was all about him I was kind of like what makes you so special (sorry Hal)? But MAN this guy has some stories to tell. I feel like I know a celebrity and if you read it, you can know someone that knows a celebrity. This book is also a quick read (200ish pages) and I recommend it to anyone! Especially if you don’t read regularly, this is a great book because it will keep you engaged from the beginning to the end.
Sharp Objects
This novel is about a murder mystery but also about the life of the protagonist, Camille. If you like a little mystery and plot twist, this is a great book for you. Something that I really liked about this book was that it was kind of relatable. The murders happen in a small town in Missouri where everyone knows everyone and there is a lot of town gossip, etc. This somewhat reminds me of my hometown because it is a small town too with the same type of dynamic. Outside of the murder mystery, the main character, Camille, has an interesting story. When she was young, her sister died and she became very depressed. She cut words into her entire body. This honestly was hard for me to grasp but I did like the way that the author related Camille’s backstory to the current time. Overall, the author did a great job relating and weaving all of the different aspects of the novel together, and the drama and suspense of the novel kept me engaged the whole time.
I do want to add though that I went for a run in the trails by my house a week or so after reading this book and I was very scared that I would be kidnapped and murdered…. But if you’re not worried about something like that happening to you then I recommend you give this book a read!
I’ve attached the amazon links to each book in the title of the books if you decide you want to give any a read!
Excellent reviews of all three. I have read two of them and your reviews were right on for those. I am now going to read “Behind the Ivy Walls”. Thanks!
Cutting is not uncommon among girls who are in psychological pain from their situation. I had a student who did this. (She got treatment and is OK now.) She said she experienced cutting as a relief from pain. So hard to understand.