Hello everyone. Welcome to Bibliophilia Book Reviews and today I’m going to be talking about my Mid-Year Freak Out Tag for 2024. Like last year, I’m going to talk about all the books that apply to the prompt, not just one. I have already talked about each of these books in my monthly wrap ups so, for the sake of not repeating myself, I will talk about them very briefly here.
1. Best books
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
The best thing about this book is the writing. I first read Wuthering Heights in college, and it instantly became a favorite. This time around, however, I had a different experience reading it and it is no longer one of my favorites. I don’t love it as much as I did back then (and this, I think, is because I have changed a lot as a reader), but I still like it very much. It is a must-read of classic literature.
The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn
I have talked about this book several times in my blog, and every time I say that I love it. And I still do. Kate Quinn is one of my favorite historical authors right now, and she is the one that spurred my interest in reading about World War II. I used to hate reading novels about WWII, because there’s just so many out there, but after reading The Rose Code and The Diamond Eye by this author, I started to want to read more about WWII and its impact on history and humanity.
Elektra by Jennifer Saint
In Greek mythology, Elektra is the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. In this book, Jennifer Saint retells several myths in Greek mythology to weave the story of Elektra’s life. Elektra’s life, however, is keenly linked to that of her sister Iphigenia, to her mother, Clytemnestra, and to Cassandra, the Trojan princess and prophetess whom Agamemnon captures after the Fall of Troy. I liked how Jennifer Saint wrote both Clytemnestra and Cassandra. I feel like they are both maligned in mythology and we forget easily that they were both victims of the power men had over them. Agamemnon on the one hand and Apollo on the other. Elektra, on the other hand, is not an easy character to like. Jennifer Saint does a superb job at portraying how much she hates Clytemnestra for killing Agamemnon and taking him away from her, as well as for ignoring her and her siblings after Iphigenia’s death. But Elektra comes across as someone who complains a lot in most of the chapters allotted to her point of view, and it was not easy to connect with her. In fact, I did not connect with her at all. But I did think that this book is a lot better than this author’s first novel.
The Aurelian Cycle by Rosaria Munda
This a YA trilogy heavily based on authors of Greek literature like Plato, Homer and Sophocles. And like in all YA novels, there’s teenage drama, angst, love, and longing. But what this series has that not many novels in this genre have is political intrigue. Lots of political intrigue and this adds a new layer of depth to the plot and story; in addition, this series is very well written. And I liked that.
A few years ago, all I read was YA. Today, I can barely read any. My tastes have changed, and there are few YA novels that I actually finish. This doesn’t mean that I don’t pick them up anymore; I do, or that YA novels are not good. It’s just that my tastes have changed, and I have changed as a reader. I’m transitioning. Still, there are a few series in this genre that I think are worth reading and this is one of them.
Sisters of the Salt by Erin A. Craig
This series is YA/horror, and the author does a very good job at keeping you on your feet. Despite the fact that it’s light horror (it’s definitely not Lovecraft or Stephen King; I’ve read some of the first, none of the second), I still thought that some scenes were very creepy. Of course, my bar is very low but still I liked how the author intertwined the horror aspects of the story to the overall plot. It was very well done. The third book is not out yet, but I will be reading that one as well.
Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
There are very few romance trilogies that I like (contemporary romance, no less; this is my least favorite type of romance), but Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez is one of them. The books are not perfect (the miscommunication between the two leads in Book 2, for example, is IMO exhausting and detrimental to the plot), but I liked the couples in all three books. And that’s very important for me. If I can’t root for the couple, I don’t finish the book. I also like that Abby Jimenez doesn’t create an idyllic world where the main characters have no problems and the story is just about how they get together. I think that the real-life situations she places her characters in helps me identify myself and connect with them. I believe they are people going through some serious stuff but who are also lucky to have found love.
Yes, some may say that reading is about disconnecting from the real world but I think that this connection to the real world and the problems of real world people is an asset in this series.
Tartuffe and The Misanthrope by Moliére
I don’t read a lot of drama. In fact, I don’t like it very much. But Tartuffe and The Misanthrope are two plays very much worth the read. I feel like when someone talks about theatre and drama, the first playwright and dramaturgist they think about is Shakespeare. And I don’t want to lessen Shakespeare’s importance within classical literature and drama but Moliére is just as important. He is a satirist par excellence.
KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps
The title of this book is as explicit as it can get. And it delivers. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in reading about the history of the concentration camps. Word of caution: this is not a book about the Holocaust. It is a book about the creation, use, and eventual abandonment or destruction of Nazi concentration camps before and during WWII.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
I read this book again last year after 15 years, and I had a very different experience reading it now than I did when I was in my twenties. This book is so funny, and all the satire passed me by when I was younger. I picked it up again this year for one of my book clubs and I had the added bonus of reading this book with a community of book lovers like me and lectures that added so much to my reading experience that I enjoyed this book even more.
2. New release you haven’t read yet, but want to
I don’t keep up with new releases very much, but I do want to read When The Sea Came Alive, An Oral History of D-Day by Garrett M. Graff. This book came out rather recently.
3. Most anticipated book for the second half of 2024
Apparently Hera by Jennifer Saint comes out in August 2024. I thought it was earlier than that, my bad.
4. Biggest disappointments
He Who Drowned The World by Shelley Parker Chan
I loved the first book in this duology, She Who Became The Sun, but the second book was very disappointing. The writing is superb; it has political intrigue aplenty, but I did not like the gratuitous sexual content. It was too much, and it did not serve any purpose. Well, it did, to a point but then the point got lost in all the ample sexual encounters described in the book. I did not like that.
The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
This book was disappointing in that it does not provide any depth to the knowledge it is trying to impart. Every chapter is a different topic concerning trees and the way they survive in the world, but I felt that the book just provides a cursory description of all the phenomena it describes, despite the fact that it is all very interesting.
The Trojan War by Barry Strauss
This book was not what I was looking for. In a few words, it is a nonfiction retelling of The Iliad loosely based on archeological evidence. I was interested in the archeological evidence, but the author does not talk about this a whole lot. In the end, I didn’t learn anything new about Troy and The Trojan War after reading this book.
5. Biggest surprises
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
This book is a multigenerational retelling of the biblical story of Cain and Abel and the author’s attempt at answering the question of how much good and evil is within us during our lifetime. I don’t usually read American literature (I don’t like it very much), but I was surprised at how much I liked this book. I also liked The Moon Is Down by this author, so it is safe to say that John Steinbeck is an American author that I will go back to. I have yet to read The Grapes of Wrath but I probably will someday.
The Iliad by Homer, translated by Stephen Mitchell
I liked this translation of The Iliad more than I expected I would, considering that many scholars disregard it. But it is a clear and easy to read translation of Homer’s epic poem and I appreciated the work the translator put into it to make it so. I am planning on reading some of his other translations later.
Othello by William Shakespeare
I said earlier that I do not read drama a lot, but I was surprised by how quickly I read Othello. I really enjoyed it and with my enthusiasm about liking it so much, I thought I could read more of Shakespeare’s plays. Somewhere in my blog I also say that I have a love-hate relationship with Shakespeare and after reading King Lear and Macbeth, I realized that I might have asked too much of myself and I have since curbed my enthusiasm. Yes, I liked Othello, but I’m not going to do a Shakespeare readathon anytime soon.
6. New favorite author(s)
John Steinbeck. I wouldn’t say that he’s a favorite though, but I am definitely more open to reading his books now.
7. Newest fictional crush
I have two. And serendipitously, they both appear in the same book. Kitsenko and Kostia from The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn.
8. Newest favorite character(s)
Tartuffe from Moliére’s eponymous play and Alceste from The Misanthrope.
9. Books that made you cry
I don’t think I read a book that made me cry this time.
10. Books that make you happy/laugh
A Proposal They Can’t Refuse and A Dish Best Served Hot by Natalie Caña. Papo Vega is arguably one of the best characters in this series.
11. Most beautiful book I’ve read
I like the covers of both books of the Sisters of the Salt series by Erin A. Craig.
12. Books I want to finish
Inferno: The World At War 1939-1945 by Max Hastings
This is a single volume history of WWII. It is one of the books that I am currently reading.
Black, White and Gray All Over: A Black Man’s Odyssey in Life and Law Enforcement
This is self-published memoir of a Black policeman in Compton, California, one of the most dangerous cities in America in the 1980s. The author kindly provided a copy of his book for review.
13. Books I did not like
The Iliad by Homer, translated by Samuel Butler
I did not like this translation of The Iliad. It is too archaic and convoluted.
Twelve Kings of Sharakhai by Bradley P. Beaulieu
I read this book twice. The first for a book club, and the second for a book challenge when I decided to finish the six books in the series. Sad to say, I didn’t complete the challenge. The main reason? I started to hate the main characters. Both of them devolved into Mary Sues (or Mary Sue and Gary Sue, respectively) in Book 2, and I do not like that.
A Darker Shade of Magic and Shades of Magic series
I thought the story of A Darker Shade of Magic was alright, but I hated Lila Bard. Not going to continue the series just because of that.
Age of Assassins by RJ Barker
I tried reading two of this author’s books, each one the first of a different series, and I have come to realize that RJ Barker is not for me. I finished the books, but I am not going to continue either one.
Daughter of Sparta by Claire M. Andrews
I didn’t like the protagonist of this book. She was trying too hard to be a “strong female lead” and I immediately rejected her. I read it because the synopsis looked interesting and because I like Greek gods and how they meddle in human affairs, but I will not continue with the series.
That is everything. Thank you for reading. If you’re interested in seeing what else I read the first half of 2024, you are welcome to scroll through my monthly wrap ups. Until next time.
