What I’m Reading During Hurricane Dorian

WELL, it’s that time of the year again. It’s hurricane season and since I live in Florida, we’re already being hit. This time, the hurricane is called Dorian and it’s set to make landfall at a category 4. This is obviously a VERY bad hurricane and everyone here is getting prepared. They’ve changed the day it’s supposed to hit several times so I’m not entirely sure but I decided to share with you all the books I’m currently reading and will probably be reading if I lose power lol.

• Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

“On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy’s diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?

As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

With her razor-sharp writing and trademark psychological insight, Gillian Flynn delivers a fast-paced, devilishly dark, and ingeniously plotted thriller that confirms her status as one of the hottest writers around.

One of the most critically acclaimed suspense writers of our time, New York Times bestseller Gillian Flynn takes that statement to its darkest place in this unputdownable masterpiece about a marriage gone terribly, terribly wrong. The Chicago Tribune proclaimed that her work “draws you in and keeps you reading with the force of a pure but nasty addiction.” Gone Girl’s toxic mix of sharp-edged wit and deliciously chilling prose creates a nerve-fraying thriller that confounds you at every turn.”

I have this as a downloaded audiobook so I’m not sure if I’ll be listening to it a lot since I have to save my battery power but who knows! I’m hoping we don’t lose power but we always lose power. I’m actually already like 33% into this book and I’m really enjoying it. I’ve never really been a fan of thrillers/mysteries but I recently read Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn and I really love her writing style. I used to have a physical copy of this book that I thrifted but I got rid of it because I never thought I’d read it. I wish I kept it! So far, the audiobook is fantastic so I’m not too angry.

• Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom by Sylvia Plath

 “Never before published, this newly discovered story by literary legend Sylvia Plath stands on its own and is remarkable for its symbolic, allegorical approach to a young woman’s rebellion against convention and forceful taking control of her own life.

Written while Sylvia Plath was a student at Smith College in 1952, Mary Ventura and The Ninth Kingdom tells the story of a young woman’s fateful train journey.

Lips the color of blood, the sun an unprecedented orange, train wheels that sound like “guilt, and guilt, and guilt” these are just some of the things Mary Ventura begins to notice on her journey to the ninth kingdom.

“But what is the ninth kingdom?” she asks a kind-seeming lady in her carriage. “It is the kingdom of the frozen will,” comes the reply. “There is no going back.”

Sylvia Plath’s strange, dark tale of female agency and independence, written not long after she herself left home, grapples with mortality in motion”

I also have this on audiobook and it’s only about 44 minutes long so there’s no doubt I’ll finish it this month! I recently read the Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath and really enjoyed it so I thought I’d pick up one of her short stories.

• Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky

 “Christopher is seven years old. Christopher is the new kid in town. Christopher has an imaginary friend. The epic work of literary horror from the #1 bestselling author of THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER.

We can swallow our fear or let our fear swallow us.

Single mother Kate Reese is on the run. Determined to improve life for her and her son, Christopher, she flees an abusive relationship in the middle of the night with Christopher at her side. Together, they find themselves drawn to the tight-knit community of Mill Grove, Pennsylvania. It’s as far off the beaten track as they can get. Just one highway in, one highway out.

At first, it seems like the perfect place to finally settle down. Then Christopher vanishes. For six awful days, no one can find him. Until Christopher emerges from the woods at the edge of town, unharmed but not unchanged. He returns with a voice in his head only he can hear, with a mission only he can complete: Build a tree house in the woods by Christmas, or his mother and everyone in the town will never be the same again.

Soon Kate and Christopher find themselves in the fight of their lives, caught in the middle of a war playing out between good and evil, with their small town as the battleground. “

I’ve been reading this for a bit now. I’m at like 17% through an e-arc that I have. I need to focus on it and only read this considering its like 800 pages but you know. I’ve just been reading bits of it at night. I’ll have a review for this near the release date!

If any of you are in the path of Hurricane Dorian, please BE PREPARED. Here’s a list of things you can get in order to be ready for this hurricane. I live in Florida and we got our supplies ready in case anything happens. Stay safe!

 

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a Late Reading Rush TBR

I was totally supposed to post this yesterday but I was too busy watching Love Island UK. I know, embarrassing. Forgive me. Here’s what I planned to read for the Reading Rush! I’ve lowkey already read several things that aren’t on this list but that’s okay!

• Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation by Ari Folman (adapter), Anne Frank (Original text), David Polonsky (Illustrator)

Challenge: Read a book in the same spot the entire time [Completed]

I already read this one and absolutely loved it! I’ll be talking about the books I’ve read more in my wrap up but wow, this was so good.

• Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Challenge: Read an author’s first book

Challenge: Read a book you meant to read last year

I love Rainbow Rowell so much and this is the only book/story I haven’t read by her!

• Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune by Roselle Lim

Challenge: Read a book with five or more words in the title [Completed]

I already read this one too! I really enjoyed it. I had some problems with it but it still made for a great read.

• the Handmaid’s Tale: the Graphic Novel by Renee Nault

I just felt like reading this one and I don’t really have a challenge for it! I think this will just add to the bonus of reading seven books.

• Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Challenge: Read a book with purple on the cover (I think her pants on the cover are purple but that’s up for debate)

Challenge: Read a book with a non-human main character (BAZ COUNTS OK)

• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Challenge: Read a book and watch the movie adaptation

• Water Runs Red by Jenna Clare

This is Jenna’s first book but I’m reading it to read seven books! 🙂

 

 

Library Haul

Hello everyone! I finally got around to renewing my library card. I decided to check out a bunch of physical books this time. Some of these may or may not be for the Reading Rush but you’ll just have to wait and see!

• When Katie Met Cassidy by Camille Perry ★★★ (3) /  ★★★★★ (5) stars

“Katie Daniels is a perfection-seeking 28-year-old lawyer living the New York dream. She’s engaged to charming art curator Paul Michael, has successfully made her way up the ladder at a multinational law firm and has a hold on apartments in Soho and the West Village. Suffice it to say, she has come a long way from her Kentucky upbringing.

But the rug is swept from under Katie when she is suddenly dumped by her fiance, Paul Michael, leaving her devastated and completely lost. On a whim, she agrees to have a drink with Cassidy Price-a self-assured, sexually promiscuous woman she meets at work. The two form a newfound friendship, which soon brings into question everything Katie thought she knew about sex—and love.

When Katie Met Cassidy is a romantic comedy that explores how, as a culture, while we may have come a long way in terms of gender equality, a woman’s capacity for an entitlement to sexual pleasure still remain entirely taboo. This novel tackles the question: Why, when it comes to female sexuality, are so few women figuring out what they want and then going out and doing it?”

• the Handmaid’s Tale: the Graphic Novel by Margaret Atwood

“Everything Handmaids wear is red: the colour of blood, which defines us.

Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, where women are prohibited from holding jobs, reading, and forming friendships. She serves in the household of the Commander and his wife, and under the new social order she has only one purpose: once a month, she must lie on her back and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if they are fertile. But Offred remembers the years before Gilead, when she was an independent woman who had a job, a family, and a name of her own. Now, her memories and her will to survive are acts of rebellion.

Provocative, startling, prophetic, The Handmaid’s Tale has long been a global phenomenon. With this stunning graphic novel adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s modern classic, beautifully realized by artist Renee Nault, the terrifying reality of Gilead has been brought to vivid life like never before.”

• Circe by Madeline Miller

“In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child—not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power—the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.

Threatened, Zeus banishes her to a deserted island, where she hones her occult craft, tames wild beasts and crosses paths with many of the most famous figures in all of mythology, including the Minotaur, Daedalus and his doomed son Icarus, the murderous Medea, and, of course, wily Odysseus.

But there is danger, too, for a woman who stands alone, and Circe unwittingly draws the wrath of both men and gods, ultimately finding herself pitted against one of the most terrifying and vengeful of the Olympians. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.”

• Anne Frank’s Diary: the Graphic Novel

“The only graphic novelization of Anne Frank’s diary that has been authorized by the Anne Frank Foundation and that uses text from the diary–it will introduce a new generation of young readers to this classic of Holocaust literature.

This adaptation of Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl into a graphic version for a young readership, maintains the integrity and power of the original work. With stunning, expressive illustrations and ample direct quotation from the diary, this edition will expand the readership for this important and lasting work of history and literature.”

• Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune by Roselle Lim

“At the news of her mother’s death, Natalie Tan returns home. The two women hadn’t spoken since Natalie left in anger seven years ago, when her mother refused to support her chosen career as a chef. Natalie is shocked to discover the vibrant neighborhood of San Francisco’s Chinatown that she remembers from her childhood is fading, with businesses failing and families moving out. She’s even more surprised to learn she has inherited her grandmother’s restaurant.

The neighborhood seer reads the restaurant’s fortune in the leaves: Natalie must cook three recipes from her grandmother’s cookbook to aid her struggling neighbors before the restaurant will succeed. Unfortunately, Natalie has no desire to help them try to turn things around–she resents the local shopkeepers for leaving her alone to take care of her agoraphobic mother when she was growing up. But with the support of a surprising new friend and a budding romance, Natalie starts to realize that maybe her neighbors really have been there for her all along.”