What an excellent reading month for me. Woot woot! Four five-star books!
6/4: The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley (library, 2024) - IRL book club choice. I loved it. 5/5 stars
6/8: How To Read a Book by Monica Wood (library, 2024) - What a sweet book. Maybe too saccharine for some readers, but I liked it. 5/5 stars
6/13: The Favorites by Layne Fargo (library, 2025) - Yes! I'm all in. A sports book that's really a soap opera. 5/5 stars
6/17: Night Film by Marisha Plessl (library, 2013) - So engrossing. 5/5 stars
6/22: What Feasts at Night (Sworn Soldier #2) by T. Kingfisher (library, 2024) - Kingfisher really is a gem in the modern fantasy landscape. 4/5 stars
6/22: Seraphina (Seraphina #1) by Rachel Hartman (library ebook, 2012) - Dragons and humans have had a truce for many years, but that peace is in peril now. Seraphina understands both sides since she is the daughter of a human man and dragon woman. I thought this was a fun premise, but the execution was a bit sluggish. 3/5 stars
6/22: Dungeon Crawler Carl (Dungeon Crawler Carl #1) by Matt Dinniman (audiobook I purchased narrated by Jeff Hays, 2020) - This was our book club book. I will write more after book club meets, but that won't be until August, so I mostly liked this although it took me a bit to get into it. 4/5 stars
6/28: The Most by Jessica Anthony (library, 2024) - Disaffected housewife in the 1950s. Where else have I seen this before? 3/5 stars
Average star rating: 4.25/5 stars
DNF
Too Like the Lightning (Terra Ignota #1) - I'm 30% through this book and I have no idea what's going on. Sometimes you just have to give up. I'm not smart enough for this book.
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Have you ever read four five-star books in a row? Do you think they're really great books or that I'm just an easy grader?
I rate 5-stars for any book I love love love and want to read again, or that I think is a pure work of art. I have a friend who puts 5 stars for, like, Maya Angelou and James Baldwin and that's pretty much it. I like my system better. It's all about how a book makes me feel. I just got How To Read A Book - I will report back. Sometimes I want something nice and sweet, you know?
ReplyDeleteFive stars for me does not mean classic literature. I feel like for me, though, five stars does mean I would recommend it widely to a variety of types of readers. There's a time and place for all types of books, not just the "canon."
DeleteI think it's awesome that you had so many great ones in a row! There's nothing like that feeling of loving a book.
ReplyDeleteI was starting to feel like ALL books were great and that is an excellent feeling.
DeleteI don't think you're an easy grader! Two of your books are on my TBR- Ministry of Time and How to Read a Book (although now I'm nervous because you describe it as saccharine...) And you know I loved Night Film!
ReplyDeleteMinistry of Time took me by surprise! I thought it was hilarious.
DeleteI don't think How to read a book is too saccharine- it is sweet without being sappy, and there are real tragedies and growth going on. The Ministry of Time went a little racy for me in the middle, but I really liked how things came together ( or apart?) in the end.
ReplyDeleteI've had a good steak of reading with GWTW, The Ministry if Tine, and so e other miscellaneous reads. I'm getting better about culling ones I'll DNF early on.
I feel like HTRAB did sort of delve into sappy for me, BUT that doesn't mean I didn't love it. There was real growth, but some of the characters didn't have anywhere to grow to, if you know what I mean. I will recommend it widely, though.
DeleteI definitely don't think you're an easy grader. What a great month. It is SO fun to have books that click so completely! I hope July is awesome too!
ReplyDeleteJuly is starting off with a pretty good book, so I have high hopes!
DeleteI like How To Read a Book too and I am not an easy grader. I don't think you are either. Sometimes the stars just align!
ReplyDeleteI needed all the help I could get in June, so I'm glad the universe aligned those stars for me. Here's hoping for a similar set up in July.
DeleteI do not think you are an easy grader. I am trying to be more generous with my 5 star reviews, because I figure - why not? It's the best way to communicate that I really, truly loved a book. I, too, loved How to Read a Book. It was very sweet, but I don't care. I need more sweetness in my life!
ReplyDeleteI don't know that I've ever read a series of 5 star books, though!!
Yes, why not be generous when describing popular culture I genuinely enjoy? I feel like my enthusiasm can be contagious - just look at the Gone With the Wind reading that's going on!
DeleteThe Expanse, Harry Potter, and Realm of the Elderlings are all excellent series from my perspective. I don't know if every book is a five star in those series, but overall they are fantastic. (All SFF, though. That probably says more about my reading than anything else.)
Oh by series of 5 star I meant a string of 5 star books! I haven’t read many series but HP was definitely a series of 5-star books!!
DeleteThe whole subject of rating books is so funny and weird and complicated. There are periods in my life where I am an easier grader, for whatever reason. My rating is much more about how the book landed with me than any perceived 'objective' qualities of the book (with a few exceptions, on the low rating side - some books are objectively bad, IMO). Night Film might have gotten a higher rating from me if I hadn't read the author's previous book and had high expectations. Ministry of Time might have gotten a lower rating if it wasn't during Covid when I was desperate for a diversion. Like Nicole, though, I don't reserve 5-star ratings for what nearly everyone would consider literature that is serious or world-transforming. If I find a book amazing, I rate it that way.
ReplyDeleteLiterature certainly doesn't have to be transformative or life-changing for me to rate it five stars! Did it make me think about something other than my own woes? FIVE STARS. (Okay, not really. But I don't think my bar is as high as transform the world for ANYTHING.)
DeleteLook at you. Good book jackpot. I do not think you are an easy grader. I think you selected wisely or maybe books on your list became available. Summer is the perfect time to hit a great book streak.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I did select wisely! That's an interesting theory. I don't usually find out a lot about books before I read them, so sometimes I'm reading absolute garbage. LOL. But it did work out this time.
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