September 2015 Wrap-Up

Hey guys! So, I know that this is a few days later than I said it would be, but this was my first week back at school, and so I just didn’t have a lot of time to be writing. However, better late than never was my thinking, so without further ado, here is my September Wrap-Up!

I feel like I was pretty productive with reading throughout the month of September. I didn’t read as much as I was hoping to, but I did read a decent amount. I ended up reading a total of six books, which is definitely better than how many books I’ve been reading over the last couple of months, so I was pretty happy with that number.

It was also RYBSAT this last month, so that did motivate me to read a bit as well.

The books that I was able to complete this month were:

 Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan

One False Note by Gordon Korman

The Sword Thief by Peter Lerangis

Beyond the Grave by Jude Watson

The Black Circle by Patrick Carman 

I’m now going to go into a bit of what I thought of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl and also the five books within The 39 Clues series. I will hopefully be putting up a full book/movie review of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl soon, so that you guys can see what I thought about the movie compared to the book.

For those of you who don’t know, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is about a boy names Greg, who just wants to stay under the radar. He has made it to his senior year of high school, while staying acquaintances with every single group and student in the entire school. He only has one person that is a friend, and that person is Earl. Greg and Earl have grown up together, and they also make films. They take a film that they really enjoyed, change the name of it and then remake it. His life seems pretty perfect to him. That is, until his mom tells him that he has to go talk Rachel, who has just been diagnosed with cancer.

I know what you’re thinking, ugh it’s just another cancer book. Or, it’s probably just a remake of The Fault in Our Stars. I’m here to tell you to get that thought out of your mind because Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is NOT just another cancer book. Sure, it does follow a boy who meets someone who does have cancer, but that’s not what the book is about. The book is not about the cancer.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is a comedic goldmine. I laughed so hard throughout this book, you just wouldn’t believe it. Although this book does have a cancer storyline, cancer is not the main plot point of the book. The main plot point of this book is that Greg is just a normal person. I know that that sounds strange, and that since it’s a contemporary book it should be following a normal person, but most contemporary novels just don’t feel like that. Greg had normal thoughts, he did normal things, he did things and thought things that most authors wouldn’t think to put into their books because they’re too absurd, too bizarre. But Jesse Andrews did. He knew that the thoughts running through Greg’s mind were ones that run through the minds of teens on a daily basis.

When I was reading this book, and somebody would ask me what is was about. Or whenever somebody would come up to me for a book recommendation, I would tell them about Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. They’d ask what’s it about, and I would tell them that it’s a funny book about cancer. They would all look at me like I was completely insane, and ask me how a book about cancer could possibly be funny. But Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is completely hilarious, and it definitely, definitely deserves the five out of five stars that I am giving it.

Since the last five books that I read this last month were all a part of the same series, I’m just going to give you an overview of what the series is about, and then also what I thought about the books as a whole.

The 39 Clues series follows siblings, Amy and Dan Cahill, who have just lost their grandmother. They are at the funeral, when they and some of their other family members from all over the world get called into a secret room. None of them have any idea what is going on, until Grace’s (the grandmother’s) lawyer comes in and turns on the TV. Grace pops up on the screen, and explains to the family members’ that they have a choice. They can either each take a million dollars, with no catch at all, or they can receive a clue. Only one clue out of thirty nine, and if they collect all of the clues, then they will have eternal glory. Amy and Dan’s minds are boggled at the thought of receiving one million dollars each, but they take a leap of faith and decide to embark on the adventure of finding the thirty nine clues.

The 39 Clues is a middle-grade series written by multiple different authors. Although you can see the difference between the different authors’, and their different writing styles, it all seems to fit together perfectly. The 39 Clues books are ones that I collect. I got the first ten books in a boxset from my school years ago, and ever I’ve just liked to collect them and they are just fun to pick up every once in a while if I want something short to read.

Rick Riordan, the author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, is one of the many authors of these books, and I just loved reading a different style of his writing. I love the mystery aspect of these books, and even though it is a middle-grade series, it does just seem to capture my attention and intrigue me.

This time around, I only managed to get through five of the books, which was a little bit disappointing as I was hoping to read a lot more, but in the next few months if I get bored of what I’m reading, or if I just want something quick to read I will definitely make sure to pick up the next book in The 39 Clues series. For the series, I’m going to give it a three out of five stars, as I really did enjoy it, it just isn’t one of my favourite series of all time.

So, that’s my wrap-up for the month of September! I’m sorry once again for getting this up so late, I’ve just been busy with school and work and other things, so I haven’t had much time to write this up and upload it. I will, however, definitely have my TBR up either later tonight or sometime tomorrow, so you can definitely look forward to that!

Let me know what you read in the month of September, and what your favourite book that you read was! Mine was definitely Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. Thanks for reading, and I will talk to you next time!