Shelf Life: Episode 6

 

Welcome back to another episode of Shelf Life. I continued my streak of being behind schedule in June, by reading way fewer books than I planned, but I still got quite a few good ones read. I am currently sitting at 62/150 books read for my goals and have two loaded on my Kindle. One of which I have 4 pages left in. The other I'm restarting because I was listening to it and then realized it is one that needs to be read 'manually' instead.

Sisters in Arms, Kaia Alderson	June	Historical Fiction	YA and up	Hardback	3/5	As a rule, I don't rate a book I DNF below 3 stars. Sometimes I don't rate them at all, but this one I am. I had to give up on this book. I really wanted to like it but I got 100 pages in and the main characters had literally just reached boot camp. The beginning was so long and felt dragged out, plus I thought I'd like the characters at first, then they started throwing shade at each other and I ended up finding both of them annoying. I was looking for a World War fiction book and was excited to see one about women in the army, but I couldn't stay interested in the book. I knew I needed to stop reading when I dreaded picking it up. I truly hope this book finds its intended audience, but that audience wasn't me.
Milk and Honey, Rupi Kaur	June	Poetry	18+	Ebook	1/5	I almost gave this book 2 stars but I felt like that would be too generous. I absolutely loathe leaving 1-star reviews but I preach honesty so I must practice it. Here's the deal...I read poetry because nothing can invoke imagery and emotions as a good poet can, but this book was frustrating...and not in a good way. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason (no pun intended) to how Kaur did their formatting. Stanzas and sentences were split up weirdly and some of the entries weren't even poems. They were run-on paragraphs with no capital letters or correct punctuation. I did love one poem in this collection. One, single poem. I was too distracted by the grammar and formatting here to enjoy the majority of them. I know Freeform exists, but I don't think Kaur pulled it off like they were hoping to. The illustrations were a nice touch, though.
Ice Cream and Suicide, Jack Ray	June	Poetry	New Adult	Ebook	4/5	Ice Cream and Suicide is a raw collection of poetry that focuses on heartbreak and toxic relationships. The term suicide in the title has more to deal with the art of falling in love with someone you know is bad for you than with actually offing yourself. It's about the sweet side of love and the hard side of love. About the joys of finding someone to share your life with and the sting of betrayal.
The Mistaken Groom, Patricia Bates	June	Historical Romance	18+	Ebook	5/5	The Mistaken Groom has the feel of classic romance with a historical twist. England and Scotland are at war. The Highlanders struggle to keep peace among their clans and prepare for battle against the English. Then, when a rumor starts circling, a clan leader is forced to give his daughter to a rival clan chieftain in marriage. The enemies-to-lovers trope is expertly executed and though this is a story about two people finding love it primarily focuses on the difference between found and natural family. I immensely enjoyed this book. Callum and Elizabeth will now forever hold a piece of my heart.
What I Wish I Said To You, Isaac Paredes	June	Poetry	YA+	Ebook	4/5	This is a beautiful and sad collection of poems focusing on things Paredes wishes he could have said to a former lover. The poems included take the reader on an adventure through love and heartbreak.
Killing Karlyn, E.A. Shanniak	June	Fantasy	YA+	Ebook	5/5	There is a lot jammed into this novella. It's a romance and it's a fantasy. It has an assassin, a rapist king, a pure-hearted soldier, and meddling gods. Zerelon is turning out to be quite the interesting world where mortals try to live better lives and the gods use them as pawns in their games.
Heart, Haunt, Havoc, by Freydis Moon	June	Horror, Fantasy, LQBTQIA	New Adult	Ebook	4/5	This book popped up on my recommended reading list after I read a vampire book. I picked it up because it had decent reviews and sounded like a book I'd like. Truth is, this book was wonderful. It defiantly had horror vibes with demons, possessions, and exorcisms. But it also had fantasy elements and romance. The second book is on preorder and though I read this on Kindle Unlimited, I will probably buy the series. I'm presently shocked since horror isn't a genre, I love but I think the fact the horror elements stayed within fantasy lines and strictly involved spirits and exorcisms (instead of zombies and psychopaths) helped with that. Also, I liked how the trans characters were handled.
Snowflake Kisses, Jordon Greene	June	Graphic Novel, LQBTQIA, Holiday Romance	YA	Ebook	4/5	This was an adorable graphic novel based in a universe created by Jordan Greene. I kind of wish there were more graphic novels in the series because the illustrator's graphics are beautiful, plus the story was a sweet holiday romance.
The Story of Creation, Alice Joyce Davidson	June	Historical children’s	Juvenile	Hardcover	4/5	This was my favorite book series as a kid. I read it to my 3-year-old nephew the other day and he...kind of liked it? He was fighting sleep so it was hard to tell. The illustrations are done in a classic style and the retelling of the Biblical creation story is told through poetry. It has a bit of a fantasy feel to the series because Alice isn't just reading the stories, she's experiencing them by walking through a storybook into the past.
The Story of the Tower of Babel, Alice Joyce Davidson	June	Historical Children’s	Juvenile	Hardcover	4/5	This is a fun story about the creation of multiple languages. It's told in rhyme and uses classic illustrations. It sparked a conversation between the kids I read it to and they thought the confusion when the language was split was funny.