The Classics Club Challenge: Year 2 Wrap Up

 My second year of the classics club challenge is done and I have three more years left. I am not feeling pressure yet but I have some big ones on my list and I want to get to them soon. I have The Count of Monte Cristo out from my library right now and I am hoping to read it next month. But this post is about the ones I read this year. I started my challenge with 50 books and in my first year I read 7. 

Year 2 started at 43 and now I am down to 39. 

I only read 4 classics this past year that were on my list. I have read more Agatha Christie for the Agatha Christie challenge that I am also doing, but does don't count towards this challnege sadly.

My reviews for these books are on my blog and also on the website The Classics Club.

1. The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux

2. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

3. Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

4. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

My favorite classic of Year 2 is.......... The Phantom of the Opera with Jane Eyre in 2nd place.

My least favorite is 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Review: The Epic of Gilgamesh by Anonymous

 

A year or two ago my kids were learning about Mesopotamia for ancient history. I homeschool my kids and I bought this book because they were so fascinated with the legend of Gilgamesh. I let my oldest daughter read it first and she got 25 pages in and was uncomfortable with the inappropriate descriptions about women. So I told her that I would read it first to see if there were anymore descriptions like that and fast forward to now, I have finally read it. It is such a short book. My edition is 64 pages and it was such a slog. 

We learn about Gilgamesh being a king and his mother decides to tame a wild man who runs with the beasts. That wild man sleeps with a harlot and becomes human. He wants to take Gilgamesh down to show who is stronger and they end up forming a bond. Gilgamesh kills these creatures and incurs the wrath of the Gods. Enkidu ends up dying and Gilgamesh is in agony because he misses Enkidu and he doesn't want to die. He goes on this quest for immortality and eventually dies. 

I give this a two star because I kept falling asleep and it was so repetitive. I swear there were so many paragraphs that had the same sentence over and over. I skimmed half pages and I think that if I had a different edition I would have enoyed this story a little more.

BLOG TOUR: Giga by Alex Paknadel

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the GIGA (The Complete Series) by Alex Paknadel & John Lê Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

 

About The Book:

Title: GIGA (The Complete Series)

Authors: Alex Paknadel & John Lê (Illustrator)

Pub. Date: June 27, 2023

Publisher: Vault Comics

Formats:  Paperback, eBook

Pages: 144

Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/GIGA-The-Complete-Series

Ever since their world-shattering war ended, the slumbering mecha called 'Giga' have been both gods and habitats for the surviving humans. Then disgraced engineer Evan Calhoun discovers a murdered Giga, and the very fabric of society starts unraveling around him.

A GIANT MECH MURDER MYSTERY.

Nobody knows why the skyscraper-sized mechs known as ‘Giga’ fought their bitter, centuries’ long war. All they know is that when the fighting finally stopped, the dormant Giga became humanity’s new habitat and new gods in one. When disgraced engineer Evan Calhoun finds an apparently murdered Giga, his society and the fascistic tech-centered religious order that controls it are rapidly thrown into chaos..
From writer Alex Paknadel (Friendo, Turncoat, Incursion) and rising star John Le comes another Vault & White Noise partnership about what happens after the mechs stop fighting.

Collects the complete five-issue series.

For fans of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Ultra Mega, and the Department of Truth

"A well-thought-out sci-fi series...." -- AV Club

"A world where people take shelter in the rotting husks of giant mechs - smart, fun, beautiful stuff." -- Scott Snyder (Batman, American Vampire, Justice League, Wytches)

"I read GIGA the other day and fell desperately in love with the world they build, and was desperate to spend more time in it and explore. You do NOT want to miss it." -- James Tynion IV (Something is Killing the Children, House of Slaughter, Department of Truth)

Review: Chapter one really intrigued me and I wanted to continue reading but I put it down and the next morning when I continued reading it, it was like I was reading something completely different. We are thrown into a story and not given much information on who the dusters are and why they hate the Giga so much. 

 

About Alex Paknadel:

Alex Paknadel is a writer and academic from London, England. His first comics work, the dark sci-fi thriller ARCADIA from Boom! Studios, met with critical acclaim and led to additional projects with a range of publishers including VAULT COMICS (GIGA), Marvel Entertainment, Valiant Entertainment, Lion Forge, and Titan Comics. He is also a founding member of White Noise Studio alongside fellow writers Dan Watters, Ram V, and Ryan O'Sullivan.

Keep in touch here: 

Twitter | Instagram

 

About John Lê:

Artist, Illustrator, Storyteller 

Keep in touch here:

Twitter 

Giveaway Details:

2 winners will receive finished copies of GIGA (The Complete Series), US Only.

Ends July 18th, midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

6/19/2023	#BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog	Excerpt/IG Post
6/20/2023	Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer	Review/IG Post
6/21/2023	Two Chicks on Books	Excerpt/IG Post
6/22/2023	A Dream Within A Dream	Excerpt
6/23/2023	@evergirl200	IG Review
6/24/2023	Cara North	Excerpt/IG Post

Week Two:

6/25/2023	Sadie's Spotlight	Excerpt/IG Post
6/26/2023	Locks, Hooks and Books	Review
6/27/2023	Country Mamas With Kids	Review/IG Post
6/28/2023	@jlreadstoperpetuity	Review/IG Post
6/29/2023	Kim's Book Reviews and Writing Aha's	Review/IG Post
6/30/2023	Rajiv's Reviews	Review/IG Post
7/1/2023	Nerdophiles	Review

Week Three:

7/2/2023	Fire and Ice	Review/IG Post
7/3/2023	Jaime_of_gryffindor	IG Review
7/4/2023	@allyluvsbooksalatte	IG Review/TikTok Post
7/5/2023	@pagesforpaige	IG Review
7/6/2023	Ariandher.books	IG Review
7/7/2023	@enjoyingbooksagain	Review/IG Post
7/8/2023	@froggyreadteach	IG Review

Week Four:

7/9/2023	@stargirls.magical.tale	IG Review
7/10/2023	The Momma Spot	Review
7/11/2023	Lifestyle of Me	Review
7/12/2023	OneMoreExclamation	Review/IG Post/LFL Drop Pic
7/13/2023	A Blue Box Full of Books	IG Review/LFL Drop Pic/TikTok Post
7/14/2023	Two Points of Interest	Review

Review: Where Darkness Blooms by Andrea Hannah

 The day I started reading this, my first ever sunflower bloomed. Now when I chose this on Netgalley, I didn't pay close attention to the flowers on the cover. I went in knowing it was a horror. When I read the first chapter and it mentions sunflowers and that the main characters are hesitant and a little terrified of them, I freaked the hell out and my little sunflower that had just opened that day and was soaking in the sun rays became public enemy number 1. Not really but everytime I went outside for my garden walks, it got a side eye from me.

Enough about my paranoia, I ended up really liking this and I gave it a 4 star on Goodreads. I wouldn't neccessarily classify it as a horror because even though I got paranoid and the timing couldn't be more wrong, it was more of a thriller mystery to me. 

We follow four girls who live in this small town in the middle of Kansas and this town is prone to constant storms. The town is also borded bu an endless sunflower field along with corn fields. There are a lot of women that go missing including our four main characters mothers. One of the main characters Bo is not buying the story that their mothers abandoned them and the deaths of the other missing girls and she is on the hunt to figure out the real problem. There is some romance in this book which to be brutally honest, could have been left out and this would have been a true horror.

Review: 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne

 

Did I plan to read this this year? No. Does it check a book off of my classics club 5 year list? Yes. Did I enjoy it? HELL NO! If I wanted to read a book about all of the fish and creatures in the ocean that includes their scientific names, I would have went and got a textbook with pictures of said fish.

I was bored out of my mind reading this and there were a few times where I did laugh because of my favorite character Ned Land. The only reason I continued to read this was because I was buddy reading this with my oldest daughter who is reading it for summer reading for her English class. She is feeling the same as I am. The science terms are overwhelming and Ned Land needed more time on the pages. He is definitely the comedic relief. 

I tried to read this when I was in 5th grade for a summer reading book report and I never did it because I was not in my reading girl era. My dad read this when he was a kid and he enjoyed it and tried to get me to pick it back up and I just couldn't care. 

We follow a character named Professor Arronax who gets called to help the military take down a sea monster who is destroying ships with perfect percision. Ned Land is the harpooner charged with taking down the beast. They travel all through the Pacific Ocean looking for this monster and they come across it and chase it. 

Welcome Captain Nemo to the story who is a guy that no longer cares for the surface world and it spending the rest of his life living in the depths of the ocean. He keeps the professor, his assistant and Ned Land hostage and they learn about the underwater world and how Captain Nemo survives and lives.

I really wanted to read Journey to the Center of the Earth but I am just not vibing with Jules Verne and his writing. I may just stick with the Brandon Fraser movie. 

Review: The Walking Dead: Invasion by Jay Bonansinga

 Book 6 of the Walking Dead novels and I am still obsessed. I will always love the Walking Dead universe. I am going to be a little sad when I finish the Woodbury arc and get to book 9 that is set in China and written by a different author. 

If you have not picked up the novels, I highly recommend them. The first two books of the series follow the rise and fall of the character I hate the most, which is The Governor. From the 3rd book to this one, we follow a new main character named Lily Caul and she becomes sort of leader of Woodbury along with some of the older residents. 

This book continues with the evil preacher from the 5th book and it got a lot more religious and sort of preachy. There were also some character deaths that I was not expecting and two new characters who I feel will not pull their weight even though they were major players on the installments conflict.

I was confused at the beginning when we were following the evil preacher and we were in an entirely new setting, but it all came together and it was gory. I hope that the motorcycle gang that was mentioned will play a bigger part in the next two books. 

Top Ten Tuesday: July-December 2023 Most Anticipated Releases

 

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl. 

Sad to say that I have stop keeping up with new releases because I found myself making these list every month of books that came out that I would want to read and never got around to them because I didn't have the money to buy them or it would take months and months for my library to get their own copies and then the wait list for those would last another few months. But this time I have utilized my netgalley and the proofs that I have with dates for the remainder of the year will go on this list.