Hey guys, this is Abi here,
And I'm back with my October Wrap Up!
I read a fair few books, which I'm pretty happy with, considering one of them took me a while to get into.
Anyway, with further ado, I hope you enjoy, and as always, feel free to comment what you read, or got up to, in the spookiest month of the year!
1. Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens
My achievement of the year! I got this for my birthday/ Christmas last year, and when it got to August, I decided it was crunch time. The target was the end of the year.
Knowing how difficult the language was going to be, I decided not to shy away from it, and picked it up almost immediately. And let me tell you, I'm so glad my friend decided on this, and not
Les Mis, because I reckon if he had, I'd still be reading it now.
The language was challenging to say the least. I had to re-read a fair bit of this to make sure I was still following what was going on. Charles Dickens is definitely a bit of a 'waffler', it took a while for me to see the point of where he was going with a story. But nevertheless, I enjoyed the story, the characters were excellent, the pacing was fantastic, there were points in the story that I didn't want to put the book down, so I could find out what was going to happen next, and I'm eager to start another Charles Dickens book soon (when I've read some of my other unread books, of course).
I will definitely be watching the 2010 BBC TV show of Great Expectations this winter.
2. Skyward, Vol.1: My Low- G Life (Skyward #1), by Joe Henderson
3. Skyward, Vol. 2: Here There Be Dragonflies (Skyward #2), by Joe Henderson
4. Skyward, Vol. 3: Fix the World (Skyward #3), by Joe Henderson
I bought these with me for the flight to Dubrovnik because, being graphic novels, I knew they would be a fast-paced read. That was almost exactly what they were. Simple premise, protagonist is Willa, a girl born just before everything (literally) went up in the air. Grown up, she's looking for an adventure, a reason to leave, to explore what else the world has to offer. Except maybe not her Dad's grandmaster plan to bring back gravity, that could potentially get her killed. But here she is, smack bang in the middle of it.
A fast-paced, fun graphic novel series is what I wanted, and that's exactly what I got. Another series conquered for the year.
5. The Porpoise, by Mark Haddon
The Porpoise. A book I never would have ever considered, had it not been for The Mysterious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. Not wanting a huge marathon of a book for my holiday in Dubrovnik, I hesitantly chose it, after being gripped by the first chapter that sets up the story.
After Angelica is the sole survivor of a horrible plane crash, she is kept in almost perfect isolation by her father Phillipe, and can do nothing to stop his abusive behavious and troubling obsession with her. Desperate for any kind of escape, she turns to literature for comfort, to resilient strangers embarking on wild escapades, and living to tell the tale. Sometimes she forgets where she ends and the stories begin.
After a very gripping and fast-paced first chapter, we're fast forwarded a couple of years to when Angelica is a few years old. We see her grow up, form almost unnatural habits with regards to her over-protective father. We read from the time that Angelica is a few years old, until she reaches maturity and the abuse gets worse. A visitor arrives, about some paintings, which his recently deceased father was in business with Phillipe for. After he guesses at what's going on, tries to get Angelica away, and barely escapes with his life, we reach the beginning of the story. Stony resillence from Angelica from now until the end of the book means that the rest of the story is mostly the stories she is reading, to keep from dissolving into a complete breakdown, when fighting against her father inwardly.
I have to admit, after we switching to the novels we were picking up, I didn't have the faintest clue what was going on. It was a good 40 pages until I twigged, and it was such a struggle to get to three digits. Once I did though, once the story had moved on some, it was like there was a switch flicked. And suddenly I couldn't put the book down. I struggled through 50 pages in an afternoon, and then suddenly it was 75 pages in a couple of hours, travelling on the bus, mostly.
The Porpoise is a beautifully-written book about how stories can give you hope and bravery in the face of danger, and keep your head above water. It reads completely differently to The Mysterious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, and it was a pleasure to read it.
6. A Heart Full of Hatred (Skulduggery Pleasant #17), by Derek Landy
A solid four star. Not my favourite in the Skulduggery Pleasant series, but then a 4 star for Skulduggery Pleasant is going to be better than any other normal four star anyway.
Obviously, this is book 17 in the series, so I can't say much, because spoilers.
I'm both ready for this series to be at an end and also not, because I've been reading this series for 16 years. The last book is out in March and I'll be doing an epic SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT SERIES SENDOFF around then, I've already decided.
Please, let this be the last one. I don't want any more characters dying.
Okay! Those are all the books I read in October! As I mentioned up top, let me know in the comments what you all read in October, or even if you watched/ saw something new. Just write about it in the comments!
That's all I have for you all today, so I hope you have a lovely day and I'll see you all soon!
Byeeeeeee!
-Abi xxxxxxx
