August Book Haul #6

August has been a pretty good reading month. I got a chance to read fantasy, young adult and classics. here they are:

First, I finished reading The Archived by Victoria Schwab, an amazing fantasy, YA novel. I received this book in the Genre Swap Project, which was started by 2 booktubers: Jesse from jessethereader and Andrew from HeavyShelves. They paired 2 readers that read 2 different genres: YA and Classics, and each had to send the other a book from their mainly read genre, as an effort to expand your literature experiences. I received this book from LittleBookOwl. The Archived is basically a library filled with the histories of the dead. Sometimes the histories escape and the Keepers have to return them. They follow the histories through the Narrows. The older the History the more violent they are. The older ones are called Keeper Killers. Our protagonist is Mackenzie Bishop, who was thought everything by her grandfather, Da, and became a keeper at an early age. After her brothers death, her family moves into an hotel turned into an apartment building, The Colorado, where a mysterious murder happens - but the traces (the memories) are erased. And she is left to solve this case with a help of her new friend. Even though it is a part of a series, this could very well be a standalone book. If you see it in the bookstore please give it a chance, because it is a great story!

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey is the best book I've read this year! If I could i would gift this treasure to anyone I know. The story takes place in 1920's Alaska. After the death of their baby, Mabel and Jack decide to move to this new place and create a new life for themselves. Jack takes care of their land, plants potatoes and other vegetables, while Mabel takes care of their house and bakes cookies for sale. They make new friends, a family with 3 boys, that help them when Jack falls ill, breaking his leg. One day, when it was snowing, they make a snowman, they put red mittens and a red scarf on it. But the next day, the snowman is destroyed and the red mittens and scarf are gone. After this, a little girl starts lurking around with their clothes. Her name was Faina, and she will soon be treated as their daughter. I don't want to give too much of it away, but it is one of those books that will make you feel that there is good in this world, it will make you feel nourished and blessed. i find it to be a perfect gift for Christmas or for hot summer days.

After watching the movie, I really wanted to read The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I find it to be a perfect book for teenagers, because it can help you see that there is nothing wrong if you are different, you are at an age where you discover so many things about yourself and that it's important to live life and to participate. Charlie is a wallflower, he observes and understands. With the help of his new friends: Patrick, Sam, Mary Elizabeth, Alice, he learns to be part of a team, to fight for his friends, how to act around girls. His English teacher gives him books to read, from which, without him knowing, he learns the true values of life. What I liked about the book more than the movie was the ending, because you could fully understand what happened to him and what his aunt, that he loved so much, did to him. Charlie is a complex character, with many layers. And he is a character that we all should meet and learn from. 

Lastly, I had the chance to read a classic novel this month! i enjoy reading classics but they tend to be a little depressing, and the Russian ones are complex, this one in particular was a bit freaky. I've read The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. It is a mix of genres, including: fantastic, farce, satiric, romance and mysticism. If you are new to classics do not start with this one. I was really confused for the first houndret-something pages, that's until I realised who the Magician actually was. Basically, we have 2 settings: 1930's Moscow and Jerusalem of Pontius Pilate. The novel is divided in 2 parts. in the begining we have 2 writers that try to convince the magician that God does not exist. The Magician has prophetic powers, and tells one writer how he is going to die, which happens a few pages later. The other writer tries to capture the prophet, without any luck, and ends up in a sanatorium. There he meet the Master, a writer who wrote a novel abot Pontius Pilate and the trial of Jesus. But because it was not well received he burnt it and became depressed. The only one that had faith in him was Margarita. But he left her before he could ruin her as well. In part 2, Margarita is found by the Magician's servant and is invited to his midnight ball. So she becomes a which and learns how to fly. After the ball the Magician (Satan) grants her deepest wish: to liberate the Master and live with him and love him. In the end Master and Margarita drink Pilate's poisoned wine and are taken by Satan and his servants to live in peace in Purgatory. It is an interesting and complex novel.

This is my August wrap-up! I hope you enjoyed it and maybe you will give one of this books a chance.

Keep reading!