The Month in Books: May

It's June! The sun is here....for now, and it's time for my May wrap up! 

I've been having huge problems reading lately, I thought I was over it when I read A Court of Mist and Fury but then once I finished that I went in to a hardcore book hangover and it took me like 3 days or something to start reading the next book and then I only managed a couple chapters before  spending a couple of days not reading! I am actually still finishing up Half Blood Prince, I just feel like I'm procrastinating from reading all the time and doing other things and it's taking me ages to read anything, I'm not sure it's a slump exactly but it's definitely a pain in the ass. 

SO, this isn't as huge as it usually is, I've read less this month than usual for the first time ever! 

There's also a couple missing because I didn't feel like scaling my shelves! I also totally forgot about the manga I read, honestly my brain is all over the place right now and I keep forgetting things left right and centre! 

So, in addition to this I read Volumes 7, 8 and 9 of Fairy Tail and Volume 15 of Blue Exorcist, Volume 7 of Seven Deadly Sins and Volume 4 of Twin Star Exorcists, meaning I'm all up to date with BE and TSE! I also read Star Wars: Bloodline which was freaking amazing, and Unrivalled which is going to be perfect for PLL fans! 

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

I picked a tiny classic because the plan was to get through all the review books this month and I completely failed and didn't actually get to read all my May TBR and June isn't looking so good so far! ANYWAY, I was iffy on this at first because of all the slang but once I got in to it I ended up quite enjoying it! 

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J. K Rowling

Okay so this is like my second favourite Harry Potter book which is why it makes no sense at all that I'm struggling to read it, before I took this photo I'd actually read most of it in one go because I finally was in a reading mood so I thought I'd finish it before June but nope. 

Kill The Boyband by Goldy Moldavsky 

This book is freaking hilarious, it's dark and you feel like you shouldn't be laughing but you just can't help it because it's funny but also a bit silly and a bit unbelievable. There's also the relate-ability factor. Let's face it, we've all been a fangirl of something at some point in life, and this will make you cringe a little bit as you remember your past fangirl exploits! 

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas

No word of a lie, this is Maas's best book yet and I was hungover from it for like 3 or 4 days. I could not stop thinking about this book after I'd finished reading it and I still can't! I have the urge to just re-read it but I'm not allowed for at least a couple of months! I had to do a spoiler section on my review because I couldn't contain myself, I just loved this book so much, it's my favourite of the year so far! I love Rhysand and I was iffy about Tamlin after the ending of ACOTAR and I just LOVE everything about this book! 

The Veil by Chloe Neill

A fantastically original paranormal/supernatural adventure! I loved the different aspects to this, there's all the paranormal elements and then there's the whole "oh we had a war with all kinds of paranormal creatures and now there's a huge ass prison in the middle of New Orleans for all of them and anyone with any tiny drop of magic" thing. Yeah. The romance is nice and slow building so I'm expecting to dig in for the long haul with this series! 

Tales From The Kingdoms by Sarah Pinborough

This collects together Charm, Poison and Beauty and I've heard people raving and raving about them so I was stoked to review the bind up of all three! These blew me away, they where not at all what I was expecting but they where dark and funny and surprisingly steamy! I loved all the original quirks to the original stories and I loved being surprised at every turn! 

Lois Lane: Double Down by Gwenda Bond

I completely loved the first book when I reviewed it not too long ago and I was eager for more, and I read this in one sitting, much like I did the first book! It expands the world of Metropolis, and digs deeper in to certain characters, as well as setting up Lois's dad for his future role in things, and there's plenty of references to the comics and other shows that will please all fans I think! 

The Inquisition by Taran Matharu

I won a proof of the first book last year and I loved it so much that I had to review it and I've been eagerly awaiting this sequel! This is legit the perfect sequel, I can't find anything wrong with it! Other than the cliffhanger because OUCH. Way to make a wait even worse AND THAT GOES FOR YOU TOO MAAS, ACTUALLY! I mean seriously, it's a year wait and it's bad enough as it is without constantly dwelling on the state all the characters are left in! ANYWAY, if you haven't picked up these books yet get on it because they are so original and so much fun and so freaking brilliant! Fab world building, brilliant characters and so much imagination! 

BOOM! Another month down! I'm hoping to be waaaaay better this month and actually get everything on my TBR read and everything left over from May's TBR read...hopefully. What did you guys read in May? You all did better than me right?!

2016 Classics Challenge: May

Hey guys, 
Back again with another classic! I know you're probably disappointed this isn't a video rather than a blog post...again! I did film a haul video to be fair but I hated how it turned out because I was out of practice! I'd love to say that I'll film this week but I will be filming for work not for YouTube, sorry! So like I keep promising, I AM going to go back to YouTube, I have some ideas and stuff for videos too, I'm gonna be getting rid of Wrap Up videos because I have no fun filming them at all, and I just repeat myself from TBR videos! I'm thinking I'm gonna focus more on some rec videos, because I have an idea for a series of them that I think you'll like and I'm hoping no-ones done it before! Anywaaaaay, on with the post and talk about the Classic...like I'm supposed to be doing! 

I'm still trying to decide what kind of rating I'd give this, I'm differing between whether I'd give it a three or a four. I wouldn't say it's my favourite one yet, but it's not bottom of the pile either! I think I struggled with reading this because of the language but then it works so well for the book at the same time! 

A Clockwork Orange is all about fifteen year old Alex, who's leader of his little gang and he and said gang go on a little crime spree, but when his gang turn on him, Alex winds up incarcerated in prison. It's as he's in prison that he's offered the chance to reform, by trying out a new programme. Which sounded great to him, undergo two weeks on said programme then he's out in the world, free. But the programme isn't what he was expecting. When he's finally let out, he has no choice in his actions he has to do the right thing for society. 

When I Discovered This Classic

God, I say this every single time and I'm beginning to hate myself for it, but I have no idea when I discovered it! I'm fairly certain someone mentioned it or it was mentioned in a film or a tv show or another book. But I have no idea when that was. Sorry guys! Edit: As I've been writing this I've been having a think about how I'd recommend it to and so on, and as I was writing about free will and how it's done in this book....BOOM. I'm 75% sure I discovered this properly when my Philosophy and Ethics teacher mentioned it one lesson, and I then went to look for it on GoodReads! 

Why I Chose To Read It 

Because it's one of those classics that everyone raves about says that you should read at some point in your life. Honestly that is one of the main reasons, but why I chose to read it this month rather than any other month? Because along with it being raved about and so on, it's also only 140 pages and I've read either chunky classics or classics that are a bit hard to read and I wanted to pick a short one because I'm lazy and felt like a break of sorts! 

What Makes It A Classic

I think the language. There's this entire different language in this book, the slang of the teenagers in the book and the entire book is written using it. It made it hard to read, because I was trying to work out what each word meant and remember what each one meant. But it also worked for the book, because it pulled you in to it and like has been said, it's an experiment in language and it works. I also think it's how this book explores free will. We see Alex using his free will and then having it taken from him and all the debate that comes with it. 

What I Thought Of This Classic

I thought it was incredibly well written, like I keep saying, it was hard to read at some points and understand what the narrator was talking about, but once you get used to it and the language used you get in to the flow of things. I think if I re-read it I'd find it easier than this first time round! I quickly cottoned on to some of the Russian or cockney inspired words, that being said! But the slang fit with the book, Alex uses it all the time, it's what he narrates in. Once I got used to the language, I actually quite liked the idea of some of the words, I enjoyed trying to work out the origins of the words, like I said some where clearly Russian or Cockney inspired, but not all. It helped that the author consistently used all of these slang words, otherwise I'd have been lost! 

I liked the bit at the end when he was still using all the same language and slang but his friend from before wasn't and you kind of got hit with just how...I don't know, I kind of want to say young or something. He's however old at the end of the book, he's been in prison before, and he's still using this same language, like he's holding on to it and can't let it go almost. Then the contrast between Alex and his friend, and Alex saying 'Youth must go" and wanting to grow up and get married and have a child, it was almost like he'd been in this little bubble and the language was a part of it. The fact he then uses his free will, which has been returned to him, to decide to grow up, to decide to want bigger and better things rounds it out nicely. That he wants to do it, and doesn't want it because he's been conditioned to. This probably makes no sense, it's hard for me to explain what I mean! 

BUT. Yes there's a but. While I liked that, it also wasn't very believable.  I though it was a bit odd that someone who I would describe as a sociopath, suddenly decides upon seeing this friend that he thinks babies are cute and he wants to have one, while it was nice, I'm not sure how believable it was. I believed his little mate Dim could be made in to a police officer, a corrupt and nasty one that is. I had been wondering what had happened to his other friend but while I liked the contrasts and that we see Alex using his free will to decide to become a family man and stop with all the violence and crime and stuff, it also seemed a bit random that someone who the state had failed to reform, and had even reverted back to his old self...would get bored and decide to throw the towel in. I actually have realised that my edition had the "missing" chapter included as a regular chapter, and upon looking back at where the book ended when originally published...I do think that would have been a better ending. 

I thought it was interesting how all the violence and crime was written, he says "oh we did this and that" the same way you might be like "Oh yeah we went to the cinema and then went for lunch" or something. Casually. He's a complete sociopath and you can see it from how he refers to all the heinous things he did. He doesn't seem the least bit bothered with a conscience. The fact that all these scenes of violence are written with excitement and a sense of casualness, makes them seem even more horrifying, and clues you in to how badly messed up Alex is. It stops it all from seeming glorified. 

The interesting thing about Alex, is that while he could be described as a thug or a hooligan, he's a very cultured one. He may be younger than his droogs but he's almost a step above them. He likes classical music, I actually laughed a little bit when he got so incensed about having one of his favourite songs ruined for him, because of all the things you'd think this guy would get angry at, music wasn't it! The author describes the music and how Alex hears it in a very interesting and lyrical way. Alex himself has an interesting way of speech, Alex has a taste for arts, and as I was reading certain passages,  I couldn't help but think he tended towards a dramatic and flamboyant way of speech at times. As well as thinking he was reliving his heyday or something. It made the book even more interesting to read, and Alex was interesting to read about because he comes across as quite cultured, and yet he can murder someone without blinking. 

Despite what some people may think, this book isn't all doom and gloom and violence, as I've said, the passages about music are beautiful to read, and Alex's speech can be too sometimes when he's feeling flamboyant. It's also fascinating to think about the debate in the book. Reforming someone...but taking away their free will to do it. So they have no choice but to act in the best interests of society. Is it too high a cost? Is it moral? Alex's treatment is referred to in a couple of different ways in the book, hypnotism and conditioning, and my brain came up with a few different words as I was trying to find the word I was thinking about (It was conditioning), torture and brainwashing being a couple and none of them have nice connotations to them really. Yes he's a criminal but still....is it fair? Very interesting to debate about, I would imagine. 

Will It Stay A Classic

I believe this book has a reputation for being ridiculously violent and because it has a reputation with a negative connotation to it, people are always going to be curious to read it, to see what all the fuss is about. As well as the fact that it's referred to as one of those books you have to read. I also think the language is a draw, people would be curious to see what everyone means when they talk about the language of the book, and what all these strange words are! 

Who I'd Recommend It To

Hmmm this is tricky. When I did Philosophy and Ethics for my A-Levels, there was a lot of discussion about free will, so I think it might be of interest to people studying the same thing, not to mention people studying English Language if they haven't done it already! I do agree with everyones assessment that everyone should read it at some point, so perhaps teenagers in GCSE year? People who like a good debate and like to ponder on philosophy would also enjoy reading this and thinking about it and discussing it with others. Oh and people who like the grittier books. I kinda wanna say something stupid like it's kind of like Dexter but with less murder and more philosophy. I think that's about it! 

My Editions

I actually only have the one, but it's one I specifically chose! Penguin have some really brilliant covers for their classics, and that's not just their clothbounds and English Library Editions! They have their Deluxe Editions and then their essential editions and that's the edition of this that I have. The Penguin Essentials edition! For some reason I can't stand the classics with the plain covers, I like the interesting covers! 

May TBR

Hey guys! 

It's TBR time again! I've decided this month that I'm going to get aaalll of my review books for the rest of the year done and schedule the reviews for the appropriate times, which is something I should have done ages ago instead of leaving them! Then I'm going to try and blitz my TBR shelves! I'm determined to clear them out this year, but we'll see how well that goes! I've got a lot of reviews coming up next week so there might not be time for a TBR Bites post, just pre-warning you!  

I'm sneakily doing a thin/short classic for this month, because I've done fairly long ones and I kinda fancy an easy-isn one, shhhh! So, yeah, I've got a classic, a Harry Potter and a book that I've been desperate to get to for ages so I've promised myself I'll get to it next after review books! The review books pictured are only a couple, because ya know...the post is slow and I'd already taken the photo when the others arrived!

A Clockwork Orange

Yep, it's my new fancy edition that I picked up from the charity shop the other day! I've been meaning to read this for ages, and it's really nice and thin so it's perfect for this months classic! Our main character is jailed for various crimes and they're trying to reform him, from what I know! 

The Power of Dark

Review book number one for the month! I've actually been itching to get to this and it came with a really cool newspaper page and a map! It's a fantasy, my favourite genre, and it's the first in a brand new series! It's being described as a mix of magic and horror and is set in the town of Whitby. Something's brewing, and BFF's Lil and Verne think it's just a regular storm but Cherry, the last of the Whitby Witches, knows better. She fears ancient forces are at work reviving the curse of a long lost magical artefact. 

And I Darken

Here we have one of my most anticipated releases, and opening this was like opening the Holy Grail! Lada and her brother where abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman sultans courts. Ruthlessness is the key to survival, especially when Lada and her brother's lineage makes them targets as well as special. Lada hones her skills as a warrior, ready for the day she can wreak revenge on the empire holding her captive. But the bonds of love and loyalty Lada and her brother share are about to be stretched to the limit as the sultan's son stands between them and they turn in to rivals. Lada is the anti-princess we've all been waiting to meet and according to Harriet the lovely publicist it's a "bloody and brutal epic feminist debut!"

Kill The Boy Band

This is being described as a "pitch black, hilarious take on modern fandom and the badass girls who have the power to make or break the people we cal 'celebrities'", I love the idea of this, the cover has "we loved them to death" all over it and while the synopsis is a little sketchy, all about fangirls getting a bad rep and the narrator about to tell us something crazy, I'm expecting good things from this! 

The Half-Blood Prince

I'm actually really sad that my Harry Potter re-read is coming to an end, I'm hitting book 6 this month as you can see, and then next month...it's going to be the final book! I'm also mind blown that Order of the Phoenix is the biggest book and Deathly Hallows isn't! Anyway, Half-Blood Prince is my second favourite HP book, mostly because Draco is my fave! I'm excited to see all the little things I've forgotten from when I last read this! 

A Gathering of Shadows

Yep. I still haven't read this yet! I pre-ordered it because I loved the first book so much, and I was so excited when it arrived and then I had review books to get done and then ya know...I still haven't read it, so I was hoping to read it before April ended, but I didn't have the time and so I promised myself I could read it first thing after everything else! So excited to get stuck in to it! 

So that's my May TBR, excluding whichever books from my over flowing TBR shelves that I decide to read, I'll be picking them depending on my mood! 

What's on your TBR for May? What Classic are you reading this month? Let me know down below!