Second Sundays - August 2023

Happy Second Sunday!

The second half of this year is shaping up to be a pretty packed one for the TBR, and last month was no exception. I read 7 books in July (and bleeding into the first week of this month), and although 5 of them were middle-grade books from the same series, that's still a lot of reading even for me. So let's get to some reviews so you can see if any of these books might be for you!

JULY READS AND REVIEWS

The original Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan is a five-book middle-grade series. For those not familiar, "middle-grade" means the books are technically written for kids around 10-13 years old, though like the Harry Potter books, the characters age with each book, so the themes also get increasingly "older" and appeal to readers of all ages, really. The series follows 12-year-old demigod (meaning half-human, half-god) Percy Jackson on his quest to prevent a civil war between the Greek gods and an ultimate war between the gods and the Titans.

This was my third read of the series and, in brief, I love these books. They're a lighthearted modern twist on Greek mythology with plenty of humor and fast-paced action interwoven with lots of serious themes such as complex family dynamics, mental health issues, bullying, and discrimination in many forms. There will be a TV series coming out on Disney + early next year 😍, so if you were a kid (or are an adult!) who loved Greek mythology and feel-good popcorn stories, Percy Jackson could be just right for your next read. I honestly can't recommend them enough, and if you end up liking these, there's a whole other set of Percy Jackson stories in The Heroes of Olympus. Also, if you like Egyptian or Norse mythology, there are The Kane Chronicles and Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard.

Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE Shark Week, and this year I added to the celebration with two books. The first was Shark by Paul de Gelder, who is a shark attack survivor and a long-time presence on Shark Week. While perhaps not the most engrossing of reads, Shark is an easily digestible book of shark facts that oozes with de Gelder's passion and provides real-world, actionable steps for conservation. It's a great book for what it is, and it's short - a good format outside of TV to learn more about sharks and their importance for not only our oceans but human survival in a streamlined way. Just know that this is definitively a non-fiction, sciency-type book.

My second Shark Week read was the classic Jaws by Peter Benchley. I've been a longtime fan of the movie and always wanted to read the book, but I gotta say, I was disappointed. The book wasn't as engaging as the film, and not because it was on the page instead of on-screen. The characters were less developed and not nearly as sympathetic. I didn't enjoy being in the main character's head, and all of the side characters honestly felt like throwaways. There was far less interaction with the dreaded shark, which made the climax of the book feel lackluster, though I have to say there were some paragraphs here and there where we were in the shark's point of view which was a welcome addition, though I wish there had been more of them and that the switch to this point of view was more seamless and intentional than feeling like a random insert. There was also some sexual, relationship, and mob subplot fluff that was cut from the film, and I can see why. Essentially, the film was better, but I'm glad I can say I did read the book if for no other reason than understanding the original content and making me appreciate the film even more.

AUGUST TBR

This month I'll be continuing with my Percy Jackson sojourn by rereading The Heroes of Olympus in which Percy loses his memory and finds himself in a camp full of Roman demigods.

But because I can't stand to put it off any longer, I'll be starting the month with Brandon Sanderson's second Secret Project book, The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England. I just started reading Brando-Sando's books this year, and I am definitely kicking myself for waiting so long because I've loved the two I've read so far. This book sounds like it's another lighthearted, fun, quirky adventure about a time-traveling wizard who loses his memory and gets stuck in medieval England.

If I can squeeze it in, I might also read The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean, though I may put this one off until spooky/holiday season after my Percy Jackson binge. It's about a group of people who eat books to survive, but then one day a child is born with a hunger for human minds instead of books.

AUGUST NEW RELEASES I'M EXCITED FOR

Okay first, how beautiful is this cover art?! He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan is the sequel to She Who Became the Sun, which I read last month and thoroughly enjoyed. I'm anxious to see how the story unfolds to its conclusion. It sounds like it's going to be another brutal, tearful, epic read, and I'm here for it.

I've been wanting to read this book since it came out, but I kept putting it off, and now it'll be coming out in paperback this month. It's an alternative history, dark academia fantasy novel that explores British colonization through the lenses of language, translation, and magic. A lot of praise has been sung about this book, and I very much want to know what the hype is all about.

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher is a fairytale retelling that combines elements from Sleeping Beauty with more traditional fairy lore elements and it's told from the point of view of a child who was stolen and raised by fairies who wants to thwart the knight who's trying to break the curse. I'm a fan of fairy tale retellings, especially ones that seem to go back to darker Grimm roots, so this is a must-add to my tbr.