What I Read This Summer

Do I even have to apologize for disappearing anymore? It seems that at this point that you might as well just expect it, and be delightfully surprised when I decide to show back up on your feed. Anyway, unlike with my blog, I have been keeping up with my reading. This is pretty impressive for me considering I’ve been working 50 hours a week and pretty much have time for nothing. Those 50 hours of work however, are not without reward. I just moved in to a new, much nicer, much safer, apartment which I might post about later, once it looks like we actually live there. That’s not why we’re here today though. Today we are here to talk about books. I am sitting at 36 books for the year, so it looks like I will meet and hopefully surpass my yearly goal of 50 books. I’ve recently really been enjoying audio books, since one of my jobs is insanely boring, and I can get them free on an app from my library. Seriously, if you don’t use your local library you are missing out my friend. It’s a great place for poor girls like myself, and free to hang out in when you’re bored.. alright! I’ll get to the actual post now. I read 9 books this summer. Here they are ranked from the one I liked the least, to the one I liked the best.

9. Whoever Fights Monsters: My Twenty Years Tracking Serial Killers for the FBI by Robert K. Ressler: Coming in last place this summer is this non-fiction, true crime book by one of the guys that started the program featured in Netflix’s Mindhunter. (haven’t seen it? stop reading and go watch it, it’s way more entertaining than I am.) I found this book insanely interesting and I learned a lot but Ressler sounds kind of braggy when it comes to talking about crimes. Like the worse the criminal the more impressive it makes him look. It might just be because I listened to the audio book, but the whole thing comes off a little heartless. He also does not spare any details which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but it’s definitely not for the faint of heart.

8. Looker by Laura Sims: Looker was…interesting? It’s a novella so it’s really short and also a very creative idea but the whole thing just sort of fell flat for me. The ending just gave me a hollow feeling, like I had no idea why I had read so much just to reach that conclusion. Good but not a winner.

7. Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama: This manga is wholesome but it’s also the first volume so it’s just a lot of plot set up. Maybe it’s the american in me, but the fact that the whole story revolves around little girls living with an adult man that took them from their parents just gives me the creeps.

6. My Sweet Audrina by V.C. Andrews: This was my first V.C. Andrews book and I really loved the writing as well as the mystery. The only reason it’s in the middle of the list is because I needed a trigger warning for domestic violence. I think I might like her other books more, and I probably would have liked this one more if I was properly prepared for what I was going to read.

5. Sheets by Brenna Thummler: I picked this up in the kids section, I read it in an hour in the laundromat (how fitting), and I cried…a lot. Thummler does an incredible job of putting a very adult topic into simple and honest terms. I also loved the art and the colors which always puts a graphic novel towards the top of the list.

4. Paper Girls Vol. 5 by Brian K. Vaughan: The queer romance going on between Mac and K.J. made this volume for me. I love Paper Girls but I feel like every time a new volume comes out I need to reread the whole series otherwise I’m just confused.

3. The Satanic Bible by Anton Szandor LaVey: Top 3!!!!! The Satanic Bible is so entertaining. If you don’t know anything about Laveyan satanism, it’s a lot more of a joke than one would think. The whole book is a long iteration of the phrase “fuck everyone,” which is already my life philosophy so needless to say, I loved it.

2. The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule: A true crime classic, and for good reason. I had never read any Ann Rule books but after this one I will be reading many more! She has the perfect balance of informative and entertaining writing and I love how much concentration she puts on the victims. She makes them stick in your brain even more than the killer which I think is really important.

1.Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark: Of course it’s #1! It was everything I ever wanted. I feel like the reason this book is number one on this list is summed up perfectly in this picture my boyfriend took of me when the book was delivered. If you know how bad I am at expressing strong emotions then you’ll know this reaction is not common.

And those are the books I read this summer!! I have an office corner in the new apartment so I’m hoping that will encourage me to write regularly, plus we’re heading into spooky season which always brings solid content. I’m not making any promises though, like I said earlier, you should be used to it by now.

If you want to give me more writing time please go donate to my Patreon at patreon.com/averyjamcom !

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