Tags
book review, Books, Brandon Sanderson, fantasy, read your bookshelf challenge, reading, Reading Challenge
I started my summer break from homeschooling this week, so I thought I would take this opportunity to catch up on more blog posts. I also hope to get more reading done. For March, we had to read books with two (Montgomery) or more (Doyle) points of view. This made it very easy for people to participate in the challenge.
For Montgomery, I read Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson. I may eventually make my way through the 2023 secret projects, but I do not feel the need to prioritize them. This book follows Yumi and Painter: “Yumi comes from a land of gardens, meditation, and spirits, while Painter lives in a world of darkness, technology, and nightmares. When their lives suddenly become intertwined in strange ways, can they put aside their differences and work together to uncover the mysteries of their situation and save each other’s communities from certain disaster?” (summary taken from Goodreads)
While this was one of Sanderson’s favorite books to write, it was not my favorite of his to read. Some of the content made me feel awkward. I did not really care for either of the characters. However, I did enjoy the worldbuilding, which Sanderson does best. I counted this book as two points of view because it mostly follows Yumi and Painter as told by Hoid. I cannot remember if I gave this book 3.5 or 4 out of 5 stars.
For Doyle, I read Freckles by Gene Stratton-Porter. This book takes place in the Limberlost swamp/forest, which is located about two hours from where I live. I signed up for a homeschool field trip to this location with my children at the beginning of May. This story follows Freckles as he becomes guardian of the Limberlost. He patrols the boarder of the forest to keep an eye out for timber thieves.
During his daily walks, Freckles comes to learn about and appreciate nature. He makes friends with other nature-lovers. I really enjoyed this book. The descriptions of the way the forest changed with the seasons were wonderful. My family got to see the house which inspired the one where the Bird Woman lived and the restored Loblolly Marsh. We even got to see a taxidermized version of a grown up Little Chicken. I ended up giving this book 5/5 stars and plan on reading A Girl of the Limberlost soon to continue my appreciation of this historical site in my home state.
Other books people in my book club read for this month included:
- Fathom by Cherie Priest
- Defiant by Brandon Sanderson
- The Passengers by John Marrs