August's Monthly Recap

Inspired by Faye of A Daydreamer's Thoughts's Weekly Recap, here is a recap of my posts over the last week, and anything else I found interesting.


Reviews:

• Amy I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne - Oh my god, this book was SO good! Incredible story about mental health and feminism. I will be recommending this to everyone! It's amazing!
• Asking For It by Louise O'Neill - I can't even begin to tell you just how bowled over I am by O'Neill and her writing. This lady is so unbelievably talented, and she is tackling such important topics in such a brilliant way. Asking For It is even better than Only Ever Yours. I will be raving about this book for a long time to come.
• What Was Never Said by Emma Craigie - A really brilliant story looking at female genital mutilation. A really powerful book.
• Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson - This didn't really work for me, sadly, but I think it would be a great introduction to the topic of rape for younger teens.
• How the Library (Not the Prince) Saved Rapunzel by Wendy Meddour & Rebecca Ashdown - a wonderful feminist picture book the promote a good work ethic and the wonder of books. I had a few problems with it, but it's brilliant overall.
• Life on the Refrigerator Door by Alice Kuipers - A wonderful epistolary novel, a very quick and emotional read. So, so good.
• The Baby by Lisa Drakeford - I enjoyed this a whole lot more than I thought I would, but it has an awful ending. The story isn't finished, there's more to be told, but we don't get it. So disappointing. AND THEN JUST TODAY I discover there's going to be a sequel. So I'm now much happier.
• Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers - This is a brilliant book about bullying. I read it because it was recently banned, and it's incredible! I get angry when any book is banned, but this book is so important, it could be hurtful to be prevented from reading it, and that has me raging.

I've also been reading Fool's Quest by Robin Hobb, though I've not finished it yet, as it's a HUGE book, and I didn't want to drag it to work. Almost done, should hopefully finish it today. While I've been at work, I read All the Rage by Courtney Summers, which was AMAZING, the review of which will be posted in November as part of Sex in Teen Lit Month II.

Other posts:

• I took part in the cover reveals for both Dagger by Steven dos Santos and Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton, two brilliant sounding books! And, oooh, the cover for Rebel of the Sands is sooo pretty!
• I informed you all of my plans for new content for Once Upon a Bookcase, as I was inspired by Lucy of Queen of Contemporary.
• I wrote about the authors whose books I've read the most of for Top Ten Tuesday.
• I discussed inappropriate, offfensive language in books, and whether authors are contributing to the problem, or just being true to life.
• I posted about how Amber of The Mile Long Bookshelf, who suffers with anxiety and is unable to attend school/college, was trying to raise money to pay for tuition to attend an online school, Interhigh, where she can continue her A-levels. And she raised all the money she needs! Go Amber!
• I started a new blog feature, Fan Mail, in which I write letters to authors I admire, am inspired by, or are simply brilliant. The first one is to high fantasy author David Eddings, whose books are the reason I read.

Elsewhere online:

Inspired by Cait at Paperfury and the awesome links she shares.

• Holly Bourne wrote an article for The Guardian about Am I Normal Yet?, Why We Need to Be Honest About OCD and Teen Mental Health.
• Vlora of Reviews and Cake has a post up discussing gendered books.
• Jim of YA Yeah Yeah discusses Criticism, Reviews and Diversity, looking at negative reviews - they're helpful, but don't tweet them to the authors.
• There's a really interesting article from YA author Louise O'Neill over on The Pool discussing Sexism in the Publishing Industry. 
• The Book Riot shares 11 YA novels on intersectional feminism.
• I stopped by Holly Bourne's Tumblr to take part in the #100DaysofNormal YA Blogger Series to discuss feminism and mental health. 
• On Literary Traveller, check out Room 101, for Teenage Girls: A conversation with Only Ever Yours Author Louise O'Neill; it's a fantastic look at the book, and a brilliant interview. 

So how was your August? Are you looking forward to September? There are some really awesome books out this month! Though I'm not a big fan of Septermber, generally. It fills me with that awful, end-of-summer/back-to-school feeling, even though I don't go to school, and brings me down. My least favourite month of the year.