July 2017 Wrap-Up & Favorites

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Hello fellow readers! I can't believe July has ended, which means we're past mid-year and getting closer to the end of 2017. I read a satisfying amount of books, thanks to Booktubeathon 2017. I also watched some movies, most are adaptations of books, such as Room and Before I Fall. One Marvel Cinematic Universe movie also came out in July. It was a good month. I know it's Summer in most part of the world, but in my country, the rainy season is starting. Perfect time to snuggle and read (unless you're working). Anyway, enough rambling, here are the books I read in July.

Books read in July

	Room - Emma Donoghue (★★★★)
	Room was on my TBR for quite some time. When they adapted this book into a movie, I made it my goal to finally read it. This book is told from the perspective of a five-year-old. It was challenging to read at first, but once I passed that, I enjoyed it. Some part is horrifying, some is touching and beautiful. I've already written a full review for this book which will be up early August.
	Penance – Kanae Minato (★★★★)
	I picked this book on a whim. I didn't plan to read this one in July. Not until I read her debut novel, Confession. I watched the movie adaptation of Confession and love it so I want to give this author a try. I had a chance to read this book first and I was excited. It's basically about a murder which happened 15 years before the event in this book. The victim is a girl named Emily. She's found dead after being sexually assaulted and strangled in a changing room at school. There are four witnesses but none of them could remember the murderer's face. So the mother of the victim threatened the girls to either find the murderer or do an act of penance. The book itself is told from the perspective of the girls, fifteen years after the murder when the statute limitation of the case is almost up. This book is gruesome, it's twisted, and I love it. If you love psychological thriller, I recommend this book. If you want to know more about my thoughts on this book, I've also written a full review.
	The Great Zoo of China - Matthew Reilly (★★★★)
	The Great Zoo of China is not the kind of book that I usually read. Sure, it's a thriller. But it's more of an adventure thriller. The simplest premise of this book would be it's like Jurassic Park, but instead of dinosaurs they have dragons! Exciting, am I right? But don't compare this book to Jurassic Park though, because it's different in a way. I enjoyed reading it, I even get attached to one of the dragons. It's a roller-coaster ride. Anyway, a full review of this book will be up in August.
	A Slip under the Microscope - H.G. Wells (★★★)
	This book is one of the book from Penguin Little Black Classic collection. I read it for Booktubeathon 2017. I picked this book to complete the read-a-book-in-one-day challenge. It only has 55 pages. It actually consists of two short stories, the Door in the Wall and a Slip under the Microscope. H.G. Wells is an author known for his works in science fiction. In spite of that, the short stories contained in this book are not sci-fi. They are more of a look in human psychology. The Door in the Wall tells a tale of a man who once discovered a utopia behind a secret door when he's a child. But he couldn't go there whenever he liked because the door only appeared when he's on the verge of some important events in his life. These important events can be nerve-wracking and the door seemed like appear to give a choice to the man whether he wanted to take those opportunities or not. The ending of the story is ambiguous and makes us question the man's whole story. While the title story is about a student who's obsessed with being the best student in school. He wanted to beat his rival in school and gain the attention of a girl. Later, he faced a moral dilemma when he accidentally cheated on an exam. This story more of an observation of human competitiveness and moral conundrum. Even though these two stories are not the best stories ever written, I still think they are fascinating. Still, I'm intrigued to read H.G. Wells's other works especially the sci-fi ones.
	A Cup of Sake Beneath the Cherry Tree - Yoshida Kenko (★★★)
	This one is also from Penguin Little Black Classic collection. Again, read it for Booktubeathon 2017. I picked this book to complete the read-a-book-completely-outdoor challenge. Based on the title, I think this book fits the challenge. This book is basically about a monk reminiscing some moments in life, whether it's a happy one or a mundane one. It's written in vignettes which makes it fast and easy to read. But you don't want to read it fast because of the nostalgic tone this book has, you want to savor each moment. It may contradict with what a book chosen for a readathon supposed to be. Still, it's a short book. It's only 51 pages so it didn't take me long to finish it even if I read it slowly. I believe some content in this book has to do with Buddha teaching. It's a nice read. I would love to reread it again someday.

Review Posts in July
A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini

July Favorites

Books

Penance

The Great Zoo of China

Movies

Spider-Man: Homecoming

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I'm a fan of Marvel's movies. I've been following every single MCU movie since Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk. So it's no surprise that I watched Spider-Man: Homecoming the first chance I got. Although I feel like this movie could be better than it is, I still think it's a fun movie to watch. I think that the movie is the way it is some part because it has to fit into the MCU continuity. So as one of MCU movies, I like it a lot. But as a standalone movie, I think it could be better. I don't know, maybe because I'm a bit biased. I prefer Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man to Tom Holland's. It could be because of the generational thing. Tom Holland's is the updated Spider-Man millennial version. I don't identify myself as millennial so I feel like I could relate to Garfield's Spider-Man more. I don't know. It's still a fun movie though, I mean, I put it on July's favorite.

Music

July playlist is so random. It's a mix of new releases and old songs and Spider-Man soundtrack. I didn't have any particular mood when choosing songs to listen to in July. Probably because I mostly listened to podcasts. Nothing new, just the same podcasts I mentioned before in this blog. I was trying to catch up with the episodes of those podcasts.

Booktubeathon 2017

Yes! I participated in Booktubeathon 2017! Booktubeathon is a week-long readathon hosted by Ariel Bissett. The readathon started on YouTube, but it keeps getting bigger from year to year. Now, the readathon includes not only booktube community but also blogger and bookstagram. It has sponsors too and many giveaways. It's exciting! I used to participate only to end up failing because I'm not good with a week-long readathon. I couldn't spend time a day to read consistently for a week. Honestly, I was pessimist at first because I have a full time job now and I work from nine to five from Monday to Friday. Even on Saturday I have to work half a day. But you know what? I made it my mission to read consistently throughout the week. Although I didn't complete all the reading challenges, I still manage to read four books. Four books in a week! I posted updates of my readathon progress on my Instagram if you want to check it out.

So there you have it. Booktubeathon is the highlight of the month. I'm glad I participated in the readathon. What about you? Did you participate in booktubeathon? I hope y'all have a good month ahead.