As I mentioned in other post I’m currently catching up on all the post the should have gone up earlier this year. However, the past couple of months have just been very busy and not all that great either so I just didn’t want to work on this blog. These things in my personal life have also meant until recently that I wasn’t reading very much.
Sometimes, I also review video games, movies, and TV shows. Lately, I haven’t finished any video games and have only been watching ghost hunting shows and documentaries. Mostly things that I don’t have to think about much while watching.
In August I read three books, two coffee table type and one audio book.
The first book I read was Harry Potter: A Journey Through A History of Magic. This book gives information on the history of magic in our real world and things that inspired J K Rowling. It beautifully illustrated and includes some new and interesting information that I didn’t know. However, this book specifically feels more geared to younger readers and includes activities for kids.
The next was Harry Potter: A History of Magic which is almost the same book as A Journey Through A History of Magic. However, this one is written for a older audience as there is more general information. Its better organized with wonderful photos and artwork to add to the experience of the book. Both of these books are more coffee table books designed for their aesthetics more than the information contained within. However, they are wonderful books for any Harry Potter fan.
The last book I read in August was Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I read this as an audio book which is not my preferred format for reading but works very well with this story. Daisy Jones and The Six is setup in an oral history/interview style of writing and follows the story of the rise of the band The Six and their album with Daisy Jones. Beautifully written the story feels like a real band from the 70’s and all the things associated with being in a rock band. The interview style allows the reader to get both the general information and story as well as deep insight of each of the band members feelings and how everyone perceives events differently. Daisy Jones is both an amazing and tragic character and I loved her interactions with the rest of the characters especially Billy Dunne and Karen.
Artemis by Andy Weir is a science fiction novel where Jasmine (Jazz) lives on Artemis, Earth’s first and only lunar colony. When her get rich quick plan falls apart she learns how the colony is truly run and what she has to due to try to save her friends and family while also not getting crested. An interesting story on how a lunar colony would be run though not as funny as the Martian its entertaining.
The Nice and Accurate Good Omens TV Companion by Matt Whyman is a coffee table book about the Good Omens TV show created by Amazon. This book includes interviews with the cast and crew, pictures, and behind the scenes information about the series. I feel like the book helps show case how unique and special this TV show is and is something that anyone interested in the show should look into. 
Alien Echo by Mira Grant is a young adult book set in the Alien franchise and is cannon to the rest of the series. It follows the story of twin sisters, Olivia and Viola, on a new world where their parents work as xenobiolgists but when an Alien threat that no one has ever seen rips their world apart they must adapt to survive.
So I finally sat down and watched The Cloverfield Paradox which I liked the most out of the Cloverfield movies so far. The movie starts out with some info dumping about how Earth is running out of power sources and so the world has sent a team to a space station to work with a massive particle accelerator to attempt to find a new power source. When the experiment works all hell breaks loose on the space station has they ended up breaking the fabric of reality. Though it is a science fiction movie I would classify it more as a body horror such as Alien or the Thing than just straight sci-fi. 
Rolling in the Deep by Mira Grant is a novella about a research vessel going to the Mariana Trench to find Mermaids. Commissioned by the Imagine Network (which feels to me like if you combined the Discovery Channel fake documentaries with Asylum the creators of Sharknado), the scientist think that the company sponsoring the trip is just going to film a mockumentary but they end up finding real mermaids who are not kind or beautiful. This book is technically a prequel to Into the Drowning Deep but it works as a stand alone. However, if you want to have no information about what the mermaids are like and the twist at the end of In to the Drowning Deep read the full length novel first. I didn’t know about the novella when I first read the novel so they work in either order. I didn’t connect to the characters as much due to how short the book is but what is there is great. It made me want more from this world and story.
Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant is a science fiction horror novel about a research ship going out to the Mariana Trench to find mermaids and what happened to the ship, the Atargatis, that went out seven years previously. This is a reread for me and I loved it just as much as the first time I read it. The characters are amazing and complex from the woman who convinced Image that mermaids existed, the sister of one of the missing from the previous expedition, two big game hunters and many others. The wonderful thing about McGuire’s stories is she adds diverse characters in a way that is natural, they are diverse because our world is, this includes deaf sisters and a journalist who is both a lesbian and autistic.
So in May I decided to try a new book subscription box which was Illumicrate. Illumicrate is a monthly book subscription box that focuses mainly on young adult titles. When I heard that the May book was going to be Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff I knew I had to try and order the box. May’s theme is The Final Frontier.
Night Owl Reviews 