Favorite Books of the First Half of the Year!

Hello everyone, and welcome to another edition of the CW Torch! Today, I am going talk about my favorite books of the first half of the year! What I'll do since so far I have only read 26 books, I will list my favorite book of each month from January to June. I will also list each book I read for that month with their star rating, so I can recap what I read for the first half of the year. So with that being said, let's just get right into talking about the books!

January

Legendborn by Tracy Deonn

Dates Read: Jan. 1st - Jan. 11th, 2021

Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

Star Rating: 3/5 Stars

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia

Dates Read: Jan. 13th - Jan. 17th, 2021

Genre: YA Contemporary

Final Rating: 4/5 Stars

Favorite Book of January

The Final Empire (Mistborn #1) by Brandon Sanderson

Dates Read: Jan. 06 - Jan. 29th, 2021

Genre: Adult Fantasy

Final Rating 4.5/5 Stars

The final book I read in January was The Final Empire, which just so happened to be my favorite book of the month. This ended up being an extremely hyped up book I actually ended up loving, which doesn't happen often for some reason. But I really enjoyed Brandon Sanderson's writing style, it was easy to read and I didn't feel like I was reading an extremely large Fantasy book even though that's what it was. His writing was easy to read and the magic system was very interesting and easy to understand. It was one of the most unique worlds I've encountered in a High Fantasy like this one. I enjoyed all of the characters for the most part, however, while there was a scene that happened that I didn't love or agree with all that much. I was definitely interested in this book and look forward to continuing this series in the near future!

February

The Polar Bear Explorers' Club by Alex Bell

Dates Read: Feb. 1st - Feb. 3rd, 2021

Genre: Middle Grade Polar Fantasy

Final Rating: 4/5 Stars

The Raven and the Reindeer by T. Kingsfisher

Dates Read: Feb. 4th - Feb. 7th, 2021

Genre: YA Fantasy Retelling

Final Rating: 3/5 Stars

Witch Hat Atelier, vol. 1 by Kamome Shirahama

Dates Read: Feb. 14th, 2021

Genre: Fantasy Manga

Final Rating: 5/5 Stars

Favorite Book of February

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

Dates Read: Jan. 18th - Feb. 14th, 2021

Genre: YA Historical Fiction Fantasy

Final Rating: 5/5 Stars

These Violent Delights was definitely a favorite book of February and possibly even the entire year. It was such a unique retelling of Romeo and Juliet. I loved the setting of Shanghai and the plot of the rival gangs within Shanghai. It was definitely an intense and riveting read. I also adored the author's writing style, as she was extremely descriptive, but in a way that kept me intrigued with the story. I felt transported to Shanghai in the 1920s. I would definitely recommend this debut, and I'm really excited to continue with the final book in the duology that comes out this year!

March

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard

Dates Read: Mar. 7th - Mar. 22nd, 2021

Genre: YA Fantasy

Final Rating 3/5 Stars

Saga, Vol. 6 by Brian K. Vaughn

Dates Read: March 31st, 2021

Genre: Graphic Novel Adult, Science Fiction

Final Rating: 3/5 Stars

Favorite Book of March

Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance by Ruth Emmie Lang

Dates Read: Feb. 27th - Mar. 6th, 2021

Genre: Adult Magical Realism/Fantasy Fiction

Final Rating: 4/5 Stars

I didn't read a lot of books in the month of March, so it was hard to pick a favorite book. But I did really enjoy Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance. It was very mysterious and I was really interested in learning about the main character and his found family of wolves. It was also well-written and the author kept me on my toes for the entire book. It was definitely a unique read and one that I will remember for a long time.

April

The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman

Dates Read: Apr. 8th, 2021

Genre: Poetry

Final Rating: 5/5 Stars

The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty

Dates Read: Feb. 9th - Apr. 18th, 2021

Genre: Adult Fantasy

Final Rating: 4/5 Stars

The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

Dates Read: Apr. 9th - Apr. 22nd, 2021

Genre: Adult Fiction

Final Rating: 3/5 Stars

Descender, Vol. 1: Tin Stars by Jeff Lemire (writer), Dustin Nguyen (Artist)

Dates Read: Apr. 23rd, 2021

Genre: Graphic Novel, Sci-Fi

Final Rating: 5/5 Stars

Favorite book of April

Spellslinger (Spellslinger #1) by Sebastian de Castell

Dates Read: Mar. 26th - Apr. 4th, 2021

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Final Rating: 4/5 Stars

I read quite a few great books in the month of April, so it was kind of difficult to chose a favorite. But Spellslinger by Sebasiten De Castell definitely had to be at the top! I really enjoyed this book for many reasons. One was the magic system, whenever a Fantasy has a really cool and unique magic system it always ends up at the top of my list, and this one was no exception. At first I thought the magic was going to be an illusion sort of magic, but it was much more complex then that. There was a lot that went into the magic system and most of it led to our main characters goals. Which brings us to another reason why I loved this book, the characters. I fell in love with our main character Kell, he was someone I was rooting for even though at times he was a bit annoying. But, you understood why he was acting that way, and I loved that the author chose to expose Kell's weaknesses. Yet, at the same time he showed his strengths and his personality, which is why he was so easy to fall in love with. This was to me a great start to a series, and I honestly can't wait to read more after the ending of this first book. As there are so many unanswered questions!

May

Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong

Dates Read: Apr. 25th - May 11th, 2021

Genre: Non-Fiction

Final Rating: 5/5 Stars

Legendary by Stephanie Garber

Dates Read: Apr. 24th - May 13th, 2021

Genre: YA Fantasy

Final Rating: 4/5 Stars

Favorite book of May

I Hear the Sunspot by Yuki Fumino

Dates Read: May 30th, 2021

Genre: Manga Contemporary Romance

Final Rating: 4/5 Stars

It was kind of difficult to try and pick a favorite book for the month of May as I only completed three books. But, the one at the top of my list was I Hear The Sunspot. Now I can't really tell you what happened in this volume because there would be a lot of spoilers. But I can tell you that it lived up to the other two volumes. One of the main reasons why I love this manga series so much is because of the relationship between our two main characters. I feel that they feed off each other and grow deeper into themselves and each other through each volume. I also love the talk of hearing aide and disability within this manga, because it's not something you read a lot or hear about a lot within the Asian community. I also haven't really read about this type of disability in a work of fiction a lot, so it definitely adds to its uniqueness.

June

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan

Dates Read: May 14th - Jun 3rd, 2021

Genre: YA Contemporary, Magical Realism

Final Rating: 4/5 Stars

On A Sunbeam by Tillie Walden

Dates Read: July 17th - July 18th, 2021

Genre: Graphic Novel Sci-Fi

Final Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta

Dates Read: June 13th - Jun. 19th, 2021

Genre: YA Contemporary

Final Rating: 5/5 Stars

The One's We're Meant to Find by Joan He

Dates Read: June 19th - June 27th, 2021

Genre: YA Sci-Fi

Final Rating: 4/5 Stars

Favorite Book of June

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Dates Read: May. 19th - Jun 16th, 2021

Genre: Adult Fiction Retelling

Final Rating 5/5 Stars

June was a much different reading month than May as I read a lot during this month. So choosing a favorite was pretty tough as all of the books I read this month were all really good. But The Song of Achilles definitely fits the bill and will probably end up on my favorite books of the year list. There wasn't much to hate about this book and it was one of the few 5 star ratings I've given this year. From the writing to the love the two characters had of each other was honestly so blissfully perfect, that this book will leave an impression on me for a really long time! I had put off reading this book and I couldn't tell you why, but I think that I read it at the perfect time as it just blew me away!

There you have it folks, all of the books I read from January to June and my favorite books of each month. Now I don't have a lot of things planned for August, as I have finally moved down to SoCal. So hopefully, I can post a lot more blogs throughout the month before school starts. I will also post regular vlogs on my youtube channel for you to enjoy. I may even provide a little bit more content on that channel, such as wrap ups and TBRs, but we'll see about that. I'm obviously not going to keep a schedule with my blog as I usually post whenever I feel like posting, but I'm hoping it will be a little bit more frequent then it has been in the past. So with that being said, I hope you enjoyed this one and here is another Reading Vlog for you all to watch! As I wanted to share my last week and a half in the Bay with you all, as I get situated in my new home!

XOXO,

Chynna from the CW Torch