Book Review #741 - Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda (Creekwood #1) by Becky Albertalli

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.

With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met. 

My Rating: 5/5

This was one of the most hyped up books I have read in recent memory so I was kind of terrified to read it but once the members of my book club were raving about the film adaptation I knew it was time to finally pick the book up.

I read this book for the 2018 Popsugar challenge for the challenge of reading a book with a LGBTQ protagonist.

Simon is such a likable character. He is the perfect blend of weird and witty but completely normal at the same time.

I absolutely loved his friend and family dynamics both of which were incredibly accurately portrayed. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this book so much more than I ever thought possible and I can definitely see myself reading it again sometime this year likely before I delve into Leah on the Offbeat which I recently added to my TBR.

Book Review #740 - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Huckleberry Finn #2) by Mark Twain

'Other places do seem so cramped up and smothery, but a raft don't. You feel mighty free and easy and comfortable on a raft"

Mark Twain's tale of a boy's picaresque journey down the Mississippi on a raft conveyed the voice and experience of the American frontier as no other work has done before. When Huck escapes from his drunken father and the 'sivilizing' Widow Douglas with the runaway slave Jim, he embarks on a series of adventures that draw him to feuding families and the trickery of the unscrupulous 'Duke' and 'Daupin'. Beneath the exploits, however, are more serious undercurrents--of slavery, adult control and, above all, of Huck's struggle between his instinctive goodness and the corrupt values of society, which threaten his deep and enduring frienship with Jim.

My Rating: 3/5

I read this book for my goal of reading one book per month from the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list.

Firstly, I found the blatant racist language in this book very extreme and I almost didn't finish the book numerous times because of this. For example, in the edition I read (pictured above) I encountered the "N" word 209 times in a book just over 300 pages long which was quite often. 

I did like the adventure side of the story and this is what ultimately enabled me to finish reading it. 

There was such a lively cast of characters and non-stop adventure of a story which if it wasn't for the racist language would be perfect for school reading.

Jim the slave was my favourite character whereas Tom Sawyer was my least favourite which has definitely put me off reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer which is unfortunate as I do have the book on my TBR. 

I really loved the vivid setting of the Mississippi River and the scenery on and around there.

Book Review #739 - The Happiest Refugee: A Memoir by Anh Do

Anh Do nearly didn't make it to Australia. His entire family came close to losing their lives on the sea as they escaped from war-torn Vietnam in an overcrowded boat. But nothing -- not murderous pirates, nor the imminent threat of death by hunger, disease or dehydration as they drifted for days -- could quench their desire to make a better life in the country they had dreamed about.

Life in Australia was hard, an endless succession of back-breaking work, crowded rooms, ruthless landlords and make-do everything. But there was a loving extended family, and always friends and play and something to laugh about for Anh, his brother Khoa and their sister Tram. Things got harder when their father left home when Anh was thirteen -- they felt his loss very deeply and their mother struggled to support the family on her own. His mother's sacrifice was an inspiration to Anh and he worked hard during his teenage years to help her make ends meet, also managing to graduate high school and then university. 

Another inspiration was the comedian Anh met when he was about to sign on for a 60-hour a week corporate job. Anh asked how many hours he worked. 'Four,' the answer came back, and that was it. He was going to be a comedian! The Happiest Refugeetells the incredible, uplifting and inspiring life story of one of our favourite personalities. Tragedy, humour, heartache and unswerving determination -- a big life with big dreams. Anh's story will move and amuse all who read it.

My Rating: 4/5

I have had this book on my TBR for sometime. I'm not that familiar with Anh Do as a comedian as I don't watch a lot of television but I became aware of this book because of the amount of "must read lists" I kept finding it on, the latest being the 2018 Dymocks top 100 which prompted me to finally read it. 

First of all I am a 5th generation Australian so I have idea what it is like to have cultural differences in your family but the way in which this book was written made everything very relatable and this was because it felt very genuine and never took itself seriously.

I loved that Do was able to take such a sensitive issue in society and make it such a fun, witty and hilarious read. 

The pictures used and their captions were particularly hilarious along with the clever antidotes involving his uncles. 

As soon as I finished this book my mum immediately started reading it as well.