January Reading Wrap Up

[llyrel]

 Here's a little something I've been wanting to do on Pillowfort for ages and never got around to.
Reading wrap up! 

Basically, just a list of books I read and/or that I'm reading, together with a short comment (maybe; or maybe not XD depends on how inspired I'm feeling on that day, lol). Like the last two years or so, I'm also taking part to the 2021 Goodreads Reading Challenge, so this is also gonna be a fun way to keep track of books I read. As usual, I started with a fairly low goal (5 books), but I do plan to raise it throughout the year if things go well :D now, on to the wrap up! 

Completed books: 

• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum -  this book has been on my reading list for years. I never got to read it as a kid, so I was only familiar with the movie. And oh boy, this was pretty brutal in comparison XD I mean, I loved it, but I'm preeeeeeeeetty sure that the 1939 movie kinda skipped on the part where the Tin Woodman freaking chopped pieces of his own body off due to the Wicked Witch of the East's curse D: still, it was an enjoyable little book. Could have done with less green, though. (No, seriously, dude. The Emerald City and everything in it looks green, we get it. YOU DON'T FREAKING NEED TO REPEAT IT EVERY SINGLE TIME FOR TWO ENTIRE CHAPTERS, DAMMIT! D: )
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Francis Scott Fitzgerald - got this one for free from the Apple Book store. Guess the fact that a bunch of this guy's book recently entered public domain helped in that sense :D not exactly a "book", since it's actually a short story, but it was a nice one nonetheless. I love F. Scott Fitzgerald's writing, as I found out last year while reading The Great Gatsby, and this tale was no exception. Was a little weirded out by the way the author chose to make most of his characters react to Benjamin, though: I can understand the shock and denial from people who don't know the protagonist, but... his own son?! '_' That sounded a bit too odd, even for a story that's all about being odd. Like, I got where Mr. Fitzgerald was heading to with the whole "you should REALLY start acting your age", but coming from someone who literally grew up with the protagonist and at this point should be more than aware of his pecuriality... it sounded more than a little off. 

Currently reading: 

• Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer - already read this as a kid, picked it up again after I watched that disaster that was the Artemis Fowl movie. Got myself an audiobook version this time, and... damn, the reader is SO GOOD! *O* I was also super glad to find out that the book still holds up after all this years. It's been a while since I last read it and I was afraid that, as an adult, it would have lost a lot of its charm... but it's definitely not the case! Okay, could have done with less jokes about poop and farts, but other than that, still love the story and the world that Colfer created <3 
• Les Misérables, Victor Hugo - a big classic, also in audiobook form. I'm still at the beginning, so there ain't much I can say about the overall plot at the moment. Loving Hugo's characterization so far, but I also found the first "book" to be a little TOO repetitive. Things seem to have changed now, so I'm curious to see where the story will be heading from here. So far, though, I'm definitely enjoying it WAY more than I did War And Peace: the plot seems to have more substance to it, characters have actual personalities, themes/morals are still relevant to this day AND you get to learn stuff about History that is not just a list of soldier names XD