{"id":50,"date":"2020-07-31T07:30:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-31T07:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/\/?p=50"},"modified":"2020-07-31T07:30:00","modified_gmt":"2020-07-31T07:30:00","slug":"july-reads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=50","title":{"rendered":"July Reads!"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

Hi Readers! How happy are you? 3 posts in 3 days<\/span><\/b>!! Am I on a roll or what? Don\u2019t be too pleased though, because after this post, I\u2019ve got nothing left to give you all till I finish a few books! Anyway, believe it or not, with my sad reading slump period in the first half of July, I still managed to read SEVEN BOOKS<\/span><\/b> <\/span>this month! As usual, most of them were AVERAGE<\/span><\/b>, only two were REALLY GOOD<\/span><\/b> <\/span>& one was pretty BAD<\/span><\/b>. Check them out!<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

~~THE BEST~~<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

~~PRETTY THINGS by JANELLE BROWN~~<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

My Rating: 4\/5<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t judge the book by its name, because Pretty Things is an amazing Thriller<\/span><\/b>. It is the story of TWO WOMEN<\/span><\/b>. Nina Ross is a con artist and has been doing that for 3 years. But, she is an ethical con artist. She only steals from extremely rich people who won\u2019t notice a few things are missing in their huge mansions. On the other hand, we have Vanessa Liebling who is born into money but also into a complicated family. This story weaves a mutual hatred between these women based on decade-old issues caused by their respective families. They also both carry a self-blame for those decade-old issues when in fact, they were not to blame at all. The story sometimes mirrors these characters so well despite their differences & that is what got me hooked into this book.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Check out the full book review here<\/a>!<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

~~OF MICE AND MEN by JOHN STEINBECK~~<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

My Rating: 4\/5<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

I am not a fan of reading Classics, but if the language is not that old & the novel is short, I can do it! Of Mice and Men was just such a beautiful novel. I read this book for the category of \u2018A book mentioned in another book.\u2019<\/span><\/b> <\/span>This book was mentioned in Dan Brown\u2019s \u2018Origin\u2019. And from that mention, I had a bit of an idea of what I was getting into but that still did not prepare me for the heartbreak! If you haven\u2019t read this book yet, you must! You are missing out on so many feelings!<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p>\n


<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

~~THE AVERAGE~~<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

~~THE WATER DANCER by TA-NEHISI COATES~~<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

My Rating: 3\/5<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates is the story of Hiram Walker, set in the times when coloured people were treated as slaves. We watch Hiram, who has lost his mother, to go seek shelter with Thena. Hiram starts working as a slave for his white father Howell Walker & half-brother Maynard Walker. Soon after, we see him go through immense struggles to finally become a part of the Underground. We see Hiram start off as an intelligent boy to grow into a sensible one. This story focuses on the cruelties of slavery<\/span><\/b>. It also has a bit of magical realism<\/span><\/b> <\/span>in it. It is a 403-page book with not a lot to offer.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Check out the full book review here<\/a>!<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

~~THE NICKEL BOYS by COLSON WHITEHEAD~~<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

My Rating: 4\/5<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

The Nickel Boys is the 2020 Pulitzer Prize Winner for Fiction<\/span><\/b> <\/span>& so I had to read it. I had heard a lot of praise for Colson Whitehead as well. The story is based on real events that happened at Dozier School for Boys<\/span><\/b>. I really liked his writing style & how impactful it was. There was so much injustice that those boys faced. The harrowing truths about it unfolding years later gave me goosebumps. The book is a mere 203 pages, but the story had a lot more potential to be put forth in more pages to make it more complete. I was also shocked by the ending & gave an extra point just for that! I think everyone should read this book. Now that I have read this, I can\u2019t wait to read The Underground Railroad<\/span><\/b> <\/span>which also won a Pulitzer in 2017!<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

~~THE GUEST LIST by LUCY FOLEY~~<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

My Rating: 3\/5<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

The Guest List is set on a spooky island near Ireland where a famous couple decide to have their wedding. The groom Will Slater<\/span><\/b> <\/span>is an actor on a show called Survive the Night while the bride Julia Keegan<\/span><\/b> <\/span>is the founder\/owner of an online magazine called The Download. Both the parties are obscenely rich. The book is divided into two story lines<\/span><\/b>; one is the NOW<\/span><\/b> <\/span>where the setting is of the wedding night, and second is THE DAY BEFORE<\/span><\/b> <\/span>until it catches up to NOW. The story is told through FIVE different people<\/span><\/b> <\/span>‘ Aoife<\/span><\/b> <\/span>(The Wedding Planner), Hannah<\/span><\/b> <\/span>(The Plus-One), Jules<\/span><\/b> <\/span>(The Bride), Johnno<\/span><\/b> <\/span>(The Best Man) and Olivia<\/span><\/b> <\/span>(The Bridesmaid). From a thriller standpoint, you get a lot in this. An isolated creepy island, a dead body, messed up characters & many secrets from the past!<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Check out the full book review here<\/a>!<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p>\n

~~A LITTLE BOOK OF HAPPINESS by RUSKIN BOND~~<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

My Rating: 4\/5<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

I read this book because it sounded so promising & given the current circumstances, everyone needs a little more happiness. This is a small book with a lot of happy quotes. Some are by Ruskin Bond while some are by other authors or philosophers and such. It is a really nice book to read before you sleep.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

~~THE WORST~~<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

~~A BEAUTIFULLY FOOLISH ENDEAVOUR by HANK GREEN~~<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

My Rating: 1.5\/5<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor is a much-awaited sequel<\/span><\/b> <\/span>released 2 years after the first novel, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing<\/span><\/b>. The first book ends on a cliff hanger so interesting that you can\u2019t not read what happens next! In this book, we see the aftermath when the Carls disappear. We see how every character in the book copes differently with it & how they move on in their own lives. This book is divided into chapters for all of April May\u2019s friends, so we get to see their point of views & their current happenings.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Check out the full book review here<\/a>!<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

So, that\u2019 about it! Initially I had planned on reading the physical books that I own, but then I ended up reading mostly e-books because come what may, I had to get out of the reading slump! I hope I can do that in August!<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

Until next time,<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

<\/a><\/div>\n


<\/span><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi Readers! How happy are you? 3 posts in 3 days!! Am I on a roll or what? Don\u2019t be too pleased though, because after this post, I\u2019ve got nothing left to give you all till I finish a few books! Anyway, believe it or not, with my sad reading slump period in the first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-review","category-books","category-mindscape-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":81,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=81","url_meta":{"origin":50,"position":0},"title":"March Reads: 8 Mini Book Reviews! (Mindscape Reviews)","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"April 6, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Guys! Hope you all are doing okay. Being at home has been good for me. So good that I got to read EIGHT BOOKS in the past month. I haven\u2019t been this proud of myself in the recent past. What\u2019s even better is that I LOVED THREE BOOKS, HATED\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/--H_BZsbMOLY\/XostdbI7OKI\/AAAAAAAAimY\/Bmq3GUm6gEgni8jzWOtY-NI_VABn2nWXQCLcBGAsYHQ\/s640\/IMG_20200406_174718-01.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=8","url_meta":{"origin":50,"position":1},"title":"March Reads!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"April 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! Back again today for a quick post about my March Reads! March is my birthday month & I enjoy it a bit too much. Last year I read 8 books in March, but this year, I only read 2! I was in a book slump earlier in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3178,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=3178","url_meta":{"origin":50,"position":2},"title":"Top 12 Posts of 2023 \u2013 Year in Review (Part 3)","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"December 29, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! Year on year, you outdo yourselves! Mindscape in Words had 64000 VIEWS in 2023! This is a 40% increase than last year. I know there are two to four posts which receive a majority of traffic, but they are also the ones I love the most. I love\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/PSX_20231213_100804-01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/PSX_20231213_100804-01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/PSX_20231213_100804-01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/PSX_20231213_100804-01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/PSX_20231213_100804-01-01.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":61,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=61","url_meta":{"origin":50,"position":3},"title":"June Reads! (Mindscape Reviews!)","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"July 1, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi Readers! Just like that, June has already ended! And, as usual, I thought I will do a roundup of the THIRTEEN BOOKSI read this month! Most of them were e-books, so I couldn\u2019t click a satisfactory picture of 13 books stacked on top of the other. Anyway, now I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-ONWycGHbLkw\/Xvxj1WAS0AI\/AAAAAAAAjRA\/mtDjDNgHWOgIvV31k-eMMMf5ZQ6ZxHl2gCK4BGAsYHg\/w387-h640\/PicsArt_06-30-09.55.39-01.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":73,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=73","url_meta":{"origin":50,"position":4},"title":"April Reads! (Mindscape Reviews)","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"May 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Hello Readers! You need to make up your mind now, because all of my posts this year are going to be book posts. For 2020, I had only 2 travel plans anyway, but now obviously it\u2019s not possible. So, just putting it out there\u2026 Books! In April, I read 5\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Book review"","block_context":{"text":"Book review","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=2"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/-VSipRCcVevU\/Xq5iAaTAC-I\/AAAAAAAAivc\/K6InnCyQs1gS0bOosFD1oj9dWYEOn7JmwCLcBGAsYHQ\/s640\/PicsArt_05-03-01.53.36-01.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1431,"url":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?p=1431","url_meta":{"origin":50,"position":5},"title":"Celebrating Mindscape in Words’ 7th Blogoversary!!","author":"Aishwarya Shenolikar","date":"September 2, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Hello Readers!! Every time I write a post, I somehow always wonder how quickly the month has gone by, and today here we are where an entire year has gone by! Another successful year of Mindscape in Words! I am forever grateful to you readers who come back to read\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life!"","block_context":{"text":"Life!","link":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/7thBlogoversaryFI.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/7thBlogoversaryFI.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/7thBlogoversaryFI.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/7thBlogoversaryFI.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mindscapeinwords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/7thBlogoversaryFI.jpg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=50"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=50"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=50"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mindscapeinwords.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=50"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}