Top 5 Tuesday: Authors from U to Z

Top 5 Tuesday is hosted by Shanah @ The Bionic Book Worm. For the month of March, each week will represent five letters of the alphabet, and for today, we have what remains: from U to Z (which makes six prompts, but basically the hardest ones). I will try to share a favourite author for each one of them, so without further ado, here comes the list!

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The letter U:

I cannot, for the life of me, think of anyone here. We are off to a great start.

The letter V: Suzanne Van Rooyen with Scardust

As I couldn’t think of anything else, we shall go with this one for the letter V. Scardust is a new adult sci-fi set in 2037 (which is actually not that far away now that I think of it, the book was published in 2016 and oh wow, has it already been four years?) around a project that is supposed to send people into space. Two boys meet and it feels like that will change their fate forever…

The letter W: Kasie West with P.S. I Like You

This is the book I discovered Kasie West with. It seemed like nothing much at first, but it had great romance tropes and I couldn’t resist. I have also read Love, Life and the List and really enjoyed it, and plan on reading more of her books. Maybe not all of them because she has written A LOT. But definitely some of them, because they’re great! Did I pick Kasie West because I met her last year and she complemented my hair? Maybe so. She was super sweet ❤

Also beloved: Jesmyn Ward with Sing, Unburied, Sing and Alice Walker with The Color Purple, obviously. I did not expect W to have so many good books.

The letter X:

I am sure there are a lot of authors whose last name starts with an X. I’m just not sure I have read any of them.

The letter Y: David Yoon with Frankly in Love

For this one I have chosen one of my latest reads! By now I’m pretty sure I won’t make a full review of it but it’s still nice to talk about it, because I enjoy it very much. The book follows the life of Frank, who is a senior in high school, as he falls in love, and has to decide what his future will hold. His parents are Korean immigrants who of course, have their expectations for him. The book was both beautiful and moving, and also extremely realistic, and I would definitely recommend it!

Also beloved: Nicola Yoon with The Sun is Also a Star and Jane Yolen with Finding Baba Yaga.

The letter Z: Markus Zusak with The Book Thief

How could I not pick this book. Like many other people, it’s one of my favourites. It’s absolutely beautiful, and heartbreaking, and all of the pain is worth it. It’s a historical fiction set in Germany during WWII. We follow a couple who adopted the daughter of a communist, and are hiding a Jewish man in their basement. Already with that premise, you have to know that you’re going to cry. And it will be worth it. And of course, I really want to check out Bridge of Clay.

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That’s it for today! I had a lot of fun with the prompts this month, and I can’t wait to see what we will do in April!

Top 5 Tuesday: Authors from P to T

Top 5 Tuesday is hosted by Shanah @ The Bionic Book Worm. For the month of March, each week will represent five letters of the alphabet, and I will share a favourite author for each one of them. This week, we do letters from P to T, and without further ado, here comes the list!

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The letter P: Ashley Poston with Geekerella

I read this book a while ago, and I completely fell in love with it. It is, very obviously, a retelling of Cinderella, and I wrote a paper on that very subject, so of course I was going to read that. My obsession for retellings is never ending. And anyway, this was amazing.

The letter Q: Matthew Quick with The Silver Linings Playbook

This was one of the cases where I watched the movie, and ended up reading the book was well afterwards. Which was worth it, because the book was much better (no offence to Jennifer Lawrence). I remember that it’s one of the first audiobooks I listened to, and I didn’t want to stop.

The letter R: Amy Reed with The Nowhere Girls

This book is so important! It’s about a group of girls who get together to try and change things. To make the world a better place. To bring things to the light. To fight rape and abuse. It’s a powerful story that needed to be told. I simply couldn’t put it down, and I will never stop recommending it.

The letter S: Victoria Schwab with Shades of Magic

Or any of her books, really. I love them all (although I have not read all of them yet) and she is one of my favourite authors. Currently I am waiting for the next installment in her Cassidy Blake middle grade series, and I’m also really curious about her Addie Larue project!

The letter T: Laini Taylor with Daughter of Smoke and Bone

I read this one a few years ago, and I have yet to read the sequel because I’m really bad at finishing series but I really liked it. The universe was unique and fascinating and I completely fell in love with it. I loved the unique main character, I loved the concept, I loved how her backstory was unveiled little by little, and I loved the setting of Prague. I know we are going to see more of the world in the sequels, and I really have to get it together and pick them up because I want to know!

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And that’s it for today! Thank you so much for reading, and please take care of yourself in these troubled times.

Top 5 Tuesday: Books That Caused Me A Major Hangover

Top 5 Tuesday is hosted by Shanah @ The Bionic Book Worm. I’m not sure I will be participating every week, but I do love a good book that completely wrecks me, and even more so, I love rambling about it, and this week’s topic seemed like the perfect opportunity to do just that. So without further ado, here are five books that gave me massive reading hangovers.

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One Day by David Nicholls

One Day is actually one of the first books I actually bought for myself and read in English, and I don’t know why I don’t talk about it on here because it’s one of my favourites. A very good reason for that is because it completely BROKE ME. This book is heartbreaking and unexpected and beautiful, and it contains all the feels. I just want to lie down a little bit when I think about it, and contemplate how meaningless life is. But also, there’s hope? I don’t know. It makes me feel things. And with that comes the perfect opportunity to share one of my favourite quotes ever:

“You’re gorgeous, you old hag, and if I could give you one gift for the rest of your life, it would be this. Confidence. It would be the gift of confidence. Either that or a scented candle.”

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Of course when I saw this topic, I knew that I had to include a John Green book. And at first, the obvious choice with TFIOS. But then I thought about it a little bit, and I remember my 16 year old self sobbing in the armchair at my grandma’s place while finishing Looking for Alaska, listening to Marina and the Diamonds and wailing like an idiot. This is clearly one of my most major book hangovers, and I will probably never get over it because it’s been like, eight years, and I’m still thinking about it way more often than I should.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

This book. This damn book. It’s my favourite in the trilogy but that ending? How could one end a book on such a cliffhanger? It’s a masterpiece. It caused me quite the feels, quite the freakout at two a.m. (ish) when I finished it. And aside for the sequel ASAP I didn’t quite feel like reading anything afterwards.

Nana by Ai Yazawa

For this one I’m choosing a manga, because now that it has crossed my mind, it has to be included on the list. Nana is a series the author never finished, and to be fairly honest with you, I never got over that fact. Yes, it allows me to imagine whatever I want as an ending. But I guess I just wanted more of those characters! I definitely want to reread it some day. Will it make me cry? Probably. But it will be worth it.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I know that I’m not the only one in this situation, but I vividly remember just sitting on the floor and crying when I finished this book. I just didn’t want to do anything. Ever. Again. And to me that’s the perfect definition of a book hangover. (To sum it up: yes I absolutely LOVED this book but boy did it break me.)

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And that’s it for today! Thank you so much for reading, have a wonderful day, and please feel free to comment with some of your most major book hangovers!

Top 5 Tuesday: 2019 Releases I Didn’t Get To

Top 5 Tuesday is hosted by Shanah @ The Bionic Book Worm. Since the T5W seems to be MIA, and since this particular topic inspired me (I do love talking about books I want to read), I decided that I would give it a go at least for this week!

And without further ado, here are five 2019 releases that I didn’t get to (and witsh that I had… who knows, there is still time!)

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

I have felt a new surge of love for Leigh Bardugo when I read King of Scars (this book was amazing, duh) so of course I immediately added Ninth House to my TBR, and I keep hearing fantastic things about it. Hopefully I get to read it soon, because I’m really excited about it!

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell

I feel like I have already mentioned several times how much I wanted to read this book, and yet I still have to pick it up. Despite the fact that I accidentally received two copies of it, it desperately remains unread, and this is quite upsetting. What am I waiting for? I honestly don’t know.

Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi

I actually have a proper excuse when it comes to this one, because it was just released at the beginning of the month, and I have been pretty busy. Nevertheless, I absolutely loved the first book in the series, and I cannot wait to pick up the sequel. I might actually end up reading it before the end of the year… There’s still three weeks left after all!

Crier’s War by Nina Varela

This book was one of the picks in the October Owlcrate box, and I’ve been meaning to pick it up ever since… I even heard many great things about it, and I have to admit that I am really curious. There is simply no excuse for not having read it yet.

There’s Something About Sweetie by Sandhya Menon

And finally, another book that was on my list of “Top 5 most anticipated releases for 2019“. I desperately want to read it, as I LOVED When Dimple Met Rishi. But just like the four other unread books on this list, it is still waiting for me to pay attention to it. Why am I like this… This is what happens when I make (somewhat) TBR lists. I just don’t read the books, and then I’m like

Before I delve into the waves of despair that all of my unread books bring down on me, I just wanted to say that I am DELIGHTED to see that Daisy Jones & The Six has won the Goodreads Award for Historical Fiction. It is also no surprise to see The Wicked King on the list for YA Fantasy! As for the rest, except for Pumpkinheads which was adorable, I haven’t read them yet.

Honorary mention for this top: Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston… Now that I have seen it twice on the Awards list, I want to read it even more, as it seems right up my alley! But enough about the never ending list of books I would like to read. Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful end of the year!

Down The TBR Hole #3

I realised that I had been posting only book reviews this month, which is awesome because I’ve been reading a lot! But I also wanted to do something different for a change, so let’s go down the TBR hole yet another time!

This was created by Lia, formerly @ Lost in a Story.

The Rules:

• Go to your Goodreads to-read shelf.
• Order on ascending date Added.
• Take the first 5 to 10 books (I’m doing 10, the plan is to get things done! And obviously, picking up where I left things last time.)
• Read the synopses of the book
• Decide: keep it or should it go?

At the very start of this post, my TBR contains exactly 768 books. That’s a whole lot, but there is still a lot of improvement since August and my first Down the TBR Hole post! Let’s tackle this down, one book at a time!

After some consideration, I noticed that these books were all added to my TBR shelf in 2015, around the time I joined bookstagram. But since four years have passed, and I have gotten to know my reading taste a little better, it’s safe to say I probably won’t be reading them any time soon… Unless I have a surprise and actually read them right away, who knows!

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1. Divided by Eloise Dyson

“A hero divided at birth is the one destined to save us, a new world will come.” Divided is a YA dystopia and I can’t remember why I had added it to my TBR. Until this moment, I had completely forgotten about its existence so it’s safe to say that I will never read it. Sorry not sorry.

IT GOES.

2. Io Descendus: Journal of a Time Traveler by Florian Armas

Once again, I have no idea how this book ended on my TBR. While I do love time traveling, this particular book doesn’t really seem to appeal to me anymore. So again:

IT GOES.

3. Starflight by Melissa Landers

This one is labeled as YA Science-Fiction and romance. The MC is an outcast who grew up in an orphanage. In a twist of fate, our characters are set on a quest towards a new planet. Yet another book I had completely forgotten about up until now. Safe to say I will never read it.

IT GOES.

4. I am Malala by Malala Yousafszai

Unlike the rest of this list, it’s a wonder I still haven’t read this book. There’s no need to introduce Malala to you by now. And I do desperately want to read this book, I really don’t know why it hasn’t happened yet.

IT STAYS.

5. A Necklace of Souls by R.L. Stedman

Another YA fantasy with a princess and mysterious things happening in the kingdom. This one was published in 2013, I added it to my infamous TBR in 2015, and as I am more often than not trying to read new releases, I think it is safe to say that I will never get around to reading this one.

IT GOES.

6. Finish This Book by Keri Smith

At the time I added this to my TBR, I was discovering the wonders of Wreck This Journal and decided that I must discover all of Keri Smith’s creations. My obsession with them is long gone, I haven’t touched my journal in years even though I never got to finish it. They are pretty awesome though, but I know I will never actually read/do the thing.

IT GOES.

7. Listography Journal: Your Life in Lists by Lisa Nola

This is not even a book, it’s a journal which was probably added on my TBR at the same time as my Keri Smith obsession happened. I’m not planning on getting this anymore, so it’s safe to say:

IT GOES.

8. Dead Poets Society by N.H. Kleinbaum

The story of a group of students and their flamboyant English teacher. This one I do want to read, as I heard so many great things about it: both the book and the movie actually. I feel like it’s a piece of (pop) culture I’m definitely missing, so I am keeping it on the list!

IT STAYS.

9. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

This one has become a bit of a modern classic, when it comes to French books. It’s the story of Renée, who is a concierge in a Parisian appartment building. I have heard A LOT about this book, and still don’t really know what to expect, but I know I will eventually read it. And I’m glad this list contains at least one French book!

IT STAYS

10. Rebelle Belle by Rachel Hawkins

This one is another YA Fantasy set in Alabama that has been on my radar since FOREVER. I’ve heard both excellent reviews of it and terrible ones, and I’m actually really curious about it, because I want to make my own opinion on it.

IT STAYS.

Verdict: I’m keeping 4/10

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I was doing so great in the first part of this list, I don’t know what happened by the end. But I’m only keeping four of them books, so that’s the spirit! As of now, and after doing some extra cleaning, my TBR contains exactly 746 books, which means that I have removed almost 50 books since last month, either by actually reading them (incredible, I know right) or by simply kicking them out of the list. Maybe one day I will have this TBR under control!

[me @ my TBR]

Top 5 Wednesday: Love Interests You Would Have Broken Up With

Top Five Wednesday is a weekly meme created by Lainey @GingerReadsLaineyand she has passed down the torch to Sam @ThoughtsOnTomes. For more information and for future topics you can check out the goodreads group.

The prompt for this week is “love interests you would have broken up with”, so I decided to go more largely with “characters” rather than love interests, and in addition to that, characters I probably never would have dated… Here we go 🙂

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1. Margo from Paper Towns by John Green

Margo is such a complex and interesting character, and her being a love interest to Quentin is so obvious in terms of plot – they grew up together, she is gorgeous and fascinating – yet at the same time, they do not fit together, not because they don’t have the same popularity or group of friends, but simply because she is way too self-centered, and they just don’t belong together. At least, the ending stayed true to the characters, and the plot made for an interesting road trip, I just think that the whole romance part of it was a bit unnecessary: the friendship part was enough! Margo pretty much seems impossible to date anyway.

2. Stutter from The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp

Okay so he is the main character so he’s not exactly the love interest of the book, but he had tons of girlfriends and I JUST DON’T GET IT? He is such a horrible boyfriend and person in general, I disliked him from the beginning to the end of the book. I probably would never have dated him in the first place anyway!

3. Lila from the series My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

I know this book series is very popular, and Lila is supposed to be this amazing, gorgeous, smart, brilliant character that people envy, but I just didn’t like her. She is moody, and seems untrustworthy. And yes, she’s been through some shit, but that doesn’t make up for the way she treats her friend. (I have read the first two books in the series, and now matter how frustrated I found them, I will probably read the rest at some point, because a girl still gets curious about what happened!)

4. Either Jackson or Kate from The Liberty Box Trilogy by C.A. Gray

I honestly was so frustrated with those characters through the entire book series. I didn’t understand how they could work together. And I wouldn’t have wanted to date either of them to be very honest with you!

5. Tris from the Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth

Seriously, this girl. I know she was full of good intentions or whatnot but ALL. THE. LYING. and deceiving. I don’t care if it’s for your significant’s other, people need to TALK TOGETHER and TELL EACH OTHER THE TRUTH. That’s how relationships work. And yes, she was living in a terrible dystopian world, but I still was frustrated every time she came up with a oh-so-brilliant idea that would involve either doing something she promised she wouldn’t do, or simply just lie to Four, or to her friends. (I did enjoy the books for the most part though, but they also did get me very frustrated sometimes…)

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This prompt was definitely harder than I thought it would be, but I really enjoyed writing this article, and I hope you enjoyed reading it too! Feel free to share some characters you would have broken up with in the comments!

Top 5 Wednesday: Disappointing Reads of 2018

Top Five Wednesday is a weekly meme created by Lainey @GingerReadsLaineyand she has passed down the torch to Sam @ThoughtsOnTomes. For more information and for future topics you can check out the goodreads group.

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These were not necessarily my least favourite books of 2018, but rather books for which I had built up high expectations, and which ended up disappointing me. I know I shouldn’t get my expectations high, so that would only leave me room for a good surprise, but sometimes you simply just hear too many great things about one book, and you can’t help but thinking you will like it as well. Here’s my list!

Tess of the D’Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy

A classic! I don’t read that many classics, unfortunately, but this one had been on my TBR for quite some time, especially since I had hear many great things about it from the Bookstagram community. I don’t know if I simply didn’t get the message this book was trying to give, or if it simply wasn’t the book for me. But I ended up disappointed.

The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp

This is another book that had been on my TBR for quite some time. I was planning on reading the book and then watching the movie (years after everyone else). One of the main reasons I wanted to read & watch the story was because I really like Shailene Woodley. The book was also really hyped when the movie was released, and I wanted to see what it was all abaout. Now maybe I waited too long, and maybe I grew too old to enjoy this kind of YA book. But really, honestly, I couldn’t stand the main character, and didn’t understand what the fuss was all about. I don’t think I’ve ever been this disappointed in a book to be honest.

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

This is another book that has been receiving a lot of hype recently, partyly because of the fact that the author is an anonymous figure. It’s a historical fiction set in Italy in the second half of the th century, and it’s supposed to cover the life of two friends from their childhood to their old age. I was really looking forward to reading this book, first of all because I heard many great things about it, and second of all because it just seemed right up my alley. Well, it wasn’t. I still read the second book in the series, and will probably finish it one day because I’m still curious about a few things, but I can still feel the bittersweet taste of disappointment in my mouth when I think about this book.

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

I hadn’t read any Murakami book before, and I felt it was time I did. One of my friends had recommended me Norwegian Wood, so I figured I might as well start with this one. While I did like the concept of this book, I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would. Many parts made me feel uncomfortable – especially when it came to the mental illness rep – and I know that I definitely built my expectations to high for this book. In the end, I was just disappointed.

The Hit-Girl comic book by Mark Millar

The concept of this comic series really got me curious. I also had read and enjoyed another comic by Mark Millar earlier this year, and figured I should give this one a shot. I should have read the reviews on Goodreads first before buying it, because that would have prevented me from such a waste of my time. I honestly feel that this book really let me down, and I’m very disappointed.

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That’s it for today! Thanks for reading, and feel free to share some of your favourite or least favourite reads of 2018 in the comments!

Top 5 Wednesday: Holiday Party Fictional Food

Top Five Wednesday is a weekly meme created by Lainey @GingerReadsLainey and she has passed down the torch to Sam @ThoughtsOnTomes. For more information and for future topics you can check out the goodreads group.

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Holiday food is my favourite kind of food, and I also love bookish food, so obviously I found this week’s topic absolutely fantastic, and I wanted to share 5 bookish food I am obsessed with for the holiday season.

1. Madame Bovary’s Pièce Montée (Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary)

Madame Bovary’s wedding cake from Flaubert’s eponym novel is one of French Literature’s most famous piece of food and I am obsessed with it. I also have to admit that I love “pièce montée” and really resent the fact that it’s a celebration kind of food because I could honestly eat it every day. Of course I had to include it in this top.

2. Any kind vegetarian of Hogwarts banquet food (J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter series)

And I’m not talking about those stupid Hogwarts Mystery sandwiches, I’m here for the Welcoming Banquet from the Philosopher’s Stone, seen through the eyes of a boy who was never properly fed, I’m here for the Halloween banquet (and the one with the humans, not Nick’s birthday party), I’m here for the Christmas parties! If you try to tell me you didn’t get hungry while reading the Harry Potter books, I will not believe you.

3. The waffles Nina wants to eat with Matthias (Leigh Bardugo, Six of Crows duology)

I had seen people mentioning the waffles on tumblr before actually reading the passage where Nina talked about them, and I was like what kind of quirk is that, it’s porbably overrated, whatever. That was before I read the passage. Now, I do want those waffles, and I want them now. 🥞

4. Catherine’s lemon pie (Marissa Meyer, Heartless)

If you like books with decadent food descriptions, then I would definitely recommend Heartless by Marissa Meyer (although you should be ready to have your heart broken). Throughout the book, Catherine bakes many cakes and pies, and I just can’t get that lemon pie off my mind. I just want to eat all the cake I guess. 🍰🥧

5. Percy’s blue birthday cake (Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson series)

Every year, Percy has a tradition with his mom for his birthday: eat all kinds of blue coloured food. And they’re not just eating blueberries, they are making blue coloured cakes and pancakes, and since I read those books I have become obsessed with the concept. In my mind, it is now associated with holiday/celebration food, and therefore deserves a royal place on my list. 🎂

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I realised as I wrote this top that it matched last week’s list in many points, but what can I say, I have my faves and they hold a strong spot in my heart, so here we go again! Thank you so much for reading, and I wish you all the best for this holiday season!

Top 5 Wednesday: Books I Want To Read Before 2019

Top Five Wednesday is a weekly meme created by Lainey @GingerReadsLainey and she has passed down the torch to Sam @ThoughtsOnTomes. For more information and for future topics you can check out the goodreads group.

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This is actually my first time doing a Top 5 Wednesday, but the topic really inspired me so I decided to give it a go! I haven’t done a TBR list of any sort in a while, so here we go: five books I would like to read before the end of the year. And yes I know it’s Thursday, but I’m trying to be slightly more active on this blog these days, and this seemed like a good idea!

In no particular order:

City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab

I actually received this one when it was released and I didn’t have the chance to read it yet (I read Our Dark Duet instead…) I heard many great things about it, and hopefully will get to read it soon! Once I finish my current read (A Blade So Black by L. L. McKinney) would be a great time to start it actually.

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

As soon as I heard that Hank was writing a book, I knew that I had to read it. Since it was released I also heard many great things about it, which made me want to read it even more!

Revenant: The Undead King by Rachel R. Smith

Revevant is the new sequel to the Records of the Ohanzee series by Rachel Smith and I absolutely LOVE this series, so obviously I want to read the new instalment. It’s just that, you know what they say, so many books, so little time. But hopefully I get to read that one before the end of the year!

Lions Can Always Learn To Roar by Charlotte Anne Hamilton

Adding another sequel to the list! This one follows Lambs Can Always Become Lions, a F/F retelling of Robin Hood which I absolutely loved. For some reason, I still haven’t gotten around to reading that one, but I am really excited about it.

I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem by Maryse Condé

This book is based on real life events; and it deals with witches as well as racism and sexism. I am dying to read it, I heard it was really a masterpiece, and it’s been sitting on my shelves since September, so hopefully I get to read it before 2019!

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That’s it for today, five books I really want to read before the end of the year! I hope I actually get the time & chance to do so. And thanks for reading anyways!

Teaser Tuesday #50

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme is hosted by Ambrosia from The Purple Booker.

1. Grab your current read

2. Open to a random page

3. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

4. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I’m currently reading A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard and I really like it so far so I thought it would be a perfect idea to promote it in this week’s Teaser Tuesday!

Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
Mental Illness and Disability

My quote:

“I’m really not disapproving. Just… cautious. Protective. That’s the best friend prerogative, right?” – p.62

Published on January 12th

Goodreads