My Bookish Crate #1 (October 2016) - Unboxing

Hi booklovers

Since I received an e-mail today saying my November My Bookish Crate box has been shipped, I think it's high time to show an unboxing of the October box.

 A full size Funko Pop: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

 The theme card - Dark Retelling

 The theme card - the information about the items you get

 Jack and Sally magnetic bookmarks

 Throne of Glass colouring pencils

 ACOMAF art post cards

 Darkling's Kiss - tinted lip balm

 A letter from the author and a signed bookplate

 The book - Vassa in the night by Sarah Porter

I'm very happy with the items in this book :-)

Are you subscribed to any book subscription boxes? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

Waiting on Wednesday #5 - November 16.

Hi booklovers

It's been a while, but today I wanted to do another Waiting on Wednesday.

This is created by Breaking the Spine

This week I'm going with King's Cage by Victoria Aveyard. I read Red Queen, Glass Sword and Cruel Crown this year and I really enjoyed it. Ever since I saw the cover of this one I wanted to have it.

This book comes out on the 7th of February.

What book are you excited for? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

Anti Bullying Read-A-Thon 2016 TBR.

Hi booklovers

Today I want to share my TBR for the Anti Bullying Read-A-Thon.

This is the third year Sarah Churchill is hosting this Read-A-Thon. Check out her announcement video and the Goodreads group.

Last year I wanted to read three books, but only managed to read one. This year I would like to do better and since I am a member of Audible, I'm going to try to read two books as audiobooks, which should make it easier to read more than one book.

These books are in no particular order:

1) Aristotle and Dante discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz. I'll be listening to this as an audiobook.

2) Burn for Burn by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian. Last year I wanted to read Ashes to Ashes only to then realise that this is the third book :-s. I'm also going to listen to this as an audiobook.

3) Last year I'd also planned to read Augie & Me, three short stories about Wonder by R.J. Palacio. I hope I'll get to it this year.

Are you participating in this read-a-thon? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

Friday Reads #8 - November 4.

Hi booklovers

It's been a couple of weeks but I thought I'd do another Friday Reads post.

Since my last Friday Reads I finished the following books:

- Saga Volume 3.

- Six of Crows (which I really, really, really loved).

- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

- Hogwarts: an Incomplete and Unreliable Guide.

- Prodigy.

- Champion.

- Life before Legend.

Yesterday, I started reading Splintered by A.G. Howard. So far, I'm really enjoying it even though it's a bit weird. But it's a good kind of weird :-) I'm hoping to finish this one this weekend or early next week.

Today, my order of Crooked Kingdom arrived, so I want to start reading that one next - even though I don't want to the story to end just yet.

I'm not sure if I'll be starting a new audiobook next week. If I do, it will probably be Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

My colleague lent me some graphic novels and I might start one of those while commuting, I'm not sure yet.

What are you reading this weekend / next week?

Bye for now

Annelies

Legend by Marie Lu - non-spoiler review.

Hi booklovers

At the beginning of September I did the 'Try a chapter tag' and the book I started reading because of that was Legend by Marie Lu. I'm finally getting around to posting my non-spoiler review.

Title: Legend
Author: Marie Lu
Genre: YA, dystopia
Format: paperback

*Story:
Day is Los Angeles' most wanted criminal. He's been taunting the Republic for a number of years now. Together with his friend Tess he roams the streets of L.A.
June is the Republic's best military student and she is destined for great things within the military. When June's brother Metias is killed, every finger points to Day and June starts to hunt him down. However, she soon discovers that not everything is what it seems.

*Characters:
-Day: He's a 15 year old boy who pretends to be dead in order to protect his family. He tries to boycott the Republic whenever he can.
Day is the kind of characters that immediately speaks to you. You feel for his situation and you sympathise with everything he does.

-June: Also 15 years old, June, at first, seems the complete opposite of Day. She firmly believes everything the Republic says or does. She regards the Colonies as the enemy. Her future has been planned out for her: she will graduate ahead of time and go on to a brilliant career in the military, just like her brother. But then her brother gets killed and her sole purpose becomes finding her brother's killer. I found June to be an intriguing character. She goes through some character development, going from believing everything the Republic tells her to questioning everything she knows.

*Plot:
This story has a typical dystopia-feel to it: the lay-out of the world has been changed completely because of several wars and conflicts, the 'good guys' vs the 'rebels', people being oppressed vs those in control, the oppressed trying to take control... It has been a while since I read a dystopian story, so I really enjoyed it. Sure, there are some typical dystopian elements that could be considered as tropes, but I found the different aspects of the society to be well explained. Also, the whole plague storyline was well executed.

*Overall rating:
Like I said in the beginning, Legend was the book that stood out to me after doing the 'Try a chapter' tag and it didn't disappoint. I have already read the sequels and the novella - reviews to come.

Have you read this book? Did you like it? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies