My Bookish Crate #3 - (December 2016) Unboxing

Hi booklovers

This is the unboxing of the December MyBookishCrate box. 

 Again, the design on the info car is stunning

 

 The back of the card contains all the information for the items

A Mia Corvere (Nevernight - Jay Kristoff) Meraki Candle.

This was the first Meraki Candle that I got, but hopefully it won't be the last.

The candle has a very fresh scent. 

Fireheart necklace inspired by Aelin Ashryver from the Throne of Glass series.

I love bookrelated jewellery. 

A tote bag with a quote from A Darker Shade of Magic.

I'm never going to read these books, but it's still a nice tote bag. 

I hadn't heard of this book before although I have heard of the author.

The synopsis sounds really intriguing.

We also got a matching bookmark, which is always nice. 

I forgot to take individual photos of the Six of Crows inspired notebook (I love this)

and the Red Rising art print.

Even though I haven't read anything by Neil Shusterman before, I'm really intrigued by the synopsis of the book.

I didn't order the January box because the theme and description didn't appeal to me, but I did order the February box. I decided to order the January FairyLoot box and it should arrive sometime next week, so I'm looking forward to that.

Have you ordered any book subscription boxes? Which ones and did you enjoy them? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

 

Non-Heir by Rachel E. Carter - non-spoiler review

Hi booklovers

A couple of weeks ago I signed up for Rachel E. Carter's newsletter and I got the prequel novella to her Black Mage series for free. This doesn't affect my opinion of the story.

I read this book for the Of Wonderland book club on Goodreads.

Before I start I want to say this: I think this is the first time I've rated a novella so high :-)

Title: Non-Heir

Author: Rachel E. Carter

Genre: YA, fantasy

Format: e-novella (free)

*Story:

We follow the young prince Darren during his childhood and teenage years while growing up as the non-heir to the throne. Being three years younger than his brother Blayne and the second son has always made him stand in his brother's shadow. We get to see Darren growing up, his training and him trying to stand up to his father.

*Characters:

-Darren: He's used to being regarded as less than his brother which makes him determined to be the best at everything training he gets. It also makes him want to stand up to his father, which usually doesn't end well. We get to see Darren grow - both literally and figuratively speaking - throughout this novella, but we also get to see him become extremely cocky and arrogant. Okay, I can kind of understand why he's acting like that, but I hope that this won't influence my reading experience of 'First Year', because by the end of 'Non-Heir' I was ready to smack him on the head - multiple times!!

-Blayne: I didn't really care for him, but maybe that's because we don't get to see that much of him. And the things we do get to see, aren't very positive. Being the heir puts all the attention and responibility on him, but that doesn't mean that he has to be so cold-hearted and cruel.

-The king: What a cruel man. Darren refers to him as 'the monster' and he's not wrong. Some of the things that he did to his sons were so brutal, both physically and mentally, they made me queasy.

-Eve: I really like her, she is feisty, strong - both in body and mind - and she wears her heart on her sleeve.

SPOILER:
I'm usually not a big fan of the LGBT side character, because that character is sometimes put in the story for the sole purpose of having such a character. But in this case I think her being a lesbian prevents the oh so typical YA trope of the love triangle from happening, so that's good.

-Ella: We don't get to see a lot of her yet, but I have a feeling that might change in 'First Year' and I'm looking forward to it.

SPOILER:
Since she is the girl Darren might have fallen in love with if his brother hadn't interfered, I'm hoping this won't become a love triangle with Ryiah. Although, judging on how she loathes Darren because of what Blayne did, I'm hoping it won't.

-Ryiah: She is a lowborn girl that Darren meets on his way to the Academy. Being the arrogant prick that he is by the time they meet eachother, he instantly despises her, but like Eve Ryiah is strong-minded and she isn't intimidated by the fact that he is a prince.

-Priscilla: Urgh, she is such an arrogant girl, only thinking about herself and how to please her father. That being said, I liked how once it was clear that she didn't really want Darren - she was only doing what her father wanted - she seemed more honest.

*Overall rating:

I usually don't rate novella's this high, because although they are usually a nice addition to the story, it always feels like they are lacking. But not this one. I really liked that we got an insight into Darren's childhood / teen years and that the story in the first book moves on from there. Maybe that's why I liked it so much: it builds up to the first story so the things that started in the novella will (hopefully) be continued in First Year.

One thing I'm scared of is that my opinion of Darren will affect my further reading, because he is so arrogant and I'm not sure I like that. Oh well, we'll see when I start First Year. (I just read a comment from the author herself saying she wrote this novella partly to explain why Darren is such an ass, so maybe it won't affect my reading :-) )

The writing is easy to get into and the story is fast-paced.

Lastly: take a look at the cover: it is stunning!!

Have you read this novella or any of the other books in the series? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

My Bookish Crate #2 (November 2016) - Unboxing

Hi booklovers

I totally forgot to post an unboxing for the other two MyBookishCrate boxes I got in November and December.

I was especially excited for the November box because I was 99% sure which book they were going to include and I was really looking forward to getting that book.

The theme for November was 'Wonderland'.

The design on the info card is stunning 

The back of the card contains all the information for the items

An Alice in Wonderland totebag by Pan Macmillen Publishers

This totebag is so adorable!

Two badges designed by the MBC team

A tin of (deliscious) tea by Book&Nook

A gorgeous mug by TJ Lubrano

An adorable coaster by BookOtter Art

The book: Heartless by Marissa Meyer and a bookmark

This box was definitely worth the money. I'm currently reading Heartless and I'm loving it!

Look out for the unboxing of the December box very soon!

Bye for now

Annelies

2017 TBR Book Shame Tag.

Hi booklovers

Instead of making a 2017 TBR, I wanted to do the TBR Book Shame tag which I saw at Thrice Read.

I don't want to brag about the amount of books I have, I just wanted to list my unread books so maybe it would help me read books from this pile rather than buy more books. (Right, who am I kidding here, I will never stop buying books :-$ )

This is a mixture of English and Dutch books. This list doesn't include my unread e-books. I'm also going to put them on a separate page, so I can keep track of the books I've read.)

*Renee Ahdieh - The Wrath and the Dawn

*Josephine Angelini -Trial By Fire

*Brodi Ashton - Everneath

                       Everbound

*Jane Austen - Emma

                      Mansfield Park

                      Persuasion

                      Pride and Prejudice

                      Sense and Sensibility

*Anne Bishop - Written in Red

                       Murder of Crows

*Malorie Blackman - Noughts & crosses

*Alexandra Bracken - The Darkest Minds

                                Passenger

*Anne Brontë - The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

*Emily Brontë - Wuthering Heights

*Charlotte Brontë - Jane Eyre

*Terry Brooks - Het Zwaard van Shannara

                       Het Wenslied van Shannara

                       De Elfenstenen van Shannara

                       De Nazaten van Shannara

                       De Druide van Shannara

                       De Elfenkoningin van Shannara

                       De Wakers van Shannara

                       De Eerste Koning van Shannara

                       De heks van Shannara

                       Antrax (English)

                       De Schaduw van Shannara

                       Jarka Ruus

                       Tanequil

                       Straken (English)

                       Dragers van de zwarte staf 

                       De Elfen van Cintra

                       Vluchtelingen van Shannara

*Trudi Canavan - The Magician's Apprentice

                          Priestess of the White

                          Last of the Wilds

                          Voice of the Gods

*Blake Charlton - Spellwright

*Cassandra Clare - City of Lost Souls

                            City of Heavenly Fire

                           

                            Clockwork Prince

                            Clockwork Princess

*Susanna Clarke - Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

*Jenny Colgan - Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe

*Susan Denard - Something strange and deadly

*Charles Dickens - David Copperfield

                            Nicholas Nickleby

                            The Old Curiosity shop

*Anne Easter Smith - Daughter of York

*Elisabeth Gaskell - Cranford

                              Return to Cranford

*Sophie Gee - The Scandal of the Season

*Alison Goodman - Eon

                            Eona

*Seth Graham-Smith - Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter

                                  The Last American Vampire

*Claudia Gray - A thousand pieces of you

*John Green - Let it snow

*Philippa Gregory - The Kingmaker's Daughter

                             The White Princess

          

                             The Other Queen

          

                             Wideacre

                             The Favoured child

                             Meridon

          

                             Changeling

*John Gwynne - Malice

*Bernhard Hennen - De elfen

                              Elfenlicht

*Robin Hobb - Royal Assassin

*A.G. Howard - Unhinged

                       Ensnared

*An Janssens - Drakentovenaar

*Erika Johansen - The Invasion of the Tearling

                           The Fate of the Tearling

*Robert Jordan - The World of Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time

                         The Shadow Rising

                         The Fires of Heaven

                         Lords of Chaos

                         A Crown of Swords

                         The Path of Daggers

                         Winter's Heart

                         Crossroads of Twilight

                         Knife of Dreams

                         The Gathering Storm

                         Towers of Midnight

                         A Memory of Light

*Sophie Jordan - Firelight

*Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff - Gemina

*Kody Keplinger - The DUFF

*Robert J. King - Artifacts Cycle I: The Thram & The brother's War

*Kristian Giles - Raven Blood Eye

*Stephanie Laurens - The Lady Risks all

*Mark Lawrence - Prince of Thorns

*Theo Lawrence - Mystic City

*Scott Lynch - The Lies of Locke Lamore

*J. Lynn - Wait For You

*Sarah J. Maas - Queen of Shadows

*Gail Z. Martin - Sworn

*George R.R. Martin - A Storm of Swords: Steel and Snow

                                A Storm of Swords: Blood and Gold

                                A Feast for Crows

                                A Dance with Dragons

                                De ijsdraak

*Morgan Matson - The Unexpected Everything

*Louise May Alcott - Little Women & Good Wives

*Marissa Meyer - Winter

                          Stars Above

                          Heartless (CR)

*Richelle Mead - Bloodlines

*Jennifer Niven - All the bright places

*Garth Nix - Clariel (Eng)

*Christopher Paoline - Brisingr

                                 Inheritance

*Alexey Pehov - Shadow Prowler

*Stephanie Perkins - My true love gave to me (I've read some of the stories)

*Jodie Picoult and Samantha Van Leer - Between the lines

*Sara Porter - Vasa in the Night

*Terry Pratchett - The Colour of Magic

*Sara Raasch - Frost Like Night

*Laura Resnick - A Planeswalker Novel: The Purifying Fire

*Morgan Rodes - Frozen Tides

*Patrick Rothfuss - The Name of the Wind

*Rainbow Roweell - Attachements

*J.K. Rowling - The Tales of Beedle the Bard

*Angie Sage - Magyk

*Brandon Sanderson - The Final Empire

                                 The Well of Ascension

                                 The Hero of Ages

*Andrezj Sapkowski - De Laatste Wens

                                Het zwaard van het lot

*F. Scott Fitzgeral - De Grote Gatsby

*Victoria Scott - Fire & Flood

*Samantha Shannon - The Bone Season

*Neal Shusterman - Scythe

*Evelyn Skye - The Crown's Game

*Megan Spooner and Amie Kaufman - These Broken Stars

*Maggie Stiefvater - The Raven Boys

*Matthew Sturges - Midwinter

                             The Office of Shadow

*Michael J. Sullivan - The Crown Tower

*Laine Taylor - Daughter of Smoke And Bone

*J.R.R. Tolkien - The Two Towers

                         The Return of the King

                         The Silmarillion

                         The Unfinished Tales

*Brent Weeks - The Way of Shadows

*Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman -

                                                  Draken van de herfstschemer

                                                  Draken van de winternacht

                                                  Draken van de lentedooi

                                                

                                                  Het tijdperk van de tweeling

                                                  De strijd van de tweeling

                                                  De Beproeving van de tweeling

                 

                                                  Bones of the Dragon

                                                  Secrets of the Dragon

                                                  De Furie van de Draak

                 

                                                 Dragons of the Dwarven Depths

                                                 Dragons of the Highlord Skies

                 

                                                  Wachters van de leegte

                                                  Reis voorbij het einde

                 

                                                  Vuurzee

                                                  Toverslang

                                                  Chaosschepper

                                                  Dwaalwegen

                                                  Meesterpoort

                 

                                              De schepping van het doodszwaard

                                              De doem van het dooszwaard

                                              De triomf van het doodszwaard

                                              De erfenis van het doodszwaard

*Tad Williams - De Drakentroon

                       De Steen des Afscheids

                       De Groene Engeltoren: De Belegering

                       De Groene Engeltoren: Het Ontzet

A shockingly 169 unread books. I know, I know, I have a bookbuying problem!

Any suggestion on which books I should read sooner rather than later? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

Friday Reads - January 20.

Hi booklovers

Another week gone by, another Friday Reads.

Sadly, I didn't get to finish Heartless this week even though I managed to read a big part of it on Monday because I was at home sick.

On Tuesday I started Non-heir by Rachel E. Carter. I got this free prequel novella after registering on her website.

I've also been approved as a member of her review team, so I've already received the ebook of First Year, the first book in her 'The Black Mage' series. 

I'm hoping to finish Non-heir this weekend so I can move on to First Year next week. Btw, I loooooove these covers, they are so stunning!

I listened to about two hours of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I'm really enjoying this, Stephen Fry is the most perfect narrator for these books.

So this week, I'm just going to continue and hopefully finishing Non-heir and Heartless. But I'm not going to push myself to speed through Heartless, I want to enjoy it. 

I went to the library this week to pick up my teacher's card and I saw that they finally had the Selection series so I decided to get The One, since I've only read the first two books. I'm not sure if I'll pick it up straight away. 

I also borrowed The ocean at the end of the lane by Neil Gaiman. I've heard great things about this book and the author, so if I'm in the mood for it, I'll pick it up soon.

What are you going to read this weekend / the upcoming week? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies