Book Haul Dec. '18 - Jan. - March '19.

Hi booklovers

Let's take a look at the books I bought during the last couple of months.

At the very end of December I went bookshopping with a friend and we went to Waterstones Brussels and Sterling Books.

Here are the books that I got there:

Half a King by Joe Abercrombie

La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman

Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey

The Black Prism by Brent Weeks

Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft

In January I bought only one book: Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody. I bought this secondhand from someone I follow on IG.

I didn't buy any books in February, but I did buy some in March:

Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb

Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor (which I've already read.)

The His Dark Materials box set by Philip Pullman. (Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spyglass) I've read these about 15 years ago for my dissertation, but the copies I had didn't match. Plus, I also found out that the first one was the American edition, which is apparently censored. So I wanted to get the matching UK editions and I have to say, they look stunning.

Which books did you get over the last couple of months? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

Anti-Bullying Readathon 2018.

Hi booklovers

On Monday the annual #antibullyingreadathon starts and I'll be participating. If I'm not mistaken it's the fifth year in a row that I'm participating.

You can find all the information on the FB page for the readathon. 

As a high school teacher I know how important it is to raise awareness about bullying.

Since I don't do strict TBR's anymore, I'm going to give myself some options.

These are the ones I'm going to choose from:

Try not to breathe by Jennifer R. Hubbard

Sell Out by Tammy L. Gray

Bully by Penelope Douglas

Asking for it by Louise O'Neill

Stealing Liberty by Jennifer Froelich

Augie & Me by R.J. Palacio

Matilda by Roald Dahl

Are you participating in this readathon? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

O.W.Ls readathon - TBR.

Hi booklovers

Back in April the Book Roast on YouTube hosted the O.W.Ls readathon and in August she will be hosting the N.E.W.Ts readathon. 

I didn't participate back in April, but you 'need' to have sat your O.W.Ls (Ordinary Wizarding LevelS) before you can sit your N.E.W.Ts. (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding TestS). G suggested in her announcement video that you can sit your O.W.Ls in August and then choose another month to sit your N.E.W.Ts., so that's what I'm going to do. (I know this is getting complicated.)

I know I've said before that I'm not good with readathons, but I want to give this one a go because a) it's a month long readathon and b) you can choose which O.W.Ls you want to sit.

Like with the TBR readathon I'm going to give myself some options to choose from and I'm not going to push myself to complete all the challenges (that would be crazy).

Below you can see the letter G designed with all the prompts for the different subjects.

I know this is almost impossible to read, but you can find the original letter in the information bar of G's announcement video.

I've decided I'm going to choose 5 O.W.Ls, but I will probably only sit 3 of them, but that way I can give myself some manoeuvering space and not put myself into a slump.
I've also tried to find some books that also fit this month's theme for the #OWbookclub which is 'recently bought'.

Let's take a look at my tentative TBR:

Ancient Runes: Read a book with a symbol on the cover

*Clariel by Garth Nix

*Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher

Care of Magical Creatures: Read a book that includes magical creatures or Features a magical creature on the cover

*The Red Knight by Miles Cameron

I'm pretty sure I will pick this one up because I'll be buddy reading this with someone from the #OWbookclub.

 

Charms: Read a fantasy book

 

*The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington

Another one I want to read for the #OWbookclub.

 

*The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

Potions: Read a book about / with alchemy in it

*The Poison Diaries by Maryrose Wood

*The Sin Eater's Daughter by Melinda Salisbury

Transfiguration: Read a book that deals with transfiguration / shapeshifting or similar theme

*Lake Silence by Anne Bishop

I have this on audio and I've been wanting to listen to it for some time now.

In order to get an Acceptable grade I have to sit and pass 2 O.W.Ls . For an Exceeded Expectations grade I have to sit and pass 3 O.W.Ls (which I'm aiming for). For an Outstanding grade I have to sit and pass 5 O.W.Ls, which is not very realistic since some of the books I've chosen are 500+ pages :-s Those books probably aren't the best choices for a readathon, but oh well.

Did you participate in the O.W.Ls back in April and are you participating in the N.E.W.Ts? Or are you sitting your O.W.Ls in August?

Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

TBR readathon - wrap up.

Hi booklovers

Yesterday, the #TBRreadathon, created by Irina from BeautifulPages, ended. I really enjoyed this two month long readathon. By giving myself a couple of options per challenge I was actually motivated to keep reading.

I managed to read 9 books and I completed 8 of the challenges. I call this a success :-)

Let's take a look at which books I read for the different challenges.

 

1. Read a book from a series you're in the middle of. 
Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb.

2. Read a book you own for a while.

Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence.

 3. Read a book you got recently. 
Lifel1k3 by Jay Kristoff.

 4. Read a short book. 
Quidditch through the Ages by J.K. Rowling

I listened to this on audio, but I actually had it on my physical TBR as well, so I'm counting it :-)

5. Read a long book (over 500 pages or around that).

Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman. This has 504 pages.

6. Read a book you're excited about. 
 Legendary by Stephanie Garber.

7. Read a book out of your comfort zone (or a book from a genre you don't normally read). 

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.

8. Read a book with a beautiful cover. 
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor.

9. Read 12 books. It is preferable if you choose 9 different books for the challenges and then have other 3 books of your choice :) The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling.

I started Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb last week, but since that book has 800+ pages, I wasn't able to complete it because the story is moving along very slowly :-s 

So, like I said I reduced my TBR by 9 books, by I kind of also added 9 books to my TBR because I placed a BookDepository order three weeks ago :-s Ooops.

Oh well, at least it was evened out :-D

 

I had a lot of fun participating in this readathon, so I want to thank Irina for hosting it and hopefully she'll do it again in the future.

 

Bye for now

 

Annelies 

TBR readathon update #3

Hi booklovers

I sort of, kind of, didn't get around to keeping you up to date on my reading for the TBR readathon, created by Irina. Go check out her channel. You can find my TBR post here.

This update is for the 3rd, 4th and 5th week of the readathon.

 

I read Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb during the entire third week (it's 648 pages). This one fits the challenge of 'Read a book from a series you're in the middle of'.

I enjoyed this book very, very much and I definitely want to read the third one very soon.

After that chunker of an adult fantasy, I decided to pick up Lifel1k3 by Jay Kristoff for the challenge 'Read a book you got recently', because I had literally gotten this book the week before. This was one of my anticipated releases for 2018, but unfortunately, I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. I think I'm getting a bit too old for the 'teenage slang' Kristoff uses in this one.

At the same time I started listening to Little Women which goes towards the challenge of 'Read a book out of your comfort zone'. I hardly ever read classics, but I've had this one for a while and I decided to get the audiobook as well, so I can alternate between the two formats. I'm still reading / listening to it and I'm enjoying it a lot.

The next book I picked up for the challenge to 'Read a book you're really excited about' is Legendary. I have about three chapters left, so I'm hoping to finish it tonight.

This book is making me feel all the feels.

I'm thinking about picking up Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence for the challenge of 'Read a book you've owned for a while'.

I think my reading is going pretty well. I've currently completed 5 out of the 9 challenges and there are three weeks left of the readathon. I'm not sure if I'll be able to read 12 books (challenge 9) but we'll see.

Bye for now

Annelies 

TBR readathon - update #2

Hi booklovers

This is my update for the second week of the #TBRreadathon, created by Irina from Beautiful Pages on YT. You can find my TBR post here. 

I finished Strange the Dreamer and I really, really enjoyed it. That ending really got to me :-s

I also read The Tales of Beedle the Bard. I found the different fairy-tales to be very interesting, but I enjoyed the footnotes by Albus Dumbledore even more. I'm counting this towards the 'read 12 books' challenge. I also picked this up because I needed something short and light to read after finishing Strange the Dreamer.

After finishing The Tales of Beedle the Bard I started reading Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb for the challenge 'read a book from a series you're in the middle of'. I'm currently on page 107 of 648. I'm enjoying it a lot. 

I'm not sure if I'll be able to read anything else besides this chunck of a book this week, we'll see, but since I'm on my fourth book of the readathon, I think I'm doing pretty good :-)

Bye for now

Annelies