January - April 2018 book haul.

Hi booklovers

I've been on a bookbuying ban since October 2017 and I have been really good about it, except for the month of March where I caved and ordered 9 books. I'll talk more about that later in this post. 

Let's take a look at the books I bought during the first four months of 2018:

January

*The Cruel Prince by Holly Black - this was the January Fairyloot book.

February

*Immortal Reign by Morgan Rhodes. This is book 6 in the Falling Kingdom series. I read it as soon as I got it :-)

*The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert - the February Fairyloot book. This was one of my anticipated releases for this year.

*Angelfall by Susan Ee. This was actually a gift from a former pupil :-)

March

So this is the month where I totally fell of the wagon. In my defence: I had a 10% discount code from BookDepository and out of the 9 books I ordered 4 of them I had already read as e-books or listened to as an audiobook. One book was also a gift for a friend's birthday.

*Unravel Me - Unite Me - Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi. I have read these before as e-books. I already own Shatter Me, so I wanted to complete the series. I also pre-ordered the paperback of Restore Me, but it was released in April.

*Etched in Bone by Anne Bishop. I listened to this one last August and I had to wait until this year for it to come out in paperback.

*The Way of Kings part 1 and The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson. I love the Mistborn trilogy, so I want to continue with the spin-off series and venture on to another one of his series.

*Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. I wanted to see the movie but I needed to read the book before that. I managed to finish the book a couple of hours before seeing the movie :-)

April

*Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, another one of my most anticipated releases of 2018. I actually ordered the special Obsidio box from TheYAChronicles. It took about two weeks for it to arrive but it was worth the wait. The items in the box were so cool and I loooooved the book. It was a great conclusion to the trilogy.

*Restore Me by Tahereh Mafi. Like I said, I ordered this in March but it wasn't released until April.

*The April Fairyloot box was delayed, so I'll be adding this to my May haul. I've actually cancelled my subscription of Fairyloot for the time being, because I have been really disappointed with the boxes lately. The April box sounded interesting, but the May one didn't. At first I wanted to look for a different subscription box, but I won't be doing that.

Which books did you get in the first four months of 2018? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

March - April 2018 - wrap-up.

Hi booklovers

The other day I realised I never posted my March wrap-up, so today I'm combining both my March and April wrap-up.

During these months I read 11 books: 2 graphic novels, 4 audiobooks and 5 physical books.

Let's take a look at what I've read:

March

After reading Transmetropolitan volume 1 last year, I finally got around to reading the second volume. I enjoyed it, but it also sometimes confused the hell out of me. I am going to read the third volume, because I'm still not sure if this is a series for me. I'm also borrowing these from a colleague, so I need to return them before the end of the schoolyear :-)

After struggling with Saga volumes 4 and 5, really enjoying volume 6 and having some mixed feelings about volume 7, I was a bit anxious about picking up volume 8. But I really enjoyed this volume and I can't wait to get my hands on volume 9 later this year.

I really enjoyed The Final Empire and The Well of Ascension, so in March I read The Hero of Ages and I really loved it. I can definitely see Sanderson becoming an auto-buy author. 

After listening to the first two books in the Wayward Children's series I was really curious to see what/who the next one would be about. I really enjoyed Beneath the Sugar Sky, even though the main character Rini got on my nerves sometimes. I'm really happy there will be more books in the series.

The last book I read in March I've had on my TBR for over a year. After doing a second edition of the 'Try a chapter' tag, I was the most interested in continuing Scythe. When I asked on my IG story what my next read should be, a lot of people voted 'yes' for this book. I really enjoyed this book and I want to read the sequel - which I won a giveaway - very soon. The concept of a world where people don't die but are gleened was really different. 

April

For the April theme of the #OfWonderlandBookClub on Goodreads - Books with movie adaptations - I listened to Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda and I ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would. Even though I liked it, I did realise that (YA) contemporary isn't really my thing. I occasionally enjoy it, but fantasy will always be my preferred genre.

The next book I picked up was Ready Player One and I loved it. This whole book was a trip down memory lane because I'm an 80s kid :-) Even though there are a LOT of differences between the book and the movie, I loved both!! (I also read this book for the bookclub.)

The third book I read in April was one of my most anticipated releases of 2018: Obsidio. I had ordered the Obsidio box from TheYAChronicles, so I didn't get it until 2 weeks after its release date. Needless to say I dove straight into it as soon as I received it. Even though this book wasn't as action-packed and fast-paced as the first two, this was the perfect conclusion to the trilogy. This book will most probably end up in my top 10 favourite reads of 2018.

In order to prepare myself for the release of A Court of Frost and Starlight, I reread both A Court of Mist and Fury and A Court of Wings and Ruin. I can totally see that these books have flaws, but I really enjoy them a lot nonetheless.

ACOMAF

ACOWAR

And the last book I read - I should say listened to - in April was again one for the bookclub and that was Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I've read this book a very long time ago and apparently I had totally forgotten how weird this book is. I still enjoyed it though and I will eventually listen to Through the looking-glass.

I'm really happy with the number of books I've read and with what I read.

What was your favourite read in March and/or April? Let me know in the comments.

 

Bye for now

 

Annelies

Anticipated releases - April 2018

Hi booklovers

I am again late in posting this, but here are the books I'm looking forward to in April.

Unlike the previous months, there are only two books I'm looking forward to this month.

April 

10th: Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody

I really enjoyed Daughter of the Burning City and since that was her debut, I'm curious to see how this one will hold up.

Welcome to the City of Sin, where casino families reign, gangs infest the streets…
and secrets hide in every shadow.

Enne Salta was raised as a proper young lady, and no lady would willingly visit New Reynes, the so-called City of Sin. But when her mother goes missing, Enne must leave her finishing school—and her reputation—behind to follow her mother’s trail to the city where no one survives uncorrupted.

Frightened and alone, her only lead is a name: Levi Glaisyer. Unfortunately, Levi is not the gentleman she expected—he’s a street lord and a con man. Levi is also only one payment away from cleaning up a rapidly unraveling investment scam, so he doesn't have time to investigate a woman leading a dangerous double life. Enne's offer of compensation, however, could be the solution to all his problems.

Their search for clues leads them through glamorous casinos, illicit cabarets and into the clutches of a ruthless mafia donna. As Enne unearths an impossible secret about her past, Levi's enemies catch up to them, ensnaring him in a vicious execution game where the players always lose. To save him, Enne will need to surrender herself to the city…

And she’ll need to play. 

24th: Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian 

If nothing else, this would be a cover buy :-)

Theodosia was six when her country was invaded and her mother, the Queen of Flame and Fury, was murdered before her eyes. Ten years later, Theo has learned to survive under the relentless abuse of the Kaiser and his court as the ridiculed “Ash Princess.” Pretending to be empty-headed and naive when she's not enduring brutal whippings, she pushes down all other thoughts but one: Keep the Kaiser happy and he will keep you safe.

When the Kaiser forces her to execute her last hope of rescue, Theo can't keep her feelings and memories pushed down any longer. She vows revenge, throwing herself into a plot to seduce and murder the Kaiser's warrior son with the help of a group of magically gifted and volatile rebels. But Theo doesn't expect to develop feelings for the Prinz. Or for her rebel allies to challenge her friendship with the one person who's been kind to her throughout the last hopeless decade: her heart's sister, Cress.

Cornered into impossible choices and unable to trust even those who are on her side, Theo will have to decide how far she's willing to go to save her people and how much of herself she's willing to sacrifice to become queen.

Ace of Shades is the book I'll most likely order - if not this month, then probably soon.

Which books are you looking forward to in the month of April? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies