January & February 2017 - haul

Hi booklovers

This is my January and February 2017 book haul. 

After posting my TBR list I decided to cut back on my bookbuying, so in January I didn't buy any books except for the one I got in my very first FairyLoot box: Caraval.

I had heard about this book, but I don't think I would've picked it up, but I am glad I got it in the box. I'm looking forward to reading this.

In February I got the MyBookishCrate box and the book for February was Gilded Cage by Vic James.

I'd never heard of this book, but the premise sound really cool.

At the end of February I went shopping with my cousin and at Fnac I bought three books:

The Great Hunt by Wendy Higgins. This is inspired by the Grimm Brothers' 'The Singing Bone'. I'm curious to see how this will be, I've never read anything by Wendy Higgins before.

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton. I've heard a lot about this book and I was intrigued by the premise.

The Novice by Taran Matharu. I've had my eye on this book for a while now, simply because of the cover. Let's hope it doesn't disappoint.

What books did you get in the first two months of this year? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

January 2017 - wrap-up.

Hi booklovers

The first month of 2017 has come to an end, so I thought I would do another reading wrap-up.

January was a good reading month. I was able to read 4 books, which is very good for me.

First I finished Some Kind of Perfect by Becca and Krista Ritchie, a 5 star read.

This was the perfect conclusion to the Addicted / Calloway Sisters series. It was a well written book containing stories from all the characters in this series. It was so nice to see how everyone's story 'ended', but it was also bittersweet, because this was the last book with these beloved characters.

The second book I read was a prequel novella: Non-Heir by Rachel E. Carter. I got this for free by signing up for her newsletter.

This is the first novella I gave 4 stars, you can find my full review here.

The next one I finished was one of my most anticipated releases of 2016. I even ordered the November MyBookishCrate box because it was going to include this book and that is Heartless by Marissa Meyer.

This book was so amazing and well-written, I gave it a definite 5 stars. It even made me feel sorry for the Queen of Hearts and I understand where she is coming from. I will post my full review soon.

In January I joined the Of Wonderland Book Club on Goodreads. January's theme was fantasy, which is right up my alley. My second read for the OW Book Club - the first one was Heartless - was First Year by Rachel E. Carter.

I recently became a member of her review team, so I got this as a free e-book from the author in exchange for an honest review. I loved this book and gave it 4.5 stars. I immediately moved on to book two: Apprentice (which I'm still reading). You can find my Goodreads review for First Year here. You can find my full review here.

I know I don't do TBR's anymore, but I just wanted to share February's theme for the OW Book Club, which is badass females. My 'TBR' is not set in stone, but I might be rereading Throne of Glass or Falling Kingdoms. And I will continue with 'The Black Mage' series by Rachel E. Carter.

What books did you read this month? Did you enjoy them? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

Friday Reads #2 - January 22nd

Hi booklovers

This is my Friday reads post for the upcoming weekend and week.
 

First a little update from last week.
 

I was able to finish two books:
1. Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch. I gave this book 4.5 stars and so I was able to use the patterned paper to make my first star for the star jar. I'm going to write a review for this book, so keep your eyes out for that.

2. Fuel the Fire by Becca & Krista Ritchie. I've started the year well - I know I started this book in 2015, but still - because I gave this one 5 stars. It's also the first book in the series that gets 5 stars. The characters have grown so much over the course of all the books. I haven't started 'Long Way Down' yet, because I want to savour it. But since it has over 500 pages, it'll take me some time to get through anyway. Not that I mind, though ;-)

I continued listening to another hour and fifteen minutes of 'Scarlet' by Marissa Meyer while taking down the Christmas tree and decorations. I'll be listening to more of this during the upcoming week.

I haven't read any more from 'Prince of Thornes' by Mark Lawrence. To be honest, I haven't really been in the mood to pick this one up. Maybe I'll read some more of this tonight.

This week I've started proof-reading Bre Faucheux' new fantasy book. I'm about 30 pages in and I'm really enjoying it. I'm hoping to get a good chunck of this read next week.

If I feel like it, I might start 'Let it snow' by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle. I know this is a Christmassy type of story, but since we finally had some cold weather last week, I thought I might pick it up. If I don't feel like picking this up, I might start 'Red Queen' by Victoria Aveyard.

Let me know in the comments what you'll be reading during the weekend and the upcoming week.

Bye for now

Annelies

Friday Reads #1 - January 15.

Hi booklovers

This is a quick post to let you know what I'll be reading during the weekend and the upcoming week.

I'm currently reading four books, although one hasn't been getting as much attention as the other three.

1. Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch. I'm currently on page 389 of 416, so I think I will be able to finish this tonight or this weekend at least. I'm really loving this story and I will definitely be continuing the series.

2. Fuel the Fire by Krista & Becca Ritchie. I'm on page 391 of 476. Since I'm mainly reading this one while travelling to and from work, the reading is going somewhat slower than I'm used to with these books. But since this the last but one book in the series - I know, there is still an extended epilogue coming out as well - I want to savour it as long as possible.

3. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer. I'm reading this as an audiobook. This is the first time I'm listening to an audiobook while doing chores and I have to say I'm quite enjoying this. This is a reread for me and I still love it just as much as I did the first time I read it. I'm hoping to get through a big chunck of it next week. I've listened to about 3hrs of it, I have about 8hrs left.

And last but not least - well maybe a bit at the moment:

4. Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence. It took me quite some time to get into this book and I decided to apply the 100 page rule: If I don't like the book by the time I reach page 100, I put it down. I'm on page 90 and I'm finally getting into to the story. I hope I can read some more of it during the upcoming week.
 

With the exception of Scarlet, I started these books in December, so I'm hoping to finish at least one or two in the upcoming weeks.

What are you currently reading? Have you read any of these books and what did you think of them? Let me know in the comments.
 

Bye for now
 

Annelies

January - February book haul

Hi booklovers

During the months of January and February I bought 10 books.

Five of them I ordered at bol.com because for me that's the easiest way to order books.

I got:

 

  Splintered - Unhinged - Ensnared

by A.G. Howard

 

          Shatter me                                            Gathering Darkness

          by Tahereh Mafi                                    by Morgan Rhodes

The other day I went to Waterstones Brussels with one of my best friends and I bought five more books. I know I said I wanted to buy less books this year and knock off some books of my TBR list, but in my defense: my friend bought more books than me :-)

   

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour - Second Chance summer
by Morgan Matson

I haven't read any books by Morgan Matson yet, so I'm curious to see what her writing is like. I wanted to get 'Amy & Roger's Epic Detour' with the pink cover to match 'Second Chance summer' but this was the only one they had.

Noughts & Crosses

by Malorie Blackman

I got this one solely because I've heard Megan Olivier raving about it quite a few times and it's one of her favourite books. Maybe Bre Faucheux and I will do a buddy-read for this book.

    Shadow and Bone                                       Half-Blood

      by Leigh Bardugo                          by Jennifer L. Armentrout

I had a really great time at Waterstones, I love browsing through books and bookshops. Because Waterstones is one of the few English bookstores in Belgium I don't go there very often so I always cherish the time I get to spend there. I find ordering books online very easy, but going to a bookshop is just a whole different experience!

Which do you prefer: going to bookshops or ordering your books online? Which of these books should I read first? Let me know in the comments!    

Bye for now

Annelies               

January 2015 wrap up

Hi booklovers

I know this blogpost may be a bit redundant, but I want to write it anyway. (Redundant because you can check what I've read in January on my 2015 Reads page.) Also, I know this post is a bit late...

In January I managed to read three books. You might think that isn't very much, but for me this is a good number. I know people think teachers always have all this spare time and I'll be the first to admit that we have a lot of holidays, but during the school year, we are very busy most of the time. This week my pupils got a report card so this meant a lot my time went to marking tests, entering grades and commenting on them. So most of my reading takes place during my holidays. To give you an example, I read 19 books during my two month summer break :-)

I know a lot of bookbloggers and BookTubers read a lot more books during a single month, but I simply don't have the time to do that. Good for you if you can do that and I wish I could do that too, but alas...

Anyway, let's talk about the three books I read in January:

1)  Breaking the rules by Katie McGarry. Katie McGarry is one of the authors I discovered last year and I absolutely fell in love with her books. Echo and Noah and Rachel and Isaiah are two of my all time favourite couples. So far, I've read all of the books in her companion series that starts with Pushing the Limits. Since reading that book, I know that all of Katie McGarry's books will be automatic buys from now on :-)

Maybe I should talk a bit more about the actual book :-) I'm not going to tell you that much, because that might spoil Pushing the Limits. It's a sequel that picks up where PTL left off. Because I read the other books in the series, it took me a while to realise that the events of the other books hadn't taken place yet. But other than that I absolutely loved the book. It has great character development. You see the characters grow through all the ordeals they have to deal with. I also thought Katie's writing evolved a lot. I had the feeling that she dared to go deeper. I'm not sure how to explain it, but the content was a bit more mature than PTL. Don't get me wrong, it is still a YA book, but she didn't shy away from all the aspects of a relationship.

If you like contemporary with an edge, you should definitely pick up this companion series (I do advise reading them in the order they came out - except for BTR, you can read it immediately after PTL)

2) The Elder Origins by Bre Faucheux. I have a review of this. This was the first book I read by her. I really liked it and I'll be reading the sequels too, as well as some of her other books. Bre is a currently a self-published author but I hope her books get picked up by a publisher very soon because she deserves it.

3) Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes. I absolutely loved this book and I'm currently reading Rebel Spring. I'm going to post both a non-spoiler and a spoiler review for this.

I'm not going to do a February TBR, because monthly TBR's aren't my thing, but I've made a winter TBR.

That was it for this month's reading. Let me know in the comments if you've read any of these books and what you thought of them or if you want to read any of them.

Bye for now

Annelies