Book hauls revisited - May & June 2016 - 2017.

Hi booklovers

It's been a while since I've taken a look at my previous book hauls, so this time I'm looking at both May and June 2016 - 2017.

May 2016

*An Ember in the Ashes by Victoria Aveyard

May 2017

*A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

June 2016

*Little Women & Good Wives by Louisa May Alcott

*The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

*The Crown Tower by Michael J. Sullivan

*Spellwright by Blake Charlton

*Vampire Academy graphic novel by Richelle Mead

June 2017

*Ten Thousand Skies Above You by Claudia Gray

*A Million Worlds With You by Claudia Gray

*Roar by Cora Carmack 

First of all, apparently May was a good month when it comes to book buying. And I've actually read both books.

Out of all of the books I got in June 2016 I've only read The Vampire Academy graphic novel. But I am currently reading Little Women, so yay for me!

From my June 2017 book haul I read Ten Thousand Skies Above You and A Million Worlds With You.

Have you read any of these books? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now 

Annelies

June - July 2017 - wrap up.

Hi booklovers

I'm halfway through my summer holiday and July has flown by so quickly, so it's time for my June - July wrap-up.

June

*War and Wind (e-arc) - Alex Lidell - 4 stars. I was really happy when I recieved my review copy in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed Air and Ash, (review here) so I was really looking forward to reading War and Wind. I enjoyed the second book just as much, if not more than the first one. We get to see a lot more of all of the beloved characters: Nile, Domenic, Catsper. We also got to meet some new characters, who were very interesting - even though some got on my nerves because of what they did (not because of how they were written!). I still hate captain Rima with a passion - even more so than in book 1. He is such a manipulative bastard!
There were so many plot twists I didn't always see coming and I was very pleasantly surprised by them. They kept me intrigued and made me want to keep reading. I loved Domenic even more as a character because of how he is willing to sacrifice his own happiness in order to give Nile her 'happy ending'.
The ending was the perfect stepping stone to the third book and I can't wait to read that.

*A Thousand Pieces of You - Claudia Gray - 5 stars. I've had this book on my TBR for quite a while now and I finally felt like picking it up. I loved this story very much - I alternated between reading the physical book and listening to the audiobook and that definitely added to the great reading experience. I don't think I've ever read a story about interdimensional travel and it really intrigued me. I loved Marguerites character - even though she made some stupid mistakes - and I liked her interaction with Paul. I liked this book so much I immediately ordered the second and third book so I could binge read them and I hardly ever do that!

*Ten Thousand Skies Above You - Claudia Gray - 4 stars. The second book in the Firebird trilogy was just as fast-paced as the first one. I really enjoyed seeing the different universes and how Marguerites, Theo's and Pauls stories develop there. Not as good as the first one, but still a solid 4 star read.

*A Million Worlds With You - Claudia Gray - 4.5 stars. The fact that I read all three books in this trilogy back to back is saying something. This was a very solid conclusion. I have to admit it was sometimes a bit confusing to know which Marguerite we were following but I enjoyed this nonetheless.

I'll be doing a review of the trilogy and link it here once it's up.

July

*Bad Romeo (e-book) - Leisa Rayven - 3.5 stars. I liked the story, but it did have some clichés and one of the main characters was very, very angsty. I, nonetheless, will continue with the series.

*Snow Like Ashes - Sara Raash (reread) - 4 stars. I buddy (re)read this with one of my pupils. When I read it the first time I gave it 4.5 stars, but this time I'm taking off another 0.5 star because I found there to be some clichés I didn't pick up the first time around. However, I still enjoyed it very much.

*Written in Red - Anne Bishop - 5 stars. This is one of the best books I've read this year and it will definitely make my top 10 of 2017. The interaction between the Others (shapeshifters) in the Lakeside Courtyard, Meg (the squeeky toy) and some of the other humans is great and refreshing. Finally a book where vampires actually enjoy being vampires :-)
(I'll be posting a full review later.)

*Second position (e-book) - Katherine Locke - 4.5 stars. This is the second NA novel about artists that I've read this month (the first one being Bad Romeo) and I have to say I enjoyed this one a whole lot more. I read this book for the #OWBookclub and the theme for July was mental health and disability.

This book deals with topics of mental health and disability in a very human and realistic way. At least it feels realistic to me since I don't suffer from any mental health problems or disabilities. To me it felt like the problems were dealt with in a sincere way, without glossing over it or exagerating things. I loved the conversations between Aly and dr. Ham.

The way the relationship between Aly and Zed progresses and develops was at a much slower pace than in other NA novels and that was good. Given their history together, it wouldn't have felt right if everything went back to normal from the start. I also like how 'normal' they act, they do every day things.

Both their professions - Aly being a ballet dancer and Zed being a teacher - appealed to me very much.

The only thing that didn't feel completely necesarry for me was the 'epilogue', the interview Aly gave. I'm definitely going to read the sequel.

*Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (reread - audiobook) - J.K. Rowling - 5 stars. 
The way Stephen Fry did the voice of Umbridge made me hate her even more than I did when reading the book for the first time.

*The Unexpected Everything - Morgan Matson - 3.5 star. Definitely not the best book by Morgan Matson. The story was too long and it dragged at times. It was a cute read, but I fear Morgan is starting to use the same 'concept' in her stories. What I did really like, however, was the appearance of previous characters and places. It makes it more fun to read the books in publication order.

I'm very happy with my reading over the last two months even if there were some books I didn't enjoy as much as others.

What was your favourite book of June of July? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

May and June wrap up.

Hi booklovers

I know this is a bit late, but I still wanted to tell you what I read in May and June.

May:

*Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft (V1) - Joe Hill - 4 stars. 

This was the second graphic novel I've read and even though it's completely different from Fables, I really enjoyed it. This is gritty and dark and at first it took me a while to get into it, but once I got used to it I loved it. I'm really looking forward to continuing with this series.

*Cruel Crown - Victoria Aveyard - 3 stars.

This was an okay read. I really liked the story of Queen Coriane, Prince Cal's mother. I really felt for her throughout the novella. I didn't like the novella from Farley's POV. Her story just didn't appeal to me. I don't know why, but I somehow pictured her to be much older while I was reading Red Queen. Do you need to read these? No. They add a bit to the main story, but they are not necessary.

*Groo: Friends and Foes (V1) - Sergio Aragonés - 3.5 stars.

I found out that this comic book isn't suited to read while on the train because sometimes you just start laughing out loud and that can be a bit embarrassing. I enjoyed this a lot and I want to read more stories about all of Groo's shenanigan's.

*The Great Hunt (WOT 2) - Robert Jordan - 4 stars.

I listened to this as an audiobook. Like with The Eye of the World I seem to pick up more details while listening to this story than when I'm actually reading it myself. It also helped that this is a reread. I'm slowly continuing with the series.

June:

*Glass Sword - Victoria Aveyard - 4 stars.

I enjoyed this sequel a lot. There were a few plot twists I didn't see coming and the cliffhanger ending made me very curious to see where this will go. Have you seen the cover for book 3? It looks stunning.

*A lost legacy: Awakening (book 1) - C.E. Dimond - 3.5 stars.

This is an e-book I recieved in exchange for an honest review. I liked it, but I also had some problems with it. You can read my spoiler-free review here.

*Amy & Roger's Epic Detour - Morgan Matson - 5 stars (reread).

After reading all those fantasy/dystopian/paranormal stories, I felt like reading some contemporary so I decided to reread this book by Morgan Matson. I have a spoiler-free review of this.

*Second Chance Summer - Morgan Matson - 5 stars (reread).

Since I loved my reread of Amy & Roger so much, I needed some more Morgan Matson, so I reread Second Chance Summer even though I knew I would be heartbroken. You can find my spoiler-free review here.

All in all I had two good reading months. Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them? What have you read - and enjoyed - during the months of May and/or June?

Bye for now.

Annelies