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

Fantasy Favourites Read-A-Thon Wrap-up.

Hi booklovers

I just wanted to give you a quick wrap-up for the Fantasy Favourites Read-A-Thon.

I epically failed at reading Queen of Shadows. I needed to put it down after reading only 27 pages, because I could feel a slump coming on. I had just finished reading two very fast-paced books, so QoS moved along really slow for me. Even though I'd read the summaries for the other books in the series, it still took me too long to get into the story. I think I might need to reread all the books so I can get into the atmosphere of the story a bit easier.

I decided to pick up ACOTAR instead because I really enjoyed reading it last year. I've also seen a lot of raving reviews for ACOMAF and I really want to read that one, but I needed a reminder of ACOTAR. In the end I read 116 pages.

I'm not sure if I'm cut out to do read-a-thons - although I did enjoy the Anti-Bully-ReadAThon and the Author-A-Thon.

Did you participate in the Fantasy Favourite Read-A-Thon? I hope you did better than me.

Bye for now

Annelies

Favourite books of 2016 (so far).

Hi booklovers

We're already halfway through July, so I tought I'd make a list of my favourite books of 2016 so far.

I'm going to divide this into categories:

*Fantasy: 

- Siege and Storm and Ruin and Rising, both by Leigh Bardugo.

*Contemporary: 

- Walk the Edge by Katie McGarry.

 - Amy & Roger's Epic Detour and Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson. These were both rereads. (Click on the titles to go to my spoiler-free reviews)

*NA: 

- Clipped Wings and Inked Armor both by Helena Hunting.

 











 
     *Graphic novels: 

                            - Fables Volume 1.                                     

- Locke & Key Volume 1.

Have you read any of these books/graphic novels? What are you favourite reads of 2016 so far? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now
 

Annelies

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson - spoiler free review.

Hi booklovers

After rereading Amy & Roger's Epic Detour (I have a review for this book here) I felt like going on a Morgan Matson binge read. So, I decided to pick up 'Second Change Summer' and reread that one before moving on to 'Since You've Been Gone', which has been on my shelf for over a year now.

Title: Second Chance Summer
Author: Morgan Matson
Genre: YA, contemporary
Format: paperback

*Story:
Taylor Edwards has a habit of running away when things get tough. This summer however, something happens to her dad that she can't escape. Her family is going to spend the summer at their lake house. There, Taylor will be confronted with all the things she ran away from five years earlier. Will she run away again or will she stay and her second chance?

*Characters:
-Taylor Edwards: A 17-year old girl who has a habit of not dealing with situations when they get tough, but instead she runs away from them. In the story, Taylor goes through a lot and she has to deal with a lot of emotions. Does she always react correctly to some of the things that happen? No, but that's just what makes her humane. I really liked Taylor as a character, she grows a lot throughout the story.

-Henry Crosby: He and Taylor had a crush when they were 12. They haven't seen each other for five years after Taylor ran off in a hurry. At first, he tries very hard to keep his distance from Taylor, he even acts a bit cold towards her. But then again, you can't really blame him for it, not after the way Taylor treated him. But Henry is such a sweet guy, who still cares about Emily very much. Plus, he works at a bakery ;-)

-Lucy Marino: She's Taylor's former best friend, but because Taylor ran away they haven't seen or spoken to each other for five years. Needless to say, Lucy isn't very happy to see Taylor again, especially when it turns out they will be working together during the summer. A lot of things have happened during the previous years and it takes a long time for Lucy to come to terms with Taylor being back in her life. Lucy is one of those characters you immediately like, even though she gives Taylor the cold shoulder at first. But then again, can you blame her? She's sassy and even though she sometimes does stupid things, she's someone you can count on.

-Robin Edwards: He's Taylor's dad. The things that are happening to him are the reasons Taylor has to go back to the lake house. He goes through a lot and even though he is very scared, he still keeps on going and I admire him for that.
 
!!SPOILER!!
The way he deals with the cancer progressing is in my opinion very humane: he's scared but he still tries to make the best of the time he has left. I was also very touched by all the letters he left behind for everyone to be read at certain moments in their future lives.
 
There are more characters in this book, but these were the ones I wanted to talk about.

*Plot:
I love how Morgan Matson turned this into a very believable story. You could feel - and believe - all the emotions each character goes through. This book was a rollercoaster of emotions, but somehow the characters and me as a reader got through it more or less okay. The details of the setting also made you feel like you were there with the characters. I also like that you get to know the things that happened five years earlier through flashbacks.

*Overall rating:
I loved this book just as much as I did the first time I read it and yes, I cried my eyes out again. This is still a solid 5 star read.
Because I read this back to back with Amy & Roger, I found the reference to that book, which I didn't the first time around :-)

Have you read this or any other Morgan Matson books? Which ones and which one is your favourite? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

Fantasy Favourites Readathon: Which Throne of Glass Character Are You?

Hi booklovers

The second challenge for Throne of Glass series in the Fantasy Favourites Readathon is a quiz to determine which ToG character you are. You can find the original post here. (You can also find the link to the quiz in that post!)

I took the quiz and apparently I'm Chaol Westfall :-)

I'm not sure if everything in this description is true, but I do find it interesting :-)

As for the readathon itself: Unfortunately, I've only managed to read 27 pages of Queen of Shadows. I don't know why, but I feel like it's a slow read and I really need time to get back into the story. I think I might give it another 50 pages and if I'm not feeling it by then, I will move on to my reread of ACOTAR, because I'm afraid I might put myself in a reading slump otherwise.

Let me know in the comments which ToG character you are.

Bye for now

Annelies

Fantasy Favourites Read-A-Thon: Throne of Glass Playlist Shuffle Quiz.

Hi booklovers

As I said in one of my previous posts, I'm going to be participating in the Fantasy Favourites Read-A-Thon, hosted by Inge and Aly and Olivia. 

I'm starting this read-a-thon with Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas. The first challenge for this book series is called the 'Throne of Glass playlist shuffle quiz'. (Click on the name to go to the original post by Ali). Basically, you set your phone/ipod/computer on shuffle and hit ‘next’ for every question. The song that pops up is that question’s answer!

I should warn you that I'm a huge metal fan, so maybe these won't be familiar songs. Even though some titles might actually be suitable for the question I assure you, I didn't cheat and I did press shuffle :-)
Okay, here goes.

1. This song describes the Throne of Glass series: Cast Away - Visions of Atlantis
 

2. This song what Chaol Westfall is caught singing at drunk karaoke: Cliffs of Gallipoli - Sabaton
 

3. This song describes a battle scene: Abyss Of Twilight - Altaria
 

4. This song is playing whilst Calaena stalks across the rooftops like a badass: The Dragon Lies Bleeding - Hammerfall

5. This song describes the ToG plot: Alpenglow - Nightwish
 

6: During a battle, Calaena, Dorian and Chaol are fighting to this song: Redemption - Hammerfall

7. Battles! Magic! Possible murder! This song is playing when the plot thickens: Agnus McFife - Gloryhammer

8. This song will most likely play at the worst possible moment: Angels Calling - Sabaton

9. This song describes your Chaol Westfall: Aces High - Iron Maiden

10. This song is the finale: The Outlaw - Hammerfall

I have to admit this turned out pretty good :-s

What do you think of the outcome? Are you participating in the read-a-thon?

Let me know in the comments.
 

Bye for now
 

Annelies

Collective January - June 2016 book haul.

Hi booklovers

Like last time, I'm going to be doing a collective bookhaul of the last six months (or rather, the first six months of 2016).

*January
- A murder of Crows - Anne Bishop
- Saga Volume 1 - Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

- The Final Empire - Brandon Sanderson

*February
- A Memory of Light - Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

- Trial by Fire - Josephine Angelini
- Mystic City - Theo Lawrence
- Fire & Flood - Victoria Scott
- Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor (this was a gift)

- Abraham Lincoln, vampire hunter - Seth Graeme-Smith
- The last American vampire - Seth Graeme-Smith (these were both gifts as well)

- Siege & Storm - Leigh Bardugo
- Ruin & Rising - Leigh Bardugo
- Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo

- Ice Like Fire - Sara Raasch

*March
- Written in Red - Anne Bishop
- Glass Sword - Victoria Aveyard

e-books
- Bad Romeo - Leisa Rayven
- Clipped Wings - Helena Hunting
- Amour amour - Krista & Becca Ritchie
- Kindred Spirits - Rainbow Rowell
- Walk the Edge - Katie McGarry
 
audiobooks
- The Eye of the World - Robert Jordan
 
*April
- Cruel Crown - Victoria Aveyard
- Stars Above - Marissa Meyer

- The Invasion of the Tearling - Erika Johansen

e-books
- Inked Armor - Helena Hunting
- Cracks in the Armor - Helena Hunting
- Cupcakes and Ink - Helena Hunting
- Between the cracks - Helena Hunting
 
audiobooks
- The Great Hunt - Robert Jordan

*May
- An Ember in the Ashes - Sabaa Tahir

audiobooks
- The Dragon Reborn - Robert Jordan

*June
- Little Women & Good Wives - Louisa May Alcott
- The Bone Season - Samantha Shannon
- The Crown Tower - Michael J. Sullivan
- Spellwright - Blake Charlton
- Vampire Academy graphic novel - Richelle Mead

- Fables volume 2

Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them?
 
Bye for now
 
Annelies