WWW Wednesday - May 29th / May wrap-up

Hi booklovers

I know I'm posting this two days late, but this can serve as my May wrap-up as well.

"Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!"

I found this on Nadine's blog.

The Three Ws are: 

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently reading:

It's been almost a month since I posted my last WWW Wednesday post.

I'm currently reading The Black Prism by Brent Weeks.

I've had The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks on my TBR for ages and on my last visit to Waterstones and Sterling Books I bought The Black Prism after hearing Nadine rave about this series. Last week this one was calling out to me so I decided to pick it up (even though I had just finished a chunker of a fantasy book). 

It took me a while to get into the story and at one point I was very confused, but now I'm really enjoying it. I have the next two days off, so I hope I'll be able to read a good chunk of this.

I also started listening to Limited Wish by Mark Lawrence, the sequel to One Word Kill.

I really enjoyed One Word Kill and luckily the sequel came out yesterday. The third book comes out before the end of the year.

Recently finished:

Since my last post, I managed to finish 

Brieven van Marie by Lize Feryn

This was a great addition to the first book (Marie's Diary) and the tv-series. This one takes place after the war has ended and Marie writes letters to her unborn child. It was very touching and heart-breaking at times.

Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell

This one took a very long time before the story really kicked off. I still enjoyed it and I will be continuing with the series. I still need to post my review for this :-/

3.75 stars

The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson

I loved this almost as much as the original trilogy, even it's very different in a lot of ways. I loved the characters and the Sherlock Holmes-esque vibes. Again, I still need to post my review.

These were all books I finished in April. You can check out my O.W.L.s wrap-up to see what else I read in the month of April.

In the month of May I finished two books:

Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb

This was a perfect conclusion to this wonderful trilogy. Even though this book is 900 pages I never got bored or confused. 

I'll be posting a series review of this trilogy hopefully soon.

One Word Kill by Mark Lawrence

This book was such a wonderful trip back to the decade of my childhood. I listened to this on audio and it was performed really well. Another review that is hopefully coming soon :-)

What's next?

As I'm still making my way through two books, I have absolutely no idea what I'll be picking up next. I'm hoping to read Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson in June, but other than that, I have no idea.

I've been thinking about doing a second round of the TBR readathon that Irina hosted last year, to help me pick my next read(s).

If you're interested, you can check out my TBR and wrap-up posts.

Have you read any of these books or are you planning to read any of them? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

ABC Book Challenge - B.

Hi booklovers

I saw this challenge on Thrice Read blog, you can check it out here. 

For this challenge you take a look at the most memorable books you've read that start with a certain letter of the alphabet and the books with that letter that are still on your TBR.

Last time we took a look at A, so now we move on to B. 

My most memorable reads - B:

- Blood Promise by Richelle Mead.

Books still on my TBR - B: 

- The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie.
- Bloodlines by Richelle Mead.
- Brisingr by Christopher Paolini
- The Book of Dust by Philip Pullman
- The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon
- The Black Prism by Brent Weeks
- Bones of the dragon by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman

Out of the ones still on my TBR I'm most looking forward to The Blade Itself, The Black Prism and Bloodlines. I've been meaning to start this VA spin-off for ages.

Have you read any of these?

Bye for now

Annelies

ABC Book Challenge - A

O.W.L.s readathon / April - wrap-up.

Hi booklovers

April 30th was the last day of the O.W.L.s readathon, so it's time for my wrap-up.

I didn't think it would go as well as it did, so I'm very pleasantly surprised.

I wanted to take my O.W.L.s for the career of Librarian and so I needed to read books for the following subjects: Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Defence Against the Dark Arts, History of Magic and Transfiguration.

I'm happy to say that I succeeded in taking all of these exams and then some :-)

Ancient Runes: a retelling.

I only had one option for this which was The Great Hunt by Wendy Higgins. Although, at the end of the month I realised that Wintersong - which I have on my TBR - is also a retelling.

Arithmancy:

Work written by more than one author.

I decided to read Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan.

Defence Against the Dark Arts:

Reducto: Title starts with an 'r'.

For this I chose Restore Me by Tahereh Mafi.

History of Magic:

A book published at least 10 years ago

I listened to The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan. This was originally published in 1991. I highly recommend the audiobooks for these as well, Michael Kramer and Kate Reading do an amazing job narrating these stories.

Transfiguration:

A book with sprayed edges or a red cover.

I read Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell.

3.75 stars to be precise.

Since I was apparently on a roll I decided to go for a few more subjects.

Charms:

Age-line: read an adult work.

For this I actually steered away from my TBR. This was the last exam I wanted to take and there were only a few days of the readathon left so I needed a shorter book. That's why I went for The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson.

Herbology:

A book with a plant on the cover.

Even though I was planning to use this book for another subject, I decided to read Brieven van Marie by Lize Feryn for this subject.

Muggle Studies:

A contemporary book.

Since I was on Easter break, I decided to pick up a New Adult contemporary, which was The Destiny of Violet and Luke by Jessica Sorensen.

Potions:

Next ingredient: a sequel.

For this I also didn't stick to my TBR, but I went for Shadow Me by Tahereh Mafi. After finishing Restore Me, I really wanted to read this novella from Kenji's POV.

Those were the 9 books I read for the O.W.L.s. I even managed to squeeze in one more book that didn't count towards any of the subjects.

The Probability of Violet & Luke by Jessica Sorensen.

I've never read 10 books in a month so I'm calling this readathon (+ 1 extra read) a big success.

Have you read any of these? If so, what did you think of them?

Did you take part in the readathon? How did it go?

Bye for now

Annelies

The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson - non-spoiler review

Hi booklovers

I know it's been a while since I did a book review (over a year :-s ) but I don't always find the time to properly write down my thoughts on the books I've read. (I first write them by hand and then type them and since English isn't my native language, this can be time consuming :-s )

The book I'll be reviewing today is a book I've read twice in the last two years: 

Title: The Final Empire

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Genre / audience: High fantasy / adult

Format: paperback

Pages: 647

Release date: July 25th 2006

Story:

In a world where ash falls from the sky, and mist dominates the night, an evil cloaks the land and stifles all life. The future of the empire rests on the shoulders of a troublemaker and his young apprentice. Together, can they fill the world with color once more?

Characters:

Vin: she's a Skaa girl who knows she has powers, but at the same time doesn't know the full extent of them. Vin is one of the characters that goes through a huge character-growth, going from a shy and scared girl to a confident Allomancer. But even though she becomes more confident, she is still flawed: she doubts herself, she makes mistakes... We also get to see her in different settings - Vin the street urchin, the Allomancer and Valette the young courtier.

Kelsier: he's a flamboyant Skaa who wants to overthrow the Lord Ruler. He's also an Allomancer and Vin's mentor. From the moment we meet him, all his plans seem to be crazy. But when it comes to it, he is actually a master strategist. It was very interesting to see what drives him to do the things he does. I love how we also got his backstory. At the same time we also see how he mentors Vin and prepares her for the future he has set in motion.

Sazed: he is a very intriguing character. At first you think he is an Allomancer but he's actually a SPOILER Feruchemist. Sazed is one of my favourite characters from this trilogy. He's always so calm and always wants to help. I love how he is Vin's second mentor and how he basically plays the part of the father she never had.

Elend: he is not your typical nobleman. He doesn't enjoy all the balls and social gatherings he has to attend. He shows defiance by reading during those gatherings, which I thought was great. He also dares to question things. He wants to know more about the Skaa because he doesn't want to follow the mainstream opinion about them blindly.

The Lord Ruler: We only get a glimpse of him but from that glimpse we can tell that he is a very complex and multilayered character.
SPOILER I never realized the servant is actually the Lord Ruler himself.

Crew members:
I'm not going to go into detail about the other crew members, because there are quite a few of them. What I will say is that I love how they each have very distinct personalities. Even though they sometimes seem to be one anothers opposites, they complement each other as well. Every single one of them has a role to play and each one is a piece of the puzzle.

Plot/worldbuilding/overall rating:
I have to admit that I was really daunted by the size of this book and I was afraid that this would be a slow read. The book proved me wrong on both things. It is so well-written and the worldbuilding is so good that it actually reads fairly easy and fast. Alternating between the physical book and the audiobook also helped speed up my reading.

I did find the magic system a bit confusing at first, but once I got the hang of it, it was more comprehensible. That being said, it was also unique and intriguing. Allomancers can burn metals in their stomach and use the powers associated with the metals (there is actually a whole description of the metals and their allomantic use included in the book). 

SPOILER An Allomancer can only use one kind of metal, but a Mistborn can use all ten metals.

The story was very action-packed and fast-paced and the action scenes were so well-written that you actually felt like you were in the middle of it all.

The worldbuilding is phenomenal, the amount of details that Sanderson provides us with is unbelievable. The way he describes the cities, the Skaa plantations, the noblemen's houses, the caves, the constantly falling ash, the mists at night...

There is a budding romance in the story, but it definitely isn't the main focus of the story.

Needless to say I loved this book and I rated it 

both times I read it.

Have you read this? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

ABC book challenge - A (revised).

Hi booklovers

I saw this challenge on Thrice Read blog, you can take a look at it here. (I've done this post before, but never continued with the letter 'B', so I decided to start anew and revise the first one.)

For this challenge you take a look at the most memorable books you've read that start with a certain letter of the alphabet and the books with that letter that are still on your TBR.

Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

My most memorable reads - A:

- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Caroll

- A Thousand Pieces of You & A Million Worlds With You - Claudia Gray

- Assassin's Apprentice - Robin Hobb 

- ACOMAF and ACOWAR - Sarah J. Maas 

- Amy & Roger's Epic Detour - Morgan Matson

- Abhorsen - Garth Nix

- The Amber Spyglass - by Philip Pulman
(I've read these last two ages ago and I can scarcely remember anything from both stories. I'm probably going to reread them at one point. I also read Abhorsen in Dutch and I really want to read it in English.)

Books still on my TBR - A:

- Antrax - Terry Brooks 

- Angelfall - Susan Ee 
- Ace of Shades - Amanda Foody

- Abraham Licoln, Vampire Hunter - Seth Grahame Smith

- A Crown of Swords / A Memory of Light - Robert Jordan - Brandon Sanderson
- A Storm of Swords / A Feast for Crows / A Dance with Dragons - George R.R. Martin

- The Alloy of Law - Brandon Sanderson (I actually started reading this on Wednesday)

Do you see any of your favourites? Let me know in the comments.

Next time - the letter B.

Bye for now

Annelies

WWW Wednesday - April 24th

Hi booklovers

"Welcome to WWW Wednesday! This meme was formerly hosted by MizB at A Daily Rhythm and revived on Taking on a World of Words. Just answer the three questions below and leave a link to your post in the comments for others to look at. No blog? No problem! Just leave a comment with your responses. Please, take some time to visit the other participants and see what others are reading. So, let’s get to it!"

I found this on Nadine's blog.

The Three Ws are: 

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently reading:

I'm still reading three books (two of which I started this morning):

I'm still reading Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell.

I'm slowly making my way through this. I'm reading this for my Transfiguration O.W.L. and I really want to finish it because that would mean that I completed all of the subjects for my career as a Librarian.

There is still 1 week left of the readathon and I'm hoping to complete two more subjects with my other current reads:

The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson

I've been meaning to read Mistborn Era 2 for a while now. I've heard mixed things about but I think the trick is not to compare it too much to Era 1. The characters and storyline are completely different.

This would go towards my Charms O.W.L.

Brieven van Marie by Lize Feryn

(Marie's letters)

This is a companion to the Flemish tv-series 'In Flanders Fields' and the sequel to 'Dagboek van Marie' (Marie's diary). Both these books were written by the actress who played the part of Marie in the tv-series. She wanted to explore the story more by writing texts and making beautiful drawings. This one is about her life after WWI.

I would use this for my Herbology O.W.L.

Recently finished:

The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan

I finished the audiobook yesterday and I loved it. This is book two in the Wheel of Time series.

This is really classic fantasy, it's very elaborate in its worldbuilding and character development, but it's wonderful. But I've still got quite a few books to go since this is a 14 books series.

This was for my History of Magic O.W.L.

 The Probability of Violet & Luke by Jessica Sorensen

Last week I said that I found the first book about Violet & Luke to have a bit too much angst and that I feared this one might suffer from the same problem. I thought this one to was a bit better. The angsty parts weren't dragged out as much as in the previous book. I started the next book about Violet & Luke, but I put it back down because I couldn't focus on it.

What's next?

Since I've only just started two new books, I don't think I'll be able to read anything else before the end of the month.

Have you read any of these books or are you planning to read any of them? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies

Beat the Backlist - reading challenge (April) check-in.

Hi booklovers

At the beginning of the year I committed myself to reading 24 books that were published before 2019.

Since it's already April, I thought it was time for a check-in.

It was actually going pretty well so I decided to up the amount of books I want to read from 24 to 30 (and I'm still 10 books ahead of schedule). Funny thing is my total GR goal for this year is 30. I'm not going to up that amount.

Out of the books I put on my Beat the Backlist TBR, let's see how many I've actually read:

*The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie

*The Hazelwood - Melissa Albert

*The Cruel Prince - Holly Black

*Three Dark Crowns - Kendare Blake

*The Painted Man - Peter V. Brett

*The Furies of Calderon - Jim Butcher

*The Red Knight - Miles Cameron

*Priestess of the White - Trudi Canavan

*Spellwright - Blake Charlton

*The Last Namsara - Kristen Ciccarelli

*Spellslinger - Sebastien de Castell (I'm currently reading this one)

*Knight's Shadow - Sebastien de Castell

*Even the Darkest Star - Heather Fawcett

*Malice - John Gwynne

*The Mad Ship - Robin Hobb

*King of Thorns - Mark Lawrence

*Clariel - Garth Nix

*The Colour of Magic - Terry Pratchett

*The Alloy of Law - Brandon Sanderson

*Warbreaker - Brandon Sanderson

*The Way of Kings (pt 1) - Brandon Sanderson

*The Crown Tower - Michael J. Sullivan

*The Way of Shadows - Brent Weeks

Which backlist books have I read instead? These are in reading order.

*Alphas Like Us - Krista & Becca Ritchie
*Unravel Me - Tahereh Mafi
*Days of Blood and Starlight - Laini Taylor
*Saga volume 9 - Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples
*The Mad Ship - Robin Hobb
*Fracture Me - Tahereh Mafi
*Sleeping Giants - Sylvain Neuvel
*Waking Gods - Sylvain Neuvel
*The Redemption of Callie and Kayden - Jessica Sorensen
*Dreams of Gods and Monsters - Laini Taylor
*Girls: conception - The Luna Brothers
*Gils: emergence - The Luna Brothers
*Ignite Me - Tahereh Mafi
*Only Human - Sylvain Neuvel
*Restore Me - Tahereh Mafi
*The Destiny of Violet & Luke - Jessica Sorensen
*Paper Girls - Brian K. Vaughan
*The Great Hunt - Wendy Higgins

Have I lowered my physical TBR? Nope, simply because I've been buying books, reading e-books, rereading books and listening to audiobooks :-s

I'm going to continue focusing on reading backlist books from my physical TBR. At the same time there are some series I want to continue, but I still need to get the next book(s).

I'll be checking in with this challenge again in July.

Have you been able to reduce your (physical) TBR yet this year?

Are there any books on my TBR you think I should get to first? Let me know in the comments.

Bye for now

Annelies