Category Archives: Month/Year In Review

Best of… March 2019 @paperfury

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I had originally decided to include this new feature in my monthly wrap ups, but I just felt there were too many facts squeezed into one little post and the whole purpose of putting my favorite reads in the spotlight was lost. So this is me giving those favorites their well deserved extra attention! I had not one, but TWO new 5 star reads in March, and both were absolutely fantastic. Picking just one winner was so SO hard! But I did it, so without further delay, March 2019’s favorite is… *drumroll*

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A Thousand Perfect Notes by C.G. Drews!! (aka Paperfury) I can’t believe it took me this long to pick up her debut, and I’m still kicking myself because it completely blew me away. I can’t wait for my pre-order copy of her new book to arrive; any day now! (crossing fingers and toes)

What I said in my review:

“The power of A Thousand Perfect Notes is in its characters. Both Beck, August and Joey are so easy to love; you will adopt them straight away and your heart will ache for them as the plot evolves.”

“A Thousand Perfect Notes will make you laugh and cry and the characters will stay with you for a long time. It’s a fantastic contemporary read which balances happy moments and a romantic interest with a thousand musical notes and a dark twist.”

Click here for my full review

Like I mentioned, I had one other 5 star read in March (The Travelling Cat Chronicles). A further six books received a 4,5 star rating (one a reread), but I’ve decided to only include three of these to avoid this post from going on forever. I loved all six though! But the other three above stood out just a tiny bit above the others. In the order I’ve read them, starting with my other 5 star read :

What I said in my review:

“The Travelling Cat Chronicles is the perfect book for anyone who enjoys being around cats. It’s so easy to relate to this wonderful story!”

“The Travelling Cat Chronicles is a fantastic read I could see myself reading over and over again.”

Click here for my full review

What I said in my review:

“Rene Denfeld did a fantastic job combining the different elements, waving them together in such a way that will leave you speechless by the time you reach the final page. ”

“The writing, the magical realism, the characters, the contrast of the fantastical and brutal reality… It’s true that The Enchanted is not for everyone, but the right person will be just as enchanted as I found myself to be.”

Click here for my full review

What I said in my review:

“I’ve become an instant Jane Harper fan. What a fantastic read! The setting, the writing style, the plot and character development: I found each element to be extremely well executed and I can see why this debut has received so much love”

“The author did a fantastic job of setting the right atmosphere for this story and portray what the weather and lack of rain can do to a whole town.”

Click here for my full review

What I said in my review:

“With this new story she has once again proven to me she belongs on my list of favorite authors. What a read!”

“A truly unique rock ‘n roll story that is ready to rock your socks off.”

Click here for my full review

Have you read any of these titles above? What did you think of them? What were your favorite reads in March?

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You can also find me at Goodreads. Twitter. Instagram. Facebook. Bloglovin’.

Month In Review: March 2019

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March turned out to be another busy month where I celebrated my birthday, filled my shelves with new books and ordered some more and where I finally stepped up my Bookstagram game. The weather has been going crazy down here, going from heat to rain and cold weather and back again… Preventing us from going on another camping trip and resulting in me having to prepare the garden for winter early. Bad weather did mean I was able to read a lot more than expected… And I’ve been having fun preparing for this month’s Magical Readathon as well.

Now to the bookish numbers:

  • Number of books read in March: 24
  • Total number of books read this year: 71
  • Total number of pages read in March: 7.811
  • Total number of pages read this year: 23.320

March turned out to be an excellent month and I definitely read way more than anticipated. I managed to get two! new 5 star reads and a whole pile of other excellent reads as well… I did have another DNF, but with only three books with a rating below 3 stars in total I’m calling March a success.

MARCH READS

5 STARS: Absolutely and entirely mind blowing! I suggest you to pick up a copy now.

A Thousand Perfect Notes – by C.G. Drews // The Travelling Cat Chronicles – by Hiro Arikawa

4.5 STARS: This one was almost perfect. Surely fantastic! 

And Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer And Longer – by Fredrik Backman // The Bones She Buried – by Lisa Regan // The Enchanted – by Rene Denfeld // The Dry – by Jane Harper // Harry Potter Y El Cáliz De Fuego (reread) – by J.K. Rowling // Daisy Jones & The Six – by Taylor Jenkins Reid

4 STARS: Wow, this was really good. Close to amazing!

The Secret Child – by Caroline Mitchell // The Courier – by Kjell Ola Dahl // Verity – by Colleen Hoover // Wicked Saints – by Emily A. Duncan // We Are Of Dust – by Clare Coombes // Wolfhunter River – by Rachel Caine

3.5 STARS: Great read. Really entertaining!

The Fever King – by Victoria Lee // Then She Was Gone – by Lisa Jewell // Tell The Wolves I’m Home – by Carol Rika Brunt 

3 STARS: It was a nice read, but not fantastic.  

Here We Are Now – by Jasmine Warga // Smoke And Key – by Kelsey Sutton // I Know You – by Erik Therme // Every Exquisite Thing – by Matthew Quick

2 STARS: It was ok. But mostly ‘meh’.

The Fourth Courier – by Timothy Jay Smith // 99 Percent Mine – by Sally Thorne

0 STARS (DNF): I didn’t even bother to finish this one. Either horrible or definitely not for me!

Fat Angie: Rebel Girl Revolution –  by E.E. Charlton-Trujillo

I joined more challenges than initially planned in 2019, but I feel all have doable goals that shouldn’t take too much work to finish. Things are going way better than planned so far! I’ll need to keep an eye on the Reading Through The Centuries one though because it’s going to be tricky to get enough new years in otherwise. But it looks like the other challenges are well on track without even trying. Not bad at all. 😉

# CHALLENGES #

As for my other goals… Things are going better than expected! I managed to reread my second book of the year (also counts as my first Spanish read) so that’s one less goal to worry about! I failed to keep my ARC/backlist title ratio below the 40% limit though, but that is no surprise because I have a huge pile of ARCs pending. My TBR pile in general is pretty hopeless as well, but at least I’m well on track with my TBR jar picks, so that’s something. xD

# OTHER READING/BLOGGING GOALS #

  • Read at least 3 (modern) classics (rereads don’t count) 3/3 DONE!! (The Painted Veil // The Big Sleep // A Wrinkle In Time)
  • Complete at least 10 series (rereads don’t count) 4/10 (Anastasia Phoenix // The Conqueror’s Saga // Women Are Some Kind Of Magic // Fire And Thorns)
  • Reread at least 2 books 2/2 DONE!! (The BFG // Harry Potter Y El Caliz De Fuego)
  • Bring my physical TBR pile below 450 books and keep it that way. 580/450
  • Read at least one book over 800 pages 1/1 DONE!! (813 pages; Colombiano)
  • Keep ARC/backlist title ratio below 40% 40,8%
  • Read at least 2 books in Spanish 1/2 (Harry Potter Y El Cáliz De Fuego)
  • Read at least 1 book in Dutch 0/1
  • Read at least 15 international authors and/or translations  6/15 (Mala Vida (France) // The Painted Veil (France) // When Dimple Met Rishi (India) // And Every Morning The Way Home Gets Longer And Longer (Sweden) // The Courier (Norway) // The Travelling Cat Chronicles (Japan))
  • Read at least 10 TBR jar picks 4/10 (The Insect Farm // The Shattering // Be Frank With Me // Tell The Wolves I’m Home)
  • Join at least 5 challenges during the year 5/5 DONE!!
  • Keep my Netgalley ratio above the 80% 94%

Happy April and Happy Reading! 

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You can also find me at Goodreads. Twitter. Instagram. Facebook. Bloglovin’.

Best Of… February 2019 @aharmon_author @AmazonPub @groveatlantic

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I had originally decided to include this new feature in my monthly wrap ups, but I just felt there were too many facts squeezed into one little post and the whole purpose of putting my favorite reads in the spotlight was lost. So this is me giving those favorites their well deserved extra attention! I think most people will be able to guess what my favorite read of February was, especially since it is one of my favorite authors in general and also my second 5 star read of the year. Without further delay, February 2019’s favorite is… *drumroll*

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What The Wind Knows by Amy Harmon!! I’m a huge fan of her work in general and this newest story simply blew me away. What an absolutely stunning read!

What I said in my review:

“The writing and plot development are sublime. The writing style will have you under its spell from the very first page and the beautiful prose is one of the reasons I already know What The Wind Knows will appear on my list of 2019 favorites.”

“What The Wind Knows is wonderful romance story with a time travel twist set in a turbulent time of Ireland history. Beautifully crafted and simply splendid!”

Click here for my full review

I read two books with a 4,5 star rating in February. Both have foreign settings and include historical facts in their story (although completely different eras). In fact, all three books of this post represent some part of the past! It must be one of the first times a mystery/thriller read didn’t make the list haha. Both books mentioned above are without doubt excellent reads and deserve all the praise. In the order I’ve read them:

What I said in my review:

“Colombiano is hands down one of the best books I’ve read so far this year and definitely worth your time if the topic interests you. Between the writing style, characters, descriptions and plot you will have no idea this story is that long as you will find yourself turning those pages with gusto.”

“Facts and fiction are mixed in a way that will give you both a goldmine of intriguing information about the conflicts between guerrilla, army and autodefensa as well as offering you a fascinating story and main character to follow. ”

Click here for my full review

Snippets of my upcoming review:

“This was such a stunning and absolutely fantastic read! It becomes clear from the beginning that the power of The Bird King is in the prose, attention to historical details and the hint of magical realism in part of the elements.”

“The historical setting, details and descriptions are perfectly elaborated with a gorgeous and magical prose you will cannot help but fall in love with. The pace of this story is slow, but it will make it that much easier to fully savour every single chapter and detail of their journey.”

MY REVIEW WILL BE POSTED ON MARCH 10th!!

Have you read any of these titles above? What did you think of them? What were your favorite reads in February?

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You can also find me at Goodreads. Twitter. Instagram. Facebook. Bloglovin’.

Month In Review: February 2019

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February turned out to be a busy month including a few days away visiting friends out of town, but somehow I managed to read a lot anyway. Definitely not what I was expecting! The weather has been crazy this summer, with 35+°C temperatures being mixed with almost freezing days… I’m seriously hoping winter won’t be coming early this year! *fingers crossed* Also, as you might have noticed, I haven’t been as active bloghopping and on social media recently. While I miss being around more, I really need the downtime to relax and not end up in a slump again… On the brighter side, I have been using Instagram more lately.

February was also the month I won my very first physical book giveaway ever, and a preorder I have been looking forward to as well. I can’t wait for it to be April so I can have it in my hands! ❤ And I tried ordering from Bookdepository for the first time last month (I wasn’t sure about the shipping in Argentina with customs problems and all, but Argentinian bloggers assured me things would work out), and my first batch of books arrived so fast! ❤ I also ordered a few more in February, and they just got here the other day as well. I’m probably going to do a Bookdepository book haul post soon!

Now to the bookish numbers:

  • Number of books read in February: 19
  • Total number of books read this year: 47
  • Total number of pages read in February: 6.809
  • Total number of pages read this year: 15.609

February turned out to be quite a good month with a second 5 star read and a few others that were excellent as well. I did have my first DNF of the year and a few 3 star or below ratings, but overall not bad at all. I can’t believe how many of my books had either a purple or blue cover! It almost seems like I did it on purpose haha.

FEBRUARY READS

5 STARS: Absolutely and entirely mind blowing! I suggest you to pick up a copy now.

What The Wind Knows – by Amy Harmon

4.5 STARS: This one was almost perfect. Surely fantastic! 

Colombiano – by Rusty Young // The Bird King – by G. Willow Wilson

4 STARS: Wow, this was really good. Close to amazing!

A Wrinkle In Time – by Madeleine D’Engle // The Mermaid’s Voice Returns In This One – by Amanda Lovelace // What If It’s Us – by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera // The Bitter Kingdom – by Rae Carson // An American Marriage –  by Tayari Jones // To Make Monsters Out Of Girls – by Amanda Lovelace // Moon Over Soho – by Ben Aaronovitch

3.5 STARS: Great read. Really entertaining!

Friend Request – by Laura Marshall // Until The Day I Die – by Emily Carpenter // Wintergirls – by Laurie Halse Anderson

3 STARS: It was a nice read, but not fantastic.  

Mona Lisas And Little White Lies – by John Herrick // The Pumilio Child – by Judy McInerney // The Woman In The Window – by A.J. Finn

2.5 STARS: I give this one the benefit of the doubt. Nothing too exciting.

Half Lies – by Sally Green // Be Frank With Me – by Julia Claiborne Johnson

0 STARS (DNF): I didn’t even bother to finish this one. Either horrible or definitely not for me!

Shatter Me – by Tahereh Mafi

I joined more challenges than initially planned in 2019, but I feel all have doable goals that shouldn’t take too much work to finish. Things are going way better than planned so far! I’ll need to keep an eye on the Reading Through The Centuries one since it’s always tricky to get new years in (I read three classics but I already had those years listed). But it looks like the other challenges are well on track without even trying. Not bad at all. 😉

# CHALLENGES #

As for my other goals… Things are going better than expected! I have somehow managed to read both my 3 classics and my 800+ pages book already, so that’s two goals less to think about… The series, rereads and TBR jar picks are also looking good. My NG ratio is still going strong, although I do have about 20 pending titles on my shelves. xD I’ll have to be careful with my ARC/backlist title ratio though, because it’s getting close to that 40% limit… I’m not sure if I will be able to keep it below that in March, because I have a huge pile of ARCs pending.

# OTHER READING/BLOGGING GOALS #

  • Read at least 3 (modern) classics (rereads don’t count) 3/3 DONE!! (The Painted Veil // The Big Sleep // A Wrinkle In Time)
  • Complete at least 10 series (rereads don’t count) 4/10 (Anastasia Phoenix // The Conqueror’s Saga // Women Are Some Kind Of Magic // Fire And Thorns)
  • Reread at least 2 books 1/2 (The BFG)
  • Bring my physical TBR pile below 450 books and keep it that way. 528/450
  • Read at least one book over 800 pages 1/1 DONE!! (813 pages; Colombiano)
  • Keep ARC/backlist title ratio below 40% 38,3%
  • Read at least 2 books in Spanish 0/2 
  • Read at least 1 book in Dutch 0/1
  • Read at least 15 international authors and/or translations  3/15 (Mala Vida (France) // The Painted Veil (France) // When Dimple Met Rishi (India))
  • Read at least 10 TBR jar picks 3/10 (The Insect Farm // The Shattering // Be Frank With Me)
  • Join at least 5 challenges during the year 5/5 DONE!!
  • Keep my Netgalley ratio above the 80% 93%

Happy March and Happy Reading! 

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You can also find me at Goodreads. Twitter. Instagram. Facebook. Bloglovin’.

Best Of… January 2019 @bookouture

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I have just realized I completely forgot to share my January favorites with all of you! But better late than never right? It’s always a good time to spread the book love… ❤

I had originally decided to include this new feature in my monthly wrap ups, but I just felt there were too many facts squeezed into one little post and the whole purpose of putting my favorite reads in the spotlight was lost. So this is me giving those favorites their well deserved extra attention! I think most people will be able to guess what my favorite read of January was, especially since it was my very first 5 star read of the year. Without further delay, January 2019’s favorite is… *drumroll*

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Finding Grace by K.L. Slater!! I’m a huge fan of her psychological thrillers and this newest story that has recently hit the story simply blew me away. Highly highly recommended if you enjoy the genre!

What I said in my review:

“I literally cancelled all plans, sat down and devoured Finding Grace in one sitting. Yes, it was just THAT good.”

“Well written, intriguing, suspenseful, complex and nailbitingly good.”

Click here for my full review

There were four titles with a 4,5 star rating in January. I love that they belong to a variety of different genres! All four of them are without doubt excellent reads and deserve all the praise! In the order I’ve read them:

What I said in my review:

“Don’t let the shortness of these little gems fool you, because there is a lot to love in each story and the only downside is that it will leave you wanting for more.”

“I loved the whimsical, nonsense and basically impossible quest the main characters find themselves on in Beneath The Sugar Sky.”

Click here for my full review

What I said in my review:

“The power behind Ghost Boys is the twelve-year-old Jerome, who gives the fatal consequence of racism a face and will make your heart break.”

“The writing will draw you in right away, your heart will ache for Jerome and those close to him and you will feel the powerful message behind the story long before you reach the final page.”

Click here for my full review 

What I said in my review:

“The historical setting, the references to Vlad The Impaler, the worldbuilding, the descriptions, the writing, the characters… There is so much to love here and I have enjoyed every single minute I spent emerged in this world. “

“I can definitely say is that The Conqueror’s Saga ends stronger than ever.”

Click here for my full review

What I said in my review:

“I loved that in the beginning you are completely unaware of the type of story you are about to read, only learning about the full extension of it all when things are already spinning out of control. The plot development and execution of plot twists and suspense are both sublime”

“Exquisite is an excellent psychological thriller that will give you all the feels and will most definitely manage to shock you before you reach the final page. Simply exquisite and absolutely worth the read if you enjoy the genre!”

Click here for my full review

Have you read any of these titles above? What did you think of them? What were your favorite reads in January?

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You can also find me at Goodreads. Twitter. Instagram. Facebook. Bloglovin’.

Month In Review: January 2019

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January has passed way too fast, although I’m glad it’s over because it means less days until the summer is over. I know some of you are freezing right now, but I’ll swap with the 35+°C humidity we have here if you want. (I never thought I would say this, but I prefer freezing over that torture.) January turned out to be an excellent reading month despite some DIY and a camping trip (just one of the trips we planned, we had to cancel the other due to excessive rainfall). I definitely didn’t expect to read this many books! But it turns out that most of my picks were either short or superfast reads in the first place.

Now to the bookish numbers:

  • Number of books read in January: 28
  • Total number of books read this year: 28
  • Total number of pages read in January: 8.800
  • Total number of pages read this year: 8.800

I started 2019 well with my first 5 star read already and a lot of other good reads… I did get eleven books with a 3 star rating or below, but overall I’m definitely satisfied with this month.

JANUARY READS

5 STARS: Absolutely and entirely mind blowing! I suggest you to pick up a copy now.

Finding Grace – by K.L. Slater

4.5 STARS: This one was almost perfect. Surely fantastic! 

Beneath The Sugar Sky – by Seanan McGuire // Ghost Boys – by Jewell Parker Rhodes // Bright We Burn – by Kiersten White // Exquisite – by Sarah Stovell

4 STARS: Wow, this was really good. Close to amazing!

The Crown Of Embers – by Rae Carson // Mala Vida – by Marc Fernandez // The Treatment – by C.L. Taylor // The BFG – by Roald Dahl // The Winter Sister – by Megan Collins // The Last Time I Lied – by Riley Sager // The Psychology Of Time Travel – by Kate Mascarenhas // When Dimple Met Rishi – by Sandhya Menon // Two Can Keep A Secret – by Karen M. McManus

3.5 STARS: Great read. Really entertaining!

The Couple On Cedar Close – by Anna-Lou Weatherley // A Tragic Kind Of Wonderful – by Eric Lindstrom // End Of The Lie – by Diana Rodriguez Wallach

3 STARS: It was a nice read, but not fantastic.  

The Kiss Quotient – by Helen Hoang // Heart Berries – by Terese Marie Mailhot // The Insect Farm – by Stuart Prebble // Here And Now And Then – by Mike Chen // The Painted Veil – by W. Somerset Maugham // The Familiars – by Stacey Halls // The Shattering – by Karen Healey 

2.5 STARS: I give this one the benefit of the doubt. Nothing too exciting.

Artemis – by Andy Weir // We Told Six Lies – by Victoria Scott // The Big Sleep – by Raymond Chandler

2 STARS: It was ok. But mostly ‘meh’.

How To Experience Death For Beginners – by Jessica Branton

I joined more challenges than initially planned in 2019, but I feel all have doable goals that shouldn’t take too much work to finish. Things are going way better than planned so far! I’ll need to keep an eye on the Reading Through The Centuries one since it’s always tricky to get new years in (I read two classics but I already had those years listed). But it looks like the other challenges are well on track without even trying. Not bad at all. 😉

# CHALLENGES #

As for my other goals… Again things are going way better than planned. I’ve already read two classics, did a reread and finished two series. I also managed to read three international authors/translations already as well as two TBR jar picks. My NG ratio is still going strong, although I do have about 18 pending titles on my shelves. xD I’m also very very happy that my ARC/backlist title ratio is that low! I’m definitely aiming to keep it that way and keep reading those poor backlist titles in the rest of 2019.

# OTHER READING/BLOGGING GOALS #

  • Read at least 3 (modern) classics (rereads don’t count) 2/3 (The Painted Veil // The Big Sleep)
  • Complete at least 10 series (rereads don’t count) 2/10 (Anastasia Phoenix // The Conqueror’s Saga)
  • Reread at least 2 books 1/2 (The BFG)
  • Bring my physical TBR pile below 450 books and keep it that way. 528/450
  • Read at least one book over 800 pages 0/1 (416 pages; The Crown Of Embers)
  • Keep ARC/backlist title ratio below 40% 35,7%
  • Read at least 2 books in Spanish 0/2 
  • Read at least 1 book in Dutch 0/1
  • Read at least 15 international authors and/or translations  3/15 (Mala Vida (France) // The Painted Veil (France) // When Dimple Met Rishi (India))
  • Read at least 10 TBR jar picks 2/10 (The Insect Farm // The Shattering)
  • Join at least 5 challenges during the year 5/5 DONE!!
  • Keep my Netgalley ratio above the 80% 94%

Happy February and Happy Reading! 

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You can also find me at Goodreads. Twitter. Instagram. Facebook. Bloglovin’.

TOP 20 Best Books Of 2018

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I know everybody including the neigbor’s cat already posted their list of 2018 favorites, but I thought: one more list isn’t going to hurt anyone, right? Plus I wanted to put my absolute favorite stories of 2018 in a proper spotlight. Somehow I managed to read a whopping 245! books last year, something I still can’t wrap my head around. And somehow, even with so many books, only 7 books managed to receive the full 5 star rating last year. This is extremely low even for me, and I think I’ve been way too critical with my ratings in 2018… On a brighter side, no less than 52 books received a 4,5 star rating, which means I still pretty much loved them anyway. And since there are lots of titles I feel deserve a spotlight, I’ve decided to make this a TOP 20 instead of naming only ten books. And to cheat even further, there are a few authors that I read and loved multiple books of last year, so I’m cheating and counting each author as just one. 😉

Curious about which titles made my list yet? I’m sure there is one title that won’t be surprise for you, since I’ve been raving about it ever since I finished it and deserves the extra love in the form of being named my absolute favorite read of 2018. And that title is…

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