American Royals by Katharine McGee | Scandals, drama and gossip of the American monarchy!

When I was just out of high school, I was obsessed with the Gossip Girl TV show with Blake Lively as Serena and Leighton Meester as Blair, this TV show was the most stylish drama of my youth. It was actually my high school boyfriend who introduced me to the show, I remember that we watched some episodes together.

If you’ve never seen Gossip Girl, it’s the most addicting show that follows the lives of privileged teens in the upper east side, NYC. I was always wondered what was the budget of this series considering the settings and some of the most iconic wardrobes. I loved Serena’s style ❤ 

Much later, I’ve watched a couple of episodes of another TV show, called «The Royals». Basically, again the drama infused story about the royal family showcasing all the luxury but also the lack of privacy that comes with that life. 

«American Royals» is a perfect mix of these two shows, following the lives of royal children – Princess Beatrice, the eldest and the heir to the throne, and Princess Samantha and Prince Jeff – the twins who are always loud and in trouble. Every family, especially royal, needs a couple of troublemakers.

Advertisements

Book Series I’m afraid to commit to | Ft. Book series & Books on my TBR I’m avoiding reading

As I sat down this Saturday to prepare my posts for the upcoming week, I instantly realized how perfect this week’s TTT (Top Ten Tuesday) topic is – Books On My TBR I’m Avoiding Reading and Why (maybe you’re scared of it, worried it won’t live up to the hype, etc.)! 

I’ve recently started a blog series about book series (this is my favorite phrase! 😀 ) with the first one being Book series I need to finish, focusing primarily on the unfinished trilogies that I have quite a lot of. 

P.S. I still haven’t read any of the last books in the trilogies mentioned in that post. I will! I promise I will! It just takes me a while to actually get to them.

I thought I’d take this opportunity to combine book series with the TTT topic and talk about Book Series I’m afraid to commit to! 

Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

This has happened again! Just like with «Miracle Creek» by Angie Kim, «Ten Thousand Doors of January» by Alix E. Harrow didn’t grab my attention enough to care about the characters or the destiny of different worlds. And while in my review of «Miracle Creek» I mentioned that there wasn’t anything I hated about the book, in «Ten Thousand Doors of January» I can say with confidence that I would have enjoyed this book so much more if not for the writing style. 

After seeing such a warm and loving feedback from the bookish community for this Alix E. Harrow novel, I’m very disappointed that I didn’t love it. And, although, my opinion is in minority, I still saw those 2 and 3 stars reviews on GoodReads of people who felt similarly to me. 

The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker | “Isn’t the future always an imaginary thing before it comes?”

If you go into this book hoping to get a thrilling science fiction world setting, you’ll be disappointed. This is a Literary Fiction with just a little bit of a dystopian element that helps to propel the plot forward. This is a book that focuses heavily on characters’ choices, believes, their wishes and dreams. 

«The Dreamers» by Karen Thompson Walker isn’t a book for everyone. Surprisingly, after a very “rough” start, I slowly fell in love with the story and many beautiful quotes.

September 2019 | Monthly Goals – «Gardens of the Moon» buddy read!

Summer flew by so quickly this year. It was hectic, busy with tons of tourists around. They haven’t all left yet, but I’m already anticipating the emptier roads, less traffic and supermarkets without huge lines. 

September will be a busier month work and studies wise, but I’m still planning to take at least one week off work and maybe go somewhere or decompress a little bit before jumping into another busy year. 

August 2019 Wrap Up | Failing NEWTs and increased “ARC”-load!

To summarize my August reading experience let’s just say that I did EVERYTHING, including writing reviews (Crazy! I know!), except reading books I carefully picked for my NEWTs TBR. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Was I expecting this to happen? 

Honestly, after such a great experience of the reading rush read-a-thon, I thought I’d be able to read tons of books in August – the ones on my TBR and the ones that didn’t make it to my NEWTs TBR. I’m slightly disappointed with myself, but I don’t think I could have forced myself to read more. 

The Harry Potter Book Tag | Beware of the spoilers!

As we are getting closer to the end of August, which means the end of the NEWTs read-a-thon (with me miserably failing to read the books on my NEWTs TBR), I’ve decided to cheer myself up a bit with a Sunday morning dedicated to all things Harry Potter. 

I put my Harry Potter t-shirt, made myself a cup of tea in a Harry Potter mug, put the first movie on TV and sat down to write the Harry Potter book tag. This Sunday is starting magically! 

Big thank you to my dear friend Jenna from Bookmark Your Thoughts, who thoughtfully nominated me to do this book tag! I feel like all of you already know and love Jenna’s blog (and her amazing personality), but if you, for some reason, are not familiar with her, please make sure to follow this link and befriend one of the kindest and nicest people in the bookish blogosphere! 

The Hive by Barry Lyga, Morgan Baden | Not as good as I expected it to be.

I wish I could say that Barry Lyga swept me off my feet with his recently released new novel «The Hive». I wish I could say that it was the most amazing sci-fi I’ve read in a very long time. At least, these were my expectations going into this book. But it didn’t deliver. 

We all know that creating too many expectations can go very wrong sometimes, and this was probably the case. While I loved the somewhat dystopian world created by Barry Lyga, I didn’t care for Cassie and believed her character to be very shallow and undeveloped.

ARCs I’ve read that made me want to purchase the final copy of the book!

This week’s TTT (Top Ten Tuesday) theme is Books I’ve Read That I’d Like In My Personal Library. Since I don’t use the local library, I’ll be talking about my e-books, specifically e-galleys, that I’d love to have a physical copy of. 

Receiving ARCs (Advanced Reader’s Copy) from NetGalley or Publishers always makes me feel so happy and grateful for the chance to read the book before its publication date, to share my thoughts with all of you and just keep the book conversation going. But there are definitely those stories that I instantly fall in love with and desire more than anything to purchase the final copy of the book to display it on my bookshelves! 

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo | The book that pulled me out of a reading slump!

«Shadow and Bone» by Leigh Bardugo is the first book in the acclaimed Grisha world that surpassed all of my expectations! And yes, it is still the usual YA fantasy with cheesy lines, the fake “flawed” main character with big emphasis on the romance. But however cliché it was, I loved it! 

As I will be writing this review, there might be more and more “negative” things that I will think of, but I don’t even care about them anymore. I enjoyed reading this book from the moment I picked it up until the very last page, and nothing can change that. So be aware that my rating is solely based on my enjoyment of the book.

Date Night by Samantha Hayes | Whirlwind of events and emotions in this new thrilling page-turner!

It’s been a long time since I read a domestic thriller. It’s been even longer since I read a  GOOD domestic thriller. «Date Night» by Samantha Hayes was the most enticing and interesting read of August so far. 

Why didn’t I give it 5 stars you might wonder?

As much as I loved the characters, the story, the mystery and the eerie feeling of the book, the ending was a big let down! But, of course, no spoilers! So you’ll need to read this book yourself to see what I’m talking about. *wink*

The Book Addiction Tag | Where I discover that I’m a book hoarder!

I was tagged by the fellow blogger and my friend, Meghan from Meghan’s Whimsical Explorations & Reviews! She has a super power to write tons of reviews in a very short period of time (that I’m a little bit jealous of). Thank you for the tag! 🙂

---

Questions:

1 – What is the longest amount of time you can comfortably go without picking up a book?
2 – How many books do you carry on your person (or kindle) at any one time?
3 – Do you keep every book you buy/receive or are you happy to pass them on to make space for more?
4 – How long would you spend in a bookshop on a standard visit?
5 – How much time per day do you actually spend reading?
6 – Where does the task ‘picking up a book’ appear on your daily to-do list?
7 – How many books do you reckon you own in total (including e-books)?
8 – Approximately how often do you bring up books in conversation?
9 – What is the biggest book (page count) you have finished reading?
10 – Is there a book you had to get your hands on against all odds (i.e searching bookshops, online digging, etc.)?
11 – A book you struggled to finish but refused to DNF?
12 – What are 3 of your main book goals for 2019?
13 – Have you ever had the privilege of converting someone into a reader (maybe via inspiration or incessant nagging)?
14 – Describe what books mean to you in five words.

---

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager | Not the most gripping thriller!

My first book by Riley Sage, «Lock Every Door» was a very entertaining way of getting to know the author’s style, and plunge myself into the mystery of one of the most luxurious buildings in Manhattan. 

Was I expecting a little more thrills? Yes.

Was I disappointed by the unbelievable plot twists? Slightly.

Book series I need to finish | Why don’t I read final books in trilogies?!

In order to get my TBR, especially the book series TBR, under control, I’ve decided to post a little series about (1) series I’ve started but haven’t finished yet, (2) series I’ve started but have no intention to continue with, (3) completed series I still need to read, etc. etc. 

Me not finishing the series has become a serious problem, send help if you’re reading this post! 

I’m sure many of you can relate to how easy it is to start reading a new book series. The key word in that sentence is EASY! And there are a number of reasons for that:

1. The first book is usually always the best;
2. The first book is usually the shortest and the least intimidating of the series;
3. The excitement to start the new adventure is very palpable;
4. Learning about new world, magic system and getting to meet the characters adds this addictive element to the book when everything is new and shiny, and you can’t get enough of it. 

*list any of your reasons in the comments below! 

5 Reasons why you should read «Circe» by Madeline Miller!

My first meeting with Circe, the enchantress or the goddess of magic, was at school when we had to read Homer’s Odyssey. The story of his visit to the Isle of Aiaia was one of our discussion topics and we saw how the powerful goddess Circe fell victim of Oddysey’s (and gods’) treacherous plan. 

Since then I haven’t read anything else about Circe, until Madeleine Miller’s book. And I’m so glad that I purchased her book! Madeleine Miller has a true gift, and it’s not just the beautiful seamless writing, but the ability to bring the well-known character to life again and in a different light, give Circe the truly powerful story of a goddess but also a woman who loved, who fought and who lived.