January Wrap Up

January has been a good start into 2016 for me. I started this blog on Sunday 24th and have already made a lot of posts and am actually really obsessed with it (I have to contain myself not to post all my reviews or other posts right away, but build a schedule for it). I'm really glad that I finally managed to publish my own blog because I have been wanting to do this for over a year now...

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Books read

The new year is off to a good start for me. I set my reading goal for 2016 to read 30 books and I've already read 6 books which is about 20% of the entire challenge.

   

  

Stacking The Shelves #1

"Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual." It's a weekly feature hosted by Tynga's Reviews.

Christmas time is always a busy time. For me it means travelling overseas to England and spending New Year's there. This year I bought so many books like never before. I went to stores like Waterstones, The Works and WHSmith in London, Liverpool and Newcastle and I could barely carry my suitcase on the way home. So let's have a look at all the books I've bought, shall we?

The Liebster Award

I've got news! This week I was nominated for the Liebster Award 2016 by The Reading Hideaway (Many thanks again!). This is an award that helps to discover great blogs and to become a part of the book blogger community.

What you have to do is:

• Thank the blogger(s) who nominated you
• Answer 11 questions the blogger gives you
• Nominate 11 blogs you think deserve the award
• Give them 11 questions of your own

Book Review: Looking for Alaska

Published December 28, 2006 ★★★★★ 

Goodreads Summary: Miles "Pudge" Halter's whole existence has been one big nonevent, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave the "Great Perhaps" (François Rabelais, poet) even more. He heads off to the sometimes crazy, possibly unstable, and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young, who is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart.

Looking for Alaska by John Green is a young adult fiction novel. As with every John Green book it just blew my mind. His specific and very detailed narration always pull me full in which results in me reading the book for hours and hours until I've finished it. As always after reading a book of John's I had a lot to think about after the ending and couldn't move on to a new book right away. John's skills to make a reader completely dissolve into his world is still astounding because that's a skill not a lot of authors master. 

2016 Dystopia Reading Challenge

Hey there :)

Yesterday I stumbled upon a great reading challenge that I just had to participate in right away. Maybe you've heard of it? It's called the 2016 Dystopia Reading Challenge and was created by Cornerfolds. I decided to participate in this challenge because dystopia is one of my favourite genres and I still have a lot of books on my TBR pile and this will make it even more fun to read them. 

The Challenge guidelines are as follow:

• This challenge will run from January 1, 2016 - December 31, 2016.
• You can join at anytime before October 15, 2016.
• Books must be read and reviewed in 2016.
• Audiobooks, re-reads, short stories, and crossovers are fine.
• You don't have to be a book blogger to participate! You can track your progress on Goodreads, Shelfari, Booklikes, etc.
• Sign up on the designated Linky below with your post, shelf, etc. and leave a comment letting us know what your personal goal is. 
• Link up your reviews each month via the provided Linky!

The goal I set myself is to get the Rebel Badge which means I have to review and read 6-10 dystopia books in 2016. I've already read one dystopian book this year which makes me one book closer to that goal. The book is Homecoming by Kass Morgan and you can find my review as part of trilogy tuesday here. If you guys would like to join me and all the other participants in this challenge, or if you already are signed up, let me know! It would be great to have some bloggers to keep up with. 

Every book that I'll review for this challenge will be marked with the appropriate label so that you can easily find it. To have an exact overview on how many books and which ones I've read just have a look at my 2016 Reading Challenges page.  

Let me know of your thoughts about this challenge in the comment section below and good luck!

Trilogy Tuesday #1: The 100

  

I'd like to introduce you guys to a new monthly event (I guess a blogger would call this a meme?). Well, there are so many riveting trilogies out there and because I'm an absolute continuing stories lover I decided to create this label. Every last Tuesday of the month - like today - I'll be posting about a book trilogy. Careful: This segment is about the books only. If a book has been adapted into a TV series or a movie I might post something about that elsewhere, but here I will specifically only write about the book version. You guys are very welcome to join this meme. You can either pick the same trilogy as I did (I will always be posting the next post schedule at the bottom of the last post) or choose your own favourites. It would be great if you linked back to my blog. And now, without any further ado I present to you 

The Hundred Trilogy

Published March 18, 2014 ★★★★★

Goodreads Summary: No one has set foot on Earth in centuries until now. Ever since a devastating nuclear war, humanity has lived on spaceships far above Earth's radioactive surface. Now, one hundred juvenile delinquents, considered expendable by society, are being sent on a dangerous mission: to recolonize the planet. It could be their second chance at life... or it could be a suicide mission. Clarke was arrested for treason, though she's haunted by the memory of what she really did. Wells, the chancellor's son, came to Earth for the girl he loves, but will she ever forgive him? Reckless Bellamy fought his way onto the transport pod to protect his sister, the other half of the only pair of siblings in the universe. And Glass managed to escape back onto the ship, only to find that life there is just as dangerous as she feared it would be on Earth. Confronted with a savage land and haunted by secrets from their pasts, the hundred must fight to survive. [...] They may be mankind's last hope.

Published September 16, 2014 ★★★

Goodreads Summary: It's been 21 days since the hundred landed on Earth. They're the only humans to set foot on the planet in centuries... or so they thought. Facing an unknown enemy, Wells attempts to keep the group together. Clarke strikes out for Mount Weather, in search of other Colonists, while Bellamy is determined to rescue his sister, no matter the cost. And back on the ship, Glass faces an unthinkable choice between the love of her life and life itself. In this pulse-pounding sequel to Kass Morgan's The 100, secrets are revealed, beliefs are challenged, and relationships are tested. And the hundred will struggle to survive the only way they can -- together.

Published February 26, 2015 ★★★★

Goodreads Summary: Weeks after crash-landing onto a rugged, nearly unpopulated planet Earth, the Hundred have managed to create a sense of order amidst their wild, chaotic surroundings. They work together to feed, shelter, and protect one another from countless dangers, including attacks by violent Earthborns. But their delicate balance comes crashing down with the arrival of new dropships from home--dropships carrying Glass and Luke, as well as the Vice Chancellor and his armed guards. Suddenly, Bellamy must flee transgressions he thought he had left behind in space, as Wells struggles to maintain his authority on Earth. And while Clark searches for clues about her parent's whereabouts, she finds herself torn between finding them and helping the injured new arrivals in camp. Lives hang in the balance, as the Colonists find themselves fighting not just attackers from the outside, but also enemies from within.

Being a huge fan of the TV series, I discovered these books after having watched the entire first season. Therefore, I had a total different view on what the books should contain. 

At first I was very suprised by the differences, but as I was reading chapter after chapter of The 100 I reallly started to enjoy the easy and fast paced storyline. The books are easy to be drawn in and not too dramatic, but still brought me to tears in different chapters.

The books have 4 different narratives focusing on the characters Clarke, Bellamy, Wells and Glass. While the first three of them go down to earth, Glass's story is still set up in spacec. The story follows their first few weeks on earth and a lot happens. They are taken by surprise by the earthborns because they didn't expect someone to have survived the cataclysm.

In my opinion the books don't explore enough the depth of these potential story lines as they could have. 

If you're a fan of the TV series be aware that the books are totally different, although most of the characters are the same. The setting and the pace have been changed and I believe Kass Morgan has done a lovely job telling the story of Clarke, Bellamy, Wells, Glass and the other characters in this trilogy. If you're a Bellarke (Bellamy/Clarke) fan as I am you should definitely read the books!

I'm a little disappointed that the covers have the pictures of the TV series' actors on them. I've never been a fan of books who bring out editions from the TV series or movies and specifically here they put a character on the cover who doesn't show up in any of the books (sorry Finn fans). 

Now it's your turn. I would be happy to read your comments about this book series. What are your thoughts? Have you read all of them or are they still on your TBR pile? Who's your favourite actor? And so on... 

Next scheduled post: Tuesday February 23, 2016 (The Infernal Devices)

Book Review: The 5th Wave

Published May 7, 2013 ★★★★★

Goodreads Summary: The Passage meets The Hunger Games in a gripping new series from Carnegie-shortlisted Rick Yancey. After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one. Now, it's the dawn of the 5th wave. On a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth's last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, until Cassie meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan may be her only hope for rescuing her brother and even saving herself. Now she must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up. Cassie Sullivan gets up. 

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey is a Young Adult Fantasy and Science Fiction novel. This book has made me think about our world a lot. What if we aren't the only ones in our universe? What if there are "other" living among us? A lot of questions that we can't answer, but we like to think about. And this dystopian novel showed us a world where we can answer some of these questions - although, I do prefer our world where we aren't being hunted down. 

Book Review: Fangirl

Published September 10, 2013
★★★★★

Goodreads Summary: Cath and Wren are identical twins, and until recently they did absolutely everything together. Now they're off to university and Wren's decided she doesn't want to be one half of a pair any more - she wants to dance, meet boys, go to parties and let loose. It's not so easy for Cath. She's horribly shy and has always buried herself in the fan fiction she writes, where she always knows exactly what to say and can write a romance far more intense than anything she's experienced in real life. Now Cath has to decide whether she's ready to open her heart to new people and new experiences, and she's realizing that there's more to learn about love than she ever thought possible ...

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell is a Young-Adult Fiction book that left me at first with only one thought: I have a new crush. Levi. I think he's the cutest character ever. Everytime I read a new Rainbow Rowell book I fall for a new character. Her worlds are fascinating. It's like I can never ever get enough and I really don't want to escape her fictional worlds. Fangirl is my favourite yet because I can really relate to Cath. It's refreshing to read a book that involves Fanfiction that much and to read about how important in one's life it can be. I think what I really like about Cath is that she isn't the adventure-seeking kind of girl as her sister, but she's down to earth, doesn't really like people and just wants to keep to herself in her own world. 

The Beginning

Hello Internet!

This is my brand new (and very first) blog and I'm quite excited about this new project. I've been wanting to do this for over a year now and I've finally managed to actually start a blog. I will be posting about books (for example I will post reviews of books I've read, News about upcoming books or authors and all kinds of other book-related stuff).

I have been dreaming about my own blog for a long time now and have always envied people who manage to keep up a successfull blog. My goal is to write about books that matter to me and share my thoughts about them and I believe that I can do that more successfully on my own blog than on goodreads (although I really enjoy using goodreads and adore that website!).

Some may have found this blog through my Instagram account with the same name. About a year ago I joined the bookstagram community and fell in love with it right away. I have encountered a lot of lovely and very talented people through that community and spend a lot of time on IG looking at other people's post and getting inspired.

It was actually on my 2015 To-Do list to create my own blog, but sadly I didn't manage to find the time for it (and honestly, when I first looked up blogspot, wordpress and other blog sites I didn't understand a thing on how to create a website). Today however, I just kind of got inspired and started playing around with the tools and then my blog was born.

I do hope that you will enjoy my future posts and thank you for having found your way here!