Down The TBR Hole #1

After seeing this meme that I've never heard of before on Chelsea's blog RomWeasley I immediately knew, I'd also want to join in on the fun.

I believe every reader knows the curse of the never-ending to-be-read list. Either in physical form, on paper or online - we’ve all got one. With time my goodreads TBR list has totally gone wild. I can’t even remember putting half of those books on the list. This needs to change and I want to seriously sort it out.

The lovely Lia @ Lost in a Story thought of this “meme” and it goes down like this:

• Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.

• Order on ascending date added.

• Take the first 5 (or 10 if you’re feeling adventurous) books

• Read the synopses of the books

• Decide: keep it or should it go?

Lia’s doing this on a weekly basis, but I can’t commit to that right now, so I’m just going to say that I’ll do this from time to time (who knows, maybe in the end I even do end up doing it every week which would be even more awesome!). Currently my to-read shelf on Goodreads contains 227 books. Hopefully I can narrow it down a little.

#1 The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer

	The synopsis of this book actually still sounds very interesting and just like the kind of book that I would enjoy. Verdict: remains on Goodreads shelf

#2 Unravel Me

	Unravel Me is the second book in the Shatter Me series which is why I’m going to take it off this shelf. I’m going to get rid of all the sequels to series I still feel unsure about. It’s enough to have the first book in a series on my tbr shelf I believe. Verdict: remove from shelf

#3 The Evolution of Mara Dyer

	This is the third book in the Mara Dyers series. I’m unsure about this series, but I’ve got the first book on my tbr to remind me about it. Verdict: remove from shelf

#4 The Red Pyramid

	Rick Riordan, one of my favourite authors. Not even going to think about this. My plan is to read all of his books, but so far I’m not doing a very good job at following up with this plan. Verdict: remains on Goodreads shelf

#5 Lies Beneath

	I’m fascinated by mermaid tails and I’ve read rather a poorly amount of books about them. The plot sounds really intriguing and I’d definitely forget about this book if it weren’t on my tbr list because I haven’t heard from any of my friends that they’ve read this one. Verdict: remains on Goodreads shelf

#6 The Shadows of Sherlock Holmes

	As much as I’m a Sherlock fan, I believe that I can remove this from my shelf savely. It’s a classic so I’ll definitely discover it in a bookshop by chance one day so I don’t need a reminder. Verdict: remove from shelf

#7 Love, Tanja

	I haven’t read a lot of autobiographies and I haven’t been keeping up with Tanya’s youtube videos. I’m not sure if I’d really enjoy reading this although Tanya is an awesome young woman! Verdict: remove from shelf

#8 Nightmares!

	I’ve actually already started reading this book one or two years ago, but I never got very far. So it doesn’t really belong on this shelf. I do own a copy so I believe some day I'll get back to it. Verdict: remains on physical tbr pile

#9 Shades of Earth

	This is the third installment in the Across the Universe series. After checking out the first book in the series I decided to add that one to my shelf instead because it sounds really interesting. Verdict: remove from shelf

#10 Ketchup Clouds

	Reading the synopsis made me realize that I put this one on my tbr rather for the cover than the actual story. If I come across this in a bookstore I might pick it up, but I don’t feel a deep urge for it to stay on my shelf. Verdict: remove from shelf

So this has been a great start for my new project! I removed a total of 7 books and only added 1 new book to my Goodreads TBR shelf. Not shabby, right? I have a good feeling about this and am definitely going to continue with this every month.

If you’d like to join me / us in this or have already started then let me know in the comments. I’d love to hear about how you guys handle your tbr piles/lists/shelves. Do you have a clear overview or have they gone out of hand, too? Do we have any books in common on our TBR lists? Do you have any other ways of keeping your tbr lists accurate? I'd love to hear more about that if you do!

My First Blog Post In Like Forever

Hey there fellow Bookworms and Book Bloggers!

I know it’s been a while and I’m not even sure anybody’s still hanging around this blog, but I just wanted to let you know:

No, I didn’t get swallowed by a beast or thrown into the sea by a long lost evil twin sister (you get extra points if you get those references) and I hope neither of those things will ever happen to me.

I’d like to sum up the past couple of months and explain why I’ve been absent, so you’ll understand that I didn’t just ditch my blog without a “good” reason.

1. University stress

So in mid February my second semester at Uni started and I was just as invested in it as the first semester (actually even more so). I got swamped up in all my work right away and barely had time to read any comics on the way to lectures. The freetime I did have, I spent dancing or sleeping (whilst watching series - win-win I would say). Then when the end of semester exams came up it all started to fall apart. I was really stressed out, spent every waking minute studying (emphasis on the dying part) and in the end it wasn’t enough. More about this further down in the text..

2. Work

Next to my academic studies I also had an energy-consuming job where I spent as many hours as possible to earn money for you know … BOOKS! (Which just stacked themselves up on my floor as I currently have not one single space left on my shelves.)

3. Dance

In addition to my job and Uni I continued with my full-time dance training (5 times a week á 3 hours a day). Guess who’s starting therapy now for her back problems. But I'm pretty sure that this is going to sort itself out quickly so I'm actually looking forward to all that back-muscles-workout.

4. Summer Holidays

So as I hinted at above, turns out all my hard work during the semester wasn’t enough, and I failed my exams. Which means I can’t study computer science anymore. At the beginning of my summer vacation I was dreading those results and trying to distract myself with things to do (festivals, concerts, cinema & friends). Then when I got the bad news I needed further distraction because at the beginning I just couldn’t cope with that. Now things are turning upwards again and I’m looking at other options. But basically, I have no idea what I want to do with my life.

5.  Dissatisfaction

Although I managed to read quite some books and comics through this time (I squeezed them in whenever possible, every 5 minute break was worth opening a book) I never got to actually writing the reviews. I made tons of notes and squiggles everywhere, writing down my thoughts because I knew this would become useful later when I’d finally have time to write them. But every time I went on my blog I was so dissatisfied with how it looked I just couldn’t bring myself to post something.

What's going to happen now?

I was - well, let's change that to am kind of fed up with myself for not blogging in such a long time. First of all because of the commitments I made with NetGalley. I read most of those books and graphic novels I signed up for, but didn’t review them yet (which is really unfair and I apologize to the publishing companies who gave me access to all those ARCs and reviewer copies!!). I definitely plan on reviewing every single one of those copies, but it’s going to take time because I don’t want to just post the reviews on my blog and be done with it, I'd rather give it a little more time and put enough energy into writing the reviews those books deserve.

So whilst I’m going to write those reviews one by one, sometimes two by two, I’m also going to overthink my blog website. I’m kind of tired of the layout, but am not quite sure yet what to change, so I'm going to have to spend a lot of time and energy on deciding that.

I’m really going to try to keep up blogging because it was something I really loved and put so much time and effort in it and don’t want to throw away. I hope this will help distract me even a bit more from all the happenings in my live right now and maybe help me decide on what I actually want to do.

I’m going to take things slow though. I do not want to be overwhelmed with my blog again and lose interest after a short time and go on another hiatus. So I’m going to do this in a pace that I’m comfortable with. There may be one post every day, maybe even two posts a day, but it might even be just one review a week.

So here’s to a new blogging start! (I’m actually taking a sip of Rosé right now in celebration! Oh and by the way: I turned 21 this month! So I’ll have to go and change my bio up a little, too).

March & April Belated Wrap Up

It’s been sooo long since my last post. And I am really not proud of myself because I wanted to keep this year posty and not be overwhelmed with university again. But well, guess what happened. I let myself be dragged into the whole uni-stress again.

Here we go, nonetheless. I’d like to share my wrap up of the past two months with you because I didn’t manage to post them at the correct time. I’ve read A LOT of great books and comics, although I don’t know where I actually found the time for it. As you’ll see with my ratings, I was really happy with everything I read, except for one book which I had to DNF for the time being.

Especially to all my NetGalley contacts (I feel like this isn’t the correct word to use, but I can’t come up with what I actually wanted to say right here), I want to extend a sincere apology! I promise to catch up with all my remaining reviews, because I really adored the books and comics I got to read, but didn’t have the time to post my reviews yet. But I really need to get on with writing down my thoughts for everyone to read because I’ve read some amazing stories that I need to tell you all about.

This month I’ll try to catch up with as many reviews as possible, though I don’t want to make too many promises because I’ve got my Finals in three weeks and I really need to study. Also, I’d love to tell you guys about other things going on in my life, or that have been bothering me and I really want to show you my impressions of this years’ Fantasy Basel - The Swiss Comic Con. So yeah, hopefully I can keep up with all my plans! :)

BOOKS READ

    

1. To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han ★★★★★
2. Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard DNF
3. P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han ★★★★★
4. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline ★★★★★
5. Geekerella by Ashley Poston ★★★★★

COMICS READ

   

   

1. Gwenpool Vol 1 ★★★★
2. Batgirl and the Birds of Prey Vol 1 ★★★★
3. Suicide Squad Vol 1 3.5 ★
4. Batgirl Vol 1 ★★★★
5. Wonder Woman Vol 1 ★★★★
6. All Star Batman Vol 1 3.5 ★
7. Hal Jordan & The Green Lanterns Vol 1 ★★★★★
8. Blue Beetle Vol 1 4.5 ★
9. Cyborg Vol 1 4.5 ★

2016 READING CHALLENGES UPDATE

Read 5 Books from my TBR Pile
Progress 3/5 (60%)

Read 10 new Comics
Progress 22/10 (220%)

2017 Dystopia Reading Challenge
Progress: 1/6 (16%)

Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge
Progress: 9/26 (36%)

TV SERIES HIGHLIGHTS

    

So… what do you do when you’re under pressure and have tons of stuff to learn, study and memorize by heart? Bingo! You start binge watching new series :P

I finally started watching Prison Break and I was through with the first season in a blink of an eye. I calmed down a little after that but am currently totally obsessing over the second season. Before that however, I binge watched seasons 1 and 2 of Reign in a matter of days. I’ve watched it before, but got stuck somewhere in the middle of the second season and really needed to re-watch it again. Sadly, Netflix in my country doesn’t show the third season yet and I can barely wait for them to upload it.

I started watching 13 Reasons Why right when it came out and it BLEW MY MIND. I wasn’t emotionally ready for that. I still can’t get over it. This series really needs its own blog post, maybe someday I’ll have the time to write about it. And my currently 2 favourite on-going series are The Flash season 3 and Marvel’s Agents of Shield (or Hydra if you prefer the season 4B version). Both only have 2 episodes left until the season finale and I’m not ready for them to end for the summer! :0

CINEMATIC HIGHLIGHTS

 

I actually managed to only go twice to the movies' this past two months and both films were amazing! Guardians of the Galaxy was such a fun film and I just loved Emma Watson in Beauty and the Beast. Have you seen these two, too?

Blog Recap

In case you missed it here's a recap of my latest posts and reviews.

❥ Comic Reviews Wonder Woman: Her Greatest Battles and The Lies

❥ Comic Reviews Superman: Path of Doom and Suicide Squad: The Black Vault

❥ Waiting on Wednesday: But Then I Came Back

❥ But Then I Came Back by Estelle Laure Review

I'd like to know

What was the biggest adventure you had in the past two months? Or anything else you’d like to tell me you did or were up to that I might have missed? What have you read and what are you currently reading? Anything I should put on my TBR list? Are there any TV series you’re obsessing over that I might like to watch? Or do we have anything in common on our lists? Let me know in the comments! I’d love to chat with you! :D

Comic Reviews: Superman (Path of Doom) & Suicide Squad (The Black Vault)

Hey guys! It's been a while. Sorry for being absent for a while, but Uni is really taking up all of my free time (more on this in a future post). Today I've got two comic reviews of two awesome DC stories and I hope you'll enjoy them. I've been holding back quite some reviews, so I'm going to post a few next week, too and hope you don't mind too much. I've got some book reviews in store too, but I don't know when I'll be able to finally finalize and post them. Without anymore excuses, you shall continue with reading the reviews now if you please :)

About the comic

Title: Superman: Path of Doom

Edition: Action Comics, Volume 1
Author: Dan Jurgens

Genres: Graphic Novels, DC Comics, Superheroes

Published: February 17th, 2017

Read: March 2017

My Copy

Publisher: DC Comics

Edition: Kindle

Purchase Location: NetGalley
I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review

My Rating:

Goodreads Summary

Superman returns to Metropolis just in time to meet the city of tomorrow's newest protector: Lex Luthor. But it's not long before these dueling titans meet someone unexpected -- the new Clark Kent! The two arch-enemies must put aside their differences and face the common threat of Doomsday, as Jimmy Olsen and the Planet staff try to uncover the truth: who is the man claiming to be Clark Kent? Writer Dan Jurgens (The Death of Superman) returns to the Man of Steel along with illustrators Tyler Kirkham (Deathstroke) and Patrick Zircher (Green Arrow) for the next great Superman chapter in Superman: Action Comics, Volume 1: Path of Doom! (Collecting: Action Comics 957-962)

My Review

Superman is and always will be my Number One superhero. I grew up with so many stories of Superman and Clark Kent was probably one of my first TV crushes ever (in Smallville). I still haven’t brought it over myself to read the last few issues of the New 52 era surrounding Superman’s happenings… Although I wasn’t able to keep all the spoilers out of my life (the internet made that pretty impossible). So now having to adjust to new kinds of Supermen (and Superwomen of course) is kind of … well, unnerving.

But this “new” (do I actually call this new or is it rather “continuing”?) Action Comics story arc did a pretty good job at catching my attention. I’ve never been a Lex Luthor fan, in fact I despise this character. Having to see him pretend to be the new Superman and not having any bad intentions whatsoever does not go well for me. He’s basically the Dan Scott in the superhero world compared to One Tree Hill. And then there is another Clark Kent running around, claiming not to know anything about himself actually being Superman and not showing any traces of super-abilities, what’s that about?

I can’t wait to see where this goes and I’ll definitely be following the next part of the story!

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About the comic Title: Suicide Squad: The Black Vault Edition: Volume 1 (Rebirth) Author: Rob Williams Genres: Graphic Novels, DC Comics, Superheroes Published: February 28th, 2017 Read: March 2017 My Copy Publisher: DC Comics Edition: Kindle Purchase Location: NetGalley I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review

My Rating:

Goodreads Summary

The government has once again handpicked the worst of the worst for its Task Force X. Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, Katana and Killer Croc. All deadly criminals sent on the most dangerous missions possible by a governement that wants them killed. But their newest challenge? A teammate so powerful that even this group of murderers and thieves can't control. Behind the pencils of Jim Lee and Philip Tan, as well as the pen of writer Rob Williams comes Suicide Squad, Volume 1: The Black Vault! (Collecting: Suicide Squad 1-4, Rebirth)

My Review

At first I didn’t really understand where the Suicide Squad came from. Then, last year, I went to the movies and saw the movie (which was okay, but not the best DC has to offer) and I got a little more curious about the background stories. So I decided I wanted to start reading the comics, and what better way then to start with the Rebirth series?

When I picked this volume up I didn’t know what I was getting into and didn’t have very high hopes. But the story actually turned out to be very interesting. Especially, I enjoyed reading those reintroductions of the characters so well known as the Suicide Squad! Except for Harley Quinn, I didn’t really know any of these characters very well so it was nice to get to know them a little better.

This volume had a lot of humour to offer and that sorted it all out, in my opinion. I’m interested in where this is going and hope that I’ll like it better with time.

I'd like to know

I'll be back on Monday with the next couple of reviews. In the meantime I'd like to know: Do you read Graphic Novels or comics in general? If so, what do you like to read? Are you Team Batman or Team Superman? Or have you read any other Rebirth series? I would LOVE to talk to you more about comics in the comments! :)

Book Review: But Then I Came Back

About the book

Title: But Then I Came Back

Author: Estelle Laure

Series: This Raging Light #2
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult, Fiction

Expected Publication: April 4th, 2017

Read: January 2017

My Copy

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers

Edition: Kindle

Purchase Location: NetGalley
I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review

My Rating:

Goodreads Summary

Eden Jones, a 17-year-old girl, feels lost after surviving a near fatal accident. Unable to connect with her family and friends, Eden forms an unlikely relationship with Joe, a boy who comes to the hospital to visit Jasmine, a friend who may soon be gone forever. Eden is the only person who can get through to Jasmine, but is she brave enough to face a world that’s bigger and more magical than she ever would have allowed?

My Review

When I saw that my request to read But Then I Came Back got accepted, I squealed around the house from joy until my brother came to see if I was alright. This was my first major request I did on NetGalley back in January and you can’t imagine how happy I was to get a copy of this book. It took me a couple of weeks though to start reading it because I had a lot of respect of the sequel. I had enjoyed the first book so much, I was scared that the second wouldn’t live up to my expectations.

My fear was proven unnecessary because the sequel was even better! I loved it so much, it made me question my feelings towards This Raging Light. It was quite a new concept to me to read a sequel in a series where the point of view changes entirely because the protagonist is somebody new. And although I think it’s a pity that Lucille (protagonist from This Raging Light) fades into the background, I appreciated reading from Eden’s POV so much. Her voice was so honest and totally different from Lucille’s.

Eden is in my opinion more ‘adulter’. She questions everything. She questions life, death, the meaning of coming back from The Inbetween. Lucille was way more stressed about surviving in her own way. Having to work and pay for everything herself because her parents abandoned her, having to look after her younger sister. Her “boy troubles” with Digby… Eden just has different flow in her life.

I can’t imagine how it must be for someone to come back to life from a coma (and I really pray that neither I, nor any of my family or friends, ever have to make that experience). Reading about Eden’s story gave me so many feelings I don’t even know where to start to describe those. It wasn’t easy for her to adapt to life again, but I really like the way how she did it and seeing her going down that path and fighting her problems so bravely.

One thing I really love about her is how immediately Eden accepts her “situations” without thinking it through. When she thought she was dead, the first thing she did was think Oh cool, I’m a ghost. I can haunt people now and scare them. Or when she thought that she might have psychic powers her first reaction wasn’t to question it but to try to make a painting fly off the wall. When she thinks she might not be alive, but only dreaming, she immediately tries to will herself to fly. It’s that carelessness - if you can call it that - that I like about her.

I didn’t expect to like But Then I Came Back so much. It didn’t let me go and I read it in like two/three sittings. In my opinion you don’t have to read This Raging Light to be able to pick up the sequel, which is way I really recommend you to get yourself a copy of this great book!

Other books in the series

This Raging Light #1 (My Review)

I'd like to know

Have you picked up the This Raging Light? Do you think you might add But Then I Came Back to your TBR list?

Waiting On Wednesday: But Then I Came Back

"Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by ;Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating."

My choice for this week is But Then I Came Back (This Raging Light #2) by Estelle Laure
Expected Publication Date: April 4th, 2017

 

Goodreads Summary

Eden Jones, a 17-year-old girl, feels lost after surviving a near fatal accident. Unable to connect with her family and friends, Eden forms an unlikely relationship with Joe, a boy who comes to the hospital to visit Jasmine, a friend who may soon be gone forever. Eden is the only person who can get through to Jasmine, but is she brave enough to face a world that’s bigger and more magical than she ever would have allowed?

Why I'm so excited about this book?

I read This Raging Light in January and I absolutely adored the story! It was such a good book to read, although quite depressing, too. I was very lucky to get a copy from NetGalley so that I didn't have to wait until April to finally read how the story went on. And I really loved it! This book makes for such a good read and I can only recommend it to you all! Also, how lovely are those two covers? I can't quite decide which one I like better, but I hope the paperback edition will be the blue one. I'm definitely going to get myself a copy because I adore rereading books that are this good and I want it in my possesion :p

Other books in the series

This Raging Light #1 (My Review)

I'd like to know

What's your WoW today? Don't forget to link me up to your post so I can check them out down below in the comments. :)

Comic Reviews: Wonder Woman (Her Greatest Battles) & WW (The Lies)

I know I know I know. I'm so sorry about not posting actively all my reviews right now! I'm really swamped with the huge amount of work load I should be doing for University, which makes it very hard to focuss on actually writing reviews for all those books and comics I read. But today I've got two little reviews about one of the greatest superheroes ever! Who else could it be than Wonder Woman? Hope you'll enjoy!

About the comic

Title: Wonder Woman: Her Greatest Battles

Edition: Collection of several different stories
Author: Various

Genres: Graphic Novels, DC Comics, Superheroes

Published: February 14th, 2017

Read: February 2017

My Copy

Publisher: DC Comics

Edition: Kindle

Purchase Location: NetGalley
I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review

My Rating:

Goodreads Summary

The perfect companion piece to 2017’s highly anticipated film Wonder Woman is here. With the powers of a god and the fighting spirit of an Amazon, Wonder Woman is Earth’s fiercest defender. On Themyscira, Diana was trained from birth to be a warrior. Her skills in battle are unmatched, as are her bullet-stopping bracelets and Lasso of Truth. Now, relive her greatest triumphs! In these stories from such top-tier comics talents as Greg Rucka, George Pérez, John Byrne, Brian Azzarello, Cliff Chiang and Gail Simone, the Amazing Amazon must use every ounce of her strength and steel to bring down gods, monsters and—when mind-controlling villains take control—even her friends. (Collecting WONDER WOMAN #6, #119, #210, #219; WONDER WOMAN #41; JUSTICE LEAGUE: PART THREE #3; WONDER WOMAN #23.)

My Review

Such a fun collection of so many great different fights with Wonder Woman. Seeing her battle so many different foes in just one collection really made me want to read more and more. I will definitely have to try to check out some of the older stories because I got very curious about some of these fights.

Reading about Diana fighting against Superman (and nearly killing each other) or her fighting next to Power Girl against evil children amongst many other different stories showed me quite a few things I didn’t know about Wonder Woman yet. I haven’t read a lot of her stories yet, sadly (I actually only really started with the Rebirth series) so there’s so much still for me to discover and this served as some kind of guide to where I should pick up some of her older stories.

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About the comic Title: Wonder Woman: The Lies Edition: Volume 1 (Rebirth) Author: Greg Rucka Genres: Graphic Novels, DC Comics, Superheroes Published: February 28th, 2017 Read: March 2017 My Copy Publisher: DC Comics Edition: Kindle Purchase Location: NetGalley I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review

My Rating:

Goodreads Summary

New York Times best-selling writer Greg Rucka returns to Wonder Woman! After suffering an unimaginable loss, Diana must rebuild her mission as Earth's ultimate protector and champion. However, in the midst of her grief, her Lasso of Truth stopped working! Start down the rabbit hole as dark secrets from Wonder Woman's past unravel her present! From the ashes of DC Universe: Rebirth, critically acclaimed writer Greg Rucka along with illustrator Liam Sharpunveil a tale that will forever alter the DC icon in Wonder Woman, Volume 1: The Lies! (Collecting: Wonder Woman 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, Rebirth)

My Review

Wonder Woman is probably one of the greatest heroes ever. She’s also one of the first I ever knew. Next to Superman and Batman she belongs to the Big Three. I didn’t hesitate to pick this copy up! I’ve actually read it in singles when I got them from my local bookstore, but I also got a digital copy via NetGalley and I loved rereading it!

The art is so beautiful and Liam Sharp did an amazing job! This isn’t the first story I’ve read written by Greck Rucka and once again he made me a very happy reader. :)

This is my first time getting to know Cheetah (as I’ve only read about her character passively in the past) and to find out how intertwined her story with Diana is, was really interesting. I’m a big Steve and Diana fan and I can’t wait to find out how it continues (as I’ve said above: I’ve got the Wonder Woman Rebirth series on my Pull list (basically my local comic bookstore just orders the series for me and puts my issues on the side until I can go and collect them) and I need to pick up reading them again, because I’ve fallen quite behind because of Uni).

And I must mention: I was so confused at the beginning because the single issues skipped this story every other issue so that another story could be told in parallel. My review of that story will be up when the next collecting-volume gets published.

I'd like to know

Do you read Graphic Novels or comics in general? If so, what do you like to read? Have you read any Wonder Woman stories? Or have you read any other Rebirth series? I would LOVE to talk to you more about comics in the comments! :)