31 March 2016

March recap

MUG FROM SOCIETY6
So, March has felt like quite a long month to be honest! I got a ton of books in the first weeks and I read a ton in the beginning of the month too! I feel both accomplished and disappointed, weirdly enough. But March was a good month for me and I hope it was a good month for you too.

blogging goals
Well, I haven't really blogged that much this month and I'm quite sad about that! I've been neglecting my memes and to be honest, I just haven't been in the mood to blog at all. 

I'm still using my review spreadsheet which I found in January and I'm still loving it! I just added a new feature to it so I can keep track of my read short stories, novellas and graphic novels. I don't count those as books but I still want to keep track of them. 

Even though I've updated libib with all my new books this month I haven't fully updated it. I still need to update my status, tags etc, for each new book. 

I haven't used my blog planner this month, well, I've looked at it but I haven't actually used it. I've therefore tried to transfer it into my bullet journal for April because I hope it's a better format! Hopefully it works! 


reading goals
I'm actually quite proud of myself when it comes to my reading goals this month! At the moment of typing this I've read 9 books which adds up to 3366 pages! I hope to finish A Clockwork Orange before the month is over but I don't think it's realistic since I'm in a reading slump at the moment. The  9 books I read this month is;

  1. The Shamer's Daughter + The Shamer's Signet (The Shamer Chronicles, #1-2) by Lene Kaaberbøl 
  2. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt ★.5
  3. The Serpent Gift + The Shamer's War (The Shamer Chronicles, #3-4) by Lene Kaaberbøl ★.5
  4. Silverhorse (Katriona, #1) by Lene Kaaberbøl 
  5. The Ermine (Katriona, #2) by Lene Kaaberbøl 
  6. Midnight (Katriona, #3) by Lene Kaaberbøl 
  7. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen 
  8. The Wondrous and the Wicked (The Dispossessed, #3) by Page Morgan 
  9. January (Calendar Girl, #1) by Audrey Carlan ★.5
This actually means that I finished a total of 3 series this month! And I read two complete series, out of those 3, this month! My total of finished series is now up to 9 and my goal was 7-10 so that's quite good - if I may say so myself. 
  1. The Shamer Chronicles by Lene Kaaberbøl
  2. Katriona by Lene Kaaberbøl
  3. The Dispossessed by Page Morgan
I didn't read (much) less YA this month since 6 out of those 9 books are YA - but I enjoyed all of them! 5 of those is also written by a Danish author, whom I absolutely love, so I enjoyed them nonetheless! And that was actually my reason for reading less YA - I didn't enjoy the majority of the ones I read last year. 

I reread the first book in The Shamer Chronicles, The Shamer's Daughter, this month and I really enjoyed it! The series got better and better for each book! 

8 out the 9 books I read were from my shelves (one from my digital shelf!) and I think that's the best I've done so far this year! I've read a total of 15 books from my shelves towards my goal of 50! So I need to get a move on - but April won't help with any of my goals... You'll find out why soon enough. 

I read a single classic, so now I've read 5 classics this year! I didn't finish a single audiobook and I've totally forgotten about my two yearlong reads; The Happiness Project and 365 stories

I almost forgot! I read a single graphic novel this month which is; Nimona by Noelle Stevenson! I gave it 5 out of 5 stars and I'm just waiting for my paycheck so I can buy myself a copy! It's definitely one of my favorite reads of the year so far! 

New on the shelf
Somehow I managed to acquire 24 new books this month - but I got rid of 15 books I'm not going to read. I also got rid of 3 books I know I'm not going to reread so at least I had space for all my new books! 



BIRTHDAY BOOK HAUL



MY FIRST OWLCRATE

Release blitz - Down to My Soul

Release Banner DTMS


Down to My Soul concludes the journey Rhyson Gray and Kai Pearson began in Book 1 of the Soul Series, My Soul to Keep! You must read Book 1 first.


“Rhys?” His name rushes from my mouth on a breath, and I’m off the bed, hurling myself at him top speed. 

Release Week Pricing

Both Books 99¢ This Week


29 March 2016

Top Ten Tuesday: Highlights of 2016 so far


Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely ladies at The Broke and the Bookish. Every Tuesday we create a list inspired by a particular topic! This week is 10 Of My Most Recent 5 Star Reads (Or Ten Of The Best Books I've Read Recently if you don't 5 star stuff...or you could do 5 of my latest five star reads & five of my most disappointing or 1 star reads) 

Well, so far 2016 haven't been the best reading year but I've read some great books nonetheless! But, since I haven't read that many I thought I'd just do highlights of my year so far - meaning milestones, great books, things I'm proud of etc.



i loved...
I finished Nimona by Noelle Stevenson last week and I absolutely loved it! It's the second graphic novel I've read this year and I've actually given both 5 stars! I laughed out loud and I just loved everything about Nimona! Definitely recommend it and I'm going to by myself a copy since I got it from the library this time around.

I read the entire Shamer Chronicles by Lene Kaaberbøl this month and I LOVED it! I read the first book, The Shamer's Daughter, last year and I think the series just gets better and better! It's such a strong series which doesn't really involve romance and appreciate that! I've actually read a bunch of her books this year so far and I've loved every single one! Even though Wildwitch isn't translated into English yet I still want to mention it because I LOVED IT - even though it's middle grade.



milestones reached
I read The Goldfinch this month and, even though it's the biggest book I've read this year (so far) and one of my anticipated reads, I didn't enjoy it. I'm proud and glad I've read it, but I probably won't reread it, like, ever.

I didn't enjoy the shortest book of the year so far either. It's a Scandinavian book called 62 Days and, even though there's some beautiful quotes, it was a bit boring.

My first readathon of the year was Slay That Series and I was quite succesful! 4 books, 3 others started and 1468 pages in total!


jumping up and down with joy
I received my very first OwlCrate! It was a birthday gift from Andrea L. Wells and I just love everything that I got! 

I rearranged my shelves so they're now color coded in a rainbow fashion! YES, I got rainbow shelves and I love it! 

I've started bullet journaling and I'm obsessed! I have one for everything bookish and one which function as my daily planner. I don't regret buying special notebooks for this! 


How's your year been so far? 

26 March 2016

My first ever OwlCrate unboxing!


On March 16th I received a mail saying that I'd received a 1 month gift subscription to OwlCrate from Andrea L. Wells. Andrea is the author of The Violet Hour series which currently includes The Midnight Hour (a prequel novella) and The Violet Hour. I received her book for review last year and we've been in contact ever since. Andrea is definitely the sweetest author I've ever 'met' and I definitely consider her a close personal friend! I was quite blown away when she told me that she got me something for my birthday and I was over the moon when I realized that it was an OwlCrate
So thank you very much Andrea! You've definitely made my month! 

Spoiler's ahead, even though the majority have received their boxes now! 

23 March 2016

Excerpt: Debt by Rachel Dunning

Over 400 Pages

Standalone Novel
New-Adult Romance / Sports Romance 

I don’t make excuses for how I live my life. I drink. I party. I meet guys.Technically speaking, I’ve only ever had a single actual one-night stand. I get hot, I get bothered...and then something stops me.You could say it started when I was sixteen. I was nowhere near this wild back then. I had a steady boyfriend I dated for two years but, whoa, once he deflowered me, we did it like rabbits. Mornings, afternoons, evenings. I’ve tried to think if there was ever a day we didn’t do it at least once after that, and I don’t think there was. (There was that one Christmas, but I remember we snuck out into the back and squeezed one in just before Clarissa appeared in her skimpy Santa suit for dad.) But it wasn’t sex to me, it was love. I was so naive.

22 March 2016

Top Ten Tuesday: Audiobooks I want to read


Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by the lovely ladies at The Broke and the Bookish. Every Tuesday we create a list inspired by a particular topic! This week is actually about books we love but feel like we haven't talked about (enough) or something along those lines. Since I keep mentioning books I love I feel like this topic is unnecessary for me and I've therefore chosen another topic! 
Audiobooks I want to read
I love audiobooks and I definitely feel like I don't talk about them enough but here's a few I really want to listen to / read:

The Road by Cormac McCarthy
I've heard a lot of good things about this one and I've actually already listened to a little bit of it. It's interesting!

The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
It's one of my alltime favorite books and it would be amazing if it was narrated by her as well! I would love to be able to listen to this one whenever I want!

13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Since our protagonist listen to tapes during the entire book I think it would be quite an interesting read to listen to it instead! I've read it two times and I love it but I think listening to it would give another aspect to the story or something.

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
I listened to A Court of Thorns and Roses last year and I absolutely loved it! It's the first audiobook I've loved and I've been addicted to audiobooks ever since!

Alive by Scott Sigler
Scott Sigler has put the entire book out as a bunch of podcasts on iTunes! It's free and I loved the ones I've listened to so far! I listened to the first one on the train last year and oh god, it was SOOOO intense!

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
I didn't like this one when I read it a couple of years ago, I actually never finished it - but I think listening to it will be better! At least I hope so since it's our book club pick for May, I believe.

21 March 2016

Weekly rewind 3.21.16

This week has been quite stressful. My brother had his confirmation yesterday, Sunday the 20th, and I tried to get everything sorted before. That didn't really happen and I think when you take in to account that I was also participating in Slay That Series, it wasn't realistic. At least I had a great week reading wise!

I almost forgot to mention that I'm currently taking my driver's licence! I had my first class on Tuesday (which is why Top Ten Tuesday didn't happen) and I actually have my third class today! I'm going to drive for the first time and I'm so scared!


On blogging
As I mentioned before I didn't have the time to blog because I had so many other things to do! I usually write my Top Ten Tuesdays on Tuesday mornings but since I have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays now I have to come up with another idea! I was quite good at writing them in advance last year but I'm definitely slacking this year! Hopefully April will be better!

I also forgot my First Paragraphs post on Friday.. but at least I posted something, right?


On reading

I mentioned that I was participating in Slay that Series which is a readathon where you 'slay' as many series as you want or can. I managed to finish 4 books and read a bit in 3 others! So, four books and bits and pieces adds up to 1468 pages which is quite good! 

I read four whole books - all by Lene Kaaberbøl! 
  • The Shamer Chronciles #3-4: The Serpent Gift and The Shamer's War 
  • Silverhorse which in Danish is Sølvhesten og Hermelinen 
  • Midnight which in Danish is Isfuglen
I read bits and pieces of;
  • The Wondrous and the Wicked (The Dispossessed, #1) by Page Morgan
  • Little Women (Little Women, #1) by Louisa May Alcott  
  • Fifty Shades Freed (Fifty Shades, #3)

So I managed to finish 2 series - one of which I read the entirety of during the week! I really enjoyed marathoning series and I'll definitely participate in Slay that Series or other series readathons in the future!

On the shelf

So, I somehow managed to acquire 8 books without actually using any money! My dad got me the entire Little Women series by Louisa May Alcott as a little surprise! It've been on my wishlist for so long but somehow I never got around to buying it! Hopefully I'll enjoy all 4. 

I also got 4 books to review; 1 for this blog and 3 for my Danish blog but I might review 3 of them on here anyway! 
  • I got a science fiction book from Mannah Pierce; Cast Adrift by herself, it's apparently set in space and I'm excited! I also have a guest post from Mannah to you guys closer to my review! 
  • I got the Danish edition of Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff along with a nonfiction book about prominent characters in literature! It's not translated into English! 
  • Lastly I have a Danish copy of Princess Bari by Hwang Sok-yong! 
I'm planning in making April 'All about the review books' so I'll hopefully get to these books soon! 



On discoveries and happenings

  • I kind of got my birthday gift from Andrea L. Wells! I got a mail saying she'd bought me an Owlcrate so it's currently on its way here and I'm excited! 
  • I got a mail containing a surprise for you guys! I'll soon be hosting a giveaway with 10 physical copies and therefore 10 winners and it's going to be international! 
  • I ordered my first thing on society6 and it's also on it's way here! 
  • I'm on a semi book-buying ban! 

On the blog
Last week

This week
  • (Hopefully) I have a Top Ten Tuesday for you guys tomorrow!
  • I have an excerpt from Debt by Rachel Dunning planned for you guys for Wednesday
  • Lastly I have a First Paragraphs post containing a new release! 

19 March 2016

My bookish birthday, a haul


So, I turned 19 on March 2nd and since I was on sick leave that whole week - I could read! You can read a more in depth post about my week in general here, but I'm going to do a short summary of how bookish my birthday was!

While my plan was to read for the entire day, I didn't. I had a great day though! Me and my dad went shopping for cake and good stuff so I had snacks for reading and for bookclub! Yes, I attended book club on my birthday and it was awesome! I'd made turkish delight in honor of Narnia since we'd just read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and we drank hot chocolate and tea and it was glorious!

I also got some trays so I can have snacks and drinks in bed while reading and I feel so bookish now! I've seen so many with these kind of trays on bookstagram and I didn't understand it until I got some myself! It's definitely a musthave if you read in bed!

Well my little reading session, which you can see in the picture, was so perfect! I listened to some classical music while eating snacks and I could just delve into the world! I managed to finish the first two books in The Shamer Chronicles and it was so peaceful!

I of course received some gifts, which I'm going to share with you now:

For the books I got these 5! We went to Copenhagen on the day after my birthday and I got the four books on the bottom;
  • All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
  • The Versions of Us by Laura Bartlett
  • A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
  • A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
I also got Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell! It was only available in UK for World Book Day - but luckily Book Depository had it! 


Both my boyfriend and my dad got me a cover from Klevercase! These were the only two I definitely wanted and I love my personalized penguin cover! The inside reads; 
One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for 1.000 years. To read is to voyage through time.
- W. Somerset Maugham


Lastly my brother got me my very first penguin mug and I LOVE it! 


What's the best birthday gift you've received?




17 March 2016

25 bookish facts about me

1. I primarily buy big books!
I'm very careful with my money when it comes to books and since I read books quite fast I don't want to buy books with less than 250-300 pages. Unless they're cheap of course.

2. I suck at reading series
I've finished around 6 series this year so far, and I'm definitely proud of that - but I have so many more to finish! I keep reading the first one and then never getting around to the rest.

3. I like to snack while reading
I have this weird habit of biting my lip or picking my nails while reading - unless I have something else to do. Recently I've been better at snacking healthily.


4. I like to make an occasion out of a reading session
If I have a few hours I can reserve for reading - or during a 24 hour readathon - I always try to make it special. I always make the bed, light some candles, make a drink, find some snacks and get a couple of books and snuggle under a comfy blanket. I like to make something special out of it while I can.

5. I need to have post its and/or a notebook nearby
I like to take notes while reading and mark passages I like. It's also quite a good habit if you review books! I also color code my post it's.. Yes, either to the colors of the book or like I do for my planner; yellow is important etc.

6. I love to keep track of everything
I have multiple ways of tracking my reading, my series, the books I own etc. The spreadsheets I found in January are perfect but I still use libib and goodreads - and recently my bullet journal.

7. I react strongly
This is a bit of an embarrassing fact to be honest but my reactions are quite, well, loud. I laugh out loud if something is funny, I put the book down and take a couple of deep breathiest if it's too emotional and I yell, yes I yell, if something takes me by surprise.

8. I judge books by their covers and spines
Yes I know it's awful but we all do it to some extent. I like pretty covers and I buy the prettier version if the price is reasonable.
So, online it's covers and while browsing bookstores it's the spines and the titles - I can explain why I judge titles too.


9. I like to organize my reading
I recently found the perfect way to make a TBR, at least for me, and I actually spend a good amount of time putting it together. I like to have a couple of review books, a classic and something I really want to read. I basically spend a lot of time figuring out which book(s) to read.

10. I can't deal with broken spines
My favorite used bookstore has a lot of great books for reasonable and very cheap prices but I can't get myself to buy them - even if it's books I really want - if the spine is broken. This is also the reason I'm not comfortable with lending my books.

11. I'm not too fond of collections of bindups. 
It's usually cheaper to buy collections or bandpass than buying the individual books, but it doesn't really make for the best reading experience. My Narnia Chronicles windup is quite hard to read since you can't really hold it and it's too heavy to have on your lap or stomach. The format of bindups and collections are usually annoying.

12. I don't like reading translations
I definitely prefer reading books in their original language or the next best thing. I therefore mainly read books in English unless the original language is Danish or a Scandinavian language - then I read it in Danish. I definitely feel like something gets lost when a book is translated.

13. I will probably never participate in NANOWRIMO
Even though I love to read I don't want to be an author. I like to write but just not enough.

14. I wish I reread more
Seriously; too many books and not enough time. I have so many books I want to read again and someday, hopefully, I'll find the time.

15. I like the idea of short stories, novellas and graphic novels...
but I usually don't enjoy reading them

16. I basically read every genre
As long as I find the summary intriguing I'll read a book. I've been disappointed by every book in the historical fiction genre I've read so far and I'm not too comfortable with erotica just yet - but I've not sworn those genres off.


17. I recently made my fourth TBR jar
I love the idea of a TBR jar but I'm quite bad at actually using it. I've tried book titles and challenges but nothing really stick. Hopefully the fourth time's the charm!

18. I often want to reorganize my bookshelf
..... but I find it too daunting. At the moment they're organized by color so they make a pretty rainbow but before that I had my erotica books on top of my bookshelf, and my classics separated from the rest as well.

19. I sometimes wonder whether I should stop reading YA
One of my goals this year is to read (much) less YA and I'm doing okay. The problem is that I often find them mediocre and similar. It's the same story over and over but they're great for readathons!

20. I collect reading samples but never read them
Yes, this is sad, but I figure I may use them in giveaways for a little extra something. Hopefully I can get myself to read the samples of bigger novels before buying them or accepting them for review.

21. I rarely read Danish literature
..... even though I live in Denmark! I wish I could support our authors here but I often find their books  dull. I've recently read some great ones though and hopefully it'll continue this way!

22. I'm quite particular about my bookmarks
Yes, I like the cute fancy ones but I prefer the flat cardboard ones, preferably with a hassle. I have a bunch made of metal but I'm scared they'll rip the pages. I wish I had some of the 'sprout'-ones though.

23. I didn't realize how fond I was of reading until 2013
I've never been encouraged to read because none of my parents were readers and none of my siblings liked to read. Now of course we're a family of readers, typical, but it's actually my boyfriend's fault. He accepted me as I was and since then I've literally gone from 30 to 300 books.



24.  I love readathons
Even if I fail almost every time! I love the book community and how we support each other during the 'tons.

25. I have 2 book blogs! 
A Danish site wanted me to review their books so they kindly asked me if I could start a blog in Danish last year. Now I receive books from multiple publishers here in Denmark as well. It's definitely a big job juggling both of the blogs, but I think I've finally got the hang of it now.

16 March 2016

Books on my Spring TBR


So, I kind of missed out on yesterdays Top Ten Tuesday which was books on our Spring TBR - but since I love doing seasonal TBR's (and TBR's in general) I figured I'd do it anyway! 

The first book on my Spring TBR is Kindred Spirits by Rainbow Rowell. I'm saving it for Dewey's 24 hour readathon which is happening next month on the 23rd! I absolutely love all of Rainbow Rowell's books and I think, and hope, I'm going to love Kindred Spirits as well. I'm sad that it's only 60 pages long though! 

I received a package yesterday from Amazon which contained the entire Little Women series by Louisa May Alcott. I've been wanting to read Little Women for quite a while now and I've been looking for a cute edition which had matching covers for the 4 books and I found one from Vintage Classics. I just want to jump in to it right now! 

I bought A Tale for the Time Being almost two weeks ago and I keep looking at it! I've been intrigued by it for so long and to finally have it... I'm trying quite hard to stick to my TBR! 

Outlander is definitely high on my list! I've only heard good things about it and I hope I love it as much as everyone else. I received it in January and I have no idea why I haven't read it yet. 

Next up is The Versions of Us. It's a 'what if' kind of story and I love those! Because me and my boyfriend met entirely by chance and there's just no way we'd have met if we hadn't both been at the same party 3,5 years ago. I've heard next to nothing about this one but I'm looking forward to reading it!

I mainly have The Story of Beautiful Girl on this list because I've been wanting to read it for sooo long - and I've had it on my shelf since Summer/Fall last year! I need to read it! 

The last book in the picture is the Danish version of Fates and Furies. I received it on Monday and I'm quite sure I'm going to read it in April! I love reading books about marriage - since it's usually about what happens before the wedding and I love reading about what happens after! 

I of course have a ton more books I want to read, but these are definitely high on my TBR but, since I have The School for Good and Evil coming in the mail and I'm receiving my very first OwlCrate soon, it'll probably grow... quickly. 

What's on your Spring TBR? 

13 March 2016

Weekly rewind 3.13.16

You guys know that I love my wrap ups and even though I haven't done a lot this week, I figured I'd do one anyways! 

On blogging
As the past 3 or 4 weeks I haven't really blogged. I've written a few posts here and there but I haven't felt the inspiration yet. I really hope that I find some inspiration soon because I do miss blogging but I haven't felt it reach out to me yet - and that is when I write the best! 

I have a few ideas and I also have a bunch of notes for some of them. I just need to get it together! 

On reading

Luckily I haven't fallen in to a massive slump, just a tiny one due to The Goldfinch and the fact that the only other book I've been reading have been a classic. Don't get me wrong, I love my classics, but I like to take my time and read them slowly so they're not good for slumps. 

I finished The Goldfinch on Thursday and I'm honestly quite proud of myself! I can't believe I managed to get through it. I had high hopes for it since it is quite a big book AND it has received The Man Booker Prize and a lot of other awards and prizes. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I'd hoped. 

I have about 100 pages left in Sense and Sensibility but since I'm participating in the Slay That Series readathon this week (today, March 13 to March 20) I'm not sure I'm going to pick it up again before sometime after the readathon. I'm really enjoying it though, I just want to get the most out of the readathon - it's the first one I'm really participating in this year! 

I picked up The Wondrous and the Wicked (The Dispossessed, #3) this morning and I'm really enjoying it! This series is so much fun and I love that it is set in Paris! You can read my review of the first book, The Beautiful and the Cursed here

Even though I forgot to snap a picture of The Shamer Chronicles 3+4 I'm also reading that one today! I love reading multiple books at once and since The Wondrous and the Wicked is an ebook I figured a physical one was in order! 


On the shelf

I've not been good this week! I feel like March is always the month where I buy a thousand books! At least they've been cheap and I also unhauled 15 unread books from my shelf and a handful of read books I didn't enjoy or aren't going to reread. 

I went to a city called Kolding where I bought a couple of books and got one for free in exchange for another book. I also visited a local thrift store which always had a good amount of books and lastly I received the last of my birthday gifts! All in all 10 books! 
I'm so happy I found the fifth book in the Shopaholic series so now I'm just missing the third and the newest one which isn't released in Danish yet! And since I have the rest of the books in Danish I need to have all of them in Danish! 

At least a few of them are short, right?... 



On discoveries and happenings
Well, a few things happened this week so we're doing bullets! 

  • I bought the cutest water bottle from H&M so I'm drinking a ton of water! Yay!
  • I found these gorgeous bookmarks at books and tea leaf
  • I watched The Jane Austen Book Club and I really enjoyed it! I read the book a couple of years ago and I enjoyed it, but I haven't heard a lot of great things about either the book or the movie. Turns out I really like both so I recommend them! 
  • I rearranged my bookshelf to a rainbow scheme and I was quite satisfied. My boyfriend on the other hand thought I should do the rainbow in another way so he rearranged them yesterday and it looks sooo good! I have a bookshelf on either side of my window and it's just stunning! 
  • I bought some staedtler triplus fineliners, or rather, I bought the big set of 36. I hope to do a quite review once I've used them a bit. 
  • I found a great reading snack, which is not entirely unhealthy; walnuts with dark chocolate! I basically just melt some dark chocolate and then cover half of the walnut with it. It's so, so good! 



On the blog
This week


Next week

  • I'm obviously participating in a readathon, because I've mentioned it quite a few times now, but you'll hopefully see a progress post floating about during the week and a quick wrap up next Monday
  • On Tuesday it's all about books on our Spring TBR 
  • On Friday there'll be a First Paragraphs post as always! 
  • Maybe a guest post or a '25 bookish facts about me'-post will be added to that list, maybe both?

Hope you all had a great week!