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

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! 

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

• I brought you my Spring TBR on Wednesday
• I shared 25 bookish facts about me on Thursday
• On Saturday you could read about my bookish birthday 

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! 

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

• It was international women's day on Tuesday March 8, so my Top Ten Tuesday honored that! I made a list of my favorite books written by women! 
• On Friday I shared the first paragraph of Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen along with some thoughts, as always. 
• Yesterday I shared my TBR for the #slaythatseries readathon which takes place from today, March 13, to next Sunday, March 20. You also get a little peak of my bullet journal! 

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! 

ARC August wrap up!

Just like last year I participated in ARC August, this year I read a total of 15 books. All books are either ARCs or books I've received for review. 

Books read

1. Monsters by Emerald Fennell ★★★☆☆ (review coming September 3.)
2. The Violet Hour (The Violet Hour #1) by Andrea L. Wells ★★★★★ (review)
3. All the Things We Never Knew by Sheila Hamilton ★★★☆☆ (review coming October 12.)
4. Because You'll Never Meet Me by Leah Thoas ★★★☆☆ (review)
5. The Fixer (Mort Grant #1) by T.E. Woods ★★★★☆ 
6. Rite of Rejection (Acceptance #1) by Sarah Negovetich ★★★☆☆ 
7. Black Cairn Point by Claire McFall ★★★★☆ (review)
8. The Golden Braid (Fairy Tales #6) by Melanie Dickerson ★★★★☆ (review coming November 16.)
9. The Murder of Adam and Eve by William Dietrich ★★★☆☆
10. More Than This (More Than #1) by Jay McLean ★★★★★ (review)
11. The Monkey's Secret by Gennifer Choldenko ★★★☆☆ (review coming September 7.)
12. Trouble is a Friend of Mine by Stephanie Tromly ★★★★☆ (review coming September 14.)
13. Gut Feeling by Victoria Browne ★★★★☆ (review coming November 5.)
14. Third Time Lucky - The Honey Trap (Third Time Lucky #1) by Victoria Browne ★★★★☆ (review coming November 8.)
15. All of the Above by James Dawson ★★★★★ (review coming September 21.)
16. Things We Know by Heart ★★★★☆ 

To be honest I didn't reach my goal of reading all the books I'd received for review BUT I received a few books throughout the month so the 5 I have left would probably have been read if I hadn't received the other books. I'll definitely get to the other 5 but my plan for September is to read whatever I want since I start school and I've just had a whole month of reviewing! So I could use a break.

Things that happened and my obsessions this month

• I was nominated for the Sisterhood of the World Blogger Award
• I updated my review archive (or rather deleted the old one by accident and had to start from scratch...). I also updated all my reviews so they fit the new theme AND I made sure all of my reviews are on goodreads - I'll check amazon next month. 
• I created a blog schedule and made my very own blog planner! I'm in love with it! 

 New books on my shelf 

So, I still didn't buy a single book this entire month but I received quite a few:

All of the Above ⎜Trouble is a Friend of Mine ⎜The Monkey's Secret ⎜Black Cairn Point ⎜Third Time Lucky - They Honey Trap ⎜Gut Feeling ⎜Hvad hjertet ved

I've already read all the ones on the left, and you can expect reviews of all them in the next month or so. I received the four on top from Hot Key Books and the two on the bottom from the author herself.
The one on the right called 'Hvad hjertet ved' is the Danish version of Things We Know by Heart by Jessi Kirby which I've received from a Danish publisher. 

Looking forward to

• Starting school tomorrow, I'll have to spend 2 hours on the train each way but it's worth it - I hope!
• Reading Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas! It's out tomorrow! 
• I'm also looking forward to reading Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon!
• Our internet will probably be up and running so I'll definitely catch up with some series! 
• I'm actually adding a new feature next month: since I've brought my 'review' pile down to next to nothing opposed to how it looked before the Summer started I figured I'd do something new! Every month I'll do a poll, starting with September, where you choose 1 of 4 or 5 books I have to read and review for you guys. 

September is going to be great! 

Monthly wrap up for May

I can't believe that 5 whole months has passed already! It feels like it was just a blink of an eye. Even as I write this I can't help thinking that I get my diploma in a month - which was so far away three years ago. Time is flying by way to quickly for my liking! 

I can't say that May was the best reading month but I came across some spectacular books and I read a bunch of classics. One of my most anticipated releases of the year was quite disappointing though, and ended up putting me in a reading slump. However, I managed to read a total of 9 books during May and I was only disappointed by 1 - score! I also managed to read Never Never part two the day it was released, and now I have to wait for the conclusion - why do I do this to myself? Nevertheless, in May I read:

1. The Beautiful and the Cursed (The Dispossessed #1) by Page Morgan 🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓
2. Wild Reckless by Ginger Scott 🍓🍓🍓🍓
3. The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike #1) by Robert Galbraith 🍓🍓🍓🍓
4. 99 Days by Katie Cotugno 🍓🍓🍓
5. Ten Little Niggers by Agatha Christie 🍓🍓🍓🍓
6. The Lovely and the Lost (The Dispossessed #2) by Page Morgan 🍓🍓🍓🍓
7. Emma by Jane Austen 🍓🍓🍓🍓
8. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger 🍓🍓🍓
9. Books, Blogs, & Reality by Ryan Ringbloom 🍓🍓🍓🍓🍓

The single novella I read was: 

1. Never Never part two by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher 🍓🍓🍓🍓

I didn't buy that many books in May, to be precise I only bought 3 and I've read all of them this month as well. I have to admit; I'm quite proud of myself!


I preordered 99 Days last month, but since I received it this month I'm counting it towards this months book haul!

Even though I finished it I was quite disappointed with 99 Days. I absolutely loved How to Love by the same author but this was just bad.

I treated myself to two classics after my first exam. I've wanted to read both for a while and it was definitely luck that I ended up finding them so cheap (2 and 3$). I even found an edition of Ten Little Niggers by Agatha Christie from 1960! You can't even buy it with that title anymore!
Between those two Ten Little Niggers definitely win - I didn't see the ending coming! I loved the first half of The Catcher in the Rye and was disappointed with the rest of it.


As for my June TBR I only my review books for the month:

This month I have 4 books from Hot Key Books; - Almost Grace by Rosie Rowell
- How to be Bad by E. Lockhart, Lauren Myracle and Sarah Mlynowski
- Only We Know by Simon Packham
and lastly Being a Girl by Hayley Long - my current read.

I also received the Danish translation of Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins so I hope I can get to that as well!









Happy reading!

Book Haul!

So these last 2 weeks, the books have been piling up. So I thought it would be a great time to do a book haul.

Left (going down)

• Zombies vs. Unicorns by a bunch of different authors. I am currently reading this, and so far I am liking it.
• The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling). This was actually a gift from my mom. I love J.K. Rowling and I just have to own ALL her books - and I do now.
• I take the bomb with me when I leave (danish book). Just a bunch of threatening letters from around Denmark. Sounds interesting. 
• The Lost Symbol (danish version) by Dan Brown. I have actually read this one, tell me if you want reviews of any of his books. I have them all, the only one I have not read yet is Deception Point. 
• Geektastic: stories from the nerd herd by a bunch of different authors. There is a story from John Green in it, that is kind of the reason why I bought it...
• Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Jane Austen and Ben H. Winters. 
• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith. This is also one I have read. The only one I am missing is Dreadfully ever after.... 
• I Am Scrooge: A Zombie Story for Christmas by Adam Roberts. Perfect for christmas - right?
• Going Bovine by Libba Bray. I have not yet read something from Libba Bray, so I thought this would be a fun place to start.

Right (going down)

• Cell and It, both by Stephen King. I have not read something from King before, so when I saw that these 2 where 4.5$ each I just had to buy them.
• Last but not least, The Complete Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer - in WHITE. They are gorgeous. 

I will be doing a series review of the twilight series (even though everyone - including me have read them). I just thought it would be fun to read them again - with all the small extra stories and midnight sun.

If you want reviews of any of the mentioned books, then leave it in a comment :)