Top ten genres I feel different about as time has passed

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 about books we feel different about as time has passed, but I'm making it genres I feel different about as time has passed instead. 

I thought I'd make this a more interesting post so instead of naming some books, I'm talking about genres! I've been wanting to do something like this for a while and the opportunity presented itself.

EROTICA
Let's just start with erotica. I'd never thought I was going to read it, let alone enjoy it. It's still very much out of my comfort zone, but I'm beginning to enjoy it. I had a hard time with sex scenes in books until, well now, and I think it has very much to do with my age! At 19 I feel like it isn't exactly 'wrong' to read books with sex in it, and I definitely think it's something you should wait to delve into until you're ready. I read it once in a while but I definitely prefer my mature YA and NA books for now! So, I've gone from a 'never' to a 'every once in a while'. 
Mature YA and NA was, and is, the perfect way to ease myself into it though. I mean, I love Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover and I really enjoyed Forget You by Jennifer Echols and both books have sex scenes. I feel like I've grown! 

HISTORICAL FICTION
I love the idea of historical fiction, like I've talked about many times, but I don't really enjoy historical fiction. I have a good deal of HF on my shelves but I usually shy away from them. Honestly I'm afraid I'll get disappointed, because I usually am. Although, I've bought All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doer, Red Queen and The Other Boleyn by Philippa Gregory, all the Edward Rutherford novels (which is currently translated into Danish) and a few others. I've even tried reading The Book Thief - two times and I've never gotten more than halfway through and even that has been a struggle. 
So, I still read it once in a while but I don't think it's my genre. 

NONFICTION
I'd never thought I'd be a reader of nonfiction - but I actually love it. I don't really read biographies, and I fear I never will, but I like memoirs. The Happiness Project is one of my all time favorite books, A Room of One's Own is high on the list as well! I also just read Som i et spejl which is a Danish book (not translated, yet) about 7 important female characters in literature. 
I've even received the Danish edition of Popular by Maya van Wagenen for review and I'm really looking forward to it! 
As long as it's memoirs and about literature, I guess I like it. 

CLASSICS
Another genre I thought I wouldn't enjoy. I'm still not totally into it, since I have a hard time finding ones I need to read. I have all of Austen's works though and a bunch of the Wordsworth editions, a massive copy of Les Mis and many others. I was unfortunately disappointed by both A Clockwork Orange and 1984 which was the ones I wanted to read with a passion! So, my real problem is a fear of disappointment! 

YA
In 2012 I didn't think about the fact that books were divided into YA, childrens and adult. I knew where the YA books where at the library but I never thought about it. Then after discovering booktube and bookblogging in 2013 I became obsessed with YA and read mainly that. Now, I still enjoy it, but it's far from the only thing I read.
I feel different about YA know because, well, I am a bit older, but I also feel like we read about the same tropes all the time. There's not much new in YA. Sometimes I even have a hard time distinguishing books e.g. All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven and My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga.

NA
Just like erotica there was a time where I said 'never' but around my 17th or 18th birthday I thought I might as well try a book or two and well, The Edge of Never by J.A. Redmerski is still one of my favorite books. I've also just read Ugly Love which was so, so good and I have Losing it on my TBR shelf!
I fear that I'll come across some of those books that are written solely for the sex scenes, but I feel like it's a bigger problem in erotica and not new adult. The main reason I enjoy new adult though, is the fact that the characters are older, more my age and I can relate to them. I have a hard time relating to YA characters at this point.

SHORT STORIES AND NOVELLAS
I was unsure whether to include this or not, but it is a writing genre, so why not?
I've always had a hard time with short stories and novellas, but I'm really starting to enjoy them! I have Kindred Spirits on my shelf, I have a collection of Fay Weldon's short stories waiting to be read and reviewed, I've just bought a short story collection from Penguin and I actually own a bunch of anthologies!
When I need a book I can jump in and out of, I think an anthology is great. You can read a story here and a story there! I've been disappointed in the past though, but I'm trying to pick 'better' - e.g. find ones I actually want to read.

Is there any genres you feel different about, now?

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? 

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.

Top Ten Tuesday: Ways in which I want to improve, bookish edition

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Today is actually a freehie which means we get to choose which topic to make a list from. I'm still kind of inspired by the New Year so I'm going to talk about the ways in which I want to improve - bookish edition.

Read for me and not for everyone else
I want to read books I actually want to read and not just what everyone else is reading. I love talking about books with other people, but if I'm not that interested I probably shouldn't read it.

DNF
I seriously need to get better when it comes to DNF-ing (mark books as 'did not finish'). I am quite terrible at it and I always just push myself to read it through - or I put it down if it's one of my own books and it's going to collect dust on my shelf. I should probably give those books away.

Read my shelf
Yes, this is one of my challenges this year - basically because I suck. I buy a bunch of books and then they just sit on my shelf for at least a couple of months. I need to stop always reading review-books and books from the library.

Buy less
This counts for everything but mainly books. I'm quite the book hoarder and 2016 is the year where that ends! In January I've received 5 books so far and I haven't actually bought any of them - so at least I'm on track.

Snack healthier
I always munch on something while reading so why not make those snacks fruits, vegetables, nuts etc. instead of all that sugar? It's actually a resolution of mine this year; to become healthier, but I haven't actually shared that one with you guys.

Write reviews within 24 hours of finishing a book

I still have 3 books I read back in December waiting to be reviewed, and the books I read now is also neglected due to those 3 books. I need to become better at writing a review almost immediately after finishing a book. 

Take the time to read more lengthy books

Don't really read books with 500+ Pages that often. That needs to change.

In which ways do you want to improve?

Reading challenges and goals for 2016

I have a few reading resolutions, challenges and goals for 2016 and I'm really hoping that I can accomplish all of them!

Read 100 books

Since I've read a bit over a 100 books these past two years I figured I might as well set my goal accordingly! 

Finish 7-10 series (and continue series)

The series I plan to finish, or catch up on, at the moment, are: 

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson (3 books)
A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin (6 books)
Fifty Shades by E.L. James (1 book)
The Dispossessed by Page Morgan (1 book)
Never Never by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher (1 novella)
The Selection by Kiera Cass (2 books)
To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han (1 book)
You by Caroline Kepnes (1 book)
More Than by Jay McLean (4 books)
The Shamer Chronicles by Lene Kaaberbøl (3 books)

I'm also going to participate in the Finishing the Series challenge with is hosted by Bea @ Bea's Book Nook. I've of course chosen level 4 - expert series reader which is quite ironic since I'm quite bad at reading series! 

Read (much) less YA

I seriously read way too much YA since I'm a reviewer for multiple YA publishers, but I also buy and borrow YA - that should definitely decrease! 

Re-read 5 books

I'm not too good at re-reading books.. I definitely neglect the books I have read so I want to revisit some old favorites. Maybe next year I take the whole Harry Potter series again? 

The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
The Shamer's Daughter (The Shamer Chronicles, #1) by Lene Kaaberbøl
The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin 

Read my shelf

I counted all of my books and turns out that I have 160 unread books on my shelves at the moment and 76 read. I seriously need to read some of them, my particular goal is 50-60 books. 

I got my boyfriend to choose 12 books from my shelves that I have to read, or reread, in 2016! Here's the complete list:

January - Us by David Nicholls
February -  White Queen by Gwyneth Jones
March - The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
April - Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
May - The Golden Key (Den gyldne nøgle) by Lene Dybdahl
June - The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1) by Brandon Sanderson
July - The Well of Ascension (Mistborn, #2) by Brandon Sanderson
August - The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, #3) by Brandon Sanderson
September - Plain Nonsense (Hul i hovedet) af Nicole Boyne Rødtnes
October - Flappers and Philosophers by F. Scott Fitzgerald
November - Three Little Words by Jessica Thompson
December - The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum

I'm also going to participate in the 2016 read my books challenge which is hosted by The Worn Bookmark.  

Read 1 book from Netgalley each month

I've actually been quite good when it comes to netgalley and my percentage is currently 89% and I have 12 galleys to read and review so I definitely believe I can do it! 

I'm also going to participate in the 2016 netgalley reading challenge which is hosted by Fictively. I've chosen level 'medium' which is 11-20 books. 

Read 10 classics

I love my classics and since I also have my 20 before 20 list I need to get a move on if I want to read those books before I turn 20 in March 2017. I'm also quite glad that our bookclub mainly reads classics! 

12 audiobooks

I just got a yearlong subscription to storytel which is the Danish equivalent of audible - except; you get to read all the books you want, you can't listen to them or read them (there's also ebooks) if you cancel your subscription, like you can with audible. That is why I want to listen to at least 1 audiobook each month! 

I'm also going to participate in the 2016 audiobook challenge which is hosted by The Book Nymph and Hot Listens. I've chosen 'stenographer' which is 10-15 books.  

Yearlong reading experiences

As I mentioned above I want to reread The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin this year, and since it's divided into 12 chapters/12 months I figured I would read a chapter a month.
I also received a book called 365 stories by James Robertson last year, there's 365 stories (one for each day of the year) and each one is 365 words long!
My goal is to read both of those books during the year. 

Make a new 'for review' spreadsheet - and actually use it

I spent quite a lot of time last year, or maybe the year before, on making a review spreadsheet. I used it for a couple of months and then I neglected it. This year I want to be more organized and this is one of the steps I will take to do just that! 

Update my online library at libib.com

Again, organization. I discovered libib.com last year and you can read all about it here. It's basically an online library! I really want to keep more track of the books I have and this is the best way I know at the moment. 

Update my review archive on a regular basis

I know I'm not the only one who neglects their review archive! But I really want to be better at updating it... 

Make a new blog-planner

I made one last year and I became quite organized because of it. I also really got into blogging again so hopefully the same things will happen this time too! 

Learn French

I absolutely love French! I played around with duolingo last year and it definitely helped. I don't need to be able to speak the language, just read it. 

Drink more water

This is a personal goal I usually have. So why not this year too? I can already tell you that I've started drinking much more water than in 2015! 

Become more organized

I'm tired of feeling like my life is messy and I just want to be an organized person so I don't have to remember everything and just relax!