Thursday, January 30, 2020

January Wrap up - Book Haul & What to Expect Next Month

Welcome, welcome my dear readers.
Welcome to the blog.

The first month of this new year is over already. Time is flying, when you're having fun, you know... 
I'm actually not that sad that January is over, because I'm so READY for Spring! Winter in The Netherlands is just rain and storm... I can't wait for the sun to shine more than 2 hours a week and for it to be light outside when my alarm clock blares me awake at 6.30 AM.

It's pretty busy at school, because my 6th Graders will leave Primary School after July and that's a lot of work. Taking tests, decide what level they continue on and having conversations with all the parents. We're also on strike today and tomorrow, because in The Netherlands the classes are too full and there are just not enough teachers.
I can't wait for it to be vacation, that's two more weeks, so we can all rest and recharge!

I had a great reading month and I expect February to be nothing less. I'm doing loads of buddy reads this month and I'm excited for the books that I have scheduled!

I hope you're having a great month!
🌧🌧🌧



Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Review: After the Flood

Author: Kassandra Montag
Started reading: December 26th 2019
Finished the book: January 24th 2020
Pages: 432
Genres: Dystopian, Fiction
Published: September 3rd 2019
Source: Kindle Copy
Goodreads score: 3.75
My score:
Synopsis
A little more than a century from now, our world has been utterly transformed. After years of slowly overtaking the continent, rising floodwaters have obliterated America’s great coastal cities and then its heartland, leaving nothing but an archipelago of mountaintop colonies surrounded by a deep expanse of open water.

Stubbornly independent Myra and her precocious seven-year-old daughter, Pearl, fish from their small boat, the Bird, visiting dry land only to trade for supplies and information in the few remaining outposts of civilization. For seven years, Myra has grieved the loss of her oldest daughter, Row, who was stolen by her father after a monstrous deluge overtook their home in Nebraska. Then, in a violent confrontation with a stranger, Myra suddenly discovers that Row was last seen in a far-off encampment near the Arctic Circle. Throwing aside her usual caution, Myra and Pearl embark on a perilous voyage into the icy northern seas, hoping against hope that Row will still be there.

Sunday, January 26, 2020

Sunday Post #14

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It's a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead.











Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Review: The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight Trilogy #1)

Author: Katherine Arden
Started reading: January 1st 2020
Finished the book: January 20th 2020
Pages: 323
Genres: Fantasy, Historical, Fairy Tale
Published: January 10th 2017
Source: Bought the Ebook
Goodreads score: 4.12
My score: 
Synopsis
At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn't mind—she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse's fairy tales. Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. Wise Russians fear him, her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil.

After Vasilisa's mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa's new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows.

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Review: The Mask of Sanity

Author: Jacob M. Appel
Started reading: December 29th 2019
Finished the book: January 1st 2020
Pages: 256
Genres: Fiction, Thriller
Published: March 31st 2017
Source: Physical copy from the author
Goodreads score: 4.00
My score:
Synopsis
On the outside, Dr. Jeremy Balint is a pillar of the community--the youngest division chief at his hospital, a model son to his elderly parents, fiercely devoted to his wife and two young daughters. On the inside, Dr. Jeremy Balint is a high-functioning sociopath, a man who truly believes himself to stand above the ethical norms of society. As long as life treats him well, Balint has no cause to harm others. When life treats him poorly, he reveals the depths of his cold-blooded depravity.

In contrast to fictional predecessors like Dostoyevesky's Raskolnikov and Camus's Mersault, Dr. Balint is a man who already has it all--and will do everything in his power, no matter how immoral, to keep what he has.

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Sunday Post #13

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It's a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead.












Thursday, January 9, 2020

My Top 19 Books of 2019

Lists, lists, lists. I just LOVE lists. Who doesn't?! I've been excited to post my Top 19 Books of 2019 since the start of December, when I knew I would post this!

With this final list I hope to recommend some awesome books that you maybe haven't read. Want to know what I loved the book so much? You can click the cover to go to the full review!



I hope you'll find some nice books to read this year. Have fun reading this list and have a great 2020! This is my top 19 of 2019:

Sunday, January 5, 2020

Review: The Horror Collection: White Edition

Author: Kevin J. Kennedy and others
Started reading: December 27th 2019
Finished the book: December 27th 2019
Pages: 115
Genres: Horror, Short Stories
Published: October 22nd 2019
Source: Digital copy from the author
Goodreads score: 4.26
My score:
Synopsis
Book 4 in KJK Publishing’s The Horror Collection series is a Christmas edition.

Bringing you festive treats and Yuletide chills:

Mark Tufo, Amy Cross, Mark Allan Gunnells, Mark Cassell, Lex H. Jones, Chris Miller, Steven Stacy, James Matthew Byers & Kevin J. Kennedy

We hope your Christmas is both wonderful and terrifying.

Friday, January 3, 2020

Review: Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass #4)

Author: Sarah J. Maas
Started reading: December 8th 2019
Finished the book: December 26th 2019
Pages: 648
Published: September 1st 2015
Source: Received as a gift
Goodreads score: 4.57
My score:
Synopsis
Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she’s at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past…


She has embraced her identity as Aelin Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen. But before she can reclaim her throne, she must fight.


She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die for her. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen’s triumphant return.

Wednesday, January 1, 2020

3 Year Blogiversary: Book Of Choice GIVEAWAY

It has been 3 years already. Time is flying when you're having fun! Since I started this blog, I've never regretted it. I'm so grateful for every person that visits my blog, reads my post and leaves a comment. I'm grateful for the authors that put faith in me and request a review.

I want to give a shout out to the authors I frequently work with and the bloggers that visit my blog regularly! YES YOU, GUYS! Thanks so much for showing the love! All the comments and people that read my blog, that's what I keep doing it for. 

I hope there are more years to come and to show my gratitude and to celebrate my 3rd year, I will giveaway 1 paperback book, just like I did last year and the year before that. I'd love to keep up the tradition.

Read this blogpost for some cool statistics about my blog and to find out more about the giveaway!