Mini Book Haul

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These pretties came in the mail today, except my Gizmo, and I can’t help not to share them with you guys.

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Murder on the Orient Express
by Agatha Christie

I’ve read And Then There Were None with Joyce few days ago and we both loved it. We’ve decided to start collecting Christie’s novels. This book was recommended to me by the majority of my bookish friends (one of them is Erika) as a second read from Christie.

Snow Like Ashes
by Sara Raasch

This is my book for this month’s „1HB a month“, a „thing“ that Joyce and I started. We love hardbound books (Who doesn’t, right?) but they are quite expensive so we’ve decided to save some money (it’s our husband’s money, actually. Haha!) so we can buy one hardbound every month. I am reading a lot of good things about this book and I’m excited to read this.

Meanwhile..
I’m excited for Funeral for a Friend. They will be performing later at 9pm in MusikZentrum (Hannover) and it will be my first time watching them live. Yay! Last time I’ve been in a concert was in 2013 when Paramore performed live in Docks, Hamburg and it was epic.

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Top Ten Tuesday : Top Ten Of Your Auto-buy Authors

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Weekly meme hosted by Broke and Bookish.

August 18: Top Ten Of Your Auto-buy Authors (no matter the genre or what it’s about… you’ll buy it from these authors!). If you want to get specific you can break it into genre especially since I know we did this topic in 2013.

It’s been a while! I’m excited to share to you guys my top ten auto-buy authors (in no particular order).

Processed with VSCOcam with hb2 preset• Jennifer Niven – Right after reading All The Bright Places, I told myself that I will definitely buy her next books.
• David Levithan – Became one of my favorite authors right after reading The Lover’s Dictionary in 2012. I’ve read Every Day, Every You Every Me, and Six Earlier Days (prequel of Every Day).
• Stephanie Perkins – I fell inlove with her writing style (and to Etienne St. Clair) when I finished reading Anna and the French Kiss. I’ve read also Lola and the Boy Next Door.
• Michelle Hodkin – The Mara Dyer trilogy is one of my favorites. I hope she wil still write something related with the trilogy.
• John Green – One of my favorite authors of all-time. I’ve read Looking for Alaska, TFIOS, Paper Towns, An Abundance of Katherines and Let It Snow. I’ve been wanting to read Will Grayson, Will Grayson for a long time now but I can’t still bring myself to read it. I’m not sure why.

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Book Review : P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han

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Series : To All The Boy I’ve Loved Before #2
Edition : Paperback (337 pages)
Publisher : Scholastic Press (May 2015)
Genre : Young Adult, Fiction, Contemporary
Source : Amazon.de
Date Read : August 2015
Check this on Goodreads

Lara Jean didn’t expect to really fall for Peter. She and Peter were just pretending. Except suddenly they weren’t. Now Lara Jean is more confused than ever.
When another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean’s feelings for him return too. Can a girl be in love with two boys at once?

In this charming and heartfelt sequel to the New York Times bestseller To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, we see first love through the eyes of the unforgettable Lara Jean. Love is never easy, but maybe that’s part of what makes it so amazing.

My Thoughts

„I know now that I don’t want to love or be loved in half measures. I want it all, and to have it all, you have to risk it all.“

This was our, me and my reading buddy Joyce, first read for the month of August. I’ve read To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before last year and I enjoyed it but I like PS I Still Love You more.

This book starts where the first book ends, Lara Jean’s letter to Peter Kavinsky. They’ve decided to give their relationship a second chance and this time it is for real. They’ve made some rules and one of them is to be honest with each other. However, being honest is quite hard when Peter continues to hang-out with Genevieve and a communication begins between Lara Jean and her old love John Ambrose.

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Book Review : And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

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Edition : Masterpiece Edition, Paperback (317 pages)
Publisher : Harper Collins (March 2013)
First Published : November 1939
Genre : Mystery, Thriller, Crime, Classic, Fiction
Source : Hugendubel Buchhandlung
Date Read : August 2015
Check this on Goodreads

First, there were ten – a curious assortment of strangers summoned as weekend guests to a private island off the coast of Devon. Their host, an eccentric millionaire unknown to all of them, is nowhere to be found. All that the guests have in common is a wicked past they’re unwilling to reveal – and a secret that will seal their fate. For each has been marked for murder. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. And only the dead are above suspicion.

My Thoughts

Processed with VSCOcam with hb2 presetTen strangers were invited to visit Soldier Island in Devon. Later that night, a recorded message was played saying that each of them are responsible for a crime. One by one, the ten strangers begin to die. The question is, „Who is the murderer?“

I’m so glad to finally read an Agatha Christie book. I chose „And Then There Were None“ after searching for Christie’s best-selling novel.

This book is brilliant!

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Mini Book Haul

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Ready Player One by Ernest Cline | Goodreads
I’ve been reading and hearing good things about this book. I know that being a gamer is an advantage on reading this and I’m lucky because my husband is a „gamer since birth“. I sometimes tease him that his twin brother is Super Mario. Other readers who’ve finished this book said that even if you don’t have a vague knowledge about games, you can still relate and enjoy this book. P.S. Armada is on my to-buy list.

Night Film by Marisha Peesl | Goodreads
This book was We The Book Dragons‚ book for the month of July and I wasn’t able to join the read-along. I’ve avoided reading the discussions because I still want to read this book but I cannot avoid to browse the pages. It has some pages with newspaper and internet clips. I can’t wait to read this.

I ordered these books from The Book Depository. Look how lovely the bookmarks are!

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Monthly Recap : July 2015

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What’s up fellow Book Lovers?! I’ve been MIA again and I’m sorry for that. I’m just loosing focus on blogging and I can’t bring myself to write some decent book reviews. Hopefully this will pass. So right now I want to share some of the highlights from last month. It was a great and memorable month for me.

  • The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith
  • A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
  • The Clocks by Agatha Christi
  • Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and his Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
  • Angelfall by Susan Ee
  • Shadow Man by Cody McFadyen
  • Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

THE NIGHT CIRCUS by Erin Morgenstern (4.5 out of 5 stars)

This book is magical! The characters are unique and interesting, the storyline is brilliant, and the author made me want to wish that Le Cirque des Rêves is real. I highly recommend this book. It may be a little slow in the beginning but just continue and I’m telling you, it’s worth it.

THE SELECTION by Kiera Cass (3.5 out of 5 stars)

The book’s cover made me buy it. I had no idea what this book is all about and I thought this is like an “American Idol” kind of story but it’s not. Maybe because America’s last name is Singer and she sings. The Selection is more like “The Bachelor”. I personally don’t like the idea of the competition (The Bachelor) so I was a little unsure of my feelings towards the story but I’m glad that I still ended up enjoying it. Full review.

July Highlight : July 24. 2015

We (finally) got married! We’ve been processing the papers since April last year and we’re so grateful that everything went well. We had a simple ceremony and celebration that day, just like what we’ve wanted. We are so happy that we are officially Mr and Mrs. ♥

Have a nice day everyone! 🙂

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Book Heaven : St. George’s Bookstore

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St. George’s Bookstore
Berlin, Germany
July 20, 2015

We drove to Berlin to renew my passport at the Philippine Embassy and after that, we went to this awesome bookstore named St. George’s Bookstore. They have a large selection of english language (new and used) books. Visit http://saintgeorgesbookshop.com for more info.

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Book Review : Cinder and Glitches by Marissa Meyer

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13722513Series : The Lunar Chronicles #1
Edition : Paperback (387 pages)
Publisher : Square Fish (January 2013)
Genre : Young Adult, Fantasy, SciFi, Retellings
Source : Amazon.de
Date Read : June 2015
Check this on Goodreads

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl.

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

My Thoughts

A fairytale retelling story set in a scifi/dystopia world with a female cyborg as the main character. Unique and interesting storyline plus incredible writing style. The worldbuilding in this book is astonishing and I can’t wait to learn more about the other people and their continents.

Cinder is a very likable character. I like that she’s tough, independent and a little sarcastic. I love her relationship with her sweet step-sister Peony and her hilarious best android-friend Iko. The characters feel so real especially Queen Levana. She’s a great villain and she gave me goosebumps. I’m not really that sure with Prince Kai so I hope I’ll know him more on the next book.

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Book Review : Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

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Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.

With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.

My Thoughts

This was a great and refreshing read. I like that the dialogues are so natural and the characters are relatable. The scenes are also hilarious. Continue reading „Book Review : Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli“ →

Book Review : Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover

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At twenty-two years old, Sydney is enjoying a great life: She’s in college, working a steady job, in love with her wonderful boyfriend, Hunter, and rooming with her best friend, Tori. But everything changes when she discovers that Hunter is cheating on her—and she’s forced to decide what her next move should be.

Soon, Sydney finds herself captivated by her mysterious and attractive neighbor, Ridge. She can’t take her eyes off him or stop listening to the passionate way he plays his guitar every evening out on his balcony. And there’s something about Sydney that Ridge can’t ignore, either. They soon find themselves needing each other in more ways than one.

A passionate tale of friendship, betrayal, and romance, Maybe Someday will immerse readers in Sydney’s tumultuous world from the very first page.

I won this book in an Instagram giveaway hosted by El (@bookishnessandcoffee) in January this year. I chose this book because I’ve been wanting to read (and collect) Colleen Hoover’s books.

My expectations on this book were so high (because of the hype) that’s why it made me sad that I was quite disappointed even before I finish reading it.

I can totally say that I love her writing style. It’s simple yet captivating.

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