November wrap-up

November went so fast and look it is almost Christmas! Where time flies ?! However I am a little bit late with my wrap - up and I am sorry about that.  So....

Books I've read: 4

Pages in total: 1596

I've came in to November with a book I've started in October for "read a book written by an author with your same initials" challenge. 

 

Title: Half Bad 

Author: Sally Green

Pages: 286

Edition: ebook

Published: 2014 by Penguin

Edition language: English

I was absolutely disappointed with this book. I wasn't fan of a writing style, main character was annoying and finally I expected more magic stuff considering it was a book about witches. I have to say the second half of the book was better than the first one, but still I had to force myself to finish it. I don't know if I will continue with this series. I gave it 2.5 stars out of 5 (and only because I feel bad of giving a lower ratings). 

Next I chose a book for another challenge "a book set during Christmas or similar holiday".

Title: Let It Snow

Authors: John Green, Maureen Johnson, Lauren Myracle

Pages: 368

Edition: paperback

Published: 2013 by Penguin UK

Edition language: English

I have mixed feelings about this book, but I'm certain about one thing...It didn't live up to my expectations. I gave:

1. "The Jubilee Express" by Maureen Johnson - 2 stars out of 5. The main character made some decisions, that made me doubt her sanity. Who goes with a stranger guy at night in the snow storm to his house ? Or I will brake up with my boyfriend who I dearly love threw the phone and stay with this guy who I just met few hours ago and it is totally fine... Oh come on! And that instalove thing was too much even for me. 

2. "A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle" by John Green - 3 stars out of 5. I liked it, but didn't love. The story was cute and fluffy, but nothing exceptional. John Green followed the same pattern like in all of his books: unpopular guy/girl meets cute, quirky and desired girl/ boy and blah blah blah.

3. "The Patron Saint of Pigs" by Lauren Myracle - 3.4 stars out of 5. Also fluffy, also cute, but nothing over the top.

And one more thing. I don't know what happened between cheerleaders, Maureen and John, but wow!!! they went too far with that hate for them at times. 

And then I was finished with all my challenges for this year. So I picked up what I was craving for. and that was darkness and horror.

Title: Doctor Sleep

Author: Stephen King

Pages: 485

Edition: Paperback

Published: 2014 by Hodder Paperbacks

Edition language: English

Firstly I would like to say, that I likes this book a little bit more, than "The Shining". But like with all S. Kings books, that I read, the first part of a book dragged a little too much for my taste, but for the second part I have no complaints. At that point the story gripped me and I couldn't put "Doctor Sleep"down. 

After that I decided to read whatever book, that was unread on my first bookshelf. 

Title: Kaulų ir dūmų duktė (Daughter of Smoke and Bone)

Author: Laini Taylor

Pages: 457

Edition: Hardcover

Published: 2012 by Obuolys

Edition language: Lithuanian 

One of the worst books I've read this year. The writing style was too dramatic and sweet and over the top, at some points I thought I will start vomiting rainbows. The decisions, that was made by main character drove me mad... to bring home the guy that tried to kill you ? Are you insane ? Girl! He tried to KILL you. What romantic is about that ? Great lesson for young girls "love your man, who abuses you and tries to kill you, because that is true love"... I don't recommend this book to anyone, it is just the waste of time. I gave it 1.5 stars out of 5. 

That's it for now. 

Happy reading :)

October wrap-up

Long time no see, but I'm back with my October wrap - up. This month I managed to read 7 books and I'm really happy about that. 

First book I've read this month was "An Ideal Husband" by Oscar Wilde. And it finally convinced me, that I don't like plays that much. It was hard to connect with characters and the story was a little bit boring to me. I think for me it is better to watch plays, then read them. I gave it 2.5 stars out of 5. 

At least I'm happy that I completed another my 2015 reading challenge "to read the play". 

Next on my list was "the book that came the year you were born" challenge. For this one I chose to read "Replay" by Ken Grimwood.  And I'm still have mixed feelings about this one. On one hand the idea of this book was quite unique, at least for me, but...it could have been much shorter. In the end I had to force myself to finish it, because it repeated it self too much and I felt bored. 

The main character was OK and I felt neutral about him from the first page to the end. In other words I felt nothing for him and I didn't care that much what will happen to him. I gave it 3 stars out of 5. 

And then I catched flu and was forced to stay in bed and I wasn't in the mood to read sci-fi or something similar. I then I remembered that I have "A monster calls" by Patrick Ness almost a year and I still didn't read it. And you know what ? I read it in one sitting, that's how good it was. I was intrigued from first page till the end.The writing style was beautiful and author described what main character felt so great, that I even dropped few tears in the end. I seriously recommend this book not only to children, but to adults too. I gave it 4 stars out of 5.

And of course this book helped me to finish another challenge "a book that made/makes you cry".

Then I've chose another book that I had for almost a year and read so much good reviews "The perks of being a wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky.  But I have to say I was disappointed, maybe just because I was expecting too much. I get why others love it so much, but for me it was just ok. It was such a slow read to me and I just finished it because I hoped that the end would be better, but it wasn't. I gave it 2.5 stars out of 5.

As I said few posts before I am trying to learn Norwegian language, and at least for me one of the ways learning new language is to read books in it. That's why I chose to read "Fra Disneys eventyrlige skatter". It's a collection of well known fairytales from "Sleeping beauty" to "Dumbo". One tales was better than the others, but overall I gave it 4 stars out of 5. 

After I finished The perks of being a wallflower I decided to go back to fantasy. And chose to read "The faerie guardian" by Rachel Morgan. And it was just like I expected, a mediocre read about fairies. The main character was annoying at times and even arrogant. Why there can't be a female in the books, where she can be tough, but also say "yes, I can defend my self, but also I like make up and dresses and sometimes I cry watching cute kittens"? Sometimes it feels like it's shame to cry sometimes or feel week... I don't get it. 

I don't know if I will continue with this series. I gave it 2.5 stars out of 5.

And lastly I read "Spring Tide" by Cillia and Rolf Borjlind. It was an enjoyable read, it gripped me from the first page. I liked writing style and all of the characters were interesting to read. Also it is a huge plus from me, that I couldn't guest who was a real murderer. I gave it 4 stars out of 5. 

Books I've read: 7

Pages: 2036

That is it for now.....happy reading :)

August wrap - up

I can't believe summer is officially over, but the cozy months are up on us, that's why I won't complain. I'm autumn kid through my bones and love to read at colder months even more. Just imagine warm cup of coffee, woollen blanket and amazing book..pretty picture, right ?

But first, before we get in to September tbr, I should do my August wrap-up. And I have to say, that this month was the best reading month this summer, because I managed to read 8 books. 

I've started August by finishing "The Storyteller's Daughter: A Retelling of the Arabian Nights"  by Cameron Dokey. One word to describe this book: BORING. I felt like I was reading a textbook. No wonder I gave it just 2 stars out of 5.

Next on my list was "The Devil's Star" by Jo Nesbo. I quite liked what I've read, however it was hard to get in to it and at some points I almost had to force myself to read this book. I think it could have bin a little bit shorter. I gave it 3 stars out of 5. 

After reading a crime story, I was craving for something light and cute, so I chose "Angels" by Marian Keyes. And I was very disappointed. The main character drove me crazy, the story line was far from cute. I gave it 2 stars out of 5. 

And then the "Bout of books 14" readathon started. During it I read 3 books. Firstly, I've read "The Old Man and the Sea"  by Ernest Hemingway. It was a re-read for me,  and, as I remember, I liked it better the first time I've read it. But now it didn't have that factor, which kept me reading it from first page to the last one. Actually this time I forced my self to read it, maybe because I already knew the story. I gave it 3 stars out of 5. 

The same day I've started "Looking for Alaska" by John Green. That one was a surprise to me, I didn't expect much from it, but I loved it. The story was sad, but cute at the same time, main characters were interesting and diverse and I gave it 5 stars out of 5. 

And the last one that week was the first book of "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy. I really liked that, because I like that time period and all those intrigues fascinated me. Off course there were few parts that felt a little bit boring (war scenes), but it wasn't big problem to me, so I gave this book 4 stars out of 5.

After the readathon ended I felt a little bit burned out of reading, but still managed to read two more books. One of them was children book in Norwegian. As I'm trying to learn this language, I thought, that reading books in Norwegian will help me. And it actually did. That books is "Spøkelses hotellet" by Arne Svingen. I really liked it, however, as it is new language to me, there parts that was hard to understand. I gave it 3 stars out of 5. 

And the last one this month was the second book of "War and Peace". It's a continuation of the first one and I liked it just as much. I gave it 4 stars out of 5.

July monthly wrap - up and August tbr

Well hello everybody :) I know I'm so late with this post, but sometimes life gets in a way. The same goes and with a reading. I confess, that my July tbr was too ambitious and I choose to many books.

Books I've read: 3
Pages in total: 1640

All of those three books belong to a worst trilogy I have ever read. And this series, written by E. L. James,  consists of:

1. Fifty shades of Grey 
2. Fifty shades darker
3. Fifty shades freed

I don't have much to other than I was cringing the all time. The main female protagonist was absolutely childish and ridiculous. That lip biting and blushing from everything, and I mean everything, made me almost mad.  And I don't even have words about that "inner goddess" thing....what the hell was that ?! At first I even tried to count how many times she bites her lip while blushing and thinking about her inner goddess, but I lost the count in the middle of a first book. 

And what can I say about Grey... well that dude need serious mental help.

Also writing style was less than mediocre, and the story line was meh... so I gave this trilogy only 2 stars out of 5.

After that I got into a reading slump, I started other books, but couldn't finish them in time. So I will finish them next month. And that bring us to the August tbr. As you know I planned to read 6 books in July, but that didn't happened. So I will read remaining three this month and those books are: 

1. The storyteller's daughter: a retelling of the Arabian nights, by Cameron Dokey
2. The Devil's star,  by Jo Nesbo
3. Angels, by Marian Keyes

I'm thinking, that I will be able to read them in the beginning of a month, and only then I will choose what to read next. By the way this month will be a "Bout of books readathon" and I will try to participate in it. I will do separate tbr for it later on. 

Short review of Mistborn trilogy

Mistborn is an epic fantasy trilogy and a heist story of political intrigue, surprises and magical martial - arts action. The saga dares to turn a genre on its head by asking a simple question: What if the hero of  prophesy fails ? What kind of world results when the Dark Lord is in charge ? 

Mistborn series, written by Brandon Sanderson, consists of three books:

1. The final empire 

2. The well of ascension 

3. The hero of ages

I guess my opinion will be very unpopular… but this series disappointed me. Although I have to give credit to first book, maybe because it was different from what I’ve read before, but it kept my attention, it was full of action, the characters were diverse and interesting, the world building was exceptional.

However after what I’ve heard in many videos on youtube, I thought that all three books will be something wonderful, something that will almost change my existence J But second and third book made me feel bored almost all the time I’ve read them. It came to the point were I couldn’t read it in the evening, because they put me to sleep after few pages. Main characters became boring and intolerable, at some points even ridiculous. Finally at the end of last book, I felt like I was reading the Bible, the writing style became too dramatic, and somewhat reminded me of that story, where God created earth. Actually, as I said in my June wrap up, only listening an audio book helped me finish third book. 

 In my opinion all of those books could have been much shorter, because sometimes there were unnecessary description of characters journey or  landscape, that took 1 or 2 or at some points even 3 pages. In the end I started to skip these parts and read only dialogs.

Of course I can’t say that I hated them….all this trilogy was interesting enough for me to reach the end and find out what happened.

That is it for now....Happy reading :)