I use my Book Depository account to keep and organize several different wishlists for the books that strike my fancy or I plan to buy. My book buying plans are mostly smaller book buying sprees since I buy books several times a year by ordering them from Book Depository store. I rarely buy books in Croatian anymore. I started to buy used books in English more often in the last year or so because I have found some cool people who are selling relatively new and interesting books in English through Facebook groups. Few times a year I get into my Kindle and buy some books that are up to 5$ and I find interesting. I have few authors whose work I follow and buy in Kindle format and sometimes I indulge in titles that would be too expensive to buy in other formats. There are no bookshops in my area that sell books in English that I can walk into and buy books on the spot! When I was younger I opted to buy paperback editions mostly since they were easier to store and usually cost less. Lately I have developed the taste for pretty hardcover editions and now I weigh my options carefully before deciding to buy books.
Over a year ago I made a very similar post on this topic – Wishlist Books! You can check it out HERE. From the six books I highlighted in the post I bought five! This sixth book is out of print and it is still on my wish list. In the meantime I discovered a lot of interesting authors I wanted to try out and some new books. I have reservations about reading the books everybody else is raving about at first. I like to check them out at my own pace but when I find an author I go for it in a rather hedonistic manner. Leigh Bardugo and her books are just one more recent example for this.
Holly Black Books!
I did not have a taste or time for reading the same books more than once. Lately I keep coming back to some authors and stories. Holly Black and her stories of faeries have made me want to read the same books over and over. I have gotten her first two books in The Folk of Air trilogy back in 2019. Since then I have been hooked and now I am in the progress of getting the hardcover editions of all three books and getting my hands on other books connected to the same world of faeries. So far I have the third book in hardcover and have ordered the second one as well. Only the first one is missing to have all three in hardcover edition after which I will sell paperback editions. Here are some of the titles I want to get my hands on!
The Modern Faerie Tales : Tithe; Valiant; Ironside by Holly Black
This 800 pages beauty collects three stories set in the world of The Folk of Air I love reading about! I was checking out for the hardcover editions but can’t seem to find it. I am not particulary fond of a book this size in paperback edition and it is making me hesitate.
The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black
One of the reasons I am slow to get these is the need to decipher various editions and their sizes before actually buying the books. My OCD does not like it when the books from the same series are different size and since I am late to buy the hardcover editions of these I must thread carefully to get the right edition that goes well with other books I already have. The edition that is easiest for me to get is completely different than the rest and I must make some hard decisions financially if I want them all to match…
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
Another of Holly Black books I would like to read and another one with edition sizes all over the place. It is annoying and exhausting, not to mention totally demotivating when the quest to find the right edition is so difficult! This one has vampires and I am intrigued at how it turns out!
Book of Night by Holly Black
This is the latest book of the author announced for next year. It is a book meant for adult audiences and I can’t wait to see how it turns out! I am slowly building my own hype for this one! I like the premise of a underdog character on the run and deceitful types of magic. It should be urban fantasy mystery which is exactly the type of a thing I like!
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon ★★★★
Wayward Son (Simon Snow #2) by Rainbow Rowell ★★★★★
The Borders of Infinity (Vorkosigan Saga #5.3) by Lois McMaster Bujold ★★★★★
The Scent of Shadows (Signs of the Zodiac #1) by Vicki Pettersson ★★★★
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux ★★
The Reclusive Earl (Marriage by Fate #1) by Ruth Ann Nordin ★★★
How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories (The Folk of the Air #3.5) by Holly Black ★★★★★
When Beauty Tamed the Beast (Fairy Tales #2) by Eloisa James ★★★★★
Beauty (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter #20.5) by Laurell K. Hamilton ★★★★★
Ardeur: 14 Writers on the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Series by Laurell K. Hamilton ★★★★★
1. How many books have you read last month? Are you happy with the amount you read?
In November I have read 10 books. I read all five books for my Bookopoly TBR Game in first two and a half weeks and slacked for almost a week. I could have made more progress with some of the books I wanted to read by the end of the year so I’m in for a joy ride in December!
2. What was the best of all the books you’ve read in November? Any scenes or characters that made a lasting impression?
This November was full of great books for me. Some were a surprise and some exceeded my expectations! I was anxious about Wayward Son but was soon nicely surprised by very relatable characters and got very emotionally involved with the story as well. The Borders of Infinity provided me with more happy reading moments than expected and gifted me with newfound appreciation for the author and her writing style.
How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories was a my happy surprise for November! I knw I would love it and I preordered the beautiful Waterstone edition and it was a first time I ordered anything from Waterstones ever! My preorder came almost a week early and I devoured it in two days even though I was trying to pace myself a bit slower and read some parts more than once!
Also my Kindle reads this month made the top marks for me as well. I am surprised at how much my reading experience in November was good.
3. Were there any not so good books for you last month? What made it hard or not enjoyable to read?
The Phantom of the Opera started out promising but I had trouble getting into the setting of the story. The architecture and the theater were just so surreal to me. I could not stop pitting the writing style with the more modern books and it did not end well for The Phantom of the Opera.
4. How did the books you were reading last month fit in your reading plans if you had any?
I already mentioned that I went trough my monthly readathon challenge a lot faster than I anticipated and blown the rest of the month away not reading anything from my huge pile of books I choose for my personal reading challenge by the end of the year. I can’t stop thinking I could have done better but I guess now that I look at it I had way to much fun in my other reading to complain!
5. Any updates on the series you are reading or are you starting any new series?
How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories was like a cake topping after reading the rest of the series and I loved it. Wayward Son got me really excited in waiting on the next book to come out. The Borders of Infinity reminded me that I still have so many book from the Miles Vorkosigan saga I still need to read! I started one new book series with The Scent of Shadows and I plan to continue it next year. Reading Beauty (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter #20.5) helped me with going back on track and wanting to continue my reread of the whole series even though this particular novella is a bit out of order since I need to continue with another book of the series!
6. Would you like to recommend any books or authors you’ve been reading this last month?
I have so many great books on my bookshelves and my goal of reading more books I own is something I am constantly working on. This is a personal goal and it helped me a lot with reading more books I enjoy and feel better about reading the books from my own bookshelves. My recommendation is to set more personal reading goals and reflect on books you enjoy more often!
Final thoughts on November 2020 reading
I was spazzing out and not making many posts this November and I get that way when I get lost in the books I read. I will have to work on this more actively! Wish me luck!
For June I picked out two reading challenges simply because I was very interested in both and could not pick just one! Second reading challenge I really wanted to do was called The Olympic Games and it is thematically tied with the wonderful world of demigods created by the author Rick Riordan. The main host of this reading challenge is Ishi Time. You can check out her channel and the challenge announcement HERE
Even though these books cater to younger audiences these books are one of my favorites and I enjoy them quite a bit! So when I found the reading challenge that pays tribute to these amazing books I just had to participate. Thematically I was a lot more interested in this reading challenge than in the Make Your Myth-Taker Reading Challenge which I also picked out for June.
First part of the challenge was choosing one of the available Gods as a patron. After a long consideration I choose Hades as my patron. I like my books a bit on the darker side and Hades fits nicely with the books I can choose from my bookshelves. To honor my patron deity I have a list of five prompts I need to read books for. What I loved about this reading challenge was the freedom to pick the order of reading any way I please. I do believe this was what made me believe I can do both challenges. Since I was aware that I am doing two reading challenges I made my goal to use as many books I can for both challenges. In this regard I did pretty well I believe. Here are the books I choose for the prompts:
Hades prompt 1. – book featuring the undead
The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter, #2) by Laurell K. Hamilton ★★★★★
I had a lot of books to choose from for this prompt since I love urban fantasy genre and one of the most often used motives in the genre is some kind of the undead as a main character, love interest, villain of just a side character. Basically my favorite book series that features variety of different types of undead is Anita Blake Vampire Hunter by Laurell K. Hamilton. I have been reading these books for almost a third of my life now and I am still looking forward to each new book and story. I loved going back to the second book of the series which I have rad only once before this.
Hades prompt 2. – reread a book
Circus of the Damned (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter, #3) by Laurell K. Hamilton ★★★★★
Having a reason to read these books again was a welcome bonus for my reading in June. Rereading the third book after so many years have passed has been an interesting experience. I was annoyed to realize some small inconsistencies in the book and it has dimmed my elation for reading these books. In spite of that small annoyance I enjoyed reading the book a lot. I realized some differences that some characters moved on in the series and it was definitely good to get that perspective on growth and progress on some of the characters. This was one of the most interesting books for me before I read it the second time and it still is very interesting in showcasing the world that the author has build for her characters.
Hades prompt 3. – book with a dark cover
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3) by J.K. Rowling ★★★★★
Even though I have never before actually read this book I was heavily influenced by how dark the movie version seemed in comparison to the first two. So when I picked out this book for the dark cover prompt it seemed a perfect fit for me. I might even say that the cover illustration looks a little creepy. Some of the major differences came out between the book and the movie while reading this book. The story was generally known to me since I’ve seen the movie so many times but I had no issues with following the story as much I used to have in similar situations before. Reading the book made me want to watch the movie again as well and made my June just a bit more magical for the Hufflepuff edition which I am proud to own.
Hades prompt 4. – random TBR book
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Vol. 1 by John Vornholt, Arthur Byron Cover, Alice Henderson ★★★
In continuation with fantastical and undead related themes for this prompt I used my pick for TBR Jar Draw in June. You can check out more about it HERE. Buffy is one of my favorite TV shows for its humorous and witty dialogues and fantastical content. Reading the novelizations that were set somewhere in the first two seasons of the show was not the best experience and I was worried about ruining what good memories I have of it. There were three different stories that could be found as a standalone books: Coyote Moon by John Vornholt; Night of the Living Rerun by Arthur Byron Cover and Portal Trough Time by Alice Henderson. The reading experience totaled as average with one story being not so good, one just OK and the third very good for me. I am sad to say that these stories did not age well for me.
Hades prompt 5. – Any Hermes prompt – snake on the cover
For this prompt I had a lot more choices than I anticipated. In fact I ended up reading three different books in June that fit this prompt! In the end I choose:
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2) by J.K. Rowling ★★★★★
Reading the Harry Potter books in my own Hufflepuff editions is a magical experience on its own. I loved reading articles before and after the story relating to Hufflepuffs! It was very satisfying to have it available in Hogwarts house edition of my choice. I will continue reading and collecting the whole set. It already has a special place on my bookshelf!
Hades had two Advanced challenges prompts for me to fit books for. I managed to find two books that fit the prompts but I missed out on the reading rule of the challenge to read these only after I have read all five for the main challenge. Out of these two I managed to read only one of the books I chose.
Advanced Challenge 1. – Sword and Shield
✔ The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air, #3) by Holly Black
Advanced Challenge 2. – Monster fighting
Wayward Son (Simon Snow, #2) by Rainbow Rowell
My score on Olympic Games reading challenge:
I have read 5 books for The Olympic Games challenge
I read one additional book for the advanced challenge BUT I did not follow the rule of reading it after the first five prompts of the main challenge were done.
The second advanced challenge I did not get to read at all.
I would have loved to have chosen only one reading challenge for June in order to enjoy the experience more. I am glad I tried my own limits by reading two challenges and I hope to do better on the Olympic Games next year. In all the reading I did in June I forgot to follow and engage in some other social media platforms with other readers who were participating. Now that I got the hang of the few reading challenges I think I might be ready for that step as well. I’m kinda sorry for not putting in my books for the competition on which patron deity would inspire most readers and get most book read. I am glad for this experience though and hope to do better next time!
The figurine and the Hades visual are from the Disney Villainous: Wicked to the Core board game. You can check out more information on it HERE.
June was a third month in a row I have decided to take on a reading challenge. Make Your Myth-Taker was one out of two reading challenges that caught my attention in June. I was interested in the concept of making one’s own story using various prompts for reading. Make Your Myth-Taker offered a lot of options and out of the four general paths I choose the path of the Sorcerer.
In the path of the Sorcerer I have decided to follow the prompts to the Goddess option. This meant I had to read four books in the line of given prompts. The rule I am not very fond of was to read the books in the order for the prompts. This annoyed me a bit and I had to keep checking what book I was supposed to read next! Here are my book choices and what I thought about them:
Sorceress prompt 1. – nonhuman main
Elves Vol. 1: The Crystal of the Blue Elves by Jean-Luc Istin, DUARTE (Illustrator), Saito (Illustrator) ★★★★★
A friend who loves comics and graphic novels suggested for me to try these out after I noticed them on his Goodreads profile. It is a work of European authors with amazing illustrations I sometimes got lost in. The details and the coloring were very well done and some scenes were so good they gave me a feeling of watching an animated work with how well the illustrations flowed from one picture to the next. The story was very easy for me to get into because when I started reading I was just starting a new RPG Dungeons and Dragons campaign with some friends after a long time not playing pen and paper games like that. The fantastical setting offered many different races and an assortment of interesting characters. It was like diving into the world of high fantasy from some of the best authors out there. I appreciated the character quirks, political intrigue between the races and the colorful scenes in the background of it all. I was almost sad to stop reading this graphic novel series because I had to follow the prompts for my next book in the challenge.
Sorceress prompt 2. – foiled cover
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2) by J.K. Rowling ★★★★★
This year I finally started reading the Harry Potter series from the beginning. I have never actually read the first three books before I got my own copies. I started reading them when the third movie came out and started out with the fourth book! I ended up reading the last few books and buying them at midnight premiere sales when the hype for Harry Potter was at its wildest! Reading them now all these years later and after watching the movies so many times was a different experience on its own. I loved the design of the books I started to collect to have a whole set as they come out – The Hufflepuff editions with startling yellow cover jacket and extra lovable tidbits on Hufllepuffs in each book. Even the stars around the title of each chapter made me smile while I was reading. The story was known to me and I enjoyed each little difference I could find from the movie versions in the books.
Sorceress prompt 3. – highest rated
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3) by J.K. Rowling ★★★★★
I did not plan on picking out the third book in the Harry Potter series to read right after the second one. But when the coincidence offered this book as the most highest available to me at the time I embraced this choice with glee! The third book was translated into a very dark movie and because of it it became one of my least favorite movies. Reading the book was a completely different experience. I cant point out the exact differences for me but the book seemed much approachable for me to read than I remember from the movie. I had to watch the movie as soon as I finished the book and go over the things that caught my attention the most. I will be getting the next two books for my birthday and I plan on to continue reading them this year. Having both books fit into the same reading challenge in this order made me very pleased and I hope to fit the others in some other reading challenge by the end of the year as well!
Sorceress prompt 4. – random TBR
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Vol. 1 by John Vornholt, Arthur Byron Cover, Alice Henderson ★★★
Last time I had to read a book for a random prompt I ended up not reading the book I got. Random TBR prompt is definitely one of my least favorite prompts out there. I already have a semi random TBR book draw each month with my reading project TBR Jar Draw which I came up with in order to read more of the books I own. I have been at it for a few years now and I’m loving the results. For this reason I decided to use my TBR Jar Draw for the general random book prompt in this challenge. Out of three random book picks I decided on the one with the most pages and was really worried what would this long book do to my reading pace for the reading challenge. As it turned out the book I chose to read was a 3in1 edition of Buffy the Vampire Slayer novelizations – it was three actual books in one chubby edition. This was actually on my TBR for quite a number of years and since I avoided it for that long I decided to go for it. The three novelizations on their own did not have such stellar ratings and reviews and for a while I was a bit worried since these were the character I have fond memories of. The first story Coyote Moon was okay. I had to concentrate on the fact that these stories were set to be somewhere around first two seasons of the TV show. Those were some strange times and the TV show was way ahead of the times for the most part. Second story – The Night of the Living Rerun was the weakest for me. But what really made me not like it was the way the characters were portrayed. I just thought that they were way off from the behavior of the characters in the show. Third story – Portal Trough Time was the most interesting to me. I remember some of the slayers mentioned in the story from the Tales of the Slayers edition I have read before. Because the time travelling theme this one had bad reviews in general but the fact that the characters seemed true to those from the show I ended up liking it the most. The overall score of this edition was the sum of all three stories and I was glad to make a dent into my Buffy related book collection since I have plenty of it to read still.
Just four books seemed too easy for me and when I saw that the third prompt offers a crossover with another path choice I decided to spice things up and go with the crossover to Royal Court path to Monarch line. This added three more books to my reading challenge since the the third prompt is the same for both paths. I had much more trouble finding the right books for the last three prompts. Here are the books I came up with for the prompts:
Royal Court prompt 1. – queen main character
The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air, #3) by Holly Black ★★★★★
I searched through my bookshelves in order to find a book fro this one. I ended up choosing a book I already read in January this year. Few years back I did not reread books often if at all with few notable exceptions. I even joined a Facebook group of fans of this book series and had some extra motivation for reading this book. It was as good and as interesting as the first time I read it! I loved the characters even more the second time around. When I finished reading it I even found out about the next book from the series that comes out later this year and now I am enjoying the hype and anticipation for the next time I can read about the characters that make me happy and giggle a lot! Now that I think about it I am glad I had a reason to read this book again even in such short period of time.
Royal Court prompt 2. – red, purple or gold on the cover
Elves Vol. 2: The Honor of the Sylvan Elves by by Nicolas Jarry, Gianluca Maconi, Diogo Saito ★★★★★
For some reason I had no clue what to pick for this prompt and I even began to panic a little bit because of it! In my search for the right book for the prompt I decided to try the graphic novel I started the reading challenge with. I decided to categorize the cover illustration as gold for the purposes of the reading challenge. I used this opportunity to read another volume of the graphic novel I liked so much. The story in this one is completely independent from the first volume. They are both set in the same world and I got the feeling that they are both an interlude for the stories that come after it. This graphic novel series has 24 volumes and I am interested in reading them all. The character in this volume reminded me of some Dungeons and Dragons archetypes which made it more interesting to me. Again I was floored with beautiful coloring and scenes. I’m sad this graphic novel is not more popular.
Royal Court prompt 4. – reread a favorite
The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter, #2) by Laurell K. Hamilton ★★★★★
Last prompt was a fairly easy one for me to pick after the last two. I have been meaning to reread Anita Blake book series for years now. I have been with this book series for well over a decade. These characters have been part of my reading experience so long I fell very connected with them. This book series has many bad reviews from book nine on and many readers are frustrated with how the author has decided to develop her story and characters. This is a book series with 27 books and counting. Going back to reading the book series from the beginning was an interesting experience. I was reminded just how far the characters and the plot progressed. It has given me some perspective and I plan to continue with rereading the other books in the series as well.
My score on Make Your Myth-Taker reading challenge:
I have read 7 books for this reading challenge.
3 books were completely new for me.
2 books were rereads.
2 books felt like rereads since I have seen the movies so many times.
I have taken on a journey of a Sorceress and went the path of Goddess.
I have decided to expand to the path of Royal Court and go for the title of Monarch.
This reading challenge was an interesting experience. I enjoyed having a reason to reread so many books I love. I will be on the lookout for this challenge next year where I might add to these paths or just choose to complete the journey again. The Make Your Myth-Taker reading challenge was created by Charlotte and Ashley from A Frolic Through Fiction – you can check out Ashley’s announcement for the challenge HERE. Charlotte is on Twitter and you can follow here HERE. Give them some love for they deserve it! I am glad I found this reading challenge and did good on it!
Elves Vol. 1: The Crystal of the Blue Elves by Jean-Luc Istin, DUARTE (Illustrator), Saito (Illustrator) ★★★★★
The Gospel According to Jesus Christ by Jose Saramago ★★
Aries (The Zodiac Queen, #1) by Gemma James ★★★
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2) by J.K. Rowling ★★★★★
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3) by J.K. Rowling ★★★★★
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Vol. 1 by John Vornholt, Arthur Byron Cover, Alice Henderson ★★★
The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air, #3) by Holly Black ★★★★★
Elves Vol. 2: The Honor of the Sylvan Elves by by Nicolas Jarry, Gianluca Maconi, Diogo Saito ★★★★★
The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter, #2) by Laurell K. Hamilton ★★★★★
Circus of the Damned (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter, #3) by Laurell K. Hamilton ★★★★
1. How many books have you read last month? Are you happy with the amount you read?
This June I have read ten books. One of them was a omnibus edition that contain three separate books so if I wanted to I could have pumped up the numbers up to twelve! I am okay with the number as it is.
2. What was the best of all the books you’ve read in June? Any scenes or characters that made a lasting impression?
More than half the books I read in June I rated with five stars. This June was a month of favorites and plenty of rereading. I loved reading the Harry Potter books. The Hufflepuff editions were extra magic for reading and enjoying. The Elves graphic novel was a pleasant surprise and I loved it. Fantastical background of the graphic novel reminds me a lot to some good and immersive RPG setting I would enjoy playing in!
3. Were there any not so good books for you last month? What made it hard or not enjoyable to read?
The least favorite book this June was The Gospel Accordingto Jesus Christ by Jose Saramago. I really liked his Blindness. It is a book I often think about and it has left a lasting impression on me. This book I had issues with. I did not enjoy the motives the author selected for his work. This was another book club selection and the discussion was at times heated. I expected more sense from the book and was let down I guess. Second least favorite book was Aries (The Zodiac Queen, #1) by Gemma James. This was a Kindle freebie first of the series. It had an interesting intro but I was not really hooked in by the astrology references.
4. How did the books you were reading last month fit in your reading plans if you had any?
This June I overextended myself by trying out two reading challenges. Most of the books I’ve read were part of the reading challenge. I managed to set up an impressive number of books to fir both of the reading challenges. Instead of being happy and pleased by my reading for the challenge I was a bit under pressure. I ended not feeling as accomplished as I wanted to because I just barely made the challenge and did not read the additional books I wanted to. It was a learning experience and I will write a bit more about it in my reading challenge review next week.
5. Any updates on the series you are reading or are you starting any new series?
I started a new graphic novel series I am very happy about and will continue it into next month. I did a lot of rereading of favorite book series. I read two books in Anita Blake Vampire Hunter book series I have been planing rereading for years now. I’ve finished book 3 in the series and hope to continue with rereading the whole series since it has been a really long time since I’ve read these book the first time. It was amazing reading the Harry Potter book series and as soon as I get the next book I will continue that as well!
6. Would you like to recommend any books or authors you’ve been reading this last month?
This has been a month of rereading and favorites for me. I guess my recommendation is to go back to your own favorites: enjoy them all over again and question why you enjoyed them in the first place. It provides a perfect opportunity for reflection. With that being said The Elves graphic novel series by Jean-Luc Istin, DUARTE (Illustrator), Saito (Illustrator) is an amazing piece of work you should definitely check out if you get the chance!
Final thoughts on June 2020 reading
My decision to try out two reading challenges in June was very optimistic. The feeling of accomplishment was not as rewarding as I expected. I was under pressure to follow the reading order of the challenge and that made a huge difference for my reading enjoyment. This June I was reading more books I already read than ever before. Three books were actual rereadings and one of them was a second time read this year alone. Harry Potter books seemed so familiar that those felt a bit like rereading too. Reading 3in1 book with Buffy theme was another thing that made this June kinda nostalgic for me as well. Only new reading I did was in the e-book form and that felt a bit weird as well. It was a different reading month for sure. I did not make any book reviews this month since I was trying to get trough the reading challenge books. I would have probably enjoyed both reading challenges more if I tried them one by one!
Lately I’ve been really stuck in trying to get through two reading challenges I have going on this month. You can check out my list for first time trying them out if you want.
I talk about my Make Your Myth-Taker reading challenge HERE
and you can see my choices for the The Olympic GamesHERE
While I was checking out some Booktube channels for inspiration and new ideas, a friend of mine suggested we go through the Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag to each other. We actually made videos to each other answering the tags and talking about books and life in general and now our significant others are thinking we are very weird because of it. We don’t plan posting the videos anywhere public and they are for personal use and enjoyment only; but it gave me something to think about in my reading time as well. This is why I decided to make a post to go through the tags and summarize what I have learned about myself and my reading in the first half of 2020.
1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2020
Incubus Caged (The Incubus, #1) by A. H. Lee
This book was a revelation for me. I did not find many good fantasy books or stories that incorporate hardcore sex well. I get really agitated by mainstream fantasy books that skirt around the actual sexual act. I made a point not to read some of the authors who do this no matter how popular their stories are. I was kinda blown away at how good this book was in that regard. The magical and fantasy aspects of the book were really well done by my opinion and the sexual theme seemed was nicely incorporated into it. The beginning of the story was a bit touch and go until the fantastical world the author build unfolded. The fact that this is a accidental Kindle find and I bought the whole trilogy says a lot since I’m a bit traditionally stingy when it comes to buying books on Kindle – I prefer physical copies.
2. Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2020
The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air, #2) by Holly Black
I bought first two books of The Folk of the Air book series at the Interliber book fair in Zagreb last year. I’ve only started reading them in January this year. I was reluctant to get the third book since the format was different than the first two and that really annoys me. I read both books in quick succession and was left with a dilemma: wait for half a year for the same format of the third book to come out OR get the third book in a bigger hardcover format… This book had such an influence on me that I went and ordered the hardcover third book – again, this is something I have never done before! I ended up loving the whole trilogy so much I plan on rereading the last book this month!
3. New release you haven’t read yet, but want to
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
Lately I have been very glad of my book club friends. Through book club I met some wonderful people and my life is richer for the experiences we shared. When I learn that this is a book about a book club with an urban fantasy twist I was interested right away! This book reminded me of Sookie Stackhouse book series by Charlaine Harris which I started reading back when it was still called The Southern Vampire Mysteries and I got really nostalgic and reminded that I never read the last book of that series… Anyway I’m getting off topic here, but book club, vampire slaying and a quirky band of women – I’m totally getting this book soon!
4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year
Shadow and Bone (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy #1) by Leigh Bardugo
The reason I put this book as the most anticipated release for the second half of 2020. is because at the start of the 2020 one of the Croatian publishers announced it will be translating it. I’m guessing it might come somewhere in autumn or whenever the TV show starts releasing on Netflix. I really can’t wait for the translated edition to come out so I can talk about it with some of my book club friends who don’t read books in English. And I really want to talk more about these books with some people in my life!
5. Biggest disappointment
The Witch With No Name (The Hollows, #13) by Kim Harrison
The amount of disappointment I felt because of this book does not really show in the review I did for it. I postponed reading this book since it was a last book of the series I have been reading for a long time. I went trough a lot in my life while reading these books and they kinda kept me afloat of the bad things. I had very strong emotions and fond memories connected with these books and characters. This last book fell flat for me. I could not get into it and I was annoyed while reading. I was seriously considering to get rid of all the books and this is still an option for me. From a book series that game me good vibes I was left with a lots of negative emotions that frustrate me when I think about these books. You can check my review HERE.
6. Biggest surprise
The Incubus book series by A. H. Lee
As I’ve already mentioned the best book as I count my reading experiences in 2020 was the first book of the Incubus trilogy. This whole series was the biggest positive surprise for me in 2020. I will be on the lookout for this author for some other fantasy works with adult content. This is the kind of story I’m glad I often take chances with Kindle freebies and samples.
7. Favorite new author. (Debut or new to you)
Holly Black with her The Folk of the Air
Another already mentioned and new for me author this year is Holly Black and her The Folk of the Air book series. I have heard of her works before but since they were mostly aimed at younger audiences I mostly skipped them. The Folk of the Air was a thrill to read and I love those characters. I have acquired desktop and mobile background fan art of Jude and Cardan. The scenes and characters are very expressive and dramatic and I love the writing style. At the same time I am glad that the trilogy The Folk of the Air is complete and finished but would love to read more of the stories with these characters. I actually don’t mind rereading these books which is something I don’t do often!
8. Newest fictional crush
Tom Severin from Chasing Cassandra (The Ravenels, #6) by Lisa Kleypas
Tom Severin from Chasing Cassandra (The Ravenels, #6) by Lisa Kleypas is a workaholic that never had motivation to live life for anything else but his work. He starts as cold, distant and money motivated. When a chance of a good deal in his personal life comes along he would not be the driven businessman he is not to take it. I love the jaded and the childlike logic of Tom Severin: he has amassed enough wealth that he is capable of making someone happy with it. He is hardworking and cares for those in his charge when he has the chance to prove it. It is a heartbreaking character with integrity and a it just makes me love him more for it!
9. Newest favorite character
Cardan Greenbriar from The Folk of the Air
This character is amazingly written! The amount of backstory that was given and even more that it was only hinted about was a pleasure to read. I love how flawed he comes off in the books and how his character growth flows in a constant stream whether he is in the center of the narrative or not. In the whole trilogy his character is constantly moving and growing. Every scene with him shows progress in some way and I love how the author managed that.
10. Book that made you cry
Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2) by Leigh Bardugo
I read a number of Grishaverse books in quick succession but the amount of tears from the Crooked Kingdom took me by surprise. I wept and kept reading believing that something will happen to disprove the reason for my weeping! The sadness was even greater since the character that was most hit by grief in the book was very open and lovable and the grief translated so raw to the reader.
11. Book that made you happy
King of Scars (Nikolai Duology, #1) by Leigh Bardugo
Just holding this book in my hands makes me excited. It is gorgeous and the story inside it has taken some very sharp twists and turns that make me wonder how the author is going to handle the next book of the series. Reading this book has made me equally happy and frightful but also very excited with the prospects it brings to the plot. I believe I will be riding this hype train long into the Netflix TV show and I hope it will be good enough to last more than a few seasons!
12. Favorite book to film adaptation that you’ve seen this year
October Faction / Altered Carbon-Takeshi Kovacs
While I was going trough the many book to film adaptations I loved watching so far this year I had so many options but most of them were adaptations of books I have not read. I chose two options for that reason. One is a graphic novel to a one season Netflix TV series adaptation which started kinda shaky but I ended up liking enough to want to read the graphic novels which I understand differ from the TV adaptation greatly. My second choice was the second season of Altered Carbon TV series and Takeshi Kovacs book series by Richard Morgan. I have not read those either but have a friend that was very upset by the book/adaptation differences as well. I liked the adaptations and enjoyed watching both TV series!
13. Favorite review you’ve written (booktube or written)
Book of Wayward Girls and Wicked Women edited by Angela Carter
In March I have read a collection of short stories about women from a colorful selection of authors and enjoyed them greatly. I was inspired to take pictures of quotes and post them on Instagram as well. I enjoyed reading and writing about this book and the thematic mood for March was a great fir as well. Up to this book I did not use many props while taking pictures because I don’t feel very talented in arranging them in general. This book made me feel empowered in a way and it was nice to write about my reading experience with it. You can check out my review HERE.
14. Most beautiful book you’ve bought so far this year (or received)
Ninth House (Alex Stern, #1) by Leigh Bardugo
This year was extraordinary in many ways for me and the books I’ve read and acquired. I have taken to buying more hardcover editions and how pretty a book is definitely factors into the equation more for me as of late. In a batch of books I recived early this year Ninth House is one of the prettiest. I’ve taken to love the shiny illustrations under the jacket of the hardcover editions.
15. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?
I have made a few lists of books I plan to read by the end of the year and among the books I have left to read there are a few I know I will need some extra motivation and concentration. I will not post these lists here now, you can check some of them on this post HERE. I would like to single out a few that I am both excited and apprehensive about starting to read. One that will be a challenge is The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. It is a big book and I have a great desire to read it “one day”. I will have to push myself with it and hope for the best. Also I plan on tackling the whole The Trials of Apollo book series by Rick Riordan by the end of the year. I have found it difficult to immerse myself into the main story of these books.
It is very evident that my 2020 reading was heavily influenced by few selected authors and book series. I have made good on my goals to read more of the books I already own and I am very pleased with results so far. I hope to be this pleased with my reading by the end of this year as well!
Second reading challenge I decided to participate in this June is The Olympic Games hosted by Ishi Time. You can check out her channel and the challenge announcement HERE. This reading challenge lasts for the whole month of June. What pulled me in to add this challenge as soon as I discovered it was that it is thematically tied to the world of Percy Jackson and I looove those books!
Here is the Camp Half Blood Letter for more details!
For my patron God I picked out Hades. I like my books a bit on the darker side and Hades fits nicely with the books I can choose from my bookshelves. To honor my patron deity I have a list of five prompts I need to read books for. Again I will concentrate only on my own reading journey and not explain other prompts and deities prompts. I love that the order I complete the books is up to me and that there are some advanced challenges after I finish the five mandatory ones! Here is what my patron Hades is all about!
Hades prompt 1. – book featuring the undead
The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter, #2) by Laurell K. Hamilton
I’m stealing this book from the Make Your Myth-Taker challenge and it fits perfectly here as well!
Hades prompt 2. – reread a book
Circus of the Damned (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter, #3) by Laurell K. Hamilton
I decided to reread this series long ago and this might be a good time to add another book of the series. also I kinda like how the theme fits to Hades a s well.
Hades prompt 3. – book with a dark cover
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3) by J.K. Rowling
I made a plan to make as many crossovers with the Make Your Myth-Taker reading challenge that I’m not even ashamed how well I am pulling it all off! I plan on fitting the other Harry Potter book with another prompt as well!
Hades prompt 4. – random TBR book
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Vol. 1 by John Vornholt, Arthur Byron Cover, Alice Henderson
My random book of the month just happened to be a part of three different challenges this month! Since this book is actually collection of three different books by three different authors and also almost 700 pages long I will not even try to hide how well I am pairing these books to my reading challenges in June!
Hades prompt 5. – Any Hermes prompt – snake on the cover
I choose snake on the cover prompt since it gave me the most room to plan my reading this month – I was surprised when I realized this as well! There were three books I will be reading this month that have snakes on the cover! I choose this snake:
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2) by J.K. Rowling
My patron Hades has two available challenges: Sword and Shield and Monster Fighting. The rule of the challenge that these are not mandatory and can be only read after the five mandatory prompts have been done already. Here are all the prompts for the advanced challenges:
Advanced Challenge 1. – Sword and Shield
The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air, #3) by Holly Black
The prompt is to read a book with characters whom I would not get along with. This prompt is a bit tricky unless you have already read the book in question so I picked out another reread. There are so many characters in this book I would not get along with. When I first read this book I was very invested in the story and on the edge constantly. There are so many conflicts between the characters and those provoked many contradictory emotions in me. It was an emotional roller coaster all the way and it did not help that it was the last book in the series I loved reading!
Advanced Challenge 2. – Monster fighting
Wayward Son (Simon Snow, #2) by Rainbow Rowell
This is a book I really wanted to include in this months reading so I picked it up for and advanced challenge here. I consider both Simon and Baz magical creatures for obvious reason – one has wings and a tail and the other is a vampire – also there is Penelope who is in a class of her own of how much magic she can wield.
My reading pile for June got a bit bigger now. But I am still looking forward to some great reading this month and hope to rise to the challenge! Both challenges actually!
So I begin a third month in a row deciding to participate in some new and exciting reading challenges! To make matters more dangerous I had to pick not one but TWO (!) amazing challenges since I was so excited to try them out and have a bit of a self destructive streak right now…also by the end of May I really thought I was going to relax with my reading in June…
But lets talk about some amazing June reading challenges I decided to try! I picked out two: Make Your Myth-Taker and Olympic Games. First is a general fantasy choose-your-adventure-and-path kind of style reading challenge which is kind of neat. Second reading challenge is Percy Jackson themed and I really could not resist it since I really love Rick Riordan’s world! That one will need its own post! After much deliberation here are the books I picked out for Make Your Myth-Taker June!
Make Your Myth-Taker
This reading challenge has been created by Charlotte and Ashley from A Frolic Through Fiction – you can check out Ashley’s announcement for the challenge HERE. Charlotte is on Twitter and you can follow here HERE. Give them some love for they deserve it!
This reading challenge is made up of four general paths and each path has four characters to choose from and I will not go into details on all of them but only concentrate on my own reading journey. This readathon lasts trough the whole month of June and has a rule I am not very fond of – reading books in the given order are mandatory. I have personal issues with mandatory reading and this prearranged list does not give me very much room to wander when picking out the next book to read within the month. All this being said, I have chosen the path of the Sorcerer and follow it to become a Goddess!
Sorceress prompt 1. – nonhuman main
Elves Vol. 1: The Crystal of the Blue Elves by Jean-Luc Istin, DUARTE (Illustrator), Saito (Illustrator)
For my first prompt – a nonhuman main character – I have decided to read a graphic novel I have only recently found out about. It is set in the fantasy world where there is magic and nonhuman races of people. The main story follows a number of Blue Elven race characters and some great world building events.
Sorceress prompt 2. – foiled cover
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Harry Potter, #2) by J.K. Rowling
What this picture is not showing is the glassy cover illustration and lettering. I love my Hufflepuff editions of Harry Potter and hope to collect them all in time. I have only lately started reading them. I never really read the first three books trough and I am working on that.
Sorceress prompt 3. – highest rated
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3) by J.K. Rowling
As it turned out this prompt was kinda problematic. I turned to Goodreads ratings and got some impossible results. See what I mean in the picture below. The highest rated book for me was way to pricey to buy right now since I’m currently unemployed. Next were the number of books that are not even out yet – what is that all about? The first book I could settle for as the highest rated was Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban which seemed pretty incredible since I will be reading the second book of the series just before it! I decided to go with the Harry Potter book and enjoy reading my Hufflepuff editions.
This prompt is highlighted purple and it allows me to make a crossover with Royal Court category. After reviewing the royal category I decided to be a Goddess Monarch. Here is the picture of the Royal Court category.
For the crossover part I have deducted that I now have some new prompts to add to my Sorceress Goddess prompts. I was not sure am I supposed to add just one Royal Court Monarch prompt – reread a favorite; or am I supposed to add the whole line of four prompts here. Until I figure it out and just to be on the safe side I decided on the books for all the prompts! But first comes the last prompt from the Sorceress category:
Sorceress prompt 4. – random TBR
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Vol. 1 by John Vornholt, Arthur Byron Cover, Alice Henderson
This was a random pick I pulled out for my TBR Jar Draw this month and decided to use it for this challenge. It is a bit on the chubby side with nearly 700 (!) pages and collects three stand alone stories. This one might be the killing blow for my reading goals this month but here it goes anyway.
Royal Court prompt 1. – queen main character
The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air, #3) by Holly Black
It came as a surprise to me just how difficult this prompt was to fit into my books. In the end I decided to reread a book I read earlier this year since it was the first book with a queen I could come up with in short time.
Royal Court prompt 2. – red, purple or gold on the cover
Elves Vol. 2: The Honor of the Sylvan Elves by by Nicolas Jarry, Gianluca Maconi, Diogo Saito
I choose graphic novel to give myself some respite and because I am interested in reading this series trough. The gold illustration looks archaic and the coloring is beautifully done on the cover.
Royal Court prompt 3. – highest rated
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Harry Potter, #3) by J.K. Rowling
Same as the Sorceress prompt 3. – highest rated
Royal Court prompt 4. – reread a favorite
The Laughing Corpse (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter, #2) by Laurell K. Hamilton
Antia Blake Vampire Hunter book series has been a favorite a long time and I have been meaning to reread these books for a while now. This was the perfect opportunity!
This makes a neat little pile of books: five in physical form and two graphic novels in digital form! Wish me luck with these and next post where I present the books for the second reading challenge I am joining in for June – the Percy Jackson themed Olympic Games!
Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1) by Leigh Bardugo ★★★★★
Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows, #2) by Leigh Bardugo ★★★★★
King of Scars (Nikolai Duology, #1) by Leigh Bardugo ★★★★
The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air, #1) by Holly Black ★★★★
The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air, #2) by Holly Black ★★★★★
The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air, #3) by Holly Black ★★★★★
The Witch With No Name (The Hollows #13) by Kim Harrison ★★★
1. How many books have you read last month? Are you happy with the amount you read?
This January I read 7 books total. I am happy with the amount and page count in particular.
2. What was the best of all the books you’ve read in January? Any scenes or characters that made a lasting impression?
All of the books were fantasy genre. The first half of January I was totally into Grishaverse and managed to read everything Leigh Bardugo had written related to Grishaverse. The second part of the month I was happily enjoying Holly Black’s The Folk of the Air series – I’m still confused as to why they are called that though But the characters Jude and Cardan have become favorites right away!
This is just one of the beautiful pictures I found of Cardan and Jude – all rights belong to the author and artist!
3. Were there any not so good books for you last month? What made it hard or not enjoyable to read?
The only book I had any issues reading this month was The Witch With No Name. I got overwhelmed by the complicate metaphysics supernatural elements of the book. I let too much time pass between reading this last book of The Hollows series and the previous one. I had problems keeping up with the book plot. You can check out my review for more details HERE.
4. How did the books you were reading last month fit in your reading plans if you had any?
I made a list of the books I own I wish to read this year and five of them I read this January already. I’m very happy with that score and enjoy making reading plans so I can keep better track of my reading. You can check out the whole list HERE. I will be making a separate post and update on it later in February.
5. Any updates on the series you are reading or are you starting any new series?
Having finished all books related to the Grishaverse universe I will have to wait for the next book in Nikolai duology which happens to be one of the most anticipated books this year! I have finally finished with The Hollows series by Kim Harrison (insert little happy/sad dance here). That felt like a chapter of my life has been finished as well – this is how long I was a devoted reader to this book series. As for The Folk of the Air book series – I managed to make a run trough the whole trilogy this month and will probably need to turn to some fanfiction and hope that the author writes some more books soon!
6. Would you like to recommend any books or authors you’ve been reading this last month?
I have become a devoted reader fan to both Leigh Bardugo and Holly Black. I’m going to try some other books by Leigh Bardugo in February – primarily Ninth House (Alex Stern, #1) which I have ordered and received already. Anyone who likes fantasy will probably like both of the Grishaverse and The Folk of the Air book series. I find the plot engaging and the books are just beautiful as well!
Last month was busy and full of activity. I got lucky to visit a book fair Interliber in Zagreb and came back with a big pile of new books! For the first time the amount of books I bought in English can rival the amount of books I bought in Croatian!
Here is the list of books I’ve bought in November*:
1. The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Graphic Novels, #4) by Rick Riordan, Robert Venditti
2. The Darkness: Darkness/ Batman & Darkness/ Superman 20th Anniversary Collection by Garth Ennis, Jeph Loeb, Ron Marz, Scott Lobdell, Marc Silvestri et all
4. Hellboy Vol 2 – Okovani kovčeg / Desnica Usuda by Mike Mignola
5. Batman – Prokleti by Brian Azzarello, Lee Bermejo
6. Marshall McLuhan: You Know Nothing of My Work! by Douglas Coupland (Croatian Edition)
7. Drugi svjetski rat – Memoari by Winston Churchill
8. MOR – Plodovi osvete by Josip Kralik
9. Tuđinac (Alien Movie Novelizations #1) by Alan Dean Foster
10. Edda by Snorri Sturluson
11. Saga, Vol. 7-9 by Brian K. Vaughan
12. The Fates Divide (Carve the Mark #2) by Veronica Roth
13. The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic (Grishaverse) by Leigh Bardugo
14. Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1) by Leigh Bardugo
15. Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2) by Leigh Bardugo
16. The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1) by Holly Black
17. The Wicked King (The Folk of the Air #2) by Holly Black
*Picture is also showing one graphic novel I bought in October while attending the Essen Spiel 2019 and a set of two books I got as a present from a relative.
All the books in English I got.
All the books in English are fantasy genre. I decided to try out a new book series The Folk of the Air by Holly Black that caught my attention and got first two books. The only reason I did not get the third one is because the format of the book was bigger and I hate that on my bookshelves. Percy Jackson graphic novel Vol 4 was a lucky unexpected find that I’m very pleased about. I decided to fill up my Grishaverse books collection and got the three books in the picture. The Darkness graphic novel I read years ago and really loved it. This Anniversary edition looked too good to pass up.
Graphic novels I got in November.
I finally got the third volume of Saga in Croatian translation. Hellboy second volume in Croatian is actually made of English editions volumes 3 and 4. The Croatian editions by Naklada Fibra are all hardcovers that collect more volumes than the English editions and are quite heavy to carry around and read. The Batman The Damned I choose just to reach a certain price limit to get a free shirt from the publisher.
This November I got 9 books in Croatian! For me this is a lot. I prefer to read books in original English when possible. I make an exception for graphic novel editions usually but this time I got a little carried away.
While most of the books I bought were fiction, there were 4 non fiction as well. The only non fiction I usually buy are about books and reading. The Nobel Prize winning Winston Churchill book is actually a present for my boyfriend. And I just remembered I forgot to include one other book I got as a present for his mother in any of the pictures…
And to top it all off these are the books I will be reading all trough January. These are manuals for the course I am going on for a 3D Designer. again the picture is missing two more that I was using and left in my bag. This might put a damper on my reading plans for the next two months though
But the characters Jude and Cardan have become favorites right away!
This is just one of the beautiful pictures I found of Cardan and Jude – all rights belong to the author and artist!
All the books in English I got.
Graphic novels I got in November.
anastasiaadamov 