The Sunday Snuggle Week 13 2019

Hello readers!

This has been quite a week. I got lots of audiobook reading done, including in the gym. I find that thrillers a lot of times work really well for cardio, because I get so tense during the story that it’s great to use up some energy while reading! I also had a quieter weekend, so had a bit more time to read than usual.

I bought the following Audiobooks:

Clearly I was a bit excited with audiobooks this week. I walk basically everywhere I go, so it’s great to have stuff to listen to while you walk to the market, to work, or when you wash dishes and so on. I had to listen to The Silent Patient in speed 1.0x because otherwise it would not last enough for the week and I want to pick up Swan Song next week only.

I also got the following eARC:

Review: Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James

Rating: ★★★★★

Genres: Fantasy

Goodread / Amazon

In Black Leopard, Red Wolf, we meet Tracker in a jail cell as he recounts his life to the priest inquisitor. His exceptional nose and his wolf eye make him unforgettable (as well as his smart mouth), and he achieved fame for the case of a missing boy, which put the Tracker in an unlikely search with a group of people he wish he didn’t have to work with. After three years, it’s not possible that the boy is still alive, and yet, everyone believes he is. What importance could the boy have, and who is telling the truth?

What a book! The Red Wolf is such an interesting character and I was fascinated by him from page one. He’s so snarky, tough and unapologetic for who he is, and his complicated relationships throughout the book made for such a brilliant read. The writing is explosive, unflinching and yet there is something beautiful about it. It’s incredibly raw. It will be an uncomfortable read for lots of people, as it can get very crude and there is lots of violence and sex. This isn’t a book for everyone – I’d say, if you don’t like A Song of Ice and Fire or The Poppy War because of the violence and language, you will definitely dislike this book.

My Health and Fitness Journey, Introduction

Hello book lovers!

Today we start something new in the blog. I ran a poll on Twitter and also asked on a blog post, and you guys were overwhelmingly positive towards a new series of health & fitness posts according to my personal experience. I will initially write these every two weeks in addition to my bookish posts (that I’d already scheduled for most of April anyway when I ran the poll) and then see how it goes and how much time I actually need for them. Might not be sustainable over time to have 4 posts in a week, so we will figure this out together.

I thought of creating these posts because it’s a good way to stay motivated (also being held accountable by the fact that all of you now know about it) and to maybe let other people see that it’s possible to be healthier without being skinny, super restrictive with your diet or a natural-born athlete.

I am not nervous about writing about such a personal thing to me (you guys have been amazing when I opened up about my mental health issues before, for example), but I am a bit wary that this kind of posts will bring a different public to my blog that might be far less kind than the bookish community. But I think these posts might actually make a difference for myself and for others, so I am motivated to write them.

Review: Everything Under, by Daisy Johnson

Rating: ★★★★★

Genres: Literary Fiction

Goodreads / Amazon

Everything Under is the story of a woman in search of the truth about what happened all those years ago, before her mother left. She has spent the last sixteen years forgetting, but now she has found her mother again and the memories return from those days on the river, the monster they feared and the dark secrets hidden beneath the waters.

The places we are born come back to us. They disguise themselves as words, memory loss, nightmares.

The Sunday Snuggle Week 12 2019

Hello readers!

I am finally getting my reading schedule a bit more organized and finding ENERGY after my workouts, job and general life to read a bit. So we finally have some new stuff on the Sunday Snuggle this week!

As you guys know, I’ve been spending more time getting healthy this year. From getting my sleep schedule in order to lowering body fat, among other things. I asked on Twitter about this, and you can see the result below! But I’d like to ask again on my blog, just in case! 🙂

Guys, I've recently started a journey to become healthier & I want to accomplish things like: improve heart health, lower body fat, build muscle and become a runner.

I was thinking of sharing some of my journey on my blog. What do you think?

— Naty's Bookshelf 👩‍💻📚 (@natysbookshelf) March 19, 2019

I received the following eARCs:

I bought these books:

I’ve already read Evelyn Hugo & The Bell Jar, but I didn’t own physical copies, and now I do!! There are a couple more books arriving next week, which I’m super excited for. Also my boyfriend and I will have our anniversary next weekend and… you guessed it, we exchange books.

Bookstores Around the World: Berlin, Germany

Hello book lovers!

On the second installment of this series, I have some places in Berlin to talk about today. I’m super excited about this post, because I really love Berlin. It was the first place I ever tried a Pumpkin Spice Latte (it was okay), and went to a Banksy exposition, which I thought was so very underground, and my boyfriend chuckled in true German-Hipster style and said it was actually very mainstream. Berlin is a very interesting city: it’s both vibrant and dark. There is so much history ingrained in its buildings that it’s impossible not to have your heart broken by visiting the Wall, the Jewish memorials, and the various museums that present unflinching memories of WWII. But it’s also a place full of artistic expression, and oh my gosh, so very hipster. You can literally visit an abandoned amusement park, stay in a hotel decorated with books, go to a restaurant inspired by toilets (I didn’t go there).

It’s also quite perfect for bookish people. There are SO MANY bookstores (I live in a small city, so please forgive my wide-eyed childlike amazement). Here are the ones I went to!

Saint Georges English Bookshop

Website: http://www.saintgeorgesbookshop.com/
Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/Ccq7xHmXxt22

Yes, that is the bookstore from my profile picture! This place is such a treat to the eyes – books from floor to the ceiling! It does make it so very difficult to find particular books, but it’s quite wonderful to just let your eyes wander from one beautiful spine to the next and get the books that call your name. While the non-fiction section is much, much larger than the fiction one, you can surely find nice things in the fiction section.

Mini-Review: Lying in Wait, by Liz Nugent

Rating: ★★★★★

Genres: Psychological Thriller

Goodreads / Amazon

“My husband did not mean to kill Annie Doyle, but the lying tramp deserved it.”

This is such an interesting thriller – in the very first sentences you know who’s the murderer and who’s the victim. The rest of the story is an unnerving psychological thriller, watching the murderers get away with it, the victim’s family trying and trying to get the truth, sometimes getting closer, sometimes being drifted away. The stakes get higher as the story goes on, and there is a constant tension in the air, even when things are going “okay” (it does get a bit slow sometimes, but just you WAIT). I was very impressed by this novel, and really enjoyed seeing the point of view of the murderer and his family. I must say I do like books where you get the narration from the guilty part – Lydia was so very manipulative, psychopathic and strange, it was great. Really amazing thriller!

The Sunday Snuggle Week 11 2019

Hello readers!

As you see from my picture this week, I haven’t been reading much. I did, however, listen to an audiobook while at the gym with my bookish socks WHICH I LOVE, BEST SOCKS EVER. So… I guess that’s my picture for this Sunday Snuggle. I am practicing to participating on a 5K in July and OMG I’m a potato who can’t run, but I’m stubborn enough to keep trying. Also I told a lot of people about it already (including you guys now), so I can’t back off. Nothing quite like accountability and peer pressure to motivate a person.

I’ve been very hyped lately for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, so next week I’ll be picking up one or two of the contestants! I don’t think I’ll read the whole list, since not all of them interest me, but a big chunk for sure.

This week I got a credit on Audible and I haven’t been able to listen to many books lately, so I had to choose carefully what I would get, since it will probably be the only audiobook I’ll have time to listen to the whole month *sweats profusely* . So, obviously, I decided to be very scientific about it… and asked Twitter:

I can't decide my next audiobook 😱 which one should I get?

— Naty's Bookshelf 👩‍💻📚 (@natysbookshelf) March 13, 2019

And so I got:

Thank you all for voting! 🙂 I will get the other two books at another point, as well. All three sound fascinating.

Choose a Movie or Animation and Get a Book Recommendation #1

Hello book lovers!

I’m not a big person for movies, I surely enjoy watching them but I hardly ever do. It’s difficult for me to actually love a movie, but those I do… I watch over and over. I actually have a surprising soft spot for rom coms. And an unsurprising soft spot for nostalgic Disney movies that transport me to my childhood. Apart from The Butterfly Effect, which my sister loves but I never managed to finish because it made me AGONIZE, I love the movies below and I think some of you might too!

If you like I Give It a Year…

…read:

If you loved this movie for its emotional punch and truthful take on a marriage that might or not work out, After I Do is such a great read.

Review: Transcription, by Kate Atkinson

Rating: ★★★★☆

Genres: Historical Fiction, WWII, Mystery

Goodreads / Amazon

In Transcription, Juliet Armstrong is recruited to join MI5. The year is 1940 and the war has just begun – she believes she can make a difference with her work, and finds the reality of her job alternatively boring and terrifyingly exciting. In 1950, Juliet is a different woman – she works at BBC and has a rather dull life. One day, she sees someone from her past. Little by little, all the people she used to know from her obscure work during the war seem to reappear, and something dark she thought she left behind is coming back to haunt her and make her pay.

I loved this book so much. Juliet is such a witty, funny character who constantly gets underestimated. She’s a talented liar and finds herself a quite accomplished spy as well, whether she wants to or not. Reading about her time as a typist and a spy during World War II was so interesting! The pacing of this novel is fast and it reads almost in a light-hearted way. For people who would like a historical fiction without the sobbing (especially rare for a WWII book), this is it.