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.

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Psychological Thrillers to Read if You Loved “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn

Hello readers!

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn was such a phenomenon when it came out, and it’s still one of the best-selling thrillers ever. I loved it so much, and it got me addicted to psychological thrillers! Thinking about that, here are the psychological thrillers that remind me of Gone Girl and will give you the same vibes of a grey-moral character, manipulative villains, almost perfect crimes and mind-blowing twists!

If you loved Gone Girl…

You may also like:

Based on a True Story by Delphine de Vigan

This is not exactly a thriller, although it’s categorized as such. It’s a contemporary, charming and elegant, beautifully written – and chilling. Delphine merges fact and fiction in this book, telling the story of how she met L., a sophisticated woman with whom she develops a complicated relationship. But what are L.’s motivations? Where did she come from?

Book Recommendations for 20-Somethings

I’ve been seeing lots of discussion on Twitter about the lack of New Adult books out there and how a lot of NA books get marketed as YA so that it gets read at all. So, after reading this recommendation list by Book Riot, I thought it would be interesting to come up with a list of my own.

I don’t really have lots of self-help (I’ve seen lots of those on other lists like this) because I don’t read those much. I have on this list romance, contemporary, fantasy and classics. Maybe a nonfiction or two. So, without further ado, here are some books I recommend for 20-somethings!

The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath

This is a classic that keeps getting recommended to people, especially women. I agree with that assessment – many people would benefit from reading this gorgeous book. Sylvia Plath has a beautiful writing style, but more than that, she captures the emptiness that a lot of people feel, that distance between oneself and others. It’s not an upbeat book, but a great read that will get you thinking.

My Boyfriend Recommends Me Books

Hello readers!

My boyfriend and I love reading, and it’s not unusual for us to spend a long time discussing what we’re reading, passionately disagreeing about Homo Faber, raving about Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s books and so on… so it’s quite usual that we suggest reading material to each other. So I asked him to put together a few of the books he’s been suggesting to me the past few months into a post! I’m still deciding which (if any) I will add to my TBR, but I’m quite tempted.

A Game of Thrones (George R. R. Martin)
One could say a great many things about A Game of Thrones. It is epic, smart fantasy with a strong touch of realism in its world-building, its characters, and their relationships with each other. It’s a page-turner. It’s a work that makes you question who you are rooting for and why and therefore makes you think about your assumptions and values. But as Game of Thrones has been the biggest hype of the last seven years, one can just as well be silent and expect everybody else to know what it’s about. Naty has already vowed to pick up the books once all of them are published. By GRRM’s current writing pace, I would estimate she still has time until 2030 to read other things. Like, for example…

Bookish Boardgame Review: Ex Libris, by Adam P. McIver

Hello readers!

Yes, that is exactly what you read: we’re having a boardgame review today. Of the cutest bookish boardgame I’ve ever seen in my life. I received this on my birthday last year and played it a couple times together with Clio’s Boardgames. Honestly, this is probably the most perfect game to give to a book lover. I will give more details on my review below, but spoiler alert: I loved it.

Players: 1-4

Time: 30-60 min

Level of difficulty: Easy-to-Medium

Boardgame Geek / Official Game Page / Renegades Buy Link / Amazon

This is such a bookish game, I loved it! You’re going to play a book collector trying to win the position of Grand Librarian of the magical kingdom, with gnomes and magical creatures (a witch, a bookworm, a giant robot etc) to help you build your shelves to impress!

The Best Books I Read in 2018

Hello readers!

This is the second year that I get to write a Best Books of the Year post, and I’m super excited! I love talking about books (wow, really?) and I got to read so much this year, so I have lots of new loves and lots of recommendations. This has been a brilliant year reading-wise and I am glad to share with you my favorites. I have read almost 200 books (no kidding) and while I will never repeat this feat again, it gave me the opportunity to read lots of different genres! What were your favorites this year? Tell me in the comments, leave the link to your own blog posts, tweets I want to know what you’ve read and loved! 🙂

New Favorite Authors

(only counts if I’ve read more than one book by the author)

Alyssa Cole certainly made a huge difference on how I see the romance genre. Her novels are so brilliant, so addictive and emotional without being cheesy. Gosh, I love them. I need all her books in my life. A Duke by Default is my favorite so far!

I had not read Patrick Ness until this year, but wow, I’m in love with how emotional his books are. I have lots more of his books on my TBR. I was so heartbroken after A Monster Calls, although it was such a short read. Just wow.

But I do think the medal goes to… Elise Kova. I devoured her Alchemists of Loom series and I am so excited to get to her other series. I think Air Awakens is a bit more popular in the YA bookish community, and I look forward to reading it. Although I don’t see how it could be better than this steampunk fantasy world with girls with big guns and deadly half-naked hot guys who are secretly soft in the inside. Just sayin’.

Best Contemporary Fiction

Best Books to Come Out in 2018

Hello readers!

I have a post of best books I read this year coming out, but I thought it would also be interesting to list which of the books that were published this year, regardless of when I read them, were the best ones in my opinion. Since I read a lot of eARCs, I thought this would be a list a bit different from the other one and still interesting to read!

Not necessarily all books I put here will be on my “Best Of” post. For example, for the Wintersong duology, I loved both books, but I don’t want to be repetitive, so I added only the first book to that post. I also created this post separately in order to have a master list of books published this year which I liked very much, so I will keep updating this as I read more.

If You Liked This, Try This! – Books and Boardgames Edition

Hello booklovers!

This week Clio from Clio’s Boardgames and I got together to create this post! It’s Clio’s second post with me in this blog, and if you love boardgames or history, do give a follow! We came up with four book and boardgames matches for you guys, and they are awesome gifts, in case you’re looking for a Christmas gift for a bookish friend and don’t know what to gift that isn’t more books. Or if you want to try out some cool new hobby! I have been taken with boardgames lately, and you can see my games with Clio on Twitter from time to time! We even tried a card version of Monopoly!

So the first two recommendations below are from me, and the next two by Clio. I hope you guys enjoy this post!

Stalking Jack the Ripper & Letters from Whitechapel

Stalking Jack the Ripper, by Kerri Maniscalco / Letters from Whitechapel

Stalking Jack the Ripper is one of the most exciting historical fiction books I’ve read, its story revolving around Audrey Rose, the daughter of a lord and who secretly studies forensic medicine. When she finds herself entangled in the serial murders by Jack the Ripper, her life gets a lot more complicated. This book has a mysterious atmosphere, it’s thrilling and a bit sinister. It keeps you immersed in the world of Victorian England and those dark times around the murders.

Books to Read Instead of the Misogynistic & Racist “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kasey

Hello book lovers!

It’s probably no surprise that I absolutely despised the misogyny, racism and general buffoon style of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. While the story itself was interesting and engaging, it left a sour taste in my mouth and I can’t recommend this book. I know this is a very popular classic and I hope I don’t get too much hate for this, but I am standing to what I think about it: it’s a narration of hating on women and a need to battle any sort of power women may hold. A woman with power is a bitch, according to this book. I do not mean to say with this that the Big Nurse is an angel of goodness, but the discourse from this book isn’t about her in particular, and instead refers to women in general. I will not got into detail too much, as this has been discussed already and I would not like to have to re-read certain parts to make my point with accuracy that I would like to. It suffices to say that it is problematic and I will be linking below a few articles to support that.

Immersive and Atmospheric Books to Read on Rainy Days

Hello readers!

It’s almost end of Fall! Meaning we’ll be getting rain for sure (at least where I live), and a cool, rainy weather always puts me in the mood to go under the covers and read all day. So here are some suggestions of books that are…

Immersive and Atmospheric

  

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
This book is an epic, and both immersive in a way that will suck you into the story so that you can’t stop reading, and simultaneously difficult to read. The four men who are the center of this story are bound by friendship and love, which changes throughout the years.
Trigger Warning for depression, self-harm, pedophilia, mental and physical abuse.
Goodreads / Amazon