Weekly Wrap-Up 16 – 22 June 2020: Back! (More or Less)

Hello readers!

I’ve decided to end my break! I’ve done lots of reading, signing petitions, learning and determining actions I want to take into becoming more politically active. Obviously ending the break doesn’t mean the work is over, it just means I know a little better what I am doing from now on, and so I have the mental space to concentrate more on other things again, like blogging and reading for fun. I think I will not do 3-4 posts per week as before, but I do have one exciting post prepared for this week already with F/F recs that I’m excited for you guys to read!

I’ve decided to postpone my Latinx recommendations post (which I’ve mentioned a few times) because honestly I’m exhausted and can’t spend that much time reading, looking for stuff available in English and preparing the post. It would take several hours to read more books that are actually found in English and to diversify my recommendations (my Latinx reading is mostly Brazilian), so I think it would be better to work on this a little longer. But I do have a project with another blogger to read more Latinx books and I am THRILLED about it. I am not sure if she would be ok with me talking about it here, but if so, I will let you guys know because I’m SUPER excited.

Weekly Wrap-Up 9 – 15 June 2020: The world is on fire

Hello readers!

I’m still on my blogging break (except for these Weekly Wrap Ups), which I think will last another week or two. I have been using the time to get myself informed and involved in some initiatives, signing petitions etc.

Some petitions to sign:

ok since apparently the tl thinks blm is over here is a thread of petitions that haven’t yet reached their goals:

— ً (@defnceles) June 5, 2020

Here are some places where you can donate to Brazilian Corona-relief funds. There are several initiatives – if you don’t know where to start, I’ve recently donated to Mães da Favela, to provide financial relief to mothers who live in favelas. It’s in Portuguese but it’s easy to navigate and I’m sure you can use the Translate button 🙂

There is a lot we can/should do, and the very least is to educate ourselves! If you feel there is nothing you can really do because you don’t have money to spare and can’t join protests, you can watch The 13th on Youtube, follow some Black content creators (Booktubers, artists, writers…) and actually consume/hype their content, request some eARCs from Black authors on Netgalley (like this one, this one, this one, this one and this one)  or Edeweiss (like here) and hype them up on social media, listen to podcasts (like this one). Prioritizing and giving platform to marginalized voices is helpful, and we should strive to make it a long-term, lifelong commitment. Humanizing oppressed groups is an important step into slowly improving society.

Okay, on a more positive note…

My husband and I got a new bookshelf and thus had space to make a cat corner on the old one:

Penelope loves hanging out with us when we are reading so now she has her own cubicle 😍😍 pic.twitter.com/dzvvYhWVTM

— Naty is educating herself (@natysbookshelf) June 12, 2020

She loves it and it’s hella cute!

Weekly Wrap-Up 2 – 8 June 2020: A short break in blogging

Hello readers!

I will have a short blogging break starting tomorrow. There’s a lot going on in the world right now, and it feels a little pointless to write posts and answer comments and review books, and I feel a little too drained to do so anyway. I would also like to spend some time concentrating on educating myself, finding out how I can help, and reading anti-racist books without worrying about “reviewing” them or putting up content for my blog (which takes so much time). I would highly appreciate if you guys could recommend me some anti-racist books! I’ve got a list of what I want to read but I always love getting recs.

I will be back soon with my usual posting schedule of 2-3 posts per week plus the Weekly Wrap Up, but as of now I will only keep the Weekly Wrap Up since I really enjoy writing it and it’s not that much effort.

From Scribd I downloaded:

From Netgalley I received:

I also bought:

Review: Frankissstein by Jeanette Winterson

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Categories: Literary Fiction, Science Fiction

Goodreads

In Brexit Britain, a young transgender doctor called Ry is falling in love – against their better judgement – with Victor Stein, a celebrated professor leading the public debate around AI.

Meanwhile, Ron Lord, just divorced and living with Mum again, is set to make his fortune launching a new generation of sex dolls for lonely men everywhere.

Across the Atlantic, in Phoenix, Arizona, a cryonics facility houses dozens of bodies of men and women who are medically and legally dead… but waiting to return to life.

But the scene is set in 1816, when nineteen-year-old Mary Shelley writes a story about creating a non-biological life-form. ‘Beware, for I am fearless and therefore powerful.’

More Upcoming 2020 Releases I’m Looking Forward To

Hello readers!

Last year in December I posted the 2020 releases I was looking forward to, but every year a few months later we find out about a lot of other releases, especially upcoming on the second half of the year, therefore I thought it would be interesting to do a follow-up with other releases I’m looking forward to in the second half of 2020. This will include books from my first post, just in case new readers have missed or forgotten about these releases!

June

  

June 02 – The Guest List by Lucy Foley / Goodreads

I loved loved loved The Hunting Party, so I’m very excited for this new Lucy Foley thriller!

June 9 — The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon / Goodreads

This just sounds super cute and I’ve heard amazing things about it, plus it’s nice to read romance from time to time!

What I Read for @AsianReadathon

Hello readers!

May is over, and with it, so is the Asian Readathon, sadly. I am happy to have participated and picked up a bunch of amazing books by Asian authors and seen what everyone has been reading! I talked about my TBR for this readathon at the beginning of the month, and here is how it actually went down:

I started with A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh, which was a bit of a wildcard in the mix, because I am not really into romantic suspense and I wasn’t sure what to expect. In the end I could not finish reading this because it was really not my kind of book – the characters were not much more than stereotypes, the plot was super predictable and the writing was a stilted, too descriptive and slow. It’s possible that after a while the book becomes very twisty and romantic and interesting, but I could not wait to see and honestly, I don’t think it will. I DNF-ed it at 22%. So I needed a book to substitute this one!

Weekly Wrap-Up 26 May – 1 June 2020: June Reading Plans

Hello readers!

It hasn’t been the easiest week in the world, and my heart broke reading the news about George Floyd. If you would like to help, there are lots of people sharing how you can do that:

Hi! I put together a list of bail funds by city so it's easier to find/donate to them & to spread them. pic.twitter.com/NacORRO0ER

— Text Floyd to 55166 (@yupes_) May 30, 2020

It’s important not to “stay neutral” in times like these. Staying neutral means you passively let things happen, therefore by default siding with the oppressors. You of course don’t have to donate or anything, but please make an effort to educate yourself regardless. There’s a lot of books and articles you can look for (I saw this list on Buzzfeed just yesterday – also please feel free to share in the comments if you have suggestions!). This kind of stuff happens everywhere, so please don’t just brush it off if you’re not American and think racism “doesn’t exist in your country” because it does. Educate yourself, make a difference.

Okay, back to bookish stuff! I can’t believe it’s June! The year is going by so fast, and so slow at the same time. It is the weirdest thing.

From Scribd I downloaded:

Review: Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy

Goodreads

Ronan Lynch is a dreamer. He can pull both curiosities and catastrophes out of his dreams.

Jordan Hennessy is a thief. The closer she comes to the dream object she is after, the more inextricably she becomes tied to it.

Carmen Farooq-Lane is a hunter. Her brother was a dreamer … and a killer. She has seen what dreaming can do to a person, and the damage that their dreams can do. But those are nothing compared to the destruction that is about to be unleashed…

Mini-Review: The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley

Rating: ★★★★★

Categories: Thriller, Mystery

Goodreads

In The Hunting Party, a group of old friends gets together in an isolated hunting lodge in Scotland to celebrate the New Year, as they do every year. Although they seem to be excited and happy to see each other, old and new grudges escalate the tensions between them, and on January 2nd, a body is found.

This is one of the best mysteries I’ve ever read! I fell in love with the writing from the first chapter, so atmospheric and engrossing. This book came highly recommended from my sister, who is the best source of thriller recommendations, honestly. Each of the characters has secrets, the guests who claim to be friends but seem sometimes to actually hate each other, and also the people working in the lodge. Every story line, every secret, every character was so interesting, I could not stop reading this! It was also super intriguing to not really know who died until quite far into the book, keeping the reader guessing who killed whom and why, suspiciously analyzing the actions of everyone. It was so fun to read and reminded me a lot of the way I devoured Agatha Christie books when I was younger. This was absolutely brilliant and I can’t wait to read Lucy Foley’s The Guest List!

eARC Review: He Started It, by Samantha Downing

Rating: ★★★★☆

Categories: Mystery, Thriller

Goodreads

I received an advance copy via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

In You Are Not Alone, Shay Miller is a 30-something year old whose life isn’t going how she wished. She’s living with her roommate, who’s she’s secretly been in love with but is dating someone else; her job is getting her nowhere; she feels just so alone. One day, when she witnesses the suicide of a woman who looks eerily like herself, she cannot help but get obsessed: who was she? Why did she do this? Who are her friends, what was her life like? When she crashes the memorial of the woman and meets her friends… she just wants to be a part of them. Those women are so glamorous, so beautiful, so successful. And they seem to like her.