August Wrap-Up

So today is September 14th and it’s only now that I finally manage to get up my monthly wrap-up post for August. *lol* What can I say? Life’s been busy! XD My summer this year was wild. Haha! So many weddings and birthday parties I’m honestly kinda glad that the next bigger part will be in November and that I’ll be able to spend a couple of weekends at home again. Not gonna complain, though! I mean after two years of Covid it was really nice to see so many relatives and friends for the first time after such a long time. 😀

Also fun fact: Every time when I did a vlive on my BookTube channel for my #Klunealong there was a wedding on the day before so I was always totally tired from the night before. *lol* The vlives and the Klunealong itself were a lot of fun though, and I really wouldn’t have wanted to miss this! Not gonna lie, it was quite a lot of work as well and another reason why my August was so busy. To organize a readalong isn’t half as easy as it looks or sounds like. ;-P

Aside from that I had to organize a lot of things in August too. For one I had to take a closer look at what I’m going to study next after my first exam is finished at the beginning of October and secondly my kid started with school as well, which caused me to run around trying to get everything the teacher needed for a good school start. The bottom line: School is expensive and to get all the things you need is exhausting and stressful. After going to 4 different stores and still not getting what I wanted I actually even resorted to order some things from the internet. *lol*

And before I go into even more detail about school stuff let’s just jump into another topic. Namely my monthly wrap-up! XD

Books read: 4 (4 books & 0 webcomic, I think that’s not all too bad considering all those books were pretty long and had 300+ pages)

Pages read: 1.661 (Kinda happy with the amount of pages this time around. )

Average rating: 4,25 (Thankfully August was a way better reading month than July and I enjoyed all of the books I read. 😀 )

Books that were on my reading list: 3 ( 0 from 2020, 2 from 2021 and 1 from 2022. Wow, 3 of the four books I read were actually from my TBR lists?! Who am I?! XD )

August Reads:

        

One Last Stop: ,5

Okay, this book was really, really good and I enjoyed it a lot! I loved the found family trope so much and I absolutely adored all of the characters! In short I had a great time reading „One Last Stop“! The writing style in this one was definitely less jarring than in RWARB and it was easy to page through it and to take part in guessing what happened to Jane. The only reason this gets 4,5 paws instead of 5 is that it didn’t blow me away as much as RWARB did. *lol* Also if you have problems with too much PDA you should be careful with picking up this book! A full review will follow soon! 😉

The Kingdom of Back: ,5

Marie Lu’s take on Mozart was super interesting. When I found this book in the library I just couldn’t resist to borrow it. I mean I never heard of this before and then it’s some sort of Mozart retelling? Colour me intrigued! As someone from Austria – the country of Mozart – the temptation was just too much. XD This read like a fairy tale and some sort of bad nightmare and I was here for it. It’s definitely more in the direction of middle grade though and sometimes it was a little bit confusing. If you like things like that you should be fine though. My full review will hopefully be up rather sooner than later.

The Extraordinaries:

This was my second TJ Klune book and I read it during my #Klunealong! And let me tell you this: This book was hilarious!!! I loved „The Extraordinaries“ so much and it definitely managed to have that fine balance when a story hits you in the feels while also causing you to laugh out loud.  I swear Klune is becoming one of my fave authors pretty fast and I can’t wait to dive into more of his books. ❤

All the Light We Cannot See:

This book has been on my TBR for ages and I finally managed to pick it up and to finish it after doing so. I think I started with this in April but then other books had a higher priority and I kinda left it on my „currently reading“. Also it’s a sad book and I had to be in the right mood for it. This said, I eventually picked it up again and … well liked it. I dunno if that’s the right word. It’s a very sad and depressing topic so „enjoy“ and „like“ don’t feel like the proper words. It was a good story and it had me engaged. Maybe we can put it like that. XD It took me a while to get used to the writing style though because I’m just so used to YA books that historical fiction was quite a challenge after such a long time. *lol*

This said: How was your August? Did you read many books? Which book was your favourite and which book was a disappointment? Did you already read the books I mentioned and if „yes“ did you enjoy them? Were you busy during summer too? Are you at school and if yes, did the new semester start good for you?

Talk to me and let me know! 

And as always take care and stay healthy and safe!

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox

July Wrap-Up

July was… quite something! I wish I could say something good about July but I was extremely busy at the beginning of the month because I finally started my educational sabbatical. *lol* For the first time in years I actually had to study and even had to do lots of homework. Which was something totally new for me after such a long time out of school. XD I’m enjoying my educational sabbatical though and so far I aced every homework and always got the best grade! (Honestly this is something new because after I turned 15 I never was a straight-A-student. Haha I mean I wasn’t super bad but I had to work really hard for good grades!)

So, yeah my educational sabbatical started out pretty well. Unfortunately my hubby got ill during the second week of July and even though I kept my distance to him and even slept on the sofa for a couple of days he still managed to „gift“ me his tonsillitis. I swear I was so ill you have no idea. I basically spent 3 days having a 39,5+ fever and couldn’t do anything except of sleep. When I finally managed to go to the doc I got a prescription for antibiotics and had to take them for 10 days straight. I got so tired from the antibiotics I basically didn’t do a lot for the rest of July. I took my last one on Saturday but I’m still kinda exhausted from being ill. Like I’m not at a 100% and it’s starting to get annoying. *lol*

I really hope that sooner or later I’ll be back to full health but for now it seems like I’ll have to live with about 60 – 70%. Who knew a tonsillitis would kick my butt like that? *shakes head* So yep, this was my July and I’m behind on everything. My backlog on reviews is huge because I had to prioritize and of course my studies came first. I eventually managed to get back on track now but all the rest, my BookTube channel, IG, reviews, reading, etc. suffered. Well, I hope I’ll at least be able to get up my August TBR video soon. If I wouldn’t have started some of the books in June already and wouldn’t have had those first two healthy weeks of July I probably wouldn’t have read anything. Haha! Anyway! Speaking of books, let’s just do this wrap-up and be done with it! 😉

Books read: 4 (4 books & 0 webcomic, I actually managed to read four books! Yay!)

Pages read: 1.879 (I think this is the most I read in a long time. It might have only been 4 books but 3 of them were 400+ pages long)

Average rating: 4,38 (Those 4 books were so different but I really enjoyed them all so much.)

Books that were on my reading list: 2 ( 0 from 2020, 1 from 2021 and 1 from 2022. I can’t help being a mood reader, but I’m getting better! )

July Reads:

       

Spinning Silver:

It took me forever to read this book, but not because it was bad, I guess I was just in a bad reading slump when I picked it up in February. >_< Once I started to read it it for real I actually finished it in a couple of days. XD I kinda loved the story and the different characters. The Tsar and Irina had me totally intrigued and the Staryk king and Miryem were super interesting too. Plus I had no idea how the book would end and that’s always a good thing in my book. =)

House of Sky and Breath: ,5

THIS BOOK!!! ADFKADLFASKDFAJSDFKASDFJ! If I’d have known how it ends I would have waited until the 3rd book is out because damn to wait for the next book is going to be pure torture! T_T Thankfully I read this book as a buddy read with the lovely Jessi @ Plot Twists with Jessi and now we can both suffer together. *lol* A problem shared is a problem halved. Or so they say. *sobs in a corner* Oh yeah, before I continue to sob: There will be a full and proper review about this book in the future. 😉

Death Note – Volume 3:

I’m so behind on writing reviews and my backlog isn’t normal anymore, but I actually wrote one for „Death Note – Volume 3“ and you can read it here! I really love this manga series but I have no idea how the author is going to keep the arc of suspense throughout the entire series because damn… Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 were already so tense! I’m in awe of the cat-and-mouse game between L and Light and boy… I can’t wait to see where this is heading. I doubt it will have a good end though. Someone is going to get hurt and I have no idea who it will be. XD

The House in the Cerulean Sea:

„The House in the Cerulean Sea“ was my first TJ Klune book ever and I read it with a couple of people while I hosted my #Klunealong! It’s really one of the most wholesome books ever and when I did my second vlive last Sunday I couldn’t help but gush about the book while we discussed it! Such an amazing story and I really love all the characters so much! If all of Klune’s books are like that I can’t wait to go for part 2 of my Klunealong in August! We’ll start to read „The Extraordinaries“ on August 6th! And if you want to join you can always follow the link above to my first #Klunealong Announcement. I’ll make sure to get up the new video soon so that’s why I don’t have a link for „The Extraordinaries“ yet. You can always send me a comment as well though and I’ll send you the details. If you really want to join I’m sure we’ll find a way to get in touch.;-)

This said: How was your July? Did you read a lot of books? I hope you were healthier than I was and were able to enjoy the good weather. (Over here it was really hot and sunny! XD)  Did you read any of the books I read as well and if yes did you enjoy them? Which book was your highlight of July? Do you want to take part in Part2 of my #Klunealong?!

Talk to me and let me know! 

And as always take care and stay healthy and safe!

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox

June Wrap-Up

I really thought June would be different. I mean I basically had an entire month of vacation and you’d think I would have gotten a lot of things done, but nope. I barely even managed to do the things I wanted to do and there were like a gazillion of reasons why things didn’t work out as planned. For one, my kid got ill the very first day I was on vacation. Like seriously. It was my last day at work, I picked her up from kindergarten and the moment we were at home she had a fever. *lol*

So the first week of my vacation was spent at home, tending to my ill kid and hoping she would get healthy soon. XD Basically right after that I had to start packing because we went on a holiday for the first time in 3 years. It was only four days at a golf and spa hotel but boy was it amazing! I totally forgot how nice it is when someone else does all the cooking and housework for you. *lol* I could finally relax and had a lot of fun with my family and even though it was only a short time I really enjoyed it so much. 😀 Still, right after that we went into the madness of organizing lots of birthdays because June is full of it. I swear about half of my family has birthday in June. >_<

And before I even knew it June was almost over. *lol* I used a couple of days to reorganize my bookshelves, to meet my bestie and to visit some libraries in Vienna. Plus I finally cleaned up my wardrobe and donated a huge sack of clothes to our local social market. I wish I could have checked even more things off my To-Do list but those were the ones I really wanted to do. XD So I partly succeded. Due to all of this I didn’t manage to read a lot though and it shows in my statistics of June. And here I thought June was going to be an awesome reading month for me. *lol* I should have known real life would kick my butt. Haha! Anyway! Let’s rip off the band-aid and get to it! 

Books read: 3 (3 books & 0 webcomic, and here I thought June would be a better reading month?! >_<)

Pages read: 1.160 (At least it were more than 1.000 pages. *lol*)

Average rating: 3,34 (I think this gotta be the lowest rating I ever gave…)

Books that were on my reading list: 0 ( 0 from 2020, 0 from 2021 and 1 from 2022. Considering I only read 3 books it’s kinda good one was from my TBR? I count that as a win. XD )

June Reads:

       

Children of Virtue and Vengeance: ,5

I really enjoyed the first book of this series „Children of Blood and Bone“! I had my issues with it but overall I enjoyed the beginning of this series and I had such high hopes for the second installment. And I’m so sorry to say this, but all my hopes where shattered! T_T I rarely give the books I read 2,5 paws but this one… puh it so didn’t work for me. Honestly so many things in this book rubbed me the wrong way and by the end of it I think I didn’t like a single one of the characters anymore. (except of Roen, Roen is a babe! ❤ *lol*) It’s one thing to make complex and morally grey characters but to make readers hate all of your characters… wow, that’s a feat! XD Anyway, I will definitely write a long and elaborate review about this and explain why it didn’t work for me. So stay tuned and watch out for it. 😉 

Whispers Underground: ,5

This was already the third book in this urban fantasy series and it took me ages to get to it. Honestly, I think I must have borrowed it about 10 times from my library before I finally managed to actually read it. *lol* But it was worth the wait. I had a good time reading „Whispers Underground“. It wasn’t the best book I ever read but it also wasn’t the worst. It was an enjoyable read and pretty fast and easy to get through. So yeah. I’m very curious how this series is going to continue and I hope that the next couple of books will finally give me more info about Nightingale. XD

XOXO:

I’ve been dying to read this book ever since I heard that it’s about a k-pop idol falling in love with a Cello prodigy and I couldn’t wait to pick this story up. XD Jenny and Jaewoo were so cute and I really enjoyed their interactions. It was fun to read about all those typical Korean dishes and to see the phrases and expressions I know from k-dramas written out in the book. *lol* I think I learned some things about Korean culture as well and I really liked that. As for the love story between the two MCs: It was cute but I kinda wanted more? I dunno how to describe it but I just wanted more. Maybe that’s just a me thing, though? I’ll make sure to explain it better in my review. 😉

This said: How was your June? Did you read a lot of books and if yes can you recommend some? Did you already read any of the books I read last month? Did you enjoy them? Were you already on vacation or are you planning to go on one? =) What kind of tasks do you want to get to but never manage to do until you have vacation?

Talk to me and let me know! 

And as always take care and stay healthy and safe!

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox

May Wrap-Up

May was another month that went by so quickly I didn’t even notice it was over… until it was over. *lol* Seriously for some reason I actually thought I could make it to 5 books this month only to realize that it was already May 31st! XD There were so many things that kept me busy in May it’s actually a miracle I managed to read those 4 books. For one I worked until the last day of May and even had to hand over everything I worked on until then so my successor could take over. In addition to that I also had to try to get my educational sabbatical on track. Which took a lot of time as well. Not to mention my family and normal life stuff.

So yeah, May was another pretty busy month and I really hope that June will be a relaxed month now because honestly, before I start anew I really need a break to recharge my batteries. Those last 2 years were extremely draining and it showed in my blog presence and on goodreads. I used to read 6 – 8 books a month (and this with work and my family etc.) and those last couple of months I only manged to read half of my usual amount. I really needed that change badly and I hope everything will work out. Please cross your fingers for me. XD

The couple of books I DID read in May were fantastic though and I’m so glad I finally managed to read „The Fever King“!!! But before I start to rave about all the books I read I’ll just head over to my monthly wrap up statistics and take it from there! 😉

Books read: 4 (4 books & 0 webcomic, considering I was so busy this was actually a lot?)

Pages read: 1.555 (I guess that’s about my average page count so I’m fine with it.)

Average rating: 4,38 (I really enjoyed all those books, but „The Fever King“ was my fave!! ❤ )

Books that were on my reading list: 0 ( 0 from 2019, 1 from 2021 and 0 from 2022. There are so many books of my TBR on my „currently reading“ so I’m sure the next wrap up will be more successful!)

May Reads:

       

Waking Gods:

I really wanted to continue with this series and when I found the second book in my library I just couldn’t resist. „Waking Gods“ was another great read and by now I can say that Sylvain Neuvel always surprises me! I swear this series has a lot of plot twists I never saw coming. Very curious about the third and last book!

The Blood of Olympus: ,5

I read the final book of „The Heroes of Olympus“ and now I’m sad! T_T I didn’t want this series to end but at the same time I wanted to know what happens next so #bookwormdilemma *lol* I really enjoyed this book so much though! The friendship in this were everything and even though it was more serious than all the other books I kinda loved it for that?! I’ll always love the golden trio (Percy, Nico and Leo) because they are just amazing! <333 I suppose my next Uncle Rick series will be „The Trials of Apollo“? XD

The Map to You:

I actually got that one as an ARC from NetGalley and I was very surprised I got approved for this. *lol* „The Map to You“ was a really good f/f story and I loved the easy banter between the two MCs Sasha and Kinsey! 😉 Their flirting was so much fun and the fact that they were friends before they became lovers was the icing on the cake. At least for me it was. XD This book tackled way more serious topics than I thought it would though, so consider yourself warned, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows! ;-P I’ll write my full review about it soon!

The Fever King:

Okay, this book!! This book knocked it out of the park for me! I wanted to read „The Fever King“ for ages and never really got to it but damn did I miss out! You know the kind of book that has you sort of spellbound? Yep, „The Fever King“ was this kind of book! For the couple of days it took me to read it, I was totally obsessed with the book and constantly found myself thinking about Dara and Noam. I really loved this one to bits and pieces and I can’t wait to read the second one. I’m afraid it will be super dark but ahhh I need to know!!! T_T

This said: How was your May? Did you read a lot of books and if yes which ones did you read? Was there a favourite among them? Did you read any of the books I read last months and if yes, did you enjoy them? What have you been up to in May and is your life as busy as mine?! (I genuinely hope it’s not because my schedule always feels extremely packed. *lol*)

Talk to me and let me know! 

And as always take care and stay healthy and safe!

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox

April Wrap-Up

April was… busy! Honestly if I already thought that I didn’t read a lot in February the same could be said about April. Of course I had my reasons for not reading all too much and now that it’s official I can also write it in here and don’t have to beat about the bush like I did in my last wrap up. I don’t know if you guys follow my BookTube Channel as well but if you did you already heard about my life updates. If not you’ll read it now. 😉

After working for many years at the same company I decided to go on an educational sabbatical for a year. There were plenty of reasons that caused me to rethink my current work life and over those last couple of months it became more and more clear that it couldn’t go on like that. I wasn’t happy anymore and I was constantly stressed which took a toll on my health and caused my private life to suffer as well. So I kinda pulled the rip cord and decided to go for an educational sabbatical instead. I’m really looking forward to go back to studying and I’m sure that this year is exactly what I need right now. I want to broaden my horizon and do something I really want to do! I’ll take all my energy to set up a second line of business and I hope it will help me to go down a different career path. 😉

I mean I’m too young to spend even more years in a job I don’t like. I’ll have to work at least 30 years more until I can retire (if I ever retire *lol*) and that’s way too long to do a job that’s not my cup of tea. XD So yeah, to initiate all those changes took a lot of time and energy and then my hubby ended up having Covid which cost me another 10 days of quarantine in which I had to do everything. I’m vaccinated thrice so I basically had to do everything from buying groceries to getting rid of the trash, cooking and taking care of my kid etc. It was… busy. *lol*. So yep, that was my April and I guess no one is surprised that I didn’t get a lot of reading done. Haha! On this happy note let’s jump right into my wrap up, shall we?!

Books read: 3 (3 books & 0 webcomic, I won’t even say anything about the fact that I only read 3 books. >_<)

Pages read: 1.085 (This is actually more pages than I thought I would have read. XD)

Average rating: 4,17 (I rarely had months in which my ratings varied so much)

Books that were on my reading list: 0 ( 0 from 2019, 0 from 2020 and 1 from 2021. One of those 3 books was actually from my TBR so yay! I’ll take my victories where I can get them. *lol*)

April Reads:

       

Pet:

This book was a real surprise and I don’t know how to describe it. I think it kind of reminded me of „A Monster Calls“. I mean it tackled serious topics but with the help of a monster that made it easier to address them?! Anyway! I really enjoyed this book and even though I was so busy it kept me engaged and I wanted to know what would happen next so that’s definitely a good thing. If you want to read my full review you can do it: here!

Gideon the Ninth: ,5

I enjoyed the book but it was so confusing? *lol* There were so many different names which made it hard to get into the story and sometimes I didn’t really get what the author wanted to tell the reader? Despite all that I ended up enjoying the book though and gave it 3,5 paws rounded up to 4 stars on goodreads. I wrote a long and more elaborate review about „Gideon the Ninth“ on my blog so if you want to read it just follow the link!

Sometime After Midnight:

I felt like I needed to read something fluffy and nice to get back into reading and when I picked this book up I totally didn’t expect to end up loving it so much, but boy this book!!!! AHADKFASLKDFSADF! I loved this story so much! And not because of the romance but because of the music aspect which was quite the surprise! This was amazing and if you love music and the chemistry between two musicians you should definitely pick it up! I’ll write a full review on this hidden and unkown gem once I have more time so be prepared to hear more about it! ❤

This said: How was your April? Was it a great reading month for you and if yes how many books did you manage to read? (Hopefully way more than I did. *lol*) What was your favourite book last month and did you read any of the books I read? Have you ever gone on an educational sabbatical and if yes what did you study?

Talk to me and let me know! 

And as always take care and stay healthy and safe!

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox

March Wrap-Up

Considering everything that happened in March I’m actually surprised I managed to read 5 books? *lol* Okay one of them was a manga, two were rather short and the last one I read for about a year but finally finished in March so I guess when you break it down to the basics… I didn’t really read THAT much. XD But we’ll just roll with this and say I did splendidly in March! ;-P

Anyway! March was a very intense month for me because at the begining of the month there happened something that forced me to rethink my current life situation and what I actually want from my life. To stop in your usual tracks and to actually and actively think about what you want is never easy and it’s always easier to just let things run the way they always did. So yeah, to realize I had fallen into a pattern and to actually break out of it took a lot of energy from me. But the only person who can change something about your life situation is yourself so I had to do it.

Okay, enough of being cryptic. XD I’m sorry I can’t be more precise but this story needs to be told on another day. Maybe in my next wrap-up. 😉 For now I’ll just let it stand the way it is and focus on the good things of last month. Like for instance spring! It finally came and I already spent one or two afternoons at my parents garden house. =) I swear it’s so nice to be out and to feel the sun on your skin. *lol* And because I’m ARMY and you all know it, I’ve to say that I’m so glad Hobi and JK recovered from Covid and are healthy again! ❤

So on that happy note let’s jump right into my monthly Wrap Up, shall we?! 😉

Books read: 5 (5 books & 1 webcomic, Let’s just say I did fine?! Okay? Okay! ;-P )

Pages read: 1.940 („Sorcery of Thorns“ and „A Court of Silver Flames“ certainly added to that pages count.)

Average rating: 4,20 (So many of those books were 4 paws so I’m not surprised about the high rating)

Books that were on my reading list: 2 ( 0 from 2019, 1 from 2021 and 1 from 2022. I finally managed to read two books from my TBR and considering I only read 5 books last month this is an achievement. XD)

March Reads:

          

     

White Fox:

This book was so nice to read and I loved that it was told from the POV of Dilah the fox. =) You don’t read books about foxes all too often. XD Also this was a typical middle grade book with super beautiful illustrations by Viola Wang and they definitely added to my enjoyment. I guess my favourite character was Ankel, the weasel, because he was such a great character and never hesitated to stand up for his friends. This was sometimes very sad but still lovely!

Sorcery of Thorns:

„Sorcery of Thorns“ is a five paws read and it’s a five paws read! Like it’s one of those books that got five paws from me but would have deserved even more?! You know what I mean, right?! *lol* I loved this book so much and I actually mourn the fact that it’s just a standalone and not an entire series. T_T The characters in this were everything! I absolutely loved them all! Elisabeth and Nathaniel were great but the secret star of the book is definitely Silas! ❤ Gosh I love him so much!!! AKDFASJDFSAKDFJAS I need a second book about Silas! *dies* Oh, and the world building was excellent too. *dies again*

Blue Flag:

All I can say about „Blue Flag“ is that it was super cute and that I can’t wait to read the other volumes. Futaba kind of reminded me of Tohru from „Fruits Basket“ and Taichi was annoyed by her clumsiness but still liked her so there’s that. *lol* Very curious how the entire thing with Taichi is going to work out, not to mention Futaba’s bestie. I’m ready to find out how this complicated love quadrangle will unfold. XD

Almond:

I read „Almond“ as a buddy read with my BookTube friend Katja as one of the book prompts for the #Koreadathon2022! =) We chose it for the challenge: „Read a book recommended by a Korean celebrity“ because RM as well as SUGA from BTS read it during their show „In the Soop“! It was a really thought-provoking and interesting book and I enjoyed it a lot. I still have to write my review about it though so yeah, it will find it’s way on my blog sooner or later. 😉

A Court of Silver Flames:

I can’t believe it took Jello, Kaitlyn and me an entire year to buddy read this book but it did?! WOW! We started to read this on April 3rd 2021 and finished it on March 27th 2022. *loool* Oh boy, I think this was the longest buddy read ever. XD We probably broke a world record with that. Haha! Anyway, I enjoyed the book a lot and I really liked Nesta’s character ARC and how Sarah tackled all those important topics. For my taste there was a little bit too much smut (I KNOW!! V. too much smut, are you kidding me?! There can never be enough! Who are you?! *lol*) and too little of the actual plot. Don’t get me wrong, I love smut, but in this case I really would have liked to get more of the plotline and world building hence the four paws instead of five. I’ll make sure to write a very elaborate and long review about this book so please keep your eyes peeled for it.

This said: How was your March? Was it a good reading month? Did you read any of the books I spoke about in my wrap up? =) And if you read ACOSF, how long did it take you to read this monster of a book? (Hopefully not as long as it took us to finish it. *lol*) Did you take part in the Koreadathon as well and if yes, which books did you read?

Talk to me and let me know! 

And as always take care and stay healthy and safe!

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox

February Wrap-Up

February was probably the fastest month in all history of fast months. *lol* I swear it was over before it even began. XD Maybe it was because I was way too busy with everything going on. Work, my family, my besties birthday, my own birthday and everything else kept me from reading and in the end I realized that I only managed to read 4 books?! I kinda miss the times I was able to read 6 – 8 books a month but as it seems 4 – 5 books a month is my new reality. >_<

So after two months in 2022 the quintessence is: Still too much stress, still too many things keeping me occupied and still not enough time to deal with everything. *lol* If anyone could sent me a time turner I’d really appreciate it. ;-P Also my allergies have been acting up again and even though my asthma got way better than it was before (thank you therapy 😀 ) the constant onslaught of pollen and everything that blooms in spring is still taking its toll on my body. So yeah, I’m kinda suffering from constant exhaustion and the fact that I’m typing this with a massive headache isn’t helping.

Let’s hope once all the pollen are gone I will be able to enjoy spring! Because quite honestly I can’t wait for warm weather and to be outside again. Winter has been way too long again. And this even though the months passed by quickly. I guess I’m just tired of the cold. *lol* Anyway enough talk about the weather let’s talk about books! ❤

Books read: 4 (4 books & 1 webcomic, I won’t talk about „Chakho“ though because I already spoke about it last month)

Pages read: 1.593 (It was so bad I didn’t even manage to read 1.000 pages. *lol*)

Average rating: 3,88 (I guess „The Cousins“ is responsible for that. XD)

Books that were on my reading list: 0 ( 0 from 2019, 0 from 2020 and 1 from 2022. I can’t help being a mood reader, but I’m getting better! )

February Reads:

       

The House of Hades: ,5

This was probably the darkest of Uncle Rick’s books so far! But I really enjoyed it and if possible the characters grew even more on me! I love my three golden boys and Percy, Leo and Nico will always be my faves! As for the girls: Hazel and Annabeth for the win! Those two rock! <333 I’m very curious how book 5 will end because right now the situation looks really dire! If our heroes survive this they definitely deserve a vacation. XD

The Ocean at the End of the Lane:

This was such a strange book but also a good one?! The more I think about it the more I come to the conclusion that it was actually pretty good. For me The Ocean at the End of the Lane  felt like an old fairy tale and I’m pretty sure this was part of what Neil Gaiman aimed for. The perspective of a young boy who sees the adult world through children’s eyes only added to that impression and even though the book was creepy and gross at times I still enjoyed it.

The Cousins:

So this was a three paws read because it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t really good either. There were a couple of plot twists I saw from miles away and the characters felt way too similar to those of in „One of Us is Lying“. I mean the book was nice to read but it wasn’t something I will remember for long and I know for fact that Mc Manus wrote better books than this one. So yeah. Fingers crossed her next book will be better again. =)

The Gilded Ones:

I only finished this recently and I already know „The Gilded Ones“ will be difficult to review. The first about 40 – 50% of the book reminded me of a lot of other YA books I read over the years and then I got over the 50% mark and suddenly the book picked up pace and got its own voice so umm yeah. I dunno where that leaves me but I’ll make sure to write a proper review to dive a little bit deeper into my reasoning for 3,5 paws which I ultimately rounded up to 4.

How was your February? Was it too short too? Did you read more books than I did and if yes, which books did you read? Did you read any of the books I spoke about in my wrap up? =) Am I the only one who suffers from allergies?! (I can’t be the only one, right?! *lol*) How come all the books I read last month started with „The“?! And are you looking forward to summer too?

Talk to me and let me know! 

And as always take care and stay healthy and safe!

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox

January Wrap-Up

I can’t believe I’m typing this in February! Where did January go? The first month of the year passed by so quickly and if this is any indication of how 2022 is going to be then the year will be over in the blink of an eye. *lol* January… well January was actually a pretty tough month. Work-wise because Covid hit us full force and there were days I was basically the last person picking up the phone at work because all my co-workers were either ill, got Covid, or their family members had it and they had to be in quarantine.

I swear Omicron is spreading like nobody’s business over here and the goverment seems to be sick and tired of making rules almost no one wants to follow anymore. So I guess all we can do at this point is get vaccinated (which I did, thrice!) and hope that our immune system will be able to withstand the onslaught. This said I was knocked out for a couple of days as well because my kid got a mean stomach bug and after taking care of my kid for about a week I got it too. Fun times, I tell you. XD Is it just me or do all the other viruses get more aggressive as well? Anyway!

To add insult to injury I even had to pay attention to a healthy diet because apparently my gut isn’t working as it should. The joy of allergies, I tell you! *lol* So yeah, you can see my January was quite the interesting month. For some crazy reason I still managed to read which is a small wonder but I’ll take what I can get. XD And with this nice transition to books I’ll just jump right into my reading month! =)

Books read: 4 (4 books & 1 webcomic, Yes, you read right! A webcomic! And none other than the famous Chakho with BTS! ❤ )

Pages read: 1.961 (Page wise this was definitely a strong month. I feel like I cheated though because I read Now I Rise and Rule of Wolves mostly in December and only finished them in January.)

Average rating: 4,4 (Suanne’s book and Chakho made the difference! ;-P)

Books that were on my reading list: 0 ( 1 from 2019, 0 from 2020 and 0 from 2021. I’m so bad at following my TBR but hey, I finally finished another one of my 2019 books!)

January Reads:

       

   

Now I Rise:

This was already book two in „The Conqueror’s Saga“ and I enjoyed it once again. I absolutely love the characters in this book because their character arcs are so well done. This is definitely a character driven series and I live and breathe for it. Lada and Radu are amazing and even the side characters are great as well! (I want to marry Nazira and Cyprian both. *lol*) Yes, I’m greedy but I don’t care! If you know them you know what I’m talking about. ;-P If you want to read my full review you can do it here!

Rule of Wolves:

I can’t believe it took me months to finish this book but I was in a massive reading slump last year and only got out of it 2 weeks before the year was over. This said once I got back in the swing of things I really had a lot of fun reading this. The „King of Scars“ duology might not have been as good as „Six of Crows“ but I still enjoyed it and I got a huge dose of Nikolai and Zoya so that alone made me a really happy camper. ;-P

A Small Hotel:

I think I already mentioned it about a gazillion times but I love Suanne’s books and writing style and this was no exception to the rule. This book! I mean… THIS BOOK!!! It broke me in all the best ways and it mended my heart, just to break it once again. This was… such a rollercoaster of feelings and I laughed and cried and was angry and happy for the characters. Ahh.. If you’ve never heard of Suanne Laqueur you should check out her books! I’m serious. Yes, now, go look her up! ❤

Girls of Paper and Fire:

This book was super interesting because we have actual demons in it and they look like animals so I was damn curious about how this would work out. (Understatement of the century. *lol*) I know for many people this didn’t work but for me it actually worked?! I have no idea why I only gave this four paws, but it was more some sort of gut feeling thing this time around. I loved the slow burn f/f ship and the plot was intriguing enough but it didn’t quite qualify for the fifth paw. If you know what I mean?! No? Well, okay let’s just move on. *lol*

Chakho 7 Fates:

I only read the prologue and the first 3 episodes but I’m so ready to read more of „Chakho“! This webcomic is right up my alley and this not only because it’s with BTS but because the story is damn intriguing! The mere idea of Beom and 7 boys who fight them is great and as it seems they all have their own background stories and baggage. I can’t wait to read the next episode!!! Give it to me!

How was your January? Did you read many books and if yes, which books did you read? Did you already read the books I read last month? And did you enjoy them? Do you read webcomics as well or am I the only one? *lol* How is the Covid situation in your country? Are there many people getting ill too? How is your government/country handling Omicron?

Talk to me and let me know! 

And as always take care and stay healthy and safe!

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox

My Book List 2022

Hey there my lovelies! =)

In my „Top 15 of my bookish 2021“ blog post I mentioned that I would try to read 45 books this year and that there were only 40 on my list so far. I asked you for recommendations to fill in those last five blank spots and as always your suggestions were amazing! XD

I wrote them all down and put them into a bowl. Well, and then I pulled out 5 of them! (Soon there will be a video of it on my BookTube! ;-P ) This said: Thank you so much for participating! I really appreciate all the time and effort you put into your answers and I hope you’ll find your recommendation at the end of the following list! (light cobalt blue colour) Since this worked out so fine last year I put emojis next to the books again and tried my best to classify them for you. I think they are pretty self-explanatory but if you have questions what they mean you can always ask me in the comments! 😉

So here I go:

1.) Empire of the Vampire – Jay Kristoff 

2.) An Ember in the Ashes – Sabaa Tahir

3.) The Knife of Never Letting Go – Patrick Ness

4.) Wolfsong – T.J. Klune

5.) How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories – Holly Black

6.) XOXO – Axie Oh  ♬

7.) The Binding – Bridget Collins

8.) Dark Rise – C.S. Pacat

9.) Legendary – Stephanie Garber

10.) Winter’s Orbit – Everina Maxwell

11.) The Extraordinaries – T.J. Klune

12.) Rebel – Marie Lu (final book of the series)

13.) Jade City – Fonda Lee

14.) Iron Widow – Xiran Jay Zhao

15.) Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World – Benjamin Alire Saenz

16.) A Conjuring of Light – V.E. Schwab (final book of the series)

17.) The King’s Men – Nora Sakavic (final book of the series)

18.) Winter – Marissa Meyer (final book of the series)

19.) Last Night at the Telegraph Club – Malinda Lo

20.) Counting Down With You – Tashie Bhuiyan

21.) The Shadow of the Gods – John Gwynne 

22.) The Jasmine Throne – Tasha Suri 

23.) Bias – Lucy Gold  ♬

24.) The Bear and the Nightingale – Katherine Arden

25.) The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires – Grady Hendrix

26.) The Ocean at the End of the Lane – Neil Gaiman

27.) Darius the Great Is Not Okay – Adib Khorram

28.) Piranesi – Susanna Clarke 

29.) House of Sky and Breath – Sarah J. Maas (release date: Feb. 15th 2022)

30.) And They Lived … – Steven Salvatore (release date: March 8th 2022)

31.) Book of Night – Holly Black (release date: May 3rd 2022)

32.) A Little Life – Hanya Yanagihara

33.) Verity – Colleen Hoover

34.) The Midnight Library – Matt Haig

35.) You Should See Me in a Crown – Leah Johnson

36.) Dread Nation – Justina Ireland

37.) Sorcery of Thorns – Margaret Rogerson

38.) A Man Called Ove – Fredrik Backman

39.) The Phantom of the Opera – Gaston Leroux

40.) The Child Thief – Brom

41.) Gild – Raven Kennedy

42.) Red Winter – Anette Marie

43.) The Ghosts We Keep – Mason Deaver

44.) The Mercies – Kiran Millwood

45.) The Ghost Bride – Yangsze Choo

I’m really looking forward to read all of those books and I hope that this time around I’ll actually manage to get to them. Or well, at least most of them! *lol* I’m pretty confident that I’ll get through this list though, because most of those books I had in my mind for quite a while and I kept the rereads to a minimum this year. Of course I’ll continue to try to get through My Book List 2019 , My Book List 2020 and now my My Book List 2021 as well. On my 2019 list there are only 6 books left I still have to tick off and I know I can do it! 2022 is going to be the year!!! I know it!

Anyway! What about you? Did you already read some of the books on my list or are you planning to read them in near future? How many books do you want to read in 2022? Are you taking part in the GR challenge? Which releases of 2022 are you looking forward to? Talk to me and let me know!

And as always: Stay healthy and safe! 

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox

December Wrap-Up

I’m really trying to be positive now that a new year has just begun so I’ll say it with all the joy and enthusiasm I can muster: December sucked. *lol* Big time! XD If I thought I wasn’t reading a lot in November, I’m almost ashamed of how little I read in December. I actually only manged to read two books and the only reason why „The Lost Apothecary“ fell into this month too was the fact that I FORGOT to add it to my November Wrap Up. Which says enough about the state I was in those last couple of months. *lol*

Like seriously! How could I forget to add it to my Wrap Up? Anyway I said I’d have a positive attitude in 2022 and I’ll try my best! So here I go! I’m typing this after spending two weeks in the blissful bubble named „home“ and I regret nothing! I only went out to go grocery shopping and to go for walks and I met my family and friends three times in total. I spent Christmas with my family, my sister’s family and my parents. Then I visited my aunts and uncle on Silvester and I met one of my besties. That’s it. (Mind you, technically speaking my country is still in some sort of lockdown because of Omicron) So if you’re asking yourself what I did on all those other days:

I cleaned my flat, I played with my kid, I did the laundry, I cooked for my family, I took naps… an indecent amount of them tbh but I was so exhausted I just needed them, I watched Netflix, I listened to BTS and watched some of their videos, I READ (Yes, I actually managed to finish two books I had on my „currently reading“ since August 2021), I edited videos, I wrote blog posts and reviews, I came up with about a gazillion ideas that need to be turned into practice and I just unwound from all the stress I had those last couple of months. Plus I started to do something against my allergies and asthma and I hope the therapy will work. In short: I enjoyed my vacation and I hope this energy will last until July because it will be the next time I can go on vacation.

So on that happy note let’s jump right into my monthly Wrap Up, shall we?! XD

Books read: 3 (3 books & 0 webcomic, 3 books… that’s gotta be the worst reading month ever)

Pages read: 915 (It was so bad I didn’t even manage to read 1.000 pages. *lol*)

Average rating: 3,67 (It seems like my December was pretty average as well.)

Books that were on my reading list: 0 ( 0 from 2019, 0 from 2020 and 0 from 2021. Umm yeah… what can I say? *lol* Mood reading is a thing? XD)

December Reads:

       

The Lost Apothecary:

I really enjoyed reading this book and even thought the story was pretty simple I still wanted to know what would happen next. Also this book got me in a moral dilemma because on the one hand I pulled for the apothecary but on the other hand I couldn’t condone her actions. *lol* Tbh I still don’t know how I feel about the apothecary but I think that’s exactly why this book stuck with me and was so good to read. Also the cover!!! Look at this gorgeous cover. ❤

The Gravity of Us:

When I finished the book I was certain it would be a four paws read but then I had time to think about it and in the end it turned out to be 3. Don’t get me wrong, this book was great and had a lot of things I loved to read about: science, the history of space travel and social media and media in general. There were some things that felt slightly off though and they are the reason for my 3 paws rating. If you know me, you know that 3 paws is still a great rating and only means I had some issues with the book. This said I’m definitely going to read Phil Stampers next story! =)

Mexican Gothic:

I’m so glad I finally managed to read this! „Mexican Gothic“ was a book that had me intrigued from the moment I picked it up and I really loved the atmosphere in this book. I mean High Place is always surrounded by fog, stands next to a cemetery and the house is old and falling apart. Not to mention the weird Doyle family that inhabits it and is pretty hostile towards our MC. (And that is the understatement of the century. *lol*) So yeah, if you’re a scaredy fox like me I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.

How was your December? Did you read many books and were you more successful at finishing them than I was? *lol*  Which books did you read and did you enjoy them? Do we have some in common? How were your Christmas holidays? Were you as asocial as I was? (I don’t regret it, for once I really needed time for myself and away from others) Did you get books for Christmas and if yes which ones?

Talk to me and let me know! 

And as always take care and stay healthy and safe!

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox