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

Top 15 of my bookish 2021 – The Awesome, The Meagre & The Series + Book Recs from You?!

Hey there my lovelies!

2021 is over and 2022 will hopefully turn out to be better than the last year! I really hope your 2022 started well and that you’re having a good time already. =) This said I want to begin the new year with a look at the old one. So since this became some sort of blog tradition I decided that I’d write another one of my „The Awesome, The Meagre & The Series“ blog posts! My initial goal for this year was to read 45 books and even though I managed to hit that number in October I still had a very though time to finish my challenge because I was in the worst reading slump ever. It started in August and stuck with me until December. (If you compare the number of books I read from January – June: 32 with the books I read from July – December: 25 you can see how bad it actually was.) I know 7 books doesn’t look like much but considering I usually read 4 – 5 books a month this was 1,5 months worth of reading for me. XD

Anyway! I’m out of my slump now and I hope it stays that way! *lol* Let’s do this and go for the traditional summary of my reading year 2021! Read about „The Awesome, The Meagre & The Series“!

I hope you’ll enjoy it!

The Awesome:

– Felix Ever After

This book had me curious for ages and everyone who read it was raving about it so of course I couldn’t resist to read it as well. Especially not when I found it sitting on the shelf of my library. I mean alone the cover!! And let me tell you: It was really as good as everyone claimed it would be! I loved to read „Felix Ever After“ and it’s one of those books that truly stayed with me because it made me think about a lot of things. For instance about how others perceive me, how I see myself, how I want to be seen. I just loved that about it! A great book and a thought-provoking one at that. XD

– If This Gets Out

I was lucky enough to get an ARC for this and I’m so happy I was allowed to dive into „If This Gets Out“! This book had everything I love in my books: A LGBTQ+ rep, music, band life, the best-friends-to-lovers trope with a dash of forbidden love, found family and to top it all off even a tour/road trip element. *lol* Yes, I’m gonna be honest here: Ruben and Zach were so frustrating sometimes but we love to suffer, right? XD

– House of Earth and Blood:

 

This book was a masterpiece and I mean it! I always loved Sarah J. Maas’s books and I’m a huge fan of her, but with this one… well she knocked it out of the park! ❤ I LOVED this book so much and even though it took me quite a while to get into the story because there were so many details I needed to know in order to move on, I ultimately ended up adoring this book. I have no idea how Sarah wants to top this because this was only book one in a series, but whatever she’ll come up with next: I’m game! 😉

– The Raven King:

 

Okay, I gotta be honest here: My heart is still a bleeding and raw mess after reading „The Raven King“. This book was… I have no words. It killed me… What Andrew and Neil go through in this second installment is not… I just want to hug my babies and hide them from the cruel world they live in. GAH!! I have no idea how I’m going to survive the last book but I’m so going to read it because I want to know what happens with my Foxes. *mental breakdown* 

– I Was Born for This

 

I love Alice Oseman’s books and I love books that have to do with bands, fandoms and music so this was basically everything I ever wanted. Not to mention that it also had LGBTQ+ reps because we’re talking about an Alice Oseman book here. 😉 In short: I was a happy camper and I gobbled this up like nobody’s business. *lol* So good and definitely one of my favourite Oseman books. 😀

The Meagre:

– Darkdawn:

 

Sooo…. while I gave this book four paws in total and still enjoyed it somehow it definitely was my least favourite book of the series. We had a specific theme in „Nevernight“, we had a theme in „Godsgrave“ but „Darkdawn“!? Well, if you ask me it was all over the place and the ending was kind of anticlimactic. At least for me it was. Plus even though I’m a LGBTQ+ shipper all the way, I just couldn’t ship THAT ship. I love Mia but I didn’t love… her love interest and my Yoongi and I were constantly rolling our eyes. Nope, that didn’t work for me… at all. We’re probably in the minority here but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. 

– Elusion by Zoe Parker:

 

I gave this book three paws and it definitely was one of the weirdest books I ever read. I mean at first we have darkness, abuse, torture and hopelessness, lather, rinse, repeat. Over and over again I might add and then all of a sudden at around half of the book everything changed so drastically that it felt like I was reading an entirely different book. And I just couldn’t with that… so yeah. 

– The Heir by Kiera Cass:

 

Heaven save me from spoiled brats that are supposed to inherit a throne! *lol* No, seriously! I just couldn’t stand Eadlyn… at all. She was such an dislikable character and to say it with one of my bestie’s words: „Eadlyn is everything America was not.“ And we mean that in a bad way. 😉 The boys in the book were nice (okay, most of them were) but Eadlyn. Nope. Also the fact that she made a 180 degree character turn in the second installment was so unbelievable that I got a rash from fanserviceritis. Conclusion: Definitely not for me. 

– Broken Throne by Victoria Aveyard:

 

This book was okay and I think that’s exactly my problem. About half of the stories in here I didn’t need to read because I already read the short stories when they came out with the books and the other half of new stories wasn’t really doing it for me. „World Behind“ and „Fire Light“ were the two short stories I liked the most, but the rest of the book wasn’t all too engaging. Also: You would have thought that Victoria would finally give us some background stoy on Maven and Thomas or even somthing about Maven’s youth, but she didn’t and I’m… disappointed. 

– Superman:

 

I mean this wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t amazing either. I read all the previous DC Icons books and I’ve to say that this was the weakest in the entire series so far. Maybe it’s because Superman is too perfect and good? *lol* I like my superheroes with eges. XD 

The Series:

– The Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan:

 

 

I just love Uncle Rick’s books!  He writes the best adventure stories ever and „The Mark of Athena“ was no exception to the rule. I actually wanted to finish „The Heroes of Olympus“ series in 2021 but then my reading slump hit and I saved it for 2022. There are only two books left so I’m sure I will be able to finish it this year. I guess after that „The Kane Chronicles“ will be up next. =)

– The Folk of the Air by Holly Black:

       

 

I absolutely loved „The Cruel Prince“ and „The Wicked King“. Those two books were amazing and for someone like me who loves faeries and court intrigues this was perfect. Also Cardan and Jude! I mean honestly, do I have to say more about that love-hate relationship? *lol* As for „The Queen of Nothing“ it was good but not as good as the former books. The ending was kinda weird as well but also somehow fitting for „faerie tales“?! 

– Themis Files by Sylvain Neuvel:

 

Now this series came as a total surprise! I didn’t expect to like it so much and everyone who saw my TBR video about it knows that I was very skeptical about the „mysterious giant hand“. *lol* I stand corrected though because this was great! Truth be told, I don’t understand why not more people rave about this! I mean if you loved „Illuminae“ I’m sure you’ll love this one as well. 

– The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer:

     

 

I actually managed to continue with this series in 2021 and read „Scarlet“ and „Cress“! Of course I loved them both and I have such a soft spot for Cress. She’s really amazing and I just want to cuddle and hug her. Same goes for Kai! Love that man to bits and pieces! ❤ Still, the ending of „Cress“ had me so worried about all those beloved characters and I hope they will be fine when I read „Winter“ this year. I’m planning to finish the series in 2022 so you can watch out for my review of the last book. 😉 

– Railhead by Philip Reeve:

 

This series is very beloved by the Yoongi to my V and I got very curious about it. Needless to say I grabbed it off the shelf as soon as I saw it at my library. *lol* And of course I loved it when I read it because my Yoongi has impeccable taste when it comes to books! ❤ We also share brain cells so that might be another reason why I knew that I’d enjoy it. XD Anyway! This was great! I loved the idea of sentient locos, space travel through wormholes and of motoriks. I’ll definitely make sure to pick up book two soon. 

So this was my year 2021 in 15 books! How was your 2021? Was it a good reading year for you? Did you manage to read all the books you wanted to read? Or did you fall into a huge reading slump as well? Are there some books you didn’t manage to read in 2021 and took into 2022?  Let me know in the comments!

And because this has become a tradition too: Just like in the years before I want to give you a chance to throw in some of your book recommendations for My Book List 2022! My goal is to read 45 books in 2022 and the last 5 spots are up to you! Just write me your book recs in the comments and I’ll throw them in a bowl and pull out 5 of them! (I guess this year I’ll even make a video about it. I mean what is my BookTube for?! XD)

This said I wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR and I hope that your 2021 will be amazing and way better than 2021 was! I mean it gotta be better, right?! Right? *lol* And because it’s so important these days: Aside from happines, success, contentment, luck and lots of love I also wish you good health! 

Please take care an stay healthy and safe! 

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox

November Wrap-Up

November, huh? Well, what can I say about November? I was in one of the biggest reading slumps I ever had and it shows in the fact that I only read 5 books, two of them were mangas and one was a very short novella. Like who am I even?! I’ve been asking myself this question very often lately and I think most of that is due to the fact that I’m not happy with my current life situation. Work is always stressful and it takes me too long to get there and back again. We still have mould in our flat and I haven’t been on a holiday since September. (And this one was just 4 days, so yeah…)

At the moment I’m in a constant state of exhaustion and usually I would do the things I love like writing blog posts, (It’s 3 hours before this one gets online and I used to plan ahead for at least 2 weeks…) poetry, listening to music, creating video content for my BookTube, etc. and yes, I’d read. But I’m too tired to even do that. >_< Which is always a bad sign. I need some time to recuperate and I really hope I’ll get it over the Christmas holidays.

I guess I’ll use my days off wisely and will think about what I can do to improve my situation, because quite honestly I’m sick and tired of feeling the way I do and I think 2022 is a good opportunity to change things. I’m sorry you had to read all that now, but it needed to get out. November was no good month and truth be told all the months before weren’t good either and I need to change that. Period. XD So this said let’s head to my actual wrap up!

Books read: 5 (5 books & 0 webcomic, As I already mentioned it were only 5 and most of them were very short so umm… )

Pages read: 1.421 (Not all too much but I’m okay with it.)

Average rating: 4,2 (Did I really rate most of them with 4 paws…Yes, I guess I did.)

Books that were on my reading list: 2 ( 0 from 2019, 0 from 2020 and 2 from 2021. Well the two actual books I read were at least on my TBR. *lol*)

November Reads:

       

   

Love, Creekwood:

It was really nice to be back in the world of Simon and Blue and to read how their lives continued after the Simonverse books. This short novella was super cute and it gave me all the happy and sweet feelings I craved for after I finished the books. =) It was something light and easy to read in between and perfect for my November.

Felix Ever After:

It’s so rare for me to rate a book 5 paws but „„Felix Ever After“ definitely deserved that rating. It was so good and I loved how it made me think about myself and how I see myself and how others see me. Also it taught me a lot about self-acceptance and I think in some way it also showed me that I need to change some things about my life.

Heartstopper:

This was already volume 3 and once again I loved it. Alice Oseman has a gift and I adore all the LGBTQAI+ characters in this series. Everyone in „Heartstopper“ is queer af and by now I live and breathe for it. ❤ No matter if it’s the teens or the teachers, they all have their own story and are part of the Heartstopper universe! Also Aled’s guest appearance! Ahhh! Just amazing!

The Guest List:

For a murder mystery this was pretty different and entertaining, which is mostly due to the fact that it wasn’t just a whodunnit but also a whodied. *lol* This gave „The Guest List“ the extra kind of spice I look for in my mysteries and I really enjoyed to solve both of the puzzles. XD Though admittedely the whodied was kinda easy to figure out … at least once you reached a certain point of the story. ;-P

Death Note Volume 2:

It never ceases to amaze me how a normal student like Light can be such a clever killer. Like seriously! He’s definitely giving L. a run for his money in this volume and I can’t wait to find out how this series is going to continue. I’m very curious who of those two will gain the upper hand in the end. This is no cat and mouse game… it’s cat against cat. *lol*

How was your November? Did you read a lot of books and if yes were they all good? What are you up to these days? Is your country in a lockdown too or is Austria the only one? *lol*  Did you read some of the books I mentioned? Do you feel like you need to change some things in 2022 as well?

Talk to me and let me know! 

And as always take care and stay healthy and safe!

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox

October Wrap-Up

Sooo … my October was. Well, pretty unproductive when it comes to reading books. =( I really wanted to read a lot of spooky books in October but in the end I didn’t even manage to read those that were on my TBR. XD This was partly because real life kicked my butt and also partly because my library only got the book I preordered at the ending of October and therefore I was unable to actually read it during the month. >_<

As for real life kicking my butt: My October was definitely quite something. It started with my kid being in quarantine because she had contact with another kid that was tested positive with Covid, continued with a very dear and close family member that has severe health troubles now, went to my kid getting a really bad infection that caused her to have a fever for 5 days and ultimately ended with my flat having mould on the ceiling because we have leaky windows. And if you think that’s all… nope. The month ended with mentioned dear family member in hospital so yeah…

October has been a bitch and I’m really, really tired. T_T I just hope November will be a better month and that I will manage to get a grip on some of those troubles so that I can finally read some books again. And because of this disaster of a month I’m actually typing this in the middle of the night because due to everything that’s been happening I’m behind on my blogging and booktubing schedule. XD

But oh well, enough of my horrible month, let’s get to the good part because I somehow still managed to read four books and that’s something nice, right?

Books read: 4 (4 books & 0 webcomic, I just read four books… I can’t even! V, what’s wrong with you?? *lol*)

Pages read: 1.640 (Weirdly enough those four books had a lot of pages?)

Average rating: 4,00 (On point. I think I rarely had this but this time around they were all 4 paws reads. )

Books that were on my reading list: 0 ( 0 from 2019, 1 from 2020 and 2 from 2021. I actually wasn’t all too bad at keeping to my TBR. Believe me, no one is more shocked about that than I am. *lol* O_o)

October Reads:

          

Railhead:

The Yoongi to my V loves this series so much and has been raving about it for quite a while. (I guess that’s the understatement of the century but never mind. *lol*) So I couldn’t help but get curious about „Railhead“ when I found it in the shelf of my library. And now after reading it I can say: It IS a great book and I’m so ready to tackle the second one because I really need more of this amazing world and the unique locos. This book was definitely something new and I absolutely loved the sci-fi vibes! XD

A Gathering of Shadows:

This was already book two in the „Shades of Magic“ series and it was good! Maybe not as great as the first book but it was still quite something and I enjoyed to be back in this world. The four different Londons will never get old and I really love Kell, Lila and Rhy. The plotline was interesting but for some reasons it gave me „Godsgrave“ vibes and that’s probably why „A Gathering of Shadows“ didn’t turn out to be a 5 paws read. I guess I’ll have to think about it and write an elaborate review, so stay tuned. 😉

My Dark Vanessa:

So this was a pretty dark book and very disturbing and revolting. And for all of you who don’t know what „My Dark Vanessa“ is about: Well, it’s basically about a 15 year old girl that starts an affair with her teacher. So yeah, pretty dark stuff and a very heavy topic. I have some really mixed feelings about this and can’t put them into a couple of words so I guess I better make sure to get up my review of it soon. To say it in short: I felt and still feel very conflicted about it. >_<

Ninth House:

As it seems October was my „dark“ month because „Ninth House“ most definitely was a book that was outside of my comfort zone too. I’ve never read in the genre of „dark academia“ before but I gotta admit that it was very intriguing. I really enjoyed the secret society vibe and the magic that was such an integral part of the storyline. The ending of the book made me want to read the sequel right away, but as it seems I will have to be patient because it’s not even out yet. *lol*

How was your October? Did you read more books than I did and if yes which ones did you read? Has real life kept you busy too?! (I genuinely hope your October was way better than mine. XD) Also did you already read any of the books I mentioned and if yes did you enjoy them? Have you ever read in the genre of „dark academia“ and do you have any recommendations for me?

Talk to me and let me know! 

And as always take care and stay healthy and safe!

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox

September Wrap-Up

So for some reason my Wrap-Up never got posted on Wednesday. At least it never showed to others, only to me. Maybe it was a glitch on WordPress? Idk! I’m giving it a second try. Let’s see if it will work this time around.

Where to start? Well, I suppose September was a slightly better reading month than August. At least I managed to read one book more and I count this as an achievement. XD As for the rest of my September: I have no idea where it went. I had a week off in the middle of the month and wanted to catch up on my reading and blogging and booktubing (is that even a word?! *lol*) but eventually ended up doing a little bit of housework?! *lol*

Like I wanted to do a lot of things and even had a To-Do list and some of those things were housework and things that needed to be done for ages and I just never had the time to do them. And others like reading and blogging etc. should have been the counterweight and something I could do for myself but in the end my To-Do list was too long. So long story short: I did about half of the things on my list and then it was Thursday already and I decided that I would just drop the list and do what I felt like doing. Because quite honestly time is precious and you really should do the things YOU want to do once you actually have time to do them. XD

So basically I had plans and only managed to go for half of them because I just didn’t feel like doing the rest. That’s my chaotic energy right there and I’m not ashamed. *lol* Other than that work and my family kept me pretty busy so there was actually never a dull moment during the entire month. Which is probably the reason why I can’t think of anything else I did. I was just working, taking care of my kid, doing housework, cramming in a couple of pages every day and well, that’s it! *lol*

And before I continue to write unimportant TMI I’ll just head to my Wrap-Up! ;-P

Books read: 5 (5 books & 0 webcomic, I’m glad I managed to read more again and that I enjoyed all of those books. )

Pages read: 2.229 (Guess HP kinda boosted the page count. *lol*)

Average rating: 4,1 (Lots of great books this month so the rating was rather high!)

Books that were on my reading list:  ( 0 from 2019, 0 from 2020 and 1 from 2021. So yeah, I sucked at keeping to my TBR. What can I say? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )

September Reads:

       

   

Harry Potter 5: ,5

Going into this I was kinda worried I might not like it as much as I did when I was a teen, but I shouldn’t have worried. Of course this was a 4,5 paws read. I mean I still don’t like the movie but the book is actually great and gives a lot of additional info that is important for the rest of the series. It’s kinda sad the movie couldn’t convey all the important parts of this book, but well that’s why reading books will always be better for me. XD

The Crown: ,5

I finally finished this series but I’ve to say that I liked the original trilogy more than the last two books. I really disliked Eadlyn in „The Heir“ an the only reason I liked her in „The Crown“ was that her character made a 180 degree turn. *lol* So yeah, I wasn’t all too happy about the change of her character (especially because it was so obvious!!) but I liked the boys and despite everything I was through this in no time. *lol*

Let’s Talk About Love:

Finally a book with an aro/ace MC and I really loved it! Alice and Takumi were just too cute and I absolutely adored their conversations. ❤ I had a lot of thoughts about „Let’s Talk About Love“ and wrote them all into a full review so if you want to read it you can do it: here! I wasn’t exactly Feenie’s biggest fan but *lol* you can read the reasons for that in my review! ;-P

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer:

This book was full of sterotypes and YA tropes but it worked somehow because it kind of made fun of them? *lol* Also the idea and concept of „Mara Dyer“ was something different and I really enjoyed the mystery element. Not to mention Mara’s unreliable narrative! XD And the ending? Wow! Let’s just say I’m very curious about book two now!

Clap When You Land:

This was such a beautiful book! I was sceptical at first because I wasn’t all too sure about the writing style but damn this was good! The entire story read like poetry and I loved every second of it. Acevedo did such a brilliant job at conveying the feelings of grief, being stuck and all the mixed emotions the two girls had about their father. This was… BEAUTIFUL and painful and all sorts of confusing and I loved it! Enough said! ❤

How was your September? Did you read many books last month and if yes, which ones? Are you bad at keeping to „To-Do“ lists too and do we share this chaotic energy?! XD Also did you already read the books I read and if yes, did you enjoy them as well? Did you have troubles to post your blog posts as well or was I the only one with that particular glitch?

Talk to me and let me know! 

And as always take care and stay healthy and safe!

*hugs’n’kisses*

The Sassy Library Fox