About Happy Books

I demand a "have tissues ready" warning or how Jennifer E. Smith made me cry

2012-02-27T19:48:00.000+01:00

Today I was in the mood for a cute and happy book with not too many pages. So I grabbed "The Comeback Season" by Jennifer E. Smith from my TBR pile (buy on amazon / on book depository). Now, after I read the book, I wonder why I thought that this would be a cute little book, because it definitely wasn't. It was a great book, a book that made me feel deeply for the characters, a book that's intense, a book that at times felt like a punch to the stomach and it's a book that made me cry like crazy. Thank goodness that I didn't read this book in public. ;)

Maybe there should be something like a "have tissues ready when you read this book" warning on books that are especially emotional and that will make you cry uncontrollably. This warning would come in handy when I decide which book to take with me on the train, and which book is better read in private.

Btw, even though I wanted to read a happy & cute book today, I'm definitely not disappointed with choosing "The Comeback Season" from my TBR pile. Because even though it wasn't what I expected or what I was in the mood for, "The Comeback Season" is a special, emotional and great book. And of course I forgive Jennifer E. Smith for making me cry and walk around with puffy eyes, I might even thank her for it. And you can be sure that I will read soon more books written by her.

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Books of the week #26 - 8 new books and one energetic dog

2012-02-26T09:04:00.000+01:00

Another week is over and it was a good one. I'm feeling better and I'm happy that spring is just around the corner. I read one book that made me do a new book impression post and I bought a nice number of great sounding & looking books. Btw, the dog in the video is Juli, she is our 5 month old Bouvier.

My favourite book of the week
Once a witch - Carolyn MacCullough info/buy
my book impression post

What are your favourite books of the week?

Bought

A quick bite - Lynsay Sands info/buy

The Disechantments - Nina LaCour info/buy

The fine art of truth and dare - Melissa Jensen info/buy

Soul Beach - Kate Harrison info/buy

The Faerie Ring - Kiki Hamilton info/buy

The little giant of Aberdeen County - Tiffany Baker info/buy

Runemarks - Joanne Harris info/buy

The survival kit - Donna Freitas info/buy

Reading right now

Skinwalker - Faith Hunter info/buy

Shades of milk and honey - Mary Robinette Kowal info/buy

Incarnate - Jodi Meadows info/buy

The Blood Countess - Tara Moss info/buy

Reading next

Season for Temptation - Therese Romain info/buy

Revolution - Jennifer Donnelly info/buy

A fitting end - Melissa Bourbon info/buy

Thirteenth Child - Patricia C. Wrede info/buy

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Book Impressions: Once a witch by Carolyn MacCullough

2012-02-24T20:32:00.000+01:00

Once a witch by Carolyn MacCullough

paranormal from the YA section
bought my copy

buy a copy from Book Depository

More impressions

This is a story about a seventeen year old girl who is a member of a family of witches, but her own Talents never showed up. Of course things are about to change!
I loved reading about the family interactions between Tamsin, her parents, her grandmother and her sister Rowena.
I liked the Talents that exist in the author's world of witchcraft.
I liked that the book is not too young, Tamsin is already 17 (nearly 18).
The book was more thrilling and, especially towards the end, darker than I thought it would be (but not too dark).
The romance is a sweet and relaxed one - just what I like.
There is a second book in the series (I found no info about more books) and I'm super excited to read it.

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TBR pile update #6 - what is your status?

2012-02-23T11:29:00.000+01:00

It has been two months, December 20th to be exact, since I did my last TBR pile update. Then I had 54 print books in my pile and now there are 51 books. So yay for reducing the number a bit. I also have about 50 ebooks on my tablet that are waiting to be read, but in this post I will just ignore those books. :)

When you compare the TBR pile from December to the one from today, you can see that only 3 books are left from my December TBR pile. I read all the other books and managed to achieve my goal to read books a few weeks after I got them. This makes me very happy and even a bit proud.

In the next weeks I want to go on with reading books no longer than 4-6 weeks after I got them. And I plan to reduce the number of books in my pile a bit more.

And here you can see how my TBR pile looks right now ...

What happened to your TBR pile in the last two months? Are you happy with the size of your TBR pile?

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Bookish discussion: Sorting out books

2012-02-22T13:43:00.000+01:00

When I rearranged my books last week, I used the chance to sort out some books. Books that I had collected over several years. Books that were ok, but not great. Books that I didn't want to have any longer on my shelves. Books that reminded me of an average reading experience. Books that sometimes even made me angry or frustrated.

Over several years I kept every single book I ever bought, and I bought (and still buy) a lot of books. So my home library was full of books that were just ok or that I didn't even enjoy reading. Then last year something changed inside of me, I came to the conclusion that I wanted my library to be a place full of the good and great books of my life. So I started sorting out books. And I did the same again a few months later, and once again a few months later.

I have now nearly achieved my goal, there are still a few just ok books on my shelves left, but their number is decreasing. And that makes me happy. I realized that surrounding myself with the books that made me happy while reading, makes me happy in general. And the just ok, frustrating or even bad books I read have no longer a place in my home library. And of course sorting out books means creating new space for other books.

How do you handle sorting out books? Is it easy for you or do you keep every book you have read? And how do you handle things on your ereader?

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Dear Bookish Diary #52 - bookish poster and the wrong country

2012-02-21T17:30:00.000+01:00

♥ bookish poster

Today I bought a poster designed for "The Disenchantments" by Nina LaCour. Five posters designed for the book are available on Etsy and I grabbed one as soon as I saw them. I can't wait to receive the poster and share it with you. I love this idea of creating products around a book. I also love the website that was created for the book, it looks so wonderful - http://thedisenchantments.com/ .

♥ not available in Germany :(

I hate it when I discover an interesting book but can't buy it. Today I wanted to buy a print copy of "The Blood Countess" by Tara Moss and then realized that the book (print version) is not available here in Germany. But at least the audiobook version is available, so I got a copy of it. Btw, the website for the Pandora English series is pretty cool.

♥ little blog updates
I also updated the look of my blog a bit, I added some social media icons to my tab area and gave the footer area a cleaner look. I'm quiet happy with these little changes. I also added the link to my Pinterest profile, this site is really addictive.

♥ reading ... or not

In the last days I haven't read a lot (maybe 20 pages). First I was sick and then we had visitors. So I have only read about ten pages each in the two books I'm reading right now. But at least the 10 pages each were great, hopefully I will be able to read more tomorrow. I'm also longingly wait to read the next great book that makes me want to create a new book impression post, hope that it will happen soon.

I'm reading (still)

Glazed Murder by Jessica Beck

Once a witch by Carolyn MacCullough

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Books of the week #25 - feel good books

2012-02-19T11:02:00.000+01:00

Happy Sunday! Today there will be no vlog about my Books of the week because I'm sick. Since the middle of the week I have a nasty cold. That's also the reason why I decided to buy some new feel good books. Books for example by Betty Neels, her books are always very nice and lovely. My goal is to one day own all romances that Betty Neels has written (there are a lot!). And of course I got other new books (14 all together) that are now waiting in my TBR pile to be read soon.

This week I finally read some more ebooks on my tablet. I still prefer reading print books, but at least reading on my tablet is nicer than on an ereader. Next week I plan to do some more ereading.

Next week I also plan to do an TBR pile update post, it will be interesting to see what has changed in my pile. For the first time I plan to include my ebook pile, I counted the books on this pile today and I wonder why I have so many unread ebooks.

♥ My favourite books of the week are three books from the adult section, I read all of them as ebooks and they entertained me a lot. ♥

Fifty Shades darker - E.L. James info/buy

Rock Chick Rescue - Kristen Ashley info/ buy

Rock Chick Redemption - Kristen Ashley info/buy

♥ What are your favourite books of the week? ♥

♥ This week I received, once again, a lot of new books (all bought). ♥

The Perfect Hero - Victoria Connelly info/buy
The Swan Thieves - Elizabeth Kostova info/buy

Troublemaker - Janet & Alex Evanovich (used copy; please don't buy this graphic novel, it's not worth it. Even if you are a fan of the first two books in this series, like I am, it's not worth it. )

Pants on Fire - Maggie Alderson info/buy

Clockwork Spiders - Corinna Bomann info/buy (German book)

Deadly Cool - Gemma Halliday info/buy

Clarity - Kim Harrington info/buy

John Belushi is dead - Kathy Charles info/buy

Forget You - Jennifer Echols info/buy

A novel idea - Aimee Friedman info/buy

Viper Moon - Lee Roland info/buy

All she ever wanted - Barbara Freethy info/buy

Never the time and the place - Betty Neels info/buy

The convenient wife - Betty Neels info/buy

Cruise to a wedding - Betty Neels info/buy

How to dance with a duke - Manda Collins info/buy

♥ I'm reading right now ♥

Once a witch - Carolyn MacCullough info/buy
Glazed murder - Jessica Beck info/buy

♥ Next week I plan to read ♥

Incarnate - Jodi Meadows info/buy
Revolution - Jennifer Donnelly info/buy
Shades of Milk and Honey - Mary Robinette Kowal info/buy

Season for Temptation - Theresa Romain info/buy

A fitting end - Melissa Bourbon info/buy

My dangerous Duke - Gaelen Foley info/buy

Skinwalker - Faith Hunter info/buy

♥ Have a happy week ♥

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My library - an update

2012-02-15T21:29:00.001+01:00

If you follow me on twitter or facebook you might already know that I started rearrenging my books yesterday. I finally managed to sort the books by genre and I also managed to sort out some books. I might do more sorting out in the next days, but I'm already pretty happy with how everything looks, I like creating order! I might do another post (or a series of posts) about the books from different genres in my library in the next weeks. Btw, behind the pictures/posters are of course more books. :)

My cozy books and some contemporary romances from MillsandBoon (left shelf), my paranormal romances and UF books (middle shelf) and mysteries (mostly by Agatha Christie), some classics and my TBR pile (right shelf).

All my books by Nora Roberts (right shelf), my historical romances (second shelf), my books from the YA section (second shelf), contemporary romances (third shelf), chick-litish books (fourth (left) shelf).

All my erotic romances.

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Two series I enjoy right now ...

2012-02-14T13:19:00.000+01:00

In the last weeks I discovered and started reading two series that I really enjoy so far. I have read two books in each series and I'm excited to go on with more books. Both series are from the adult section, one is a contemporary romance and one is an erotic romance. And both series are self-published and I read them on my tablet.

Rock Chick series by Kristen Ashley

The books in the Rock chick series (contemporary romance from the adult section) are

fast paced
hilarious
full of laugh out loud moments
full of crazy (in a good way) and over the top characters
full of characters that you come to love and root for

The books (their mood & feeling) remind me a bit of the first books in the Stephanie Plum series have (when the books were still funny and not too weird). So far there are 7 books in the Rock Chick series (I think eight are planned), each book concentrates on a new pair, but of course the fantastic and crazy good characters you met in the book(s) before are also part of the story. So far I read the first two books in the series and I plan to start with #3 today.

Fifty Shades trilogy by E.L. James

The Fifty Shades trilogy (erotic romance from the adult section) is

intense
sexy
full of interesting characters. The main male character describes himself as "50 shades of fucked up" and that's so true!
a great mix of sensual scenes, drama and very funny parts (love the e-mail exchanges between Christian and Ana)
not a series for readers who expect a tame, nice and uncomplicated love story

I finished book #2 in the series just recently and I'm excited to find out how the series will end. The books in this series are very intense and I love reading about Ana and Christian. Lately I had some issues with erotic romances by other authors, so I'm happy to have discovered a new author who writes books in this genre.

Have you recently discovered some new authors that write books you enjoy? Who are they?

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Books of the week #24 -14 new books and I love the In Death series

2012-02-12T13:53:00.000+01:00

This week I got 15 new books (all bought) and I'm a bit shocked by that number. This week it was the combination of receiving books I ordered last week, of receiving some preordered books and of buying some books spontaneously, that in the end produced this high number of new books. All of the books look pretty good and I'm excited to read them.

I not only got some great books this week, I also got two absolutely cute and gorgeous cards from my sis. The cards are both from Gorjuss ( http://www.santoro-london.com/shop/gorjuss/ ) and I love the products of this brand. I didn't even tell my sis that I love Gorjuss, but she knows what I like.

My favourite book of the week is

Celebrity in Death - J.D. Robb info/buy

The new weeks I got this week (all bought) are

On what grounds - Cloe Coyle info/buy

Ravished - Amanda Quick info/buy

Season for Temptation - Theresa Romain info/buy

A winter scandal - Candace Camp info/buy

State of the onion - Julie Hyzy info/buy

If books could kill - Kate Carlisle info/buy

Because she can - Bridie Clark info/buy

Under the never sky - Veronica Rossi info/buy

Torn - Erica O'Rourke info/buy

Kyria & Reb - Andrea Schacht info/buy

Incarnate - Jodi Meadows info/buy

Twenty boy summer - Sarah Oeckler info/buy

Heist Society - Ally Carter info/buy

Succubus Revealed - Richelle Mead info/buy

I'm reading right now

Darker Still - Leanna Renee Hieber info/buy

Fifty shades darker - E.L. James info/buy

Next week I plan to read

I've got your number - Sophie Kinsella info/buy

The Duke is mine - Eloisa James info/buy

Tomb with a view - Casey Daniels info/buy

Embers - Laura Bickle info/buy

What are your favourite books of the week? Happy Reading and have a fantastic new week!

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Bookish baking - November Cakes

2012-02-10T19:21:00.000+01:00

Today I was in the mood to bake and I decided to try out the November Cakes. The recipe for the November Cakes was developed by Maggie Stiefvater. November Cakes are mentioned in Stiefvater's book "The Scorpio Races", and I love that she took the time to create a recipe that works and produces very sweet and yummy little cakes.

Other book bloggers like Angie from Angieville and Holly from Umblättern have already tried out the recipe and enjoyed the yummy November Cakes.

Here is one of my November Cakes

My dough was way too sticky and fluid to handle it like described in the recipe, so I just put the dough into the muffin form (using my hands!) and then used a spoon to mix the orange butter and the dough. The November Cakes taste very delicious and I will definitely bake them again in the future.

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Under the dust jacket

2012-02-09T20:52:00.000+01:00

One thing I love about hardcovers is when the book under the dust jacket is designed in a beautiful and special way. Sometimes a special font is all I need to be happy, sometimes it's a beautiful butterfly and sometimes it's a whole scene that you can also see on the book jacket.

The three books I want to show you today are all pretty - with and without their dusk jackets. The books are

Love & Leftovers by Sarah Tregay
Incarnate by Jodi Meadows
Kyria & Reb by Andrea Schacht (German book)

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DBD day 27 - Celebrity in Death mini review and more excerpts

2012-02-06T21:59:00.000+01:00

In Death

Just this morning I finished the new In Death book, Celebrity in Death. Of course I enjoyed reading the book a lot and here's my mini review on it that I wrote for Goodreads.

Another great book in the In Death series. The case is interesting, they are plenty of suspects and I liked reading about the investigation. There is a super cute scene between Peabody and McNabb, we got to see a bit more of Nadine, Eve made me laugh out loud several times (for example when she gets ready for a party or when she is walking in a park) and there are a lot of heart-warming (and sexy :) ) scenes between Eve and Roarke. I loved how they dealt with the aftermath of what happened in Dallas, I just can't get enough of them.

In general I don't like reading about actors, the Hollywood scene, etc.. That's why I'm giving the book 4 instead of 5 stars. I'm already super excited for the next In Death book, even after all these books the series still is fresh and so fascinating, and I want more!

reading right now
Flying Blind - Deborah Cooke

This is a paranormal book from the YA section and so far it's pretty good. I like that the heroine actually sounds like a 15 year old girl and not as if she is years older.

new deco postcards

I love buying beautiful postcards because they are great for decoration. Today I got four new ones and I love them all.

I love the colours and motives on the first two, everyone should feel like the Queen of the day and the quote by Gropius "Colorful is my favorite color" is just perfect.

the last excerpts
Today I finally read the last excerpts of the books from my wish list. I'm now down to about 140 books and I'm very happy with that number. From now on I vow to always read a book sample before ordering a new book.

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Books of the week #23 - exciting book post

2012-02-05T14:30:00.000+01:00

This week was pretty good, I read two books that I enjoyed a lot, I managed to reduce my TBR pile a bit and I received some great books in the mail. Ok, once again I didn't read a book that I wanted to review, but that's ok. My trend for 2012 seems to be that I read a really great books every two weeks, so next week should be fantastic. I so far ordered all besides two books from my "In Febuary you will be mine ..." list, that means that I'm expecting some awesome books in the next two weeks.

Btw, from today on I will do the "Favourite books of the week" part of this post in an extra video, I think the great books that I read deserve to be talked about in an extra video.

My favourite books of the week are

Homicide in Hardcover - Kate Carlisle info/buy

Love & Leftovers - Sarah Tregay info/buy

New books I got this week

Thirteenth Child -Patricia C. Wrede info/buy

Chalet Girl - Kate Lace info/buy

Sweet Stuff - Donna Kauffman info/buy
Hollow Pike - James Dawson info/buy

Celebrity in Death - J.D. Robb (yay!) info/buy

I'm reading right now

Celebrity in Death - J.D. Robb (of course ;) ) info/buy

Flying Blind - Deborah Cooke info/buy
Fifty shades darker - E.L. James info/buy

Next week I plan to read
Bellwether - Connie Willis info/buy

Beautiful malice - Rebecca James info/buy

Clockwork Prince - Cassandra Clare info/buy
Rock Chick Rescue - Kristen Ashley info/buy

What are your favourite books of the week?

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DBD day 33 - reading, e-reading and good books

2012-02-02T20:29:00.000+01:00

♥ 2 good books

Yesterday I read 2 very good books. One is a cozy mystery and the first book in a series and the other is a book from the YA section.

Homicide in Hardcover - Kate Carlisle

Love & leftovers - Sarah Tregay

♥ down with the TBR pile

In the last days I read a lot of books, more books than I bought, so my TBR pile has finally gotten a bit smaller. I'm quiet happy about that. :)

♥ down with the wish list

Yesterday I was all of a sudden in the mood to go through my wish list and I managed to reduce it to under 200 books. This may sound like a lot of books, but for me it's a very good number. I think I will reduce it some more over the next days, and then I plan to get about 5 books each month from the "old" books from my wish list.

♥ so many excerpts

I don't know how many excerpts I have read in the last days, I guess at least over 25. My decision to always make sure to read an excerpt before ordering a book so far works for me perfectly, it's not as annoying as I thought it would be.

♥ reading ebooks

From time to time I buy ebooks, mostly because I can't get them as print books or because I want to try out a book by a new to me author. But I hate reading on my ereader because the screen is so small (like it's on all ereaders). That's why I finally got the cloud reader from amazon for my tablet and reading ebooks that way is way more fun than on an ereader. I have about 20 ebooks that wait to be read and I finally want to give them a chance.

♥ new books

I ordered/preordered nearly all books from my "In February you will be mine ..." list and I'm very happy about it. I love ordering new books and supporting authors by doing it.

This week I so far got two new books, they are

Thirteenth Child - Patricia C. Wrede

The Chalet Girl - Kate Lace

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In February you will be mine ...

2012-01-30T14:28:00.000+01:00

In February there are certain books that I just have to have (it really is a must that I get them :) ). New books by authors I love and new & old books by new to me authors that sound too good to not buy them in the next month.

I want to share my "have to buy - list" for February with you and plan to do so in the future at the beginning of every new month. This new feature is called "In ... you will be mine".

For February I have a rather long list of books that I want to buy. Especially if you keep in mind that I will definitely order some more books from my wish list spontaneously.

New releases in February

Celebrity in death - JD Robb
romanic suspense ⎪ info/buy

A new In Death book is coming out and of course I have to have it.
preordered and received ✔

A Rogue by any other name - Sarah MacLean
historical romance ⎪ info/buy

I love MacLean's historical romances so of course I plan to buy her new one.
preordered ✔

A fitting end - Melissa Bourbon

cozy mystery ⎪ info/buy
#2 in a cozy mystery series, I enjoyed #1 a lot so of course I plan to get the next book.
preordered and received ✔

Breakaway - Deirdre Martin
contemporary sports romance ⎪ info/buy

I have read and enjoyed all of Deirdre Martin's books, so it's a no brainer that I have her upcoming book preordered.
preordered and received ✔

By a thread - Jennifer Estep
Urban Fantasy ⎪ info/buy

The Elemental Assassin series is one of my favourites from the UF genre and I'm excited for the new book.
preordered and received ✔

I've got your number - Sophie Kinsella

chick-lit ⎪ info/buy

The new book by Sophie Kinsella sounds like another funny and entertaining book.
cancelled, the excerpt didn't work for me ✔

Incarnate - Jodi Meadows

fantasy (YA) ⎪ info/buy

I read the synopsis and liked it, I read the excerpt and liked it.

ordered and received ✔

The Disenchantments - Nina LaCour

coming of age/contemporary romance (YA) ⎪ info/buy

I loved the first book by the author and can't wait for her second novel.
preordered and received ✔

The other life - Susanne Winnacker
dystopia (YA) ⎪ info/buy
This dystopian novel (first in a new series) sounds great plus it's by an German author.
bought & received, ✔

Hollow Pike - James Dawson
paranormal (YA) ⎪ info/buy
The cover + witches + a great excerpt = I need this book
preordered and received ✔

The fine art of truth and dare - Melissa Jensen

contemporary romance (YA) ⎪ info/buy
This book sounds so cute!
preordered and received ✔

The Butterfly Clues - Kate Ellison
mystery (YA) ⎪ info/buy
This story sounds very thrilling and special.
cancelled, the excerpt didn't work for me ✔

Already published

Sweet Stuff - Donna Kaufmann

cozy contemporary romance ⎪ info/buy
#2 in a series that started with a very good, cozy book, so of course I want more!
ordered and received ✔

Ravished - Amanda Quick

historical romance ⎪ info/buy

This book was recommended to me by several readers so I have to buy it.
ordered and received ✔

Season for Temptation - Therese Romain

historical romance ⎪ info/buy
This book sounds good and I want to give this author a chance, because I so far haven't read anything by her.
ordered and received ✔

Viper Moon - Lee Roland
paranormal ⎪ info/buy
The synopsis sounds good, that's all the reason I need to buy this book. :)
ordered and received ✔

Fifty Shades Darker - E.L. James

erotic romance ⎪ info/buy

#2 in the Fifty Shades series is a must buy because I enjoyed the first book so much.
bought
bought & received ✔

Torn - Erica O'Rourke
paranormal ⎪ info/buy
I discovered this book on goodreads and it sounds like something I could enjoy.
ordered and received ✔

Thirteenth Child - Patricia Wrede
fantasy (YA)⎪ info/buy

A book from my wish list that I want to buy and read soon.
ordered and received ✔

Under the never sky - Veronica Rossi

dystopia (YA) ⎪ info/buy
Love the sound of this book.
preordered and received ✔

Made in Germany

Welt aus Staub - Stephan Bellem

dystopia ⎪ info/buy

A German dystopian novel that plays in a world in which nearly all plants have died and people struggle to survive. This book sounds really good, both my mom and I plan to read it.
ordered and received ✔ (thanks mom :) )

Clockwork Spiders - Corina Bomann
steampunk/mystery (YA) ⎪ info/buy

This is a German book (don't be confused by the English title) with Steampunk elements and a mystery. It sounds great and I just have to have.

ordered and received ✔

For my sister
You may know that I regularly order books for my sister. She also loves to read and usually likes the books I buy her. She let me know recently that at the end of February she will have some more time to read (that's when her break from university starts). I took that as a hint that I should order her some new books. :) So far the following books are on my list for her, but I'm sure some more will follow.

The Mockingbirds - Daisy Whitney
realistic fiction (YA) ⎪ info/buy
This book sounds like something my sis might enjoy.
ordered and received ✔

Between shades of grey - Ruta Sepetys
historical (YA) ⎪ info/buy
My sis likes reading about historical things, so this book should work for her.
ordered and received ✔ (thanks mom:) )

At the end of February I plan to do a follow up post to this one. There are so many books on this list so I'm not sure if I will really manage to buy them all in February, we will see what happens.

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Books of the week #22 - a pretty good week

2012-01-29T14:16:00.000+01:00

Another week is over and it was a good one. I read two books I really enjoyed, got some great sounding new books and the books I'm reading right now are very entertaining - all things that make my little bookish heart very happy.

My favourite books of the week are

Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage - Jennifer Ashley my book impressions ⎪ info/buy

Night School - CJ Daugherty info/buy

Books I got this week (all bought)

The other life - Susanne Winnacker info/buy

Glazed murder - Jessica Beck info/buy

Agnes and the Hitman - Cruise/Mayer info/buy

Unsticky - Sarra Manning info/buy (a reader needs second copies of favourite books!)

Nine uses for an ex-boyfriend - Sarra Manning info/buy

To marry a prince - Sophie Page info/buy

I'm reading right now

Catch of a lifetime - LuAnn McLane info/buy

To marry a prince - Sophie Page info/buy

Fifty shades of grey - E.L. James info/buy

Next week I plan to read

Homicide in Hardcover - Kate Carlisle info/buy

Shut out - Kody Keplinger info/buy

The book of blood & shadow - Robin Wasserman info/buy

Blue Bloods - Melissa de la Cruz info/buy

Zirkel - Elfgren/Strandberg info/buy

What are your favourite books of the week?

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DBD day 27 - excerpts, excerpts and more excerpts

2012-01-27T20:48:00.000+01:00

♥ because I'm picky about writing styles ...

Today I finally started reading excerpts of the books that are on my wish list from new to me authors. When I started my first thought was "OMG, so many books!", but after the first book it got better. So far I read about 15 excerpts and now I need a break, because otherwise I will go crazy. I eliminated some books from my wish list because the writing styles didn't work for me. Other excerpts made me excited to read the books.

For some books I couldn't find excerpts and that annoyed me a bit. I don't understand why some publishers don't offer excerpts.

♥ reading right now

Right now I'm reading a very cozy, cute book, it's "Catch of a liftime" by LuAnn McLane and I'm also reading a very intense, sexy book, it's Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James.

♥ I really had to order those books :)

Today I was all of a sudden in the mood to order some new books and that's exactly what I did. Ordering new books is always exciting and I can't wait to receive my books next week. I absolutely blame reading the book excerpts for my mini shopping spree, they made me way too excited to read some new books.

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Lady Isabella's scandalous marriage - Jennifer Ashley

2012-01-24T17:44:00.000+01:00

Lady Isabella's scandalous marriage by Jennifer Ashley
published 2010
#2 in the Highland Pleasures series
bought my copy
buy

The Highland Pleasures series

1. The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

2. Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage

3. The Many Sins of Lord Cameron

4. The Duke's Perfect Wife

...

more book impressions

highly entertaining and grippingly written, I read this book in a few hours and then immediately read #3 in the series
the Mackenzie men are a bit addictive and their heroines are just as great
I can't wait to read Hart's story and the next ones (especially Daniel's)

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Books of the week #21 - pretty new books

2012-01-22T14:09:00.000+01:00

A very grey, cold and wet week is finally over. The books I read, or to be more exact my opinion of them, unfortunately fits to this weather. Most of the books I read this week were once again just ok.

Right now I feel as if a reading slump could be just around the corner, but of course I don't want that to happen. So let's hope that the books I'm reading right now / plan to read next will prevent the big, bad reading slump.

In the future I vow to always read an excerpt of books by new to me authors, this will save me some frustrations. I already started with it this week and it helped me to delete some books from my wish list. In the next week I plan to read excerpts by all books from new to me authors that are my whole wish list, I'm sure that I will delete some more books after it.

My favorite books of the week are (all three are very good books but the little something was missing to make them fantastic)
The running dream - Wendelin van Draanen info/buy
Sugar rush - Donna Kaufmann info/buy
Rock Chick - Kristen Ashley info/buy

This week I got (all bought)

The book of blood & shadow - Robin Wasserman info/buy
Night School - CJ Daugherty info/buy
Embers - Laura Bickle info/buy
Skinwalker - Faith Hunter info/buy
What Alice forgot - Liane Moriarty info/buy (thanks Chachic for the recommendation)
Tangled up in love - Hailey North info/buy
Murder with peacocks - Donna Andrews info/buy
Shadows on the Moon - Zoe Marriott info/buy
Forever yours - Rita Bradshaw info/buy
Faking it - Lotte Daley info/buy

Right now I'm reading

Th book of shadow & blood - Robin Wasserman info/buy

Dead witch walking - Kim Harrison info/buy
Als die schwarzen Feen kamen - Anika Beer info/buy

Next week I plan to read
Zirkel (Circle) - Elfgren & Strandberg info/buy
Night School - CJ Daugherty info/buy
Shut out - Kody Keplinger info/buy
Blue Bloods - Melissa de la Cruz info/buy
Personally, I blame my fairy godmother - Claudia Carroll info/buy

What are your favourite books of the week?

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DBD #21 - frustration and fillers in triogies

2012-01-21T20:00:00.000+01:00

♥ tired and frustrated
This week I am unusually exhausted and also a bit frustrated by the books I read. Most weren't bad but there were also not good or great, they were just ok. Lately (in the last five weeks) there have been so many just ok books and it is driving me crazy. I want at least one great and two good books every week. So that's why I only posted two new book impressions posts in the last five weeks, reviewing every book I read would make things way easier but I don't want that. Hopefully I will read some great books in the next seven days (wish me luck).

♥ filler books

In the last weeks and months I read some books that didn't work for me because they seemed to be nothing more than fillers between book #1 and #3 in a trilogy (or stepping stones like the Chapter Chicks call them). I'm tired of these books in which nearly nothing interesting happens. I usually like reading trilogies, but I don't enjoy them when the story could have been condensed to two instead of three books.

The sad thing is that I often stop with a trilogy when the second books feels like a filler to me. But of course that means that I might miss out great third books :(

♥ I want to understand it

In the last days I read two books that somehow didn't work for me and I don't know why. Sometimes a book should be perfect for me but then something about the writing style makes it hard for me to get into the story. I dislike that I sometimes don't know exactly what went wrong. This also reminds me to don't forget to read an excerpt before ordering a book by a new to me author.

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DBD day 16 - Yummy cupcakes and I need to like you

2012-01-16T20:39:00.000+01:00

♥ reading

I'm reading right now a very yummy book, it's "Sugar Rush" by Donna Kauffman. It's a romance and cupcakes play an important role in it - of course I had to have this book :) So far the book is really nice & good, I hope that it will stay this way.

I also started reading "Fifty shades of grey" by E.L. James, this book is so far also great and I hope that the story will stay as interesting and intense.

♥ love it

Look what Donna Kauffman wrote at the beginning of her novel, I love it.

♥ I need to like you

Yesterday I read a book, a romance, and it didn't work for me because I didn't like the hero. I'm a reader who has to like the main characters to enjoy a romance, but this hero made me more angry than happy. So of course the story didn't really work for me :(

Books of the week #20 - finally a great book & I'm book crazy

2012-01-15T14:49:00.000+01:00

Another week is over and I finally read a great book, my first in 2012. Great books make me happy so I'm in a pretty good mood today. This week I also bought a lot of books, more than I thought I did. Next week I need to slow down a bit because otherwise my TBR will explode and I will get book crazy.

My favorite books of the week are

Variant - Robison Wells my book impressions ⎪ buy

Angel Eyes - Laura Jane Cassidy buy

Alanna, The first Adventure - Tamora Pierce buy

This week I got (all bought besides two book)

Zirkel - Elfgren and Strandberg (ARC via amazon vine)

Als die schwarzen Feen kamen - Anika Beer (ARC via amazon vine)

Catch of a lifetime - LuAnn McLane buy

A northern light - Jennifer Donnelly buy

Revolution - Jennifer Donnelly buy

Skin Deep - Anna J. Evans buy

Nine coaches waiting - Mary Stewart buy - I got this book thanks to Chachic and Holly

In the hand of the goddess - Tamora Pierce buy

The woman who rides like a man - Tamora Pierce buy

Lioness Rampant - Tamora Pierce buy

Once a witch - Carolyn MacCullogh buy

Darker still - Leanna Renee Hieber buy

Heaven can wait - Cally Taylor info

Clicking her heels - Lucy Hepburn info

Pear shaped - Stella Newman buy

Sugar Rush - Donna Kaufman buy

Beautiful Disaster - Jamie McGuire buy

Rock Chick - Kristen Ashley buy

Reading right now

Rock Chick - Kristen Ashley buy

Silent in the grave - Deanna Raybourn buy

Pretty in ink - Karen E. Olsen info

Next week I plan to read

Sugar Rush - Donna Kaufman buy

Elijah - Jaquelyn Frank buy

Last night at Chateau Marmont - Lauren Weisberger buy

Waterfall - Lisa T. Bergren buy

What are your favourite books of the week?

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DBD day 13 - a good Friday the 13th

2012-01-13T20:22:00.000+01:00

#MrPostman

Today I got three new books and all sound pretty exciting. "Pear shaped" by Stella Newman is a book I bought and the other two (both in German), Zirkel by Mats Strandberg and Sara B. Elfgren (info on the English copy) & "Als die schwarzen Feen kamen" by Anika Beer, I got via the German amazon vine program.

#bookdetails

"Pear Shaped" is one of the prettiest books I got recently, I hope that the book will be as great as the cover. I love pretty print books and the little details that make a cover special.

#recommendit

One of the books I bought for my sister's birthday was Eon by Alison Goodman. Today she read the book and she really enjoyed it. Now she is excited to read the second & final book in the duology. It makes me so happy when people like the books I recommended to them or bought for them. I'm already planning what to get next for my sis.

Btw, I not only got Eon for my sis, I also got it for my mom a few months back and she also liked it a lot. The two books in the Eon series belong to my favs of 2011 and I want everyone to love them.

#cuteandweird

Today I bought something that has nothing to do with books but it's too cute (and a bit weird) to not show you ;)

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Book Impressions: Variant - Robison Wells

2012-01-12T15:24:00.000+01:00

Variant by Robison Wells

mystery (YA)

published 2011

bought my copy

buy

A few more of my book impressions:

At first I thought that the concept of the book could be a bit too unrealistic, but it wasn't. Everything that was going on in the book was believable.
This book was a real page turner and a wild ride, once I started it I felt the need to finish it asap.
The thrilling story made my heart beat faster because I felt like I was a part of the story.
I loved the male POV even though I often struggle with it.
I can't wait to read the second and final book in the duology, I want to find out so badly what is really going on.
The end of the book made me think "WTF is going on here", but that was ok because it fit to the rest of the book.

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