THE BEST OF ALL THINGS BOOKISH (EDITION 2016)

The end of the year is quickly approaching and even though I am super busy at work and with Christmas preparations, annual recap is always fun post to do, so here is mine for 2016.

TWO QUICK REVIEWS: STEPHEN KING

Stephen King has been my favorite author since I was 14 years old and read Firestarter for the first time. And because I had neglected Stephen King during last couple of years, last month I decided to rectify that. Best decision ever.

(check my Rating System for detailed explanations of my quick rating)

BLURB LOVE #9

Book blurb is the most important aspect when it comes to deciding what I want to read. It is usually what makes me add (or not add) book to my TBR. Imagine there is no cover, no title and you have no idea who wrote it. Would you read such a book based just on its blurb?
Test yourself.

TWO QUICK REVIEWS: YOUNG ADULT FANTASIES

Today I am here with reviews of two ARCs that I read in September but forgot to share my thoughts on them. I am sorry for the delay but better late than never, right?

(check my Rating System for detailed explanations of my quick rating)

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW OF CROOKED KINGDOM

It has been long since I read a book that inspired me to write full and proper review. Until today. Crooked Kingdom completely blew me away and I simply have to share my thoughts with you!

Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2)

Written by: Leigh Bardugo

Published by: Henry Holt and Co.

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Release date: September 27th 2016

        
          

Kaz Brekker and his crew have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn't think they'd survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they're right back to fighting for their lives. Double-crossed and left crippled by the kidnapping of a valuable team member, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz's cunning and test the team's fragile loyalties. A war will be waged on the city's dark and twisting streets―a battle for revenge and redemption that will decide the fate of magic in the Grisha world. 

DOUBLE MONTHLY RECAP: MY SUMMER READING LIST

Double Monthly Recap is my version of Stacking the Shelves post in which I talk about all the books that I read and posts that I shared on the blog in last two months. Linking up with Stacking the Shelves post by Tynga’s Reviews.

OLYMPIC BOOK TAG

I love Summer Olympic Games! It has always been a big thing in my family when we watch together and cheer for all sportsmen and sportswomen from our country. (Sadly, this year a big time difference between Rio and Prague plays its role and I am unable to watch as often as I wish to.) So when I saw this awesome book tag at Metaphors and Moonlight book blog (created by It Starts at Midnight) I knew that I had to do it!

* Graphics courtesy of It Starts at Midnight and shout out to Smashing Magazine for the freebie sports icons! * 

TWO QUICK REVIEWS: ADDITIONS TO FAVORITE SERIES

There are book series and THE BOOK SERIES. For me, there are only few series that belong to the second group and Harry Potter and Experiment in Terror definitely belong among them. So imagine my joy when I found out that there weas 8th Harry Potter book as well as EIT spin-off novel coming out this summer. How do I feel after reading them both? Read on.

 (check my Rating System for detailed explanations of my quick rating)

TWO QUICK REVIEWS: HISTORICAL YA NOVELS

I'm a huge fan of historical genre so anytime YA historical novel with interesting premise pops up on my radar, I feel this need to check it out. Last month, there were two good looking YA historical novels released and here are my thoughts on both of them.

 (check my Rating System for detailed explanations of my quick rating)

DOUBLE MONTHLY RECAP: BACK FROM HIATUS. FOR NOW.

Double Monthly Recap is my version of Stacking the Shelves post in which I talk about all the books that I read and posts that I shared on the blog in last two months. Linking up with Stacking the Shelves post by Tynga’s Reviews.

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW: SOME KIND OF PERFECT BY KRISTA & BECCA RITCHIE (MY NEW ADULT QUEENS MADE ME CRY AGAIN!)

Some Kind of Perfect by Krista & Becca Ritchie

(Calloway Sister #4.5, Addicted #3.5)

Genre: NA Contemporary Romance

Purchase: Amazon / B&N / Kobo

Release date: May 20th 2016

          
               

Falling in love was just the beginning

The conclusion to the epic ten-book series about the unbreakable strength of family, friendship, and love.

Lily & Lo are back one final time. Childhood best friends and soul mates.

Ryke & Daisy are back one final time. Wild risk-takers and flirty adventurers.

Connor & Rose are back one final time. Genius rivals and intellectual teammates.

Ten years of laughter. Of heartache. And love.

***Authors' Note***
Some Kind of Perfect is a full-length epilogue novel. It is highly recommended to read this book after Long Way Down. Otherwise, it will spoil the entire series. Some Kind of Perfect is meant to be the 10th book in the series. 

NO MORE WAITING #8: THE RAVEN CYCLE

Are you fed up with cliffhangers? Are you not patient enough to wait months for next instalment when reading series? Or do you just prefer to completely lose yourself in story and marathon all the books together? If you answered "yes" to at least one of these questions, this post is for you. NO MORE WAITING is a feature on my blog that spotlights completed series. You can look forward to spoiler-free reviews and graphic arts to accompany it.

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater

Genre: Young Adult Paranormal

Published by: Scholastic Press

Purchase: Amazon / B&N / Kobo

           

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue never sees them--until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks to her.

His name is Gansey, a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can't entirely explain. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul whose emotions range from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She doesn't believe in true love, and never thought this would be a problem. But as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore.

EARLY REVIEW: THE GEEK'S GUIDE TO UNREQUITED LOVE

The Geek's Guide to Unrequited Love 

Written by: Sarvenaz Tash

Published by: Simon & Schuster BfYR

Genre: YA Realistic Fiction

Release date: June 14th 2016

Source: ARC Edelweiss

     
        

John Hughes meets Comic Con in this hilarious, unabashedly romantic, coming-of-age novel about a teenager who is trying to get his best friend to fall in love with him from the author of Three Day Summer.

Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy...
Archie and Veronica...
Althena and Noth...
...Graham and Roxy?

Graham met his best friend, Roxana, when he moved into her neighborhood eight years ago, and she asked him which Hogwarts house he’d be sorted into. Graham has been in love with her ever since.

But now they’re sixteen, still neighbors, still best friends. And Graham and Roxy share more than ever—moving on from their Harry Potter obsession to a serious love of comic books.

When Graham learns that the creator of their favorite comic, The Chronicles of Althena, is making a rare appearance at this year’s New York Comic Con, he knows he must score tickets. And the event inspires Graham to come up with the perfect plan to tell Roxy how he really feels about her. He’s got three days to woo his best friend at the coolest, kookiest con full of superheroes and supervillains. But no one at a comic book convention is who they appear to be...even Roxy. And Graham is starting to realize fictional love stories are way less complicated than real-life ones. 

DOUBLE MONTHLY RECAP

My life has been pretty hectic lately so I haven't read as much as I am used to. All things considered, I decided to change my monthly recap post into once-in-two-months-thing. This way you can get one proper long post summarizing my bookish life instead of two short ones while I can guarantee a consistency of this feature. Linking up with Stacking the Shelves post by Tynga’s Reviews.

EARLY RANTY REVIEW: ONE TRUE LOVES BY T.J. REID

One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Published by: Washington Square Press

Genre: Contemporary Womens Fiction

Release date: June 7th 2016

Source: Edelweiss ARC

       
         

From the author of Maybe in Another Life—named a People Magazine pick and a "Best Book of the Summer" by Glamour and USA TODAY—comes a breathtaking new love story about a woman unexpectedly forced to choose between the husband she has long thought dead and the fiancé who has finally brought her back to life.

In her twenties, Emma Blair marries her high school sweetheart, Jesse. They build a life for themselves, far away from the expectations of their parents and the people of their hometown in Massachusetts. They travel the world together, living life to the fullest and seizing every opportunity for adventure.

On their first wedding anniversary, Jesse is on a helicopter over the Pacific when it goes missing. Just like that, Jesse is gone forever.

Emma quits her job and moves home in an effort to put her life back together. Years later, now in her thirties, Emma runs into an old friend, Sam, and finds herself falling in love again. When Emma and Sam get engaged, it feels like Emma’s second chance at happiness.

That is, until Jesse is found. He’s alive, and he’s been trying all these years to come home to her. With a husband and a fiancé, Emma has to now figure out who she is and what she wants, while trying to protect the ones she loves.

Who is her one true love? What does it mean to love truly?

Emma knows she has to listen to her heart. She’s just not sure what it’s saying.

SUBSCRIPTION BOX REVEAL: MARCH 2016 - RETELLING

Yesterday, I finally received my first ever subscription box. It took long weeks to get to me but after unboxing, I can say that it was totally worth it!

BLURB LOVE #8

Book blurb is the most important aspect when it comes to deciding what I want to read. It is usually what makes me add (or not add) book to my TBR. Imagine there is no cover, no title and you have no idea who wrote it. Would you read such a book based just on its blurb?
Test yourself.

REVIEW + CONFESSION + LIST: IS (PRESENCE OF) DIVERSITY ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU FALL IN LOVE WITH THE BOOK?

Yesterday I finished a book that I had been excited about for a long time but it did not meet my expectations. Sad, I know. More importantly, it made me think about diverse books and I realized that I have a confession to make...

Right of First Refusal by Dahlia Adler

(Radleigh University #2)

Genre: New Adult Romance

Release date: March 15th 2016

    
     

On the lacrosse field, Cait Johannssen gets what she wants. Off the field is another story. Because what she wants is the school's hot new basketball student-coach, Lawrence Mason, who also happens to be the guy who broke her heart in sports camp two years earlier.

But it's Cait's new roommate who's got him.

Cait and Mase agree it's best to keep their past a secret, but she doesn't expect him to completely ignore their history...or how much it'll hurt when he does. So when a friend on the basketball team asks her to pose as his girlfriend for a night, Cait can't turn down the opportunity for distraction. (Okay, and a little spite.) But what starts as an evening of fun turns into a fake relationship with more lies than the usually drama-free Cait can handle, and it's only keeping her from the one truth that's nagged at her for years: Why did Mase cut her out of his life to begin with?

And is it really too late to get him back?

NO MORE WAITING #7: THE WINNER'S TRILOGY

Are you fed up with cliffhangers? Are you not patient enough to wait months for next instalment when reading series? Or do you just prefer to completely lose yourself in story and marathon all the books together? If you answered "yes" to at least one of these questions, this post is for you. NO MORE WAITING is a feature on my blog that spotlights completed series. You can look forward to spoiler-free reviews and graphic arts to accompany it.

The Winner's Trilogy 

Written by: Marie Rutkoski

Genre: YA Fantasy Romace 

Purchase: Amazon / B&N

         

Winning what you want may cost you everything you love...

As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions.

One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction. Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin.

But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.

Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

GILMORE GIRLS BOOK TAG

I have always been a huge fan of Gilmore Girls show so when I came across Gilmore Girls Book Tag at Bingeing On Books blog, I had no other choice but to tag myself. This book tag was created in honor of Gilmore Girls revival so prepare yourself for influx of Gilmore Girls gifs! 

(all the gifs were borrowed from Cynthia @Bingeing On Books, the creator of this tag)

TWO QUICK REVIEWS: BACKLIST HISTORICAL ROMANCE

I promised myself to read more backlist titles this year and so far I have made good on this promise. Here are my thoughts on two backlist historical romances that I read recently.

 (check my Rating System for detailed explanations of my quick rating)

REVIEW: INTO THE DIM BY JANET B. TAYLOR (OR HOW I VOWED NOT TO READ YA TIME TRAVEL NOVELS EVER AGAIN)

Into the Dim (Into The Dim #1)

Written by: Janet B. Taylor

Published by: HMH Books for Young Readers

Genre: YA Time Travel / Historical Fiction

Source: NetGalley e-ARC

Release date: March 1st 2016

         
          

When fragile, sixteen-year-old Hope Walton loses her mom to an earthquake overseas, her secluded world crumbles. Agreeing to spend the summer in Scotland, Hope discovers that her mother was more than a brilliant academic, but also a member of a secret society of time travelers. Trapped in the twelfth century in the age of Eleanor of Aquitaine, Hope has seventy-two hours to rescue her mother and get back to their own time. Along the way, her path collides with that of a mysterious boy who could be vital to her mission . . . or the key to Hope’s undoing. Addictive, romantic, and rich with historical detail, Into the Dim is an Outlander for teens. 

FEBRUARY RECAP + BOOKSTAGRAMMING

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! Hosted byTynga’s Reviews.

NO MORE WAITING #6: STARBOUND SERIES

Are you fed up with cliffhangers? Are you not patient enough to wait months for next instalment when reading series? Or do you just prefer to completely lose yourself in story and marathon all the books together? If you answered "yes" to at least one of these questions, this post is for you. NO MORE WAITING is a feature on my blog that spotlights completed series. You can look forward to spoiler-free reviews and graphic arts to accompany it.

Starbound Trilogy

Written by: Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

Genre: YA Sci-Fi Romance

Purchase: Amazon / B&N

Luxury spaceliner Icarus suddenly plummets from hyperspace into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive – alone. Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a cynical war hero. Both journey across the eerie deserted terrain for help. Everything changes when they uncover the truth.

The Starbound Trilogy: Three worlds. Three love stories. One enemy.

THE SECRET LIFE OF A BOOK BLOGGER TAG

Earlier this year, lovely Stephanie @No BS Book Reviews blog tagged me to do The Secret Life of a Book Blogger tag. I don't know who initially started this tag but I would like to give credit and link it back to the first blog tag post so please let me know in the comments if you know!

MORNING STAR BY PIERCE BROWN (QUICK SPOILER-FREE REVIEW WHERE I DO NOT DISCUSS PLOT AT ALL!)

Morning Star (Red Rising #3)

Written by: Pierce Brown

Published by: Del Rey

Genre: Sci-Fi / Dystopia

Purchase: Amazon / B&N

Release date: February 9th 2016

     

      

Darrow would have lived in peace, but his enemies brought him war. The Gold overlords demanded his obedience, hanged his wife, and enslaved his people. But Darrow is determined to fight back. Risking everything to transform himself and breach Gold society, Darrow has battled to survive the cutthroat rivalries that breed Society's mightiest warriors, climbed the ranks, and waited patiently to unleash the revolution that will tear the hierarchy apart from within.

Finally, the time has come.

But devotion to honor and hunger for vengeance run deep on both sides. Darrow and his comrades-in-arms face powerful enemies without scruple or mercy. Among them are some Darrow once considered friends. To win, Darrow will need to inspire those shackled in darkness to break their chains, unmake the world their cruel masters have built, and claim a destiny too long denied - and too glorious to surrender.

DO YOU EVER DELETE BOOKS FROM YOUR TBR?

Having never-ending TBR is a part of being a bookworm. We want to read ALL THE BOOKS. But there are situations which simply require having this or that book deleted from your TBR list. I'm here to give you some "whens" to get rid of books and relieve your TBR of books.

MY 2016 BACKLIST TBR + JANUARY IN PICTURES (OR POST IN WHICH I CONFESSED TO MY TEA AND CANDLES ADDICTION)

Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! Hosted byTynga’s Reviews.

TWO QUICK REVIEWS: TIME-TRAVELING TEENAGERS

I'm not sure if you remember, but last October I wrote a blog post about the boom of subgenre - YA novels featuring time-traveling topic. I was super excited about all those novels with time-traveling teenagers in leading roles. Unfortunately, my first encounters with this subgenre were a disaster. Unpopular opinion and rant ahead. You have been warned.

 (check my Rating System for detailed explanations of my quick rating)

REVIEW: 5 REASONS THAT MAKE TRUTHWITCH BY SUSAN DENNARD YOUR NEXT BOOK-HUNGOVER-WORTHY READ

Truthwitch (The Witchlands #1)
Written by: Susan Dennard
Published by: Tor Teen
Genre: YA Fantasy/Paranormal
Purchase: Amazon / B&N / Kobo
Release date: January 5th 2016

       
          

On a continent ruled by three empires, some are born with a “witchery”, a magical skill that sets them apart from others.

In the Witchlands, there are almost as many types of magic as there are ways to get in trouble—as two desperate young women know all too well.

Safiya is a Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lie. It’s a powerful magic that many would kill to have on their side, especially amongst the nobility to which Safi was born. So Safi must keep her gift hidden, lest she be used as a pawn in the struggle between empires.

Iseult, a Threadwitch, can see the invisible ties that bind and entangle the lives around her—but she cannot see the bonds that touch her own heart. Her unlikely friendship with Safi has taken her from life as an outcast into one of reckless adventure, where she is a cool, wary balance to Safi’s hotheaded impulsiveness.

Safi and Iseult just want to be free to live their own lives, but war is coming to the Witchlands. With the help of the cunning Prince Merik (a Windwitch and ship’s captain) and the hindrance of a Bloodwitch bent on revenge, the friends must fight emperors, princes, and mercenaries alike, who will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch.

BLURB LOVE #7

Book blurb is the most important aspect when it comes to deciding what I want to read. It is usually what makes me add (or not add) book to my TBR. Imagine there is no cover, no title and you have no idea who wrote it. Would you read such a book based just on its blurb?
Test yourself.