ten books you'd buy right this second if someone handed you a fully loaded gift card

Top 10 Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. All the information on the topics and how you can participate can be found here.

Hello lovely friends! I hope you had a wonderful start to August, also known as the last month of summer to many of us (except for me, hehe, sorry not sorry).

Today I thought about doing a top ten tuesday because I haven't been doing enough tags lately (or posts... but let's not talk about that right now). I found this topic really interesting, simply because I have too many books to buy and I would love if someone gave them to me *wink wink*. Here are my top ten books I'd buy right this second if someone handed me a fully loaded gift card:

1. The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E. Pearson
2. The King Slayer by Virgina Boecker
3. Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes
4. Ice Like Fire by Sara Raasch
5. The Rose and the Dagger by Renée Ahdieh
6. Legacy of Kings by Eleanor Herman
7. The Seven Realms Series by Cinda Williams Chima
1. The Demon King
2. The Exiled Queen
3. The Gray Wolf Throne
4. The Crimson Crown

What books would you buy right this second if you received a fully loaded gift card? Let me know in the comments or link your Top Ten Tuesday bellow!

top ten bookworm delights

 Top 10 Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. All the information on the topics and how you can participate can be found here.

Hello friends. I hope you're all having a lovely Tuesday filled with bookish things. Speaking of bookish, today's top 10 Tuesday is about bookwork delights - things related to books and reading that make us feel happier and warms our heart. 

1- My first bookish delight is definitely the feeling I get when a new book arrives. My day might not be going so well but if a new book arrives, I get instantly happy. 

2- I've been on a huge reading slump since February and I was beginning to feel sad that I didn't feel like reading. I kept picking book after book and NOTHING. I'd feel nothing towards the book and I would eventually stop reading it. But that was until I decided to pick up Graceling - just the book I needed to make me reconcile with reading and bring me joy into my life once again. Clearly, my second bookish delight is the feeling I have when I'm reading exactly what I want/need to read!

3- Reading in the mornings, in bed, is one of my favourite things to do. I get up so much happier and I instantly feel like I'm being very productive.

4- The smell of books is one thing that probably every bookish person loves that everyone else finds weird. We don't care about what other people think, anyway.

5- Don't you just love when you take a GOOD bookstagram picture? I love it when I'm able to take the perfect instagram picture, it makes me feel so professional (kidding, not really! It just makes me feel proud of myself, hehe)

6- Fun fact: I rarely buy books from bookstores. That makes me really sad. I almost always buy my books online because my bookstores never have the books I want (those being books in english or recent releases, because I'm not from an english-speaking country). They usually have a section of english literature, but I rarely find what I'm looking for since they only have the more popular ones (a.k.a book to movie adaptations). However, there are those days when you go to a bookstore and then, as you get closer to the books, you see the exact book you're looking for and suddenly you're whole life makes sense. And that's what happens when I find the exact book I'm looking for at the bookstore.

7- U.S floppy paperbacks!!! Need I say more?

8- Reading in the summer is another bookish delight of mine, because that's when I read most of my books and I do it without worrying about university.

9- I love how a book can give me so many feels and how much it can deeply affect me and change my life. I'm so happy to say that books have changed my life in so many ways. Books have helped me get through so many sad and frustrating moments. ALL THE FEELS!!!

10-  The feeling after you've read the most amazing book ever. That feeling never gets old, man. I love it.

What are some of your favourite bookish delights? I'd love to know!

top ten historical settings you love

 

 Top 10 Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. All the information on the topics and how you can participate can be found here.

Today's topic is all about historical settings. Since my books aren't really that diverse when it comes to historical time periods, I'm going to mention a few that I love in general and that I would love to read (more) about. Without further ado, here are my favourite historical settings (these are not in chronological order):

1. Cold War

Probably my favourite time period ever and I love everything related to it. I LOVE learning about the Cold War (seriously, I look like a full-on nerd during classes, but I don't really care), I love reading about it, whether it's a work of fiction or non-fiction. I also love movies and tv shows (The Americans- go watch it, go go!) set during the Cold War. Sadly I haven't read many books set in this time period so if you have any suggestions, let me know.

1. Arthurian Period

Who doesn't love some Arthurian Legends? My love for Arthur and Merlin has been a constant thing in my life and, even though I haven't ventured in many books with this setting, I've always wanted to read more about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. If you have some recommendations, leave them in the comments. I feel like there are so many books set during the Arthurian period and so many Arthurian retellings that I don't know which ones to choose.

3. The Renaissance (in general)

 Mary Queen of Scots!!!! The Medici Family!!! The Black Death!! I need books about this time period, asap.

4. World War II

World War II is probably one of the most famous and fascinating time periods written in historical fiction novels. The thing I love the most is how authors can write such beautiful stories about WWII and still be so distinct and unique. Love me some WWII historical fiction (Fact: most of my historical fiction books are set during this time period).

5. Ancient Greece

 GREEK GODS. GREEK MYTHOLOGY. MUST READ ALL THE BOOKS (aka Percy Jackson). Also, ALEXANDER THE GREAT.

6. Jacobite Era

I had to include this era because of Outlander, of course. I still need to finish the book but the tv show is killing me! Can we have the second season, like, right now? Thank you! (recommend me some other books set during this time period, will you?)

7. Imperial China

I'm not much of an Imperial China connoisseur, but I've always wanted to know more about it (and visit the Great Wall of China! Definitely on my to-go list).

8. Viking Age

 Who doesn't love Vikings? Seriously...

9. Victorian England

I wasn't going to include Victorian England but then I remembered Sherlock Holmes and those awesome Doctor Who episodes (this post suddenly became all about tv shows... Oops).

10. 1800's Russia

I've always been very interested in 1800's Russia (or the Russian history in general), but Leigh Bardugo's beautiful books have sparked a higher interest in this time period for me (it must have been all that talk about keftas).

What are your favourite time periods? Let me know in the comments!

top ten 2015 releases I meant to get to but didn't

 Top 10 Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. All the information on the topics and how you can participate can be found here.

Today's topic is about the books that I didn't get to buy and read in 2015 but I'M DYING TO!!! I need to buy them as soon as possible because I can't wait to read them!!!! (You can tell I'm pretty excited to get all of these)

  1. Legacy of Kings by Eleanor Herman 2. The Witch Hunter by Virginia Boecker  3. A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston 4. The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan 5. Armada by Ernest Cline 6. Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson 7. The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows 8. Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon 9. An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir 10. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

What are the books that you really wanted to buy in 2015 but didn't? Let me know in the comments. Also, have you read any of the books I mentioned? If so, tell me which ones I should get first!

books or series I DNF'd

Top 10 Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. All the information on the topics and how you can participate can be found here.

Today I'm coming to you with a Top 10 Tuesday! I've seen these awesome posts all around and I really wanted to participate because some of the topics are FANTASTIC! This week's topic is to name 10 bookish things you want to quit. This is such a broad topic that you can choose to write about so many things! I decided to go for the 10 books or series I did not finish (DNF), because there are a lot! The problem for me is that I don't usually mark a book as read on goodreads when I don't finish them, so it was a bit hard to remember some of these books.

I don't mean to offend you if you like any of books mentioned! I really tried to read them, but they are just not for me. You have all the right in the world to love these books and I totally respect your opinion.

Some of these I permanently DNF'd and others I'm still reconsidering. Let me know if you think I should try reading them again or continuing with the series.

1. The End Game by Kate McCarthy

 This was actually the first one that came to mind because I started it yesterday and DNF'd it today. I don't think I really like new adult, even though I've read a few books from this genre. However, the more I read NA, the more I dislike it. I found myself skimming through the pages of this book quite often and having no interest whatsoever.

2. Alienated Trilogy by Melissa Landers

 I read the first book and it was okay, even though I had to force myself to finish it. I don't really care about what happens with the characters so I won't continue with this trilogy. 

3. Mara Dyer Trilogy by Michelle Hodkin

 Please don't hate me! I read the first book and I liked it. I just didn't find it that creepy or "scary" (sure, it was creepy but I didn't it was as everyone said it would be). Maybe I had way too high expectations for this trilogy and I ended up a bit disappointed. I also didn't really find Noah that special (and trust me, I love a good fictional boyfriend)... Would I like him better if I read the second book? I might give it a try, who knows... Do you think I should?

4. Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

 The first thing that made me give up on this book was the fact that I couldn't relate to the character. But I do know that is not a good reason to just DNF a book. I usually read contemporaries pretty fast but this one was taking me longer than I was expecting. I wasn't really that invested in the story and I found the book to be just like a regular contemporary and that disappointed me a bit, specially since I heard so many great things about this book and this author. But because of that, I'm still considering finishing it. Maybe it will surprise me! I heard it's a very sad book (which I could tell by the storyline) and that it makes your eyes puffy from crying and sobbing so much, so maybe I'll continue with the book once I'm in the right mood for it. I don't want to give up on Morgan Matson!

5. My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

 Another book a lot of people love! Am I outgrowing contemporaries? Because I found myself giving a 3 star rating to books with similar storylines from books I used to give 5 stars to. I didn't even get the chance to rate this book because I didn't finish it. I don't know why, maybe the answer is just that I'm not into contemporary as much as I was a few years (or months) ago - probably because I've read a lot of them already. *sigh*

6. Paper Towns by John Green

 The only thing I have to say about JG is that I don't care for his books anymore. I just... ugh. I haven't even seen the movie. Don't get me wrong, I love John. I love his videos and I learn so much from him and his brother! However, I try to read his books and I can't even get past the 1st sentence without rolling my eyes and losing all motivation. I guess it was because of all the fuss about his books once TFIOS movie came out.

7. Looking for Alaska by John Green

 I couldn't actually stand the female character. 

8. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

 I know, I know. I heard I should read at least the first 3 books in order for me to judge this series. I REALLY want to read it and like it. I don't know why I stopped. Maybe one day (in the distant future), I'll read it. 

9. Pretty Little Liars Series by Sara Shepard

 You can probably guess why I won't be continuing with this series. I have the first 3 books but only read the first book and half of the the second. I started reading this because of the tv show but I quickly lost all of my motivation once I realized how different everything was. 

10. The Rosemary Beach Series by Abbi Glines

 No, just no. I read the first book and it was probably the worst book I've read all my life. New adult just isn't for me, sorry.