Mini October Wrap Up

This month I've read 4 books...my reading is going downhill...

"The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

☆☆☆

Genre: Fantasy

I expected something more from this book. It has really good reviews and a lot of people think it's an amazing read. For me it was nothing special. The story was interesting, but I didn't see character development and I was not satisfied with the ending of the book.

“Howl's Moving Castle” by Diana Wynne Jones

☆☆☆☆

Genre: Middle Grade

I love the animation based on this book. There were some scenes that I didn't feel were necessary to be there because they didn't add anything to the story for me. I prefer the movie over the book, but nevertheless it was a great read.

"The Little White Horse" by Elizabeth Goudge

☆☆☆☆

Genre: Middle Grade

I read this book only because it's a favorite of J. K. Rowling. I did not expect to like it as much as I did. The story is not anything special, but it was written so beautifully. I liked the characters and their development throughout the story. For me this is a perfect book for children.

"The Silkworm" by Robert Galbraith

☆☆☆☆☆

Genre: Mystery

This was the perfect book to end the month with. I liked it more than the first one. The characters had more development and the case was more interesting for me. Again, I was very surprised by the culprit which is essential for me when I read something from the mystery genre. I'm really looking forward to reading the next one in the series.

Those were my reads this month. Have you read any of the books mentioned and if you did do you agree with my opinions. Any thoughts are appreciated :)

Top Ten Tuesday: Scary Bookish Things

Top Ten Tuesday is a feature hosted by the Broke and the Bookish.

In honor of Halloween the topic for today was left to our choice. I decided to go for the top seven bookish things that scare me.

Realistic dystopian worlds

There are some dystopian books that scare me because I can easily imagine, that the world they are describing is an actual possibility. I don't mind reading more of these books.

Horrors that will make your blood run cold

I love well written horror books that can make you sleep with your lights on or not sleep at all - my favorite example for horror story is "The Call of Cthulhu" by H. P. Lovecraft. 

If you have any recommendations for a horror book of this caliber, please leave it in the comments..

Cliffhangers that make you say WTF

I love them, but I hate it when I have to wait for ages to find out what's going to happen next.

Unfinished book series

If a favorite series of mine is never going to be finished, it's a huge problem. That's the reason why I prefer to start reading series when it's already finished.

If anyone has this fear, let me know in the comments that I'm not the only strange one here...

Books series that suck

I like finishing what I've started, but it's really bad when it comes to book series that are just bad...And that's the reason why I prefer stand-alones...

Running out of space

The fear is real!!! My room is small and books are everywhere...

Lending books

I should stop doing this. The fear of not getting my favorite books back is just too much to bear...

Hope you like my take on this one...it's not really standart...Tell me what you think about my picks in the comments and if you have a blog post about this topic share a link and I'll be happy to read it :)

Top 5 Wednesday: Favorite Diverse Characters

Top 5 Wednesdays was created by gingerreadsLainey and there is a Goodreads group where you can find a list of participants as well as Top 5 Wednesday topics.

This week's topic is "Favorite Diverse Characters" and I already have done this for one of the "Top Ten Tuesday" topics but it was 3 months ago and I want to write about this topic again. I'll be careful not to repeat myself...

Kai from “47 Ronin” by Joan D. Vinge

Kai is an outcast and in the beginning of the book he was appreciated by a few people because of his origins. I really liked his strong, yet imperfect character and his struggles throughout the book. It's not a very well loved book on Goodreads, but I loved. If you like Japanese culture, I think you'll enjoy this read as well.

Waris Dirie from “Desert Flower” by Waris Dirie

This book is the memoir of Waris Dirie and as it's said on the cover she is a desert nomad. This is a really heart-breaking book about her struggles as a child, as well as an adult. This is really an eye-opening book which I feel should be read by as much people as possible.

Tyrion Lannister from “A Game of Thrones” by George R.R. Martin

This is one of my favorite characters in the book so I had to mention him. He is the funniest and one of the most intelligent people in the series. For those who have not read the book yet - Tyrion is dwarf - definite diversity here. The book itself is full of diverse characters but no one stands out as much as he does.

Cole Webster from “Shadow Walker” by Connie Mason

I guess you didn't expect this book. It is my favorite historical fiction romance book and I have read it a dozen times. As far as I can remember Cole Webster (aka Shadow Walker) is American Indian which is why I classify him as diverse character. This book is not everybody's cup of tea just because it's one of those romances that are just too much for some people. But it is my guilty pleasure...

Sebastian Michaelis from “Black Butler” by Yana Toboso and Tomo Kimura

Well, he is One Hell of a Butler. Admire his looks because not only is he a diverse character but he is just soooo sexy.

Tell me what you think about my picks :) Links to your Top 5 Wednesday blog posts are also appreciated.

Top Ten Tuesday: Author Duos You'd LOVE To See Write A Book Together

Top Ten Tuesday is a feature hosted by the Broke and the Bookish.

Today the topic is "Author Duos You'd LOVE To See Write A Book Together". This is a topic I’ve never thought about that much but it seems like a lot of fun to give it a try now. After all there are a lot of authors that are my favorite and some of them may be really good duos.

Sophie Kinsella & Marian Keyes

I love their books and I like both of them as separate authors. I feel that a chick-lit book written by this duo will be an explosion of laughter.

Patrick Ness & J.R.R. Tolkien

I think that a mix between the unique writing style of Patrick Ness and the world-building of J.R.R. Tolkien will bring us one epic fantasy book.

Garth Nix & Philip Pullman

I think that if these two join forces they will write one awesome middle-grade fantasy book which I will be more than happy to read.

Tatiana de Rosnay & Alyson Richman

Both of them write historical fiction books with really heavy subjects and in my opinion if they ever become a duo the result will be a really heart-breaking story that will leave you breathless.

John Green & Jojo Moyes

Bad endings is their forte! I think their writing styles will complement each other so if they ever write a historical-fiction or a contemporary book together I’m sure I’ll read it.

J.K. Rowling & Rick Riordan

A little bit of the amazing character development abilities of Rowling and the world-building abilities and the adventures from the books of Riordan will lead to an awesome middle-grade or young-adult fantasy book.

H.P. Lovecraft & Carlos Ruiz Zafón

This duo will create the best middle-grade horror book.

George R.R. Martin & Peter V. Brett

I feel that a fantasy book written by this duo will be epic. As much as I want this to happen, a priority for me is George R.R. Martin to finish his series first…because I’ve been waiting for years…

Patrick Rothfuss & David Dalglish

As much as I love both of these authors, I think that if they work together as a team they will be able to create a fantasy book that will be better than their books separately.

Paul Hoffman & Isaac Marion

Awesome dark characters plus zombies equals one epic read in the fantasy genre. I’ll definitely read a book written by this duo.

Of course some of these duos can’t ever happen because some of the authors are dead but a girl can dream J

Tell me what you think about my picks in the comments and if you have a blog post about this topic share a link and I'll be happy to read it :)

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Things I Want to Quit

Top Ten Tuesday is a feature hosted by the Broke and the Bookish.

Today the topic is "Bookish Things I Want to Quit" and I have some of those. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to quit those habits of mine but here they are:

Finishing books that I don't really like

I have this bad habit of finishing books that I really hate. I can't help it...once I start a book, I just need to finish it...

Finishing series when I don't like the first book

Again, once I start something, I need to finish it. Even if the first book in the series is bad, I just need to see how the story will end...It may take me ages to finish the series but I will eventually do it...

Getting books from the library, although I have a ton of books on my TBR pile at home

I'm working on this one...I promise...I have my TBR Jar Challenge...which is not going so well...

Buying books, although I have a ton of books on my TBR pile at home

Seriously, I don't even have enough space where to put my current amount of books...they are just lying around on the floor...but I keep buying more and more...

Judging a book by its cover

This is a problem because sometimes the covers are so much better than the books...and after reading them, you don't want to let them go, just because of the gorgeous covers, even when you know that you will never ever read them again...

Buying next books in a series when I haven't read the first one yet

I think I don't need to explain myself for this one. We all have come across some pretty bad series.

Reading a book just because it's hyped

This is not something I want to quit but I just wanted to say that just because a certain book is hyped, it doesn't necessarily mean that you will like it...sad but true.

Not reading a book just because it's hyped

This is something I do with certain series like "Twilight" and "Hunger Games" for example. I don't see myself reading these series any time soon...

Reading books that are on "Top [insert random number here] books you should read before you die" kind of lists

I agree that some books are really important and should be read by more people, but sometimes the books from that lists are so huge and boring that I wish I have never started reading them in the first place...

Having huge TBR pile, but instead of reading I'm browsing the Internet/watching anime/playing games/watching youtube videos (about books)

I have these days when instead of reading, I'm doing something different all day long...

These are my bad bookish habits. Tell me what you think about my picks in the comments and if you have a blog post about this topic share a link and I'll be happy to read it :)

Shameful September Wrap Up

This month I've read a shameful amount of books. I've managed to finish only 5...

The beginning of the month was really strong for me - I've managed to complete 2 books in 2 days...but after that everything went downhill...Anyway, let's get into the books I've read, shall we?!

"These Mean Streets, Darkly" by Austin Dragon

☆☆☆☆

Genre: Cyberpunk

This book is a prequel to an upcoming cyberpunk series - "A Liquid Cool", and it served that purpose perfectly. I do have a review for it which you can find here.

“Beastly” by Alex Flinn

☆☆☆☆

Genre: Fantasy

I'm really surprised by this one since everybody I know says it's pretty bad, but I enjoyed it quite a lot. My full review for this book is here.

"Middlemarch" by George Eliot

☆☆☆

Genre: Classics

This is the book that ruined my reading for the whole month. It took me 13 days to finish it. This read is not really a bad one, but it was way to descriptive for my taste. The characters were not really that appealing for me and overall I could not enjoy this book as much as I wanted to...

"The Cuckoo's Calling" by Robert Galbraith

Genre: Mystery

Rating: 4/5

Yes!!! I've finally read this book. I enjoy well written mystery books and Rowling didn't fail with yet another genre. She is perfect! Her characters were well developed as always and the outcome of the story was really unexpected...at least for me. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series...which should happen this month.

"Burr" by Gore Vidal

☆☆☆

Genre: Historical Fiction

I must say that I did not expect liking this book as much as I did. I'm just not into politics that much. Something about the way they were written, makes them so easy to read and enjoy, even if the subject is not your cup of tea. I admit that I've read this book rather slow, but I still enjoyed it.

If you are into politics, I highly recommend you checking it out.

Those were my reads this month. Have you read any of the books mentioned and if you did do you agree with my opinions. Any thoughts are appreciated :)