Book haul: Young Adults!

Hey you guys!
It's the last days before school start for me and I've been trying to enjoy myself! It's a good thing there are books around to keep me busy sometimes!
I recently did some bookshopping (again) and I got two books. Both books are dystopian and both books are the sequals of books I already have!

The first book that I got is the second part of the "Selection" trilogy. I must be honest, I haven't even read the first book yet, so it better be good!

The other book that I got is "Reached" by Ally Condie. This is the last book in the "Matched" trilogy. I have just started reading this trilogy right now.
Reviews will be online soon!

Book haul: "Matched" by Ally Condie

Hello everyone! 

Here I am with yet another book haul! I have to stop this addiction, but I can't!

A couple of weeks ago, I spent my day looking in all the bookstores for the "Matched" series by Ally Condie.

All of the bookstores had one book in the store: the last one. After going back and checking if they already had it a couple of times, I decided to order it.

Apparently this book is pretty popular if they can't keep it in stock!

 

 

"Matched" is just like all my other books a dystopian, young adult novel. It's about a society where people get matched to their partners, but this time the Union (I guess that's the government - they pick your match) messes up...

I'm quite excited to see what adventures will take place in this book! As always, I'll let you know!

Thanks for reading!

Book haul: MATCHED

I'm back with another book haul! 

Lately, the Young Adult section in my bookstore has been filled with tons of really interesting books! The book that I got this time - called "Matched" by Ally Condie - is a book that I've been wanting for a very long time.

It's the first book of a trilogy.

However, my bookstore can't keep it in stock (must really be a great book), so I had to order it.

The cover of this book is so, so beautiful! 

 

So this book actually reminds me of "Delirium" a lot. (Read my Delirium bookreview and Pandemonium bookreview).

Just like in "Delirium", the government matches people to each other and decide how many kids they can have, but they accidentally match someone to two people.

What to do?

I'm really excited to see what's going to happen! Of course I will review these books! 

Have a good day!

Book haul!

Hi!
Here I am again with another book haul! Last week I bought two really interesting books!

The first book that I bought is "Mr. Mercedes", by Stephen King. It looks like an amazing book to me, I've always liked Stephen King's books! As always it's full of scary things, murder and mystery! I'll let you know what I think about it!

 

The next book I bought is a book about mythology. In this book, all the mythology from different areas and times is written down. I think mythology is very interesting and I also think it's going to come in handy next year when I'm studying History.

Thanks for reading!

Bookreview: "Pandemonium" by Lauren Oliver

Hello everyone!

As you all know, i’ve had a lot of time to catch up on my reading this month. Here I am with another bookreview! This time I will review “Pandemonium”, which is the second book in the “Delirium” series by Lauren Oliver.

 

In the previous book, “Delirium”, Lena was “infected”. She got “delirium amoris”, which basically means she fell in love. The only problem is that it isn't allowed in her society! She crosses the border of Portland with Alex and tries to live a free life. It's a life with little food and constant watching over the shoulders, but it's a life where love is allowed.

You can read my bookreview and my opinion on this last book by clicking this link.

In this second book, Lena loses Alex, the guy she left everything behind for, the guy that "infected" her with love.

Not only does she lose Alex, she also gets kidnapped while on a mission, along with a very important teenager in the Delirium Free society. 

After a while, it turns out that this teenager is not who she thought he would be and they actually grow to like each other.

But then Lena discovers Alex didn't die while trying to cross the border...

I loved this book, it's even more cruel than the first one but it's explained so well that I actually can understand why everything happens.

The details have been thought through and the storyline just keeps getting better. I am falling in love with this book. I hope the next one is just as good!

I'll for sure check out more of Lauren Oliver's work! 

Thanks for reading!

Bookreview: The Iron Fey series part 4 - The Iron Knight

Hi!
How are you? Have you been enjoying your summer? Last week, the weather was so bad, it felt like it was winter again. It was raining, it was dark all day... I decided that day to stay inside and read a little in bed.
That day, I finished the last book of "The Iron Fey" series by Julie Kagawa.

I told you in my last review that Meghan and Prince Ash were seperated for some reason. In this last book, we don't follow Meghan like we did in the other three books, we follow Ash this time.
Ash can't let Meghan get away and decides the only way to get back to hear is to become a human. To become human and to get a soul, you need to do some challenges. But will Ash decide he wants to get a soul when he realizes he will grow older and die alone, even though Meghan will live forever now?

 

I enjoyed this book a lot! First of all it was interesting to see what was going on inside of Ash' head because in the other books I felt like he was wearing a mask and shutting everyone out all the time. I also thought some of the challenges were mysterious and they were put together really well, I don't know if I would be able to solve what they have asked Ash to solve.
Aside from that, a lot of things happen to his friends and enemies. I especially love that in the end, not everyone is allright, but everything is allright.
I'm sorry, I can't spoil anything and I must sound crazy but those of you who are reading the series (or who have read the series) will understand.

 

Yeah, I liked this series. I'm kind of sad it's over because now I don't have any Ash, Meghan and Puck stories to look forward to....
But yes, it was nice, I liked the series a lot and I'll check out more of Julie Kagawa's books!

Book haul: "Delirium" by Lauren Oliver

You guys know that I love books, right?

In case you didn't: I love books! 

I have been in love with dystopian books especially! I just finished a young adult series (4 books) and now it's time to look for something else to read. I've been wanting "Delirium" by Lauren Oliver for a long time, but I only wanted to buy it once I had read my other books, so now was a good time!

 

I was so happy they still had this book in the bookstore! It was the last one! 

Here's a short summary, in case you wanted to know what the book is about:

"The totalitarian government teaches that love is a disease, named amor deliria nervosa, commonly referred to as "the deliria". A surgical cure for the deliria has been developed and is mandatory for citizens 18 years old and over. Lena has looked forward to the procedure for years, convinced as she is by the government that love is a horrible disease that must be destroyed from mankind's system.
However, mere months before her scheduled procedure, Lena falls in love with a boy named Alex."

I looked online and saw that Elle Fowler did a review on this book, so, if you still want more information... Here it is!

Thanks for reading!

Bookreview: The Iron Fey series part 3 - The Iron Queen

Hello everyone!
I'm back with a bookreview on the third book of the "Iron Fey" series by Julie Kagawa. I actually read this book a while ago but I just never wrote about it.

 

In this book, the Iron Fey are still taking over, there's a new king who is trying to kill all other Fey, and he has advantages because they other Fey die when they touch Iron.
It's now Meghan's job to go and defeat the king. She's the only one who isn't infected by the Iron.
But there is one problem.. Meghan is half human and half Fae, which means she has the powers of regular Fae, but when she killed the last Iron King, she got his powers as well.
Since Iron magic and normal Fae magic don't go together, she can't use her powers. If she does, she faints.

After a couple of long battles, she finds a way to stop the Iron Fey from killing all the other Fey. There's just one problem: because of the choices she makes and the things she does, she loses contact with Ash (her lover) and Puck (her best friend).
What now? Is there really a life without Ash and Puck? What will Meghan do next?

I loved the book! I was struggling a little bit to read about all the fighting because in my opinion there had been enough fights but it was written really well.
I was very surprised by the ending of this book! It is something that I didn't even think was possible, but it happened anyway! (If you want to read what's on the back of the book, I posted it here for you! Just click to enlarge ;) )

 

I am now reading the fourth book and so far, I can tell you there's more I didn't see coming in the fourth book.
I kind of don't want it to end. I have 20 pages left to read but I'm trying not to read them because, what will I do when this series is over?!

I hope you enjoyed this bookreview.
Are there any books you'd like to recommend? Let me know in the comments!

How and why I enjoy reading!

 

Hello everyone! I have mentioned books a few times on this blog, I mean, it's no secret that I LOVE them! However, I get a lot of "Ew, why do you even like reading? It's boring!". 

So today I wanted to share with you the things that I do to make reading more enjoyable for myself. 

Maybe you can try to do these things as well, if you've never liked reading but would like to like reading (if that makes sense)!

1. Make it enjoyable for yourself to read

Make yourself a cup of tea, grab yourself a little snack and crawl into bed. I love reading in bed because I'm comfortable and I can focus on the book much better.

2. Read something you want 

You don't have to read the Divergent series if you're not into distopian books. Why would you do that, because it's mainstream and cool at the moment? Because the cover of the book is pretty?

Try to read something that you think is interesting. For me, that's young adult books, distopian books and thrillers. If you're not sure what you like to read, you can look up reviews first. 

Get yourself a library card, with that, you can get books which you don't have to pay for. If you don't like them, return them. Try something else.

There are books for everyone out there. You just have to search a little.

3. Get motivated/challenge yourself

Get motivated to read. I like to challenge myself to read as much as I can and to gain as much knowledge as I can. I try to read one book a week. That can sometimes make it feel less like a hobby and more like an obligation. When I start to feel it's an obligation I just slow it down and take my time. The main goal is to enjoy.

4. If you want to, read with others/talk about it

Talking to other people who have read books that you've read and have opinions about it is really cool. You can go to a book club or even  start a book club. If you fear there's too much obligation in that, you can also just read recommendations from friends or family and talk to them about it later.

5. Bring reading into your life

If you're sitting in the bus with nothing to do, just grab a book and try to read for a little while. Try to read before you go to bed. If you never try to pick up a book, you'll never enjoy reading because you're not used to it. It's like playing sports, I think running sucked when I did it the first time but I kept trying and I'm feeling better and better about it now. You just have to bring it into your life, do it more and more often. That's how you'll start enjoying it.

6. Try Audible

If you really can't get through a book (or maybe you just don't have time), you can download the Audible app. This app reads books to you. That way you can listen to them when you're on the bus or when you're cleaning. You do have to pay all of the books you download though. I take great pleasure in listening to these books, so maybe it's something for you as well.

7. Knowledge is power, just saying. 

Thanks for reading!

PS all the pictures I used in this post are from Tumblr. I think they're incredibly beautiful, all the credits to the photographers!

Mixed bookhaul ♥

As a little bookworm, I love coming into my room and seeing that my dad got me a book. I love going to the bookstore and coming home with a treasure as well.

Recently he has done a lot of effort to get me a couple of books. I decided I would do a mixed haul for you.

The first book that I bought was the third book from Veronica Roth's Divergent series. This book is called Allegiant.
It came out last week (well, in my country, it had to be translated first). I had been waiting for it for such a long time so I'm glad to have it!

The next book is a book about the first World War here in Belgium. I have always liked history and I'm especially interested in the World Wars. Since I'm also going to be studying history in college next year, it would do well to read it.

Next I got another book, this one is by Pieter Aspe. I don't know if the name will sound familiar to you but he's actually a very known, succesful writer here in Belgium. He mostly writes thrillers and his books have been turned into series on television.

Thanks for reading!

Bookreview: The iron king by Julie Kawaga

Hello everyone! Today I have a new bookreview for you! This last week, I have been obsessed with the Iron King by Julie Kagawa. This is the first book in "The Iron Fey" series. I got all four books at thesame time. They looked quite beautiful and interesting, and the reviews also gave me good hopes.

Now that I've read the first book, I know it's good and I think I will enjoy the other books as well.

First of all.... How beautiful is the cover? Lots of great details, beautiful colours, it just looks so magical and inspiring! I know you should never judge a book by it's cover, but doesn't a beautiful cover help?

"Meghan Chase has a secret destiny; one she could never have imagined.

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth - that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil, no faery creature dare face; and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart."

Oh my god you guys. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed this first book. There are no words. Suprise after surprise you get to know the world Meghan now lives in. The book is easy to read but it's not too childish. It's easy to understand and feel for all the characters as well.
As for the prince with the icy heart... Well, you'll just have to find out how you feel about him on your own!

I absolutely loved this book, I think Julie did a really great job!
Thanks for reading!

Bookreview: Stephen King

Hello everyone! Today I'm going to review one of Stephen King's thrillers.
Since I'm Dutch, the title of the book is in Dutch as well but it's translated to "Dreamcatcher". In this book we follow Sam. The story starts off when he has to do a presentation because another one of his collegues couldn't do it. Sam doesn't know how to do presentations or speeches so he asks his secretary Naomi for advice. She tells him to get some books and get tips from there. So he does.

 

The only problem is that you have to return the books in time, or else the "book police" will come after you and do horrible things! Only, Sam forgets about the books. Next thing he knows, he's lost them!

In his search for the books he meets Dirty Dave, who's responsable for the missing books and the posters of the book police in the scary library. He also meets a whole new side of Naomi. And what's up with the library? Why does it keep on changing? Why does the book police look so familiar to him? Why does he hate licorice but knows exactly what it smells and tastes like? And then there's this girl.... Ardelia!

Sam is in a parellell, terrifying world where nothing is what it seems.

I absolutely loved this book. It was scary, yes, but that's why Stephen King is the thriller King. Luckely it wasn't so scary that I couldn't read it, which has happened with one of his books, it just gave me nightmares! Haha!

I also love how unexpected things happen in this book and how there's played with flashbacks and flashforwards. Really great, loved this story! It takes a true genious to come up with something like this!

Thanks for reading!

Book haul: WO 1, Stephen King, Alex Kava

Hello my loves! Sorry for the late update, I had the first day of my internship today and it took me quite a while to figger out I didn't have any posts planned anymore. I have shown you the beauty stuff that I got while shopping last week, now I'm going to show you the books. I got a few books that looked very appealing and interesting to me.

Stephen King. Of course. Of course I got Stephen King! I love him! I saw this book laying in the bookstore and I knew I would take it with me rightaway. It's called "The Shining" (well at least it is called "The Shining in Dutch, but I think that'll be the English translation too....?)

I also got a book about WO1 because... Well I'm fascinated with the two world wars and I (want to) keep on learning about them. Also, I don't know what I want to study in college but there's a good chance that it's going to be history so...

And my third book is by Alex Kava. I think she has a lovely writing style. So far, I've read two of her books and I've loved both of them. They  never bore me.

Thanks for reading!

NEW IN: The Iron Fey series!

One of my new years resolutions is to read and write more. It's simple and easy, but setting achievable goals are the first step toward self improvement, I believe, so here I am.

It's a bit sad how little I've read in 2013, knowing I've been a bookworm for the last couple of years. 

Time to change that! I decided I want to read at least one book a week.

I might not always be able to read a lot, especially during exams or when it's really busy at work, but I'm going to try it and I'm so excited! I have a pile of books waiting for me to open and enjoy them, but as a little extra motivation, I got this series called "The Iron Fey series" by Julie Kagawa. It's a young adult thriller/fantasy book and I thought it looked especially appealing. I just hope it's not written in a too childish way, because that's often a little something with fantasy books, but I have good expectations!

So yeah, last year there weren't too many book reviews but hopefully this year it will change. I'm really excited to see if I will be able to read at least 52 books this year (I've done it before but I was only starting high school then - now I'm finishing high school so it's much much busier!).

Have you read this series? Are there any books/series you could recommend? Thanks for reading!

Favourite books and recommendations!

I haven't written about books in quite a while! Today I thought it would be fun to show you the books that I've loved and would recommend! I know not all of you are readers and not all of you like books, that's okay! This post is especially for the people who do like to read!
Good. Are you ready for my favourite books?

1. Any Stephen King book
When I read Stephen King books, I have to read them during the day, reading stories this creepy (but let's face it: genious) is not something for when it's dark or for when I'm home alone. But there's one thing we all agree on: Mr. King is really a king when it comes to thrillers.

2. Divergent Trilogy

I haven't enjoyed a series in a really long time (exept for Harry Potter) and this series! This is a trilogy by Veronica Roth, it's a dystopian story. I honestly enjoyed reading these books so much! The third one, "Allegiant", has been released a little while ago. I can't wait to pick it up and read it! I can't even describe how much I enjoyed it.

"Divergent" bookreview

"Insurgent" bookreview

3. J.K. Rowling

Everyone knows how much I love J.K. Rowling. Not just the Harry Potter series, but her newest book "A Casual Vacancy" as well! It couldn't be more different than Harry Potter but this shows that J.K.

Rowling is an amazing author.

 

"A Casual Vacancy" bookreview

 

4. The boy in the striped pyjamas

Nearly everyone knows the boy in the striped pyjamas. If it isn't because of the book, it is because of the movie. What can I say, both the book and the movie were really good. I love books and I love war stories so that made me excited to read the book already. It is written so well and explained so well, and even though the two main characters in the books are kids, I didn't feel like it was written in a childish way. It was so fasciating!

"The boy in the striped pyjamas" bookreview

1. The dog who spoke with gods

One of my first "big" books I read when I was a kid was this one: "The dog who spoke with gods" by Diane Jessup. My mom read it and let me read it. It broke my heart. This book is about a dog in a kennel and a girl who's studying to become a surgeon, like her dad and granddad. The only problem is, she'll have to test on dogs and that scares her. It isn't right. One day she goes to visit the dogs who are captured and being tested on, when she finds this dog that she has a connection with. She breaks about any rule in the book in order to keep the dog alive and to remain friends. I can't explain it, you just have to READ it. It for sure is a big book but don't let that scare you. The story is truely amazing and inspiring - and it also gives a few different views on animal testing.

I honestly cried my eyes out while I was coming towards the end of this book. I have so many positive things to say about it. This is a book that you should read, even if you don't like reading! I would recommend this to anyone and everyone!

That's it! My favourite books! Don't forget to let me know what your favourite books are or if you have different opinions on the books I showed today. I do have many more favourite books so maybe I should make a sequal? Let me know!

Don't forget to check these books out, by the way! Thanks for reading!

Book haul: Three times Stephen King!

Do you ever just get the feeling of not wanting to do anything. Like hobbies, aren't you ever tired of them? Normally I love reading books but since the summer break, I haven't really read much anymore. Also, it stunned me how long it's been since I've done a bookreview on the blog! Woah, it's crazy! Anyways, I want to get myself back on track, that's why today I'm doing a book haul of my latest three Stephen King books.

I have a love/hate relationship with books: I do have to admit that they are written so incredibly well, it's almost too good to be true, but on the other hand, the scary parts are also live like and they scare me so much! Often times, when I've read one or two chapters, I still think about them late at night and I get even more scared! I'm a real chicken. However, I continue to buy Stephen King books. Here are the three books I recently got! 

"Lisey's story"

 

This one, which I can't find the translation of, but it starts with a prologue about how his kid is afraid of the "book cops" from the library and how he used to be afraid of that too. The story is inspired on the book cops.

 

And last but not least: The Talisman! I hear many great things about this book so I will for sure try to read it as fast as I can! Is anyone of you interested in a particular book (to read bookreviews about)?

Let me know! What are your favourite books by Stephen King?

Thanks for reading!

Huge book haul!

Hello you guys! 

Two more days and my exams will (finally) be over! The last few weeks I have been collecting some new books to keep myself busy during summer but I've never shown them. That's why today I decided to make a huge bookhaul! 

 

Here’s a list of the names and writers of these books:

• Sebastian Fitzek: “The eye collector”
• Asa Larsson: “Sun storm”
• Dutch, non translated book (holds two stories) Kluun: “Komt een vrouw bij de dokter” and “De weduwnaar”

Next I have a book from David Baldacci, I've never read one of his books but I'm quite excited to see if I like them. I don't know how the book is called in English but literally translated it's "Foul play". It's a thriller! 

I also got a war diary by an artist and soldier called Len Smith, who wrote from 1914-1918 about his experiences in the trenches. Over the last few years I've become very interested and fascinated with the two world wars so... I also think this book is personal and it's a good source of information. Bookreviews of these books will be up as soon as I finish them! Have you read any good books lately?

See you later! Thanks for reading! 

Bookreview: "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth

Hi guys! Today I’m reviewing “Insurgent” by Veronica Roth, which is the second book of the trilogy.
Click here for the review on the first book, Divergent.  In the first book Erudite and Dauntless (who were under influence of a serum) tried to overthrow everyone else, which means that all of this didn’t succeed because the reason why they “invented” the factions was to stop war.

So the attacks have stopped and the Dauntless people aren’t under influence anymore. They think Erudite won’t just give up and they have to find people who want to fight with them. First they go to Amity, the ‘friendly’ people, who decide they don’t want to take any side and just stay neutral, then they go to Candor, who don’t seem to be looking forward to fighting either.

While they’re there, they get attacked again, only now the serum is suppost to influence everyone exept the Divergent people, so the Erudite will know who the Divergent people are (because they aren’t influenced by the serum). The Divergent people are brought together and the floor they’re on turns into a battlefield.
After this happens the Dauntless decide they should go back to their building, they should go make it safe again and then live there.
Until then everything goes well, until one night, one of Tris’ closest friends seems to behave like someone else and without any sign she jumps off the building. Turns out the Erudite are going to keep doing this until Tris goes to the Erudite building so they now have a Divergent person to test their ‘Divergent proof’ serums on.

Tris decides to go and brings not only herself in danger. And what do the factionless have to do with all this? What is going on with her brother Caleb? What is going on with her friend Christina?
They get unexpected support, but also unexpected setback.
In the end, everything becomes clear and the Divergent people are for once happy to be who they are.
I thought this book was written really well, the end also surprised me, I couldn’t have guessed certain parts of it myself (although I was speculating a bit). I can’t wait to read the third book!

If you're looking for a book that'll entertain you, let's say, as much as the Hunger Games, you really should read these series. I'm not quite sure which series I like best, they're both very fascinating! I'm loving it! 

Day and night book tag!

Hello! 
Today I'm going to do a fun book tag called the "Day and night" book tag. If  you decide to do it as well, leave me the link, I'd love to read it!

D: Do you read more in the morning or at night?

I read all day if I have the time. If not, I only read at night, an hour before I go to sleep.

A: Are there any books that changed the way you thought about things?
Not really... I know there are books out there with certain ideas of which you say "the writer cannot convince me" and then he still does, but the only book I read that comes close to that is Divergent by Veronica Roth.

Y: YA or Not?
Yes! Young Adult all the way! I'm always looking in the young adult section when I go to my bookstore because I think they have really nice books there such as Twilight, the Host, the Hungergames, Divergent and Insurgent, ...

a: Are there characters that you honestly believe are real?
No not really, I do own a lot of books where I wish the characters would be real.


n: Nobody touches my books or I don’t mind loaning my books out?
Nobody touches my books! I did let people read them for a very long time but never got them back, and since I'm the one paying for these books, I'd rather make sure that I don't lose them.


d: Do you ever smell your books?
I don't go and smell it in bookstores or anything, but when I'm reading a book and I'm flipping the pages, I smell it of course. I love the smell of books.


N: Not everyone loves books…is this a positive or a negative?
Positive I guess, you can't push people to love reading. If you do, they'll hate it even more. It's like people would try to push me to get into football. No thanks. Each his own hobby!
(It's a shame they miss out on all the knowledge and fun but okay haha.)

I: I keep my books in the best condition or maybe not? Which are you?
I do try to keep them in good condition so that later on I will be able to read them again.

G: Gosh I have to many books! True or False?
False! I don't think I can ever have too many books!


H: Have you ever spilled or stained your books before with something, and if so how?
Luckely not!

T: Toned or untoned while reading? ..or in other words…Do you read and workout at the same time?
I don't work out during reading because... How?

March book buys

Hi guys! I'm on a study break right now so I thought that maybe it would be nice to show you guys this months book buys. I only do these kind of posts when I've bought more than one book in a month, and this month I got three.
I love books, I buy them all the time, but especially now it takes me a little while to read them. It's a good thing I'll have two weeks off soon, so that I can catch up on my books.

So the first book I got this month is "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth. It's part of a series. First I got "Divergent", the first book in this dystopian series and I loved it so much that I went to check my bookstore very week. It took me a little while to find this book and when I did I had to have it! Of course, now I don't really know what happened in the first book so I'll be re-reading that one, just to understand the second one better.

And then yesterday I got two Stephen King books, they were cheaper than normally and since I don't own any Stephen King books yet (I have read a few already though) so I though I wouldn't regret getting these.
Whenever I read a chapter that he's written I get so scared that I can't sleep for two days (last book I read was about a man who killed his wife and rats would start to haunt him - and that was only the beginning!)
But I admire the man and I think I will enjoy these books a lot. I'm really excited to read these books. I'll probably do that in weekends or so, so that I don't appear like a zombie at school, haha!

"Lisey's story" and "Four past midnight"

Bookreviews will be up as soon as I finish the books! Do you have any book recommandations for me?
I'll see you soon!