2015: A year of books

Hi guys!

2015 is coming to an end, and this means it is time to think about everything that happened this year and, more importantly, every book I read this year. Some were good, some were... less good, but all things considered this was a pretty nice reading year! According my Goodreads challenge I completed a grand total of 66 books, which means I completed my goal of 60 books! (And I'm still reading four books at the moment!)
Now, on to the interesting part, the (super official) Reading ever after-book awards 2015! 
The rules are simple; I picked my favourite books and characters, from books I've read this year, in 15 different categories, but; no book or character can win more than once (otherwise two books would probably make up the entire list).

These are this years winners, in the category...

1. Best book of the year... Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo! My-oh-my how I love this book! This book was just wonderful! Full of suprising plot twists, great characters and an amazing plot! (Also, great writing! Yeah!) This book might actually be not just my favourite book of the year, but maybe also my all time favourite book!

2. Best young adult fantasy...The Throne of glass -series by Sarah J. Maas! (I couldn't just pick one of them!) I read all four books this year, after hearing everyone hype about them, and I'm glad I did! The story starts of being a kind of fun lil' story, but becomes a great epic fantasy later on.
3. Best adult fantasy... The night circus by Erin Morgenstern! This book is lush and magical and absolutely beautiful! I just loved every single page of it! Everything when described in brilliant detail and the story was really captivating.
4. Best novella or short story... Fairest by Marissa Meyer. Normally I'm not really keen on novella's, because they generally don't actually add anything to the story, but Fairest wasn't like that at all. While this book isn't essential to read to understand the main storyline, I do recommend reading it! Usually villians become less strong, as characters, or less creepy when you find out more about them, but Levana is so beautifully wicked and terrifyingly twisted. Yes, I do understand her motives better now, but am I less scared? No. She became even creepier, and I love it!
5. Best young adult contemporary... To all the boys I've loved before by Jenny Han, such an amazing and cute novel! I usually don't read a lot of contemporary, but after reading Jenny's story in My true love gave to me, I was sure I'd to give this book a chance.
6. Best middle grade novel... The sword of summer (Magnus Chase and the gods of Asgard, #1) by Rick Riordan! I just love Rick's books and this one was just amazing! Loved his take on the Norse mythology and definitely looking forward to the next Magnus Chase-book.
7. Best book read I had to read for school... Gone girl by Gillian Flynn! This book was just so fascinating. It was incredibly twisted and the characters were definitely complicated (the understatement of the century!)
8. Favourite LGBTQ+ novel... With all the amazing developments this year in the LGBTQ+-community I had to include this category! The winner is... Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz.
9.  Favourite retelling... Cress by Marissa Meyer! The Lunar Chronicles are beautifully crafted retelling, with both well-known as well as more obscure references to the original fairytales, and Cress really stood out to me.
10. Favourite female lead... Celeana Sardothien! I never expected to like this fierce assassin as much as I do now! Celeana is sassy, strong, brave, a little arrogant (or maybe a bit more than a little...) and absolutely fabulous. I've been getting sick of seeing female protagonists become more and more stereotypically masculine, especially the more kick-ass ones, but Celeana isn't like that. She loves dresses and glitter and all things shiny and expensive, while she also is ready to kill anyone who dares touching her or her loved ones!
11. Favourite male lead... Harry Potter! The last time I read the Harry Potter-books, I was nine and just rushing through them, not caring that much about anything but the accomplishment of reading such massive books. This year, eight years later, I finally re-read the series and I've come to realize just why everyone loves it.
12. Favourite couple... Anna and Etienne! These two idiots just stole my heart! They are absolutely adorable!
13. Favourite sidekick... She would hate being called a sidekick, but I just want to mention her somewhere; Samirah al-Abbas! You want a kick-ass muslim valkyrie? Who also is fierce as hell and fights for what she believes in, even when that means losing her powers? And who defends her religion and is not portrayed as a oppressed muslim-woman? Sign me up! Samirah has all of these things, and more! (a magical scarf, lots of sass and an adorable personality!)
14. Favourite non-human character... Grimalkin in the Iron Fey and The Call of the Forgotten-series! Grimalkin acts just like you'd expect a talking cat to act; sassy, snarky and sarcastic. Still he is very lovable and even though he wouldn't like it, I'd like to have him as a pet!
15. Favourite cover... The dream thieves by Maggie Stiefvater! I just love the design of this cover. It's elegant, enchanting and I just adore the colourscheme! (I'm a sucker for nice colourschemes!) The cover also matches the content of the story, which strangely enough seems to be really scarce.

You can see exactly which books I read this year, right here!


I'd like to wish all of you a happy, healthy and bookish 2016!

Lots of love,
Sabine

Uniqueness

"A bookshelf is a particular to its owner as are his or her clothes; a personality is stamped on a library just as a shoe is shaped by the foot." - Alan Bennett

This weekend I came across this beautiful quote by Alan Bennett and I've not been able to forget about it ever since. The quote truly got me thinking about how unique our homelibrary can be, whether it is big or small, organised or messy, only filled with books or with a dozen other trinkets as well. To me, my bookshelf used to simply be a place to store my books, but I've come to take a different look at it.
Everything about my bookshelf is unique. Someone can create a similair design and place the same books in the same place, but it still would be different. The way I organise my shelves might be extremely logical and aesthetically pleasing to me while someone else may think of it as an illogical mess. The uniqueness of my shelf, obviously, isn´t due to the fact that I collected different books than someone else, nor is it the placement of my books and all the objects around it, it´s due to smaller things.


I have collected a few small Marvel-heroes and placed these on my shelf. I've also got a bunch of stickers and postcards laying around. And I've got YA-buttons to decorate my shelfs. Even the small layer of dust that seems to immediately form after I've cleaned up, makes my shelf unique.

The other way in which my shelves differ from other peoples shelves, is the way my books look and lay. My books are all slightly scratched or dented. The books I've read sometimes have bend pages and broken spines, the books I haven't read have small scratches on the cover. No book is in perfect condition, but they are all still perfect. Take my copy of New moon (by
Stephenie Meyer) for example, the back is broken beyond repair, the cover is partially ripped of and I'm pretty sure a friend of mine used it to put her cup of coffee down on. Obviously I minded the damage done to it when it had just happened, but right now I feel like it gives the book a character. Most books are printed the same, but their journey afterwards is unique. In a way, our bookshelfs represent us. When we write in a book, our handwriting and notes differ the book from the rest, when we carry our book with us, the damage represents its journey. The state a book is  in tells as story sometimes far more interesting than the words printed inside it. The shelf it is placed on tells a story about who we are and who we want to be. The casual way in which we organise our books, is what makes it personal. No one is watched and you do what you want to do. And I think it's beautiful.

November wrap-up/December TBR

Hi everyone!
This is going to be my first wrap-up/TBR post and I hope you guys like it! I'm going to give a quick review on all the books I read in November and tell you about all the books I'm going to try to read in December! Let's get started!

In November I read 5 books and most of them were pretty enjoyable.

First, I read Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. I gave this book 5/5 stars on Goodreads and I have to say I absolutely adored this book. So far this book is my favourite book of 2015 and maybe even my favourite book of all time! I started this book on October 24th and finished it on November 1st. On the 30th of October I had the absolute pleasure of meeting the author Leigh Bardugo during her Magic and Mayhem tour-stop in Rotterdam! She was the absolute sweetest and I am so happy I now have a signed copy of this book. This book is set in the Grisha-universe, however you do not have to read the Grisha-trilogy before you read this novel. There are only a few small mentions of the original trilogy, so you don't get spoiled either. Also, this book has some of the best characters ever! If you have not yet read this book I highly recommend that you do as quickly as you can, because you won't regret it!

The second book I finished in November is The Isle of the lost by Melissa de la Cruz. I started this book on the 9th of November and finished it on the 12th of November. I gave it a 3.75/5 rating. This book is a prequel to the Disney movie Descendants. As some of you might know, I love Disney and I take this love very seriously. When I first saw the trailer of Descendants I cringed, a lot, but the movie turned out to actually be kind of fun! The characters were pretty great and the songs had a very nostalgic Disney-feel about them. (Although I still refuse to talk about the new edition of Be our guest, that was just a total trainwreck) This book follows our main characters, Mal, the daughter of Maleficent, Evie, daughter of the Evil queen, Carlos, son of Cruella de Vil and Jay, son of Jafar, before the beginning of the movie. The book was not a very big or complex novel but it gave some nice insight in the character's personalities. The story itself was a bit flat, but it was fun to read none the less. (Also, awesome Disney-references, count me in!)

Draussen vor der Tür was the third book I read this month. I read the book in my German classes and it was pretty interesting. I gave it a 3.5/5 stars rating. The book is actually a play and it was written by Wolfgang Borchert. The story is about a man who comes back from the war and finds out that his wife has found a new love and his son is dead. The story starts when he tries to commit suicide, but the river Elbe (yeah, it's a bit strange) rejects him and spits him out. Definitely one of the most enjoyable books I've ever had to discuss at school, with a lot of themes worth reading about.

The fourth book I read this month was Carry on by Rainbow Rowell. I gave it  4.5/5 stars. This book follows Simon Snow, the worst chosen-one ever, according to his roommate Baz. Simon is a mage, destined to safe the magical world, but he is caught up in things he doesn't understand. This book was a really fun read and the world was super creative and refreshing. (I also wrote a more in-dept review/discussion about this book, click here if you're interested in reading that) I enjoyed this book very much and I definetely recommend it to anyone interested in books about magic, boarding schools, magical boarding schools or really any type of fast-paced fun read.

The last book I finished this month, I just finished last night, and it is The night circus by Erin Morgenstern. I gave this book 5/5 stars. This book was like magic in words, everything was described in such lush detail. The sentences flowed beautifully and the world seemed so real. The story itself was truly complex and I never saw any of the plottwists coming. It was very interesting and I'd love to visit the circus! This book is one of my new favourites and immediately after finishing it I wanted to read it again!

In December I plan on reading these 4 books:

My true love gave to me by various authors (this is a re-read, but a perfect christmas read)

Queen of the tearling by Erika Johansson

Clockwork prince by Cassandra Clare (finally)

Cruel beauty by Rosamunde Hodge

I will update my progress on Goodreads and at the end of the month I will tell you guys all about the books I've read.

This was all I have for you guys today, happy December, happy reading, and I'll write to you later! :D

Lots of love,

Sabine

Review & discussion: Carry on by Rainbow Rowell

Title: Carry on
Author: Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Young adult, fantasy
Publication date: October 6th 2015
Rating: ★★★★☆ (+1/2)

"Simon Snow is the worst chosen one who’s ever been chosen.

That’s what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he’s probably right.

Half the time, Simon can’t even make his wand work, and the other half, he sets something on fire. His mentor’s avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there’s a magic-eating monster running around wearing Simon’s face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here—it’s their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon’s infuriating nemesis didn’t even bother to show up.

Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story—but far, far more monsters."

Carry on is the second Rainbow Rowell-book I read, the first one being Fangirl. In Fangirl the main character Cath writes fanfiction about the fictional world of Gemma T. Leslie in which the main characters are Simon Snow and Baz. While I was reading Fangirl I was already fascinated by this story and I wanted to read more of Cath fanfic, Carry on. 
Suprisingly enough this book is neither Cath's fanfiction, nor the "original" book by Gemma T. Leslie, but it is the book as Rainbow Rowell would have written it. I wasn't entirely sure if I'd like this book considering the only other book by Rowell I had read was a contemperary novel and writing a good fantasy is really hard to do. But I can say she definetely did really well. Some parts of the book were a bit slow or annoying but overall this was a really enjoyable book. The never has some darker moments in it, but never gets really dark or depressed, which is really nice.

Now, in order to do the more detailed part of this review I'm going  to have to give quite a few spoilers, so if you don't want to read those, stop right here. 

First, let's talk about this world. The world in Carry on is very rich, there are a lot of small notes on different countries and their attitude towards magic, as well as some details about the history of magic, that make this world seem really detailed. The book isn't long, just 522 pages, but Rowell managed to create a world better than some long fantasy-series. The magic-system is just fascinating. Spells are just normal sentences, but the better they're known, the more impact they'll have. This let to some cringe-worthy, yet kind of funny, spells (e.g. "Have a break, have a Kit-kat") but also some really great ones. (e.g. "Easy come, easy go. Little high, little low.") The idea of spells coming in and out of fashion and their power being influenced by this was really original. There are countless possibility's of the use of these spells and the way they change. Some spells can even be the exact same words, but the language they are said in changing the effects it will have. (Also, just think about how powerful multilingualistic people would be!) The magic system really added to the general freshness of the story.
The wizards are involved in modern society, even in 'Normal'-society, which is also a fun addition  to the story. There are even cellphones and laptops at school! (Really!) This makes the book feel very much like a contemporary novel as well, and Rowell used this in her advantage.

"U can't touch this!"
"What's that?" I shout at her.
"Barrier spell. It won't work unless the dragon knows the song."
"How would the dragon know that song?"
"I'm doing my best, Simon!"

This book was very character driven and this usually isn't my cup of tea, so I was obviously suprised to find myself liking this book as much as I did. The story follows our main character Simon Snow, the chosen one who never wanted to be chosen, but there are several first person point of views. Simon is a super lovable character. He is quirky, funny and sometimes a tad stupid, but this never gets really unbearably annoying. You immediately get to know his best friend Penny, a smart feminist bad-ass. Penny was the perfect friend for both Simon and Baz. She was intelligent and never once jealous of Agatha and Simon's or Baz and Simon's relationship. (Yeah, platonic boy/girl-friendships!) She was really supportive of them, whilst never picking a side for the sake of picking a side. Everything she did was a concious decision. In the beginning of the story Baz is absent and all you know get to know about him is told through Simon. Baz is portrayed as a sadistic, evil, vampire. When you meet Baz you quickly find out there is so much more to him. The way Baz develops from this villian into a "good" guy is done beautifully, him never seeming out of character. Agatha, who is Simons girlfriend in the beginning of the story, was probably the most fascinating people in the book. She wasn't brave or heroic, nor was she a total coward. She seemed really normal, and I think she reacted like most people would react to the events in the book, although she was a bit whiny at times.
All the minor characters were also really detailed and I felt like I really got to know them just as much as Simon did. My absolute favourite has to be Ebb though. I loved the way Rowell showed very different ways of dealing with having a great power through the Mage (who kept wanting more power, obsessing over it and wanting to use it to reform the world to his ideas), Ebb (who stepped away entirely from the power, never using a lot of it) and even Nicodemus (whose power was taken away when he hungered for more, making him have to live a shallow and empty live afterwards)

One of my favourite things about this book is the queerness in it. None of the characters were gay just to add diversity or just to please the fans. Like in real life, some of the minor characters are gay and some are even just implied gay. Baz is absolutely sure he is gay, while Simon is more doubting about his sexuality. I would have loved for him to admit he is bisexual rather than gay or straight (we need more bisexual-representation!), but I also liked the fact that figuring out his sexuality, compared to his other problems, is only a minor issue. Because, let's be real, when the entire faith of the world is dependent of your decisions, would your sexuality truly be the most important thing to worry about? I don't think so.
Baz also struggles a lot with his father's attitude towards him being gay, which is a realistic touch to his character and makes the fact that he is gay not just a random addition, but also a real part of his character.

"I suppose I am gay; my therapist says it's not even in the top five things I have to sort out right now."

The only thing that really bothered me is the Lucy-storyline. Lucy was the girlfriend of the mage, and later she was revealed to be Simon's mother. The "plottwist" (the Mage and Lucy being Simon's parents) was kind of obvious to me and I really saw it coming ever since the first time the characters discussed Lucy. I would have loved to see what happened to her, or maybe even a small reunion with either the Mage or Simon, but her storyline just kind of stops without giving a real explanation or ending. I feel like her chapters just lead up to nothing, which is a shame.

All things considered, this was a really nice book to read and I would definetely recommend this book to anyone who either love the fanfiction in Fangirl, Harry Potter or just generally loves slightly more lighthearted fantasy.

Introducing me

Hi everyone!
This first post is just a little introduction. I decided that besides telling you some facts about me, I'd also do the Bookalicious book tag! This tag is just a lot of fun and I feel like you will get to know me even better this way, so let's do this thing!

First, the facts! My name is Sabine, I am 17 years old and from the Netherlands. I love reading and I mainly read YA. My favourite genre is fantasy. English isn't my first language, so forgive me if I make some mistakes writing this blog. I read mostly in English when I own books, but library books I'll generally read in Dutch. My reviews/tags/posts are also going to be mainly English, but I can't promise I won't write a Dutch post every once in a while.

Now, on to the tag!

THE BOOKALICIOUS BOOK TAG

1. What % of books do you get from the libary and what % do you get else where?

I get about 65% of my books from the library, and 35% I get else where. I normally don't borrow books because I'm to afraid of ruining them, so the last 35% are usually books I buy/get myself.

2. What character would you want to be and why?

Most characters tend to have pretty crappy lives, so this one is kinda difficult. I guess I'd want to be Aelin from the Throne of Glass-series if she didn't have such a tough life. Maybe being Piper McLean would be nice as well.

3. What is your favourite book from your childhood?

I LOVE fairytales, and I used to have this beautiful hardcover, illustrated fairy tale book that I adored so much! My parents gave it away a few years ago and I'm still not over it!

4. What is your favourite book?

Such cruelty! How can I possibly answer this one? *sigh* I'm really don't know, so I'm just going to go with the first books that came to mind; Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas and Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo :) (See how I cheated here by answering several books? I don't regret anything)

5. Which book series do you have the most books of?

Let me quickly count! *runs towards shelves* The Vampire Academy series! I own all the six books :) (I also own the first two books in the Bloodlines-series.

6. Do you buy used books or use swap.com?

I do buy used books every once in a while, but never online and only if they are still in a good condition. I hate it when my books are damaged, so buying a truly damaged book if not my thing. I don't use swap.com.

7. Who is your favourite/hottest guy or girl?

Hmm... Adrian Ivashkov! For sure, I adore him. He's witty, he's loyal, he's caring and also slightly a bad boy. And he's really cute!

My girlcrush is definetely Aelin from Throne of Glass tho :3

8. What is your favorite book cover?

I love Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo, but the covers of the Grisha-trilogy are also stunning! They are just full of details you'll only notice when you've already read the book.

9. What is your favorite type of book cover?

I love books with typhography on the cover, even more when it's combined with a simple drawing. Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe has one of the most stunning covers ever.
I don't like it when there are real people or faces on the cover.

10. What was the first book you read?

The first one I remember reading is the fairytale-book I mentioned earlier.

11. What is your favorite book to movie adaption?


MOCKINGJAY PART I, no doubt! (maybe a little bit of doubt, Catching fire was also really great!) The movie did justice to the book and proved that staying true to the book can definetely work. The Hanging Tree-scene still gives me chills, everytime I see it.

12. When did you start making videos on youtube? 


Changing this one to, "When did you start writing posts on your blog?", and the answer to that is easy, today!

13. Where is the best place to read?
Either in my bed, or in the small windownook on the third floor in the Waterstones in Amsterdam.

14. Have you written your own fanfiction for a book?

Maybe... *blushes* To be honest, I've written three completely finished fanfics, and two fanfics I did not finish. I started writing fanfics when I was 12, and the last time I wrote was just before I turned 17. I never wrote dirty fanfics or anything, but I liked taking these characters and creating my own story around them. (Also, it was great writing-exercise, since I wasn't able to come up with an entirely original story just yet)

15. If you could only read 3 books for the rest of your life what would they be?

Percy Jackson and the lightning thief, because it's really fun and whimsical, Six of crows for the awesome kick-ass characters and the fantastical world and Fangirl for the feels.

16. What is the longest book you have read?

*Quickly checks Goodreads* That would be Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix!

17. If you were to write a book what would the title be and why?

I am currently writing a novel-length story and I hate naming things! Whether it is a character or a place or even the novel itself, I just hate it! For now, it will be called "Kick-ass females, hot guys, a gay prince and magic for all!"

18. How many books have you read last month?


In October I read 4 books!

19. What was the last book you read?

The isle of the lost by Melissa de la Cruz.

20. Do you fantasize yourself in books you like?

Yes, quite often actually. This is mainly how I started writing fanfics when I was 12!

21. What is your favorite bookstore?

Waterstones in Amsterdam, Boekhandel Donner in Rotterdam and Boekhandel Haasbeek in Alphen aan de Rijn are all great stores!

22. Hardback or paperback?

On my shelves, hardback. To read, paperback.

23. Do you have more than one copy of the same book?
I do have some e-books that I also have as an actual book, but I have no other doubles.

24. Would you rather read about vampires or werewolves?

Vampires!

25. Do you own more than 150 books?

I don't know, I might! Time for a quick count!
I don't! I actually own 132 books, so I'm pretty close to the 150 ;)


I hope I gave you guys a good impression of who I am! I hope to be posting both reviews and tags to this blog in the future, so stayed tuned for that!

Lots of love,

Sabine