WEEKLY UPDATE #17 // The 3 Last Weeks + Hippie Party #PersonalPost

-WEEK IN BOOKS

Currently Reading:

The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber – On page 430 of 500

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore – On page 339 of 480

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur – On page 120 of 204

Theft of Swords (The Riyria Revelations #1-2) by Michael J. Sullivan –  16h15m of 18h

Fever by Deon Meyer – 29%

Recently finished:

The Rabbit Hunter (Joona Linna #6) by Lars Kepler|4 stars 4stjerner

Reading next:

Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Wayward Children #2) by Seanan McGuire

Sleeping Giants (Themis Files #1) by Sylvain Neuvel

-WEEK IN BLOGPOSTS

Top 5 Wednesday7Monthly Wrap Up AUGUSTl

Wednesday: TOP 5 WEDNESDAY // August 30th: Favorite Bromances

Friday: AUGUST 2017 MONTHLY WRAP UP // What I Read This Month

-DIARY

It has been 3 weeks since my last Sunday Weekly Update. I got in a little blogging slump this month, and I apologize fort that. I haven’t had a lot to tell you about anyway, because the last weeks hasn’t been the most eventful.

A lot of the reasons why I have been in a reading and blogging slump lately, is because I got addicted to the game Fallout 4 again. I bought it on the release date almost two years ago, but quickly became bored after a bug ruined my game. The bug has been fixed for a very long time, but I never got the urge to pick it up again. I’m currently building a Vault in the game. The Vault-Tec Workshop DLC has been pretty fun so far.

I have done some fun things these weeks though. Last Saturday I went to a festival in town with some friends, and yesterday I was at my aunts 50th birthday party. The theme of the party was hippies from the 60s. The party was so much fun, especially since everyone was dressed up.

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I wish you all a great week!

Tell me about your week, what have you been up to?

❤ -Rakel

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REVIEW: Little Monsters by Kara Thomas // YA – Mystery – Thriller – July 2017 Release

Little Monsters by Kara ThomasSeries: 

Published: 25 July 2017

Genre: YA, Mystery, Thriller

Pages: 336

Language read: English

Format read: eArc, ebook

Rating: weak 3 stars 3stjerner

-SYNOPSIS-

Little Monsters Synopsis: For fans of Pretty Little LiarsLittle Monsters is a new psychological thriller, from the author of The Darkest Corners, about appearances versus reality and the power of manipulation amongst teenage girls.

Kacey is the new girl in Broken Falls. When she moved in with her father, she stepped into a brand-new life. A life with a stepbrother, a stepmother, and strangest of all, an adoring younger half sister.

Kacey’s new life is eerily charming compared with the wild highs and lows of the old one she lived with her volatile mother. And everyone is so nice in Broken Falls—she’s even been welcomed into a tight new circle of friends. Bailey and Jade invite her to do everything with them.

Which is why it’s so odd when they start acting distant. And when they don’t invite her to the biggest party of the year, it doesn’t exactly feel like an accident.

But Kacey will never be able to ask, because Bailey never makes it home from that party. Suddenly, Broken Falls doesn’t seem so welcoming after all—especially once everyone starts looking to the new girl for answers.

Kacey is about to learn some very important lessons: Sometimes appearances can be deceiving. Sometimes when you’re the new girl, you shouldn’t trust anyone. –Goodreads

-MY THOUGHTS-

I wanted to read this book because I have been in the mood for thrillers this summer. The synopsis sounded intriguing, and anything that says for fans of Pretty Little Liars and psychological thriller really peaks my interests.

I struggled with this book in the beginning. It took me awhile to get into, since I found it a bit slow. I had mixed feelings towards the beginning. I was so eager to jump right into the mystery, but the book took its time with building up the story, the world and the characters. At this point I didn’t even care that much for the characters. I later on appreciated that the book took its time with the character development, because it is very important for the rest of the story. I also had some problems with telling the characters apart in the beginning. I especially got confused when the book jumped into the diary. I thought it was the main character’s for a while. I’m not sure if this was intentional, or if I am really dumb and it went over my head? All of this got better as the book went on though.

This was just some minor problems and not necessary a big reason for disliking the book. Now I’m going to talk about why my feelings for the book really soured. 7% and 13% into the story I found some things I thought was problematic and harmful, especially for younger readers. Now I’m going to talk a bit about what I found.

I hated how the book tried to make fun of people with allergy or intolerance to gluten. It is, and can be, very dangerous for some people to eat gluten. Even just a little bit can be fatal. Eating gluten free food for health reasons are already stigmatized, and a lot of people thinks that it is just some bogus thing that people are making up. The comment in this book enhances that problem. The comment can especially be hurtful for younger readers that are eating a gluten free diet. People who eat gluten free should be taken serious and be believed, especially by sales personnel and cafe waiters.

The other thing I found to be problematic in this could also be harmful to young readers. I wasn’t sure if I overreacted to this so I asked my boyfriend what he thought, and he agrees with me.

In writing that a person can be the town gossip because they struggle with an eating disorder, can be very dangerous for a young person that struggles with the same to hear. It can strike fear of getting sent away if someone finds out into readers with similar problems. The paragraph also insinuates that it is wrong to get professional help, or if the parents are making the child get help. A good parent will help their child with eating disorders, or other problems, this is not something that should be talked down on. The whole page just made me feel sick. Please let me know what you think?

The version of the book I read was an eArc and not the final copy. If anything has changed in the final release, and the things I’m mentioning are gone or changed, please let me know.

The sad thing about this is that these two paragraphs wasn’t necessary for the book at all. I would have liked that the author didn’t include them, because the book would be so much better without.

Two thirds into the story the book flipped 180° and went from meh to I CAN’T PUT IT DOWN. The mystery got real intense and addictive. It wasn’t just the story that grew on me, but I also started liking the characters a bit more.

The book’s strongest feature was the last part. It got real intense and addictive. Plot twists after plot twists shocked me because I didn’t see any of it coming. All in all the mystery was very interesting. I actually ended up liking the book at the end.

Would I recommend this book? Hmm, I’m not sure. I liked the mystery, It was addictive and intense. But the book took its time before it became interesting. Plus it’s the whole problem with the things I found in the beginning that I didn’t like. I don’t want younger readers, or other readers that can be hurt from it, to read anything like that. I was planning to give this book 2 stars, but the ending was so good that I gave it a weak 3 stars.

3stjerner

I received this copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Netgalley, Random House Children’s & Kara Thomas for giving me a copy of this book.


❤ -Rakel

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WEEKLY UPDATE #16 // The Best Week In A Long Time #PersonalPost

-WEEK IN BOOKS

Currently Reading:

The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber – On page 430 of 500

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore – On page 339 of 480

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur – On page 86 of 204

Theft of Swords (The Riyria Revelations #1-2) by Michael J. Sullivan – 4h47m of 15h

Fever by Deon Meyer – 3%

Recently finished:

 

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter #5) by J.K. Rowling – 5 stars

The Fourth Monkey (A 4MK Thriller #1) by J.D. Barker – 4 stars

Reading next:

Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Wayward Children #2) by Seanan McGuire

-WEEK IN BLOGPOSTS

Top 5 Wednesday53 in 1 mini reviews 32-34

Wednesday: TOP 5 WEDNESDAY // August 9th: Second Book is Best

Friday: 3 IN 1 MINI REVIEWS books #32-34 || A Living Nightmare, The Vampire’s Assistant, Tunnels of Blood

-DIARY

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I didn’t post a weekly update last Sunday because I was at a family garden party. My plan was to write and publish it the day after, but I decided not to. I didn’t have anything to write about besides the garden party anyway, because my week was pretty shit. I spent most of my time in my bed. This week on the other hand has been fantastic! My health and symptoms has been really good, and I have been out of the house almost every day. Weird how things can shift from week to week.

On Tuesday I had an appointment in town. Before the appointment I went to the library to deliver two books. After the appointment my mom and I grabbed a coffee together at a coffee place we really like. We also went to the mall that’s right besides town square. I did some shopping damage, hehe. I bought a new mascara, makeup remover and some hair curler thingies, I think they are called Bendy Rollers in English.

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Really bad picture, but this is how it’s going to look. 

On Wednesday I went to my BF’s apartment. We are planning on slowly moving in together. I wan’t the apartment to look nice. I especially want to fix the bedroom since it looks pretty shitty at it’s current state. My BF doesn’t care, lol. I’m planning on making a headboard for the bed. I measured up how big I want the it to be. Hope it will turn out great in the end. I’m not very driven when it comes do DIYs, lets just say that I’m a big noob.

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On Thursday I was alone in the apartment all day. My BF works from early morning to late evening on Thursdays. I had a lot of energy that day and wanted to do something, but I couldn’t since everybody was busy. I don’t have many friends besides Emil, and the few I have was either busy or lives far away. I felt very isolated and lonely, and it made me really sad. I texted my brother and thankfully he said yes to come and get me after work. He drove me to the post office. I had some book mail laying there, YAY!!! We also went to a store that sells all kinds of stuff. I needed some things for the apartment, I bought a trashcan for the bathroom and some wash clothes. This little trip out of the house really saved my day and my mental health.

On Friday my mom and I met a friend of ours at a cafe in town. It was a really nice day so we sat outside and ate out meal. When we were finished with out meal we went to HM Home to take a look. I did some more shopping, can you believe it. I bought some cute decor items for the apartment.

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On Saturday I didn’t do much. I was tired after the week. I tried out the hair curlers that I bought earlier this week. The next day I had curly hair. Next time I’ll put something in my hair before rolling it so the curls will stay longer.

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I loved my makeup, hair and outfit in these pictures.

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I didn’t manage to write and post this post yesterday because we drove my brother to the city he is studying in. My brother is starting his third year as a engineer student. We met up with his GF and my cousin, and went out to eat dinner at a restaurant. It was a really nice ending to a really nice week.

I had so much fun this week. I can’t believe I managed to do so much. I was out of the house almost every day. I want every week to be like this, I don’t want to crash again.


I wish you all a great week!

Tell me about your week, what have you been up to?

❤ -Rakel

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3 IN 1 MINI REVIEWS books #32-34 || A Living Nightmare, The Vampire’s Assistant, Tunnels of Blood

A Living Nightmare (Cirque du Freak #1) by Darren Shan

The Vampire’s Assistant (Cirque du Freak #2) by Darren Shan

Tunnels of Blood (Cirque du Freak #3) by Darren Shan

Series: Book 1 – 3 in the Cirque du Freak series | Published: In 2000 | Genre: YA, Middle grade, Vampires, Horror  | Pages: 272, 256, 240 | Language read: English | Format read: Audiobooks | Rating: 3 stars 3stjerner

This is a mini review of the 3 first books in the Cirque du Freak series by Darren Shan. Instead of writing my thought on the 3 separate books, I’ll just write my general thoughts on all of them.

This is a middle grade series I read as a kid. It follows a kid named Darren Shan, who gets into trouble with a vampire when he steals the vampire’s big and deadly spider. The vampire chooses to turn him into a half vampire and make him into his assistant. He now has to leave his family to live with his master. I remember really loving this series, the books were dark and addictive, and the whole vampire setting just intrigued me so much.

I thought it would be fun to revisit this series and see if it was as awesome as I remember. Sadly I didn’t like it as much now when I’m older. I don’t know what my problem with the books was. Maybe I’m just too old for them? They just didn’t grab me like they used to do.

The books are pretty short, so I smashed through them in just a couple of days. I was hoping for them to get better, but when the 3rd book ended I wasn’t sure I will ever pick up the 4th. This series was unfortunately not for me anymore.

Will I recommend these books? Maybe not for adults, but I think younger readers might find them fun and scary to read. The books are fast paced and action packed, definitely something a lot of kids like.


❤ -Rakel

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Weekly Update #15 | The week I Participated In 2 Readathons & Moved In With My BF | #Summerbibib #Btat17

-WEEK IN BOOKS

The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber – On page 430 of 500

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore – On page 339 of 480

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur – On page 86 of 204

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter #5) by J.K. Rowling – 13m29h of 23h – 1.25x Speed

Little Monsters by Kara Thomas – On page 168 of 336

Recently finished:

The Color Purple by Alice Walker – 3 stars

Binti (Binti #1) by Nnedi Okorafor – 5 stars

Flame in the Mist (Flame in the Mist #1) by Renee Ahdieh – 3.5 stars

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue (Guide #1) by Mackenzi Lee

Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children #1) by Seanan McGuire

I’m planning on finishing the last two books today.

Reading next:

I’m going to continue with the books I’m already reading

-WEEK IN BLOGPOSTS

Weekly Update 14Top 5 Wednesday3

Sunday: Weekly Update #14 || Grandmother’s Funeral & My Croatia Trip

Wednesday: Top 5 Wednesday July 26th: Series That Got Better

-DIARY

This week I have been participating in 2 readathons. The Summer Biannual Bibliothon and the BookTubeAThon. It was so much fun, and I have read a lot more books than I usually would in a week. You will have to wait for my full update to see how it went, but it will be posted some time next week.

IMG_20170725_201657_019On Tuesday my mom and I went to visit a friend in town. She just opened her own store and of course we had to take a look at it. After the visit we went and got a coffee together at Starbucks. Starbucks came to my city just a few years ago, so I haven’t tried everything on the menu. This time we went out of our comfort zone and ordered a frappuccino with caramel syrup. It was delicious, but oh so sweet and unhealthy. How can people drink this every day? I will definitely have one again, but only in the summer.

The last few months we have been planning that I will slowly move inn with my BF, or at least try it out. I had to wait until my Croatia trip was over, because I didn’t have the energy to do other things than prepare for the trip, both mentally and physically. This week I have packed down all of my books that was at my parents house and moved them to my BF. Books is the most important to pack, haha, and underwear. Now I finally have a nice place to store all of my books, yay! I’m not 100% happy with the layout of the books, but I have less space than I though. I think I need to purge some of the books I don’t like anymore. A book unhaul might come in the future.

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I have been at my BF’s apartment (our apartment?) since Wednesday, and it has gone pretty well. We had plans for a barbeque yesterday, but I didn’t feel so well. I have been struggling with some enhanced symptoms and body aching this week. I think it might have been a bug or something, because it’s not my usual symptoms.

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Do you have any tips on how I should organize this bookshelf? 

I wish you all a great week!

Tell me about your week, what have you been up to?

❤ -Rakel

| – TWITTER – | – GOODREADS – | – FACEBOOK – | – INSTAGRAM –|

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Weekly Update #14 || Grandmother’s Funeral & My Croatia Trip

-WEEK IN BOOKS

The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber – On page 430 of 500

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore – On page 339 of 480

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur – On page 86 of 204

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter #5) by J.K. Rowling – 0m10h of 23h

Little Monsters by Kara Thomas – On page 168 of 336

Recently finished:

The Girls by Emma Cline

Reading next:

Next week I’m participating in two readathons. You can read my TBR HERE.

-WEEK IN BLOGPOSTS

Weekly Update 13Top 5 Wednesday2BOOKTUBE-A-THON &amp; SUMMER BIBIB

Sunday: Weekly Update #13 | The Week I Was In Croatia |

Wednesday: Top 5 Wednesday July 19: Children’s Books

Friday: BOOKTUBE-A-THON & SUMMER BIANNUAL BIBLIOTHON 2017 // To Be Read

-DIARY

It has been a really busy week for me. We came home from the Croatia trip on Saturday, and on Monday we drove to the west Norway to attend my grandmother’s funeral. I didn’t have time to tell you guys about my Croatia trip last Sunday, because I had to use the day to pack and relax. I’m going to tell you about my trip in this post instead.

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On Monday we drove for 8-9 hours after my BF got off work. It was a really long day, especially for him.

The funeral was the day after. I’m so happy I had the strength to go, and my BF was able to drive me. The funeral was beautiful and sad, and I cried a lot. First we went to the ceremony at the church, and the burial. After that it was a memorial where food and cake was served.

On Wednesday it was time to drive the 8-9 hour trip home. I would have liked to be there some day extra, but my BF had to get back to work. He almost couldn’t get off from work Tuesday and Wednesday.

The rest of the week I was exhausted. I haven’t done much the last days other than reading and working on some blog posts.

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MY CROATIA TRIP

Now I’m going to tell you about my Croatia trip. The trip was so fantastic! It was my BF’s dad’s family who arranged the trip. His sister and husband/BF invited everybody down there to celebrate their 60th birthdays. 20170709_14185320170716_150942

My BF’s father rented this beautiful house in a place called Sevid, 30 min outside Split Airport. In our house we were 12 people. It was my father in law and his girlfriend, and all of their children with significant others. The house was so big it didn’t feel cramped, and thankfully I got a room without much noise.

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Our flight went from Oslo Airport early in the morning, so we had to wake up at 4 am. That is a lot earlier than I’m used to, but it went pretty well. I’m shocked, haha. Pro tip for traveling: Buy yourself a pair of noise canceling headphones. It saved me on the trip.

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The days got spent beside the swimming pool tanning and having a good time. In the evening we went to the local and only restaurant by us. The food was delicious.

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On Saturday we went home to Norway. I wasn’t as scared as I thought I would be for the flight. The trip went so well, and I’m so glad I went. As you might know by now, I have ME/CFS and have been extremely ill for many years. The last 2 years I have slowly starting to get better. This trip was a HUGE step in my recovery for a “normal” life. Even though I couldn’t do everything and had to take breaks in my room, it’s a huge improvement from how it used to be.

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I wish you all a great week!

Tell me about your week, what have you been up to?

❤ -Rakel

| – TWITTER – | – GOODREADS – | – FACEBOOK – | – INSTAGRAM –|

AND AS ALWAYS YOU CAN FOLLOW THE BLOG VIA EMAIL BY CLICKING THE BUTTON ON THE SIDE!

Weekly Update #13 | The Week I Was In Croatia |

-WEEK IN BOOKS

The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber – On page 430 of 500

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore – On page 339 of 480

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur – On page 62 of 204

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Harry Potter #5) by J.K. Rowling – 0m10h of 23h

Recently finished:

Unravel Me (Shatter Me #2) by Tahereh Mafi – 3.5 stars

The Titan’s Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #3) by Rick Riordan – 3.5 stars

Reading next:

The Girls by Emma Cline

Little Monsters by Kara Thomas

-WEEK IN BLOGPOSTS

Weekly Update 12Mid Year update

Sunday: Weekly Update #12 | I’m Currently In Croatia |

Friday: Mid Year update – All The Books I Have Read So Far In 2017

-DIARY

Hi everybody. I’ll just write a quick Sunday update today. I want to tell you about my trip to Croatia, but unfortunately I don’t have a lot of time today. I got home yesterday, and tomorrow I’m leaving for the west Norway to attend my grandmother’s funeral. She died last week and the funeral is on Tuesday. Today I have to relax, pack and prepare for the 8-9 hour drive.

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I wish you all a great week!

Tell me about your week, what have you been up to?

❤ -Rakel

| – TWITTER – | – GOODREADS – | – FACEBOOK – | – INSTAGRAM –|

Mid Year update – All The Books I Have Read So Far In 2017

In December last year I did a post on every book I have read in 2016. I thought it would be fun to do a mid year post about all the books I have read so far in 2017. As of 30. May I have read 41 books, that is 17 books ahead of my Goodreads goal of 50 books. I will finish my goal way before the end of the year, so I might have to bump it up a bit.

Goodreads Challenge July 2017

Here are some stats on the books I have read:

Favorite Books Read:

The Republic of Thieves (Gentleman Bastard #3) by Scott Lynch

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1) by Brandon Sanderson

Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

Longest Book Read:

The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch – 650 pages

Shortest book Read:

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – 49 pages

2017 Releases Read:

7 books

Big Books Read:

10

Audiobooks:

21 books

Books DNF:

3 books

Books Bought:

Physical books: 11

Ebooks: 15

Star rating:

5stjerner3 books rated 5 stars

4-5stjerner4 books rated 4.5 stars

4stjerner8 books rated 4 stars

3-5stjerner7 books rated 3.5 stars 

3stjerner11 books rated 3 stars 

2-5stjerner1 book rated 2.5 stars 

2stjerner3 books rated 2 stars 

1-5stjerner1 book rated 1.5 stars  

1stjerner2 books rated 1 star 


January – LINK TO WRAP UP

REVIEW – Deadlight Jack (The Faceless One #2) by Mark Onspaugh – 3.5 stars 3-5stjerner

REVIEW – We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – 5 stars 5stjerner

Stalking Jack the Ripper (Stalking Jack the Ripper #1) by Kerri Maniscalco – 3 stars 3stjerner

Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven – 4.5 stars 4-5stjerner

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen – 1.5 stars – DNF 1-5stjerner

Heartless by Marissa Meyer – 4 stars 4stjerner


February – LINK TO WRAP UP

The Miserable Mill (A Series of Unfortunate Events #4) by Lemony Snicket – 3 stars 3stjerner

The Austere Academy (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #5) by Lemony Snicket – 4 stars 4stjerner

The Ersatz Elevator (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #6) by Lemony Snicket – 3.5 stars 3-5stjerner

The Vile Village (A Series of Unfortunate Events, #7) by Lemony Snicket – 3.5 stars 3-5stjerner

The Girl From Old Nichol by Betty Annand – 2 stars DNF 2stjerner

The Republic of Thieves (Gentleman Bastard #3) by Scott Lynch – 5 stars 5stjerner

Final Girls by Riley Sager – 3.5 stars 3-5stjerner

Morning Star (Red Rising, #3) by Pierce Brown – 4 stars 4stjerner

A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking – 4.5 stars 4-5stjerner


March – LINK TO WRAP UP

The Hostile Hospital (A Series of Unfortunate Events #8) by Lemony Snicket – 2.5 stars 2-5stjerner

The Carnivorous Carnival (A Series of Unfortunate Events #9) by Lemony Snicket – 3 stars 3stjerner

Starflight (Starflight #1) by Melissa Landers – 3 stars 3stjerner

REVIEW – One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus – 4.5 stars 4-5stjerner

Shatter Me (Shatter Me, #1) by Tahereh Mafi – 3 stars 3stjerner

The Magicians (The Magicians #1) by Lev Grossman – 3 stars 3stjerner


April – LINK TO WRAP UP

#famous by Jilly Gagnon – 2 stars 2stjerner

Grave Peril (The Dresden Files, #3) by Jim Butcher – 3 stars 3stjerner

The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1) by Brandon Sanderson – 4.5 stars 4-5stjerner

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak – 3.5 stars 3-5stjerner

Blankets by Craig Thompson – 3.5 stars 3-5stjerner

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondō – 4 stars 4stjerner

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey – 1 star DNF 1stjerner


May

MINI REVIEW – Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel – 3 stars 3stjerner

MINI REVIEW – American Street by Ibi Zoboi – 4 stars 4stjerner

MINI REVIEW – Stalker (Joona Linna #5) by Lars Kepler – 4 stars 4stjerner

A Living Nightmare (Cirque du Freak #1) by Darren Shan – 3 stars 3stjerner

The Vampire’s Assistant (Cirque du Freak #2) by Darren Shan – 3 stars 3stjerner

Tunnels of Blood (Cirque du Freak #3) by Darren Shan – 3 stars 3stjerner

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn – 3.5 stars 3-5stjerner


June

To Søstre by Åsne Seierstad – 4 stars 4stjerner

I Am Pilgrim (Pilgrim #1) by Terry Hayes – 1 star 1stjerner

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli – 4 stars 4stjerner

An Introduction to the Lightning Process by Phil Parker

The Thief (The Queen’s Thief #1) by Megan Whalen Turner – 2 stars 2stjerner

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami – 5 stars 5stjerner


-Tell me your favorite reads so far this year. I would love to know! 

❤ -Rakel

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Weekly Update #11 | The Week I Shopped Way Too Much |

-WEEK IN BOOKS

Currently Reading:

The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber – On page 430 of 500

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women by Kate Moore – On page 302 of 480

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur – On page 62 of 204

American Gods (American Gods #1) by Neil Gaiman – 02h33m of 16h41m

Unravel Me (Shatter Me #2) by Tahereh Mafi – On page 148 of 461

Recently finished:

I didn’t finish any books this week.

 

Reading next:

Little Monsters by Kara Thomas

 

-WEEK IN BLOGPOSTS

Sunday: Weekly Update #10 | Preparing For My Croatia Trip |

Wednesday: 3 IN 1 MINI REVIEWS books #29-31 – Station Eleven, American Street, Stalker

Friday: May & June 2017 Monthly Wrap Up

-DIARY

The last month I have been struggling with my chronic illness (ME/CFS), and anxiety. This week it has been so much better, and I’m finally able to do a lot more than being chained to my bed.

Last week I told you guys that I had one important thing to do this week, and that was to find and buy a bikini. For someone who has a little bit of extra fat on their body and have bigger boobs, buying underwear and bikinis is a struggle. On Monday my mom and I went to the biggest mall in town. We went to one of the underwear boutiques, and a nice girl that worked there helped me pick out the right size. I highly recommend you to get help from a “professional”, even though those kind of stores often are pricier. I’m really happy with my new bikini, and it makes my boobs look great. Besides shopping for a bikini, I bought a lot of new clothes. I spent soooooo much money. I really needed some new summer clothes for my trip in July.

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On Tuesday I went to my weekly appointment. It was my last time there, and that is ok, I might start up again after the summer. Sorry for being vague, but I don’t want to get into the details on what it is. On Wednesday I had another appointment. It was in town, so after the appointment my mom and I went for even more shopping. This time my main focus was to buy some new summer shoes. I only have one pair of shoes, and they can be a bit sweaty in the sun. I LOVE one of the pairs I got, and even better it was 50% off. It’s the shiny one on the picture below. Aren’t they pretty?

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What I bought on Wednesday. I LOVE the shoes, and that yellow shorts is one of my favorite finds.

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In the evening on Wednesday, after the shopping, I wanted to practice my makeup skills. This was one of my first times doing a liquid eyeliner, lol. 

The weather has been GORGEOUS in Norway this week, so a lot of my time has been spent on the porch in the sun. We have had some lovely family dinners on the porch. It’s not every day we have family dinners with everybody around the table. On Friday my brother’s girlfriend came to visit us (mostly him, hehe), and yesterday my BF came home from his vacation to Spain.

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That is my mom. And as you can see I was reading Unravel Me before the dinner, haha. 

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Another dinner on the porch. Pizza and beer.

I have also been tidying and purging some of my belongings this week. The last months after reading The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondō, and watching many YT videos on minimalism, I have tried to get rid of a lot of stuff. Since I have ME/CFS I don’t have the energy to do it all in one go, so I have just been doing it one place at a time. Even though Marie Kondō says you should do everything of one specific thing (clothes, books etc) in one go.

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A gold bracelet engraved with my name that I got for my Baptism. I think it is pretty and cute, and something I want to use. Not getting rid of this. 

I wish you all a great week!

Tell me about your week, what have you been up to?

❤ -Rakel

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3 IN 1 MINI REVIEWS books #29-31 – Station Eleven, American Street, Stalker

This is the first post in my new category 3 in 1 mini reviews. Instead of doing a monthly wrap up with thoughts on all the books I have read that month, I’ll write a blog post every 3 books read. I will still do a monthly wrap up, but it will be more like a overview and not a big post with all my thoughts. I hope you enjoy this new idea, and I hope it will be easier for both you and me. 


station-eleven-by-emily-st-john-mandelStation Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

I had really high hopes for this book, since I have heard great thing about it and the synopsis sounded intriguing. I really thought this would be a great book for me. Unfortunately this book wasn’t what I thought it would be. I liked some part of it and found them interesting, but overall it wasn’t my favorite. What really throw me off was all the different point of views and stories. It just felt messy at times and not cohesive, even though everything connects at the end. I wished we got to see more of The Traveling Symphony and The Museum of Civilizations, and not all of the focus on Arthur and his life. 3 stars

3stjerner


American Street by Ibi ZoboiAmerican Street by Ibi Zoboi

This is a great diverse 2017 release that I think every YA contemporary reader should read, or at least know about.

17 year old Fabiola is moving with her mom from Haiti to Detroit USA to live with her aunt and her cousins. The move doesn’t go as planned when her mom is detained in the airport, and isn’t allowed into the country. Fabiola is now on her own without her mom and it cause a lot of stress. She has to get used to living in a new country, with family she doesn’t know well. This book is a really good book about immigration, family, race, a community full of drugs and violent, and the journey to get settled in to a new place far from home. I love this book, and I fell in love with all the characters. It definitely made my emotions rise in me. 4 stars

4stjerner


Stalker (Joona Linna #5) by Lars KeplerStalker by Lars Kepler

Book 5 in the Joona Linna series

This is the 5 book in a popular Scandinavian crime series. I don’t read a lot of Scandinavian crime books, this was the first in many years. One day I randomly wanted to pick one up, so I choose the most popular one on a list, and this was it. I have previously read the first book in this series many years ago, and I wasn’t over the moon with it. So my expectations wasn’t the highest. To my surprise I really liked this book. It kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time, and I devoured the 14h long audiobook in under one week. If you are looking for a Scandinavian crime book, I recommend this one. I will read other books by the author in the future.

Even though this is book 5 in the series, you don’t have to read the previous ones to read this. I have only read book 1 and 5. 4 stars

4stjerner


-How do you like my new idea?

❤ -Rakel

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