[WEEKEND READS] where I start the month right with the right books

OMG, I'M FINALLY READING HARRY POTTER!!

Hello,

SO this month, I'm participating in Kimberly @ the Caffeinated Book Reviewer's #TakeControlTBR. And so far it's been good for me. I posted my TBR which I started dealing with right when the month started. I already finished one book from it and I'm currently reading another one. I also finished two more books that are not included in my TBR list but I'm counting for the challenge. So I'd say that I'm actually winning this challenge 😊

recent reads

Iron Gold (Red Rising #4) | Pierce Brown
To be COMPLETELY honest, I liked it but did not loved it. I wanted to love it but it feels like it wasn't as absorbing as the previous ones. It was soooo intense that's for sure. However, I feel that it didn't blew me away as much as I expected it to. Too much expectations maybe? I mean, I honestly didn't even feel much while reading this. Should I do a rereading instead? I don't know! Maybe? I finally have my own copy now so maybe.. we'll see. But for now, I'm not in love with this installment.

Manuscript Found in Accra | Paulo Coelho
Paulo Coelho is my go-to author. His novels are short but always full of lovely words, encouraging and reflective alike. Manuscript Found in Accra is one of those books that tell you how to live your life. Not exactly forcing you to do one thing but it feels like one of those preachy, self-help books I try to avoid.

My 2018 Reading Goals

Hello,

I mentioned in another post (which I cannot remember anymore, lol) that I'll be sharing with you guys my 2018 Reading Goals. I made this goals at the end of December hoping that I'll have a fantastic reading year ahead. I also hope to challenge myself by doing this personal list and not joining into some other reading challenges (but I'll probably join some next year).

This list is a mixture of general challenges and very specific ones. I have my list up along with some books I hope to read for the challenges. I'll also work on a reading challenge page soon so I can keep track of the books I've read, aside from writing them up on my bullet journal.

SO, here goes my challenges! Wish me the best of luck! 😊

Read 51 Books (Goodreads Reading Challenge)

This one is obviously already taken care of. Check out the books I've read so far!
wth is with 51 you ask? That's just me being random and adding that extra 1 😆

[REVIEW] Between Shades of Gray (audio)

title: Between Shades of Gray
author: Ruta Sepetys; Emily Klein (narrator)
genre: young adult, historical fiction
published: March 22, 2011 by Penguin Audio
format: audio, 7 hours and 47 minutes
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
audiobook: Audible | Overdrive | Publisher 
rating: 5 / 5 stars
goodreads

Lithuania, June 1941: Fifteen-year-old Lina is preparing for art school and looking forward to summer. In the dark of night there is a knock at the door and life is forever changed. Soviet secret police arrest Lina, her mother, and her younger brother, tearing their family apart. The three are hauled from their home and thrown into cattle cars, where they soon discover their destination: Siberia. Separated from her father, Lina embeds clues in her drawings and secretly passes them along, hoping they will reach her father's prison camp. In this dramatic and moving story, Lina desperately fights for her life and the lives of those around her. But will love be enough to keep her alive?

Heartbreaking. Unforgettable. Enlightening.

I read Between Shades of Gray years ago. I LOVED it. It's my favorite historical fiction. It's heartbreaking and really brings out a story many do not know about. So when I saw AudioFile had it up for free download as part of SYNC, AudioFile's free summer audiobook program for teens 13+, I HAD to grab it.

[REVIEW] Young Jane Young

title: Young Jane Young
author: Gabrielle Zevin
genre: Women's Fiction
published: August 22, 2017 by Algonquin Books
format: Hardcover, 294 pages
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
rating: 4 / 5 stars
goodreads

Young Jane Young's heroine is Aviva Grossman, an ambitious Congressional intern in Florida who makes the life-changing mistake of having an affair with her boss‑‑who is beloved, admired, successful, and very married‑‑and blogging about it. When the affair comes to light, the Congressman doesn’t take the fall, but Aviva does, and her life is over before it hardly begins. She becomes a late‑night talk show punchline; she is slut‑shamed, labeled as fat and ugly, and considered a blight on politics in general. 

How does one go on after this? In Aviva’s case, she sees no way out but to change her name and move to a remote town in Maine. She tries to start over as a wedding planner, to be smarter about her life, and to raise her daughter to be strong and confident. But when, at the urging of others, she decides to run for public office herself, that long‑ago mistake trails her via the Internet like a scarlet A. For in our age, Google guarantees that the past is never, ever, truly past, that everything you’ve done will live on for everyone to know about for all eternity. And it’s only a matter of time until Aviva/Jane’s daughter, Ruby, finds out who her mother was, and is, and must decide whether she can still respect her.

Lovely story. Timely. Totally worth your time.

When I saw this book a few months back, I got really excited mainly because I read Gabrielle Zevin's The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry and I LOVE that book. Gabrielle Zevin easily became an auto-buy author for me because why not?

FEBRUARY WRAP UP (aka the-back-to-blogging-month)

Hello,

So mid-Fenruary, I finally posted my quick come back post. This month, I also told you that I'll resigning from my current work. Life's been... I don't know. Scary and Good. I think. I'm still majorly scared for things to come though. I'll be submitting my resignation letter tomorrow. Then I'll have to go to work for 30 more days then I'm free. But not entirely free, if you know what I mean. lol.

I'll be jobless after than but I'm looking through possible work places now 😊 No more free and 20% discounted books for me though. But that's completely fine. The biggest let down is that I most likely won't be surrounded by books on my next work which saddens me but things will work out for sure. Wish me luck, please!

books read

Nichijou, vol. 4 | Keiichi Arawi 

This volume was funny af. It also features the iconic Daiku Shop Scene which I used to convinced my friend to read this manga. Spoiler Alert: I was successful. I'll probably buy this series in the future. 

Pride  & Prejudice | Jane Austen

This is my first classic of the year and it was great! I immediately added it on my fave shelf. Lizzy is now one of my fave girls and Mr. Darcy is obviously on my book boyfriend list and Lizzy and Darcy are on my fave OTP list!!! 😆😆 

Every Day | David Levithan 

Every Day ended up being an 'okay' read for me. I'm now ready to watch the movie (whenever we'll be able to do that)!! 😁

Dear, Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

This was another insta-fave for me. Read my quick thoughts here. I'll probably read Adichie's novels at some point.