TTT: Books That Awaken the Travel Bug In Me

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish in June 2010 out of a love of lists. It recently changed to That Artsy Reader Girl and that’s where you can find the topics for each Tuesday.

This week’s topic is:

Books That Awaken the Travel Bug In Me

 

This is an awesome topic! I missed last weeks topic because DNF books are just not my thing, and I wouldn’t have much to talk about. Plus, I had another post I wanted to put on my blog that day so… Yeah, that happened. But this topic, and in general, topics like this, I’m a fan of and I definitely want to share my book experiences with you guys!

There’s many I would love to talk about and for sure many I must be forgetting, but I will focus on 10 books. I have a mix of historical fiction books, contemporary books, fantasy and even classics. They are mostly set in different countries and I would love to see if you guys have read any of these books or are interested in any of the countries I mentioned!

Which books awaken the travel bug in you? To which countries?

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TTT: Books That Take Place In Another Country

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish in June 2010 out of a love of lists. It recently changed to That Artsy Reader Girl and that’s where you can find the topics for each Tuesday.

This week’s topic is:

Books That Take Place In Another Country

So for me, this topic is probably the easiest thing ever since I’m not from the US and half of the books I read about are set there. Because of that, I will feature books from 10 different countries. Some countries have more than others, but each country will have a min of 1 book and max of 5.

The books I will feature are books that I either already read or are on my TBR. If I’ve read them you can check my review by clicking on the cover.

Have you read any books set in other countries? What was your favorite? 

The Horror Movie Book Tag

I’ve been saving this tag since the beginning of the year but it’s finally time for it! What’s better than a horror movie book tag done in Halloween time, right? It’s just the perfect theme! 

I was tagged by Mandy @Bookprincessreviews so thank you so much for the tag and I’m so sorry that it took me approximately eons to do it! 😓 Make sure you guys check out her amazing blog and her answers to this tag here!

I was also tagged by Maya @Firebreathingbookdragon so thank you so much and once again sorry it took SO long! >.< Make sure you guys also check out her amazing blog and of course her answers to this tag here!

*I didn’t put the images of the tag in my post mainly because some creep me out. But you can find them on Mandy’s post, Maya’s post linked up. Or at the creator of the tag, linked below!*

So, let’s get started!

Top 10 Favorite Books of 2016

Hi guys! How was your New year? Hopefully awesome like mine!!

To start the year, I thought it would be a good idea to talk about my favorite read of 2016!

In 2016 I read 92 books according to Goodreads. And according to my blog, 80. That’s because in some graphic novels I read them issue by issue and they are divided in Goodreads but not in my blog page.

The Entertainer Blogger Award

Well, this was certainly a pleasant surprise. It makes me so happy, the fact that someone actually enjoys my blog!

So first of all a big BIG thank you to Nicola at Thoughtsonfantasy for nominating me! (And sorry I am so late!)

You should totally check out her blog! It has awesome, very different and creative content! It’s mainly a blog about fantasy itself where she talks about all the things that compose a novel – the characters, the world… and a lot of curiosities about the book world in general!

Also, you can see her answers to the TAG here.

The Liebster Award 2.0

Hey guys! I am a bit late doing this one… okay, a looot late! But I was tagged by Demi@bookstraveller to do this amazing tag! So thank you so much to nominating me for this awesome award!!

If you guys aren’t following her yet you totally should!! She has amazing reviews, tags and she also talks about movies. Also if you want to see her answering her questions for her nomination just click here!

Top 5 Books of 2016 So Far

Hey guys! Today I wanted to talk about my top 5 favorite books of 2016 so far! All of these books are either 4.5 or 5 star reads ! Here we go!

In no particular order:

• An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes #1) by Sabaa Tahir

This book was amazing!! It was just so intense! It’s one of those rare books that just make your heart pound! I consumed this book, I was opening it everywhere to continue to read, I was just so filled with emotions that I had to read it all asap. It was truly captivating!! Totally worth the hype!

This book is about a girl named Laia, that when her grandparents get killed and her brother arrested by the martial empire, she turns herself to the rebels, but for them to help her, she has to help them. Laia is sent to spy on the ruthless Commandant of Blackcliff, the Empire’s greatest military academy. She has now to survive to a task that none had until now for the sake of her brother! In the academy she will make some friends and some enemies… Elias, the academy’s finest soldier wants to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia realize that their destinies are intertwined – and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

 

• Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1)  by Marisa Meyer

Ah this book… Who doesn’t love retellings?! It is an amazing, AMAZING retelling!! To join scifi and Disney characters? Yes please!! This book is a wonderful and surprising twist on the Cinderella fairytale. It has an amazing story that is both realist and totally impossible that will break your heart to pieces for the characters! It’s a slow passed book just like in a fairy tale but it grows faster in the end and the next book.

This book is about a girl named Cinder, a gifted mechanic that is a cyborg, living in New Beijing. But not the New Beijing we expect to see, this one is full of androids and of course their humans. From space, a ruthless lunar people are awaiting their glorious moment. That’s when a deadly plague ravages the population. Cinder is a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with Prince Kai’s, she finds herself in between love and duty. All she wants is to be free, but her misty past might not let her in order to protect the future of the world!

 

• The House of Hades (The Heroes of Olympus #4) by Rick Riordan

I will start by saying that I love Percy Jackson and that world, and the only reason why Percy’s books are not here is because The Heroes of Olympus created much more impact in me although they were almost all in between 4 and 5 starts. The House of Hades was ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. It’s fast passed full of things happening a lot of amazing characters. Rick Riordan has an amazing writing that is both simple and full of emotion that projects you in that world in every page. I love these stories freaking much, and I totally want to continue to be in this world!! Also, he is one of my favorite authors ❤ (review with briefing here)

 

• Library of Souls (Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children #3) by Ransom Riggs

This was difficult to choose. I loved Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, just not as much comparing to the following ones. The first book is kind of an introduction to everything and it was awesome, truly. But it didn’t had much happening and it was super slow passed, although it was amazing all the pictures and those peculiar persons, made me fall in love with this world! But… They just got better and better, Library of Souls was so beautiful, they develop a lot of twists, and heartbreaking moments and I really cared about the characters, and all the places that were described where so amazing to literally see! It’s just that that cute story of the begging turns itself into a super complex world where you can either live or die. (review with briefing here)

 

• Anna and the French Kiss (Anna and the French Kiss #1) by Stephanie Perkins

This book. This book is EXCELLENT!! Everything in it is gorgeous!! Anna is amazing, Étienne is perfect, the writing is beautiful, it has cute moments, stress moments, cry moments, ahh it’s just full of everything you need! I fell in love with this book so quick! And for sure the following ones too! They are all so unique and romantic and and ahhhh ❤ ❤ If you haven’t read these books yet, I totally highly highly recommend! Especially Anna and Lola!! This is a book that for sure I will re-read over and over! (review with briefing here)

 

Okay guys those were my top 5 books of 2016 so far! Let me know in the comments if any of your favorite books made this list! 

Review: Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins

 

Isla and the Happily Ever After

Author: Stephanie Perkins

Publisher: Usborne Publishing

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary

Pages: 375

Format: Paperback

Buy: Book Depository | Amazon

The café is boiling. The atmosphere is clouded with bittersweet coffee.
Three years of desire rip through my body and burst from my lips: “Josh!”
His head jolts up. For a long time, a very long time, he just stares at me.
And then…he blinks. “Isla?”

Hopeless romantic Isla has had a crush on brooding artist Josh since their first year at the School of America in Paris. And, after a chance encounter in Manhattan over the summer break, romance might be closer than Isla imagined. But as they begin their senior year back in France, Isla and Josh are forced to face uncertainty about their futures, and the very real possibility of being apart.

Set against the stunning backdrops of New York, Paris and Barcelona, this is a gorgeous, heart-wrenching and irresistible story of true love, and the perfect conclusion to Stephanie Perkins’s beloved series.

Isla’s book is awesome, but comparing to Anna and Lola’s book I think it’s not as good at least half of the book anyway.
Anna and Lola build the relationship and it has tension and drama and awesomeness, this one, okay – we already knew about Josh and Isla but still… It was too easy, too predictable… So that’s why I like the others more.

Although after 50% (or a bit more) of the book it starts to have some stresses and heartbreaking moments that make the book not so dull. Not that it’s nice to have fights but… in the case it was just too boring of a romance, no basis or friendship, they basically didn’t know each other when they started right?!

But after that some parts turned it much better, I cried, I laugh, I was angry and I was happy… It was a mix of emotions just like I was expecting to have during all the book… but it was worth it! I loved the end and I love the build-up of the characters around Isla and not only the couple.

I love Stephanie Perkins’ writing, it’s one of the best I’ve read. It’s smooth, easy and just lovely. It makes me smile all the way till the end always!

I love these books because they’re easy to read and at the same moment they’re just so damn good. You just don’t notice the time passing while reading them! I just can’t get enough of these books. For sure one of my favorite “trilogies”.

The settings are perfect. The characters are once again perfect and the story lines are just extremely lovely.
This are dream stories that you just can’t forget. And if you could have you wouldn’t let that happen 😛

 

!WARNING: SPOILERS ahead!!

 

Some artwork find on Pinterest for the lat book ❤

Which one was your favorite???

Review: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

 

Lola and the Boy Next Door 

Author: Stephanie Perkins

Publisher: Usborne Publishing

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary

Pages: 384

Format: Paperback

Buy: Book Depository | Amazon

Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion… she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit – the more sparkly, more wild – the better. And life is pretty close to perfect for Lola, especially with her hot rocker boyfriend.

That is, until the Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket return to the neighbourhood and unearth a past of hurt that Lola thought was long buried. So when talented inventor Cricket steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally face up to a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door. Could the boy from Lola’s past be the love of her future?

Fall in love with the international bestseller from queen of young adult fiction, Stephanie Perkins.

When I started reading this book, I saw a looooot of people saying that they love this one even more than Anna and the French Kiss… Of course I didn’t believe 😛 how could it?? …

Well this book is amazing!!! Because it not only has a new principal awesome character, Lola, it also had Anna and Etienne! And of course a new boy hihihi. But this book??? It as an AMAZING storyline, dialogue, everything! And of course the writing is once again spectacular.

When I started reading about Lola and Max I actually liked him… And it actually looked well with Lola since she is super unique. But than Cricket happens. And I was oh so wrong!

Cricket! That story! Lola! Ahh they are perfect!! Lola is wow… I love her!! She is so cool and she has the most perfect style ever!! And Cricket? Well he is so damn perfect! >.<

This book is touching and it made my heart melt and cry and explode.
I love that we have all the characters joining, it’s just perfect!
It’s super easy to read, flowing story that you just can’t stop reading!
These books are so sweet so perfect!

Highly recommend!!!
LOVED IT!!

!WARNING: SPOILERS ahead!!

Look at this cuties that I found in pinterest! ❤ ❤

 

 

Have you read this books?

What’s your favorite character so far?

Review: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

 

Anna and the French Kiss

Author: Stephanie Perkins

Publisher: Usborne Publishing

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary

Pages: 400

Format: Paperback

Buy: Book Depository | Amazon

Anna has everything figured out – she was about to start senior year with her best friend, she had a great weekend job, and her huge work crush looked as if it might finally be going somewhere… Until her dad decides to send her 4383 miles away to Paris. On her own.

But despite not speaking a word of French, Anna finds herself making new friends, including Etienne, the smart, beautiful boy from the floor above. But he’s taken – and Anna might be too. Will a year of romantic near-missed end with the French kiss she’s been waiting for?

AHH I loved it so freaking much!!!!
It’s so cute so easy to read and it really causes so many feelings!!

I loved the characters, they were amazing, super realistic, super different from each other!
I loved the building of Anna’s and Étienne’s relationship as friends first and cute moments in between and some tough times also. It was nice to see them as more than boyfriend and girlfriend, I loved that they didn’t start dating right away, made it much more interesting.
They had to fight to be together and it was something many people would be able to relate to.
Even the friends’ moments are super relatable, I saw myself a lot in Anna with her friends. Not so much for the “Étienne” part, sigh 😛

I love Stephanie Perkins writing, it’s beautiful and her words all flow so easily that time just flies and you end the book… I loved it, I just don’t know why I didn’t read this before!

 

!WARNING: SPOILERS ahead!!

 

Let’s sum up this in two images I found in pinterest, shall we?

So this is Anna and her life…

And this… is Anna’s new life. Meet Étienne St. Claire!

The best sentence in this book was definitely:

For the two of us, home isn’t a place. It’s a person. And we’re finally home.

 

THINGS I LIKED

• Anna and Étienne! Duh…
• Their friendship. It’s perfect, magical!
• The writing is truly beautiful.
• That END. I LOVED IT!!! ❤

THE THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

✘ What things? ahhh….

 

FINAL WORDS

I loved this book super much and I am terribly excited for the next ones!! It was amazing!

 

QOTD: What’s your favorite type of book to read in summer?? 

Mine is for sure contemporaries now, butt before I didn’t even notice that 😛 They are just so cute and simple, it’s perfect!!