January, 2016
“Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”
~ Steve Kloves, screenplay Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban, spoken by Albus Dumbledore
The Best 15 Books of 2015
Because 2015 has almost come to an end, I thought I would make a list with the best books I have read in 2015. They’re in no particular order. I have categorized them by genre, so it would be easier to read and a lot clearer. So let’s find out what my favourite reads of 2015 are!
Contemporary
- Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe by Benjamin Alire Saénz. ★★★★★
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. ★★★★★
- Wonder by R.J. Palacio. ★★★★★
- Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews. ★★★★
Fantasy
- The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. ★★★★★
- An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. ★★★★★
- Half a King by Joe Abercrombie. ★★★★★
- Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare. ★★★★★
- The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. ★★★★1/2
- The Young Elites by Marie Lu. ★★★★
- Angelfall by Susan Ee. ★★★★
Historical Fiction
- The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne. ★★★★
Thriller
- The Girl with all the Gifts by M.R. Carey. ★★★★
Dystopian/Science Fiction
- The Maze Runner by James Dashner. ★★★★★
- The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. ★★★★
Review: Wonder by R.J. Palacio
“I think there should be a rule that everyone in the world should get a standing ovation at least once in their lives.”
Wonder is a very uplifting, feel-good story about a boy called August. It isn’t dark or gritty what you may expect before reading it. The book is split up in several parts and every part is being told from the perspective of another character. So we don’t only get to see the perspective of August himself, but also from the people who are close to him. Which I totally loved! You get their background, you get to know their feelings and what they think about certain things too. It makes the book even more interesting.
The writing style is easy to read, the chapters are short, but yet it is so stunning.
I felt that the main characters in the book were very real. Everybody makes mistakes, the kids really acted like kids and in the way I had expected kids would. The things that are happening in the school are familiar, because it really went like that in middle school in real life. We all have experienced it, maybe not in the way August and his classmates did, but still it is familiar.
Source: Goodreads
Our main character August is a ten year old boy. On the inside he feels like he is ordinary, but the truth is, August is far from ordinary. He has got a facial abnormality and now has to go to a real school for the first time in his life. And he is dreading it. He worries about being accepted, making new friends and if they would see that he is just like him underneath it all.
August’s sister Olivia, or Via, has to cope with her own problems, like friends growing apart, going to a new school and the ‘problem’ of having a brother like August.
We also get to see the perspective of two of August’s friends, Summer and Jack. Which is very interesting too, because than you get to know why they did the things they have done. What their motives are. How they feel about August.
There was only one perspective of a person that felt a little unnecessary, but still it was interesting to see how a person from the outside thinks of August’s family. How they experience it.
In wonder we follow the first year of August on a real school. There is not really a plot, just a lot of interesting, sad, fun and happy things happening in that certain part of August’s life. The book never lacked interest and I never got bored with it. It made a lot of emotions and feelings free in me. And not even the story of August himself got me almost in tears, it was something unexpected.
I totally loved the attachments in the end. They were funny and they gave me hope. Just like the whole book gave me hope. It was pure perfection. If I would let my future children read a book, Wonder is definitely one of them. It is so much more than just a story. It contains good lifelessons, that there is more to a person than we can see on the outside, that it’s the inside that counts and not the outside. One of my favourite books for sure. I think everyone should read this book.
“You really are a wonder, Auggie. You are a wonder.”
RATING: ★★★★★
Wonder / R.J. Palacio / Corgi Childrens / 2012 / 315 pages / ISBN 9780552565974
Day 12, 12 Days of Christmas Blogging
Day 12 : What was your favorite childhood christmas present
I was nominated by Deanna from a novel glimpse to do this lovely challenge! You should definitely check out her blog! The challenge was originally created by StephJ.
The Rules:
- Include the photo below in each blog post
- You may start at any point in December
- Use the topic supplied for the post of that day
- Make sure all posts are in December, but they don’t have to be posted consecutively (lets face it it’s a busy time)
- Nominate 3 people after each blog to start the challenge
- Have fun!
What I’m grateful for this Christmas:
I’m grateful for everything I have and that I can spend Christmas with my family in health. It’s the last day of the challenge, I really liked doing it and again I’m sorry that this won’t be a very long post.
I’m wishing you all a merry Christmas!
💕
Day 11, 12 Days of Christmas Blogging
Day 11 : What was your favorite childhood christmas present
I was nominated by Deanna from a novel glimpse to do this lovely challenge! You should definitely check out her blog! The challenge was originally created by StephJ.
The Rules:
- Include the photo below in each blog post
- You may start at any point in December
- Use the topic supplied for the post of that day
- Make sure all posts are in December, but they don’t have to be posted consecutively (lets face it it’s a busy time)
- Nominate 3 people after each blog to start the challenge
- Have fun!
My favorite childhood Christmas present:
When I was little I played a lot with playmobil. I loved it! Thus I was very happy whenever I got something from playmobil, no matter how big or small. I own literally a little playmobil city.. I have got a big house with a working doorbell, yes really, I have got a playground, a zoo, a hospital and a circus with a lot of lights. Besides that I also have a bus, a little car, an ambulance, a camper and lots more. So my favorite childhood Christmas present would have been something from playmobil.
There was also once when I told my mum that I really liked a “robotic” plush toy of a tiger cub. It was so cute and it reacted to some things you did and it could actually fall to sleep. I was a little ashamed that I liked it it, but my mum still bought it and I loved it a lot.
Actually, I was happy with anything I got for Christmas or Saint-Nicholas, but these are the things that I remember most.
Day 10, 12 Days of Christmas Blogging
Day 10 : Favorite Christmas movie or song
I was nominated by Deanna from a novel glimpse to do this lovely challenge! You should definitely check out her blog! The challenge was originally created by StephJ.
The Rules:
- Include the photo below in each blog post
- You may start at any point in December
- Use the topic supplied for the post of that day
- Make sure all posts are in December, but they don’t have to be posted consecutively (lets face it it’s a busy time)
- Nominate 3 people after each blog to start the challenge
- Have fun!
I’m going to do both! I love christmas movies and I love christmas songs.
My favorite Christmas movie:
My favorite Christmas movie is probably The Polar Express. First I love animated movies, second it’s such a lovely and story and it really gives me the Christmas feels no matter the time of the year, third it has got cute songs in it!
storyline (from IMDB): This is the story of a young hero boy on Christmas Eve who boards on a powerful magical train that’s headed to the North Pole and Santa Claus’s home. What unfolds is an an adventure which follows a doubting boy, who takes an extraordinary train ride to the North Pole; during this ride, he embarks on a journey of self-discovery which shows him that the wonder of life never fades for those who believe.
Click here to watch the trailer (it’s actually a very bad trailer in my opinion).
I also like Arthur Christmas a lot! Again it is an animated movie. Arthur Christmas is a great adventure story, with a lot of humor in it.
storyline (from IMDB): Arthur Christmas reveals the incredible, never-before seen answer to every child’s question: ‘So how does Santa deliver all those presents in one night?’ The answer: Santa’s exhilarating, ultra-high-tech operation hidden beneath the North Pole. But at the center of the film is a story about a family in a state of comic dysfunction and an unlikely hero, Arthur, with an urgent mission that must be completed before Christmas morning dawns.
Click here to watch the trailer.
My favorite christmas songs:
Of course I have to include some classics first:
- All I want for Christmas is you – Mariah Carey
- Last Christmas – Wham!
- Happy Xmas (war is over) – John Lennon and Yoko Ono
- Santa Claus is coming to town – Jackson 5
- Mary did you know – Pentatonix version
My guilty pleasure:
- Santa Claus is coming to town – Justin Bieber version
My favourite “angry/anti-Christmas” Christmas song:
- Merry Christmas, kiss my ass – All time low
The Reader Problems Book Tag
I was tagged by two fantastic bloggers to do this tag, thank you Mariana @fireheartbooks and The Orang-Utan Librarian! I have already done this one, it was the first tag I ever did, but it’s been a while and I can assure you that not many people have seen it. That’s why I decided to ‘repost’ it. Hereby The Reader Problems Book Tag.
- You have 20,000 books on your TBR. How in the world do you decide what to read next?
Most of the time I go and visit Goodreads to look what my friends and the people I follow are thinking of a certain book. Their meaning and mostly just how much the story appeals to me myself make me decide which book I want to read next. When I have started a new series that I really liked, the choice is much easier; I read the next instalment. It sounds as if I haven’t got any problems with this, but you have to know that it takes me a whole lot of time to finally decide.
- You’re halfway through a book and you’re just not loving it. Do you quit or are you committed?
I have to admit that I’m not always committed. When I really don’t like a book, for example allegiant, by Veronica Roth, I tend to quit and sometimes do. But I haven’t come across many books that I totally didn’t like. What I sometimes try to do is put the book down and go read another book first and then come back to it later. It helps.
3. The end of the year is coming and you’re so close, but so far away on your Goodreads reading challenge. Do you try to catch up and how?
This year is actually the first time I did a Goodreads reading challenge. I came across it like halfway through the year, unfortunately. So my reading challenge isn’t that high and I already made it. So we’ll see how it goes next year, when I get to set my goal higher than I did this year.
4. The covers of a series you love do. not. match. How do you cope?
I don’t. When it’s a series I totally love, I want them to match. When they’re not the same height, it isn’t really a big problem, I can see through that after a while. But I like matching covers. It also makes a difference whether I like the covers or not. When they’re not that pretty, It’s not a must have, but when they are, it surely is.
5. Everyone and their mother loves a book you really don’t like. Who do you bond with over shared feelings?
I really don’t care. It’s my personal opinion. I don’t see the problem in thinking differently. It’s the same as loving a book everyone hates. It won’t make me hate the book too instead. So I would probably still post about it on my blog and put my review on goodreads, to share it with you guys. There will surely be people who agree with me. I hope.
- You’re reading a book and you are about to start crying in public. How do you deal?
I have never cried over a book. I think I’m not really a crier. I do have read some books that made me really sad, angry or very happy. So I felt the emotions on the inside, but it never made me cry. So I have never dealt with this problem.
- A sequel of a book you loved just came out, but you’ve forgotten a lot from the prior novel. Will you re-read the book?
I have never done that before. Maybe because of the fact that from most of the series I have read, every book had already been published. I also don’t forget that much, and most of the time when I start reading the sequel the things that I did forget will come back to me.
- You do not want anyone. ANYONE. borrowing your books. How do you politely tell people nope when they ask?
I have lent my books to people before and when I got them back, they weren’t the same anymore.. and I did not like that at all. So I just tell them honestly why I don’t do that anymore. To some people I trust, I still do, but I tell them to be careful. And when they don’t understand, they won’t get a book from me.
- Reading ADD. You’ve picked up and put down 5 books in the last month. How do you get over your reading slump?
I would just not read for a while. Do other things that I like, such as watching tv shows or movies, writing, or some other stuff. Eventually I will come back to reading and I will be able to read all 5 of the books I had put down earlier. Rereading one of my favourite books will help too.
- There are so many new books coming out that you’re dying to read! How many do you actually buy?
I can’t really tell. If I have got enough money and I am feeling like it, I will buy as many of them as possible. When I don’t feel like it, I will only buy a few. The one’s that I am eager to read and to own.
11. After you’ve bought the new books you can’t wait to get to, how long do they sit on your shelf before you get to them?
Just as long as it takes me to read them one after the other. I will choose one and when I’m finished, I will pick up the next one in line.
I know a lot of you guys have already done this tag, but if you haven’t, I’m tagging you!
Day 9, 12 Days of Christmas Blogging
Day 9 : Who will be sitting with you for Christmas dinner?
I was nominated by Deanna from a novel glimpse to do this lovely challenge! You should definitely check out her blog! The challenge was originally created by StephJ.
The Rules:
- Include the photo below in each blog post
- You may start at any point in December
- Use the topic supplied for the post of that day
- Make sure all posts are in December, but they don’t have to be posted consecutively (lets face it it’s a busy time)
- Nominate 3 people after each blog to start the challenge
- Have fun!
The persons who will be sitting with me for Christmas dinner this year are my lovely parents and my sister. We like keeping it small with just the four of us. I’m already looking forward to it!
Especially eating the food, of course ;).
Day 8, 12 days of Christmas Blogging
Day 8 : Share a local tradition in your town or country
I was nominated by Deanna from a novel glimpse to do this lovely challenge! You should definitely check out her blog! The challenge was originally created by StephJ.
The Rules:
- Include the photo below in each blog post
- You may start at any point in December
- Use the topic supplied for the post of that day
- Make sure all posts are in December, but they don’t have to be posted consecutively (lets face it it’s a busy time)
- Nominate 3 people after each blog to start the challenge
- Have fun!
first of all, I have to admit I skipped day 7.. I can’t find any Christmas pictures right now and if I had I still wouldn’t post them, because honestly I don’t like sharing them on the internet like this. I’m sorry. I hope you guys don’t mind.
A local christmas tradition:
Every year in my village we have a little Christmas market. You can get literally anything that has something to do with Christmas there. From cute decorations to food and hot chocolate. Every year there are choirs that will sing christmas songs, there are children performing in dance and some local orchestras, consisting almost only out of children, playing Christmas songs. It’s lovely to visit, because of the whole atmosphere. And it’s a small village, almost everyone knows each other, so it’s a lot of fun. I try to visit it every year.
Day 6, 12 Days of Christmas Blogging
Day 6 : Share a fond childhood Christmas memory
I was nominated by Deanna from a novel glimpse to do this lovely challenge! You should definitely check out her blog! The challenge was originally created by StephJ.
The Rules:
- Include the photo below in each blog post
- You may start at any point in December
- Use the topic supplied for the post of that day
- Make sure all posts are in December, but they don’t have to be posted consecutively (lets face it it’s a busy time)
- Nominate 3 people after each blog to start the challenge
- Have fun!
My fondest Childhood memory of Saint Nicholas:
I think every christmas eve of every year and especially for me as a child the night of Saint Nicholas, could count as a fond childhood memory. Every year, my whole family and I were full of excitement waiting for Saint Nicholas to knock on our door and for his assistants to come inside and bring our sack full of gifts and not forget, to scatter sweets in every corner of the house. I liked everything about it, being with my family, getting gifts (every kid likes getting gifts), eating candy and other lovely things. It was all so magical.
My fondest childhood Christms memory:
Like I said every year was memorable, but I remember one time when our christmas topper (I don’t know what it’s called in English) broke, and my mum and I made our own. It was one of my favourite Christmas days ever.
Bright Little Story Lover 