Summer Book Haul!

Hello, guys! It's been quite a while since I last posted a book haul, and since then I have become the proud new owner of more than a few literary works. As summer is about to end, with school just around the corner, I thought why not write a post including all the books that have come to live in my shelves during this summer.

If you follow me on Twitter you'll know I've been traveling quite a lot around Europe this summer. First I went to Rome with my family as a surprise birthday present; a few weeks later I went to the UK for a university course at Newcastle and then to London for a few days with some of my friends; I then went to Pamplona (Spain) for San Fermines festivities; two weeks later I went to Paris with my sister; and last but not least I went to Mallorca for the weekend (the past weekend). This is A LOT for anyone, but it feels huge for me because I usually don't travel much, and for some reason it has come all at the same time. The thing is, I love buying books when I travel instead of the usual souvenir, so some of the mountains of books I bought this summer came from my travels. The rest, you'll find out about as you read along!

Without further ado, let's see how big my family has grown! 

The following books are in chronological order of purchase. I've included all my purchases from the day my summer started back in May.

Double Giveaway! The Hereafter, by Jessica Bucher

Hello everyone and welcome to this exciting giveaway post! I've been meaning to host a giveaway for some time now, and what better time to do it than the beginning of the summer season, when we all have so much more time to relax and do that which makes us happy - yes, I am talking about reading. Duh 😉

For this special occasion, I have partnered with author Jessica Bucher to give away not only one but two copies of her debut novel The Hereafter - a sweet and unique YA, paranormal novel full of love and adventure. I've talked about this novel a few times over at my blog because I really enjoyed it, and it includes some topics which will definitely have you thinking! You can read my review of The Hereafter here :) 

"Nin has no recollection of her death. 

The things she does remember, like her cruel boyfriend, troubled father, and absent mother, she’d like to forget. 

Dylan doesn’t need to remember his death to know that he deserved it. Who needs memories when you have the scars? 

Sparks ignite when the two, very different, strangers meet. Together they spend one endless summer exploring their new world. Suddenly, their after-lives hold more possibility and promise than their tragic teenage lives ever did.

But no dream lasts forever, and all too soon, harmful memories from their pasts emerge and threaten to tear them apart. Given the chance to change their fates, Nin and Dylan must decide-- life or love.

Weaving through past and present and alternating perspectives, The Hereafter is an emotional journey about young love and second chances." (Goodreads)

Prizes: 

So that everyone can participate, the giveaway prize will consist of the following:

1. One e-book copy of the book The Hereafter that will be gifted to one (1) lucky winner  (open internationally) - please note a valid Amazon account is needed to retrieve this prize
2. One paperback copy of the book The Hereafter that will be gifted to one (1) lucky winner who lives in the USA (USA only)

Yes, two giveaways in one! Isn't it the world's luckiest day 😏 To participate you just have to fill in the Rafflecopter survey below.

Terms and Conditions:

• To enter either giveaway participants must fill in the Rafflecopter survey below (both winners -International and USA only- will be randomly drawn from the same Rafflecopter gadget)
• Ends 19th June 2017 at 23:59 GMT
• Participants can enter only giveaway only
• Participants with a mailing address in the USA are eligible to enter the International giveaway of one e-book. These participants will no longer be able to participate in the USA only giveaway of one paperback copy
• Participants who love outside the USA are eligible to enter the USA only giveaway of one paperback copy so long as they can provide a mailing address from within the USA to mail the prize to. These participants will no longer be able to participate in the International giveaway of one e-book
• The e-book copy will be gifted to the international winner via Amazon, thus a valid Amazon account is needed to retrieve the prize if entering for the International giveaway of one e-book
• Participants must be 18 years old or older, or else have consent from a parent to participate and give WL and/or author Jessica Bucher their mailing address should they become the winner of the USA only giveaway of one paperback copy
• The winners will be announced on this post as well as by e-mail by the three days following the closure of the giveaway, and will have 72 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen

Good luck, everybody! 😁

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Happy reading!

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Top 5 Wednesday 2 | Fandoms you are no longer in

In the Goodreads Group Top 5 Wednesday we're given a topic for each Wednesday of the month, and we are meant to say our top 5 related to the topic. It was created by Lainey although it's now hosted by Sam, and you can find more information here :)

Fandoms you are no longer in. 

I have never really been a fandom girl. I like what I like, I ship who I like, I talk about it a lot with my friends and that's about it. I recently said I am very bad at remembering character names and stories not so long after I read them, and thus I guess that's part of the reason why I tend to enjoy stuff and then move on to the next stuff I enjoy :P (Hope that makes sense!).

Nevertheless, I have loved some books/authors/fictional couples that I've later come to "forget", if that counts as fandoms I am no longer in. Here's my list! All pictures are linked to their Goodreads page :)

Famous Books I HAVE NOT read

Hello there! I thought this week's post will be about books that everyone is constantly talking about but that I -forever behind-, have not yet read. For some reason or another, I always find myself years behind in the book community! Just so you can have an idea, I just read All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr last month - and it was super hyped in 2015! I keep hoping I will catch up someday, but until that moment comes, here's a short recollection of those books :)

Beware - there are some shocking ones!

1. The Book Thief (Markus Zusak)

Why have I not read this book? Honestly, no idea. I guess it is because I never actually owned it and I am waiting to get my hands on a pretty copy. I really do want to read it, though I have to admit I have the faintest idea of what it is about. I didn't go see the movie because I wanted to read it first, but I guess I never got the chance... :/ I will definitely read it as soon as I get myself a copy :D

Participating in the Winter 2017 Comment Challenge!

Hello there! I am writing this quick post to tell you guys that I am participating in the Winter 2017 Comment Challenge for the month of February, hosted by Alicia from A Kernel of Nonsense and Lonna from FLYLēF. 

So what they do is they pair you up with another participant, and you sign up to comment on either 5+ or 10+ blog posts from the blogger you've been paired. I thought it was a nice idea to try an make book bloggers from around the world connect! Let's grow our circles in this great community! :D 

My pair for this month's challenge is Cec, from Yellow Eccentricity. We've chosen to comment on 5+ blog posts from the other. I haven't participated before, but I'm sure this will be fun! :D

Happy reading!

Most exciting releases of 2017!

Hello, hello! Even though it's not the start of the year anymore, I thought I'd still write a post about the books I'm most excited for which will come out this year. I don't usually search for books that are not yet published -I'm used to waiting for other people to read them and see what the bookish community thinks. But for some reason, this year I've found myself searching for books that I could read for my reading challenges, and some of the ones I found had not been published yet but still I really wanted to read them! Also, as most people do, I always wait for book sequels to come out, and there are two I am very excited about this year!

So summing up, here are the 2017 releases I am most excited for! If you click on the images, it should take you to the Goodreads page for the book :)

Cova Reviews | The Retribution of Mara Dyer (Mara Dyer #3) - Michelle Hodkin

Hey there! Today I am going to review for you book number three in the Mara Dyer trilogy by Michelle Hodkin - The Retribution of Mara Dyer. If you haven't read the first two books, I recommend you read their reviews first, even though this will be a non-spoiler review regarding all three books in the series. You can find the review of the first book here, and the second here.

This book I listened to on audiobook, therefore it added up to the list of books I listened to for my 2016 Audiobook Challenge, in which I ended up doing pretty good! :D I think once again Christy Romano did a very good job narrating this book -her interpretation of Mara is pretty good. However, once more, I didn't at all like the accent with which she tries to sound like British Noah - as I said in the review for The Evolution of Mara Dyer, that makes him sound really fake and not at all like I imagined when I read the first book of the series (which I didn't listen to on audiobook). Other than that, her way of reading is perfect for the different scenes and I really enjoyed listening to the book over all :D

Challenges I will smash in 2017

Hello again! First post of the year! :D Isn't it so exciting? 

I've decided to write a blog post this random day of the week to share with you the challenges I am joining this year. Last year I joined the 2016 Audiobook Challenge, and the 2016 Finishing the Series Challenge. This year, there will be some changes :) 

September Bookhaul!

Hello, hello!

So I'm hear once again to talk about books and books and books! (which, if you are reading this, we all know you too love ;) ). So this month -which I wasn't planning on buying any books- I ended up buying 4! Which is pretty good, if you ask me :P

I bought the first three because they had been on my TBR list for quite a long time now, and I finally found them on sale - which was certainly not to be missed. And the third one, I had to buy for a voluntary project for one of my subjects at university - and I actually think it seems pretty interesting. Honestly, I have no idea what each of them is about, but I have heard a lot of good things about them, and I found the stories interesting at the time, though I have forgotten by now. I prefer it like this, really. That way it's a mystery what I will find :)

Let's get to it!

Shameful August Wrap-Up :(

Hello there! This post will be a summary of the books I've read during the month of August :) August is supposed to be a time when I read a LOT, but for some reason this year hasn't been this way :/ Since it was the end of summer (yes, I'm back at uni now! :( ), I think I focused on going out more and doing more of the things I cannot do throughout the school year. Such is the case, that I was only able to finish 2 books! :O Which, by the way, were two very good reads!

May/June Bookhaul :D

Hello there! As you probably figured out by the title already, I bought and received quite a large amount of books recently - so that I decided to write a whole new post about it. Some I've read already, some are still in my TBR list. Whatever I know about each of them, I will tell you :) 

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Michelle Hodkin)

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin is one of those books I look forward to rereading every time. I have done so 3 times already, and I love it every single time. It is a Young Adult, kind of fantasy, kind of mystery novel about love, friendship and mental health (which I personally find fascinating). It's the first novel to the Mara Dyer Series.

"Mara Dyer believes life can't get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can't remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed. 

There is.

She doesn't believe that after everything she's been through, she can fall in love. 

She's wrong." (Goodreads)

Forbidden - Tabitha Suzuma

Forbidden by British author Tabitha Suzuma is a young adult, contemporary novel  about two siblings who fall in love. I directly tell you it is an outstanding read.

"She is pretty and talented - sweet sixteen and never been kissed. He is seventeen; gorgeous and on the brink of a bright future. And now they have fallen in love. But... they are brother and sister." (modified from Goodreads)

A Thousand Pieces of You - Claudia Gray

Hello everybody! I know it's been quite a long time since I last posted anything. Being a college student is hard! As you may know if you follow me on Twitter, I have a few reviews to write, so I'll start posting them whenever I get the chance.  

As for this one, it is about A Thousand Pieces of You, by Claudia Gray. It is a young adult, science-fiction (some even say fantasy, though I wouldn't quite agree) novel - the first part of the Firebird Series.

"Cloud Atlas meets Orphan Black in this epic dimension-bending trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray about a girl who must chase her father's killer through multiple dimensions.
Marguerite Caine's physicist parents are known for their groundbreaking achievements. Their most astonishing invention, called the Firebird, allows users to jump into multiple universes—and promises to revolutionize science forever. But then Marguerite's father is murdered, and the killer—her parent's handsome, enigmatic assistant Paul— escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.
Marguerite refuses to let the man who destroyed her family go free. So she races after Paul through different universes, always leaping into another version of herself. But she also meets alternate versions of the people she knows—including Paul, whose life entangles with hers in increasingly familiar ways. Before long she begins to question Paul's guilt—as well as her own heart. And soon she discovers the truth behind her father's death is far more sinister than she expected.
A Thousand Pieces of You explores an amazingly intricate multi-universe where fate is unavoidable, the truth elusive, and love the greatest mystery of all." (Goodreads)

Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell

Hello everyone :) Today I bring to you Fangirl - a young adult, contemporary novel written by Rainbow Rowell - a book which so many people are talking about. 

Honestly, I had seen Fangirl in bookshops so many times before, but I did not bring myself to buying it until quite recently after I read and watched so many good reviews about it. It is nothing like what I thought it was going to be. It is the first novel I read from the author, and I am really happy I did.

"A coming-of-age tale of fan fiction, family and first love. 
Cath is a Simon Snow fan.
Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan...
But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.
Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.
Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.
Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.
For Cath, the question is: Can she do this?
Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories?
And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?" (Goodreads)

100 followers on Twitter & Thoughts on the Fifty Shades Trilogy - E.L. James

WE'VE REACHED 100 FOLLOWERS ON TWITTER!!

I just checked the page's Twitter account and discovered that there is already 100 of you following @W_Literature!! I am so grateful to you all, and to celebrate this fantastic achievement, I've decided to do a post of some very famous pieces of literature. 

Here's to reading!

So I read this ultimately famous erotic series at the very start of the summer, and as I recently saw someone's review of the books, I figured I would do the same, just to let you know what my thoughts were. It is a very polemic series, and without further ado, let's get started!

First of all, I will admit that I had no idea what the books were about before I started reading the first one, Fifty Shades of Grey. I just wanted to know what was it that attracted millions and millions of readers, and if the books were actually any good. So let me start by explaining a bit what the story behind the whole erotic thing is about. 

Senior college student Anastasia Steele steps in for her sick roommate to interview the owner of one of the most successful companies in the world, Christian Grey, for an article for the college newspaper. She is clumsy and shy, and hardly had any relationships in her whole life, but still something makes the billionaire feel surprisingly attracted to her, and soon she sees him everywhere. What she doesn't know is that the mysterious, utterly handsome businessman has some quite difficult and unusual habits with the girls he meets. 

Before I Go to Sleep - S.J. Watson

I did not know of this book before I found it in a bookstore at Dubai's airport, and I chose it because the story really intrigued me - I thought "how is it possible to write a story where the protagonists does not remember what has been written before?", and I have to say S.J. Watson completely nailed it. She does it in such a smooth manner that you don't even realise what she's doing to you until she's already done it, and it's too late and you're dead right there with the book in your hands. This book completely blew my mind! 

I will just write what comes on the back cover of the book, because it is what I read before I started reading the whole book, which worked just fine for me:

Memories define us

What if you lost yours every time you went to sleep?

Your name, your identity, your past, even the people you love - all forgotten over night.

And the one person you trust may only be telling you half the story.

Welcome to Christine's life.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, by Ransom Riggs

I read this book a couple of months ago and I really, really enjoyed it. It was, indeed, quite peculiar  itself. 

It is about a boy, Jacob Portman, who convinces his parents to let him travel to Wales (The UK) in order to learn about the truthfulness of his grandfather's stories -- who has recently died in what seems to Jacob some very strange circumstances. The old man used to tell him stories about his notoriously exceptional adventures with some really strange friends of his in an orphanage for war refugee children when he was little. At some point he stopped believing them, but he's not so sure they're not true anymore...

I have to say I bought this book for its appealing title and wonderful cover, but it definitely did not let me down. I found the story very new and original, and I surely did not expect what was coming. I think the characters are very interesting -- the main one is quite strongly developed while the rest are not a much, though I believe it was made on purpose, so nicely done (no spoilers, you'll see!). 

The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins

The Girl on the Train is a psychological thriller set in London and its outskirts. It is bestseller book, so I thought I would give it a try and see what I thought myself.

It is narrated from three different perspectives, thought only one of them belongs to the protagonist - Rachel. She got divorced some years back because of a drinking problem that she developed, which she still has not overcome. Everyday, she takes the same train to go to London and back, even though she also lost her job a couple of months ago because of the same problem. While in the train, every time she observes the houses she passes by, though there's two in particular that she is interested in: her old house, where she used to live with Tom (her ex-husband) and where the latter still lives with her new wife; and one on the same street where a couple that seems perfect to Rachel lives. One day, the woman in the perfect couple disappears. 

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender - Lesley Walton

Simply wonderful.

To my great misfortune, I was once mistaken for an angel

I am completely destroyed by the effect this book had on me. As a quick description, I will just say it is such a beautiful story, so beautifully written. 

"Magical realism, lyrical prose, and the pain and passion of human love haunt this hypnotic generational saga.
Foolish love appears to be the Roux family birthright, an ominous forecast for its most recent progeny, Ava Lavender. Ava—in all other ways a normal girl—is born with the wings of a bird.
In a quest to understand her peculiar disposition and a growing desire to fit in with her peers, sixteen-year old Ava ventures into the wider world, ill-prepared for what she might discover and naïve to the twisted motives of others. Others like the pious Nathaniel Sorrows, who mistakes Ava for an angel and whose obsession with her grows until the night of the Summer Solstice celebration.
That night, the skies open up, rain and feathers fill the air, and Ava’s quest and her family’s saga build to a devastating crescendo.First-time author Leslye Walton has constructed a layered and unforgettable mythology of what it means to be born with hearts that are tragically, exquisitely human." (Goodreads)