A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Author:  Sarah J. Maas
Original title: A Court of Thorns and Roses
Edition Language: English
Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses #1
Genres: YA, Fantasy
Format: Audio book
Read by: Jennifer Ikeda
Duration: 16h07m
Goodreads

Blurb:
   Feyre's survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. So when she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh. But to do so, she must kill the predator and killing something so precious comes at a price ...
    Dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, Feyre discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a mask, is hiding far more than his piercing green eyes would suggest.
My thoughts:
    I have heard so much bad reviews about the book. So many younger readers were raving about it, but "older" bookish generation had really low opinion about it. So my expectations were lower than low and I was waiting when I would be inevitably disappointed and can continue with the second book, about which everyone is ecstatic.
    But I was NOT disappointed. I quite liked the story, it was easy going, captivating and entertaining. Maybe it was due to the audio format, maybe I was tired of serious books, but the book left unexpectedly good impression.  It was also quite rich on important topics and I liked the family dynamics and relationship between sisters and their father. The only "meh" part was the steamy sex scene at the end of the book, it felt a bit out of place, since the rest of the book had quite modest atmosphere.

Rating:

    4/5 

Sunday Post #30, Cold March

The Sunday Post is hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer.  It’s a chance to share news, a post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things received, and share news about what is coming up on the blog for the week ahead. To get in on the Sunday fun, see the rules here: Sunday Post Meme. 

Outside the Blog
  For the first time this winter the temperature dropped below zero and dropped a lot -13 degrees during day for a week make it possible for may to skate on local lakes and ponds. I did not enjoy it, but was happy for my nephew to run like crazy on his skates.
The cold weather made me appreciate when it is warm; so today is slightly above zero and it feels like summer.

 Last on the Blog

• On Tuesday 20.02 I published Cosy Reading Night #2
• On Wednesday 21.02 I published WWW Wednesday and Library Loot, February 21th 
• On Saturday 17.02 I published Middle Grade March Announcement and TBR

Next on the Blog

• I need to write review for 4 books
• I will publish WWW Wednesday and Library Loot

Read and Watched
I am in the middle of Middle Grade March and read 4 books so far and finished  one book from February: More Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell.

Newcomers on my Shelf
I have two new books by Oliver Sacks. I have read The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and really enjoyed it. So I decided to continue with this author: 

1. Hallucinations 
2. An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales

Middle Grade March Announcement and TBR 2017

Middle Grade March is a month long readathon happening March 1-31. It will be hosted by Katie @ Life Between Words  and Krista from BooksAndJams.
Katie's Announcement Video / Instagram 
Krista's Announcement Video /  Instagram

CHALLENGES (optional, of course):
1. Read an award winner
2. Read a book to movie adaptation
3. Read a children's classic
4. Read a childhood favorite
5. Read a diverse book

Instagram Lives:
February 28 @ 8:30 pm (CST) - What is Middle Grade
March 7 @ 8:30 pm (CST) - Our TBRs and Book Recommendations
March 28 @ 8:30pm (CST) - Girl Who Drank the Moon discussion

    I do not read too many so I put up quite a big TBR list so I can choose from depending on the mood.
1. First of all I would like to read The School for Good and Evil and A World Without Princes by Soman Chainani. I will start with the first book in the series and see if I like it enough to pick up the second one. I do not think I will read more the two books from this series, even if I would love it.

2. I want to check Jo Nesbo's series about Doctor Proctor. Doctor Proctor's Fart Powder, Bubble in the Bathtub, Doctor Proctor Who Cut the Cheese?, The Great Gold Robbery are the four books so far and quite chunky, so it will be good to start and see if it any good.

3.  I would like to start A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. I have heard so much about the series but never read it, so it is a big opportunity to begin. This books will also be a reply to challenge #2

4. For challenge #3 I will read a book by Frances Hodgson Burnett:  A Little Princess, The Secret Garden or Little Lord Fauntleroy

5.  For childhood favorite (challenge #4) I will re-read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling and for an award winner (challenge #1) I will most probably read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in this gorgeous Illustrated Edition.

I have not decided on last challenge and see what recommendations others will have.

WWW Wednesday and Library Loot, February 21th

WWW Wednesdays is hosted by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. A similar meme, This Week in Books is hosted by Lipsyy Lost and Found.
Description: WWW Wednesday is a weekly event where you share answers Below questions:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?
  
I am currently reading 3 books:

1. I am listening to The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
2. I am half way through The Last Quarter of the Moon by Chi Zijian
3. I am slowly reading The Accidental by Ali Smith

I have finished one book:
Last week I finished Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty.


I am planning to start with the following books:
1. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by John Tiffany
2. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
3. In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez

Hosted by: The Captive Reader and Silly Little Mischief
Description: Library Loot is a weekly event that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.

I got 3 books from the library this week:
1. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by John Tiffany
2. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
3. More Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell

Cosy Reading Night #2

This Wednesday I am joining Cosy Reading Night hosted by lovely Lauren from Lauren And The Books, which is basically 3 hours dedicated to reading in cosy atmosphere with snacks, tea, blankets, candles and so on. This time it is Femmeuary Cosy Reading Night combined together with the Femmeuary, book and movies celebrating women.

I decided not only read but watch a movies as well:
I will start with We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie  and The Beautifull Cassandra by Jane Austen
Then I am hoping to finish The Last Quarter of the Moon by Chi Zijian
and as desert I will watch  Hidden Figures  (2016), I never found time to go to the cinema, so it is high time to do it.
    As for snack I will stick to green tea and my favorite Raffaellos and dark chocolate biscuits.

Sunday Post #29, Femmeuary

The Sunday Post is hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer.  It’s a chance to share news, a post to recap the past week on your blog, showcase books and things received, and share news about what is coming up on the blog for the week ahead. To get in on the Sunday fun, see the rules here: Sunday Post Meme. 

Outside the Blog
     We had guests for the first time in months and I forgot how difficult it is to organize. But anyway it was a pleasure to see friends and enjoy wine and food in a company.
    I am slowly making through Femmeuary, hosted by Lauren from Lauren And The Books channel.
I am reading The Last Quarter of the Moon by Chi Zijian, a slow byt very enjoyable read and The Accidental by Ali Smith, about which I still do not have any opinion.
    It was kind of difficult to find a proper audiobook as I started 3 and put them away as I did not have mood for them.

 Last on the Blog

• On Tuesday 13.02 I reviewed Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
• On Wednesday 14.02 I reviewed The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro 
• On Saturday 17.02 I reviewed The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

Next on the Blog

• I will review Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
• I will publish WWW Wednesday and Library Loot

Read and Watched
I finished The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy books last week, and started 2 new

1. The Accidental by Ali Smith
2. The Last Quarter of the Moon by Chi Zijian

Newcomers on my Shelf
nothing this week.

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy

Author: Arundhati Roy
Original title: The God of Small Things
Pages: 416
Edition Language: Russian
Series: no
Format: e-book
Genres: Historical Fiction
Goodreads

Blurb:    
    The year is 1969. In the state of Kerala, on the southernmost tip of India, fraternal twins Esthappen and Rahel fashion a childhood for themselves in the shade of the wreck that is their family. Their lonely, lovely mother, Ammu, fled an abusive marriage to live with their blind grandmother, Mammachi, their beloved uncle Chacko, and their enemy, Baby Kochamma, grandaunt. When Chacko's English ex-wife brings their daughter for a Christmas visit, the twins learn that things can change in a day, that lives can twist into new, ugly shapes, even cease forever, beside their river...
My thoughts: 
      This book literally broke me. I do not what happened and why this somehow ordinary family drama resonated with me so much. I cannot deny that the greatest impact was made by the author's style. The story unfolded in some sort of honey stream around me making me comfortable and sleepy, extraordinary description of ordinary things made me feel light and cheerful watching two small twins at their games.
    The story jumps from one situation to another in such a way, that a reader, enchanted by the lyrical style comes out to a bloomy clearing in the woods of life, he can see green grass flowers of various colors and bees. But something is not right, while walking through this flourishing lushness, we find different pieces of decomposing body, with all its ugliness and horror: envy, spite, hate, despair and loneliness. All those pieces can be placed together to form a body of blind fate that struck and smashed this family, leaving everyone with broken heart to linger out their lives.
      I had a great temptation to search for a guilty party: nothing happens without ignition, but being guilty of one thing does leave a person responsible for the events that gather speed fed by incidents, misunderstandings and small things. It is better to leave it alone and perceive it as random, chaotic as a swollen river, exhibition of fate.

Rating:  

    4,5/5