Wrap-Up October 2015

12th December 2015

What I Was Up To

October is one of my favourite months of the year. It’s usually the epitome of what autumn, my favourite season, is all about: sunny days, rainy days, crisp air, creeping fog, colourful leaves, the smell of earth, pumpkin soup, and lots and lots of comfy reading time.

Furthermore, it’s the month of the Frankfurt Bookfair, which is usually the best week of the year. There’s just something magical about spending 5 days surrounded by books, meeting your bookish friends, authors, and in my case colleagues and heading home with countless new books. It’s fun, it’s exciting, and it’s so very very exhausting. But we all love it anyway. I was very busy since it was the second year I was there professionally, so I didn’t manage to visit every single hall. I’m still a little sad they changed the hall system and got rid of our beloved hall 8, which has always been a place of tranquility inbetween the chaos and crowds of the more popular halls. As a result, the stands of the English publishers were like fortresses and one didn’t either run a chance or dare to browse through their shelves. Since I’m terribly lazy, I won’t write a full post. If you want to read more about it and look at tons of pretty pictures, check out Joséphine’s blog.

I also spent a lovely weekend at home. In case you missed it, I come from a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. Said nowhere is gorgeous, though, and my mum and I go hiking whenever I’m home. This time, she dragged me up a rather steep mountain path. It was incredibly exhausting but the view was gorgeous. I also spend time with my (friend’s) beloved horses. I’m currently trying to accustom them to a big blue tarp. I got two of them to walk across it and even managed to wrap them into it. I always wanted to do that!

Then uni started again, which is actually mostly fine because my timetable is hilarious. I’m not even sure how they get away with naming the whole thing a Master’s programme, but I won’t complain as long as I get a job in publishing afterwards. And it’s fun and the classes are great and I actually want to write a couple more posts on my studies but I just don’t know when I’ll be able to do so.

Over the last weekend, my mum came to visit me and we had a nice time together. We went shopping, to an Indian restaurant, to the little adorable theatre that specialises in crime plays, and hiked around Lake Starnberg in the mist – that cleared exactly the second we left the shore because we had to head back to the city. At least my mum got a glimpse of the Alps in the background from the train.

What I Read

WU_2015_10

  1. Dracyr: Das Herz der Schatten by Susanne Gerdom
    [LT: Dracyr: The Heart of the Shadows]

    I started this book because I was craving a fantasy romance. Yes, in this order. I wanted a great fantasy novel with an epic romance between a kickass girl and a dark and dangerous guy, especially after Seelenkuss by Lynn Raven had been such a disappointment the previous month. Except I got an unbelievable romance between two weak characters with a couple of fantasy elements instead. Just … why?! There was so much potential. Furthermore, this reads like the first book in a series. It’s not completely open-ended, but there are a couple of  plotlines left hanging in thin air. I’m not sure there will ever be a sequel, though. 2/5

  2. The Archived (The Archived, #1) by Victoria Schwab
    [dt. Das Mädchen, das Geschichten fängt]
  3. The Unbound (The Archived, #2) by Victoria Schwab
  4. Leave the Window Open (The Archived, #2.5) by Victoria Schwab

    I finally read not only one but two novels (and a short story) by Victoria Schwab. Now I feel very accomplished. I did enjoy them a lot, although I wasn’t completely blown away. I seldom am these days though. The worst thing about reading those books: I now desperately want to read the third novel. Hahaha. Great. Thanks, y’all. 4-4-3/5

  5. Im Zwielicht (Tagebuch eines Vampirs, #1) by Lisa J. Smith
    [OT: The Awakening (The Vampire Diaries, #1)]
  6. Bei Dämmerung (Tagebuch eines Vampirs, #2) by Lisa J. Smith
    [OT: The Struggle (The Vampire Diaries, #2)]
  7. In der Dunkelheit (Tagebuch eines Vampirs, #3) by Lisa J. Smith
    [OT: The Fury (The Vampire Diaries, #3)]
  8. In der Schattenwelt (Tagebuch eines Vampirs, #4) by Lisa J. Smith
    [OT: Dark Reunion (The Vampire Diaries, #4)]

    What. The. Hell. I mean, I have lots of issues with the TV version of TVD, although I really enjoyed the first three seasons nevertheless (and then I stopped watching). The books, though … How did they ever think this source material was worth anything?!  I’d read the first novel in 2009 and didn’t like it much back then. I should have gotten rid of the books immediately. Nope, instead, I thought it would be a good idea to come back to them.  To be honest, it was quite fun. They’re really short, the writing is simple and the plot and characters are so bad, it’s hilarious. However, I don’t recommend wasting your time by reading those books. 1-1-1-1/5

  9. Blindes Vertrauen (Eine wahre Pferdegeschichte) by Margot Berger
    [LT: Blind Trust (A True Horse Story)]
  10. Freundschaftsprobe (Eine wahre Pferdegeschichte) by Margot Berger
    [LT: Friendship Trial (A True Horse Story)]
  11. Kopfüber ins Abenteuer (Zoe: Das Glück hat vier Hufe, #1) by Angela Waidmann
    [LT: Headfirst into Adventure (Zoe: Fortune Has Four Hooves, #1)]
  12. Die Wolkenpferde by Jill Pinkwater
    [OT: Cloud Horse]

    The first batch of horse novels for my I-desperately-need-to-read-more-horse-novels-to-battle-my-growing-TBR-so-I’ll-try-to-read-four-a-month-which-still-won’t-be-enough-but-at-least-I-can-keep-up-appearances-challenge. It was an eclectic mix from boring to death to great entertainment. 4 down, about 390 to go. Oh, and I’m actually going to review them! At least that’s the plan. 3-3-4-2/5

  13. Code Name Verity (Code Name Verity, #1) by Elizabeth Wein

    This book. Heartbreaking. Earth shattering. Perfection. And even worse than the first time around since I knew exactly what was coming. God, I cried. Review from my first read can be found here. It just won’t do this masterpiece the justice it deserves. 5/5

 

Stats

Including pages of books I haven’t finished yet.

In Books
In Pages
Read 13 Read 3368
First Reads 11 Pages/Day 109
Re-reads 2 Pages/Book 259
Share with:

Leave a Reply to Maraia Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

2 responses

  • The worst thing about The Archived series is DEFINITELY not having the last book, you’re right. But at least Victoria Schwab has promised that it is still coming.

    I’d love to hear more about your Master’s program if you have time. I actually have no idea what kind of classes you would take for a publishing degree. 🙂

    • I really really hope it does. I hate being left hanging in the air, especially when a series is really good.

      Maybe I’ll have time over Christmas to write a post or two. It’s really fun (most of the time at least 😉 ).

Cookie Consent with Real Cookie Banner