What I Was Up To

Looking back from where we are now, January feels like a lifetime ago. Back then I only had to worry that I wouldn’t get off my night owl routine after the holidays, that work would be a bit too much, and that I was running out of space for books. Still, the year didn’t start out as planned and then I spend a couple of days pretty much just lounging about, binging the first three seasons of the BBC series Our Girl (usually not my kind of show, but the eye candy … until THAT happened and now I refuse to continue watching).

I started out with a couple of resolutions, of some I’ve already lost track by the time I’m writing this in March. Still, I ended up with a totally newfound and out of character fascination with fitness (never thougth I would use my new TV primarily for doing yoga and fitness excercises) …

Naturally, I also read books. I set my Goodreads goal to 100 books once more. It did work out fine the last couple of years, let’s see if I can keep it up. I would also like to read more pages in total, but that’s not going that great. I set my monthly goal to 2,500 and so far, that hasn’t worked out yet. Anyways, here’s what I read:

SuBsalabim

Another year, another SuBsalabim – the fun TBR challenge I’m doing with a couple of friends. The last round (July to December 2019) went rather badly for me and this year’s also off to a rather rocky start. I only managed to read one of the three books. But at least I enjoyed that one:

1. Winter Rose (Winter Rose, #1) by Patricia A. McKillip • 4/5

   Every time I read a McKillip I tell myself to read more of her books – because I adore her writing style! It’s so dreamy and soft and … magical! Really enjoyed the story and the characters as well, even though it’s a rather quiet story. Review to come!

What I’ve Also Read

1. The Last Wish (The Witcher, #0.5) by Andrzej Sapkowski • 3/5
   

   I knew about The Witcher. I never played the games but I knew there was a book series. I had it on my maybe-to-check-out-sometime list. Cue the Netflix series (that I forced Steffi to binge with me) and I finally managed to actually pick this one up. I did enjoy it though I wasn’t blown away. I really like the world and all those different kinds of “monsters”. The most fascinating was comparing the stories with their corresponding episodes. Will definitely continue.
   

What I’ve Read for Work

1. Eulennacht: In den Gärten von Redmoor [Night of the Owls: In Redmoor Gardens] by Ruth Rahlff

   I was a bit behind on my reading … This one was the very last book of the spring (aka January) releases I had to read. Really liked the setting and the atmosphere – a long lost garden being reawakened. Plus: cute owls!

2. Schatten im Wind (Wolkenherz, #3) by Sabine Giebken

3. Ein Schimmern am Horizont (Wolkenherz, #4) by Sabine Giebken

   Speaking of being behind on my reading. While I inhaled the first book pre-publication back in 2016, I never picked up the rest of the series (even though these are horse novels!). I knew I would read them eventually, but they just never fit in my reading schedules. In autumn 2019, I finally picked the series up again and I love love love love it! Especially the third one, which is my favourite in the whole series. And the last one made me cry so so much! It’s just a perfect mixture of horses, mystery, and history; pretty much three of the ingredients for my perfect kind of horse novel.

4. Bird und ich und der Sommer, in dem ich fliegen lernte [Bird] by Crystal Chan

   Still trying to make my way through ALL of the Magellan books. This one’s from the very first programme in autumn 2014. I did enjoy it quite a bit even though it also made me angry – and cry. A lot. This seems to be a topic in 2020 (which is gooood. I like when books make me cry).

And then there were two books I can’t really talk about yet since they’re scheduled for autumn 2020: one was a non-fiction picture book about the environment, the other a really fun story book with an adorable protagonist who desperately wants a pet to keep her best friend.

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