What I Was Up To
Nothing much except for working, working, and working some more. The first three months of the year are just the worst! However, I actually managed to finally ride again. Haven’t been on horseback since my accident last summer. And managed to sort of fall off while mounting. That was new. It was quite dangerous for a couple of seconds because if I had let go sooner, I might have ended up with a hoof in my face. Fortunately, I made it to the ground safely and on my feet. Unfortunately, I have no idea when I’ll be able to ride again since we’re now on Corona lockdown …
Readingwise, the month was alright. I didn’t make my 2,500 pages goal but I came close. The books I read were a mixed bag, though. While the rating might not show that at first glance, I had issues with almost all of them – except for my childhood favourite!
SuBsalabim
This month, I actually managed to finish all of the books that were picked out for me!
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The Diary of a Bookseller (The Book Shop, #1) by Shaun Bythell • 4/5
I’ve got mixed feelings about this one: absolutely loved the content (well, 80% of it – some parts, like the fishing, just weren’t my cup of tea), did not like the tone at all. It was great to get an inside look into the British book industry and the inner workings of a second hand bookshop. However, the way Bythell describes his employees and customers is supposed to be funny, but I found his dry and snarky comments rather offensive. Review to come!
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Entwined by Heather Dixon • 3/5
I love fairytale retellings but this one made me feel like I might have outgrown them. I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I might have a couple of years ago. While I liked the magical aspects and the cute love stories of the three eldest sisters, this book was way too long! Part of the problem is that it’s a retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses – and twelve’s just a couple too many sisters to properly keep track of. Review to come!
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Because You Love to Hate Me: 13 Tales of Villainy by Ameriie (Ed.) • 3/5
Wow, super disappointed in this one! It barely made the three stars. I didn’t know what I expected, definitely not what I got. Almost all the stuff written by the bloggers and booktubers was some kind of overly repetitive pseudo essays – unnecessary and boring. The stories from the authors ranged from superb (Victoria Schwab’s “Death Knell”) to infuriating (Cindy Pon’s “Beautiful Venom”, Susan Dennard’s “Shirley & Jim”). Some prompts and their execution were fascinating, others quite bland. Review to come!
What I’ve Also Read
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The Hazel Wood (The Hazel Wood, #1) by Melissa Albert • 3/5
This one reminded me a lot of Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart – albeit it’s for an older audience and darker. Unfortunately, that’s not always a good thing, since I do have my issues with that book and The Hazel Wood befell the same fate: while I was invested in the characters and story in the beginning, I completely lost interest in the middle – up to a point I seriously considered dnfing. And I never dnf. So I continued on and it picked up again towards the end, but I will not continue this series. However, I loved the dark and twisted fariytales so much, I will definitely read that collection, if it ever comes out (and Goodreads suggests that it will). Review to come!
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Die Fließende Königin (Merle, #1) by Kai Meyer • 5/5
[The Flowing Queen / The Water Mirror (Dark Reflections, #1)]There aren’t many books/series I would call formative, but this one’s one of the few for sure! Rereading it for the sequel to be published almost 20 years after this book, it felt like coming home. Like once upon a time, I knew these words by heart, and they keep coming back with each sentence I read. The world, the characters, the language, the writing – this is my kind of cozy. And I was also so surprise since for some reason, I remembered this one being more like MG. Probably, because I first read it when I was twelve. But hot damn, it is so not MG. It’s so dark! It will forever be one of my favourites. Can’t recommend it enough!
What I’ve Read for Work
Disclaimer: I can’t really talk about the books, since they are scheduled for autumn 2020 and haven’t been announced yet.
I read four picture books – one artistically stunning (and very blue), one very funny with lots of details, and two non-fiction (one about fish and one about squirrels). Additionally, I read a story book for younger children about a group of animals and helping each other as well as some kind of a YA friendship murder mystery.
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