Maybe you’ve wondered what I’ve been up to this past month. Although I do blog very infrequently, I’ve never been so absent – except for the time I wrote my Bachelor thesis. So, where the hell have I been? Pretty much between the pages of those …

Anna zu Pferde [Anna on Horseback] has everything young Ellie wanted in a novel: a kickass heroine, horses, a great atmospheric setting, a family mystery, and an unexpected romance. Reading it for a second time, the mystery fades into the background but I came to appreciate the historical setting much more than I did when I was younger. Just in case you were wondering: first and foremost, this is actually historical fiction. The title of this novel comes from the title of a painting of Anna and her horse that’s part of the story. Given that it is 1630, horses have to play a part if a character wants to get from A to B. Nevertheless, Anna’s close relationship to her horse is present but never in the foreground . . .

I think when one hears the term classic, one immediately thinks of old, literary novels. Still, every genre has its classics and every person has a different opinion guided by personal preferences and context. So here are some of the novels I read and consider classics …

Oh yes, indeed I have! There are currently 32 novels on my ordered shelf – however, most of them are from Better World Books or Thalia and just take their time to get here. But I do have a couple of actual pre-orders, too …

I got tagged yet again by the lovely Ric of Bed, Book & Tea. So, let’s get going …

WHAT. THE. HELL?! I see all these figures and can’t believe that they are correct. It’s crazy. I think I’ve never read more pages (at least not during the last 4 years) and it’s been a very very long time since I read/finished so many books over the course of one month. And all of this happened although I was fighting a reading slump, which meant that I had to force myself to read more often than not. But thanks to the 7 Days 7 Books readathon, I finished a great deal of novels that spent way too much time on my currently reading shelf. I’m so glad I participated. It was lots of fun and really helped motivating me …

… in which I list the books I hope to read over the summer months featuring lies, assassins, werewolves and vampires, dystopias, magic, horses, secrets, and Paris.