Behind & Ahead: Feb' 16 / Mar'16

Hi,
I'm so sorry I haven't posted in a week, I just haven't had the inspiration (plus that open letter was a success for me so I wanted to keep it in the first page).
So here we are with another Behind & Ahead!

Behind: February 2016

This month was a...normal month. I mean nothing really good or really bad happened (except that school started again *rolls eyes*).

Books I've read:

• This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith
• To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
• City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

Posts I've written:

• We're Shallowing Hard (my first discussion!)
• Review+Discussion: This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith
• Review+Discussion: To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han
• Who needs a Valentine anyway? (book recommendation+bookish people I love)
• What do you mean when you say an adaptation is "not making justice" to a book?
• Open letter to every downhearted person (including me sometimes)

Ahead: March 2016

I have really high hopes for this month. I actually want to read all my ARCs.

That was a good joke. That's probably impossible. Plus some exams might be coming.

But let's just hope.

Of course I'm not going to put all the books for review I have to read in my March TBR (I'm not crazy I really want to complete this TBR).

Books I plan on reading:

• The Girl From Everywhere by Heidi Heilig (which I'm currently reading and adoring so far)
• The Jewel by Amy Ewing (which I'm also currently reading and enjoying so far)
• Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (as part of The Reading Rebels book club of whom I'm now one of the moderators and I'm so happy)

I wanted to put more books but...I probably won't even complete these ones so why push myself? It's useless.

What books have you read in February? Do you plan on reading any books on March?

open letter to every downhearted person (including me sometimes)

Dear downhearted person,

I know you're sad, unmotivated, discouraged, I don't need to know why to say: I understand you. Everyone has been through this thousands of times in his life. Life is made of ups and downs, and ups would not be here if there wasn't downs, and vice-versa.

What do you mean when you say an adaptation is "not making justice" to a book?

I ran out of pictures, okay?

I feel like a million of books are turned into a movie or a TV show: Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hunger Games, Divergent, The Mortal Instruments... (though they should make a movie or a TV show for The Infernal Devices too -just saying-), and I'm sure I forgot a lot of books.

We, readers, love to see our favorite books taking life by being made into a movie or a TV show, it makes us feel overwhelmed and happy.

Who needs a Valentine anyway? (book recommendation + bookish people I love)

It's Valentine's Day!

Guess who has nothing to do today? *raises both hands*

(Well, technically I have homework to do but...laziness is taking over my life.)

But who needs a Valentine when you have a book (boyfriend) and some amazing bookish friends to talk to?

Review+Disccussion: To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

Author: Jenny Han

Publisher: Scholastic (August 7th, 2014)

Genre: Contemporary

Pages: 420

Synopsis: 
Lara Jean keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. One for every boy she's ever loved. When she writes, she can pour out her heart and soul and say all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly Lara Jean's love life goes from imaginary to out of control...

Review+Discussion: This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

Author: Jennifer E. Smith

Publisher: Headline Book Publishing (UK edition)

Publication date: October 23rd, 2013 (UK edition), first published October 2nd, 2013 (US hardcover edition)

Genre: Contemporary

Pages: 404 (UK edition)

Synopsis: If fate sent you an email, would you answer?

When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O'Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds. 

Then Graham finds out that Ellie's Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media's spotlight at all costs?

Goodreads

We're Shallowing Hard

I know, the verb "shallowing" doesn't exist, but I don't care. I just created it.

It would be cheesy and boring if the title was: The book community is shallow.

Because it is. And I hate to admit it (I admit it now but I don't hate writing this post). Sometimes we make a fuss over nothing.

Behind & Ahead: Jan '16/ Feb '16

I totally copied from got inspired by Xan at Twirling Pages to do wrap-ups and TBRs a little differently... I present to you: Behind & Ahead!

Behind: January 2016

This month was quite a busy one. I had a lot of exams and school took over my life. HOWEVER, I managed to read some books and write a lot of posts, which I'm pretty happy about.

The Infinity Dreams Awards

The lovely amazing human being Claudia at PenMarkings tagged me to do the Infinity Dreams Awards. Thank you so much, Claudia!

I'm kinda bad at tags, but... why not? It sounds so much fun.

Review+Discussion: Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

Series: Throne of Glass (Book 3)

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing (September 2nd, 2014)

Pages: 576

Genre: High Fantasy

Synopsis:
Celaena has survived deadly contests and shattering heartbreak―but at an unspeakable cost. Now, she must travel to a new land to confront her darkest truth . . . a truth about her heritage that could change her life―and her future―forever. Meanwhile, brutal and monstrous forces are gathering on the horizon, intent on enslaving her world. Will Celaena find the strength to not only fight her inner demons, but to take on the evil that is about to be unleashed?

Playlist of The Book: Favorite series

Playlist of The Book is an every-two-weeks meme hosted by Sam (Literary Lover) and me. Click here for more info about it.

It's the first Playlist of The Book post!!

I'm very interested to see how this meme is going to develop, and I'm also excited for this post, because today's topic is Favorite Series! Basically, I'm going to pick up books that remind me of my favorite series, or name-of-your-favorite-series themed.

So, my favorite series... What is my favorite series?

I have a lot of favorite series: Harry Potter, The Infernal Devices, Delirium... So it was a little difficult to choose, that's why I went with the series that most of us love: Harry Potter.

Harry Potter is always on my mind. And I usually listen to music. That's why every song I listen too reminds me of Harry Potter and Hogwarts, even if it doesn't have any relation with what happens in the books and the movies.

So when I looked for songs I listen to that have a relation with Harry Potter, I didn't find a lot of them. In fact, I found seven songs.

That's why this playlist is a little bit short.
The titles are linked to the video of the song on YouTube.Because I don't have a Spotify account.

Without further do, here are some songs that remind me of Harry Potter:

Potter Puppet Pals: The Mysterious Ticking Noise

Snape, Snape, Severus Snape... Okay, this may not be an actual song, but let's just say it's one.
This does not just remind me of Harry Potter. IT IS LITERALLY THE BEST HARRY POTTER THEMED SONG I'VE EVER HEARD. Who's this genius? 

But right now it also reminds me of Alan Rickman, and it makes me sad.

The Sorting Hat

This is a video I found on Youtube where someone sings The Sorting Hat song, and oh my god it's so beautifully sang, you have to check it out! I started crying when I first heard it.

See You Again - Charlie Puth & Wiz Khalifa
I know this song is from Fast & Furious, but I don't really know why it reminds me of Harry Potter, maybe because of the lyrics...

Never Be Alone - Shawn Mendes
This reminds me of Lily Potter. Again because of the lyrics...
Also, if you haven't listened to any of Shawn Mendes songs: GO DO IT NOW.

Like I'm Gonna Lose You - Meghan Trainor & John Legend
This song reminds me of Ron and Hermione. It also reminds me that I shipped them from the beginning. ROMIONE ALL THE WAY.

I Was Made For Loving You - Tori Kelly & Ed Sheeran
This also reminds me of Romione... I love them. So much. They're just so funny together, and... *sigh*.

Lego House - Ed Sheeran
The music video has Rupert Grint in it. Seriously, how can this not remind me of Harry Potter.


Here it is, my favorite series playlist (and me fangirling over it). It was a really hard work to put all these links *sigh*.

Hope you enjoyed this post. And I hope you had fun with making a playlist for PoTB (Playlist of The Book) if you did.

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Top 10 Tuesday: Top Ten Books I've Recently Added To My TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish.

Before going to England, I didn't have a huge TBR. No, I didn't have a TBR at all, because since books are expensive where I live, and when I get a book online I have to wait at least three weeks, I didn't have a lot of books.

But then, I went to England, and I came home with A WHOLE SUITCASE FULL OF BOOKS. You probably guessed it, I still didn't read all the books I got in England. I have 26 books left to read, without counting books I don't even plan to read. So it was really difficult to narrow it to 10 books.

Here are my top ten books I've recently added to my TBR:

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

I wasn't a huge fan of Eleanor & Park by the same author, but I have a lot of expectations for this one. I feel like it's going to represent me as a Fangirl.

The Jewel by Amy Ewing

I have really high expectations for this book, even though there's not a lot of hype around it. It's just that the story line intrigues me. It seems different from other books.

This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

 Well, that's a long title.

This story seems so happy. I expect from it to make me smile all along.

To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

Seems like there's a lot of contemporaries. It's just because I kept buying books of this genre, but didn't get to read them, because I'm still not on a contemporary mood. And To All The Boys I've Loved Before is one of these books.

Fairest by Marissa Meyer

I don't plan on reading this book until I get my hands on Winter, but I'm super excited to know Levana's story!

The Elite by Kiera Cass

Yes. I still didn't read The Elite. Shame on me.

City of Glass by Cassandra Clare

City of Bones and City of Ashes were amazing! That's why I'm so excited to dive back into The Mortal Instuments and the Shadowhunters world.

I also read The Infernal Devices, which is a prequel trilogy to The Mortal Instuments, and IT WAS AMAZING. FEELS.

I think that's it. I probably didn't put 10 books in here (I didn't count to be honest), but these are the most important books I've recently added to my TBR.

What are the books that you've recently added to your TBR?

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Presenting to you: Playlist of The Book!

I'm so happy to present to you a new project I've been working on for a while now. And this project is called: Playlist of The Book! Yeah this is a thing about music AND books, how cool is that?
So you're probably asking yourself: What is Playlist of The Book? and probably other questions, it's just this one that comes to my mind. Don't worry, this post is made exclusively for answering your questions.
Let's start by the basic one:

What is Playlist of The Book? Well, Playlist of The Book is (or will be) an every-two-weeks meme hosted by Sam at Literary Lover (which you have to go check out, she's an angel) and me. Yes, you read right. A meme. A NEW MEME coming to you. A meme with music AND books.
So the main idea of this meme is talking about songs/music, that reminds you of a certain genre/book world/bookish subject/book. Every week there will be a (musical and bookish) subject, and you'll create beautiful playlists from these subjects, because you know that moment when you hear a song and you tell yourself: This. Is. Perfect. For. This. Book. Or: This song reflects this book, PERFECTLY. See those songs and their book mate (I bet you're thinking about one now)? These would make a wonderful baby post for Playlist of The Book. Tempted? Open your Spotify account, or your music app on your phone, or YouTube, and start picking songs for these following subjects that will be featured on the next weeks:

Next Week's Theme. We have prepared a little theme for next week, that way you can schedule it earlier (or keep it until the last minute, we all know we do it all the time some times). So next Saturday we'll have our first Playlist of The Book.
On the 23rd of January, the first theme will be...(drums please) Favorite series! That basically means we'll have to make a playlist of songs that reminds us of our favorite series! I feel that will wake feels -just saying.
You're probably asking yourself: and for next weeks, what themes will we have? As for that, I'll write a post (or a page) where I'll update every time themes that will be featured for the next weeks, and I'll make it appear on the Menu, that way every time you need to work on Playlist of The Book you can just check out that post/page.

How to sign up? Well, that's quite easy, bounce up the link to your blog below (it's just for this first time, after that anyone would be able to join), so we can all your beautiful blog!

So, I think that's it, if you have any other question, make sure to ask it in the comments below, I'll try to answer it as soon as possible, or ask it on Sam's blog (Literary Lover).
Thank you so much if you participate in this new meme, we'll be forever thankful.

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An InLinkz Link-up

Review+Discussion: Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

Author: Cassandra Clare

Publisher: Walker Books (September 5th 2013)

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 576

Synopsis:

PS: Do NOT read this if you haven't at least read the two first books in the series

As Tessa prepares to her wedding, a net of shadows begins to tighten around the Shadowhunters of the London Institute. Mortmain needs one last item to complete his plan. He needs Tessa. Jem and Will, the boys who lay equal claim to Tessa's heart, will do anything to save her.

“Life is a book and there are a thousand pages I have not yet read.” 

This series will always hold a special place in my heart.

This last installment in The Infernal Devices trilogy was heartbreaking, and yet I adored it. I felt joy, happiness, heartbreak and sadness while reading this book, and I loved every pages -every word- of it. I found myself seeking time to read it, to jump again to this amazing world. I found myself devouring the last 200 pages of this book. Cassandra Clare knew how to build this world. She knew how to write endings too.
That ending was everything except what I expected. It was sad, and yet loved it, and I cried after reading the epilogue. Cried so much. And I loved it. 
The characters were as amazing as in the first two books. I feel like every character, Tessa, Jem, Will, Sophie, Cecily, and all the others, go through a lot of development in Clockwork Princess especially. 
Tessa is such an amazing character. She's a determined fighter, and an amazing friend. Jem is so soft and sweet, and yet when you give him a blade he turns into a fighter. And...Will *sigh*. He became the love of my life. He's funny, sarcastic, he sacrifices everything for the people he loves. AND he loves books. I fall in love every time he says a quote from a book (even though I didn't read most of those books). And he knows what quote to say in every situation.

“I am catastrophically in love with you.”

I have no words to express how much I love this book. I never read 200 pages of a book in English, until I started this trilogy. This wonderful trilogy.

The author knows how to wake all the feels in your heart in such a wonderful way. The plot keeps going fluently, but it's like the author stabs you artistically in the heart. And you get feels. Those amazing feels in books. 

“You know that feeling,” she said, “when you are reading a book, and you know that it is going to be a tragedy; you can feel the cold and darkness coming, see the net drawing tight around the characters who live and breathe on the pages. But you are tied to the story as if being dragged behind a carriage and you cannot let go or turn the course aside.”

See all those quotes? See this amazing writing style? It's perfect.

" I love all of them. Every word you say. The silly ones, the mad ones, the beautiful ones, and the ones that are only for me. I love them, and I love you.” 

All that is left to say is: read this trilogy if you haven't. It will shatter your heart, but you'll love it. These books will introduce you to a whole new and wonderful world, filled with magical words that make you feel like you're living the story, no, that make you live the story.

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think of it?

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Top 10 Tuesday: Top Five 2015 Releases I Meant To Get To But Didn't

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and The Bookish.

To be honest, there are not a lot of 2015 releases that I wanted to get. I mean, I wanted to get them, but I had to catch up first on 2014, 2013, and 2012 releases. That's why this is a Top Five, not a Top Ten.
So without further do, let's get started:

The Heir by Kiera Cass

Not just that I didn't get this book, but The Elite is still on my TBR pile. Don't get me wrong, I loved The Selection so much, I just don't know why I didn't get around to read the rest of this series. It's probably because I got spoiled a lot about it...

An Ember in The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

This story seems really interesting, all things about The Martial Empire and things like that. I just didn't get to purchase this book. Everyone is raving about A Torch Against The Night, and I'm like: I still didn't read the first one.

The Wrath and The Dawn by Renée Ahdieh

I love A Thousand and One Night, and yet I didn't get to buy this book. Again I don't know why. This book looks amazing, and I never read but good reviews about it. Hope I'll love it too!

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Actually, I wanted to get all of the author's books, but this one was the one I wanted the most. And it's set in LONDON. I love LONDON.

P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han

Fun story about this book: I actually bought it when I traveled to England. And when I was packing to return home, I didn't find it. I told myself I would purchase it again as soon as possible. It seems like I didn't purchased it again oops.

So here it is, my Top Five 2015 releases that I didn't get yet!

Did you read any of these books? If so, did you like it? What are some 2015 releases that you still didn't get?

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ARC Review: Sanctuary Bay by Melinda Metz and Laura J. Burns

Author: Laura J. Burns, Melinda Metz

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (January 19th 2016)

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 320

Synopsis:

When Sarah Merson receives the opportunity of a lifetime to attend the most elite prep school in the country- Sanctuary Bay Academy-it seems almost too good to be true. But, after years of bouncing from foster home to foster home, escaping to its tranquil setting, nestled deep in Swans Island, couldn't sound more appealing. Swiftly thrown into a world of privilege and secrets, Sarah quickly realizes finding herself noticed by class charmer, Nate, as well as her roommate's dangerously attentive boyfriend, Ethan, are the least of her worries. When her roommate suddenly goes missing, she finds herself in a race against time, not only to find her, but to save herself and discover the dark truth behind Sanctuary Bay's glossy reputation.

I was given an E-ARC (digital advances reader's copy) of this book through NetGalley. However, this does NOT affect my opinion.

To be honest, I couldn't finish this book. I put it down after reading half of it. I was quite disappointed with this book.

I was interested in the plot, because the synopsis didn't talk much about the story. It was mysterious, and I wanted to know more.

I couldn't relate to the characters. They seemed so unreal to me. I found their conversations uninteresting, and sometimes even cheesy.

The plot. That's why I put the book down. In the first 60-ish pages, I liked the how the story was going. But then, after something happens (not going to spoil you), the story took another way. And I found no purpose to what was going on.

The writing style was good, though. I liked how the authors mixed the actions with Sarah's (the main character) thoughts.

So you probably guessed it. I didn't like this book. And I don't think I'll continue with it anytime soon. Does that mean I don't recommend it to you? No, go preorder it, or go buy it the day it hit shelves. If I didn't like this book, this does not mean you won't like it either.

Did you read this book? If so, what did you think of it?

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Review+Discussion: Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Author: Cassandra Clare



Publisher: Walker Books (May 3rd 2012)



Genre: YA Fantasy



Pages: 512



Synopsis:

PS: Do NOT read the synopsis if you haven't at least read Clockwork Angel.

Love and lies can corrupt even the purest heart... In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, while her desire for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will – the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do? As their dangerous search for the truth leads the three friends into peril, Tessa's heart is ever more torn, especially when one of their own betrays them...

What can I say?

"We live and breathe words. It was books that made me feel that perhaps I was not completely alone"

I find it difficult to put my feelings towards this book into words. I read this book back in November 2015, and I get feels every time I think about it. And I cannot stop thinking about it.

The plot develops in such a magical and wonderful way. I was always trying to find some time to open this book and dive into the Victorian Era and live adventures with Tessa, Jem, and Will.

William Herondale became the love of my life. I love everything about him. He's funny and sarcastic, beautiful inside and out. He has such a good personality, a rebel one. He loves books and poetry, and I always love it when he says a quote from a book. And I felt like he had a huge character development in this book.

Don't get me wrong, I love Jem too. He's so sweet and beautiful and compassionate. It's just that I love Will even more... I actually love all the characters; Tessa, Will, Jem, Charlotte, Henry, Sophie, and all the others.

I feel like I won't do justice to this series, even if I keep writing about it for hours. So all I'm going to say is: read this series. It's amazing and fantastic.

Did you read this book? If so, what did you think of it?

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Book Haul #1

Some of you requested I start doing book hauls, and I thought it would be a fun idea to start making some. Of course these hauls won't be monthly, because I can't buy more than one or two books per month (yeah, books in my country are that expensive). I will be doing book hauls from time to time,so the next book haul will comport books I will have acquired in the meantime between the first and the second book haul.

In the past month or two, I acquired 5 books. The problem is that, I just read one of these books. My TBR is growing, and I struggle with it. Anyway, here are the books I got:

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

I read this book, and it was amazing! It was even better than the first one in the trilogy, Shadow and Bone! I have a spoiler free review of this book, which you can read here. It was one of my favorite books of 2015!

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

The Throne of Glass series became one of my favorite series of all-time, which means I have to know what happens next! That's why I purchased HoF! I can't wait to read it.

Doctor Who: The Many Hands by Dale Smith

I started watching Doctor Who a while ago, and it's so good! That's why when I saw this book in the bookstore, I couldn't not buy it. AND it was cheap, so the temptation took over me.

Murder On The Orient Express by Agatha Christie

I read one of Agatha Christie's books over the summer, and I really enjoyed it. That's why I tought why not pick another one. And I bought this one.

So, here are the books I've got in the past 2 months. I really hope I can read them soon, along with all the other books I have in my TBR.