Weekend Wrap-up #10

The Sunday post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer. It's a chance to share news, a post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things you have received.

This was my last week of training at the workplace, so from Monday I'm on my own. Hopefully everything will go well.

Yesterday we went to the bath with my best friend. We swam so much, I was extremely tired by the end of the day, but it was so good to take advantage of the summer at last. We didn't expect we'd have nice weather but in the end I looked like a tomato because of the sunburn. I still do, I have to apply a thick layer of creme on my face, shoulders and chest to reduce the pain a bit.

Yesterday I finished reading Bring Me Their Hearts by Sara Wolf, my review is coming on June 27th.

I'm currently reading Mrs. Sherlock Holmes by Brad Ricca for the Timeless book club, The Lucy Preston Literary Society.

I'm planning to start Edward Albee's play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf next week.

I'd really like to put my review of Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman up on the blog next week too.

Recent posts on the blog:

Sunday: Review – Clowders by Vanessa Morgan

Wednesday: WWW Wednesday #16

Friday: Book Beginning and the Friday 56 #18 – featuring Mrs. Sherlock Holmes by Brad Ricca

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews that makes it possible to share with other bookworms what books you added to your shelves – physical or virtual – during the week. 

Physical books:

Title: Ready Player One

Author: Ernest Cline

Goodreads

I know, I'm a little bit late to the game but I'm curious what the hype was about. I'll watch the movie after reading the book and will decide if I want to do a comparison post or will stick with a review. I'm glad I've got to own this book at last and that I have a chance to pick it up soon. 

Title: East of Eden

Author: John Steinbeck

Goodreads

I've been planning to read East of Eden for so long now. It's one of my mother's favourite books. I've read Of Mice and Men from Steinbeck, I know he was an incredibly talented writer and so I can't wait to start this epic family story of his.

Title: Hold Your Own

Author: Kate Tempest 

Goodreads

A poetry collection at last. A sequence of poems about the prophet Teiresias to be exact. The gender change that happens in this work interests me a lot, not to mention I've wanted to familiarize myself with Kate Tempest's poetry for some time know. It will be a wonderful ride I'm sure.

ARC:

Title: The Oddling Prince

Author: Nancy Springer

Source: NetGalley

Goodreads

I saw this book on many other blogs and the reviews usually say good things about it. My request on NetGalley got approved in 10 minutes which is a new record, haha. 

Please leave  link to your weekend post below so I can go and visit your blog. Enjoy the weekend!

Weekend Wrap-up #2

The Sunday post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer. It's a chance to share news, a post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things you have received.

This week went by very fast and relatively uneventful. The snow is melting at last which gives me hope that spring is knocking at our doors. I'd really love to go for more walks but only if it's not freezing cold outside.

My left eye was inflamed yesterday but luckily it got better fast (I dabbed at it with a cotton pad soaked in camomile tea – gosh, I hate the smell of camomile...). Now I'm allowed to strain my eyes again, yay! XD

I've finished one novel and one short story this week one of which I enjoyed, and one that wasn't very much to my liking. Reviews are on the way.

Posts this week:

• Goodreads Monday: Death or Ice-Cream?
• Tell Me Something Tuesday: Books I can't wait to share with my kids
• Words, words, words: NTLive Hamlet with Benedict Cumberbatch Review
• Book Beginnings and the Friday 56 - Hiding by Jenny Morton Potts
• Review – Oops, Caught by Alli Reshi

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews that makes it possible to share with other bookworms what books you added to your shelves – physical or virtual – during the week.

I have only one new ARC to show you this week:

Title: Oops, Caught (Expanding Horizon #1)

Author: Alli Reshi

Source: NetGalley

Goodreads

Synopsis:

Mark Noland can’t figure out how he got into such a fix. How does an ex-mercenary (okay, an almost-reformed mercenary) get himself caught, stuck in a holding cell, on a hostile alien planet? Held captive by strange bug-like creatures who’d just as soon eat him as look at him. How can a simple mission go so awry? To make matters worse, Noland’s not alone. His fellow prisoner, a certain high-ranking, elite Stella officer holds him responsible for their failed plan. Yeah, it was supposed to be a quick in and quick out sort of mission. But no… Officer Gavnson just can’t let it go.

It’s not so easy trying to plan an escape when Noland keeps getting distracted by how his mission partner so very nicely fills out his uniform. And he suspects Gavnson is hiding something, too. As tensions run high, secrets are revealed that will change the both of them. There’s nothing like gunfights and running for your life to make that special bond.

It's a very short lgbtq sci-fi novella. My review will be up soon. 

I also have something else to share with you: a book-related DVD I've purchased recently:

I've seen this Onegin film adaptation ages ago and loved it a lot. It was around the time when in high school I had an Onegin phase and couldn't shut up about Pushkin's novel. Now that I'm gonna meet Toby Stephens in the summer at London Film and Comic Con, I've decided to revisit some of his older projects and this film is among them (he plays Lensky in it). Can't wait to discover if I'll still rate this movie as high as I would have done 10 years ago.

How was your week? What books did you add to your library? 

Leave your links down below, please!

Have a nice weekend!!

Weekend Wrap-up #8

The Sunday post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer. It's a chance to share news, a post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things you have received.

I've spent most of this week in Eger (a lovely little Hungarian town and hometown of my boyfriend). We had a good time – we visited his grandma, took long walks and binge-watched tv shows on Netflix (Timeless and Killjoys).

I'm living in constant anxiety these days because NBC hasn't renewed Timeless yet and that show has become soooo important to me I cannot even....... Seriously guys, if you feel like doing me a favour, please watch the two-hour season final this Sunday at 9/8 c live. My heart will surely break if the ratings won't be convincing enough and Timeless won't make it. (If you don't know what Timeless is, you can read my Timeless Showtime post here.)

 

This evening I'm planning to watch Eurovision, which will be fun, I'm sure. The Hungarian contestants seem to be popular this year so we have a good chance to end up close to the top. Fingers crossed.

My reading progress this week is a bit slower than usual and it's bugging me. I've started reading The Stolen Girl by Zia Wesley but I'm considering picking up something else as well and read more books simultaneously like I did last month because then I can do some mood-reading, which may lead to a more steady progress.

Recent posts on the blog:

Monday: Goodreads Monday #13

Wednesday: WWW Wednesday #13

Friday: Book Beginnings and the Friday 56 #14

I have no incoming books to show you this week. Actually I'm proud of myself for not giving in to the NetGalley pull in the past few days. 

I'd really like to post my Red Queen review tomorrow and my Nothing But Sky review next week, so you have those to look forward to.

Have a nice weekend, Lovelies!

March Wrap-Up, April TBR

Happy Easter, Folks!!!

 

One more month is gone and hopefully Easter will bring us the spring we deserve. 

I know I'm a bit late with this wrap-up post... my only excuse is that I've just got home from my trip to Romania and I didn't have much time to blog there.

I don't have any reason to complain, March was generally a good blogging month for me. I'm a bit behind with my reviews but I'll work on them in April and try to catch up with myself.

Here is a summary of March on Paradise Found:

I've finished six books:

Sawbones by Melissa Lenhardt – Review

Song of Blood & Stone by L. Penelope – Book Tour and Review is coming at the end of April.

Ain't He Precious by Juliette Poe – Review

Oops, Caught by Alli Reshi – Review

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant – Review is coming soon

Hiding by Jenny Morton Potts  – Book Tour and Review is coming on April 4th.

Other posts on the blog in the month of March:

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini – Review
 
For The Love of Fish! – Oscars 2018 + Book Adaptation Tag
 
Some quotes to brighten your day
 
Creating the atmosphere
 
Words, words, words – Review: Hamlet (National Theatre Live) with Benedict Cumberbatch
 
Book Blitz + Giveaway – The Dragon Raider by Ava Richardson

Weekly memes:  

Goodreads Monday (Mar 5, Mar 19, Mar 26) 

Tell Me Something Tuesday (Mar 20)

WWW Wednesday (Mar 7, Mar 14, Mar 28)

Book Beginnings and the Friday 56 (Mar 2, Mar 9, Mar 16, Mar 23, Mar 30)   

Stacking the Shelves (Mar 10)

Weekend Wrap-up (Mar 17, Mar 24, Mar 31)  

Plans for April:

I'd like to read the following books in April (in no particular order):

How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather

The Last Sun by K. D. Edwards 

Nothing But Sky by Amy Trueblood

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard  

How was your March? Did you have a satisfying reading month?

April Wrap-Up, May TBR

We made it to May, Lovelies! Well done us! I'm satisfied with April as a reading month, I hope I can keep the good work up in May too (however I seriously need to catch up with review writing!!)

I enjoyed my first read-along with Brittani from Hope, Faith & Books (thank you for hosting it!) and I managed to finish the first Percy Jackson book with my lil' brother by the end of the months (three cheers for us!).

I'm glad to announce that my Red Tent Giveaway has ended and the winner is... Kimberly from Caffeinated Book Reviewer!!! Congratulations! Today I'll get in touch with her via email and will make sure she gets her prize soon.

Here's a summary of April on Paradise Found:

I've finished five books:

The Shipbuilder by Salina B. Baker – Review

How to Hang a Witch (How to Hang a Witch #1) by Adriana Mather – Review

The Last Sun (The Tarot Sequence #1) by K. D. Edwards – Review is coming soon

Red Queen (Red Queen #1) by Victoria Aveyard – Review is coming soon

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1) by Rick Riordan

Other posts on the blog in the month of April: 

Blog Tour + Review + Giveaway - Hiding by Jenny Morton Potts 

Book Tour + Review + Q&A - Song of Blood & Stone by L. Penelope

Book Tour + Review - The Shipbuilder by Salina B. Baker

Review + Giveaway - The Red Tent by Anita Diamant 

My Trip to Oradea in Pictures

Book Blitz - Death Island by Kelsey Ketch

Book Blitz - Wings of Flesh and Bones by Cathrina Constantine

Red Queen Read-Along Update #1 

Red Queen Read-Along Update #2

Discussion - Confessions of a Slow Reader 

Weekly Memes:

Goodreads Monday (Apr 16, Apr 30)

WWW Wednesday (Apr 11, Apr 18, Apr 25) 

Book Beginnings on Friday and the Friday 56 (Apr 6, Apr 13)

Weekend Wrap-up (Apr 7, Apr 14, Apr 21)

Plans for May

I'd like to read the following books in May (in no particular order):

The Stolen Girl (The Veil and the Crown #1) by Zia Wesley

Clowders by Vanessa Morgan 

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

Winter Eternal (The River That Flows Two Ways #1) by E. Thomas Joseph

Was April a good month for you? I'd love to read your monthly wrap-up posts, so leave links for me please!!

February Wrap-Up, March TBR

February went by very fast, and here we are in the spring. Well, Europe is mostly under snow at the moment but never mind, just keep sliding on.

February was a very good blogging month for me and I'm proud of myself for devoting a lot of time to Paradise Found in the past few weeks. I'd like to keep it up because I enjoy writing my blog posts and – above all  – reading, so I can write them, haha.

I appreciate your comments and the support that comes with them. Please, let them coming in March too. Stay with me on the way, guys.


Here is a summary of February on Paradise Found:

I've finished four books:

The Desert Spear (Demon Cycle #2) by Peter V. Brett – Review

The Dark Unseen (Unseen Series #0.5) by Andrew C. Jaxson – Review

Pirate's Curse by Leigh Anderson and Rebecca Hamilton – Review

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (The review is on the way)

Other posts on the blog in the month of February:

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson – Review 

Showtime #2 – Black Sails

The Longest Book Tag

Favourite places to read 

Some books I've read, loved, but do not own a physical copy of yet 

If a genie were to grant me three bookish wishes...

Weekly memes:

Goodreads Monday (Feb 12, Feb 19, Feb 26) 

Tell me Something Tuesday (Feb 13)

WWW Wednesday (Feb 21, Feb 28)

Book Beginnings and the Friday 56 (Feb 9, Feb 16, Feb 23)

Stacking the Shelves (Feb 24)

Plans for March: 

Probably I'll be reading the following books (in no particular order): 

Hiding by Jenny Morton Potts

The Shipbuilder by Salina B. Baker (I've just realised this book is currently available for free on the author's website. Click here if you'd like to download it.)

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

Song of Blood & Stone by L. Penelope

For March 16 I have a ticket to watch HamletBatch, an NTLive screening of Hamlet with Benedict Cumberbatch as the Danish prince. I'll make sure to let you guys know how I liked it.

My next review will be of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini; you can expect it to be up this week.

How was your reading month? Let me know in a comment below!

May Wrap-Up, June TBR

Summer is here folks and I'm wishing for fall (the weather is too hot for my liking already). But let's not jump ahead so fast. I'm hopeful that this is going to be a really good summer, filled with events and trips that I'm already looking forward to. 

In the month of June my focus will probably solely directed on work though. Since I'm new at the company I'll have a lot to learn this month, but hey... you gotta start somewhere.

I'm still trying to figure out a reading routine that could work now that 8 hours are taken from my day. During the training weeks I'll probably have some extra studying to do at home too, but I'll do my best to be efficent and I'll make sure to leave myself time to relax with a good book after the hard work.

I really hope I can finish at least 4 books this month too. One of these books will be a play (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee), which makes my life easier because I usually fly through plays. 

I'm very excited to join my fellow Clockblockers in a read-along of Mrs. Sherlock Holmes by Brad Ricca. Some people had the amazing idea to start a Timeless book club (in which we read books that are related to the tv show in some way) and this is the first title that we'll discuss. I can't wait to learn more about Grace Humiston, badass female detective of the 1910s.

Here's a summary of May on Paradise Found:

I've finished four books:

Nothing But Sky by Amy Trueblood – Review

The Stolen Girl (The Veil and the Crown #1) by Zia Wesley – Review

Clowders by Vanessa Morgan – My review is coming soon

Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman – My review is coming soon

Other posts on the blog in the month of May:

Book Tour (Excerpt) – Succubus Lips by Lina Jubilee

5 Genres of Fiction I'd Like to Read More Of

Weekly Memes:

Goodreads Monday (May 7, May 21) 

Tell Me Something Tuesday (May 22)

WWW Wednesday (May 9, May 23, May 30)

Book Beginnings and the Friday 56 (May 4, May 11, May 18, May 25)   

Weekend Wrap-up (May 5, May 12, May 26)

Plans for June

I'd like to read the following books in May (in no particular order):

Bring Me Their Hearts by Sara Wolf 

(For book tour)

Winter Eternal (The River That Flows Two Ways #1) by E. Thomas Joseph

Mrs Sherlock Holmes by Brad Ricca 

(For the Timeless Book Club. Join here if you're interested: Lucy Preston Literary Society)

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edwards Albee

Did May treat you well? Please leave a link to your monthly wrap-up post if you'd like me to read it! :)

Weekend Wrap-up #5

The Sunday post is a weekly meme hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer. It's a chance to share news, a post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things you have received.

This week was about job interviews for me and my boyfriend too. Fingers crossed we'll soon be able to start our life together in earnest because we've been waiting for long enough to do that.

I watched The Greatest Showman recently and I CAN'T STOP listening to the soundtrack. I hum the songs all day and dance to them too when no one's watching. I'm totally obsessed with the film, it's pure magic.

This week I posted my Red Tent review at last and my first ever giveaway is live too (please check below). No one has entered it yet, I don't know if it's because of a lack of interest or perhaps I messed something up with the giveaway itself (?) I'm a little worried, haha.

This was altogether a good reading week for me, I finished The Shipbuilder by Salina B. Baker (My review is coming tomorrow) and I'm making good progress with all three books I'm reading at the moment (see the titles in the 'Currently reading' section on the sidebar).

Posts on the blog this week:

Monday: Book Blitz - Death Island by Kelsey Ketch 

Tuesday: Review + Gieveaway - The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

Wednesday: WWW Wednesday #10

Thursday: Red Queen read-along update #1

Friday: Book Beginnings on Friday and the Friday 56 #12

Click on the picture if you'd like participate in my Red Tent giveaway!

 

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews that makes it possible to share with other bookworms what books you added to your shelves – physical or virtual – during the week.

I added a new e-arc to my collection this week. I read Stephen King's Salem's Lot earlier this year and since it was a pleasant surprise I thought maybe the time has come for me to take a few tentative steps towards the horror genre and try some other scary books. I sincerely hope I won't be afraid of cats forever after reading Clowders, haha.

Title: Clowders

Author: Vanessa Morgan

Publication Date: March 1st, 2018

Source: NetGalley

Goodreads

Synopsis:

Clervaux, Luxembourg. This secluded, picturesque town in the middle of Europe is home to more cats than people. For years, tourists have flocked to this place – also known as “cat haven” - to meet the cats and buy cat-related souvenirs.

When Aidan, Jess and their five-year-old daughter, Eleonore, move from America to Clervaux, it seems as if they've arrived in paradise. It soon becomes clear, though, that the inhabitants' adoration of their cats is unhealthy. According to a local legend, each time a cat dies, nine human lives are taken as a punishment. To tourists, these tales are supernatural folklore, created to frighten children on cold winter nights. But for the inhabitants of Clervaux, the danger is darkly, horrifyingly real.

Initially, Aidan and Jess regard this as local superstition, but when Jess runs over a cat after a night out in the town, people start dying, one by one, and each time it happens, a clowder of cats can be seen roaming the premises.

Are they falling victim to the collective paranoia infecting the entire town? Or is something horrible waiting for them? Something unspeakably evil.

Aidan and Jess' move to Europe may just have been the worst decision they ever made.

How was your week? Any good news? Any new books? Let me know in a comment below!

Red Queen Read-Along Update #2

Synopsis:

The Reds are commoners, ruled by a Silver elite in possession of god-like superpowers. And to Mare Barrow, a seventeen-year-old Red girl from the poverty-stricken Stilts, it seems like nothing will ever change. 

That is, until she finds herself working in the Silver Palace. Here, surrounded by the people she hates the most, Mare discovers that, despite her red blood, she possesses a deadly power of her own. One that threatens to destroy the balance of power.

Fearful of Mare's potential, the Silvers hide her in plain view, declaring her a long-lost Silver princess, now engaged to a Silver prince. Despite knowing that one misstep would mean her death, Mare works silently to help the Red Guard, a militant resistance group, and bring down the Silver regime.

But this is a world of betrayal and lies, and Mare has entered a dangerous dance - Reds against Silvers, prince against prince, and Mare against her own heart.

Goodreads | Amazon

This read-along is coming to an end on Monday but I promised you a second update before I post my review so here we go.

I'm currently in chapter 24, on page 306 out of 388 

BUT I'll only summarize my thoughts about chapters 12-21 now to leave something to reflect on in my review too.

There have been quite a few twists along the way regarding the characters. Mare, of course, as one would expect, joined the Red Guard; no surprises there. On the boy front however, I don't even know what to think. Both the princes stand on the opposite side to where I would have imagined them to stand. And Kilorn – he is an enigma to me. In the beginning of the book he was straight out scared of fighting in the war and now he is in the midst of things completely willingly. Go figure. 

Actually I don't mind getting something else than what I expected, it keeps the whole situation interesting and it keeps me guessing. I have this feeling Maven is not who he makes himself out to be. There is a reason why the line "Anyone can betray anyone" appears in the book so many times and I'm about 70% sure Maven is leading Mare by the nose. Then again, maybe I'm mistaken, we have yet to see if I'm right or not. 

The politics is intriguing, especially because all of the characters are caught up in its net. You can't help but look at the happenings from two angles – the thing is, on some level I understand Cal's reasoning too. There are no clearly good choices, nothing is white or black and probably whatever happens, there will be bloodshed.

We still don't know much about Mare's power, my main question – why does she have it?? – hasn't been answered yet. I'm not sure we'll get an explanation in this book, maybe in the next one...? 

I'm still captured by the Red Queen and can't wait to see how the first book ends. A non-cliffhanger ending is too much to hope for right??

 

A character I like: Julian!! Let him be okay, please.

A character I hate: (and NOT love to hate!) Evangeline. She is clearly jealous of Mare and she has anger management issues. 

A character I want to see more of: I will go with more characters here, Mare's brothers. We only know them from Mare's thoughts and from a brief meeting when Mare visited her home once. I'd like to know more about them.

I hope you enjoyed this update post, you can expect my full review of the Red Queen next week!