Showing posts with label weekend wrap-up. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weekend wrap-up. Show all posts

28 Jul 2019

Weekend Wrap-up #14

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'm thankful we are getting closer to the end of July because summer always brings tougher days at work for me (so many flight cancellations) and so I can't wait for it to be autumn already. Once month to go...

Yesterday we ordered our wedding rings. We've been to several jewellery shops and the choice wasn't easy but we are pleased with the ones we picked in the end (I'll show you Lovelies, along with some wedding pics when we get there).

Yesterday I was off so we  could at last binge the third season of La Casa de Papel (Money Heist). It's one of my favourite Spanish shows at the moment, the characters are to die for and there's so much action in it, I'm always at the edge of my seat while watching. Also, I ship El Profesor and Raquel hard.

I've finished reading The Balance of Heaven and Earth by Laurance Westwood yesterday, my review is coming next week. I'm planning to finish Lady Audley's Secret soon.



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: De Profundis, The Ballad of the Reading Gaol & Other Writings

Author: Oscar Wilde


Synopsis: De Profundis is Oscar Wilde's eloquent and bitter reproach from prison to his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas ("Bosie"). In an extended letter, Wilde accuses Lord Alfred of selfishness, shallowness, parasitism, greed, extravagance, tantrums, pettiness, and neglect. He contrasts this behaviour towards him with the selfless devotion of his close friend, Robert Ross, who became Wilde's literary executor, gave the work its title (from the opening of Psalm 130) and who published a shortened version of it in 1905.

The Ballad of Reading Gaol is a deeply moving and characteristically generous poem on the horrors of prison life. It was published anonymously in 1898, signed only "C.3.3.", Wilde's cell number in Reading Gaol. Wilde himself, released from his two-year prison sentence in 1897, was at the time living in France on the charity of friends and under the pseudonym Sebastian Melmoth.

This collection also includes the essay "The Soul of Men Under Socialism", Wilde's most outspoken defence of anarchy, and two of his Platonic dialogues, "The Decay of Lying" and "The Critic as Artist" in which he puts forward his provocatively witty ideas about art and this social role of the artist.


Title: My Dear Hamilton

Author: Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie


Synopsis:

A general’s daughter…

Coming of age on the perilous frontier of revolutionary New York, Elizabeth Schuyler champions the fight for independence. And when she meets Alexander Hamilton, Washington’s penniless but passionate aide-de-camp, she’s captivated by the young officer’s charisma and brilliance. They fall in love, despite Hamilton’s bastard birth and the uncertainties of war.

A founding father’s wife...

But the union they create—in their marriage and the new nation—is far from perfect. From glittering inaugural balls to bloody street riots, the Hamiltons are at the center of it all—including the political treachery of America’s first sex scandal, which forces Eliza to struggle through heartbreak and betrayal to find forgiveness.

The last surviving light of the Revolution…

When a duel destroys Eliza’s hard-won peace, the grieving widow fights her husband’s enemies to preserve Alexander’s legacy. But long-buried secrets threaten everything Eliza believes about her marriage and her own legacy. Questioning her tireless devotion to the man and country that have broken her heart, she’s left with one last battle—to understand the flawed man she married and the imperfect union he could never have created without her…


ARCs:

Title: Screamcatcher

Author: Christy J. Breedlove


Synopsis:

When seventeen-year-old Jory Pike cannot shake the hellish nightmares of her parent’s deaths, she turns to an old family heirloom, a dream catcher. Even though she’s half blood Chippewa, Jory thinks old Indian lore is so yesterday, but she’s willing to give it a try. However, the dream catcher has had its fill of nightmares from an ancient and violent past. After a sleepover party, and during one of Jory’s most horrific dream episodes, the dream catcher implodes, sucking Jory and her three friends into its own world of trapped nightmares. They’re in an alternate universe—locked inside of an insane web world. How can they find the center of the web, where all good things are allowed to pass?


What has happened to you this week? What are you reading right now?

Please leave your weekend post links below so I can visit your site.

20 Jul 2019

Weekend Wrap-up #13

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.


Long time no see, I know, but please forgive me, lovelies, the wedding bells are ringing for me and I've got much to arrange (the date is September 14). I've also been in a huuuuge reading slump that seems to be leaving me these days, fingers crossed. 

Right now I'm determined to finish The Balance of Heaven and Earth by Laurence Westwood, that I put aside for a while because of all the things that have been going on in my life recently, but that I enjoyed a lot when I still had time to read. I've also picked up Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, a classic I've been eyeing for a while now.


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: Cleopatra's Daughter

Author: Michelle Moran


Synopsis:

At the dawn of the Roman Empire, when tyranny ruled, a daughter of Egypt and a son of Rome found each other...

Selene's legendary parents are gone. Her country taken, she has been brought to the city of Rome in chains, with only her twin brother, Alexander, to remind her of home and all she once had.

Living under the watchful eyes of the ruling family, Selene and her brother must quickly learn how to be Roman – and how to be useful to Caesar. She puts her artistry to work, in the hope of staying alive and being allowed to return to Egypt. Before long, however, she is distracted by the young and handsome heir to the empire...

When the elusive ‘Red Eagle' starts calling for the end of slavery, Selene and Alexander are in grave danger. Will this mysterious figure bring their liberation, or their demise?


Title: Lincoln in the Bardo

Author: George Saunders


Snyopsis:

February 1862. The Civil War is less than one year old. The fighting has begun in earnest, and the nation has begun to realize it is in for a long, bloody struggle. Meanwhile, President Lincoln’s beloved eleven-year-old son, Willie, lies upstairs in the White House, gravely ill. In a matter of days, despite predictions of a recovery, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. “My poor boy, he was too good for this earth,” the president says at the time. “God has called him home.” Newspapers report that a grief-stricken Lincoln returned to the crypt several times alone to hold his boy’s body.

From that seed of historical truth, George Saunders spins an unforgettable story of familial love and loss that breaks free of its realistic, historical framework into a thrilling, supernatural realm both hilarious and terrifying. Willie Lincoln finds himself in a strange purgatory, where ghosts mingle, gripe, commiserate, quarrel, and enact bizarre acts of penance. Within this transitional state—called, in the Tibetan tradition, the bardo—a monumental struggle erupts over young Willie's soul.



Title: Circe

Author: Madeline Miller


Synopsis:
 In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe has neither the look nor the voice of divinity, and is scorned and rejected by her kin. Increasingly isolated, she turns to mortals for companionship, leading her to discover a power forbidden to the gods: witchcraft.

When love drives Circe to cast a dark spell, wrathful Zeus banishes her to the remote island of Aiaia. There she learns to harness her occult craft, drawing strength from nature. But she will not always be alone; many are destined to pass through Circe's place of exile, entwining their fates with hers. The messenger god, Hermes. The craftsman, Daedalus. A ship bearing a golden fleece. And wily Odysseus, on his epic voyage home.

There is danger for a solitary woman in this world, and Circe's independence draws the wrath of men and gods alike. To protect what she holds dear, Circe must decide whether she belongs with the deities she is born from, or the mortals she has come to love.


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

15 Jul 2018

Weekend Wrap-up #12

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.


We received amazing news this week: my boyfriend David got a job!! That means me and him can move in together very soon. We are currently looking for a place to rent and once we find something, we are good to start our life together for real this time.

In the past week I finished reading Mrs. Sherlock Holmes by Brad Ricca, see the link to my review below! At the moment I'm reading The Women in the Walls by Amy Lukavics, I'm hoping to finish this atmospheric horror novel by tomorrow. I'm also in the middle of Uneasy Lies the Head by Jane Plaidy, which is the first instalment in her Tudor Saga.


Recent posts on the blog:



Saturday: Review 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 Book: 


 Title: The Underground Railroad

Author: Colson Whitehead

Goodreads

This book has won so many awards it's crazy. This is another title that I found because of the tv show Timeless (I've stopped counting how many awesome books it has introduced me to so far). The Underground Railroad is an actual railroad in this story, that runs beneath the ground. Amazing idea! If the execution is good too, this novel will probably blow my mind.







ARCs:

Title: The Colonel and the Bee

Author: Patrick Canning


Patrick Canning was kind enough to send me a copy of his novel, The Colonel and the Bee. The story is set in Victorian times and it follows an odd pair: an explorer and an acrobat. They go on a journey together in a hot air balloon and all the while they are chasing a criminal who is seeking a precious figurine called The Blue Star Sphinx.

I love books in which the characters go on a great adventure. I'm very curious about this one.





Title: Aaru (The Aaru Cycle Book #1)

Author: David Meredith


Another book that I received straight from its author. It's a dystopian sci-fi novel in which people's mind get uploaded to a computer after they die. It's kind of like a cyber paradise, except there are dark corners in this futuristic Eden. 

I'm sure this novel deals with numerous questions that are extremely relevant in this computerized world we live in...





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

Happy Sunday!

24 Jun 2018

Weekend Wrap-up #11

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 worked regular times from Monday to Friday this week. I could live with this, too bad it won't always be like this. 

On the other hand next week I have days off on Wednesday and Thursday, which means I can go to see the doctor at last and find out if I have allergies or not... 

I spent the weekend with my boyfriend in Eger. I really hope next week he'll hear back from at least one of his potential work places because that would mean we could start looking for a place to rent together.

I finished Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf this week. It didn't sweep me off my feet unfortuantely, my review is coming soon. I'm still reading Mrs Sherlock Holmes and liking it so far.


Recent posts on the blog:



What happened to you this week? What are you reading right now?

17 Jun 2018

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:


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


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


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 



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



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!

26 May 2018

Weekend Wrap-up #9

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 first week at the new job. I didn't work yet actually, only observed what my colleagues were doing. I'll do that for another week, then my training will start on June 4th. 

I didn't think that sitting and watching would be as exhausting as it is but the thing is, time would go so much faster if I had active tasks too. Not that I'm complaining, I'm getting paid for showing up and doing virtually nothing for 8 hours so yeah... it's worth it, obviously. However, I'm looking forward to the real training process more and more.

My best friend moved home to Hungary at last and I'm looking forward to seeing her next week when she comes to my town to hang out with me. Good times ahead.

This week I finished Clowders by Vanessa Morgan. It was kind of a disappointment unfortunately. My review is coming next week. I've started reading Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman and can't wait to learn more about the Norse gods.

Recent posts on the blog:



Wednesday: WWW Wednesday #14

Friday: Book Beginnings and the Friday 56 #16


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 haven't added any books to my physical or virtual shelf in the past 7 days, however, there's a couple I haven't showed you guys yet due to missed weekend wrap-ups. Here they are:


Title: Succubus Lips (Succubus Sirens #1)

Author: Lina Jubilee

Publication Date: May 8th, 2018

Source: RockStar Book Tours


I won't lie to you: there are so many ways this book can go wrong or can trun out to be problematic and I'm very curious if the writer managed to do it well or the story trips on itself and its subject material. I haven't read erotica in a while so yeah, let's do this!




Title: Bring Me Their Hearts

Author: Sara Wolf

Publication Date: June 5th, 2018

Source: YA Bound Book Tours


I'll probably start reading this book pretty soon, as  my book tour review date is June 15th. You'll hear more about this title on the blog soon.






Don't forget to leave a link to your weekend posts! Have a nice one!

12 May 2018

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:


Wednesday: WWW Wednesday #13



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!