2016/12/31

2016

It is the last day of the year, and time to wrap it up!

2016 has been a turbulent year for the world, but on this little platform that is my blog as well as my YouTube channel, it's been a pretty good year. Thank you so much for your support, your comments and your messages - I love talking about books with you guys!

So. Time to look how things went reading-wise this year!

How Many Books I Read:
I set a goal of reading 100 books and I managed to do that... barely. I may have binge read four books yesterday to get there, but I did!

Books Per Month:
January: 8
February: 2
March: 9
April: 10
May: 14
June: 9
July: 10
August: 8
September: 9
October: 8
November: 8
December: 5

The Books I Read:
(again, stolen from Goodreads)

Personal Challenges:
12 Classics: 19
5 Books In Norwegian: 1
12 Translated Books: 15
5 Non-Fiction Books: 25
12 Poetry Books: 13

Other Stats:


How was your year of reading?
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2016/12/30

BOOK HAUL:
DECEMBER

Can you believe there are only two days left of the year? One shouldn't be surprised but it always seems a bit sudden, doesn't it.

December was for me as it has been for the last few years: work, work and more work. I've barely seen the sun (though there hasn't been much of it either way, let's be honest), and I've barely read anything. I have, however, managed to acquire quite a few books, some of which I've gotten myself and some I got for Christmas, all of which I'm really excited about!

















I hope you all had a lovely month!
ALL LINKS ARE AFFILIATE
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2016/12/28

BOOK REVIEW:
PETER THE GREAT BY ROBERT K. MASSIE

Title: Peter the Great: His Life and Work
Author: Robert K. Massie
Published: 2016
Language: English
Pages: 640
Rating: 4/5


Summary:
This is a biography about the life of Peter the Great, from childhood until his death.


Review:
As you may know, I read another biography by Massie about Catherine the Great earlier this year and thoroughly enjoyed it, so I decided to pick this one up as well. And it did not disappoint.

The best thing I've found in reading Massie's books is how easily read and enjoyable they are. He manages to bring facts to life and life to the people without it seeming dull. The way it's written feels effortless and it doesn't overexplain things, nor does it leave you with a feeling of there being anything missing. I think part of my enjoyment of this is the fine balance between historical details and more character driven stories. The whole thing is simply very well crafted.

That being said, it is a long book (as it should be) and I do wish I had taken a longer break between reading this and the book about Catherine the Great, as I constantly felt a need to give it a bit of a rest. Other than that, top notch. And the best part is perhaps that you need no previous knowledge of Russian history, so you can literally just dive in.
You can get this book at The Book Depository.
You can read more about it on Goodreads.
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2016/12/26

UNBOXING:
MOTH BOX

So, I think subscription boxes and book boxes in general are such great ideas, but I've never been able to find one that I actually really thought I would enjoy - until now.

Mercedes, over at the booktube channel MercysBookishMusings, has created a book box called Moth Box (just the name is amazing). I love her channel and she always talks about really interesting books and ones I haven't heard of, so I figured, if I trust anyone to pick uncommon and fascinating books, it's her.

This isn't a subscription service, you can order any boxes you want. Unfortunately, this box is sold out, but the next one will be out in January.

This box contains two paperback books, carefully chosen and beautifully wrapped, as well as two bookmarks, one for each book. Honestly, I think it's just wonderful and such a joy to open.









What do you think? Do you have any book boxes you love?

PS: You can follow MothBox on Twitter, if you want to get updates on the next box and such.
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2016/12/24

MERRY CHRISTMAS


Thank you so much for all your continued support both here on the blog and on YouTube.

Wether you celebrate Christmas or not, wherever you are in the world, I wish you all a peaceful time of year!
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2016/12/23

2016/12/20

TOP 5:
BOOKS I'D LIKE TO SEE UNDER THE CHRISTMAS TREE

Books make the best gifts and I love both giving and receiving them, so I thought I would share five with you I would love to see under the Christmas tree this year (like I did last year).

Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama


Ever since the mess of this years presidential election, I've wanted to read a book by Obama - not necessarily this one, but any one of his books.

The Lesser Bohemians by Eimear McBride


This is literary fiction and is about a young woman who falls in love with an older man and their relationship changes them both forever. 

The Phantom Atlas by Edward Brooke-Hitching


This is an atlas of worlds that never existed, mythical and mysteries ones, all maps that once existed and were made because people thought this was how the world looked. I love old maps and myths so this looks fantastic to me.

The Art of Fiction by James Salter


I saw a quote from this book somewhere on Tumblr and ever since then I've wanted to read it (even though I can no longer remember the quote, I remember I thought it was amazing).

Dear Fang, With Love by Rufi Thorpe


This is a contemporary fiction novel that deals with mental health and is about a young girl who has a psychotic breakdown and how this affects her and the people in her life.

Do you have any books on your wish list this Christmas?
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