May Wrap up - Book Haul & What to Expect Next Month

Welcome, welcome and thanks for stopping by!

May is over and that means were going into the second half of 2018.

The weather here is LOVELY. I've had so many sun hours already.

It's also harder, because it feels like summer and I still have to work 7 weeks and I also have to make sure the kids work too.

Luckily we worked very hard the first part of the year, so we can do a bit more relaxing these days.

Reading wise, this was a good month as well and there are so many good books to read! I'm doing a buddyread and I continued reading the Throne of Glass series. My haul this month was one to be happy about too!

I hope you have as much sun as we do here in The Netherlands and I wish you a great month of summer-reading. ☀

Review: The Digital Storm

Author: Benjamin Gorman
Started reading: May 16th 2018
Finished the book: May 25th 2018
Pages: 244
Published: May 23rd 2017
Source: Got a physical copy from the publisher
Goodreads score: Not enough ratings
My score:

Synopsis
The Digital Storm is an ingenious science fiction retelling of Shakespeare’s The Tempest set in the near future inside a bank’s intranet. Prosper, the analogue to Shakespeare’s Prospero, is an artificial intelligence program who has been banished to a quarantined area in the bank’s system, and there he’s created an amazing virtual island home for himself, his daughter Memoranda, and the monstrous virus Caliban. Now, with the help of Ariel and the other programs he’s invented on the island, he’s conjured a massive digital attack on the bank’s system to entice the members of the board, the very humans who exiled him, to enter the system so he can seek his revenge and escape to the Internet. But just how far does his revenge plan go?

Picture Book: FOUNTAIN OF LOVE

Author: Namita Bhaladhare
Pages: 81
Genres: Romance, Picture Book
Published: January 15th 2018
Source: Got a digital copy from the author
My score:
This review will be a bit different than what you're used to from me. I can't review this book like any other book, because it's a picture book with a collection of moments which make you pause and reflect back on turning points in a most intimate relationship.
The book captures the moments of emotional turmoil and weaknesses. It talks about that anxiety, fears and happiness that everyone goes through when they are interacting with other human beings.

Get To Know: 100 Word Horrors: An Anthology of Horror Drabbles

Authors: Kevin J. Kennedy and others
Genre: Horror
Goodreads score: 4.21

I have read a book by Kevin J. Kennedy before. It's called Collected Halloween Horror Shorts: Trick 'r Treat. It was, indeed, a treat to read the book. The short stories were of great quality and I loved to read the book.

This book contains very short stories, only 100 words. It's hard for me to review this book the regular way, but in this blogpost I do want to tell you some things about this book, a book that you'd enjoy if you like the horror genre.

Review: Scavenger Girl: Season of Talium (Scavenger Girl #2)

Author: Jennifer Arntson
Started reading: May 8th 2018
Finished the book: May 16th 2018
Pages: 332
Genres: Fantasy, YA
Published: February 28th 2018
Source: Got a digital copy from the author
Goodreads score: Not enough ratings
My score:

Synopsis
When the gods leave and evil freely rules Ashlund, Una and her family bear down for the season of darkness. Seemingly safe in the comfort of her own home, she explores her newly acquired gift with the help of her loved ones. Within days, her plans are interrupted and instead of fighting boredom, she finds herself fighting to survive.

Trapped in a situation where there is no escape, Una endures the worst the Authority has to offer. Who knew family could be so kind...or so ruthlessly cruel? For all the things her parents taught her about surviving in a world set against them, they never prepared her for this. Una is about to discover the true demons of the dark were here all along.

Review: Gemina (The Illuminae Files #2)

Authors: Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Started reading: May 2nd 2018
Finished the book: May 11th 2018
Pages: 659
Genres: Science Fiction
Published: October 18th 2016
Source: Bought the book
Goodreads score: 4.56
My score:

Synopsis
Hanna is the station captain’s pampered daughter; Nik the reluctant member of a notorious crime family. But while the pair are struggling with the realities of life aboard the galaxy’s most boring space station, little do they know that Kady Grant and the Hypatia are headed right toward Heimdall, carrying news of the Kerenza invasion.

When an elite BeiTech strike team invades the station, Hanna and Nik are thrown together to defend their home. But alien predators are picking off the station residents one by one, and a malfunction in the station’s wormhole means the space-time continuum might be ripped in two before dinner. Soon Hanna and Nik aren’t just fighting for their own survival; the fate of everyone on the Hypatia—and possibly the known universe—is in their hands.

Review: Rise of the Hearts

Author: Antoine Bonner
Started reading: May 6th 2018
Finished the book: DNF
Pages: 195
Genres: Horror, Fiction
Published: January 18th 2018
Source: Netgalley
Goodreads score: 2.04
My score:

Synopsis
Nathaniel’s always been a loser—his only friend is his sister, and girls don’t want anything to do with him. But when he’s given a miraculous gift that allows him to attract the girl of his dreams, he realizes that a gift can also be a curse.

The events you’re about to read are true, and not for the faint of heart…

Review: The Rest of Us Just Live Here

Author: Patrick Ness
Started reading: May 3rd 2018
Finished the book: May 7th 2018
Pages: 336
Genres: YA, Fantasy, Contemporary
Published: October 6th 2015
Source: Bought the book
Goodreads score: 3.75
My score: 

Synopsis
What if you aren't the Chosen One? The one who's supposed to fight the zombies, or the soul-eating ghosts, or whatever the heck this new thing is, with the blue lights and the death?

What if you're like Mikey? Who just wants to graduate and go to prom and maybe finally work up the courage to ask Henna out before someone goes and blows up the high school. Again.

Because sometimes there are problems bigger than this week's end of the world, and sometimes you just have to find the extraordinary in your ordinary life.

Review: Song of Blood & Stone (Earthsinger Chronicles #1)

Author: L. Penelope
Started reading: April 29th 2018
Finished the book: May 5th 2018
Pages: 384
Genres: Fantasy, YA
Published: May 1st 2018
Source: Netgalley
Goodreads score: 3.76
My score: 

Synopsis
Orphaned and alone, Jasminda lives in a land where cold whispers of invasion and war linger on the wind. Jasminda herself is an outcast in her homeland of Elsira, where her gift of Earthsong is feared. When ruthless soldiers seek refuge in her isolated cabin, they bring with them a captive--an injured spy who threatens to steal her heart.


Jack's mission behind enemy lines to prove that the Mantle between Elsira and Lagamiri is about to fall nearly cost him his life, but he is saved by the healing Song of a mysterious young woman. Now he must do whatever it takes to save Elsira and it's people from the True Father and he needs Jasminda's Earthsong to do it. They escape their ruthless captors and together they embark on a perilous journey to save Elsira and to uncover the secrets of The Queen Who Sleeps.

Review: Wink Poppy Midnight

Author: April Genevieve Tucholke
Started reading: April 25th 2018
Finished the book: May 1st 2018
Pages: 247
Genres: YA, Mystery, Contemporary
Published: March 22nd 2016
Source: Celebrate Books Box
Goodreads score: 3.32
My score:

Synopsis
Wink is the odd, mysterious neighbor girl, wild red hair and freckles. Poppy is the blond bully and the beautiful, manipulative high school queen bee. Midnight is the sweet, uncertain boy caught between them. Wink. Poppy. Midnight. Two girls. One boy. Three voices that burst onto the page in short, sharp, bewitching chapters, and spiral swiftly and inexorably toward something terrible or tricky or tremendous.

What really happened?
Someone knows.
Someone is lying.

Review: Cat and Mouse (The Games We Play Book 1)

Author: Jacquelyn Phillips
Started reading: April 28st 2018
Finished the book: April 30th 2018
Pages: 526
Genres: Fiction, YA, New Adult
Published: August 23rd 2016
Source: Got a signed copy from the author
Goodreads score: Not enough ratings
My score:

Synopsis
My name is Roxanne Vaughn. Most people just call me Roxy. My parents call me a disappointment. I'm not gonna lie--I hate how much they detest me, but I've learned to embrace their skepticism. What better way to write poetry than to feel like an outcast?
Insecure. Ugly. Stupid.
Even writing about my failure in pre-med has earned me some notoriety in my creative writing classes. Although, some people believe I should write fiction, I don't know if I could do that. It would probably end up being some distorted version of my own sick reality. I'm originally from San Diego, the daughter of two well-known doctors, and the younger sister to the perfect God-send of an offspring. I moved to Rohnert Park to attend Sonoma State, to escape the pressures related to living with my parents and to hopefully create some friendships along the way.

The Sunshine Blogger Award

Thanks to Erica from Erica Robyn Reads for nominating me for the Sunshine Blogger Award. It's been a long time since I took part in an award. For more posts like this, check out the Awards and Prizes Page!