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

Welcome, welcome my dear readers.

Welcome to the blog.

I'm SO glad that April is over. Usually I'm so happy that Spring is here, and I'll buy flowers and make sure my garden is Summer-proof.

But this month was overshadowed by the home-teaching stuff and I started out rocking it. While it dragged on, I just ended up hating it and it totally sucked me from all my energy.

When I heard that the schools are opening here in The Netherlands on May 11th, I was SO happy. I can't wait to see the kids again. It is going to be with only half classes, but I want to feel like a teacher again. I'm actually not home now, but staying at my boyfriends place, because I've been in my own house for the past 6 weeks, working and trying to relax. The change of scenery is very welcome.

I have vacation now and I feel like I'm getting back my energy. I can find the peace and quiet in myself to pick up books again. I've received 3 beautiful vases full of flowers from different parents. The Spring-weather is here. And even though I would make a trip to Iceland, that is canceled now, I feel good. I can't go outside and do the things I love, like visiting a zoo, a cinema, a restaurant or just getting the car and take a road trip. I just feel energized again by the news that I can finally do my job again.

So sorry for this rant, but I think you should all know why it's a bit quiet on my blog. But I feel like I'm back, like I'm getting back into the game!

May is going to be great!

Review: The Siren (Saga of the Chosen #3)

Author: Petra Landon
Started reading: April 4th 2020
Finished the book: April 24th 2020
Pages: 472
Genres: Fantasy, Magic
Published: March 30th 2020
Source: Digital copy from the author
Goodreads score: 4.50
My score:

Synopsis

Tasia is finally at home in San Francisco. Surrounded by powerful friends and like-minded allies, she's finding her feet in the Pack, contributing to the investigation and feeling her way with the fiercely guarded and daunting Alpha. But she has a major decision to make, one that goes to the root of who she is and the chains of history that hold her future hostage to the past.

The Oracle's interpretation of his prophecy raises uncomfortable questions about the allegiances of powerful Chosen. Lady Bethesda’s attempts to entice Faoladh to her side, the shadowy presence of an Archmage, the growing role of a powerful Vampire Master and the latent fissures among the Ancients force the team to reconsider their strategy. But a devastating bombshell tears apart a rock-solid partnership, just as Tasia is ready to break the shackles that bind her. As the past comes home to roost, the Alpha must grapple with the darkness he holds at bay. Can the Alpha conquer his demons or will the past color the present?

My Life In Books - Tag

This is a book-tag that I've seen a while ago on another Book Blog.

Since I did not yet finish any books and won't be able to write reviews, I decided to participate so I have something to write a Blogpost about! :)

Review: The Nightingale

Author: Kristin Hannah
Started reading: March 8th 2020
Finished the book: April 10th 2020
Pages: 440
Genres: Historical, Fiction, War, Adult
Published: February 3rd 2015
Source: Received the book as a gift
Goodreads score: 4.57
My score:

Synopsis

In love we find out who we want to be.
In war we find out who we are.

FRANCE, 1939
In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France…but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions Vianne’s home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive.

Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gäetan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can…completely. But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking her life time and again to save others.

Review: The Girl in the Tower (Winternight Trilogy #2)

Author: Katherine Arden
Started reading: March 17th 2020
Finished the book: April 10th 2020
Pages: 363
Genres: Fantasy, Historical, Fairy Tale
Published: December 5th 2017
Source: Bought the book
Goodread score: 4.37
My score:

Synopsis

The magical adventure begun in The Bear and the Nightingale continues as brave Vasya, now a young woman, is forced to choose between marriage or life in a convent and instead flees her home—but soon finds herself called upon to help defend the city of Moscow when it comes under siege.
Orphaned and cast out as a witch by her village, Vasya’s options are few: resign herself to life in a convent, or allow her older sister to make her a match with a Moscovite prince. Both doom her to life in a tower, cut off from the vast world she longs to explore. So instead she chooses adventure, disguising herself as a boy and riding her horse into the woods. When a battle with some bandits who have been terrorizing the countryside earns her the admiration of the Grand Prince of Moscow, she must carefully guard the secret of her gender to remain in his good graces—even as she realizes his kingdom is under threat from mysterious forces only she will be able to stop.

Sunday Post #16

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It's a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead.

Two Short Stories #10

Today I will be highlighting two short stories.

They are both books that contain around 80 pages. One feels like a fairy tale about a far away kingdom called Grape and the other is a horror like book that takes place in space.

Let's dive right in.