Here you can expect to find many honest reviews of books that I’ve read and liked, loved or disliked. I’ve implemented a score system, so that it’s easier to categorise them, which I’ve explained with further details below.
I based my idea of the score system on the fact that every book is a work of art and deserves some love. I’m an avid reader, as cliché as it may sound, but it’s true and I can’t help it. When I start a new book, I expect to be immersed in it, to not be able to stop thinking about it, even when (or if) I put it down. When a book is good, I forget to eat, sleep and I don’t move from the sofa until I devour it. But I also don’t like wasting precious time (which can be used to read even more books) on ones that I don’t enjoy. People are not always fond of the book they’re reading at the moment, I get it. And that’s okay. It’s just not the right one for them. I am stubborn, so I never leave books unfinished. And it’s not even stubbornness, I just feel like I owe some respect to the people involved in the creation of the book as such for making the effort to write it, to illustrate it and to get it published. That is why I will always give books two stars as a minimum, no matter the content, no matter whether I liked it or not. The way I picture it in my head is very simple: one star goes to the author for writing the book; the second star goes to all the people involved in the creation of the book: that includes the publisher (here I include all the people, working in all departments of the publishing house, who contributed to the publication of the book), the illustrator (if there are drawings), the translator (if it’s not originally written in English), etc. I think that’s fair. So, in the end, a book could always get two stars as a minimum and a maximum of five stars with half-stars in between, depending on how much I enjoyed it. Simple as that.
Now you know how things work around here. Let’s get right into it! 🤓
In case you’re wondering… #owlbeereading!
23.03.2023
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Author: Libby Page Genre: Modern Fiction Publisher: Orion Fiction Year: January 2020 Rating: The 24-Hour Café is one of the loveliest books I have read! I knew from the blurb that it involved chasing your dreams and never giving up on them, and I found the subject matter very similar…
28.02.2023
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#ClassicandContemporary book challenge: The Fair Botanists and David Copperfield The Fair Botanists Author: Sara Sheridan Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Year: August 2021 Rating: I’ll cut straight to the point: you need to read The Fair Botanists! This exquisite piece of historical fiction quickly became one of my…
31.01.2023
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#ClassicandContemporary book challenge: The Muse and The Picture of Dorian Gray The Muse Author: Jessie Burton Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Picador Year: June 2016 Rating: It just so happens that both of my chosen books this month for the #ClassicandContemporary book challenge are dealing with art! I realised this coincidence…
31.12.2022
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Author: Josie Silver Genre: Romance, Fiction, Holiday Fiction Publisher: Penguin Books Year: August 2018 Rating: Welcome to the final day of December, aka the day to post my review of One Day in December by Josie Silver. This is the perfect read to get you in a festive and romantic…
07.12.2022
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Author: John Ortega Genre: Urban fantasy Publisher: SmashBear Publishing Year: November 2022 Rating: Thanks a lot to SmashBear Publishing for my free copy of Winter’s Wolf, John Ortega’s third book of the Rune Caster Chronicles! If you have somehow missed the series, definitely check it out! It’s one of my…
30.11.2022
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Author: Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir, translator: Brian FitzGibbon Genre: Fiction in Translation, Modern & Contemporary Fiction, Road Fiction Publisher: Pushkin Press Year: 2014 Rating: My choice for the #MonthlyTitles book challenge for November is Butterflies in November! Many people say this book is quirky and odd. I think so, too, now….
31.10.2022
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Author: Ray Bradbury Genre: Horror, Fantasy, Short Stories Publisher: Ballantine Books Year: October 1955 Rating: Okay, first, a little bit of the story behind choosing this book as the one for the October’s #MonthlyTitles book challenge. Initially, I had chosen another title with the word ‘October’ for our challenge, and…
28.10.2022
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Author: Various; edited by Lauren T. Davila Genre: Horror, Gothic Anthology Publisher: Haunt Publishing Year: May 2022 Rating: This is the second title I receive from one of my favourite publishers—Haunt Publishing—in exchange for an honest review, and I was so excited for the spooky season because of it! When…
30.09.2022
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Author: Dalia Sofer Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Picador Year: July 2007 Rating: I absolutely loved The Septembers of Shiraz and I knew it would be a special one, I was really drawn to it from the first time I looked at it. When doing my research for September and the…
31.08.2022
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Author: Claire North (aka Kate Griffin and Catherine Webb) Genre: Science Fiction Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group Year: April 2014 Rating: OK, I have so many mixed feelings about this book! The #MonthlyTitles challenge for August turned out to be quite more challenging than I anticipated. First, because this book…
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