Embracing My Books: Wrap Up 2015

Posts tonen met het label Wrap Up 2015. Alle posts tonen

maandag 4 januari 2016

My Favorite Books of 2015

Some of you asked me about my favorite books of the year and that really got me thinking. I find a question like that always very difficult to answer. I read 124 books in 2015 (as you can see here). How can anyone expect me to pick the three books I loved the most?

It took me three days to come up with this list. Three days! Literally! I’m really not good at this.

Apparently it’s ‘not done’ for blogs and booktube to include rereads and multiple books by the same author so that made it a lot easier for me (Jane Austen, Oscar Wilde, Richard Yates, Aldous Huxley, George Orwell and Muriel Barbery had to go) to narrow down my first list (26 books) to this one.

Lesson learned; in 2016 I will add a star rating to my reviews and to my Goodreads page.

So, here’s the list for those of you who are interested. I couldn't get it any smaller.
If you click on the title you will automatically be directed to the review.

What were your favorites? Have you read any of mine? If so, how did you like them?

Happy reading and I’ll see you soon.

Helena

zondag 3 januari 2016

Wrap Up: 2015

Well this is one giant end of the year wrap up.

I read 124 books. Yes. 124. I’m as amazed as you (probably) are.
Aside from finishing so many books, I DNF 4 books and I got rid of two books without reading them (I DNF the second one in the series so there’s no need to keep the third and fourth books on my TBR).

Because I read so many books, the amount of pages I read is absolutely enormous; 47.677. That’s 384 pages per book and 131 pages every day. That’s pretty amazing if I may say so myself.

I read 17 books out of 124 in Dutch and 107 books were written in English.

The year ended with 14.372 views on my blog, 136 people liked my Facebook page and I now have a Goodreads page too!

Now for some information about the series I read in 2015.

I started reading:

I continued reading:

I finished:

I started and finished:

I quit reading:

Bernhard Hennen's Die Elfen Series

Here are the books I read in 2015 in the order I read them. If you click on the title of the book you will automatically open the review.

A few of these books aren't included in the pictures because I don't own them anymore.

Happy reading in 2016!

Helena

zaterdag 2 januari 2016

Wrap Up: December 2015

Hi everyone

It’s time for my last monthly Wrap Up of 2015.
Hard to believe it’s 2016 and I’ve been blogging for a year and a half now. It’s even harder to believe people actually read my blog.
Thank you!

I read a total of 2894 pages in 6 books so that’s 482 pages per book.

You can find the book reviews by clicking on the titles below.

Without further ado, here’s what I read in December:

How was your reading month?

My 2015 Wrap Up will be online on Monday so look forward to that!

Happy reading and happy 2016!
Helena

dinsdag 1 december 2015

Wrap Up: November 2015

Well it has been quite a month.
By now you probably know that we’ve moved into our new house.
We’re pretty much settled now but there’s still a lot of work to do in December too. Let alone the big jobs we have to save for first. But that’s all in the future.
Right now there’s more cleaning to do, more decisions about proper places for the last boxes full of stuff, curtains etc. and getting some extra things from the shops like a small cabinet, nails for the pictures on the walls and the like.
But the house is a home now and we can take it a bit easy.

If you want to see a picture of my new bookcases you can click here to link you to the blogpost about the move.

I read a total of 1609 pages in 4 books. That’s 402 pages per book and 54 pages per day. A lot more than I expected honestly.

Here are the books I read this month. To see the review you can click on the title.

Anything you care to recommend?

Happy reading!
Helena

zondag 1 november 2015

Wrap Up: October 2015

My reading slowed down considerably by the second half of the month.
Moving day is getting closer and there’s still a lot to do. Our house isn’t completely finished and even after the move there’s work to be done for the next few years (painting, the garden and terrace mainly but some other parts like the attic too).
So we’ve started packing, cleaning our new house in between the workers doing their jobs, cleaning the old apartment, planning the move and the deep clean of the new house. It’s pretty amazing and very exciting. I honestly can’t wait for the move. But it’s really exhausting so I actually just want to sit and watch Doctor Who or The Walking Dead after work.
We’re moving in two weeks! So there’s still a lot to be done before the big day. I haven’t even started packing my books.
All this jabber was just to point out why October started out great readingwise but slowed down so much.

I read a total of 9 books or 2990 pages. That’s 332 pages per book.

Here’s what I read this month:

And here’s what I didn’t finish:

Bernhard Hennen: Elfen Winter

How was your month? Anything you would like to recommend me?
Helena

donderdag 1 oktober 2015

Wrap Up: September 2015

Hi everyone

Here’s my absolutely huge Wrap Up.
This really is the only plus of having to rest because of my back problems.
There is nothing else you can do lying down but watching tv and reading. So those are the things I did.
Now I’m ready to get back to work (for more than two days please) so my reading will get back to normal.

I read 22 books for a total of 8997 pages. That’s 409 pages per book.

Here’s what I read last month:

How was your reading month? Anything to recommend?

Happy reading!
Helena

I wish...

dinsdag 1 september 2015

Wrap Up: August 2015

Well I had quite a reading month.

First, I wanted to read a lot of smaller books. My goal is to read 100 books by the 31^st of December so READING was the solution, and especially small books.

Because I was home from work (see Personal Update) for quite some time I had a lot of free time to read. And what else would I do if I have to keep to bed?

Secondly, I must confess I did arrange my reading a bit so that I could post a review every day by reading big books between a few smaller ones.

In the end I read a total of 19 books, 6825 pages or 359 pages per book.

Here are the ones I read:

And here’s the novel I didn’t finish:

Maggie O’Farrell: Instructions for a Heatwave

Did you have a good reading month?

Happy reading!

Helena

zondag 2 augustus 2015

Wrap Up: July 2015

Since it is now the second day of August it’s time for my July Wrap Up.
I read a lot in July; 8 books finished and 1 book not finished for a total of 3691 pages.
That's 461 pages per book.

Here are the books I read:

Have an amazing August!

Helena

woensdag 1 juli 2015

Wrap Up: June 2015

Another new month means another Wrap Up!

I had a very busy month. Every Saturday AND Sunday but one were filled with visits and other engagements and I had less time to read as a result.
I still managed to read quite a bit, but I had to push myself to do so. Once I was reading I was enjoying it very much, but when I’m tired it’s hard for me to start reading instead of just watching a movie.

I Did Not Finish (DNF) one book this month. But that’s ok, it doesn't happen very often and I did not pay full price.

I read a total of 3138 pages.

Here’s what I read.

And here’s what I did not finish.

Sarah Dunant: In the Company of the Courtesan

What did you read this month?
Helena

maandag 1 juni 2015

Wrap Up: May 2015

Due to the three holidays in May I got more reading done than I thought I would.
I started my new job and I’ve been very tired so I expected to be too tired and lazy to read after work, but those three days made up for that.
I read 10 books for a total of 4068 pages.

Here’s what I read in May:

What did you read? Anything you can recommend me?

Happy reading!
Helena

vrijdag 1 mei 2015

Wrap Up: April 2015

April was a great reading month. I honestly can’t believe I read so much and I feel very proud.
I read a total of 14 books or 5166 pages.

In the beginning of the month I was home for two weeks which is why I read so much this month.
It feels great to get so much reading done and to reduce my TBR.
But I bought so many new ones, so the amount of books on my TBR didn’t change. :)

Here are the books I read this month:

Aside from all the reading, I had my first experience with haters online but I got some wonderfully sweet comments as well, so that’s equals everything out.

How was your reading month?

Helena

woensdag 1 april 2015

Wrap Up: March 2015

It’s time for my monthly Wrap Up again!
Time flies when there’s so much reading to be done.

I read 9 books this month for a total of 3383 pages.
Obviously, I had a great reading month.

Here are the novels I read with links to their reviews.

How was your reading month? Anything you would like to recommend?

Have a nice day!
Helena

zondag 1 maart 2015

Wrap Up: February 2015

February was a difficult reading month. Everything started out well, but by the 15^th I reached a Reading Slump and I had a hard time enjoying books.
I couldn’t concentrate on a novel, didn’t feel like reading, wasn’t interested in reading and didn’t feel like blogging.

In the end I read a total of 1990 pages in 7 books.

Here are the novels I read this month:

What did you read this month?

Happy reading!
Helena

zondag 1 februari 2015

Wrap Up: January 2015

Hi

Even though January was a very busy month (the holidays, my husband’s birthday, my birthday and all the New Year’s visits) I managed to read 3004 pages in 9 books which is great.
When you go visit someone you never quite know when you’ll be going home. So you clear the whole afternoon or evening.
Free time equals reading time in my book. :)

Here are the books I read this month.

-    Terry Pratchett: The Wee Free Men
-    H. G. Wells: The Time Machine
-    Brandon Sanderson: The Well of Ascension
-    Evelyn Waugh: Vile Bodies
-    Tatiana de Rosnay: Sarah’s Key
-    Stephen King: Doctor Sleep
-    Jane Austen: Northanger Abbey
-    Nathan Filer: The Shock of the Fall
-    W. Somerset Maugham: Don Fernando

What did you read last month? Anything you’d like to recommend?

Happy reading.
Helena