June in Books

In this post I will show you what I read, got and reviewed the past month. 


June was a busy month, but I would have liked to have read more books. I read 6 books, reviewed 9, bought 2 ebooks (I'm on a budget). I joined 4 different memes (don't you just love them!): Top Ten Tuesdays (because I love making and sharing lists), "Waiting on" Wednesdays (there's always a book we're waiting on), Stacking the Shelves (I love buying and showing the books I got) and Follow & Feature (I already met some great bloggers!). 

Reviews

Slated by Teri Terry 

Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick

The Fame Game by Lauren Conrad

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

The Curse Girl by Kate Avery Ellison
The Game by Krystyna Kuhn

Fated by Alyson Noël
Between by Jessica Warman
Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares

Read

Between by Jessica Warman
De IJzerkoning by Julie Kagawa (The Iron King)
Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
Fated by Alyson Noël
Winter's Passage by Julie Kagawa
Witch In Winter by Ruth Warburton

Currently reading:

Glitch by Heather Anastasiu

New books

Bought:

Hourglass by Myra McEntire

For review:

League of Strays - L.B. Schulman

How was your month in books?

Upcoming (1)

In Upcoming I talk about the books that I will read and review. So you know what you can expect on the blog in the upcoming days / weeks. I hope you enjoy it!

This week

 
Review of Glow by Amy Kathleen Ryan

What if you were bound for a new world, about to pledge your life to someone you'd been promised to since birth, and one unexpected violent attack made survival—not love—the issue?

Out in the murky nebula lurks an unseen enemy: the New Horizon. On its way to populate a distant planet in the wake of Earth's collapse, the ship's crew has been unable to conceive a generation to continue its mission. They need young girls desperately, or their zealous leader's efforts will fail. Onboard their sister ship, the Empyrean, the unsuspecting families don't know an attack is being mounted that could claim the most important among them...

Fifteen-year-old Waverly is part of the first generation to be successfully conceived in deep space; she was born on the Empyrean, and the large farming vessel is all she knows. Her concerns are those of any teenager—until Kieran Alden proposes to her. The handsome captain-to-be has everything Waverly could ever want in a husband, and with the pressure to start having children, everyone is sure he's the best choice. Except for Waverly, who wants more from life than marriage—and is secretly intrigued by the shy, darkly brilliant Seth.

But when the Empyrean faces sudden attack by their assumed allies, they quickly find out that the enemies aren't all from the outside.

Synopsis from Goodreads

Review of Vrees (original title:  Fever) by Lauren DeStefano

Rhine and Gabriel have escaped the mansion, but danger is never far behind.

Running away brings Rhine and Gabriel right into a trap, in the form of a twisted carnival whose ringmistress keeps watch over a menagerie of girls. Just as Rhine uncovers what plans await her, her fortune turns again. With Gabriel at her side, Rhine travels through an environment as grim as the one she left a year ago - surroundings that mirror her own feelings of fear and hopelessness.

The two are determined to get to Manhattan, to relative safety with Rhine’s twin brother, Rowan. But the road there is long and perilous - and in a world where young women only live to age twenty and young men die at twenty-five, time is precious. Worse still, they can’t seem to elude Rhine’s father-in-law, Vaughn, who is determined to bring Rhine back to the mansion...by any means necessary.

In the sequel to Lauren DeStefano’s harrowing Wither, Rhine must decide if freedom is worth the price - now that she has more to lose than ever. 

Synsopsis from Goodreads

Next week

Review of Sevenster by Alexandra Penrhyn Lowe

Alexandra Penrhyn Lowe is the first real Dutch Young Adult-author. So I'm really looking forward reading this book.

Review of Vanish by Sophie Jordan

I've been looking forward to reading the sequel of Firelight. I'm reading this book at the moment and I'm really enjoying it.

It's possible that there are some changes in my plans, but there will be some reviews on the blogs in the upcoming weeks.

Hope to see you soon!

How do you choose your books?

For most readers out there, there is nothing more special than going to the bookstore (offline or online) and browsing through all the books there, before buying one (or two, three, ten, twenty). Personally I'm interested in why someone picks up a particular book. I have listed a couple things that are important for me, before I buy a book.

* Cover 
For me this is the most important thing before I pick up a book. If I don't like a cover it's very unlikely I will ever pick up a book. Unless I've heard very positive things about the book. Publishers make the same sort of covers for books that match in style, genre and readers. So it's not really strange people pick a book by it's cover. And sometimes a book can really surprise you if you pick a different kind of cover than usual.


* Title
The first I notice about a book is the cover, but more importantly is the title. If I can't find a title or if it isn't readable, than I most likely will not pick up the book. It must be a title which makes me curious for a book. I think this is one of the most important things about a book.


* Synopsis
So if the covers is pretty enough and I have picked up the book, the first thing I do is read the synopsis. This one is really important for me. Between all the things this is the one which makes me really buy the book. But it has happened that I didn't like a synopsis and still bought the book. Good reviews can be a dealmaker too!

* Style of writing
If I still like the book after looking at the cover and reading the synopsis I start reading the book somewhere in the middle. I just open the book ad randum and start reading. In this way I don't know what's going on and I get a good idea of the style of writing. If I read a couple of pages without "noticing" the style is good! Most of the time I buy the book by now.

* Reviews
I'm really good at expressing my own opinion and it's kinda hard to make me think differently, especially when it comes to books. If I like a book, I like it and no matter how many bad reviews there are I will still like it. Luckily for me it doesn't work the other way around. If I don't have high hopes for a book, it can be changed by good reviews. I read reviews if I'm not sure if I will like the story.

* Author
There are some authors out there who I think are really good! I choose to buy their books without looking at the cover or reading the synopsis. Sometimes I'm more hesitant. Expecially if the authors write series and start writing other books, then it's the reviews that are of the most influence.

* Recommendations
I love websites like Goodreads and Amazon. Both have their great things, but one thing they have in common: they give great recommendations! (okay, actually they have two things in common, also the reviews) With the recommendations I always pick up new books. I'm a reader who goes back and forward between being scared that I won't have enough time to read all the books I want and that there will be a point where I don't know what to read anymore, because I can't find any great books. It's a bit silly, but luckily for me it has never happened that I really ran out of great books to read.

* Publisher
A couple of weeks ago I discussed this topic with some other readers and one of them said that she had a couple of publishers which books she always bought without looking at the synopsis etc. Personally I've never really noticed this, but it started me thinking about it. And there are a couple of publishers I really like (according to my book collection). So I added this to my list of things to look at before I pick up a book.

So what are your conditions before buying a book?