Top 10 Tuesday: Favorite Covers, in which I cheat and present all my favorite ones from 2015

Good day to you! Our day starts with Top 10 Tuesday 😀 This meme is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish and as if I wasn’t a rebel before, now I reached a whole new level, haha! Besides choosing to show you guys my 10 favorite covers within my 2015 reads, I also made it 18 covers because it was IMPOSSIBLE to narrow this down, haha!

Lest’s go:

1. Venom, from Kristin Middleton

2. The Gentleman and The Lamplighter, from Summer Devon

3. Sanctum, from Madeleine Roux

4. All In With the Duke, from Ava March

5. Fellowship of the Ring – I have the complete edition, so it is shiny and beautiful ❤

6. Chasing Rainbows, from Linda Oaks

7. The Need, from S. L. Hannah

8. Shattered Blue, from Lauren Bird Horowitz

9. The Heir, from Kiera Cass

10. Secrets and High Spirits, from Lou Harper

EXTRAS

11. What Lies Within, from James Morris

12. The Tutor, from Bonnie Dee

13. The Night Clock, from Paul Meloy

14. Misunderstood, from Anya Valentino

15. Convincing the Secretary, from Ava March

16. After Death, from Jacqueline E. Smith

17. The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, from Anne Rice

18. Night World vol. 1, from L. J. Smith

 

I’m a cheater, I know lol But how was I supposed to narrow this down to only 10?! So may pretty covers ❤

Thanks for reading, haha!

November’s Wrap Up, Book Haul and December TBR!

Hi, there! Omg, December is really here! I am sooo happy! ❤

November was a slow reading month for me, as I finished my dissertation and had my finals, but I got to read something 🙂 December will be a better month, as I’ll be on vacation after December 04^th, haha!

WRAP UP

I’ve read 8 books, 4 mangas and 1 comic book in November.

BOOKS

• A Arte de Editar Revistas, by Fatima Ali (Brazilian Portuguese book meant for my dissertation, so I won’t review it)
• The Complete Essays, by Michel de Montaigne (college reading, also won’t be reviewed even that it was very good)
• Em busca dos contos perdidos: O significado das funções femininas nos contos de Perrault (Searching for the lost tales: the meaning of the female functions in Perrault’s fairy tales), by Mariza B. T. Mendes (review here!)

• Finding Forever (The Chasing Series #2), by Linda Oaks (review here!)

• Introduction to Sociology, by Theodor W. Adorno (college reading, won’t be reviewed)

• Misunderstood: Secrets of a Teen Queen, by Anya Valentino (review here!)

• The Night Clock, by Paul Meloy (review here!)

• Renoir (Os Impressionistas), by Aldo Pereira (review coming soon!)

MANGAS

• Castle Mango, by Muku Ogura & Narise Konohara (review here!)

• Eerie Queerie!, by Shuri Shiozu (review here!)

• Ten Count, by Rihito Takarai (review here!)

COMIC BOOK

• My Little Pony: Equestria Girls, by Ted Andersen and Katie Cook (review here!)

BOOK HAUL

My haul for this month was almost non-existent again. My family has been going through difficult times, so I’m trying not to be a burden, haha! I got some freebies from Amazon and won a giveaway, so this is my haul:

• Devil’s Breath, by Jon P. Wells
• The Legend of the Blue Eyes (The Blue Eyes Trilogy #1), by B. Kristin McMichael
• Sachael Dreams (The Mine #1), by Melody Winter
• Widdershins (Whyborne & Griffin #1), by Jordan L. Hawk
• Daughters of Darkness – The Anthology (4 Paranormal Romance Novels), by Chrissy Peebles, Kristen Middleton, W.J. May and C.J. Pinard
• Red August, from H. L. Brooks (the book I won and already talked about here)

DECEMBER TBR

I’m still working on my December TBR, but I can tell you that I WILL FINISH EMMA, mwahaha mwahaha! ❤ What I’m sure for now:

• Shielded Past, from Patti Morelli (currently-reading) [UPDATE: review here]

• Emma, from Jane Austen (currently-reading)

• Night World, vol. 1, from L. J. Smith [reviews: book 1, book 2 and book 3]
• The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, from Anne Rice (By the way, I already talked about this book here) [review here]
• Cemetery Tours series, from Jacqueline E. Smith [reviews: book 1, book 2 and book 3]
• Braver With You, from A. Hart [review here!]
• The Carnelian Legacy, from Cheryl Koevoet
• Roses of The Angel, from Kalee Marshall [review here!]
• Alice’s Adventures in Underland: The Queen of Stilled Hearts, from DeAnna Knippling

I always end up reading unplanned books in the middle of my selected TBR, so I’ll start the month with those and let’s see how it goes, haha!

That’s it! Thanks for reading! What is your first read for Christmas month??

The Night Clock, from Paul Meloy

Hello, there! Today I would like to introduce you to a book called The Night Clock, by Paul Meloy! We are on its release day, so I’ll leave a list of where to find it online on the bottom of the review 🙂 I received my review copy through NetGalley in exchange of an honest review, so thank you again!

from my Instagram ❤

I’ll do something different this time, as I was in love with the blurb available at NetGalley and Goodreads: instead of telling the story myself, I’ll let you guys see what I expected from the book and I’ll explain why later:

Goodreads Story

An incredible debut novel that will move and terrify you, as reality itself is threatened by a world just beyond our own.

And still the Night Clock ticks…

Phil Trevena’s patients are dying and he needs answers. One of the disturbed men in his care tells him that he needs to find Daniel, that Daniel will be able to explain what is happening. But who is Daniel? Daniel was lost once, broken by the same force that has turned its hatred on Trevena. His destiny is greater than he could ever imagine.

Drawn together, Trevena and Daniel embark on an extraordinary journey of discovery, encountering The Firmament Surgeons in the Dark Time – the flux above our reality. Whoever controls Dark Time controls the minds of humanity. The Firmament Surgeons, aware of the approach of limitless hostility and darkness, are gathered to bring an end to the war with the Autoscopes, before they tear our reality apart.

The Analysis

I apologize for not bringing the story myself, but I wanted you guys to feel what I did. The Night Clock sounded to me like an amazing sci-fi/horror story and I make no secret how much I enjoy fictional books that discuss on their narratives the capacity of our minds. I was so excited when I started it that pains me to say that I wasn’t the right audience for this book. Without a doubt it has an amazing plot and the narrative style is interesting, but I was bored to my bones. It takes too much time for the reader to realize the connections that Meloy does between his characters and the character’s manners also got me a bit. I can handle swearing and I don’t mind, but I don’t like vulgar and there were too many vulgar characters to my taste. I finished the book yesterday night and my overall evaluation was of two stars, as Meloy has good moves during the story and had an amazing plot to work with. Now, let’s begin the real analysis.

As I said, the plot was amazing. A doctor that starts to see his patients dying out of nowhere? A book that plays with the mind? Awesome! But I got so confused during the reading… I discovered that I didn’t like or connect with neither Phil or Daniel, so it was hard to be involved in the story. I really think that Meloy had an awesome idea, but I wasn’t ready for it, it was beyond my tastes as a reader and I apologize for that. I feel very bad for talking like this, because I know how much love, thought and effort takes to write and publish a book. Honestly, if you like sci-fi, give it a try, you may like it 😀

The narrative was a strong point of the book. The point of view of the characters was always changing, so you could have a big picture of what was happening during all the struggles and mysteries – but without realizing what was within The Night Clock. I was so anxious to know exactly what was The Night Clock that I made a dance when it was finally explained (it was part of the mystery of the book, so of course it takes time for us to be sure, haha!). I liked that no character was wasted for Meloy. If the person appeared, Meloy always had a way to tell the reader who that person was before their function on the book. I’m a very curious girl (cof journalist cof), so I was very happy with this, haha!

Which takes me to the characters. I didn’t like or connect to anyone, but also didn’t hate anyone. They were real people, don’t get me wrong. Just not my kind of people, I guess. I see book characters as someone you would like to be near in anyway and you measure how much you like them for the desire of closeness with them (we do this without realizing, trust me). I didn’t wish to be close to anyone in this book and you see, I have a soft spot for villains and bad guys. That’s why I said that I was the problem, that this book wasn’t for me. If you can’t connect with anything in the book, the problem is you, sorry, haha!

There’s something that I really wish to compliment: the looks of The Night Clock. I got a pdf for this review, but omg: it was BEAUTIFUL. The cover, the title page, the chapters… Seriously, I don’t regret owning this ebook at all and wish I could afford it on print. The art is breathtaking and deserves a space on my shellfish wardrobe ❤

The amazing title page ❤

the chapters ❤

I won’t make this as long as it could because I see no point: I really admire Meloy’s creativity and his narrative skills, his talent for making a story of everything inside of The Night Clock and I wish him all the success in the world 🙂

That’s it, guys! Thanks for reading, sorry if I wasn’t very helpful today. As promised, you can take a look here where to find the book 😀 And Happy release day to Paul Meloy!

Amazon

The Book Depository

Barnes and Noble

Kobo

October’s Wrap Up and Book Haul!

Hello, there! Today we are going to navigate among my bought and read books of October! Yay!

I was a very good girl this month and read a total of 12 books; 10 books and 2 comics. I told you in my September’s wrap up that October was my month, haha! I also received some new books in exchange for honest reviews, but all in due time!

In shopping matters, October was practically non-existent – honestly, I didn’t even got out to the bookstore, you know? And I’m not making online shopping lately, as I don’t have the time either, haha! I bought 2 mangas, 5 comic books, 1 coloring book (call me obsessed) and one sticker album, because I’m a child, haha!

Books that I’ve read

• Secrets and High Spirits (Secrets #4), by Lou Harper (review here!)

from my Instagram 🙂

• What Lies Within, by James Morris (review here!)

from my Instagram ❤

• The Bound Series, by Ava March (review here!)

from my Instagram 🙂

Brazilian books meant to be featured on my dissertation

(meaning: I won’t review them, haha!)

• O Calçado e a Moda no Brasil: um Olhar Histórico, by Eduardo Motta

• Passado a limpo, by Eduardo Bueno

• Salões e Damas do Segundo Reinado, by Wanderley Pinho
• História da Vida Privada no Brasil: A Corte e a Modernidade Nacional, by Fernando A. Novais and Laura M. Souza
• História da Vida Privada no Brasil: Da Belle Epoque à Era do Rádio, by Fernando A. Novais
• A Televisão no Brasil: 50 anos de história (1950-2000), by Sérgio Mattos
• A Revista no Brasil do Século XIX: A história da formação das publicações, do leitor e da identidade do brasileiro, by Carlos Costa

Comic books

• Frozen, Uma Aventura Congelante: A Primeira Viagem

• Pocahontas Comic Book Version

I managed to not read a single manga this month, which is impressive for my standards, and I already wrote two of three reviews expected to October. Go, me! ❤ The first Bound Series’ review will be up until Friday, Nov. 6^th, with luck.

As for the books that I’ve received

• Finding Forever, by Linda Oaks (review here!)

from my Instagram ❤

• Melophobia, by James Morris

I already reviewed a book from Linda, Chasing Rainbows (link here), and a book by James, What Lies Within. Thanks so much for the trust, guys! Just wait my vacation, haha!

My currently readings are The Night Clock, by Paul Meloy, which I received through NetGalley (thank you!) and Finding Forever, because its release was on Oct. 29^th. I’m positive that FF review will be up on the blog on Nov. 8^th and The Night Clock, on Nov. 5^th. But let’s see, right? Hahaha!

I also would like to start a countdown here. I deliver my dissertation on Nov. 10^th, which means that this will be seven days from this post. CHEERS FOR FREEDOM!
Ahem, that’s it! Thanks for reading and Happy November!

November’s new books!

Hello, there! We are officially on November, one month away from vacation, Christmas Time and, for me in Brazil, BEACH TIME! (Over here, we are on Spring and going strong for Summer, as if we ever have got out of Summer). Anyway, I’m babbling, I’m sorry 🙂 So, I sorted out some cool releases from November, in my humble opinion, and made a list. I have to say that this is the third month in a roll that I do this and I’m very pleased with myself, haha! (I’ve been saying that a lot lately, sorry! It’s just that it is very rewarding to be able to keep the blog alive and running during my last semester at college, haha! If you on a similar situation, congratulations: we are heroes!)

But let’s go to the chosen ones! By the way, you can check out a Goodreads list with the 200 hottest releases for November here 🙂

Day 3

Daniel’s True Desire (True Gentlemen #2), by Grace Burrowes

So, I’m a real fan of Grace Burrowes. She does something very hard, on my opinion. Grace writes historical romances, but her differencial is that ALL HER CHARACTERS ARE RELATED SOMEHOW. Yeah. She posted on her website a map for her readers, if they really wish to read the books in the chronological order, as they are really all connected. How does she do that? I don’t know, but I’ve read three books from her (Darius and Nicholas, with their review links, and The Bridegroom Wore Plaid, which I never properly reviewed and I apologize for that, but you can have an idea of my opinion here) and she is amazing. So, you will know each time she releases new books, haha! Besides, the cover is awesome.

Forget Tomorrow (Forget Tomorrow Series #1), by Pintip Dunn

What attracted my attention at first was the book cover, but a quickly overview on it’s Goodreads page told me that a lot of people that read it for NetGalley gave 3 stars or more, leaving me curious. Now I want to read it too, haha!

Idol Dreams, Vol. 1, by Arina Tanemura

I LOVE this manga! I was trying to read it online, as it wasn’t published in English yet AND NOW IT IS! This is awesome and I can’t wait to read the next chapters – I always manage to find this title only up to chapter three… This author is the same that wrote Full Moon Wo Sagashite, The Gentlemen’s Alliance, Vampire Rose, Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne, and ION ❤

It Ended Badly: Thirteen of the Worst Breakups in History, by Jennifer Wright

I have a thing for History books and this one seems brilliant! Break ups are never easy, but can you imagine how bad this can be to be considered one of the worse in History?? I’m curious to my bones!

The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, by Stephen King

It’s Stephen King. And, even if I wanted to give a more detailed description of the story, I wouldn’t be able because Goodreads managed to not say a word about the damn book on its blurb. Go ahead and check for yourself, I was so mad at this that I didn’t even researched more. They want mystery? Fine, I’ll give them mystery –‘’

The Irresistible Rogue (Playful Brides #4), by Valerie Bowman

This is a historical romance. I love those, sorry. You will find a lot of this on the blog and on my to-read lists, haha!

The Secret Life of Anna Blanc, by Jennifer Kincheloe

This book sounds amazing. This girl, Anna Blanc, has a huge secret to keep from everybody and if her boss, her family or her fiancé find out, she is screwed. I love historical books that shows how women fought on their own way to have power 😀

White Collar Girl, by Renee Rosen

This book is very close to home for me, as the main character is a woman and journalist. I need to know if she succeeded, haha!

Day 5

Assassin’s Creed: Underworld (Assassin’s Creed #8), by Oliver Bowden

I’m a big BIG big fan of Assassin’s Creed. I suck at playing it, because as much as I love videogames, they always beat my ass up, haha! But with books is different: I’m missing only two books on my collection by Oliver Bowden and have read the first two. Now only 6 more to go, haha!

House of Shadows, by Nicola Cornick

I’ve met Nicola through her historical romances, which I’ve read two: Miss Verey’s Proposal, which I just discovered that belong in a series and I never knew (it is one of those series books that could be standalones, you know?) and The Blanchland Secret. The first was rated 4 stars, it was very creative and funny, and the second, 3 stars, as it was only good enough to pass time, but nothing memorable. I apologize for not having reviews for those too, but I read like crazy since always and made the blog only 5 months ago 😦 Anyway, this one sounds interesting and let’s see what Nicola is doing!

The Night Clock, by Paul Meloy

I was sent this book through NetGalley, it sounds cool! I’ll update this post when I have the review link 😀

Day 9

How to Lose a Bachelor, by Anna Banks

I’ve read the first book in The Syrena Legacy series, also from Anna, and I fell in love with her writing and how she tells stories. This book sounds like tons of fun and I can’t wait to read it ❤

Day 10

A Gentleman for All Seasons, by Shana Galen, Vanessa Kelly, Kate Noble, Theresa Romain

This is a book with several historical romances tied together by the same place, from several authors, so it shall be cool 😀

Da Vinci’s Tiger, by L.M. Elliott

This is a historical romance based on Da Vinci’s muse, the famous Mona Lisa. I love the Renaissance, so it makes sense for me to read this ❤

When I Was Yours, by Samantha Towle

I loved this cover and I felt sorry for the dumped guy, so I need to know what happened, haha!

Winter (The Lunar Chronicles #4), by Marissa Meyer

I want to start, eventually, this series. Besides, this cover is awesome, haha! I have to say that I never paid much attention to this series because I didn’t thought it interesting *getting ready for the stones*, but after talking to several blog and instagram friends, I decided I have to give it a shot, along with The Mortal Instruments and The Hunger Games 🙂

Day 17

Once Upon a Marquess (The Worth Saga #1), by Courtney Milan

Another historical romance and I regret nothing! But I do admit that this cover is amateur business.

The Golden Braid (Medieval Fairy Tale Romance #2), by Melanie Dickerson

I saw this book being promoted on Instagram and instantly knew I needed to read the whole series: fairy tales gone wrong? COUNT ME IN! This one is about Rapunzel and Robin Hood together 😉

Day 19

Fire Falling  (Air Awakens #2), by Elise Kova

One of my best friends (hi, Lindsey!) recommended the first book in this series to me and I’m dying to read it now, because she knows me too well, haha! Also, there’s a giveaway for the second volume of the series going on Goodreads 🙂

Day 24

Sweetest Scoundrel (Maiden Lane #9), by Elizabeth Hoyt

Yet another historical romance…

The Match of the Century (Marrying the Duke #1), by Cathy Maxwell

Followed by another one! I still regret nothing, HAHA!

That’s it, guys! Thanks for reading! Which books are you looking forward on November? 😀

PS: here you can see my hottest releases for September and October of 2015 😀

August Wrap Up: readings, haul and news :)

Hi, there! August has ended, so it’s time to balance everything that has been happening with me and my books!

Wrap Up

 I’ve read 8 books, 5 mangas and 1 comic book this month. I hope I can do better than this in September!

• The Tutor – Bonnie Dee (review here)

From my Instagram account 🙂

• História da Vida Privada no Brasil (Brazil’s Private Life History) – Fernando A. Novais
• Chasing Rainbows – Linda Oaks (review here)

• The Need – S. L. Hannah (review here)

• A Moda (The Fashion) – Erika Palomino
• A Concise History of Costume – James Laver
• Shattered Blue (The Light Trilogy, #1) – Lauren Bird Horowitz (review here)
• Vexed by a Viscount (All’s Fair in Love, #4) – Erin Knightley (review here)

• Hey, Class President! – Monchi Kaori (5 volumes, review here!)
• Garfield 2.582 strips reunited – Jim Davis

Book Haul

 I’ve bought 3 mangas and 4 ebooks. That’s right, I didn’t buy a single paperback or hardcover this month and I’m depressed.

• A Miracle’s Path – Aaron Millar
• Glagnodian’s Vengeance (Book 1) – Aaron Millar
• Wanting – Piper Vaughn
• The Vampire King’s Husband – Amber Kell

 

Received books

 I’ve received 18 books in August in exchange for a honest review 🙂 Here’s the complete list, including my NetGalley books:

• Sigmund Shaw: A Steampunk Adventure – Mark. C. King (currently reading!)
• What Lies Within – James Morris
• Cemetery Tours and Between Worlds – Jacqueline E. Smith
• Braver With You – A. Hart
• Shattered Blue (The Light Trilogy, #1) – Lauren Bird Horowitz
• Roses of the Angel – Kalee Marshall
• Alice in Underland – DeAnna Knippling
• Dangerous Spirits (Spirits, #2) – Jordan L. Hawk
• Vexed by a Viscount (All’s Fair in Love, #4) – Erin Knightley
• Misunderstood – Anya Valentino
• The Answer – D. M. Thornton
• Tinsel Rose – Stephen Alix
• Cracking The Career Code – Tom Henricksen
• It’s Not Your Journey – Rebecca Lombardo
• Stripped with the Vampire – Jax Garren
• Secrets and High Spirits – Lou Harper
• The Night Clock – Paul Meloy

Four very busy weeks indeed, haha! And I also would like to say that my Review Policy is finally up!! It took me a while, but it’s beautiful ❤ I hope I can get more reading done this month 🙂

That’s it, guys! That’s my August report, haha! Thanks for reading! What have you been up to this last month?