Top 16 of 2016

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Is it too late to share my favorites 16 books of 2016??? I hope as hell not, because I’m doing it today! Here they are, my Top 16 of 2016 😀 . Click on the titles to get directed to my reviews of those books. And keep in mind, these are my favorite reads of the year, but most of them didn’t come out in 2016.


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A Monster Calls | The Score | Isla and the Happily Ever After | Ugly Love | Price of a Kiss | A Court of Mist and Fury | Illuminae | Archer’s Voice | Highly Illogical Behaviour | Us | Anything You Want | Forbidden | Lady Midnight | Carry On | Wallbanger | Life After Juliet

Book Traveling Thursdays: A Book That Gives Me Warm Feelings

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Hello, welcome back to another Book Traveling 168709Thursdays, which a weekly meme created by Cátia @The Girl Who Read Too Much and Danielle @Danielle’s Book Blog. The goal is to share the covers of a book related to that week’s theme, which you can see at the Goodreads group, indicating the original cover, the one of your country, your favorite and least favorite.

This week’s theme is “Fall is just around the corner! Choose a book that brings you warm feelings“. This week I’m going with Isla and the Happily Ever After (Anna and the French Kiss #3) by Stephanie Perkins, because I loved this book, and it definitly gave me all the warm and fuzzy feelings.


Original and Favorite COver:

I love that this book was already published with this gorgeous cover!

COVER FROM MY COUNTRY (PORTUGAL) & COVER FROM THE COUNTRY I LIVE IN (SPAIN):

This book is not out in Portugal, but it is in Spain. I’m not crazy about this cover, but I’ve seen so much worst.

LEAST FAVORITE COVER(s):

                  

I really don’t like the Romanian, German and Spanish editions. Do I need to explain myself?

The ‘Spring has Sprung’ Book Tag

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Hey hey hey! Here I am with another book tag, this time it’s The ‘Spring has Sprung’ Book Tag and I was tagged by The Orang-utan Librarian. Thank you so much! And let’s do this 😉 .


1. Flowers: Look on your bookshelves. What is the most beautiful book both inside and out?

One of my most beautiful books, inside and out, has to be Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon.

Just look at it, isn’t it gorgeous? And it’s such a good and sweet read 🙂 .


2. Grass: What is a book that you find that others like way more than you do?

Given the goodreads rating that Nirvana has, I would say that a lot of people liked it WAY better than me, considering that I rated the book 1 star… which I have to be honest and say that I don’t really understand how that’s possible… to each its own, right?


3. Rain: What’s a great book that lifts your spirits when you’re down?

The obvious answer here has to be Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda, right? I read this book twice already, and I love love love it! It makes me happy. So much so that I even borrowed my physical copy to my bff. I hope she takes good care of my precious!


4. Dew: What’s a book that made you feel alive?

Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy’s Us surely made me feel alive. Maybe because my heart was actually hurting while reading this book. Maybe!

This book has it all: great dialogue, great characters, great story, great romance, huge heartbreak… perfect.


5. Storms: What’s a book that you found unpredictable?

Hmmmm, I would say that Anything You Want by Geoff Herbach was pretty unpredictable. There were definitly some things that I didn’t see coming at all. Also, the book was nothing like I expected, but it’s oh so good!


6. Rainbow: What was a book that you struggled with, only to be happy that you read it in the end?

Well, I struggled with Lady Midnight, but not because the book isn’t brilliant or because I didn’t want to read it, just the opposite. But it is a huge book, and my hands and arms would hurt when I had been reading for awhile. The book is heavy like hell!


7. Chilly Weather: What’s a book that you couldn’t finish or didn’t enjoy?

Perfect time to mention my last 1 star reading, and that was Lessons of the Heart, which is a YA/NA teacher/student romance. It was so so bad, and it had nothing to do with the forbidden part of it. You can check out my review of it HERE.


8. Warm Weather: What’s a book that you loved and wanted more of?

I wanted more of Adorkable for sure. Such a cute and good read. I wanted to see what happened after that last scene and what was in store for Sally and Becks, because they were so adorable together :D.

  


9. Green: What’s a book that you haven’t read yet, but really want to?

Actually, I’m saying one that I’m gonna start today, and that is The Rose and the Dagger, by Renee Ahdieh. I’ve had the book for a few weeks now, but I can only manage one physical book at a time, and I needed to finish Me Before You before starting this one.


10. Pink: What’s a book in which you felt a strong connection to the characters?

I felt a really strong connection to Isla and Josh, in Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins. Maybe that’s why this was my favorite book of the companion series. There’s just something so great about Isla and Josh.


11. Purple: What’s a book that when you read it, you feel safe?

Not sure I fully understand this question, but hey, I’ll give it a try?! I think Attachments by Rainbow Rowell was a book that made me feel safe, maybe because I loved the story and it’s my favorite contemporary of Rowell’s. Have you read it? You should!


12. Orange: What book do you feel is intelligently written?

I didn’t want to repeat authors, but I kind of have to. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell is, in my opinion, one of the most intelligent written books I’ve ever read. I loved how the base of the book was known, but she twisted everything. I fins the magic system especially compelling.


13. Yellow: What book puts a smile on your face?

Ok, try to look at that cover and not smile… did you manage it? Big Rock by Lauren Blakely definitly put a huge smile on my face. It’s an amazing romance and I highly recommend it to everyone who likes NA romances.

  


I tag:

Top Ten Tuesday: Recent 5 Star Reads

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Hello, welcome back to another Tuesday. Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s theme is:

Ten Of My Most Recent 5 Star Reads (Or Ten Of The Best Books I’ve Read Recently if you don’t 5 star stuff…or you could do 5 of my latest five star reads & five of my most disappointing or 1 star reads)

Well, I do 5 Star books… a lot. I don’t give away full 5 stars easily, but I do rate a lot of books between 4.5 and 5 stars. That’s what I’m showing today: my last ten favorite reads, a.k.a., books I have 4.5 to 5 stars.


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Isla and the Happily Ever After (Stephanie Perkins)

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The café is boiling. The atmosphere is clouded with bittersweet coffee.
Three years of desire rip through my body and burst from my lips: “Josh!”
His head jolts up. For a long time, a very long time, he just stares at me.
And then…he blinks. “Isla?”

Hopeless romantic Isla has had a crush on brooding artist Josh since their first year at the School of America in Paris. And, after a chance encounter in Manhattan over the summer break, romance might be closer than Isla imagined. But as they begin their senior year back in France, Isla and Josh are forced to face uncertainty about their futures, and the very real possibility of being apart.

Set against the stunning backdrops of New York, Paris and Barcelona, this is a gorgeous, heart-wrenching and irresistible story of true love, and the perfect conclusion to Stephanie Perkins’s beloved series.


This one is my favorite of this series! Yep, Isla and the Happily Ever After totally stole my heart! I loved Anna and the French Kiss and I liked Lola and the Boy Next Door too, but Isla was on a totally different level.

Once again, the writing of this book was flawless. It was funny and self aware, and it flowed so well. I really liked Isla’s voice, she felt real to me. Again, I really loved the setting, how it starts in NY and then we get to go back to SOAP in Paris :), it was awesome.

If there’s one things that all these books have in common is that all characters are unique, and Isla and Josh are no exception. Isla is quiet and shy, but once she opens up, she’s fun and easy going. Her insecurities broke my heart, but once again, they felt real to me, so much so that I was sobbing for a good chunk of the book.

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I love Étienne and Cricket, sure, but Josh… OMG! Where can I get a Josh? I had loved Josh during Anna and the French Kiss, but I fell in love with Josh during this book. One thing that made this book totally different and better for me was the fact that we actually get to see some of the events through Josh’s perspective and how he feels about things.

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The fact that Isla and Josh enter a relationship quite early in the book was a plus for me – even though I knew that something bad was coming – because it actually allowed me to read about their relationship and not just how they got together. This means we get to see them grow within it. Another thing that I loved was how well the sex was handled. This is the first book of this series in which both partners are equally experienced, which means that it flowed naturally and it made a lot of sense.

The conflict broke my heart, because it hit close to home. I think that Isla voiced the fears of a lot of people, but I absolutely loved how it was resolved. And this book’s message is so important… It’s ok to not know what you want to do with the rest of your life at the age of 18!

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Because I do live in Barcelona, I did love the chapter in which Isla and Josh are here. The descriptions of La Pedrera, Casa Battló, Parc Guëll and La Sagrada Familia were beyond perfect. I’m not a very big fan of Gaudí, but I do love these sights, especially Casa Battló and Parc Guëll, which are my favorite places in Barcelona.

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#casabatllo #barcelona #gaudi #spain

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I was overjoyed when Anna, Étienne, Meredith, Cricket and Lola appeared in the book. 😀 I was so happy about that whole subplot. And Isla recap of Josh’s comic about the events of Anna and the French Kiss – slight spoiler for Anna and the French Kiss –  was the best thing ever! Also, Kurt! How awesome was Kurt?! I really liked to see their friendship and how Josh and Kurt’s friends fit into their dynamic.

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In the end, I loved this book to pieces and it took the top spot in this series. It’s ok to not know what you want to do with your life. And sometimes you need space and time to organize your thoughts and feelings and realize what’s important. All the love for Isla and Josh!

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