Recommendations

If you liked this, you'll like this

I made a list of popular books in different genres and made a match that I think you'd like if you liked the other.
Or if you like certain genres this could be helpful.

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ACTION:  Wrath and the Dawn - The Book of Ivy
     Kiss of Deception - Assassins Curse

     Darkest Minds - Graceling

     Ruby Red & Gallagher Academy authors' other series: All Fall Down - Dream a Little Dream

SCI-FI:  Across the Universe - Mind Games
FAIRYTALE RETELLING:  Cinder - Alice in Zombieland

FLUFFY ROMANCE:  Anna and the French Kiss - Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

MYSTERY: Sherlock Holmes - Agatha Christie (And Then There Were None, The Orient Express)

SURVIVAL: Soul Surfer - The Raft

HUMOUR: We Should Hang Out Sometime - Hyperbole and a Half

SCIENCE: What If? - Stuff Matters

WHIMSICAL: Alice in Wonderland - Furthermore

    Howl's Moving Castle - Pennyroyal Academy

Read on lovelies,

Sally

Updated lists

Recap

If you didn't read a post of mine from a while back stating that during february and march I will be posting biweekly, then you now know.

That is also true for today (a day without an actual post), so I made a list of lists I've previously made and now updated.

  Also my monthly wrap-ups for January-March will be in one post at the end of March, since I'm in the middle of finals now and therefore won't be writing or reading.

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SERIES I've finished: link

SERIES I'm in the middle of: link

SERIES I won't continue: link

My goodreads shelves explained: link

TBR: link

2017 TBR challenge: link

Read on lovelies,

Sally

A is For Arsenic: Agatha Christie review

Agatha Christie & a Review

Here are some recommendations for reading Christie's works

& a review for A is For Arsenic, by Kathryn Harkup

link to the Goodreads page here

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*Book kindly provided by the publisher Bloomsbury in exchange for an honest review!*

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Fourteen novels. Fourteen poisons. Just because it's fiction doesn't mean it's all made-up . . .

"Agatha Christie used poison to kill her characters more often than any other crime fiction writer. The poison was a central part of the novel, and her choice of deadly substances was far from random... Christie demonstrated her extensive chemical knowledge (much of it gleaned by working in a pharmacy during both world wars)...

Written by former research chemist Kathryn Harkup, each chapter takes a different novel and investigates the poison used by the murderer. Fact- and fun-packed, A is for Arsenic looks at why certain chemicals kill, how they interact with the body, and the feasibility of obtaining, administering, and detecting these poisons, both when Christie was writing and today."

A is for Arsenic is a celebration of the use of science by the undisputed Queen of Crime.

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Review

Stars:✦✦✦✦✧

If you like Agatha Christie, her books, chemistry, backround information or want to learn of real life cases (from which Christie may have gotten ideas) - this book is for you!

         Whether or not you've read any of her books you'll find this extremely fascinating, superbly constructed and jam-packed with information.

         Though it has some spoilers they aren't bothersome, but rather makes me want to read the books. The book is constructed so that if you choose to read about just a certain poison, how they kill, antidotes, real-life cases, historical facts or Agatha's dive into them, you totally can.

     What really fascinated me was to read about real-life cases during Christie's time and how they were potentially solved. As a chemistry student I also found it very entertaining when reading about how the poison actually interacts with your system.

So overall, I really loved this book, and if your interested at all I'd recommend you pick it up.

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Agatha Christie

Both Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple are detectives that most people recognize to be Agatha Christies works of art. They have been adapted in so many ways and even the Guinness Book of World Records shows that Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time, with tnovels having been sold around 2 billion copies.

This "Queen of Crime" is one to thank for the structure of mystery books starting from the:

murder, multiple suspects (all with secrets), a detective gradually cracking them, and shocking twists at the end.

Culprits have been children, policemen, narrators, already dead individuals, and at times no-one or even every suspect.

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If you have no idea where to start from here is a list of four:

The classic choice, and her and the world's best-selling mystery book ever with 100 million sales:

And Then There Were None

My personal favourite so far, and becoming a movie this year:

Murder on the Orient Express

Voted the best crime novel ever in 2013, and close to the winner of "World's Favourite Christie" in 2015:

The Death of Roger Ackroyd

A really good continuation for fans of Hercule Poirot, and one of The Guardian's top 10:

Five Little Pigs

Read on lovelies,

Sally

TBR : 2017

This was a work in progress, last update: December 31st -17

As the one for last year (link), these are books I own but haven't read yet...
(I'll be crossing them over, and shall try to keep it updated)

Start of the year: 2(+6) + 5 classics + 2 from siblings
                 Got before this year (the ones I want to get to zero by the end of the year)
                 ARCs and books sent for review
                 >>Unread

TBR:

   1. My True Love Gave to Me UNHAUL
   >>2. Frost Like Night
3. PS I Like You
4. Bad Blood
5. Take the Key and Lock Her Up
6. Dream On
7. Love, Lies and Spies
>>8. The Beauty of Darkness
 9. Girl Code (publ. March 7th -17)
 10. Literally (publ. April 11th -17)
 11. Heartless
 12. A is for Arsenic
 13. Stealing Snow UNHAUL
 DNF14. Ensnared (publ. May 25th -17)
 15. Geekerella (publ. April 4th -17)
 16. 10 Things I Can See From Here (publ. Feb. 28th -17)UNHAUL
 17. Harbringer, ebook (publ. March 1st -17)
18. The Shadow Cadets of Pennyroyal Academy
19. He tulevat Bagdadiin (orig. They Came to Baghdad)
20. The Rumpelstiltskin Problem
21. My Lady Jane
 22. I See London I See France (publ. Jul. 11th -17)
 23. This is How it Happened (publ. Jul. 11th -17)
 24. Changes in Latitudes (publ. Jul. 25th -17)
25. A Study in Charlotte
 26. Flame in the Mist
>>27. The Idiot Brain
28. Just Dreaming
29. Enigma
>>30. The Season of You & Me
31. An Abundance of Katherines
32. Will Grayson, Will Grayson
33. Forest of a Thousand Lanterns (publ. Oct 10th -17)
>>34. There's Someone Inside Your House
>>35. The Boy at the Top of the Mountain
>>36. Stay Where You Are and Then Leave
>>37. Artemis
>>38. Kuolema ilmoittaa lehdessä
>>39. Pallokala
>>40. Tristania
>>41. Osuma
42. Eliza and Her Monsters
>>43. Making the Monster: The Science Behind Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
>>44. Renegades
>>45. Murha maalaiskylässä

>>46. Aikataulukon arvoitus

CLASSICS:

>-2-2. Jane Austen

>3,4. Charles Dickens 2-3

>5. Poe - Nantucket

   >6. Wilde 1/9

   >7. Shakespeare 2/37

   >8. Poe 3/71

   >9. Andersen 7/99
   >10. Aesop's Fables 50/384
   >11. The Arabian Nights 0/21
   >12. Kafka 1/7
>13,14. The Classic Works of Mark Twain 4-5

   >15. Short stories 0/4

>16. The Classic Works of Robert Louis Stevenson 1-5
>17. Jane Eyre

FROM OTHERS:

1. Animal Farm
2. Mistborn
3. The Cuckoo's Calling

Read on lovelies,

S

2017 challenge

TBR challenge

This was a work in progress, last updated: December 31st -17

For the past two years I've done a challenge to get my TBR list down.
I decided that I won't continue the Around the World in 52 books challenge, but for anyone interested here is The 2017 List: link

I started doing them because of two things:
1) I wanted to get a grip on my huge TBR
& 2) I wanted to expand what I was reading

This year I want to focus on that second point, and therefore made a list of my own, combinging different challenges and picking the ones I thought were fitting.

1. Finish 2 series
Enigma
Just Dreaming
2. A book from the Goodreads Choice Awards (link to 2016)
Artemis
3. A book you meant to read in 2016
To Kill a Mockingbird
4. A historical fiction
Love, Lies and Spies
5. Released as a movie
Martian
6. Award winner
An Abundance of Katherines
7. A book in Finnish
He tulevat Bagdadiin
8.  A really long book (600+ pages)
The Beauty of Darkness
9. A book by an author you haven't read before
Literally
10. A book written by at least two authors
My Lady Jane
11. A non-fiction
Girl Code
12. A book with a long title
A is for Arsenic: The Poisons of Agatha Christie
13. A magical realism novel
Flame in the Mist ?
14. A book where one of the main characters is royalty
Take the Key and Lock Her Up
15. A book you choose randomly
I See London, I See France
16. A novel inspired by a work of classic literature
The Rumpelstiltskin Problem
17. A book published in 2017
Geekerella
18. A book with a chilling atmosphere (scary, unsettling, cold)
Bad Blood
19. A recommendation from "What Should I Read Next" (link)
Dream On
20. A collection (e.g. essays, short stories, poetry, plays)
My True Love Gave to Me
21. A biography/autobiography/memoir
Making the Monster: The Science Behind Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
22. Genre you don't read enough
Engineer's Cookbook
23. Someone else picked
Will Grayson, Will Grayson
24. Choose by Cover
This is How it Happened
25. A Standalone
PS I Like You
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I will be updating this and crossing things over when I've read them.

And tomorrow I will be posting my yearly updated TBR, that I will be updating as the year goes on like last year.

Read on lovelies,

Sally

Girl Code: Review

Andrea Gonzales & Sophie Houser

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*Book kindly provided by the publisher, Harper Collins, in exchange for an honest review!*

Goodreads' link to the book

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>I gave this book 4.5 stars

This inspiring true story is about how two teens, Sophie and Andy, found the magic of coding and made the game Tampon Run, which went viral.
          (From the game: "the taboo that surrounds [menstruation] teaches women that a normal and natural bodily function is embarrassing and crude...The game is a way of discussing the taboo in an accessible way.")
        >>>You can access it on their website and now as an app.

       Computer coding is a male dominated world and this book shows how girls everywhere can achieve dreams no matter what. It doesn't matter if you don't know what your doing or you take a wrong turn in life, you can still make your way to happiness. It's okay to be unsure of what to do and this book proves it.

       The book is honest bringing new perspectives and thoughts to climbing the ladder by working hard. These young girls follow their passions and the road of fear and insecurity without a clue at what they're doing - but manage to succeed at the end.

       You need to make sacrifices in life, but like the girls learnt - you need to be yourself and prioritize things that are important to you. Remember that there are people backing you up and working together can be helpful and rewarding.

      Even if you aren't interested in coding, this book is great for showing you that you don't need to know what life will bring, just work hard and success can be reached - even after some mistakes.

     Or maybe after reading this you'll be excited to start out trying coding:
"Coding is empowering, it's creative, and it's fun." -Sophie

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Read on lovelies,

Sally

Book Haul

As I suspected I bought quite a bit of books on my trip to America
& also Harper Collins sent a few ARCs (advanced reader's copies)
& Pan Macmillan sent over a book as well


PS I Like You
Take the Key and Lock Her Up
Bad Blood
Dream On
Love, Lies and Spies
The Beauty of Darkness
The Heart of Betrayal
The Wrath and the Dawn
The Rose and the Dagger
Cinder and Ella
Airman
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
A Torch Against the Night (signed copy!)

Thank you Harper Collins:

Literally (expected publication: April 11th)

Girl Code (expected publication: March 7th)

Thank you Pan Macmillan:
Heartless

Read on lovelies,

Sally