Read This Quarter: IV

 What I read this quarter, 2021: Quarter IV

October, November & December

1. The Two Towers        audiobook/ebook ✦✦✦✦✧

2. Iceman Kimin matkassa         Non-fiction ✦✦✦✧✧

3. Return of the King        (Series Finisher) audiobook/ebook ✦✦✦✦✧

- - -

- - -

4. Kohti nollapistettä         ✦✦✦✦.5

5. Salainen vastustaja         ✦✦.75✧✧ 

6. Hawthorne Legacy         ebook ✦✦✦✦✧

Data (not including rereads):

Author:

          50 % female,

          50 % male

Genre:

         33 % fantasy/magic,

         33 % crime,

         17 % realistic fiction,

         17 % non-fiction

       

Pages:

       2 302p

Format:

         50 % physical book

         33 % e-books

         17 % audiobooks

Average:

         3.7

Arcs:

         0 % sent to me (for honest reviews)

*For more info check my Goodreads: link*

Read on lovelies,

S

Helsinki Book Fair 2019

Last year's post: link

This year I only spent Saturday at the book fair, but here's everything memorable!

This years theme was France with a record number of visitors - over 90 000.

I don't think the theme was as present as past years, with only some sections. Without knowing it beforehand I don't think I would've even realized that that was the theme.

A change they did this year was making the "center" bigger and having four bigger pathways to it, which I think worked out really well and helped navigating.

There were lots of talkers and books, though the 2e slots felt smaller when comparing to last year. In addition to books there were quite a few other things there this year, from cushions, bags, posters, mugs, tea and even beds.

As always I picked up some Christmas and birthday gifts, and ended up with some bits and bobs as well.

Read on lovelies,

S

If I Wrote a Book

People ask me if writing a book is a dream of mine, but my answer is always no. I don't think I could ever be able to:

a) write one,

b) have a story developed enough

or even c) have a original and creative story.

Every once in a while I do think of characters or a world or story and might even write some scenes down, but a novel? Nope.

But if I were to write one, these are things I'd have to consider:

1) Who is the target audience?

2) What makes it special

3) Genre

4) POV

5) Style (readability)

6) Organization: coherence, consistency, flow
7) Length
8) Possible message

9) Characters

-strength

-weakness

-goal
-backstory
-possible names!

10) And then what actually happens:

setting, character, conflict, climax, resolution, details...

Personally I would probably write a fairy tale retelling with adventure, action and hints of magic and romance.

Read on lovelies,

S

Helsinki Book Fair 2018

This post will be about the Helsinki Book Fair (kirjamessut.messukeskus.com) and is like last years one, link, and haul, link, which will be up next week!

This was my second year there with a blog pass, and I wasn't disappointed.


Friday:

I wasn't planning on going today, but oh I did. For tips and tricks to also help I would recommend getting a map and acquainting oneself to it, because that's something I struggle with every year. Another thing that I'd recommend is making a list beforehand of the places you definitely want to visit. Even though I go through all the isles and rows systematically I always end up missing something.

Basically for the whole day I spent it perusing and familiarizing myself with everything and buying what caught my eye.

Another thing to mention is that a  theme of sorts this year was the States, which was seen in the amount of authors visiting and in some of the stands.

Saturday:

I spent Saturday mainly going to blogger events that publishers held.

It started out with a WSOY, Tammi, Johnny Kniga brunch with various authors:

Anja Snellman, Antti Heikkinen, Satu Vasantola, Veera Nieminen and Liina Putkonen.

Mostly what caught my eye was Jäätynyt tyttö by Liina Putkonen which is definitely something I want to read.

- - -

Next there was an event held by S&S with Katja Lahti, Sabine Forsblom, Annastiina Heikkilä, Lauri Ahtinen and Ida Salminen.

The ones I most want to read from this bunch are Tarinoita suomalaisista tytöistä jotka muuttivat maailmaa by Ida Salminen, and Elias by Lauri Ahtinen.

- - -

Lastly was Teos with Mia Franck, Hannu-Pekka Ikäheimo, Jarno Hartikainen, Rafael Donner, Juha Hurme, Kati Rapia, Henriikka Tavi, JP Pulkkinen and Mirjam Lohi.

And this time around Pyrstötähti by Kati Rapia and Juha Hurme really caught my attention

Sunday:

Today as the last day, I spent it with family who came with me to the fair. And buying whatever I couldn't stop thinking about so that regrets would be minimal.

I even bought a key-ring that can be used to tell what day of the week it is in whatever amount of time, which is frankly quite useless but I fell in love with it.

Read on lovelies,

S

Popular Book Series I Haven't Finished

I recently made a post about popular books I haven't read and mentioned that series that I've maybe read the first one or two, but haven't finished won't be on that list - but here they are as promised.
I have posts about series I have finished and ones I haven't (and probably won't).
So none of these are certain "never reads", but not many are high on my TBR.

Raven Cycle (read 3)
Cassandra Clare (I have read MI and ID, but haven't read DA)
Throne of Glass (read 3)
Court of Thorns and Roses (read 1)
Six of Crows (read 1)
Red Queen (read 2)
Three Dark Throwns (read 1)
The Maze Runner (read 1)
Miss Peregrine's (read 1)
Matched (read 2)
Eragon (read 1)
Howl's Moving Castle (read 1)
A Wrinke in Time (read 1)
Series of Unfortunate Events (read 1)
The Giver (read 1)

*For stars and more info check my Goodreads: link*

Read on lovelies,

S

Popular Books I Haven't Read

There are loads of popular books I haven't read, ones I want to read - and ones I'm not planning on getting to.
When compiling this list I searched Goodreads for popular YA book lists. I combed through them and made this list of the top ones I haven't read.
Note: I'm counting these as series, and if I've read the first one or two it won't be on this list (I'll be making a post about those in the future)
ya, best ya, ya fiction, ya 2017

Caraval
Warcross
Strange the Dreamer
The Hate You Give
Perks of Being a Wallflower
Thirteen Reasons Why
Uglies
Vampire Academy
Twilight
Ink Heart
Golden Compass
The Lord of the Rings (I've read the Hobbit)
Dark Artifices

Authors:
Brandon Sanderson
Victoria Schwab
Adam Silvera
Becky Albertalli

*For stars and more info check my Goodreads: link*

Read on lovelies,

S

Kirjamessut / Book fair 2017 part 1

As I mentioned in a previous post (link), I received a blog pass for the Helsinki book fair (kirjamessut).

So how did it go?
I will have a separate post tomorrow about all the things I bought there...






Thursday:
On Thursday I toured the fair as a whole, first with only touring and then buying (this way I didn't need to lug everything around with me all day). This year there were 2 huge sections with everything 2 euros (a treasure I got last year from there was the Night Circus, and they had it this year as well).

Bigger publishers had 10-20% off of everything, and Adlibris (one of my absolute favorite online stores in Finland for books) had 3 books for 10e and 5 yarn rolls for 10e.

There was definitely a theme of Finland turning 100 this year, and also the fact that Dan Brown came was made a big factor. There was also a Harry Potter themed bus (picture below) and other bits and bobs which made the whole experience, yet again, amazing.











Saturday:


Saturday was my second, and last, day at the fair and it started off with a WSOY, Tammi and Johnny Kniga blogger brunch, which I loved. Food, books, authors talking and bloggers meeting - what else do you need? The people were lovely & I also got books signed for the first time, so that was something else to remember!

The authors there:

Heikki Valkama (Pallokala), - so excited for this one!
Marianna Kurtto (Tristania),
Roope Sarvilinna (Osuma),
Joonas Konstig (Vuosi Herrasmiehenä),
A. W. Yrjänä (Joonaanmäen Valaat)
& Tuomas Kyrö (Mielensäpahoittajan Suomi)



Lastly for the day I attended the Teos blogger meet-up with various of their authors telling us about their books:

Juha Hurme (Niemi)
Juhani Känkänen (Ilo irti, Apo Apponen!)
Marjo Niemi (Kaikkien menetysten äiti)
Maria Peura (Tunkeilijat)
Mikko Rimminen (Maailman luonnollisin asia)
Heikki Reivilä (Onnettomat Roomassa)
& Jarkko Volanen (Hiekankantajat)

Read on lovelies,

S

John Green Read-Along & Unboxing

*Books kindly provided by the publisher, Penguin Random House, in exchange for honest reviews!*

To prepare for #TurtlesAlltheWayDown, @penguinrandomhouse has a countdown read along, with giveaways each week on Goodreads!

Looking for Alaska giveaway link here

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Timeline:
🌼 Looking for Alaska Sept. 4-10
👧 Abundance of Katherines 11-17
📌 Paper Towns 18-24
👥 Will Grayson, Will Grayson 25-Oct.1
☁ The Fault in Our Stars 2-8
🐢 Turtles All the Way Down 10-17

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So join us this weekend with Looking for Alaska and starting next week with An Abundance of Katherines!

Read on lovelies,

S

Most Sold Books

Thoughts - Read, will or won't?

(Wikipedia, Jamesclear, The Guardian)

I made this to just map out a) what are actually the very best selling books and b) to see how much I'd read of them  and c) if anything grabs my attention and makes me want to read it.
You'll probably enjoy a and c

List of best-selling single-volume books

More than 100 million copies

Book	Author(s)
Don Quixote	Miguel de Cervantes
A Tale of Two Cities	Charles Dickens
O Alquimista (The Alchemist)	Paulo Coelho
Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince)	Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone	J.K. Rowling
The Hobbit	J. R. R. Tolkien
And Then There Were None	Agatha Christie
紅樓夢/红楼梦 (Dream of the Red Chamber)	Cao Xueqin
Alice in Wonderland	Lewis Carroll

List of best-selling book series

More than 100 million copies

Book series	Author
Harry Potter	J.K. Rowling
Goosebumps	R. L. Stine
Perry Mason	Erle Stanley Gardner
Berenstain Bears	Stan and Jan Berenstain
Choose Your Own Adventure	various authors
Sweet Valley High	Francine Pascal and ghostwriters
Noddy	Enid Blyton
Nancy Drew	various authors as Carolyn Keene
The Railway Series	Rev. W. Awdry, Christopher Awdry
San-Antonio	Frédéric Dard
Robert Langdon	Dan Brown
The Baby-sitters Club	Ann Martin
Diary of a Wimpy Kid	Jeff Kinney
Star Wars	various authors
The Lord of the Rings	J. R. R. Tolkien
Little Critter	Mercer Mayer
Peter Rabbit	Beatrix Potter
American Girl	various authors
Chicken Soup for the Soul	Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen
Geronimo Stilton	Elisabetta Dami
Frank Merriwell	Gilbert Patten
Fifty Shades of Grey	E. L. James
Dirk Pitt	Clive Cussler
宮本武蔵 (Musashi)	Eiji Yoshikawa
The Chronicles of Narnia	C. S. Lewis
Mr. Men	Roger Hargreaves, Adam Hargreaves
Twilight	Stephenie Meyer
Clifford the Big Red Dog	Norman Bridwell
James Bond	Ian Fleming
Martine	Gilbert Delahaye, Marcel Marlier

25 Best-Selling Books of All-Time

#1 – Don Quixote (500 million copies sold)

by Miguel de Cervantes

#2 – A Tale of Two Cities (200 million copies sold)

by Charles Dickens

#3 – The Lord of the Rings (150 million copies sold)

by J.R.R. Tolkien

#4 – The Little Prince (142 million copies sold)

by Antoine de Saint-Exupery

#5 – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (107 million copies sold)

by J.K. Rowling

#6 – And Then There Were None (100 million copies sold)

by Agatha Christie

#7 – The Dream of the Red Chamber (100 million copies sold)

by Cao Xueqin

#8 – The Hobbit (100 million copies sold)

by J.R.R. Tolkien

#9 – She: A History of Adventure (100 million copies sold)

by H. Rider Haggard

#10 – The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (85 million copies sold)

by C.S. Lewis

#11 – The Da Vinci Code (80 million copies sold)

by Dan Brown

#12 – Think and Grow Rich (70 million copies sold)

by Napoleon Hill

#13 – Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (65 million copies sold)

by J.K. Rowling

#14 – The Catcher in the Rye (65 million copies sold)

by J.D. Salinger

#15 – The Alchemist (65 million copies sold)

by Paulo Coelho

#16 – Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (60 million copies sold)

by J.K. Rowling

#17 – Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (55 million copies sold)

by J.K. Rowling

#18 – Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (55 million copies sold)

by J.K. Rowling

#19 – Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (55 million copies sold)

by J.K. Rowling

#20 – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (50 million copies sold)

by J.K. Rowling

#21 – One Hundred Years of Solitude (50 million copies sold)

by Gabriel García Marquez

#22 – Lolita (50 million copies sold)

by Vladimir Nabokov

#23 – Anne of Green Gables (50 million copies sold)

by Lucy Maud Montgomery

#24 – Charlotte’s Web (50 million copies sold)

by E.B. White

#25 – Black Beauty (50 million copies sold)

Read on lovelies,

S