Title: The Afflication of Praha Author: Simon Gillard Publisher: Amazon Digital Services Pub. Date: 9th of July
Synopsis
It’s 20th-century Czechoslovakia… and murder comes knocking.
The Teralov family are loved and respected by everyone in Prague, adored for bringing prosperity and hope to its downtrodden people… so nobody expected to find Peter Teralov inexplicably murdered in the streets.
To quell the uproar, expert Soviet detective Edgar Rollenvart soon finds himself tasked with hunting down the one responsible and bringing the killer to justice. He’s confident he can unravel the mystery behind Peter’s killing – despite the mysterious absence of evidence.
Teaming up with Peter’s brother, Edgar embarks on a twisting and impossible case that will take them through the streets and cities of early 1920s Czechoslovakia. As the number of suspects mounts and the evidence seems to go nowhere, Edgar soon realizes that the mystery behind this case runs far deeper than meets the eye…
If you like gripping historical mysteries packed with brutal twists and turns, then you won’t want to miss this dramatic and period-perfect depiction of the early 20th-century in the heart of Europe.
About Simon Gillard
Simon Gillard is an author with a passion for mystery novels and history alike.
He works as a Network Engineer in the IT industry, and he also spent two years in Slovakia, which inspired him to craft ‘The Affliction of Praha’ and use the nation’s rich history as its setting.
When not writing, Simon enjoys reading, motorbikes, skiing and music. He currently lives in London with his beautiful wife and their young daughter.
Hey guys! Today I prepared for you something completely different from the things I mostly post; the soundtrack of Throne of Glass. I created more than 5 playlists of songs that give a perfect vibe while reading the Throne of Glass series. I decided to share with you all of my favorite findings. Let’s start with two Victoria Carbol’s songs that were created based on the Throne of Glass series. At the end of the list, you can find my Spotify playlist which includes all the songs listed and more.
Song of the Witch Kingdom by Victoria Carbol
Ballad of Terassen by Victoria Carbol
A Little Wicked by Valerie Broussard
Spider in the Roses by Sonia Leigh & Daphne Willis ft. Rob the Man
Keep Lying by Donna Missal
Black Sheep by Gin Wigmore
Serious Love by Anya Marina
Dead In the Water by SPELLES
Kill of The Night by Gin Wigmore
River by Bishop Briggs
White Flag by Bishop Briggs
Start a War by Klergy & Vakerie Broussard
Trouble by Valerie Broussard
Get Free by Whissel
Whiskey Please by Whissel
Soldier by Flaurie
Devil Devil by MILCK
Arsonist’s Lullabye by Hozier
Until the Levee by Joy Williams
Hatefuck by Cruel Youth
I listened to all these songs every time I was reading any of the TOG books and it made the whole experience even better. I don’t know if you like this kind of music but let me know what you think! I’m adding my playlist below, if you would like to listen to more songs like this.
Title: My Generation: A Memoir of the Baby Boom Genre: Memoir Page count: 460
Synopsis:
Like so many of the Baby Boom, I entered the world sequestered in incubator and crib; was moved by corporate edict from city to city; molded by a society beholden to TV and the next consumer trend. Encouraged by cultural allies, inspired by mentors; graced in equal measure by handshakes with fame (Gillespie, Salinger, Ginsberg) and brushes with death (cocaine, cougar, truck crash), I was nurtured and guided to find my own way to a more fulfilling future.
My first break from mainstream conditioning came in 1965 with my exit from the public school system and exposure to the alternative values of Quakers. Still, like the rest of the silent majority, on hearing the news of a protest suicide, or the massacre of women and children in a faraway village, I turned away to avoid sinking into depths of anger or despair. Was this a cultural disease, not to feel, but to change the channel, or use retail therapy to cope? To use whatever small pleasure or spectacle was close at hand to numb the senses and dull the pain of the nightmare underside of the American Dream?
Meanwhile, I could hear new voices of my generation—the Who, Muhammed Ali, Martin Luther King, Jr., Hendrix, with a new anthem to sing: Live for today. At Dartmouth College, we in the Class of ’72 saw ourselves as a vanguard, poised at the fulcrum of a giant, historical transition. The storming of the Bastille, by French university students; the hippie explosion of Woodstock, and the urban race riots; the backlash election of Nixon, and his escalation of the Vietnam War; the old order was surely in its death throes and would pass away into the dustbin of history, by the time we graduated in three years.
The campus revolution indeed came to a head after the Kent State shootings of 1970; but the Vietnam War raged on. Taking refuge in literature and nature, drugs, sex and rock ‘n roll, my peers and I tried to envision escape to a better world. Some were heading to the hills, experimenting with communal lifestyles and small-scale farming. Others gave up the ideals of a new society and reverted to the old paradigm, grad school, business and law, marriage and a house in the suburbs.
I plotted my own course of freedom. A naïve flight from the halls of ivy to a California dream yielded a merry-go-round of minimum-wage jobs: parking valet, gas jockey, baggage handler. These mundane and mindless revolving doors gave me the blue collar blues; spun me, in time, into that sideshow called the arts; and eventually drove me back to the cloister of academics.
Back in the womb of university, I skirted the problem of survival by distancing myself from it. Nature, my constant muse, became an abstraction, an object of study and analysis. Soothed by the music of language and its mysterious magic, I would play my part in a generational shift from real work in the physical world, to a linguistic marketplace, destined for a yet more virtual future. At last I saw the dead end and danced out of it, saved by a shimmer of Northern Lights. The end of that new road was the roadless Far North, where, as a teacher, I could play a novel version of the role of Outsider, trading literacy for the survival skills of the Inuit hunters. At least I found good company there with my fellow misfits from the South, caught in the colonial dilemma of assimilating a people whose timeless culture we admired more than our own. Our ensuing adventures, passing into legend as “the Golden Days,” included a four-month exile during the heat of the Bill 101 crisis in 1977, when the Inuit staged a nonviolent counter-revolution to the language coup of the Parti Quebecois.
Finding a partner to share a more sustainable vision of rural self-sufficiency gave me also a marriage ticket to stay in Canada. Inspired during the long winter nights of the Arctic, from our summers spent in a utopian community in backwoods BC, we decided finally to commit to the “simple life” of self-sufficiency, building a homestead from raw land bordering wilderness. There my stubborn ideals would be put to the test of nature, my chronic freedom traded for a self-chosen home.
At the age of thirty—the very age of adulthood defined by my generation—I followed the dream of a life on the land in new and ancient territory: my country. There in the Kootenay mountains of southeast British Columbia, the real work could begin. I could recreate myself—mountain man and homesteader, peace crusader and new father—and begin a new generation.
About an Author
Nowick Gray has published an eclectic range of literary fiction and creative nonfiction, stretching genre conventions using innovative structure and style. Born in Baltimore, Nowick has spent most of his adult life in Canada. He taught for three years in Inuit villages before building a homestead on a land co-op in the BC mountains. Extensive world travels followed, including drum study in West Africa. Nowick now lives on Salt Spring Island, BC.
Hey guys! I’ve been in contact lately with an author of Everville: The Fall of Brackenone and Seven Rules of Time Travel. He offered to write a short story for my readers about time travels. I’m very excited to share it with you!
Time Trip Station Six by Roy Huff
“Come on baby. Let’s go,” Blake said as she kicked the jump-engine into hyperdrive.
Exterior panel vibrations triggered yellow alert.
“Don’t let me down now,” she said, not sure if the new ship upgrades would hold.
Blake made quick use of her fingers, throttling down half lightspeed to stop the shaking just before the spacetime lanes formed a clear getaway.
The spare parts she stole from Station Six came with extra juice along with unexpected recoil from the nano-accelerators. It caused a three-second delay between engagement and full power. Those three seconds would determine if her mission would be successful or if she’d be the latest fully sentient simbot trophy for the Station Six warlord. She had no margin for error and would have to drive perfectly to be free and clear.
Blake wore her chrome exterior unapologetically. Most simbots opted to blend in, usually selecting a level six facial appearance with full human options. It was the smart choice and guaranteed maximum safety against rebels.
Two holoscreens popped up from a center panel, one showing four-dimensional navigations and the other tracking three ships accelerating hot on her tail: a long-range transport and two smaller and more maneuverable attack fighters.
Computer alert status switched from yellow to red. Three bolts from her stern fired in quick succession. The first shot grazed her starboard hull. The hodgepodge armored plating somehow managed to deflect the burst of fire.
“You’re not getting me that easily,” she said, tapping out a three sequence engage code reactivating full hyperdrive.
Her neural network processors interfaced with the computer seamlessly, but for some reason, tactile use of navigation panels allowed a certain level of uncertainty required to bypass safety controls and exceed standard ship parameters.
Just before the trailing bolts impacted her port engines, hyperdrive lanes activated and pulled the ship to its target time and location: Earth, April 4, 1968, Noon EST.
“Haha,” Blake said as her ship glided three hundred years into the past.
A blinding white light obscured the ship’s cabin. A preprogrammed sequence dropped the ship near low Earth orbit. Energy field settings creating a spacetime image wake deflecting radar readings to Roswell, New Mexico, 1947.
Her ship descended onto the outskirts of Little Rock, Arkansas. She’d already synthesized a souped-up and chromed out 1968 Harley-Davidson with just enough 2268 mods to get her to Memphis several hours before the fatal shot.
Blake blinked activating temporary synthetic skin. Her white mini and knee-high, red Mary Quant Daddy Longleg boots were part of the package.
She opened the ship’s rear hatch, and out she drove to stop Dr. King’s assassination. It was the seminal event her clan had traced back that eventually led to the underground trafficking of sentient simbots. And she was there to stop it.
About an Author
Roy Huff is a Hawaii-based best-selling author, peer-reviewed research scientist, and teacher. After overcoming significant childhood adversity, he moved to the islands and hasn’t looked back. He’s since earned five degrees, trained on geostationary satellites for NASA’s GOES-R Proving Ground, and written numerous bestsellers. He stumbled into writing, but what he didn’t stumble into is his love for all things science fiction and fantasy. Later, he contributed a series of fiction and non-fiction books as well as widely shared posts on how to design life on your terms. Despite early challenges, he embraces optimism, science, and creativity. He makes Hawaii his home, where he creates new worlds with the stroke of a pen and hopes you’ll come along for the amazing ride. You can download Roy Huff’s free sci-fi short at https://www.royhuff.net/salvationship.
Quinn Black is an ordinary New York salesman about to be thrust into the greatest race in human history. After a shocking turn of events, he discovers his current troubles were just the beginning. After numerous failed attempts to rewrite the recent past, Quinn learns the rules of time travel are not what he imagined. After a tragic loss, he enlists the help of an old friend. Together, they rush to fix the unfixable and invent the impossible. As their plight worsens, Quinn discovers all is not what it seems. And his actions could either save the human race or result in its ultimate destruction. Only time will tell if he succeeds. Seven Rules of Time Travel is a fast-paced science fiction thriller. One packed with a roller-coaster of twists and turns, moral challenges, and tempting opportunities that readers will be reliving years after they finish the final page.
Everville: The Fall of Brackenone
Two very different worlds, Easton Falls University and the magical realm of Everville are in dire need of a hero. Owen Sage embarks on an epic journey of monumental proportions to save these worlds all while fighting to keep the world within himself intact. This quest is not for the faint of heart nor is it for the weak of mind—only the bravest will succeed. Discovering the well-kept secret of The Fourth Pillar of Truth is only part of the feat. Owen will have to outwit the ever-powerful villain Governor Jahal and overcome countless other challenges along the way. Amongst all of the dragons, giants and grand chaos, will Owen’s acquired skills and wisdom be enough to save both worlds or will peril be the ultimate fate of all?
Everville: The Fall of Brackenbone Free June 18-June 22
Everville Boxed Set Books 1-4 for 99 cents US & UK June 18-24
Seven Rules of Time Travel book launch 99 cents mid to late July
I hope you enjoyed the post. It was something new for me and I was very happy to share it with you. I have few reviews to share with you and post them very soon. Love you guys!
Title: Around the Sun Author: Eric Bovim Publisher: Epigraph Books Genre: Literary Fiction Pages: 324 Pub. Date: 1 June 2020
Synopsis
It’s 2016, and Mark White, a 40-something widower, is in even worse shape than he realizes, which would surprise many people. He is the founder and CEO of White & Partners, a tremendously successful public relations firm in Washington that has clients all over the world, including in many emerging nations, within high-tech start-ups, and in domestic government entities. For those who need their companies’ reputations burnished or, just as important, salvaged, White & Partners is their best bet, their go-to. But after Mark’s wife, Monica, a very successful artist, was killed in a hit-and-run accident, leaving him with their young son, Colin, the magnate fell into a deep depression. Now he is gulping pills and drinking too much while trying to be a corporate superman. Soon, exhausted and rattled, he breaks down and White & Partners suffers, big time. And on top of this, he knows that he is neglecting Colin, who, not surprising, has trouble coping himself. Will Mark work out a salvation for himself and his boy?
About an Author
Eric Michael Bovim is an American writer. He began his career as a journalist in 1999 for Dow Jones Newswires and Reuters, based in Madrid. While in Spain, he covered the Basque separatist group, ETA, as well as the companies that rose and fell during the dot com collapse. Around the Sun is his debut novel. He is a graduate of College of the Holy Cross, where he studied twentieth century fiction and poetry under Christopher Merrill. After deferring an MFA opportunity to study with David Foster Wallace, he moved to Barcelona after college. He returned to the U.S. in 2001 and began to work as a consultant. Over the years his essays have appeared in Salon, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal. He resides in Virginia.
Does proofreading sound unexciting? Well, it’s not. And the payoff in time and money alone can make it the most exciting thing you’ve ever done; to say nothing of the great stuff you get to read. So stick with me.
I don’t buy books anymore or go to the library. I don’t need to. But I bet we have some of the same favorites: The Da Vinci Code, How to Make an American Quilt, the entire Star Wars series, Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway, The Accidental Tourist, and The Chronicles of Riddick. I get to read bestsellers like these and rave about them to all my friends months before anyone else can get their hands on them.
And I do it all on my own time. Whenever I want. I work in the intermittent hours—while I’m riding on the train, before an audition, or sometimes even in the recording studio between “takes.” I’ll just pull my page proofs and a pencil out of my bag, plop them on my lap, and go at it.
I started proofreading by pure chance. Judy, a family friend who worked for a local publishing house, asked if I was interested in being an editorial assistant. (That’s a standard route into publishing—basically a glorified coffee-getter, and not a bad first job if you want to climb the corporate ladder in the full-time world.) That same week, I auditioned for and booked a national tour of a musical. Judy gave me the company proofreading manual and a simple project to read while I was on the road. (Later, she was also gracious enough to send me a long note detailing all my errors!)
One book led to two, and then other editors in Judy’s office began to send me projects. Those editors moved to larger publishing houses and tossed my name around to still more editors. Pretty soon I was working for fifteen different book publishers on everything from Stephen King to erotica.
Over the past years that I’ve been proofreading, I’ve had hundreds of friends and strangers ask me, “What are you doing?” You can’t imagine the excitement it elicits when I answer simply, “I’m proofreading a book.” They can’t believe I get paid to read. They can’t believe how much I get paid to read. They see the flexibility of a freelance, from-anywhere job that is rewarding, easy, kinda cool—and doesn’t bore the heck out of you. They want that for themselves.
The next question is, “Can you teach me how?” Yes, I can. I’ve led seminars explaining and detailing the skills required to be a successful proofreader. More significantly, I’ve taught the business of proofreading: how to track down the jobs of interest; how to find the right people; how to create and foster strong relationships with employers to obtain consistent, profitable, and intriguing work.
This is for the artists, the moms, the entrepreneurs, the suddenly unemployed, the retirees, the stuck-in-my-full-time jobbers, and anyone who just plain hates what they do now. You can begin proofreading without having to be on the inside of the industry. I did it, and there is plenty of work to go around. For so many people, this can be the perfect job: working from wherever you want, getting a free education, and earning a six-figure income.
Title: A Monumental Nail in the Coffin Genre: Crime Fiction Page count: 360 Release date: 1 February 2020
Synopsis
The essence of life and our circumstances can often quite easily drive us in to certain situations that may well lead to criminal and illegal activities. A brutally honest yet heart felt description of growing up exposed to the harsh realities of life from an early age.
Born into the world as a normal boy the main character’s path through childhood and into adulthood becomes affected by torment. He has visions of power and domination and is fearless in the methods that he will use to achieve this. Despite failing to use his sharp and clever mind to help him in his school life, Nail, the main character, chooses to instead use his shady intelligence to aid him for more sinister gains. He is aware of the importance of friendship, family and aspirations but at the same time he is driven by the desire to cause destruction.
A story to be read with your heart in your mouth and knots in your stomach since through Nail’s avid description we are introduced to the treacherous walks of the criminal underworld, yet more than that, even when we don’t quite believe that at such a young age, he will be so daring and risky, Nail more often than not surprises us…
About an Author
Heidi Goodall is a career educator and fitness enthusiast from London, U.K. She spends time acquiring new clichés and chronicling the schemes of her world travel adventures. After reading hundreds of books, this is her debut novel as an author of crime and life experiences.
As a start, maybe tell us what is your book about?
My first novel Heroin(e) : Entropy takes place in a fictionalized version of the United States, in the year 2002. The economy has taken a sharp downturn, there’s a new report of a sniper attack in the Washington D.C. metro area nearly every day, and Dick Cheney’s first term in office has quickly turned the US into a totalitarian state. Despite all of that, Nina feels blessed to escape poverty after graduating college and getting a high-salary job, along with moving into a cozy DC apartment with her attractive, driven boyfriend. But when Konrad becomes violent and delusional, he drugs Nina with x-2317–a compound that changes both their lives. Overnight, they gain superhuman strength and intelligence–and become pawns in a multidimensional game where their every move is manipulated by two opposing forces.
Meanwhile, Blake Rice, an ex-SEAL, and his protégé are on a cross-state killing spree, and no one knows why. They’ve made no demands, and their targets seem random. No one knows who they are or why they’ve suddenly become so violent. No one, that is, but the creators of x-2317.
When the paths of these four pawns cross, it’s up to Nina to end the game before the other players distribute a derivative of x-2317 worldwide. The more she fights to get out, the more she learns just how far-reaching the influence of the omnipresent game masters is.
The sequel to Heroin(e) : Entropy, titled Heroin(e) : Hermetic, picks up immediately where Entropy stops. Hermetic encompasses action and dramatic scenes in Switzerland, Iceland, Egypt, Brazil, South Korea. Mexico and the United States.
What inspired you to write this book?
This story has always been inside of me, as many of the characters are based on individuals I’ve personally met, or heard about from Washington D.C., New York City, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. I’m an alum of the University of Maryland and New York University, just like the main antagonist Konrad and protagonist Nina are. And the War on Drugs in the eighties, along with the devastation drug use can do to not only an individual, but a society as a whole has always fascinated me.
How is your story different than others in the genre?
To be quite honest, I don’t read authors of science fiction and political thrillers. This is done purposely, to ensure the originality of my art. That being said, I don’t know of any other novel out there that combines the issue of drug abuse, science fiction, dating your twenties, and federal political corruption cohesively in the same plot like the Heroin(e) books do.
What is your writing process like?
I listen to a taped session of DJ LeFtO from Brussels, who spins hip-hop and trip-hop. Then I start typing until my head hurts. When editing, I listen to roots reggae, especially Burning Spear, Super Cat, Dennis Brown and Barrington Levy.
Did you experience a writer’s block while writing this book? Do you have any advice on how to overcome it?
Fortunately, I did not experience writer’s block writing Entropy or Hermetic. My advice to any others on how to overcome it is to always figure out what the ending of your book is before starting to write the beginning. That way you’ll always have a general idea of what path to take for your characters, and how long it will take to get your story’s climax.
What books and authors influenced your writing?
James Baldwin, Robert Beck, Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison and Hunter S. Thompson are my favorite writers. Books written by James B. Stewart, Howard Zinn, Andre Agassi and Arthur Ashe also inspire me.
What do you hope readers remember about the Heroin(e): Entropy?
That there is always a story within a story within a story. It’s just a matter of making sense of how they all fit together.
How many books can we expect in the Heroin(e) Series?
Heroin(e) : Entropy was published in 2017, Heroin(e) : Hermetic is being released on May 19, 2020. I’ll release a new novel in the Heroin(e) series every three years, with Heroin(e) : Out of Body coming out in 2023.
You are a founder of the Entropy Media, is there any connection between the name of your book and your company?
Yes. In addition to being an author, I am also a filmmaker and video game designer. The Heroin(e) series are being converted to both a stealth video game for Playstation V, and also a streaming television series.
Thank you for your time and this interview! I wish you all the success with your upcoming sequel!
Thank you so much for taking the time to interview me! Thanks for reading Heroin(e) : Entropy. I look forward to you reading Heroin(e) : Hermetic. Yours, Gordon.
The Heroine(e) series
I hope you enjoyed this post! I’m almost done with all my studies, so many things are coming this month!
1. When your expectations are too high before you start reading the book.
I don’t know if I am the only person who feels like this but it happens so often for me. If I am seeing book everywhere and see how people enjoy it or are excited about it, the thought sticks to my mind and with each opinion, picture or post about the book I have a higher expectation about the book. I have a picture in my head about this book before I start to read. When I am finally reading a book I have in the back of my mind that it book needs to be amazing and I am waiting for a moment that will surprise and strike me down. If I don’t receive from the book, even if the book is great I can’t enjoy it as much as I would without all these thoughts about it before. I don’t know if it makes sense for you but it happens very often to me.
2. When the writing style of an author isn’t as good as the story.
The writing style is a very important part of the book. It needs to be authentic and express well the feelings of the characters so the readers can find their self in the book. If the writing is too rush and flat it can easily ruin the book. I read a few books like this and I enjoyed them but I felt like I cannot connect with the characters because I couldn’t feel any emotions from them. However, if the characters overreact everything it’s also too much. I understand that one of the characters is like this but if every person in the book is like this then something is wrong with it. Another part of it that can ruin the good book is when the main characters are very irritating. The book can be a masterpiece but if the main character irritates me I can’t like or enjoy the book. I have too many irritating people in my life I don’t need them in my books.
3. When you hear too many bad opinions about a book.
It happens very often that the book I like has a lot of bad opinions. It’s fine, every single person like a different book. The only problem is when I’m reading too many bad opinions about the book and when I finally read the book I am just looking for a bad side of it. I see every single thing that people mention and I can’t enjoy it anymore as I would do without it. I am so glad I didn’t do it before I read any of Throne of Glass books. I love these books but I know that a lot of people didn’t like it as much as I did. I learned my lesson though and I am trying to avoid reading about the book before I start reading them.
4. When the continuation of the book isn’t as good as you expected it to be.
I thing everyone met this problem. It happens so often that the continuation of the book you like doesn’t meet your expectations. I really would rather if the author would finish the story within one or two books without expending it. It can bring a bad taste to the books you liked. It happened so many times to me that I stooped liking a book only because the next books were not good enough.
5. When you read too many spoilers about the book and it doesn’t surprise you in anymore.
Spoilers can both discourage you to continue reading a book or encourage you to continue. It happens very often that you scroll down the timeline of twitter or pinterest and you bump into the spoilers for the book you are currently reading. I think one or two are not doing much damage but more can already ruin you the whole view of the book, especially when you don’t like what will happen. The worst thing is to spoil yourself the ending because it’s always the best part of the book and to be honest if it’s not surprising for me, I will be very disappointed.
Can you think about more things that make you dislike a good book?
I hope you enjoyed my today’s post! I was very busy lately with uni and work but I have more things coming soon. On 18th of September will be my stop on Ultimate Blog Tour and I will post my review of the book A Different Time by Michael K. Hill. Later on I will post a review of One By One by D.W. Gillespie and The Infinite Noise by Lauren Shippen. I am very excited for this two books.
I was 14 years old when I met two girls that were completely in love with books. We became friends and they introduced me to ‘The Ruby Red Trilogy’. I spent three or four days on reading all three of them, day and night. I don’t remember how I did it since now it’s hard for me to stay longer than 2 a.m. because I’m already falling asleep. It was the first time that I got into another world, lived someone else lives and didn’t want to get out. I read it again after five or six years and it had the same effect on me so I highly recommend this book if you haven’t read it yet.
The books describe the life of 16-year-old Gwendolyn Shepherd (Gwyneth in some countries) who lives in the shadow of her cousin Charlotte who has always been destined to have inherited the time travel gene that is passed down through the females in their family. Surprisingly, Gwen is the one who suddenly without any training jumps through time.
I would talk a lot about this book and all the events that happen there but I don’t want to spoil it to you before you will read it. I love the love plot in this book and Gideon de Villiers will always stay in my heart as one of the favorite books characters.
Short anecdote: This book is written by German author and the movie adaptation of this book is originally also in German. I moved to Germany four years ago and after three years I’ve written a final exams in German to graduate high school there. I didn’t speak German before I moved there so I studied a lot to finish the school as soon as possible and I achieved my goal. Unfortunately, my German wasn’t as fluent as other people in my class that was born there so to prepare myself for the German final I was watching all the movies and read these books.
If we were in a film, the villain would turn out to be the least-expected person. But as we aren’t in a film, I’d go for the character who tried to strangle you.
Ready when you are.
The Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead
When I was younger I was a huge fan of vampires stories. I watched all seasons of The Vampire Diaries and all movies of Twilight so when my friends borrowed me this book I started to read immediately and got into it very quickly. This book had such a great sense of humor. I was laughing, crying and rereading the best parts many times. The main character Rose is such a badass, strong and confident that even if she made a lot of big mistakes, she was still someone I look up to. I think that everyone does mistakes but the most important part of it is what you learn from them and she was a great example of it. She works hard for her future and motivates herself to be better to show everyone that everything is possible. Moreover, the way she cares about people she loves and would do everything for them is her biggest attribute.
Rose Hathaway is a young dhampir who is trained to become a guardian of her best friend Moroi princess Vasilisa “Lissa” Dragomir. The story begins outside the academy where girls are hiding from the guardians and lives on their own after running away two years earlier. They are caught and brought back by Dimitri Belikov and his team of guardians. As Lissa is a princess, she didn’t meet bigger consequences of her behavior, while Rose under the custody of Dimitri needs to take an additional guardian training to keep up to all the students. Girls have a unique bond between them so Rose is still assigned to become Lissa’s guardian and to protect her from the Strigoi. As everyone thinks the academy is the safest place for the young vampires, they don’t suspect that their enemies are closer than they think.
Only a true best friend can protect you from your immortal enemies.
The only thing better than imagining Dimitri carrying me in his arms was imagining him shirtless while carrying me in his arms.
The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare
I think I’m not the only person who as a teenager fell in love with these books. I’m still a huge fan of Cassandra Clare and read almost all of the books she wrote. I remember that first time when I got this book I hated the cover so I didn’t even want to start reading it. I’m really glad they changed the covers through the years because the one I borrowed from my friend was awful. I read the first book in one day. Again spent the whole school day and night reading it (I really have no idea how I functioned back then, I didn’t need sleep at all). The story was very unique for me at this time. The characters were built very precisely and each of them played a huge part in the story. The thing I still love in Cassandra Clare’s books is that all of them create one magical world and their story never ends. Every character has a chance to tell its story and we have the chance to know more and more about them in each book, even if they are not the main characters. I was so happy when they announced that the movie will be produced and the Lily Collins was casted to play Clary Fray. It was so exciting to see it and the movie itself came out so good. It still hurts that they didn’t produce another movies and instead produced the tv show, which in my opinion is incomparable.
The story begins when Clary Fray and her friend Simon Lewis decides to go to the club where she become a witness of a murder. The odd thing is that she was the only person in the club that was able to see it. Clary meets Jace who was the one she saw in the club who killed a man. He tells her a story about a secret world of shadowhunters and downworlders and demons. Only people with angelic blood are able to see this world and she is one of them. Everything complicates when she got back home after emergency call from her mom and finds whole apartment in ruin and no mark of her mother. Together with Jace Wayland and other shadowhunters from the New York institute she tries to find her and get back home.
The boy never cried again, and he never forgot what he’d learned: that to love is to destroy, and that to be loved is to be the one destroyed.
It’s your gift, to see the beauty and the horror in ordinary things. It doesn’t make you crazy, just different.
The Black Magician Trilogy by Trudi Canavan
I think this was the last series of all I got recommended from my friends. At first I wasn’t convinced by description. It just looked like not a type of book I would like. Especially when you had to read a book a check meaning of half of the words at the end of the book. Now that’s the best part of it because you can completely feel the vibe of the book and the world inside. I got through two first books in few days but when I was reading the last book I couldn’t put it down. I read all 700 pages in one day during the Christmas break. I think it was right before or after the Christmas Eve so I guess I completely ignored my family and whole celebration, closed myself in the room and kept reading it. Well, it was worth it. The funniest thing is that I don’t really remember what happened in this book. I remember the main plot and name of the heroine but that’s all. I remember better which songs I listened during this time, and now every time I listen to these songs it reminds me about this book. I definitely need to reread it.
The story of Sonea a girl living in slums who tries to live in the world under the rule of magicians. Her life changes when she discovers that she possesses the same precious power and even more strength of an average magician. The problem appears when the magicians guild wants to find her. She tries to avoid them as long as possible because she thinks they want to kill them, while in reality, they want to bring her in to teach her to control her powers.
It is said, in Imardin, that the wind has a soul, and that it wails through the narrow streets because it is grieved by what it finds there.
How am I going to make friends with these people if all I can think of is how easy it would be to rob them?
cafeyre 