Dec '19 TBR Pile

Hi everyone! How's December going so far? I don't really celebrate Thanksgiving or Christmas but I saw loads of great photos on Instagram!

I'm planning on getting some reading done! Since I will be at my grandma's place for a while, my TBR pile is mostly my Kindle books. I'm currently reading Storm and Fury by Jennifer L. Armentrout (simply amazing!) so I plan on finishing that up this month -- I'm already 66% done! 

The rest of my TBR is gonna focus on lots of new adult and adult books this time around. So, these books made the cut:

1. The Score by Elle Kennedy

So, I whizzed through the first two books in the Off-Campus series, and they were amazing! But then I had this impulse to read something different, so I totally fell out of this series. I need to basically pull back into this series, and hope I haven't forgotten too much from the first two books.

2. King by T.M. Frazier

This is one book that I have heard great reviews on! It's all steamy criminal romance, and I haven't read these in a while so all the more reason to pick this up. 

3. Punk 57 by Penelope Douglas

If I'm being completely honest, this is the book I'm most excited for this month! This will be my first Penelope Douglas book and from what I know, this author is great! I wish I had a physical copy of this book though because that cover is so fantastically colourful! There's certainly a charm to this book.

4. El Diablo by M. Robinson 

I came across El Diablo during my mafia romance phase, and this book has got some great reviews. This came out in 2016 and it's the first book in its series, The Devil. There weren't anymore books published in this series but I'm hoping I'll enjoy as much as I enjoy Cora Reilly's books. Cora Reilly is like my gold standard for mafia romances, so at this point I compare every relevant book to her writing!

That's it for my planned TBR. I've got a whole bunch on my Kindle app but I've got commitment issues when it comes to Kindle books; most of my DNF books are Kindle copies.

What's on your December TBR pile? Have you read any of these books on my pile? Let me know in the comments below!

Book Review: American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Read from June 02 to 21, 2019

If you are to survive, you must believe.

Shadow Moon has served his time. But hours before his release from prison, his beloved wife is killed in a freak accident. Dazed, he boards a plane home where he meets the enigmatic Mr Wednesday, who professes both to know Shadow and to be king of America.

Together they embark on a profoundly strange road trip across the USA, encountering a kaleidoscopic cast of characters along the way. Yet all around them a storm threatens to break.

The war has already begun, an epic struggle for the very soul of America, and Shadow is standing squarely in its path.

This is my second Neil Gaiman novel and I was so hyped to read it. I heard great things about the STARZ series, so I started watching it right after I finished this book and I'm loving it!

I was wary at the beginning of the story because it was a huuuuge book - 736 pages, to be exact, and that's insane and scary at the same time. However, I was too excited to drop it, and I ended up devouring the whole book. The plot concept is uniquely different; I'm pretty sure I have never seen this storyline being explored on such a grand scale as this before. It was sort of fun to try to guess all the gods that kept popping up, and I'm very motivated to start reading old folklore and history books after this read. 

I loved the characters! Even the gods were so human and mortal in their characterisation, and that appealed so much to me. It was also so relatable in my head because it left me feeling like there could be gods living among us. Imagine the possibilities! Gods aside, the human characters were just as appealing, alive or dead. 

This is one of the only books where the plot appealed to me more than the characters did; I was more engrossed in how the story would unfold, rather than on a character or more. There were very twisty plot twists that I absolutely loved! And honestly, I'm ready for a sequel if it ever comes out. 

my Goodreads review

It's been a while...

Greetings, humans!

I have been MIA for so long I actually forgot how far back my last post was! Maintaining a blog is hard work and juggling that with medical school is crazy hard. Fortunately, it's 2019 and I am in my final year as a medical student, meaning the hardest bits are behind me and I am pretty much drifting around in my honeymoon year before internship.

Making a comeback without a revamp felt wrong; my blog should grow the same way I do, right? However, since med school has been a huge part of me these last few years, I'm considering the possibility of posting med school posts in addition to my bibliophile posts. Try a bit of that "increasing my audience pool" concept, I guess.

Here's to a great comeback! Hopefully I manage to maintain a streak and not disappear again when life gets hard!

Book Review: Eon: Rise of the Dragoneye (Eon #1) by Alison Goodman

Read from July 06 to 12, 2016

Twelve-year old Eon has been studying the ancient art of the Dragoneyes for two years. But he is playing a dangerous game: Eon is actually Eona, 16 years old and a girl. Her true identity must remain hidden at all costs: it is forbidden for women to practise the Art, and to be discovered would be punishable by death. 

Let down by her injured leg, it seems that Eon is destined to fail in her quest, until a spectacular twist in events catapults her into the opulent but treacherous world of the Imperial court. Without a master to guide her, Eon must learn to harness her unprecedented natural power, while protecting the secret that could cost her everything . . .

Set against a rich backdrop of Ancient Chinese myths and traditions and fraught with tension, this is a classic page-turner.

This book has been on my shelf for so long and I didn't even realize that I've been postponing reading such an amazing, epic story! Haha!

How do I even describe my feelings on this book? It hooked me in right from the beginning, and I would sometimes have to close the book and take a breather 'cause everything just got so intense!

Alison's writing is amazing! I love the detail, the elegance of her words. They just slipped me into her fantasy world and I loved what I saw! Everything was so fantastical and epic, just what this story excelled at!

The characters themselves were amazing! Their complexity surprised me and I loved how politics played such an immense role in character-shaping. I find it very difficult to just name a few of my favourite characters when it comes to this book. I literally fell in love with all the main characters, good and bad. They weren't just characters in this book, they were real people in my head!

And them dragons! Woah! I love the concept Alison has used here! It's just amazing! Whenever the dragons make an appearance I am just blown away by the power behind the writing!

And that ending! Who can not fangirl over that ending??? Haha! I had to take a breather before reading the last paragraph 'cause it was so damn intense! Totally blew me away with how good it was! And that cliffhanger? Dude, I'm so ready for Eona it's not even funny!

my Goodreads review

Book Review: Déjà Dead (Temperance Brennan #1) by Kathy Reichs

Read from July 01 to 06, 2016

The meticulously dismembered body of a woman is discovered in the grounds of an abandoned monastery.

'Too decomposed for standard autopsy. Request anthropologic expertise.'

Enter Dr Temperance Brennan, Director of Forensic Anthropology for the province of Quebec, who has been researching recent disappearances in the city.

Despite the cynicism of Detective Claudel who heads the investigation, Brennan is convinced that a serial killer is at work. Her forensic expertise finally convinces Claudel, but only after the body count has risen...

Tempe takes matters into her own hands, but her determined probing places those closest to her in mortal danger. Can Tempe make her crucial breakthrough before the killer strikes again?

I loved loved loved this so much! I picked up this book thinking I'm in for a lengthy boring mystery but ended up loving it in the end!

First I love Tempe! I loved her character since I first read her name was Temperance Brennan coz dude, that's one heck of a cool name! Haha! I loved everything about her character and something about her really appeals to me! Haha!

And then I loved the rest of characters, and the whole team working with Tempe were awesome! I loved their dynamics, no matter whatever disagreements popped up!

And that ending had my heart pounding so fast, I had to keep the book away and take a breather! Haha!

Anyway, amazing book, totally recommend it to everyone out there! I'm dying to get my hands on the rest of series! Haha!

my Goodreads review