“There is magic in that. It‘s in the listener, and for each and every ear it will be different, and it will affect them in ways they can never predict. From the mundane to the profound. You may tell a tale that takes up residence in someone‘s soul, becomes their blood and self and purpose. That tale will move them and drive them and who knows what they might do because of it, because of your words. (...)
There are many kinds of magic, after all.”

‘Maybe that‘s the thing we need to understand, Alice. That some things are a gift, even if you don‘t get to keep them.‘
There was a silence before he spoke again.
‘Maybe just to know that something this beautiful exists is all we can really ask for.‘

“You saved my life, she tried to tell him. Not forever, not for good. Probably just temporarily. But you saved my life, and now I'm yours. The me that's me right now is yours. Always.”

It follows after Cashore‘s Bitterblue, as yet more kingdoms have been discovered. It was not as spellbinding as the first three, which i still reread every now and again, but still really well written. Also loved knowing more about how Bitterblue gets on with reigning her country and all the little bits of information about past characters.

‘We always ken where we are! It‘s just sometimes mebbe we aren‘t sure where everything else is, but it‘s no‘ our fault if everything else gets lost! The Nac Mac Feegle are never lost!‘

As always, Diana‘s smooth storytelling takes me in. She writes with wonderful attention to detail, she‘s witty and the stories are wonderful snippets that are tied to the big books (Outlander-series). Loved disappearing into this one while we wait for book 9!
#droughtlander #dianagabaldon

I saw the movie ‘If I stay‘ and found out it was based on a book. I was curious to see where the story goes from there. The writing was sort of ok, but I didn‘t really connect with young Adam. I‘m glad to know how the story ends, but I could‘ve just skipped to the last pages and been satisfied.

‘I hate cats.‘
Death‘s face became a little stiffer, if that were possible. The blue glow in his eye sockets flickered red for an instant.
I SEE, he said. The tone suggested that death was too good for cat-haters.

My second discworld book, loved it. Terry builds the best sentences and the most wonderful characters. Can‘t wait to find more Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax adventures!

Finally read this one (long overdue) and of course loved it. Really funny, intelligent, reads like a train. Most def lived up to its name/hype.
Plus the recent series does the book justice!

Read it in like a day and was VERY glad that I bought the sequel at the same time. It started a bit slow but overall really like the world Rothfuss has built. Curious for more!

“There should a word for that brief period just after waking when the mind is full of warm pink nothing. You lie there entirely empty of thought, except for a growing suspicion that heading towards you, like a sock full of damp sand in a nocturnal alleyway, are all the recollections you‘d really rather do without, and which amount to the fact that the only mitigating factor in your horrible future is the certainty that it will be quite short.”

First Terry Pratchett book, first venture into Discworld. Loved it. Mort and Death are lovely characters, Terry writes the best sentences and there‘s a lot of wit and wisdom and just plain fun.

Short, engaging, lively world-building and a fine female heroine.

I came very late to the Hamilton-obsession, listening to the soundtrack out of curiosity for the first time early 2019. I was SO SMITTEN I immediately bought this book and the Ron Chernow biography, despite being Belgian and not caring a twig about the American Revolution. Lin-Manuel Miranda is an absolute GOD. One of the best nights of my life was finally seeing the play on a London stage, February 2020.

Best opening line ever. Re-reading my way through the Outlander-series, still waiting for book 9.
#outlander #droughtlander #dianagabaldon

AWESOME. It gives you so much hope about mankind. We tend to have a gloomy view of human nature and he uses a lot of great examples and real life stories to show that in general... most people are nice. Highly recommend. You will smile a lot. You will tell all your friends about this book. You will be happy you read it and you might just apply your new insights in your daily life.
(in the picture is the original version in Dutch)

Loved it, it‘s a modern retelling of the Iliad told by a woman in the story, Briseis. Read it in one day. Reminded me a bit of Circe by Madeline Miller.

Clear, concise prose. Eye-opening. He talks very lucidly about racial injustice.

My favourite quote however is about love:
“Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within. I use the word ‘love‘ here not merely in the personal sense but as a state of being, or a state of grace - not in the infantile American sense of being made happy but in the tough and universal sense of quest and daring and growth.”

The page underneath are all my notes from this short book. It is inspiring me to figure out if I can start my own business, and for that, I love it.

God, I really struggled to get through this book. I thought about bailing, but figured it was a classic and I should just persevere. I like Helen as a character but the first half is just Gilbert talking ... and he just whines all the way through. The parts from her diary could also have used a lot of editing. Safe to say, I will not be rereading this one.

Another truth bomb.

“the publicity image steels her love of herself as she is, and offers it back to her for the price of the product” 🤯🤯🤯

So many truths in this book. Made me think about a lot of things, didn‘t agree with everything but a very interesting read. Will not walk into museums in quite the same way and will definitely try to be more conscious of how publicity makes us feel 😳

Nailed it 🙈.

JUP. Read it, weep, take stock of your life, act accordingly. It‘s been awhile since a book delivered a sentence, an idea, a moment that has made me weep in recognition.
#untamed #glennondoyle #feministliterature

Cat-calling lucidly explained.
#chanelmiller #knowmyname #iconic

A gut-wrenching, timely, f*cking beautiful memoir. A new fierce icon. ♥️

“When I listened to her, I understood: You have to hold out to see how your life unfolds, because it is most likely to be beyond what you can imagine. It is not a question of if you will survive this, but what beautiful things await you when you do.”

“This book does not have a happy ending. The happy part is there is no ending, because I‘ll always find a way to keep going.”

I read the Dutch version of this book, I think the Italian title translates similarly to ‘Moments of unexpected happiness‘. It‘s a wonderful little book with precisely that: little stories, anekdotes and sentences describing moments of unexpected happiness. A book that inspires me to notice my own moments in everyday life.

I picked it up because I absolutely loved her Graceling-books. However, I was slightly disappointed by this one. I just couldn‘t really connect to the story or some of the characters. There are some interesting aspects to the worlds she tried to create, but overall not a book I would recommend or reread (which I have done with the Graceling-series).

Loved it! My first Mary Roach book and have more on the to-be-read-list (Up next: ‘Stiff‘ and ‘Grunt‘). She writes super accessible and very entertaining. I learned a lot, while also being very amused. Definitely recommend.

Never fails to entertain me, truly a classic ♥️
#janeausten #penguinpopularclassics #femaleauthors

Love, love, loved it. Laughed more at the first book I read from Samantha (‘Meaty‘). I mean, I laughed a lot with this one too but it also had more relatable moments like:
‘I‘m not even sure I had a personality back then; I just tried to haphazardly arrange other people‘s projections and shit I thought was cool into something captivating.‘
Definitely recommend. Next step: I gotta go buy her third book!

Loved it. Was curious because of the new BBC series that just came out and wanted to read the book before seeing that. Lovely characters and great observations about life in general.

“Life offers up these moments of joy despite everything.”

“Generally I find that men are a lot more concerned with limiting the freedoms of women than exercising personal freedom for themselves, says Marianne.”

In troubling times, Little Women always brings me comfort. Re-reading for the umpteenth time 🥰

#littlewomen #classicbooks #feministliterature #femaleauthorsarethebest #penguinclassics

Already checked off three, onwards to Chanel Miller. I‘ve been very curious to read her story, ever since I read her emotional and gut-wrenching letter to first-class asshole Brock Turner.

I literally binged the first one so I was glad to have the foresight to buy book 2 at the same time (always a risky choice when you start a series).

This sequel did not disappoint. I loved keeping up with the characters from Book 1. Some snippets are clearly there for a larger purpose and will not make sense till i‘ve read the next one but that‘s fine by me. I binged again, read it in 3 days.

#brandonsanderson #thestormlightarchive #torfantasy

It took me some chapters to get into it, but then I spent the entire weekend reading and pulled an all-nighter just to finish it, sooo ... i guess it was good 🙈 On to the sequel 💪🏻

Poetic and suggestive images, sparse language. Fast read, but sort of stays in your head for a while.
It‘s about 3 people who live on a hill (more like a sort of bump, if you translate more accurately) and the things they talk about in all their apparent loneliness.

Just read the Dutch version of this book. There are great observations and lovely scentences in it, but overall it didn‘t live up to the hype for me. I do want to try another one of his books, any suggestions?

#quarantine #somuchtimeforreading #staysafe

Because in these troubling times you just need the comfort of your favorite books. I keep rereading this one, I love the world she has created and I love all the strong women in it ♥️

Every now and then I revisit the world Diana has created in these books and completely disappear in them. So many things to love: the writing, the story, the strong women, the dialogues, all the love between Claire and Jamie.
My love for these books is never ending. Can‘t wait for book 9 😍

#dianagabaldon #outlanderseries #enddroughtlander #jamieandclaire

Rediscovered this book in one of my unpacked boxes (building extra bookshelves for all your books takes a while 🙈). I read it more than ten years ago. It was not as good as I remembered, but still a pleasant read.

When talking about Jane‘s portfolio:

‘Where did you get your copies?‘
‘Out of my head.‘
‘That head I see now on your shoulders?‘
‘Yes, sir.‘
‘Has it other furniture of the same kind within?‘

I love the dry wit in their conversations 😂
#janeeyre #charlottebronte #classicbooks

This lovely book was published in 1930 and has lost none of its charm. I will admit I got lost a few times when they talked about certain fashion items (‘gaberdine‘?) but overall a nice story about a young womans struggle to make her own way in the world.

Also loooooved the bookstore, Persephone Books ♥️

#london #persephonebooks #bookshopsarethebest