Ah, spring...The smell of blooming flowers and a second new beginnings.
At the start of the year, I set some goals for myself as a reader..... 'more lit fic!', I said; 'read diversely!' I said...I said, and I said...

And now we're here, in March - and I'm still a pretty sight of a mess. To prove it, this post was 'planned' for the end of February; you know, to step into spring on the right foot with the right goals and motivations. Yet somewhere along the way, I just didn't write this post...as you do.

So here I am now, attempting to redeem myself once again. 

This spring, I will be productive, and I will step in the right direction of achieving my goals.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you - the five books I will be reading this spring, which are hopefully my key to success...

1. "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls.

I'm stepping out of my comfort zone!!! I'm doing it, I'm doing it! Look at me!
This book is something that is probably completely out of my league; but at the start of the year, when I proclaimed that I wanted to educate myself more as a reader - quite a few people recommended this beauty to me...
I was hesitant, don't be fooled. Non-fiction? A serious adult book about social issues? Yes, as you can imagine, I was ready to run in the opposite direction.

But then...the moment of singing angels and heavenly lights happened... - I read the synopses, and I've never felt anything pull at my heartstrings as strongly the words of this author did.
 Jeannette Walls is a successful journalist, and I pray I will get to call myself as such one day...But perhaps more notably, she's a person who grew up as a child surrounded by alcoholism.

Immediately, I knew I had to read this memoir...To me, at that moment, she was more relatable than all the Kermit the frog memes - and with the amount of them I have saved in my phone, that's really saying something.

I'm excited for the experience of this memoir!

2. "I Let You Go" by Claire Mackintosh

This is a mystery/thriller/suspense - which is a genre that I really love, but only when it is done right. From the reviews, I'm convinced that this one is done just the right way, and I am excited to lose my head in it! People have described it with adjectives such as 'mind-blowing' and 'great'...but everyone is yelling for me to go into it 'cold turkey', so that's as much as I know about it right now.

This has actually been on my TBR for a while (like 2 years hahaha), but I dug it out from under all the YA and fantasy stacks that I've yet to get to too, and I'm  hoping to pick this up very, very soon!

3. "After You" by Jojo Moyes

Yes I know, this book on my list right now is as random as a boat on a highway. However, the fact that I'm even mentioning this book right now is a high personal achievement...

Like you honestly don't understand what's happening right here...

If you don't know, this is a sequel to 'Me Before You' by Jojo Moyes...which was made into a movie with the adorable Emilia Clarke and smoldering Sam Claflin and la la la - it was great.
But the point that you're missing here, is the fact that 'Me Before You' literally BROKE ME, fractured me, knocked me down with a truck and then reversed over my broken body...it ripped my heart out and I was literally down on the floor sobbing like a piece of trash (I have picture proof, comment if you wanna see it bahahahaha).

So you shouldn't be surprised that I literally refused to touch the sequel. I was all like NO - I am a strong, independent woman, and I refused to allow the author and those god-damn characters to ruin me like that again.

But it's been a year now... and a friend recently was more courageous than me and read it - and said it was so good, and that it actually restored something in her heart after 'Me Before You'...so like...obviously I want to read it now haha.

4. "A Little Life" by Hanya Yanahigara

Here's the lit fic I promised myself...But it ain't fooling anyone with the title...this book is literally over 700 pages long, and I'm praying it lives up to it's impressive average rating of 4.2 stars, or else a book is going to go through my window...and it's not a little one, so God help me.

Anyways, I don't know much about this one, except for the fact that it was recommended to me a while ago by someone who's opinions I trust - so it made its way onto my TBR, as well the fact that this is apparently more depressing than my own life... I don't know, I don't make the rules *shrugs*
So finally, because of that desired redemption of actually achieving the goals I set for myself - I am finally, finally going to be brave and read this massive baby.

5. "Redeployment" by Phil Klay

To say that February was a terrible month for me reading wise, is an understatement in my opinion. Although... as Goodreads kindly informed me, to my biggest shock and disbelief, I did manage to read four books last month.Somehow.. Just barely.

Somewhere at the start of the month, I got into a really bad mental state and attitude towards reading, or more like towards my TBR list, to be specific. The amount of contemporaries on it were suffocating me and my love for reading, to the point where I literally dreaded the thought of it..

So I spared myself some more mental breakdows over it, scrapped it completely, and picked up something completely different as to what I had planned to read...That's to say...I literally didn't read a single book that was on my TBR for the last month. Not a single one of the following four books were planned. They were all oopsies that ultimately saved me from my depressing reading slump.

1. "Milk and Honey" by Rupi Kaur

RATING: ★★★★☆/4/5 
When novels didn't work for me...to the point where I literally hated every word I read, I turned to poetry, which was one of my goals for 2017 anyways, so I thought it would be a win-win situation either way to pick it up. And boy, it was!!

This compilation of poems was so masterfully done, so impactful and meaningful. Every word in this book honest to God came from this woman's soul and heart, and it ultimately made something spectacular!

This was poetry like I've never seen it before, accompanied by stunning visual sketches. It was just so beautiful, and I recommend this to every woman and man...This book speaks nothing but the truths that need to be heard in our world NOW.

2. "Foster" by Claire Keegan

RATING: ★★★★☆/4/5 
This was technically a short-story read for my English class, but since this wrap-up is already sad enough, and I actually loved the writing in this one, I thought I'd include it anyhow...

This is set in rural Ireland, in late 70s-80s, against the background of a country held on a leash by the Catholic Church...However, this story managed to be so much more, and SO BIG in under 100 pages. It was metaphorical and insightful and made for interesting few English class discussions hehe.
I'd recommend it to anyone that's up for a short story, which will leave you thinking.

3. "Instructions For A Heatwave" by Magge O'Farrell 

RATING: ★★★☆☆/3.5/5
I received this as a birthday present from one of my friends at the start of the month. The concept of this story intrigued me, as there was a notion of a dad going missing, and a family that had drifted apart, being forcefully dragged back together. It was also an Irish family living in England, which I felt like reading more of after how much I enjoyed "Foster"...However, this was quite different from that.
There was that intention of a family drama, but ultimately, I felt like there was more character development in all of the characters, than the family drama and the mystery summed up together.
That said, it didn't make the book boring or bad...but it simply wasn't what I'd expected and wanted at that point. However, I do believe this book would work very well for someone looking for some very detailed character developments, with a sprinkle of mystery and family drama.

4. "Caraval" by Stephanie Garber 

RATING: ★★★★☆/4/5 
By the end of the month I was feeling a lot more like myself, and so I concluded that my reading slump had retreated to its dark cavern for another little while, and so I dared to pick up something a little more standard and usual for me...a YA fantasy.
I've heard buzzing noise about this all over the blogasphere, and so to say the least, I was curious and tempted when I saw this in the library, on the 'new releases' shelf.
I picked it up, I read it in the last three days of the month, and enjoyed it quite a bit, although I had some small, teeny-tiny issues with it, and it did mess with my head considerably,
 I'm still planning on picking up the sequel when it is released next year (?????? why so far away *cries*).

You can find my full review, and my thorough thoughts here.

MY MARCH, 2017 TBR

"Seraphina" and "Shadow Scale" by Rachel Hartman

"Three Dark Crowns" by Kendare Blake

"Steelheart" by Brandon Sanderson 

I can't believe I am already writing this post...January is almost over. 2016 has been dead for almost a month, and 2017 soon won't be the 'newbie'. Maybe I'll soon stop ruining every school copy with my attempts to write down the date, which inevitably goes wrong when I write the wrong year. as if I'd actually want to go back to the hell-hole that was last year haha.

January was quite the wild month, huh? A cheesepuff is now in control of the most powerful country in the world, and it seems to be getting worse by the day. The internet seems to be recycling the same meme materials, and discrimination is still alive and brimming...Fun.

In terms of reading, my month hasn't been either amazingly majestic or embarrassingly disgusting.I have read four books to date, and with the chaos that my life has become with a new term in school, I'm not shaming myself for that.

However, I am still being optimistic and keeping up the good spirits of the brand new year, and stepping up my reading game in February. With a little mid-term in three weeks, and my birthday, I have settled with 6 books on my TBR for the upcoming month.

1. "A List Of Cages" by Robin Roe

I've heard so many beautiful and heartwarming things about this book, and I am super, super excited to experience this for myself. Also the cover...can we talk about how heartwarming that is by itself? It reminds me a little bit of 'Le Petit Prince' (ie: The Little Prince) and that is basically my childhood in a book, so I'm already having warm feelings about this one! :)

2."Wayfarer" by Alexandra Bracken

If there is one thing I don't trust myself with, that's series...Much of my TBR is a graveyard of second and third books in a series that I never read, and which I probably never will...as depressing as that is.
However, I read "Passenger", the first book to this series and I enjoyed it well enough, and the direction in which this second book seems to be going in appealing to me, and the ratings it's getting is quite impressive!

 I am praying the second book syndrome leaves me alone and I will get through this one before it sinks down my TBR to unfathomable depths where it will never be reached again....haha.

3. "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman

Another contemporary that I've heard wonderful and encouraging things about .Also the cover!!!!!

It's focus in mental illness and that's something that I want to explore more in books this year, and get familiar and comfortable with it, as I understand that the world is evolving and people around me are coming forward with their struggles, and every time I wish I understood more about what they were going through and how they were feelings...And books are always a great way to get educate yourself on such specifics.

Therefore, I am looking forward to the experience of this one!

4."Heft" by Liz Moore

In January, I read "The Unseen World" by this author, and it became my first 5-star read! It was engaging, engrossing, thoughtful and beautiful, in story and writing! Therefore, I am hoping these same qualities will be present in Moore's previous work, specifically "Heft", which sounds promising enough!

Hoping I will enjoy it as much as I did the other book by this author, and will be letting you know once I discover for myself!

5."The Light Between Oceans" by M.L. Stedman

This one was recommended by a friend, and after reading the synopsis, I decided to pick it up. It's a romance...which is like...not really usually my thing, but I do like some books in the genre every now and then. For example, I read "Me Before You" by Jojo Moyes last year and it became one my favourite stories ever; so I'm very hesitant to state that I hate romances, because I don't always...sometimes I love them, no matter how cheesy they are.

So I will be reading this one soon, and hoping it will leave me sobbing with a broken heart....that's the best kind of romance for me :D.

6. "Alloy Of Law" by Brandon Sanderson

This one seems completely out of place with the rest of the list, but by the end of February, I want to have started back onto fantasy, and specifically, Brandon Sanderson's fantasy. I read his 'Mistborn' series in 2016, and it was amazing, and it got me obsessed with fantasy!

Although the original 'Mistborn' trilogy concluded with "The Hero of Ages", the world and the magic systems continues on in this book which extends the series to a few more books.

I've been putting it off because I hate to imagine the day when I have experience all that the 'Mistborn' world has to offer, but I definitely don't want to abandon this completely, therefore, it's time, and I will be picking this up at the end of the month. Hopefully, in March, I'll continue the series, and start another by the amazing Brandon Sanderson!



That concludes my TBR for February, 2017. I won't lie, I'm setting myself up for stress here, but as I said, I'm still hopeful and all about positivity, and setting myself a high road seems like the right thing to do.

So, have you read any of the books mentioned above? What are you planning on reading in the coming month? Anyone else has birthdays coming up in February (I'm turning the big 18 myself ahhh!)

Tell me all that below! All comments are so, so appreciated!

All the love,
Samanta.

I know of a lot of people who struggle with contemporary and make it their goal every year to read more stand-alones and delve away from obsessive series-reading...I on the other hand, seem to have a different problemito. From young age, series have intimidated me, and I have struggled to pick them up, and on the off chance that I did, the odds of me actually finishing the series were slimmer than the probability of a fish surviving outside water.

In 2016, I said to myself 'you're grown now'...'you're a year away from adulthood, i'm sure you can handle some responsability and actually finish a series or two'...And lo and behold... I did! Believe it not... I am as shocked as anyone.

I completed series such as 'Chaos Walking' by Patrick Ness, 'Mistborn' series by Brandon Sanderson, and the amazing 'Six Of Crows' duology by Leigh Bardugo.

 My confidence boosted by the fact that I actually finished more than one series in a year, I was feeling quite risqué and I tangoed with some unfinished series, such as 'A Court of Thorns and Roses' by Sarah. J. Maas and 'Passenger' by Alexandra Bracken. I hope and pray that my will will be stronger than the devil on my shoulder whispering 'abandon this series', 'don't read the continuing books'....Because that 100% happens and hence a numerous amount of series have suffered in the past.

However, this year I am taking an oath to knock at least 7 series off my TBR list, and be able to say at the end of the year that I overcame my unprecedented phobia of series.  The following are the seven series I am definately reading this year. hahahaha i'm gonna regret this post in 2018...

1. 'An Ember in The Ashes' Series by Sabaa Tahir

Listen, I've been recommended this series by so many people that it's an actual disgrace to me as a reader to have not read it yet...Like what's wrong with me? A corrupt empire? Rebels? Sides coming together to fight the ultimate evil? Betrayal? Spies? Ancient Rome inspiration? WHY HAVEN'T I READ THIS YET?

I mean the answer is time...there's just never enough time *sigh* *cries* *has existential crisis because time is a society constructed concept that influences all of our decisions*...

Anyways, I am putting my foot down and saying that I am DEFINITELY, 150%.... reading this series in 2017.

2. 'The Bone Season' series by Samantha Shannon

It's actually depressing me the amount of series I haven't read, and how much references made by other book bloggers flies completely over my head...This one I feel like has been one of those books that I have seen pop up over and over again. I've seen people loving it, I've seen people hating it, but it always seems to be lurking just around the corner from me, taunting me, telling me to read it and form an opinion of my own.

So I'm hoping this year is the year, and I will finally get all of the witty references you guys make after getting through this series.

3. 'Red Rising' series by Pierce Brown

This has been on my TBR so long I've given up sighing and feeling guilty every time I remembered I still needed to read this.

It doesn't phase me anymore how much I failed by not having read this one yet. It has great reviews and ratings, and people always seem to mention it every now and then...and like, I just need to read it. LIKE NOW.

4. 'Shades of Magic' series by V. B. Schwab

Just call me Ms. Failure at this point because that's exactly how I feel having to admit that I haven't read this series yet. Like magic twist on time travel and I haven't touched it yet?? Why, how and when??

 Good thing is that I'm pretty sure the final book in the series (??) is releasing this year, so I'm not too awfully behind like I am with the others on this list, but regardless, feel like I should have already read this one.

Hoping this will sit on my 'read' shelf very soon and I will be able to rave to you guys how great it was.

5. 'The Stormlight Archive' by Brandon Sanderson

Have I mentioned how amazing Brandon Sanderson's writing and world-building is? It's unbielievable!

And his magic-systems just blow many other fantasy writers out the waters.

Honestly, 'Mistborn' series was amazing and the three books were probably my favorite of last year but I've heard that this series is a million time better...Which is like....how the hell???

Also, a really cute librarian said I must read this ASAP, so guess I have to if I want to stay in his good books ;) hehe.

6. 'The Raven Cycle' series by Maggie Stiefvater

Don't look at me, don't touch me, don't even think about me....I am a disgrace of a person and reader.
Report me to 'unacceptable book choices' cops, I give you permission.

It is honestly embarrassing the fact that I haven't read this series yet...

 I am therefore fixing this as soon as I possibly can because I do not want any more of the Raven crew's references flying over my ears. No more...I am reading these babies and I am fixing myself as a reader. I will change, and I will be better. I solemnly swear, I promise.

7. 'The Wrath and The Dawn' series by Renee Ahdieh

You have lost all hope, and respect for me as a reader, haven't you? Haha. I know I am a disgrace, I allow you to delicately poke me i bruise easily and tell me that I need to fix this unacceptable situation right now.

This one I've heard mixed reviews of, but I still haven't lost interest for it and definitely want to read it, and hopefully enjoy it too.

And those covers though...BOOOOOTIFUL!





Alright, that wraps up my list for the series I am definitely reading in 2017, and I just realized that this makes up to about 21 books...I am committing to reading 21 books that are a part of a series...

Jesus Christ...I really have some high hopes and expectations of myself with all these high roads....
I honestly better get to reading right now if I don't want to hang my head in shame again next year when it comes around to having to reflect on my year of reading...

While I run and glue all these books to my forehead, why don't you tell me which one I should absorb first, and which one on this list makes me the biggest disgrace of a reader hahaha. Tell me in the comments bellow, I will really appreciate it!

All the love,
Samanta.