For a while now, I wanted to find a way to bring games into this corner of the interwebs. While I don’t play as much as I used to (I also have another thousand and one hobbies I didn’t have before), from time to time, some games steal my heart and time. They are all I can think about. And so, I want to share my love for them here as I do with books. But I’m not quite sure how to do it. Showing gameplay in video form is way better to get a grasp of what the game is really like… And I’m not doing that. I’m sorry. I’m not adding video editing as yet another thing to learn. So fast forward to 2024, I discovered a little indie game called Tiny Bookshop. And it immediately reminded me of The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan. In …

From time to time, there are some books that simply catch your eye. We know nothing about them other than the cover and the title. And apparently that is enough. Mister Magic by Kiersten White was one of those cases. Well, I knew a little bit more than just the title, but still not enough to really know what I was getting myself into. Title: Mister Magic Author: Kiersten White Publication year: 2023 Length: 10 hours 33 minutes Genre: Mystery, Horror Pace: Medium Story focus: Plot & Character Thirty years ago, there was a children’s program called Mister Magic. Five children would sit around in a circle and create worlds of fun and whimsy with the help of the mysterious host, Mister Magic. It had a huge popularity among children for being fun and at the same time educational, which parents loved. Now, there’s not a single recording of that …

I almost forgot, back in September, I read another book in the Joona Linna series by the couple duo, Lars Kepler. It has been a while since I read this series. While I enjoyed the previous one, The Nightmare, it was a bit tiring to go through. I remember the chapters to be a bit dense, and then the story took a political turn that lost me. It has been 7 years, and I don’t remember anything from the plot. Luckily, with this series, you don’t have to. So I continued on to The Fire Witness. Title: The Fire Witness Author: Lars Kepler Series: Joona Linna #3 Publication year: 2011 Length: 15 hours 52 minutes Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime, Nordic Noir Pace: Medium Story focus: Plot & Character A young girl is murdered in a youth home for wayward teenage girls. Her body is left as if she’s peacefully sleeping …

Celeste Ng [ing] has been on my radar for years. Probably since Little Fires Everywhere came out, in 20-something. From the synopsis of her books, I could tell she was more of a literary fiction writer with slight mystery undertones and unlikable characters. I enjoyed the prospects of a family drama-filled book, although a character-driven story isn’t exactly where I thrive. And so years went by without taking the leap and picking up one of her books. Until I came across Everything I Never Told You with a great discount price, I could never resist a bargain. Title: Everything I Never Told You Author: Celeste Ng Publication year: 2014 Length: 10 hours Genre: Literary Fiction, Mystery, Family Drama Pace: Medium Story focus: Characters Lydia is dead. Her family doesn’t know it yet. But she’s dead, not far from home, in a lake just across the street. Drown and alone. This …

It really doesn’t matter what season we’re in or what the weather is, because it’s always a good time to pick up a sci-fi novel. This time, I’m talking about The Woman in the Ship by Sapphira Olson. This book came out this month and will take you on a ride through the stars like no other sci-fi book has taken you before. Thank you to the author and the publisher for the opportunity to take a peek at this new book. Title: The Woman in the Ship Author: Sapphira Olson Publisher: Lether Press Publication year: 2025 Length: 378 pages Genre: Sci-fi, Post-Apocalyptic, Romance, LGBTQIA+ Pace: Slow Story focus: Characters Sally is the captain of the spaceship Ascension, tasked with the very important mission to paint some rich dude’s ashes onto the hull of the Voyager 2. Some people have way too much money. When they inch closer to their …

I’ve been dreading the day I had to sit down and write this update. I’m not giving up if that’s what you’re thinking, I’ve just made some progress… in the opposite direction. This summer, the TBR grew bigger, and I’m trying my hardest to clean up that mess! But what would you do if you saw some books become homeless? Wouldn’t you help them? Those poor things were shivering! It broke my heart. I couldn’t send them away… So I opened my shelves… They look so cosy and happy now! And I hope they can make me feel like that as well. June It all started on a warm sunny day in June. The doorbell rings with the mailman bringing a package with fresh new books. The second volume of Les Misérables by Victor Hugo – I can now start planning to read that – The Seven Deaths of Evelyn …

And so it has come to an end. After 3 years, I finished the A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder (AGGGTM) series by Holly Jackson. This has been a roller coaster to say the least. My adventure began with the first book, playing armchair detective and loving every bit of it. But then I was surprised by how different the second book was. The formula wasn’t the same, and the character started to change. It was a book that really caught me by surprise. And then it was time to conclude the story with As Good As Dead (AGAD). Title: As Good As Dead Author: Holly Jackson Series: A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder #3 Publication year: 2021 Length: 14 hours 18 minutes Genre: Mystery, Thriller, YA Pace: Medium Story focus: Plot & Character It was a hard book to read. I’m not going to lie. I struggled a bit …

The Hardest Reading Challenge You’ve Ever Done is over!!… It ended two months ago, but oh well… I’m just now sitting down to write about it. My last update wasn’t very merry. Then I proceed to do a period of rereading for 3 months, give or take. Since rereads don’t count towards the HRCYED, I had nothing to update you on. So I stayed quiet. Knowing that the challenge would be over when the calendar changed to July, I focused on the challenge one last time. And, at the very least, try to finish the books that I bought specifically for this readathon. But did I accomplish that? Before doing my last update on HRCYED 2024-2025, the Hardest Reading Challenge is back for round 2. That’s right, HRCYED 2.0! I’m already two months behind on the announcement, although I couldn’t pass up doing a shout-out since more people are discovering …

It doesn’t even seem real that I decided to embark on this journey three years ago this month. While this is in no way a project or a challenge I’m actively pursuing, I still want to see what’s on the other side. And it will take whatever time it takes. I want to be more intentional with my purchases. To be on top of the books I really want to read. I don’t want to own a graveyard of books, I think I’ll like. I want to find that out instead of keeping guessing. Over time, my approach to this challenge has changed. From a more strict strategy to incorporating other challenges like The Hardest Reading Challenge You’ve Ever Done, HRCYED for short. I went from book-buying bans to adding too many books to my TBR, from great reading months to reading slumps. But all of this is with one …

With the new Netflix adaptation, which I haven’t watched, The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin is now even more popular. If you enjoy reading sci-fi, then you probably heard people talking amazingly about this book. At least, I did. I had The Three-Body Problem on my radar for a very long time. So long that some promo images of 1899 made me question if the two stories were at all related. Sadly, they don’t. So, I will continue to live without a second season of 1899 and a grudge about it. Title: The Three-Body Problem Author: Liu Cixin Series: Rememberance of Earth’s Past #1 Publication year: 2006 Length: 13 hours 26 minutes Genre: Hard Sci-fi, Mystery Pace: Medium Story focus: Plot I knew barely anything about this book series. I know what the three-body problem is, but I had no idea how it would connect with the story. So I …

It has been a few years since I first read Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. To be honest, I don’t remember much. I know I liked the final chapter, which brought the story to a close in a heartfelt way. Apart from that, I thought it was maybe average. That was until I reread it. My mood reading is often influenced by other media I consume throughout the day. Coincidentally, on Max, they released a new adaptation of this story. And I loved it! I liked it so much that I had to pick the book back up again to refresh my memory. You see, this first season is only half of the story. Only next year (probably) will I see the ending of Tita’s life story. That’s too much time to wait for. So I went back to the shelves. To my surprise, I really enjoyed this …