Top Five: Summer Reads

Don't you just like those nice comprehensive lists? I know I do. I love spying on other people's top lists, see if I know any of the books they read and enjoyed. It's the reason I have stalked around on Goodreads for almost three years now, and the reason I'm going to do a series of posts highlighting my Top Five somethings!

Obviously, there are several "Top Number" memes out there, and this has been inspired by those.

The sun is finally showing its wonderful head here in the Netherlands, and I thought I'd kick off this series of posts with my Top Five Summer Reads!

#5 The House of Silk by Anthony Horrowitz

Don't you just love letting other people do the hard detecting work while you are relaxing in your chair with a nice cold beverage? Especially when those other people are Sherlock and his trusty sidekick Watson.

The House of Silk is one of those books I thouroughly enjoyed, but never reviewed. Well, here it is. This book is awesome, especially if you have a little Sherlock Holmes crush. Not that I have one of those.

#4 Dark Lover by J.R. Ward

This is one of my worst guilty pleasures.

I don't even really know why I adore these books as much as I do. J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood books are straight up paranormal romance books with kick ass tortured alpha males that swoop their eternal loves off their feet.

Maybe every girl needs some swooping once in a while.

#3 Angels by Marian Keyes

Angels was my first foray into chick-lit territory. You know, that scary world where there are no zombies, vampires or werewolves to keep you feeling safe and comfortable? That's the one.

And quite amazingly enough, I very much liked it. It's not something I would want to read all the time, but fast-paced, light but not fluff, full of hilarious friends Angels works very well to keep you company while getting a tan.

#2 The Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind

During summer is actually the only time in the whole year that I feel like I have the time to read a massive fantasy book, like the Sword of Truth series. There is nothing like being fully immersed into a world so different from ours, a world so fascinating and full of all these wonderful characters I would just love to know in real life.

This is definitely one of those series that has everything to keep you entertained during quite some summer weeks.

#1 Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

I'm starting to get the feeling that at one point or another, Harry Potter always shows up in Top lists. Doesn't matter if it's summer reads, winter reads, awesome reads, favourite reads, best character lists, favourite worlds... I almost feel compelled making a list of the lists Harry Potter dominates. But I'll save that for another time.

There is no denying that Harry Potter has grown dear to me. To hell with Twilight, Harry Potter is what got me hooked on reading. I grew up with these books, and I will continue reading them in sickness and in health, until I die.

Harry Potter December: Wrap Up

As the year ended, so has my little event Harry Potter December. I have to say; I truly enjoyed it. It was nice to reread these books I read so often when I was younger. I didn't get through them all sadly, but I will read the remaining three books soon. Maybe I'll even write a proper review of those.

So, here is my final update. You can find all of my previous updates by clicking the Harry Potter December header. It will be missed in my sidebar!

• Pages read (total): 1427
• Currently at: Harry Potter and the Order of the Peonix (#5)
• My thoughts: The Goblet of Fire is another solid five-star read. It has everything you could wish for in a Harry Potter book. Spooky villains, best friends, mystery, lots of magic, and in this one even a little touch of romance. A great book to end the year with.

Harry Potter December: Part 4

I like shiny cups!

I decided to reread all the Harry Potter books this December! As a part of it, I am having this little event here on my blog, Harry Potter in December. Click here to find the other posts.

I'll also occasionally update through my Twitter account with the hashtag #readingharrypotter. Come join me if you like!

The fourth update already! Here are the stats:

• Pages read (this book): 370
• Pages read (total): 1267
• Currently at: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (#4)
• My thoughts: About halfway now. I love this one, it has the perfect balance between dark and light. Harry fighting with dragons is always awesome, and it's nice to see he's actually a boy! There are a lot of interesting characters in this one like Krum, Fleur Delacour and Cedric Digorry among others. Plus, Hagrid's crush is so adorable!
  Hmmm, I don't think I'll make it to read all of the books this months. But I will try to get as far as I can; will probably end up somewhere in book five or six.

Harry Potter December: Part 3

My very favouritest person in the whole series, mister Sirius Black! Although I imagine him always a little more emaciated and dark, he's still pretty awesome in the movies.

I decided to reread all the Harry Potter books this December! As a part of it, I am having this little event here on my blog, Harry Potter in December. Click here to find the other posts.

I'll also occasionally update through my Twitter account with the hashtag #readingharrypotter. Come join me if you like!




Third update coming up. Here are the stats:

• Pages read (this book): 0
• Pages read (total): 897
• Currently at: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (#4)
• My thoughts: So I just finished Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban... And I have to say it's still my favourite. I just love how for once the focus of the big baddie isn't on Voldemort, but on Mr Sirius Black. Hagrid is suddenly their Care of Magical Creatures professor, which I think is totally hilarious. My favourite scene is when he tells his pupils that they just had to stroke their monstrous books.
  Now I'm on to start with the bigger books of the series, and the darker ones. But first book four, which introduces some extremely fun secondary characters!

Harry Potter December: Part 2

Don't those big tennis ball sized eyes just make you melt?

I decided to reread all the Harry Potter books this December! As a part of it, I am having this little event here on my blog, Harry Potter in December. Click here to find the other posts.

I'll also occasionally update through my Twitter account with the hashtag #readingharrypotter. Come join me if you like!

It's time for my second update. Here are the stats:

• Pages read (this book): 226
• Pages read (total): 449
• Currently at: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (#2)
• My thoughts: I love how fast-paced the Harry Potter books are. Even if there's a little mellow moment to insert some background info or character growth, there is a big action part directly afterwards. I can't remember part five to seven that well, and I wonder if I found them less interesting because they were slower paced than the first books.
  Another thing that struck me while reading is how well Rowling thought about Harry's motives. It is pretty unusual for an eleven-year-old boy to be very heroic and brave. I can't imagine any boy that would stand up against the big evil guy without good reason. But Harry's parents have been killed by said big evil guy. If that isn't motivation, then I don't know what is.
  So far, so good (:

Harry Potter December: Part 1

I totally agree with you Hermoine.

That's why I decided to reread all the Harry Potter books this December! It just feels like a great way to count down to the Christmas & New Year holidays. I read the books when I was just a little girl and I am looking forward to see if they're still as great as they were ten years ago!

I will update my progress throughout the books at least twice a week. I'll also occasionally update through my Twitter account with the hashtag #readingharrypotter. Come join me if you like!





Now, for my first update. Here are the stats:

• Pages read (this book): 150
• Pages read (total): 150
• Currently at: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (#1)
• My thoughts: Oh my god. I cant believe I haven't read these for so long. It's great to see Hagrid again, and of course Harry and Ron and Hermoine. I read the first book at LEAST ten times, but it's still so full of awesome. Thinking whether or not I want to watch the movies again too. Hm. We'll see.

In My Mailbox

It's time for In My Mailbox, a weekly meme by The Story Siren!

A pretty mellow bookish week for me, had a little time to read so at least I managed to finish a book I had received for review. And something I've been looking forward to I finally have in my possession!

Click on the covers to go to their Goodreads page.

Bought:

I already own the Harry Potter series in Dutch, but I've always wanted to read the English version as well. This boxed set was so pretty I just HAD to have it!

Received for review: 

I requested this one from Netgalley. Even though it is slightly outside my comfort zone (contemporary young-adult) I thought I'd give it a try. Already finished it, so review coming up soon!

What is in your mailbox this week? Leave a comment!