If you are following my blog since 2022 and even before under different names, you know I really enjoy Jennifer L. Armentrout’s books. Ever since “Lux”, I’ve been a huge follower of her work, and I nearly read everything to this point. The start of the Covid-19 pandemic also marked the start of the “Blood & Ash” series. Fast forward to 2025 and the sixth book in this series, The Primal of Blood and Bone, has been out in the world. I of course had to pick it up on release day and I do have some thoughts you guys…

Hi and welcome to this week’s Let’s Talk Bookish post! And today we’re either – possibly – going to have some fun or get confronted really hard. Why? Because this week it’s time to play TBR roulette! I have to admit that I did a TBR cleaning and declutter not too long ago, but we’ll see how this works out. I will be using my Goodreads TBR as this is the most accurate. Click on the book cover to find the book information as there are several books in series involved that aren’t book 1.

Hi and welcome to a new Top Ten Tuesday post! I usually post at midnight, but I was so incredibly tired last night that I just couldn’t sit straight up and write this post anymore. Furthermore, I had to work today. It therefore is pretty late. However, I still want to list some satisfying series, as this is the topic for the week. And no, I didn’t include Sarah J. Maas as that would have been too easy. Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to…

De “Hoe overleef ik” serie van Francine Oomen, wie is er niet mee opgegroeid? Als puber eind jaren ’90 van de vorige eeuw en het eerste decennium van deze eeuw heb je deze boeken boordevol survivaltips voor herkenbare puberproblemen vast en zeker stuk voor stuk verslonden. Menigeen viel na het verschijnen van het laatste deel dan ook in een lezersgat, want wat moesten we nu lezen?

Ever since August, I have been looking forward to The Life of a Showgirl, the new album by Taylor Swift. I have been following her since 1989 in 2014 and saw that tour in Amsterdam in 2015. Back when Love Story was a hit here, I was stubborn and refused to listen to it because “nah she was such a pop girlie and I am into rock”. That was when I was 16, so yeah, I was rebellious. The singles from Red caught my attention though, but I didn’t act upon it.

September zit er weer op en dat betekent dat we afscheid hebben genomen van de zomer. Zowel de herfst als het laatste kwartaal van 2025 zijn nu echt begonnen. In september had ik nog twee weken zomervakantie waarvan ik er een naar Zeeland ging. Het was goed weer, de jas hoefde amper aan en de laatste dagen konden op het strand worden doorgebracht.

Hi and welcome back to another Let’s Talk Bookish post! This is so much later than you’re used to from me, but I just couldn’t write it earlier and I didn’t want to miss this topic either. This week’s topic is suggested by Melanie @ Melanie’s Book Blog and discusses Authors Branching Out. Interesting, as we have seen this numerous times over the past few years. Prompts: How do you feel when an author you love does something new and not at all like their previous work? Do you still read all their books, or do you stop after a point?

Akwaeke Emezi is inmiddels niet meer weg te denken uit het Engelstalige queer literatuur landschap. De auteur verwierf bekendheid met zijn poëzie, maar zijn roman De dood van Vivek Oji sprong mij direct in het oog. Het is op alle fronten divers: het speelt zich af in Nigeria en gaat over homoseksualiteit en mentale gezondheid. Het heeft even geduurd voor ik dit boek ook daadwerkelijk oppakte.

It’s a new month, which means it’s time for a new monthly TBR. Whereas I did fairly well on this monthly TBR in August, I struggled a bit in September. Out of the five books I’ve set to read, I finished three. I’m currently reading one from my possibility pile, but that one is a chonker which obviously couldn’t be finished before the end of this month. But what other books will I be reading in October? I’m not a fan of horror and spooky season (or seasonal reading in general), so you won’t be finding any of these here.

It is already October and that means that both autumn and the fourth and final quarter of the year have officially started. But first, it’s time to wrap up September. The first week of this month I went on my summer break, to a small coastal town a bit further down south. We were lucky with the weather, because even though it wasn’t fully summer the entire week, it was still summer-esque and we were able to keep our jackets off nearly the entire week. Some light rain, but we ended the week on a full on 30 degrees Celsius and at the beach.

Voor iedere lezer is het goed om eens buiten de comfort zone te lezen. Ik doe dit steeds vaker en merk dat ik daar zo nu en dan echt behoefte aan heb. Het uit het Frans vertaalde De diepst verborgen herinnering van de mens van de Senegalese auteur Mohamed Mbougar Sarr (1990) is zo’n boek dat ik al een tijdje voorbij zag komen, maar waar ik mij steeds niet aan durfde te wagen.

Hi and welcome back to another Top Ten Tuesday post! Going rogue is my trademark for this meme as I’m doing just that once again. Why? Because this week’s topic is Book Covers that Give off Fall Vibes and I did a similar topic last year. A few months ago, I did a post on Books To Deversify Your Reading. When compiling this list, I found myself running out of space, hence why I created a part one. Now, it’s time for part two! So, let’s diversify our shelves some more!

Soms kom je een boek tegen dat je direct aanspreekt. Dit kan te maken hebben met recensies, de titel of de achterflap. Bij mij is het meestal een combinatie van het eerste en het laatste en dat was niet anders dan bij De jongen die de vuurvliegjes volgde, het debuut van Aisha Hassan. Van tevoren wist ik dat dit boek absoluut in mijn straatje zou passen en dat het geen echt feelgood verhaal zou worden.

It is good for every reader to read outside their comfort zone every now and then. I find myself doing this more and more often, and I notice that I really need it. The Most Secret Memory of Men by Senegalese author Mohamed Mbougar Sarr (born in 1990) is one such book I have been eyeing for a while, but haven't dared to tackle. Until now. Needless to say, I have read it in Dutch since this novel is originally published in French. An English translation is also available, translated by Lara Vergnaud.

Lisette Jonkman is inmiddels niet meer weg te denken uit het Nederlandstalige feelgood landschap. In 2025 verscheen haar nieuwste roman, En wat dan liefde is. Hierin gaat Rozemarijn op zoek naar de ware liefde, want dit ontbreekt nog in haar leven. Zal ze deze vinden? Over het boek Mijn recensie Verwachtingen vooraf Het is inmiddels alweer jaren geleden dat ik voor het eerst in aanraking kwam met de boeken van deze auteur.

It’s Tuesday once again and fall has officially started. It therefore is time to set our seasonal TBR for fall 2025. As well as I’m doing on my monthly TBR’s lately, I often fall behind on the seasonal ones. I’d rather call this fall TBR my fall 2025 hopefuls instead. Without further ado, let’s take a look! Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Niet lang geleden werd op Hebban de verkiezing voor het Regenboogboek van het jaar gehouden. Kleine gelukjes van Audrey Adelin ging er met deze titel vandoor, maar Als de zon valt, het debuut van Stijn de Vries, stond eveneens op de shortlist. Ik lees weinig boeken van eigen bodem, eigenlijk te weinig. Omdat ik regenboogboeken vaak goed en sowieso belangrijk vind, wilde ik deze roman een kans geven.

It has been a while since I recapped my reading week by doing WWW Wednesday, mainly due to my holidays. But I’m back, so now it’s the time to try and be more consistent with it once again. What am I reading, have I finished reading and will I be reading next? Let’s take a look! WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Taking on a World of Words, where bloggers share the books that they’ve recently finished, what they are currently reading and what books they are planning to read next.

Hi and welcome back to another Top Ten Tuesday post! This week’s topic is Literary/Bookish Candles I’d Make, but since I’m absolutely not creative, nor am I a candle person, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to you that I’m going the alternate route again. Since we will be listing our fall hopefuls next week, this week brings me the perfect opportunity to check back on my summer 2025 TBR. I don’t know what went wrong there, but the listing turned out strange, so I have 11 books listed instead of 10, and I’m only finding out now.

Sometimes, you come across a book that has been out in Dutch much earlier than in English. I read both languages, so no problemo for me. When the Fireflies Dance by Aisha Hassan is such a book. It has been out in the Netherlands since July, but the English version isn’t published until December. Nevertheless, the synopsis drew me in straight away and it was not the question if I would read it, but rather when. I saw many positive reviews about this book and I therefore knew it needed to be prioritized, not knowing that the English edition isn’t even out in the world yet.

In de zomer van 2024 las ik de Engelse versie van Een duister venster van Rachel Gillig, want de Nederlandse vertaling duurde voor mij te lang. Ik wilde nou wel eens weten waarom iedereen zo hyped was over dit gehele "The Shepherd King" tweeluik. Omdat ik best wel moeite had met de Engelse schrijfstijl door de rijmen en raadsels, pakte ik alsnogg de Nederlandse vertaling op.

De Zweedse auteur Fredrik Backman verwierf ruim een decennium geleden wereldwijd bekendheid met zijn boeken. Tot nu toe las ik er alleen nog geen. Dat veranderde toen My Friends verscheen. Deze roman is nog niet vertaald naar het Nederlands en tot nu toe is ook niet bekend wanneer een vertaling zal verschijnen. Ik vond dat ik nou toch echt iets van deze succesvolle auteur moest lezen en besloot me er gewoon maar aan te wagen.

Last year, I finally read One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig, long after everyone and their mother had read it. Although I wasn’t fully captivated, I still went ahead with Two Twisted Crowns, the sequel and the final book in this duology. My curiosity got the better of me. I still wasn’t too sure. Earlier this year, this author published The Knight and the Moth, the first book in the “The Stonewater Kingdom” series. Did this book suit me better? About the book My review Unfortunately, I have to conclude that this book didn’t suit me well either.

A year ago, I started seasonal reflections alongside the seasonal TBR’s. The first season I reflected o was summer 2023. I can’t believe this has been more than a year ago and that it’s already time to look back on fall 2024. Fall is not showing up yet, we still had lots of summery days until now. The weather forecast for the upcoming week doesn’t look too bright, but still no real signs of fall yet. I can’t remember a lot about fall 2024, so maybe this post will have some surprises upon its sleeves for myself as well.