November 2019 – Book Dust Magic

The one that takes us to New Zeland: One Winter Morning by Isabelle Broom (Book Review) #Christmas #NewZeland #WomensFiction

GIFTED / Today I will talk about the newest book by my favourite author Isabelle Broom (if you noticed, I have more then few favourite authors).
One Winter Morning was published in paperback edition October 17th 2019 by Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House UK, and it has 400 pages.
I want to thank wonderful people from Michael Jospeh for sending me an invitation to read this book via Netgalley, in an exchange for an honest review.

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS / On a winter morning she lost a piece of her heart. Can she find it?

Evangeline isn’t feeling festive this December.

The frost and fairy lights only remind her it’s been a year since she lost the mother who took her in as a baby and raised her.

She’s never felt more alone – until she discovers her birth mother’s identity. And where to find her.

A lifetime and thousands of miles have separated Evangeline and Bonnie. Now, travelling to New Zealand could be Evangeline’s chance to confront the woman who gave her up.

But is she ready for what she’ll find there?

The answers she’s been looking for, a new family to heal her . . . Or someone she could never have expected?

Review:

Isabelle Broom is the author who started her writing career around the same time I started my blog, and I am proud to be her supporter from the very start.
How could I not be?
Ever since I read her novel My Map of You and fell in love with her writing style and courage to paint characters in the most realistic way, I knew I’d read every single book she’d write (okay, I admit I’m not the best supporter out there, because I am two books behind, but in my defense: do you know how it feels like to know that you don’t have anything new to read that’s written by your favourite author? Plus, I plan to read both of them before the end of this year).

One Winter Morning takes place in New Zeland most of the time, but also some parts of the story are set in England.
The story is written from POV’s of two women: Genie’s and Bonnie’s.
Even though Genie is the main character, I have to admit that I was more invested in Bonnie’s life and reasons behind the decision that she made.

If you didn’t know, Isabelle Broom is famous for her beautiful descriptions of the places her stories take place in.
Although I enjoyed descriptions of New Zeland, this time I couldn’t imagine myself there, as I usually do when it comes to her books. Maybe the reason for that is the fact that I am not that familiar with New Zeland (the most I know is from Hobbit), but I also think that the part in that plays my disappointment with all the sunshine and summer, because the book cover and the title made me expect more wintery setting.
I admit, I should have paid more attention to the premise, and obvious logic, because I know that New Zeland is on the other side of Mediteran.
Also, the story takes place around Christmas time, so it is a festive read, but with different setting.

It is important to say that this book has one disabled character (I hope I used the right term, if I didn’t, I apologize) who is, in my opinion, presented very well and Broom gave her (the girl who is disabled) a strong personality and she really was the big part of the story.

As I understood, this story is close to heart to the author (I got it from her email newsletter I am subscribed to) because of her own family situation, so it makes me appreciate it even more.

Family relationships were my favourite parts of the book.

I would highly recommend One Winter Morning to readers who love family stories with dash of romance in it, but also to those who’d like to read about Christmas set in sunny parts of our planet.

Sunday Post (Weekly Wrap Up November 18th-24th) #SundayPost #Blogging #WrapUp #Reading

Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

This meme was created for bloggers to spotlight posts they published in the week, as well as to talk about what they plan to write in the week that’s coming.

Sunday post is also great opportunity to showcase books we got in the week behind us.

Hi Guys!

This week was slow and relaxing. I feel like I have less and less energy in me. I think it’s because of pregnancy.

Yesterday I had a lovely day with my friend Monika. We went into Chinese restaurant for lunch, and after that in a really nice caffee for Pumpkin Spice Late.
I had best intention to take pictures and then I simply forgot. I guess we’ll have to go back at some point!

Today I plan to watch a Christmas movie on tv, answer to every comment on my blog and to finish a book I’m reading.
So I guess it will be a slow, relaxing Sunday.

Last Week on Book Dust Magic:

Monday: In Movie Monday I talked about A Christmas Detour
Wednesday: I gave you my thoughts on The Hunting of Hill House Netflix show
Thursday: I reviewed The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman
Friday: I talked about the time I met Katherine Arden
Saturday: I reviewed Well Met by Jen DeLuca

Next Week on Book Dust Magic

Upcoming reviews:

I am also preparing some lifestyle posts.

Currently reading:

I am reading the second and final book in Give the Dark my Love duology and I am in love with everything. If you ask me, this is one of the best fantasy series out there.

Giveaway:

I am hosting an international giveaway in which you can win a signed copy of The Bear and the Nightingale. You can enter here.

That is it!
Let me know what’s been going on with you, what you’ve been reading or watching this week and feel free to leave your links so I can visit you.
Have a lovely Sunday!

Hate to love in costumes: Well Met by Jen DeLuca (Book Review) @PRHGlobal #partner #WellMet #Comedy #Romance

GIFTED / Today I bring you my review for the romance novel that became pretty popular after it was released. This comedy was published by Berkley Publishing Group on September 3rd 2019 and it has 336 pages.
I want to thank the team from Penguin Random House Global for sending me an e-galley of this novel (in an exchange for an honest review).

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS / All’s faire in love and war for two sworn enemies who indulge in a harmless flirtation in a laugh-out-loud rom-com from debut author, Jen DeLuca.

Emily knew there would be strings attached when she relocated to the small town of Willow Creek, Maryland, for the summer to help her sister recover from an accident, but who could anticipate getting roped into volunteering for the local Renaissance Faire alongside her teenaged niece? Or that the irritating and inscrutable schoolteacher in charge of the volunteers would be so annoying that she finds it impossible to stop thinking about him?

The faire is Simon’s family legacy and from the start he makes clear he doesn’t have time for Emily’s lighthearted approach to life, her oddball Shakespeare conspiracy theories, or her endless suggestions for new acts to shake things up. Yet on the faire grounds he becomes a different person, flirting freely with Emily when she’s in her revealing wench’s costume. But is this attraction real, or just part of the characters they’re portraying?

This summer was only ever supposed to be a pit stop on the way to somewhere else for Emily, but soon she can’t seem to shake the fantasy of establishing something more with Simon, or a permanent home of her own in Willow Creek.

Review:

Well Met was pretty popular even before it came out. Booktubers talked about, had showcased their proof copies they were very lucky to get, many of my Goodreads friends also read it, and everyone seemed to love it.

“The best romance comedy of 2019, new hate to love story you will fall in love with” is what they said.
And how it affected me? I expected just that, but in the end I didn’t fall into the wagon of people who loved it oh so much.

To me, it was funny and entertaining book, but nothing more then that.

Maybe it was the Renaissance Faire setting the thing, because we don’t have them where I live, and I found everything about it in this story a bit silly.
I couldn’t understand how characters were taking it so seriously and how big of the deal it was for their town, but I also could not get my head around how everyone was doing all this work for free.
But if I’m being fair, that speaks more about me then about them. I guess they are better people then I am.

The main character Emily was good narrator, but I couldn’t like her as much as I wanted to.
From my perspective, she looked down on so many other characters that it turned me off from appreciating her, and that is where my disconnection from the story began.

I also thought that the love interest, Simon, was ungrateful, so he wasn’t in my “characters I like” circle either.
I mean, all these people were volunteering to make his event happening, and at times he acted like a mean CEO towards them.

I also didn’t get all that love/hate situation, because I didn’t understand why our main characters hated each other in the first place.
It was like they were fighting just for the sake of fighting.

One more thing: characters they were playing at the faire acted so disconnected from their real personalities, that I just couldn’t buy it.

So now when I told you everything I wasn’t a fan of, let me tell you that despite it Well Met was one really entertaining and funny novel and I do see why many people like it.
The writing style was simple and the book can easily be read in one day.

As for me, I read it in 5 days because I picked it up during my reading slump, so maybe that is also why I didn’t love it as much as others did.

However, I don’t regret reading it and I would recommend it to readers who are looking for their next fast paced comedy. I would just warn them not to take it seriously.

Meeting Katherine Arden + Giveaway: #Win a signed copy of The Bear and the Nightingale #Giveaway #Winter #Fantasy #BookLovers

This post is long overdue, but as I already said many times before: better late then never.

Back in April Katherine Arden visited Croatia and had promotion of her Winternight series.
Arden’s books are very popular in my country so having a foreign author promoting her work was a big deal. Naturally, I wanted to go.

I went with my friend Monika who adores Winternight Trilogy (and who introduced me to these books).

It was really interesting to hear Katherine talk about her journey to become published author and how she got ideas for her books, but also how her own life reflected on her writing.
She also talked briefly about her on going middle grade series Small Spaces.

In the end there was book signing where she took some time to chat with everyone who came and thank them.

It was a nice experience and I wish I could participate in book events and authors meets and greets more often.
If I lived in UK or US, I definitely would because I feel like there are book signings all the time.

Giveaway

While I was there I couldn’t forget you guys, so I grabbed one extra copy of The Bear and the Nightingale, kindly signed by Katherine Arden.
I want to give back to you guys, who follow my blog genuinely.

This giveaway is international.
You must be 18+ old to enter or have your parent’s permission to enter (because I’ll need to ask you to give me your address so I could send the book to you).
Once chosen, winner will be emailed and will have 48 hours to reply.
NO CHEATING! Cheaters will be disqualified

This giveaway will be open for one week and I will email the winner. You can enter via refflecopter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway
https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js

That is it!
Tell me do do you ever go to book signings? If yes, what authors have you met? Who would you like to meet?
Also, have you already read The Bear and the Nightingale?

Beautifully written: The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman (Book Review) #Magic #Witches #BookLovers

GIFTED / Today I bring you my review for the book I should have read ages ago, but I only finished it this year. Sometimes we think we have all the time in the world to pick up the book, and that was my case when it comes to The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman.
This novel was published on October 10th 2017 by Simon & Schuster, and it has 369 pages.
I want to say thank you to Simon & Schuster pr team for sending me a Netgalley widget for an eARC, in an exchange for an honest review.

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS / For the Owens family, love is a curse that began in 1620, when Maria Owens was charged with witchery for loving the wrong man.

Hundreds of years later, in New York City at the cusp of the sixties, when the whole world is about to change, Susanna Owens knows that her three children are dangerously unique. Difficult Franny, with skin as pale as milk and blood red hair, shy and beautiful Jet, who can read other people’s thoughts, and charismatic Vincent, who began looking for trouble on the day he could walk.

From the start Susanna sets down rules for her children: No walking in the moonlight, no red shoes, no wearing black, no cats, no crows, no candles, no books about magic. And most importantly, never, ever, fall in love. But when her children visit their Aunt Isabelle, in the small Massachusetts town where the Owens family has been blamed for everything that has ever gone wrong, they uncover family secrets and begin to understand the truth of who they are. Back in New York City each begins a risky journey as they try to escape the family curse.

The Owens children cannot escape love even if they try, just as they cannot escape the pains of the human heart. The two beautiful sisters will grow up to be the revered, and sometimes feared, aunts in Practical Magic, while Vincent, their beloved brother, will leave an unexpected legacy.

Review:

Few years ago I read Faithful by Alice Hoffman and I loved it. It was one of the best books I read that year and I knew I wanted to try Hoffman’s other work at some point.
When nice people from Simon & Schuster provided me with an eARC of The Rules of Magic I was pretty happy, but then life got in a way and this magical book was left behind, neglected.
This year, I made a decision to read all the books from my dusty to-be-reviewed pile and this prequel to Practical Magic shined it’s way to my hands.

I have to confess that I have never read Practical Magic, but I’ve seen the movie many times, because it is a good movie and it’s also very popular in my country because it has Croatian actor in it (Goran Višnjić) along with two famous actresses (Nicole Kidman and Sandra l).

However, it is not obligatory to read or watch Practical Magic to read The Rules of Magic, because it is it’s prequel, and it features different characters.

What won me at the very start of my reading journey was the beautiful writing style that almost read as sing-song in some parts.
I remember I loved it the most in Faithful too, so I guess it’s save to say that Hoffman’s writing is one of the most beautiful voices out there that I have come across.

This novel is written in third person, following perspectives of three siblings who have magical abilities.
I enjoyed following each character, and I honestly can’t even say that one’s story sticks out from other. I liked them all similarly.

The story takes place in New York in sixties (and after as the story progressed) and in the small town Massachusetts. I usually love small town stories, and this time was the same, but I have to admit that I enjoyed New York parts more.

I love how this book roused emotions in me, even though the story itself wasn’t too sad or too emotional. It is a story of life, with magical realism in it.

The Rules of Magic will stay in good memory with me and my only regret is that I haven’t read it sooner.

Alice Hoffman is well received writer with a reason, and I highly recommend you to give her a try. Read this novel, Faithful, her newest release The World That We Knew, or any other of her many novels. I truly believe that you won’t regret it!

My two cents on The Hunting of Hill House – season 1 #Netflix #Horror #TheHuntingOfHillHouse

I know I am a whole year late, but as they say, better late then never!

The Hunting of Hill House was on my to-be-watched list since it first came out in 2018, but somehow I never had enough time to really commit to it.
You see, when it comes to horrors, I like to watch them alone, to make the most of them.
Since this series has 10 episodes, I didn’t want to have long periods between episodes, in wait to have that perfect setting to enjoy the show.

However, now when I’m pregnant and don’t go to work, I finally have some time on my hands and I take advantage of that, to finally keep up with everything I wanted to watch.

The Hunting of Hill House was recommended to me by my colleagues who’ve seen it, and also by many people who happen’ to have Netflix and gave it a go.

I was told it was pretty scary, and from what I understood, the book this series is based on is taken to be one of the scariest books out there.
So scary was what I expected.

However, since I grew up watching horrors, it takes a lot for me to get scared, so if I said that the series fulfilled my expectations, I would lie.

It is a great show, though!
I just didn’t find it as scary as I hoped it would be.

The story follows family of five siblings and their father who lived together in the Hill House for a summer. The house was hunted and it impacted the rest of their lives.
There are two storylines, one that follows them as children, while they were living in the house, and the other that shows them as adults.

My favourite character was Luke. I think his story was the most interesting one.
My least favourite character was the oldest sister, called Shirley.

I know it’s not usual to put trigger warnings in reviews of tv shows or movies, but I think people should be warned that some scenes in the show could be triggering.
There is a storyline about drug addiction, with graphic scenes that show drug use.
Also, there is a storyline about child loss that, in my opinion, could also be triggering to some.
I believe there are also some parts of the story that could be considered as such, but these two are the ones that I caught.

The best episode, in my humble opinion was the fifth one.
On the contrary, sixth episode was so boring that I had to fight sleep while watching.

Overall, I think The Hunting of Hill House is a good story with good ending (although there was one thing I found illogical, but if I tell you what it is I would spoil you).
I liked this Netflix show more for it’s story then for the scary elements, but I am so glad I watched it and I will definitely watch the next season as well.

Movie Monday: A Christmas Detour – Sweet,festive daytime movie #Christmas #MovieReview #Monday #Festive

Movie Monday is a feature here on my blog, in which I’m rambling about movies I’ve watched lately.

Today I want to talk about a Christmas movie I’ve watched yesterday on tv. I enjoyed it and thought it would be a good idea to put some spotlight on this title.

A Christmas Detour

I did not plan to post Movie Monday feature today, because I haven’t watched any movie I wanted to talk about, but then yesterday I stumbled on one festive daytime movie that was showing on our local tv station, and I happened to like it and wanted to put some spotlight on this movie.

Since it is a picture from 2015, and it is a tv movie, I believe it’s available on most streaming services. You’ll have to forgive me, but I didn’t do a research for that.

While I was watching A Christmas Detour I had a feeling I was watching a Hallmark movie, but according to IMDb, it’s from another production.

However, if you enjoy Lifetime and Hallmark movies, you will love this one too.

The story follows four strangers who end up stuck together because of the storm. They all wanted to be in New York for Christmas but their airplane got cancelled and they ended up in a whole another country, snowed in.
As they get to know each other they also discover their own secret wishes they didn’t even know they had.

I liked the festive vibe through the whole movie. It was my favourite part.
Also, the characters were really likeable and I enjoyed watching them on their adventure.
And in the end, as a cherry on top, the love story was cute and just done right.

If you’ll have a chance to watch A Christmas Detour this season, I highly recommend you to do so!

Sunday Post (Weekly Wrap Up November 11th-17th) #SundayPost #Blogging #WrapUp #Reading

Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimba @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

This meme was created for bloggers to spotlight posts they published in the week, as well as to talk about what they plan to write in the week that’s coming.

Sunday post is also great opportunity to showcase books we got in the week behind us.

Hi Guys!

This has been an interesting week in bookish community, to say the least.

If you’re on twitter, you couldn’t escape that drama everyone was talking about. Some true colors showed up, and that is all I’m going to say because I had enough negativity on my feed this whole year.

When it comes to me personally, one of author’s minions decided to spam my goodreads review for Olive, Again. I usually like to get comments from people with different opinions, but when a profile is created just for sake of spamming, I will not tolerate that. And it is so obvious that “Armando” is fake account that it makes me question the intelligence of a person behind it.
I think they even flagged my review as spam because I noticed people “like” it and I get an email about it, but then it is not in my notifications. I can’t say for sure, though!

The question is: When will authors, their publicists and relatives realize that book reviews are subjective and written for other readers??

I, as a reviewer, don’t owe positive review to anyone!!

We, bloggers, do this for free in most cases, so at least what we can get is little respect. Unfortunately, it often lacked this year when it comes to my personal experience.

Then I got declined for two Netgalley requests, and mentally sent everything to hell, purchased two ebooks I wanted to read and took a break from my review copies.
I am not sure for how long this break will last, but there is so many books I want to read that just sit on my shelf or I never even purchased them because of review copies I wanted to read first.

It is the last day of HoHoHo readathon and I am about to finish my third book. It’s not amazing result, but it is enough, for all I care!

Also, I had some technical problems so two blog posts that should have been posted this week will go live next week, including giveaway for signed copy of The Bear and the Nightingale.

Last Week on Book Dust Magic:

Monday: I talked about The Lion King movie
Tuesday: I reviewed Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones
Wednesday: I talked about changes I noticed on my body during pregnancy
Saturday: I reviewed Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout

Next Week on Book Dust Magic:

Upcoming reviews:

There will also be my post about meeting Katherine Arden including a giveawy.

Book Haul:

I purchased these two ebooks:

Currently reading:

I am reading this sequel to Wintersong and am loving it so much.

That is it!
Let me know what’s been going on with you, what you’ve been reading or watching this week and feel free to leave your links so I can visit you.
Have a lovely Sunday!

The one I was disappointed with: Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout (Book Review) @PRHGlobal #partner #BookReview #BookBloggers

GIFTED / When you’re a book review you sometimes come across books you don’t like, even if you wanted to. This happened to me with Olive, Again, a book I wanted to read for a couple of months before getting a chance to.
This book was published on October 15th by Penguin Random House, and it has 304 pages.
I want to thank the team from Penguin Random House Global for sending me an e-galley of this novel (in an exchange for an honest review).

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS / Prickly, wry, resistant to change yet ruthlessly honest and deeply empathetic, Olive Kitteridge is “a compelling life force” (San Francisco Chronicle). The New Yorker has said that Elizabeth Strout “animates the ordinary with an astonishing force,” and she has never done so more clearly than in these pages, where the iconic Olive struggles to understand not only herself and her own life but the lives of those around her in the town of Crosby, Maine. Whether with a teenager coming to terms with the loss of her father, a young woman about to give birth during a hilariously inopportune moment, a nurse who confesses a secret high school crush, or a lawyer who struggles with an inheritance she does not want to accept, the unforgettable Olive will continue to startle us, to move us, and to inspire moments of transcendent grace.

Review:

Once again I didn’t do my homework, and went into Olive, Again without knowing it was a sequel to already published book called Olive Kitteridge.
Nevertheless, this book can be read on it’s own.
However, if I read it’s predecessor, I would just skip this one for sure.

I’m not saying this is a bad book, because, judging by other readers’ and critics’ reviews, it is a really, really good book, but it wasn’t for me.
I just couldn’t see it’s greatness, I guess.

I think that the main reason why I couldn’t connect with the story was that the main character, Olive, is so much older then me.
This is the thing I realized while reading this novel: I just can’t enjoy the story, connect with it if the characters are so much older then me (we talk here about 70+ years old characters, and even 80+ as the story progressed).
Therefore, thanks to this piece of literature, I made a decision not to read books featuring old main characters any more (at least at this period of my life).

The second issue I had with Olive was that I didn’t like her as a character at all. I know she is described as honest, outright and ruthless, but to me, she often came as just rude.
I just didn’t like her energy and I could not care for her or what was going on in her life, and it especially showed as I was further into the story.
I caught myself scanning the last 50 pages of the story because I just wanted to be finished with it.

It is a shame, I do know, but it is what it is!

Also, when it comes to writing style my expectations were pretty high because this novel is labelled as literary fiction, which stands for beautiful prose.
Unfortunately, I was very disappointed because it read as simple general fiction.

Still, I have to note that the book covers some pretty important things and some of the stories that involved other characters were interesting.

On the other hand, there were some situations that made me feel uncomfortable (like when Olive said that it was stupid that an adult man cries aloud, and even if he’s Jewish, it’s still stupid).

In the end I’ll just repeat that Olive, Again is very loved book and I am aware that many people won’t agree with my opinion.
As for me, I won’t be reading Elizabeth Strout’s other work because I don’t think I would enjoy it at this stage of my life.

Changes I noticed on my body during pregnancy #Pregnancy #Lifestyle #mommyblogger #MumToBe

Pregnancy is the time when one’s whole body is changing. It is perfectly normal, as the body is growing another human being inside, so this whole state comes with lots of symptoms. Some are good, some are not so much.

Today I want to talk about four changes I noticed on my body, that I wasn’t prepared for. Three of them are positive, and as for one, I would like to live without.

My hair don’t get greasy as often

I always had oily hair that I had to wash every other day to look decent. I would only be able to afford a day without washing if I knew I would stay at home the whole day.
However, during my second trimester my scalp stopped producing so much oil, and now I can go up to 5 days without looking greasy, and if I use a dry shampoo, I can extend the time between washes to 7 days. I know, it’s a huge difference, and to be honest, it feels like a huge burden fell off my shoulders, as I hated washing my hair. Plus, it’s very hard to wash my hair during pregnancy.
I also noticed that my hair has more volume now.

My Keratosis Pilaris is gone

I always had this skin condition (or should I say problem) on my upper arms but now it’s gone.
However on my thighs there’s still some left, but it’s in a much better state then before.

I don’t have acne anymore

This is the biggest and most welcoming difference I noticed, as I started my war with acne in 2018. So yes, I had adult acne, around my chin and on my neck. They were painful, itchy and ugly. They were the only part of my body I truly hated, and now when I’m finally clear of those little devils, I feel like my life is upgraded. Like my prayers were answered.
These days I can even skip my face care routine, without a fear of waking up with a new pimple.
I hope they will never return, even though I am aware that they probably will.

I have cellulitis

I was one of those lucky girls who never had to fight cellulitis. Well, I guess I won’t be in that group anymore, as my behind and thighs are covered with those bastards.
I hope I will get rid of at least some portion of cellulitis after I give birth and start working out again.
Until then, I’m happy the winter is coming and my cellulitis will be completely covered with clothes.

That is it!
If you have any questions, feel free to ask me and I will answer them as soon as I can.
Also, tell me what kind of changes have you noticed while you were pregnant, if you have experienced it?

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