Funny thing...

Maleficent reminds me a bit of Madrigal from Daughter of Smoke and Bone ;))

My response to the #BookBucketChallenge - though it was pretty hard to keep the list down to only 10 books.

... To say what we actually mean :)

One day I recommended to a friend the book 'FEED', by Mira Grant.
She read a few words and said: "nope, I don't read about zombies".

My intention is not to convince people to read the books I like, as I don't always read what others suggest either, so I left it at that.

 ... But deep down I wanted to ask her:
"Do you think that, for example, "Daughter of Smoke and Bone" is a religious book?"

 She would have said "no", of course, and I would have asked: 
"Why not? It has angels, an apocalypse, for sure it must be about religion, about repentance and other stuff like that". And in case you didn't read it yet, be assured it is definitely not about that! Just as 'Feed' is not about 'zombies'. They are there, right, but it is not their story in the least.

Deep down I wanted to tell her how 'The Newsflesh Trilogy' is about so much more (because I am not into zombies either, not at all).

I wanted to tell her how it is about journalism and about how far one would go to uncover the truth. Also, about politics and social manipulation (even with the biological weapons as means), about hope and friendship and love...
How it is so much about the human nature and how it takes you on a high emotional carousel. How it has the most wonderful characters, how I loved it to pieces, how I love it still.

There was so much I could have said then. I just didn't.
Some books should speak for themselves, and if they don't call one to them maybe it is for the best.

And now I ask you..
"What books outside your comfort zone did you read?
And how did you enjoy them?"

Originally posted here.

Some stories are achingly beautiful and incredibly moving. They reach deep into the core of my soul and they fill me with so much happiness. They break my heart a bit and then wash away each tear with their intensity.

… Flat-Out Celeste is one of them.

I don’t even know what should I start with.
♥ I loved Jessica’s emotional writing, full of humour but also tear inducing.
♥ I loved the characters full of life and love, of hope and fears. I loved their complexity, their particularities, I loved everything about them all.
♥ Then there is the beautiful dialog (with the unique way Celeste talks in) and the wittiness most characters seem to carry around, the geeky t-shirts with those lovely funny messages on them, not to mention the coffee routine, the emails and the sugar-sweet romance.

I guess this means that I loved everything about this story.. and yeah, I truly did!

Full review at: ReadingAfterMidnight.com