March Wrap-Up // April TBR | 2015

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image source: here. edited by me.

March has come to an end! How was your third month of the year? I was so beat up and tired this month because I started working at the office now. I will talk more about it later in this post after all my reading wrap-ups :) In terms of reading, I managed to read a decent amount of books despite my crazy schedule these days. I've read 7 books so far; but I couldn't read all the books I want from last month's TBR because I kept receiving new books that I have to read first. I'm also quite sad because I only read one English book this month :( Anyways, here are the books I've read and reviewed this month, non-review posts in March, and a list of books I'm planning to read in April.

Endless Love by Wu Xiao Yue
I was so excited when I found out this book was adapted into a Taiwanese-drama starring one of my favourite actor! The story was actually quite interesting, but I was also a bit disappointed by how the story develops. It also lacks character development, so in the end I only gave it a 3/5. ✮✮✮

The Blood of Olympus (The Heroes of Olympus, #5) by Rick Riordan
I'm both happy and sad at the same time as I finish reading this series :') I am sad because I have to say goodbye to all the adorable characters in this book; but also very happy because I finally finished this awesome series! The ending was perfect, and I am highly anticipating Rick Riordan's new series. 5/5, obviously. ✮✮✮✮✮

In a Blue Moon by Ilana Tan
This book was the best surprise I received this month, and I thoroughly enjoyed this light read. It was cute, sweet, and fluffy. I literally flew through the pages because the story flowed really nicely. Even though the conflict wasn't all that great, but it was definitely an enjoyable read. Another 5/5 for this book! ✮✮✮✮✮

 

Sabtu Bersama Bapak by Adhitya Mulya

Owned this book quite some time ago and I was motivated to start reading it because of a friend's recommendation. And it turns out to be really good. What I love most about it was the many life lessons that I get from the story. It was a great read overall, so I rated this book 4.5/5. ✮✮✮✮½

Not a Perfect Wedding by Asri Tahir

I was offered by Nana @ Glasses and Tea to join the blog tour for this book, and of course I gladly accepted it. It was a story about marriage that has a very interesting premise. Even though I expected much more from the story, I still liked it in the end :) 3.5/5 for this exquisite wedding. ✮✮✮½

Love With a Witch by Hyun Go Wun

Also another book for a blog tour, this one from Penerbit Haru, and it's by a Korean author that I liked. This is the fourth time I'm reading a book by Hyun Go Wun, and I also really enjoyed it :) It has some elements that I see often in Korean dramas, which I really liked. I gave it a 4/5 ;) ✮✮✮✮

The Wind Leading to Love by Ibuki Yuki
This one is also for a blog tour, and it's a great story about self-discovery of the two main characters. It's a Japanese translated book, and I thoroughly enjoyed the story that flows really nicely. I also gave this book a 3.5/5 :) ✮✮✮½

I also finished reading Kismet by Nina Addison, and the review is scheduled to be published early in April. I am currently reading Intertwine by FLOCK, and I'm also participating for the blog tour. My post for the review and giveaway is scheduled to be published on April 10th, so if you're interested, check my blog on that day :)) As for the non-review posts, I partly joined in this month's Top 5 Wednesday, and I'm hoping next month's topic won't be too complicated so I can post every week. Same thing goes to Top Ten Tuesdays. I watched 2 movie adaptations this month, but I only posted 1 this month, so look out for another movie adaptation review next month ;)) Below I also listed some books I'm planning to read next month; hopefully I can get to read them all :))

Non-Review Posts in March:

TV Series Adaptation Review: Outlander Season 1

Top Ten All Time Favorite Books From the Past 3 Years

Top 5 Wednesday: Books That Made You Think
Top 5 Wednesday: Bookish Habits
[Blog Tour] Not a Perfect Wedding: Quotes
Movie Adaptation Review: Insurgent
Top Ten Books You Recently Added To Your To-Be-Read List
Angels of Morning Star Club Giveaway: Winner Announcement
Opini Bareng: Alur Cerita
Not a Perfect Wedding Giveaway: Winner Announcement
March 2015: Book Haul

April TBR:  (I might have more books coming in next month, so this list can change and is quite flexible)

Bulan by Tere-Liye Wonder by R.J. Palacio
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Legend by Marie Lu Priceless Moment by Prisca Primasari

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So let's talk about what's happening with life lately. As I've said in the beginning of this post, I've started working officially at the office this month. Even though I have to go to work early at 6:30AM in the morning, I think I'm happy with this new experience. However, it is a lot more difficult for me to spare time to read or write posts for this blog—that's why I scheduled a lot of posts ahead of time these days. There are days when I feel so tired after I got home from work—all I wanted to do was take a long refreshing shower, have dinner, and then crawl under my blanket and then go to sleep. But I really don't want to abandon my blog amidst all these new routines, and most of all I don't want to stop reading. So most of the time, I took advantage of my time on the way to and from work and read a book for about 60-90 minutes. But when I'm dead tired, I'll just take a quick nap (because sleep is important).

 http://blog.periplus.com/event/the-winners-of-dare-to-blog-competition/

A really happy news that I received this month was the announcement of Dare to Blog Competition by Periplus! I thought the event was long over and maybe I wasn't the winner, but I was pleasantly surprised when I got an e-mail from Periplus declaring that I am one of the four winners! I received a copy of Haruki Murakami's The Strange Library, and also a 100K eCoupon that I used to order a book via Periplus.com.

Aside from sharing about a part of my life, in this wrap-up (possibly in the future as well if I'm not too lazy), I wanted to share some of the entertainments that I enjoyed for the past month. It might be a movie, songs, TV shows, Korean-dramas, games, etc. And this time, I want to share some of the songs that's currently on repeat in my playlist. I actually have more than four, but these are my top favorites. If you didn't know already, I'm really into Korean—that's why most of them are Korean songs. For me, these songs are perfect for chilling and just laying around relaxing, maybe whilst reading a book too ♥♥♥ I loveeee Eric Nam's soothing voice, I think I've repeated his new song for over 20 times already.

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이젠 니 생각에 우는 일은 없어
Now I don’t cry at thoughts of you
잠에서 울다 깨는 일도 없어
I don’t wake up from crying
정말 익숙해 졌나봐 괜찮아
I think I’m used to it now, I’m ok..
—Eric Nam

And the last thing I wanted to share is this new gaming app that I discovered this month! It's called Best Fiends (I read it as Best Friends initially. So if you did to, I understand), and it's basically a puzzle game that requires you to connect the blocks of the same color. I know there's a lot of similar games out there and I was also quite skeptical at first. But I became so addicted to it right now! I'd say this game can get pretty complicated and difficult at times; I guess that's what I find challenging. I'm currently at stage 69; and is there anyone else who played this game? (This is not sponsored or anything, btw. The game is 100% free to download!)

So yeah, that's what mostly happened in March. I'm still tired, my back and neck hurts—but life is good so far. How did your March go? I hope it's going great for all you :)) I'm really excited for the upcoming month; and even though I don't know what to expect, I guess I'll just have to go through it day by day. Okay, bye now! Much love to you all ♥♥♥

  by.stefaniesugia♥ .