January Wrap-Up // February TBR | 2016

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image source: here. edited by me.

It's pretty late for me to post this because I've been taking things slow with blogging lately. I will talk more about that in another post soon when I have the time to write it down. Anyways, how's your first month of 2016? For me personally, it's been really hectic; I have a lot of things I needed to do, learn to prioritize one thing over the other, and also there are various stuff that distracted me from reading. Even though my reading pace is crazy slow in the past month, thankfully I'm still on track with my 2016 Goodreads Reading Challenge and read a total of 7 books in January. So here are the books I've read and reviewed last month, non-review posts in January and the books I'm planning to read in February!

Cat and Dog #1 (케덴독) by Park Hee Jung
I received an early-review offer for this K-Toon and read it in ebook form since the book is not yet published. This is the first book in a series and it sets the main idea of arranged marriage between two very different people. I'm really liking the characters and the premise so far, I think there's much potential in this story :) I gave this book 4/5 stars and am looking forward to reading the continuation of this series.✮✮✮✮

Cafe Waiting Love by Giddens Ko
I really enjoyed Giddens Ko's book, You Are the Apple of My Eye, so I'm constantly on the lookout for his other works to be translated. Just like his previous book, Giddens Ko was able to make me grow closer to the characters in this one as well. The characters are really nice and warm and the story also holds a lot of meaning in it. 4.5/5 for this book about waiting for love <3 ✮✮✮✮½

Sayap-Sayap Kecil by Andry Setiawan
This is the first book published by Penerbit Haru's newest imprint, Penerbit Inari, and they were kind enough to send me a copy to be reviewed at the end of 2015. It's a fairly short story but has a pretty difficult theme about child abuse. It's a nice light read that has an important message about abuse. 3/5 for this one. ✮✮✮

The Stolen Years by Ba Yue Chang An
Another Mandarin-translated book that I read this month is this book, which was originated from a movie script. The premise of the story really intrigued me, which is about a woman who lost her memory of the last 5 years and have no idea that she got divorced to her husband that she loves so much. The only thing that disappoints me was the ending, so I ended up giving it a 4.5/5. But overall it's still very good :) ✮✮✮✮½

Aside from those, I also finished reading 3 other books: Forever and Always by Jenny Thalia Faurine, Daylight by Robin Wijaya, and Nightfall by Robin Wijaya—which are all for blog tour purposes and I've published the reviews earlier this month. I've finally finished All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr which I've been reading since December last year; will definitely be posting the book review soon. I'm also starting one of my most anticipated releases in February, which is Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys! It's a historical fiction but hopefully I'll be able to fly through it :)))

Non-Review Posts in January:

Top Ten Books I Read in 2015
Movie Adaptation Review: The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince)

Book Tag: My Life in Books

The Stolen Years Giveaway: Winner Announcement

February TBR:

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

Hujan by Tere Liye

Vampire Flower 1 by Shin Ji Eun

The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

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During the first month of 2016, my biggest struggle was that there's no internet at home for several weeks—which is quite frustrating and that's one of the reasons why I didn't post as much in January. And when I don't have any internet connection (thus can't work on my blog), I resort to watching a bunch of TV shows (which I will talk further in the TV shows section later). And that resulted in less reading time because I was too hooked up on the shows that I was watching. Anyways, I hope that won't happen again this month and hopefully I'll be able to post more regularly in February.

I don't know why but at the start of this year I somehow feel like time flew by so fast without me realizing it. It makes me wonder what did I do with all those time that went by? Because even though work and life routines are quite hectic last month, I seriously think that I haven't done enough. Aside from all these pointless rants, I really don't have much more to say.

☆ TV Shows ☆

Alright, now let's talk about these TV shows that managed to turn me away from reading. The first one on the list is 리멤버 – 아들의 전쟁 (Remember–War of the Son), which I mentioned in my previous wrap-up. Oh my, I'm so addicted to this drama since the very first episode. It's about the cruel world in which people who have money and power will be able to change and manipulate the law. Even though the plot might be dragging a bit sometimes, the best part about this series for me is the amazingly talented cast. Yoo Seung Ho, Park Sung Woong, and Nam Goong Min are my favorites because their acting is seriously on point! This drama made me cry A LOT, especially episdoe 10. So far the drama is at episode 16, so there's only 4 more left. And I'm not even sure if I want to see how it's going to end, because I will definitely cry. Again.

Moving on to the happier TV shows now. My current favorite is 꽃보다 청춘–아이스란드 (Youth Over Flowers–Iceland). In this show, 4 celebrities (Jo Jung-seok, Jung Woo, Jung Sang-hoon, Kang Ha-neul) went on a trip to Iceland to see Aurora; but with a twist. The production crew surprised them with the flight date and they don't have time to pack anything, their only baggage is a paperbag filled with the super essentials. They don't even have any spare clothing, omg XD The funniest thing about this show is their struggle with speaking English. My favorite scene was when Jo Jung-Seok trusted the translator app so much but then it betrayed him XD. And I love how these 4 men are just very warm and close to each other. They're always very happy and can have fun with literally anything. Watching this show felt as if they're taking me on a trip to Iceland as well. And I teared up a little bit when they finally saw the Aurora, because it's one of my life's wishlist as well to see the beauty of Aurora Borealis :'))

I also watched Sherlock: The Abominable Bride on a whim, and fell completely in love with it! I'm planning to finish reading all the Sherlock Holmes books that I have first before jumping into this series. I think the casts are absolutely perfect, I think they're even better than the casts for the movie adaptation. Another TV show that I'm really looking forward to watch is 태양의 후예 (Descendants of the Sun), because it's Song Joong-Ki's comeback after his military service! The teasers and previews are so good and the first episode will air towards the end of February. So much excitement!

Okay, that's all I have to say about January, the first month of 2016. I hope everyone had a great month and an even better one this February. Have you watched any of the TV shows I mentioned earlier? Or do you have any TV shows to recommend to me? Because I love watching TV shows when I'm not reading. And this month I'm looking forward to discovering great books as well; hopefully I'll be able to read all those books on my TBR list for this month :) Alright, bye now!

by.stefaniesugia♥ .