I have to admit that I picked this up only after watching the TV show on Netflix. I thought that this would be quite a nice read, I did NOT anticipate to love it as much as I did! The series is actually very close to the book (this one and I think the next one also? I've only finished this so far, so psshhh). It's basically a collection of short stories with one having numerous installments throughout the whole book. I absolutely loved them. I love how the Witcher is both ready to kill at any given moment but also to protect at any given moment. He has a very strong sense of fairness and loyalty as well which came out soooo well in this book. I am sorry, I'm swooning (just a little). I love Jaskier/Dandilion's role a lot as well and something that surprised and UTTERLY delighted me is that I discovered that every single line that I LOVED in the series was taken from the book. And the book has even more fantastic lines to offer. Some of them are just so damn insightful that I had to put down the book and take a deep breath to savour what I'd just read multiple times.
So. Basically. If you love the Netflix show, read this book.
If you don't know the Netflix show, read this book.
If you just want some short stories in a fantasy world: GO READ THIS BOOK.
Thank you :)

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Little History of Poetry is exactly what I expected it to be: A little bit of everything.

It introduces the topic of poetry to an audience with either little or no knowledge or Poetry and this is exactly what we need. The language is simple enough for everyone to be able to follow and the examples from primary texts are wonderfully explained.

Despite being passionate about Poetry and even having studied it, I went into this book with the mindset of how would my friend who never read a single poem in their lives react to this? How would my mum, whose knowledge about literature doesn't go far beyond what I told her in one of my ramblings? How would a young person, who finds a poem they like for the first time and want to know more about the art-form in general?

This is an ideal book for such people. There are a lot of different topics covered, the book mainly keeps to the poets represented in the canon but I love that it focuses on women's poetry more than most other books do. I even found a thing or two in there that I previously didn't know and highly enjoyed reading about those. I would've loved to learn some more about poetry in countries that do not belong to the western realm, e. g. Japan with their Haiku culture, but again, there is only so much you can cover in a general book such as this one, so I definitely understand that there are some parts that had to be left out.

The reason for my rating it with three stars instead of a full five, is that I liked it overall, but I think there were some things missing (for me). For example, while reading the chapter on Petrarch, I was waiting for a mention about how he basically invented the form of the sonnet or that a sonnet is typically a love poem. In the chapter about Shakespeare, I would've loved to read about how Shakespeare's sonnets were sort of a sarcastic reply to Petarch's art and how he changed the sonnet form, thus establishing the two most famous sonnet forms that exist. But that might just be my opinion. Obviously, the author couldn't focus on everything, he did try to put 6000 years of art into ~300 pages after all.

The other thing I wasn't crazy about while reading is - keeping the novel poetry reader in mind - the blatantly obvious personal opinion of the author. As any art-form, people should be able to make their own minds up about the poems they read. I found myself disagreeing with the author on some points, which I was able to do, because I do already have some knowledge about poetry. To keep with my example of my mother: She would definitely read the chapter about Shakespeare and take from it that his poetry was inferior to other poet's (which is a personal opinion. However, not mine, I happen to like Shakespeare's sonnets) and that he should be criticised because we can't know whether he wrote from his own experience or with his ability to write from the POV of a fictional character (honestly, I do not care, as long as the words resonate with me - and i think they are quite emotionally engaging actually - there is no reason to criticise).

All in all, I think this is a great book in a language that is easily understandable for newbies- would definitely recommend! However, any reader should take the opinions stated in this book with a pinch of salt and instead rather make up their own minds about the poems and the writers.

Thank you to Netgalley for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I liked "Complete Guide to Self-Care: Best Practices for a Healthier and Happier You", mainly because it was very clear from the start that the author wants you to go at your own pace and do whatever you want and can to spend some more time on you instead of whatever usually occupies your mind (family, friends, obligations, work, uni, etc.).

The book is full of suggestions from decluttering, to yoga to writing and comes with great exercises in every chapter, which gives you a start into any direction you want to take the suggestion in. Do you want to write about your day? Amazing, Kiki offers you a template to try it out. Do you want to go off on your own and just write whatever comes to mind? That is also A-Ok.

I love that this book doesn't tell you "you have to do this or else you fail". It is a gentle reminder that we need care as much as the people and things we take care of every day. The care might look a little different for a lot of people, however some are universal (enough sleep, hydration, exercise etc.). This book is here to give you a nudge and to encourage you, not to shame or force you into anything.

Complete Guide to Self-Care is therefore the perfect book for anyone who has been trying to take care of themselves but need that extra special nudge. And lovely pictures to go with it. Absolutely recommend for anyone who wants to change something for themselves and don't know where to start.

Thank you for Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Listen. I am a nerd. I am a huge, capital 'N' Nerd and I love all things bookish, tv-series-ish, film-ish or anything else geeky-ish. That obviously includes the food. I mean, what is Harry Potter without the constant mention of treacle tart, really? Or the twelfth Doctor without his fishfingers and custards?
Which means that I could not be more excited that there is a book for people like me. To re-make, re-live and be part of their favourite fantasy world through the fabulousness that is good food.

And holy guacamoly is Cassandra doing a good job. If anyone here is not familar with her blog, why not? Please check it out right after this review. And after you've ordered this cook book.

First off, this book is just lovely to look at. It is designed in a simple style but makes my nerdy heart sing whenever there is a colourful silhouette of a snitch. Secondly, Cassandra is doing an absolute wonderful job reeling the reader/chef into the recipes by starting them off with relatable anecdotes. I honestly grinned to myself more than once, thinking "yep, that's it!"

Now, I am an absolute noob in the kitchen, but most of the recipes are so simple and great that even I can do them and they look AMAZING (my personal favourite are the Pumpkin Pasties, SO GOOD!), which means that you definitely have no excuse not trying these out. The pictures along want to make you be really good at cooking, I promise you.

Lastly, I have seen that Cassandra does have tips on making the dishes veggie or even vegan (at least some of them) - at least on her blog, which I highly appreciate.

If I had to say something negative at all, then it would be that there are no iZombie recipes in this book. But that is not negative after all because this can be taken as my appeal to Cassandra to maybe create a whole iZombie cookbook! Every episode starts off with Liv cooking, after all (pretty, pretty, pretty please?)

So all that's left to say is: get your cosplays and aprons ready and COOK!

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What do we love? Strong female characters! Romance! Unapologetically being yourself!
And this marvellous novel is giving us all of this X2!!!

Eileen is 79, has recently been left by her Husband and is a real busybody. There is nothing she loves more than having a project. She is still going incredibly strong for her age and has her fingers in so many pie's, a lot of way younger people can only be envious of! Then we have her twenty-something granddaughter Leena. Who is a different kind of power house, but a power house nontheless!

When Leena is told by her company that she has to take her now two month long annual holiday after breaking down in a meeting as a result for her grief for her dead sister. She is absolutely appalled because she has no idea what to do with herself when she cannot work. Until she visits her grandma and an idea forms in her head. They swap places, with Leena looking after Eileens projects in a quaint little northern town and Eileen goes to live in the big city for two months to start dating again. The result may be more than both of them might have bargained for, but some of their respective adventures make them see what they are missing.

This novel has been absolutely delightful and I found myself grinning more than once. I kept rooting for all of the characters, none of them were too small to be well rounded (which I really appreciate in a book) and I felt like I managed to connect both with the nothern and the London "gangs", as it were.

O'Leary puts so much heart in her writing and it comes through very strong, especially when dealing with topics like infidelity or grief. Even though this is a positive and light-hearted novel, it has these serious parts in which you feel for the characters as you would for a friend or family member and that in itself is incredible.

I also loved how absolutely, magnificently relatable this book is. I especially had that moment when Leena is trying to walk Hank the young Labrador who keeps running away from her, jumping at her and being a right handfull despite being the probably most adorable pup on earth. My own Labrador was lying next to me at the time, snoring, and I just couldn't help but laugh out loud at Leena and Hank's antics, thinking back to my own experiences.

For fans of the Flatshare, or people generally looking for a feel good novel, I heartily recommend reading this. I had a brilliant time and cannot wait to see what Beth O'Leary comes up with next. With this one, she might have just made it to the first place of my favourite Rom-Com authors!

Oh Wow.
Let me just start with that. I didn't quite know what to expect when I started this graphic novel but I was soon completely drawn into the story. I wanted to scream at Mindy and at some of her choices as much as I saw myself in her, which: Did I ask to be called out like this? No I did not. (But thank you anyway, Sweeney Boo, for that reality check.)

In Eat, and Love Yourself we meet twenty-something Mindy, who lives with her cat and has an eating disorder. She eats when she is stressed, or not stressed. Has anxiety or feels good, content... in the end, she always seems to find a reason to eat. Additionally, she suffers from Bulimia. She also is very critical of herself. Due to previous bullying, she doesn't think that any boy could ever be interested in her and completely disregards her best friend, when she compliments Mindy on the way she looks.
Mindy buys a new brand of chocolate on a late night shopping spree and with each bite is transported into a scene of her past. She observes her past self in situations which led up to making her the way she is and for the first time, she realises that and starts to change her outlook on life and her view of herself.

One, I would like to note that the drawing style is absolutely drop dead gorgeous and I absolutely adore each and every character in this comic. Mindy is absolutely stunningly drawn and I took a very long time looking at every detail on each page. The pacing is lovely, the way this story is told is an absolute delight and I really enjoyed reading this little comic that is all for self love!

I absolutely recommend this to anyone who is into comic books, struggles with themselves, struggles with food... oh, hell, just struggles! Or know someone who does, and for everybody in between.