5 Books That Have Stayed With Me | SBB ☕︎

OMIGOD YOU GUYS !!!
Today's post is both very exciting and nerve-racking. I don't know why, I never thought I'd feel this way about something so silly, but apparently I'm a weirdo. I thought about doing this post for a really long time but never really felt like it. 

I am so nervous about this, sharing with people my favorite FAVORITE books of all time. I never wanted to really, I always thought of this secret list that existed only in my head as something very private and intimate, it just didn't feel right to share it with others. But as I was writing this post, I felt more and more comfortable about it. Having all these books "written" down in a blogpost -with a certain date and allowing me to update it every year or so- actually feels reassuring. 

All 5 books that are listed below are not just my favorite books, not just books that have stayed with me, they are books that when I read their title, see their cover, my heart feels like bursting and my eyes start to water with emotion. They are books whose characters I feel closer to than some of my family, they are a world I sometimes feel more comfortable in then my own. Books that whenever they get good reviews, I feel a great feeling of accomplishment and pride. These are stories I don't believe have been made up in their author's mind, but simply the tales of real people I know but don't know me. 





The Summer I Turned Pretty

 Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer--they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. 

But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.



 




Fangirl

Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan... But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving. Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.

Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.







Anna and the French Kiss

Anna is happy in Atlanta. She has a loyal best friend and a crush on her coworker at the movie theater, who is just starting to return her affection. So she's not too pleased when her father decides to send her to a boarding school in Paris for her senior year. But despite not speaking a word of French, Anna meets some cool new friends, including the handsome Étienne St. Clair, who quickly becomes her best friend. Unfortunately, he's taken--and Anna might be too. Will a year of romantic near misses end with the French kiss she's been waiting for?









 
Beautiful Disaster

The new Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate number of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance from the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University's Walking One-Night Stand.

Travis Maddox, lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby needs—and wants—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his appeal, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’s apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match.





After

 Tessa is a good girl with a sweet, reliable boyfriend back home. She’s got direction, ambition, and a mother who’s intent on keeping her that way.  But she’s barely moved into her freshman dorm when she runs into Hardin. With his tousled brown hair, cocky British accent, tattoos, and lip ring, Hardin is cute and different from what she’s used to.

But he’s also rude—to the point of cruelty, even. For all his attitude, Tessa should hate Hardin. And she does—until she finds herself alone with him in his room. Something about his dark mood grabs her, and when they kiss it ignites within her a passion she’s never known before.

Tessa already has the perfect boyfriend. So why is she trying so hard to overcome her own hurt pride and Hardin’s prejudice about nice girls like her?  Unless…could this be love?





As a 20 year old girl, I've never fallen in love, with anyone. I don't know the feeling of love or affection outside my close family and friends. But if falling in love makes me feel a quarter of the feelings I'm drowned in when one of these books is mentioned, I shall be very happy and my husband, a very lucky man.

10 French Books You Should Read | SBB ☕︎

HEY EVERYONE  !!
For today's article I thought it would be interesting to shift our focus onto french literature. I'm french, not born but raised in France, and throughout all my years of non-english reading I've come across certain books that have stuck with me. Many of them I had to read for school, and most I didn't like. However, for the few that I did like, I thought it would be interesting to share with you non-french readers my top 10 french books. Fortunately, most of these are very famous books and most of them have been translated in english and other languages, so if you're interested, you can easily get your hands on them.




Candide

Brought up in the household of a powerful Baron, Candide is an open-minded young man, whose tutor, Pangloss, has instilled in him the belief that 'all is for the best'. But when his love for the Baron's rosy-cheeked daughter is discovered, Candide is cast out to make his own way in the world.

And so he and his various companions begin a breathless tour of Europe, South America and Asia, as an outrageous series of disasters befall them - earthquakes, syphilis, a brush with the Inquisition, murder - sorely testing the young hero's optimism.







Dom Juan

Don Juan, the "Seducer of Seville," originated as a hero-villain of Spanish folk legend, is a famous lover and scoundrel who has made more than a thousand sexual conquests. One of Molière's best-known plays, Don Juan was written while Tartuffe was still banned on the stages of Paris, and shared much with the outlawed play. Modern directors transformed Don Juan in every new era, as each director finds something new to highlight in this timeless classic. 

Witty, urbane, and poetic in its prose, Don Juan is, most importantly, as funny now as it was for audiences when it was first presented.





 The Stranger

A young Algerian, Meursault, afflicted with a sort of aimless inertia, becomes embroiled in the petty intrigues of a local pimp and, somewhat inexplicably, ends up killing a man. Once he's imprisoned and eventually brought to trial, his crime, it becomes apparent, is not so much the arguably defensible murder he has committed as it is his deficient character. The trial's proceedings are absurd, a parsing of incidental trivialities--that Meursault, for instance, seemed unmoved by his own mother's death and then attended a comic movie the evening after her funeral are two ostensibly damning facts--so that the eventual sentence the jury issues is both ridiculous and inevitable.







The first book of The Fleurville Trilogy: Sophie is a naughty little girl, she delights in disobeying her mother

and engaging in mischevious pranks. Sophie unintentionally melts her favourite wax doll and gets into trouble

when she stands outside in the rain to make her hair curl. Why can't she be well behaved like her cousin

Paul and her two delightfully sensible friends Camille and Madeleine? - See more at: http://books.simonandschuster.com.au/Fleurville-Trilogy-Sophies-Misfortunes-Book-1/Stephanie-Smee/9780731814602#sthash.vfzxqoH5.dpuf

Sophie's Misfortunes

The first book of The Fleurville Trilogy: Sophie is a naughty little girl, she delights in disobeying her mother and engaging in mischievious pranks. Sophie unintentionally melts her favourite wax doll and gets into trouble when she stands outside in the rain to make her hair curl. Why can't she be well behaved like her cousin Paul and her two delightfully sensible friends Camille and Madeleine?









The Imaginary Invalid

A hypochondriac, victimized by pompous physicians, tests the loyalty of a loving daughter and discovers the contempt of his scheming and greedy second wife. This classic comedy from one of the most brilliant satirists in the history of literature deflates the pretensions of society and reveals the universal frailties of 
humanity.





 

Persepolis

Persepolis paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran and of the bewildering contradictions between home life and public life. Marjane’s child’s-eye view of dethroned emperors, state-sanctioned whippings, and heroes of the revolution allows us to learn as she does the history of this fascinating country and of her own extraordinary family. Intensely personal, profoundly political, and wholly original, Persepolis is at once a story of growing up and a reminder of the human cost of war and political repression. It shows how we carry on, with laughter and tears, in the face of absurdity. And, finally, it introduces us to an irresistible little girl with whom we cannot help but fall in love.




 



 The Last Day of a Condemned Man

 A man vilified by society and condemned to death for his crime wakes every morning knowing that this day might be his last. With the hope for release his only comfort, he spends his hours recounting his life and the time before his imprisonment. But as the hours pass, he knows that he is powerless to change his fate. He must follow the path so many have trod before him—the path that leads to the guillotine.






 
Lorenzaccio

The plot takes place in Florence, ruled by the Medicis at the time when Charles Quint was emperor.  Alexandre de Médicis, Duke of Florence, governs the city and is loathed by his people as he is despotic and libertine. He is manipulated by the Catholic Church and sold to Charles Quint. 

Lorenzo (nicknamed Lorenzaccio) is a Médicis who wants to murder Alexandre for personal reasons. He swore to kill a tyrant one day and chose Alexandre. He decides to befriend with Alexandre to achieve his goal and becomes Alexandre’s favourite and confident. He follows him in all his partying, makes sure he thinks him harmless in order to approach him unguarded.




 

La Venus d'Ille


 A very short story written by Prosper Mérimée, a French historian, archaeologist and short story writer. This story dates back to 1837 and is the story of a travelling archaeologist visiting a fellow archaeologist who has just discovered a statue of Venus. This statue then shows supernatural traits.








 The Three Musketeers

The story of the early adventures of the young Gascon gentleman d'Artagnan and his three friends from the regiment of the King's Musketeers: Athos, Porthos, and Aramis.

Under the watchful eye of their patron M. de Treville, the four defend the honour of the regiment against the guards of the Cardinal Richelieu and the honor of the queen against the machinations of the Cardinal himself as the power struggles of 17th-century France are vividly played out in the background.





Hope you enjoyed the post ! Let me know in the comments !

To-Be-Read List of May | SBB ☕︎

Here are the books I plan on reading during the month of May.


I'm currently reading Beyond the Highland Mist. Once I'm done I'll probably read Tapping the Billionaire or Roomhate .
l
Also, this list might change throughout the month depending on my mood. I might not read all the books from these list, but others. However these are the books I'm prioritizing. Furthermore, I will not be publishing reviews for all of them.

Monthly Sum-Up | April 2016 | SBB ☕︎

 HAPPY WEDNESDAY GUYS
As you've guessed it, it's that time of the month again where I give you a brief sum-up of what I read during the month, give you an approximate rating and tell you if you should read it, or avoid. I'm not as late as I'me used to this month, but as you've probably read in my April Book Haul, I've had quite a weird month. And by that I mean that I had a really hard time focussing on a book and ended up having 20 different books in my currently-reading whislt I was submerged with fanfiction. Still, I ended up reading still quite a few books, and some of them were great surprises. Anyway, I hope you guys have and great week, and see you in a next post xxx


 





The Mighty Storm  
by Samantha Towle
READ
✦✦✦✦✧






 




Wethering the Storm  
by Samantha Towle
READ 
 ✦✦✦✧✧






 



  


Driven  
by K. Bromberg
READ
✦✦✦✦✧




 





Fueled  
by K. Bromberg
READ
✦✦✦✧✧





 





Crashed  
by K. Bromberg
AVOID
✦✦✧✧✧





 





More Than This  
by Jay McLean
READ
✦✦✦✧✧






 




Foreplay  
by Sophie Jordan
READ
✦✦✦✦✧













Lexi, Baby  
by Lynda LeeAnne
AVOID
✦✧✧✧✧






 





Kiss An Angel  
by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
READ
✦✦✦✦✧





 






Never Seduce a Scot  
by Maya Banks
READ
✦✦✦✧✧





 





Playing for Keeps  
by RL Mathewson
AVOID
✦✦✦✧✧





 




Time Served  
by Julianna Keyes
AVOID
✦✦✧✧✧







 




Hamlet  
by William Shakespeare
READ
✦✦✦✦✧







 





Long Day's Journey Into Night  
by Eugene O'Neill
READ
✦✦✦✧✧






 





Mrs Dalloway  
by Virginia Woolf
AVOID
✦✦✦✧✧

Book Haul | April 2016 | SBB ☕︎

HAPPY SUMMER BREAK EVERYONE !!
I can't believe I've just finished all of my finals and I'm already done with my second year. It's all crazy and so has been this month. I was crazy sick for a few weeks, then studying lik a mad woman for my finals, and now I'm finally back home. This month of April was really weird. I couldn't seem to find a decent book to read and ended starting 50 different books at the same time and abandoning them to go read some fanfiction. Anyway, I got my hands on a couple of books this month, but because I wasn't feeling my best they are just additions to my Penguin English Library collection. 

Anyway, here's the list of all the books I got this month :
 
New In -



Repurchased -