#jnyonghoon ♥

[127-mile]

I reaaallly wanna follow your book blog!!!!!

Yessss! Do you allow me to send you the url in dm when I'm done making it all pretty?

[127-mile]

Hi!! What are some of your fave books you've read recently? I'm really curious pls feel free to ramble

Hello! I got really excited when I saw the notification, so thank you.

I've read "This is how you lose the time war" by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone, and let me tell you, it was a short book also a ride! A ride mostly because not a lot is explained, you are dropped in a scene, in a world you have limited informations about despite it being our world, you have technology, a war between the past and the present/future.

BUT! It's also a love story, some kind of enemies/rivals to lovers between Red and Blue, two women who belong to different timelines, different sides. And it's epistolary in between the scenes, and the ways the letters are made/found are explained and it's genius.

I become bored quite quickly when the romance is too much, but it was subtle and sweet when the feelings realization happened. It was definitely worth the read and I recommend it if you haven't read it.

---

I was in a bit of a reading slump for a few days and because it was becoming frustrating I read a book I already read a few times. It's called, "Quand vient la horde (when the horde comes)" by Aurélie Luong, book that came out last year so there is no translation (something I hope will happen because this book? 10/10)

A little backstory you didn't ask for, I had never heard of the book or the writer, but one day I went into my favorite bookstore and she was there, so curious I asked her to tell me about her book, and the passion in her voice when she did convinced me to buy it. It's also her first book being published, so I hope she goes far and gets more of her work published.

It happens in a medieval Korea with some Russian touch, as they have invaded the country years ago. The main character, Ivan, survives daily. He is poor, lives with his childhood (and only) friend, when, one night, he gets kidnapped by the white horde. The soldiers of the White Whore, a beautiful woman with white hair who has a goal, avenge her little sister and is not afraid to draw blood. Ivan is the bait. He wants to survive, he wants to get back to his friend and for that he has to play the horde's game. He doesn't have a choice. He does what he is told, get money, and plans his escape.

So it's also a enemies to lovers, but with vengeance being the main point of the book.

I think I could talk for hours about this book as I left a big part of my heart inside. The ending is heartbreaking honestly. The book is dark, touches sensitive subjects but it's nicely written.

-----

I have to talk about Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao. It was a book I wanted to read for so long. (and the author is extremely funny, I follow them on social medias and it's always very fun to see them)

The book has as inspiration for the main character Wu Zetian, the first and only female Emperor of China in the late 600s.

The book is science fiction, lgbtqia+, feminist, with pocs, disabled main character, poly and big robots and aliens, another enemies to lovers (trigger warnings to definitely check before reading)

It's hard to explain the book, so let me copy and paste the summary:

The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn't matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.

When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it's to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister's death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.​

To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia​. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.

I'm not that into science fiction, but I was curious. I do have to admit I was lost a few times with some terms used for the robots, and also had a hard time imagining things in my head, but I liked the way her relationship with Shimin changed, and there's also her complete opposite with whom she is friend, a rich man who wants to protect her.

The ending had me on my ass! The second book was supposed to come out in April but it was changed to 2024 and I can't wait.

----

Other than that.. I recently started Caraval by Stephanie Garber. The reason is funny, I saw a book at the bookstore "Once upon a brokenheart" and loved the cover, but then I saw I needed to read the Caraval series first, so here I am. I'm currently on the second book and it's pretty okay. I like the universe of Caraval.

I read "The Invisible Life of Addie Larue" by V.E. Schwab at the beginning of the year and it became one of my favorite pretty fast. It was so nicely written that I can't help but recommend it.

I usually only read horror and thrillers but I haven't been able to find much good ones so I've been trying my hands at other books.

What about you? Tell me everything!

[127-mile]

I ordered 4 books today (This is how you lose the time war being one of them) and I feel so alive!!!! I also finished a book right before I had to go to class to teach and I was carryong the weight of an entire world on my shoulder it was brutal!

On the other hand my question is: how do you prefer to read books? I read a lot of physical books from the library, but most of them are translated to Hungarian, even tho i would love to read it in the language it was originally written. I only speak english fluently (i will TRY reading in french tho, it might work), so when I read books in English it's usually on my ebook reader, but it's definitely not the same as a physical book. I tried audiobooks but I just don't have that kind of focus.

Do you have a preference in this sense?

Another thing, where do you get your book recommendations? How do you decide what to read next?

Also I hope your day is going well, thank you for giving me the space to talk about books, I really really appreciate it 💕💕

Ordering books feel so good! Oh, tell me about the book!

I also read physical books, and also translated to French, because it's pretty rare to find books in their actual languages in stores, and when it does happen, it's really expensive. I order them sometimes, when English is the original language and I don't want to wait for the translation to be done, or because I know I want to read it in English. I used to have a kindle but it died not long ago, and I have a few ebooks on my phone but I don't like reading on it. Audiobooks are pretty okay but I have a hard time focusing so I mostly stick to phyisical books.

I use goodreads a lot, so it gives recommendations based on what I read, I also have the recommendations from Instagram and Tiktok even sometimes (I don't always trust Tiktok because I tried a few books from there and it was not worth it), and on my library's website.

How I decide what to read next is pretty funny. It depends on what books I have on hands. Which ones I bought, and which ones I took from the library and how long I still have before I have to give it back haha. What about you?

No please don't thank me, I should be the one thanking you for reaching out, I love being able to talk about books, it's one of my favorite topics! ♥♥

[127-mile]

I have this is how you lose the time war and the invisible life of addie larue on my to read list, i'm super excited about them!!!

I unfortunately didn't have time or energy to read during uni, and then i started working full time so once again, no time or energy, but then i started working from home and I make my own hours now, so this year I have been reading non stop, and it's been amazing!!

My most recent fave is the southern reach trilogy by jeff vandermeer, the first book (annihilation) is written from the pov of a biologist, and it not only worked soo well for the story, but also I felt represented like those would have been my thought processes too. After borrowing it from the library I had to buy the books immediately cause I feel like there are a lot of questions that I didn't find the answer for during the first read, and i'm happy to go at it again.

I don't really like whodunits in general but I read the seven deaths of evelyn hardcastle and it was surprisingly entertaining! Of course it had it's flaws but I really enjoyed the structure and the game part of it.

I think the book with the biggest impact on me this year was how high we go in the dark by Sequoia nagamatsu, it was amazing and horrible and sad and fascinating and hopeful, I really enjoyed how the chapters were connected and the ending!!!!!! No words.

I wanted a palate cleanser after that book so I read the shuddering by ania ahlborn and holy shit I only wanted a fun little creature horror but it was so good??? I was so scared it was amazing. Another good horror for me was near the bone by christina henry, it was so tense I couldn't put it down I had to read it in one night.

And of course we had fairytale by king too which was another ride.

I am a huuge horror fan when it comes to books, so i would love to hear about your all time favourite and your current favourite horror novels :D

Ohh! Do let me know when you read it, I would love to hear what you think of them.

I understand, there are times when life doesn't allow us to read but I'm glad you now have time to read as much as you want. Feels nice uh.

I've checked the names you have given, and southern reach sounds interesting. The summary of how high we go in the dark tickled something in my brain, so I will look for the book.

Okay, I read the summary of Near the bones and I feel like I've read it but I'm not sure. I'll have to check that too!

I haven't read Fairytale yet, I'm waiting for the library to receive it.

I wish I had the chance to read multiple good horror books but unfortunately most were flops. Maybe because scaring me is kind of complicated. But there are two horror books from my favorite author, Franck Thilliez, that I would love to read again for the very first time.

Puzzle (I think the English title is Paranoia) is absolutely amazing. I would use psychological horror more than anything to describe it. It has the treasure hunt trope in an abandoned psychiatric hospital in the middle of nowhere during a snowstorm with two rules: Nothing is real. One of you is going to die. And it's one of the books I could talk about for hours. They made it into a graphic novel too, it was rushed obviously but it was nice too.

Another one of him (I have no idea if it was translated) is called La forêt des ombres (the forest of shadows) about a mortician/writer called by a man who wants him to write a book about this horrible serial killer while living in a cabin in the middle of a forest with his family.

Other than that, I've read a couple books of Aron Beauregard, but you need to have a good stomach for that. The basic of the Haunting of Hill house too, The exorcist.. And I've been a big Stephen King fan since I was young so I've read those too even if I wouldn't consider half horror but eh, some are good.

If you have good horror recs, please, I am on my knees lol.