Bookish updates: my updated reading list

I started the year with renewed powers, ready to keep reading as much as possible, as often as possible. With another batch of over 100 books uploaded on my Kindle, ready for a lot of travel and communiting time in the airport, I am ready to seriously cope with my reading challenge of over 200 books. At least. Another bookish new is that I also started to read on Kobo, whose advantages and disadvantages I still have to discover. 

Till today, my reading portfolio includes the following discoveries:

Alice Munro, Too Much Happiness

- It was a collection of short stories bought a couple of years ago but not in the mood to open till the end of last December. There are beautiful human stories, where every word seems to have its welll assigned place. The words are able not only to create beautiful natural descriptions, but also tensions and strong emotions. I especially loved the game of time and its insertion into the story, with gentle mentions and reconstructions of life stories.

Sebastian Fitzek, The Nightwalker - I did not know too much about this German writer and usually I avoid too much popular authors, but I had the chance to read an interview with him and decided to give him a chance. I did read the book in German which is a real challenge because the language is not easy. As in general for me, a thriller book should be at least as good as Carrie by Stephen King, this book overcome my expectations, with very strong images, a lot of suspense and a fine knowledge of sleeping disorders. Everything was so authentic that I decided to avoid reading it too late in the evening. Not sure when I will read a new book by Fitzek, but it is an author that I strongly recommend to anyone in love with horror thriller stories.

Adriana Popescu, Lieblingsmomente - Consistent with my efforts of improving my German - mission impossible, I know, but it is always worth to try - I went back to the chick lit kind of stories. Leyla is a photographer in Stuttgart with a boyfriend and many freelance projects, but after meeting the mysterious and multi-talented Tristan her life changes. He decides to pursue her dream of travelling the world, leaving behind the self-centered boyfriend and mediocre life. The various descriptions of Stuttgart made me interested to see more of the city, but except Layla I did find the other characters in the book less clear and defined. 

Isabelle Lafleche, J'adore Montreal - Belongs to the same easy going category of books. The book is part of a bigger series which includes Paris and New York too, following the adventures of a chic Parisian lawmaker at fancy parties and glamorous encounters. Except the nice descriptions of Montreal, the story did not impressed me too much, anything particular to remember. 

Maia Sepp, Wake - This weekend I finished my first ecological apocalypse kind of story. To be honest, I expected more intriguing stories and special effects. In fact, the cyber security aspect was more appealing and worth my attention. Expect to find here interesting characters such as a stalking refrigerator and a HR Manager with fancy shoes. The writing is good, but defined characters but the story simply did not caught me in too much.

As it seems I am very interested in finding my voice and finally start going towads the - very busy writing plan for the year, Roz Morris Writing Characters who'll Keep Readers Captivated is more than helpful. Organised information, simple ideas and a lot of inspiration.