Hello everyone and welcome back to the blog! How are you feeling? I hope everyone is still safe and healthy out there!

Today my lazy self has 2 wrap-ups for you but as I was in a huge reading slump it’s going to be a shorter wrap-up. To be honest with you, I am failing literally every single reading challenge of this year and I don’t even know why I am in a massive reading slump. But Sarah J.Maas managed to get me out of it in March. *YAY* And which of her books helped me is going to be shown in my March Wrap-Up, so you have to be patient for a few more days. Yeah, I know I’m an evil person. 

And now without further ado, let’s start with today’s post.

📚 – #1 – Im Namen des Ordens: Die gesamte erste Staffel by Robin G.Hunter | Audiobook | German | Audible | 4 bookish stars | no review planned

📚 – #2 – White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo | ebook | Beacon Press | 187 pages | 5 bookish stars | Review to come

Groundbreaking book exploring the counterproductive reactions white people have when discussing racism that serve to protect their positions and maintain racial inequality 

Antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo first coined the term “white fragility” in 2011, and since then it’s been invoked by critics from Samantha Bee to Charles Blow. “White fragility” refers to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially. These include emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors including argumentation and silence. In this book, DiAngelo unpacks white fragility, explaining the underlying sociological phenomena. She’ll draw on examples from her work and scholarship, as well as from the culture at large, to address these fundamental questions: How does white fragility develop? What does it look like? How is it triggered? What can we do to move beyond white fragility and engage more constructively?

📚 – #3 – The Chanel Sisters by Judithe Little | ebook* | Graydon House | 329 pages | 4 bookish stars | Review

A novel of survival, love, loss, triumph—and the sisters who changed fashion forever

Antoinette and Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel know they’re destined for something better. Abandoned by their family years before, they’ve grown up under the guidance of pious nuns preparing them for simple lives as the wives of tradesmen or shopkeepers. At night, their secret stash of romantic novels and magazine cutouts beneath the floorboards are all they have to keep their dreams of the future alive.

The walls of the convent can’t shield them forever, and when they’re finally of age, the Chanel sisters set out together with a fierce determination to prove themselves worthy to a society that has never accepted them. Their journey propels them out of poverty and to the stylish cafés of Moulins, the dazzling performance halls of Vichy—and to a small hat shop on the rue Cambon in Paris, where a business takes hold and expands to the glamorous French resort towns. But when World War I breaks out, their lives are irrevocably changed, and the sisters must gather the courage to fashion their own places in the world, even if apart from each other.

📚 – #4 – Auf Wolke Sieben sitzen auch nur Frösche by Britt Gerken | Paperback* | German | beBooks | 5 bookish stars | Review

📚 – #5 – Landon & Shay: Part One by Brittainy C.Cherry | L&S Duet #1 | ebook | Amazon Digital Services | 363 pages | 5 bookish stars | Review to come

Shay Gable hated my guts, and I hated hers, too.

We went out of our way to avoid one another at all times. When she came my direction, I went the other. When we locked eyes, she’d turn and walk away.

All of that changed the day I was presented with a challenge. It started out as a stupid bet: make Shay fall in love with me before I fell in love with her first.

That was an easy bet for me to win.
I didn’t love, I hardly liked.

Yet slowly the game started to shift. Shay made me crave things I never knew I wanted.
Love.
Happiness.
Her.

The closer we grew, the more she challenged my darkness, and the parts I kept locked away.
The hurts.
The pains.
The truth.

The game between us became too real, our feelings intermixed, and the risks of hurting one another grew higher.

But you know what they say…
All’s fair in the game of love and war—especially the heartbreaks.

(Book one in the L&S Duet)

📚 – #6 – Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman | Audiobook | W.W. Norton & Company | 4 bookish stars | no Review planned

Neil Gaiman, long inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical realms of his fiction, presents a bravura rendition of the Norse gods and their world from their origin though their upheaval in Ragnarok. 

In Norse Mythology, Gaiman stays true to the myths in envisioning the major Norse pantheon: Odin, the highest of the high, wise, daring, and cunning; Thor, Odin’s son, incredibly strong yet not the wisest of gods; and Loki—son of a giant—blood brother to Odin and a trickster and unsurpassable manipulator.

Gaiman fashions these primeval stories into a novelistic arc that begins with the genesis of the legendary nine worlds and delves into the exploits of deities, dwarfs, and giants. Through Gaiman’s deft and witty prose, these gods emerge with their fiercely competitive natures, their susceptibility to being duped and to duping others, and their tendency to let passion ignite their actions, making these long-ago myths breathe pungent life again.

📚 – #7 – Der Neunte Arm des Oktopus by Dirk Rossmann | Hardcover* | German | Bastei Lübbe | 400 pages | 2.5 bookish stars | Review

📚 – #8 – Of Silver and Shadow by Jennifer Gruenke | ebook* | Flux | 480 pages | 4 bookish stars | Review

Ren Kolins is a silver wielder—a dangerous thing to be in the kingdom of Erdis, where magic has been outlawed for a century. Ren is just trying to survive, sticking to a life of petty thievery, card games, and pit fighting to get by. But when a wealthy rebel leader discovers her secret, he offers her a fortune to join his revolution. The caveat: she won’t see a single coin until they overthrow the King.

Behind the castle walls, a brutal group of warriors known as the King’s Children is engaged in a competition: the first to find the rebel leader will be made King’s Fang, the right hand of the King of Erdis. And Adley Farre is hunting down the rebels one by one, torturing her way to Ren and the rebel leader, and the coveted King’s Fang title.

But time is running out for all of them, including the youngest Prince of Erdis, who finds himself pulled into the rebellion. Political tensions have reached a boiling point, and Ren and the rebels must take the throne before war breaks out. 

And that’s a wrap. So as you can see I’ve read 8 books in total. 6 in January and 2 in February. If you are following me for a while you know that this is one of my weakest wrap-ups. I usually read about 8 to 10 books in a month. Nevertheless, the number of books read doesn’t count as long as you managed to read at least a few pages of your book. I intend to do better in March even though I’ve only read 1 book so far. Any tips against reading slumps?

How many books have you read in January/February? Please let me know in the comments below. I would love to chat with you!

*A copy of this book has been sent to me in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts were my own

The pictures all come from canva and the link are only redirecting you to either the goodreads page of the book or to my reviews of the mentioned books.