Hey, hey, collectors! Long time no see! 😁
After seeing this month's theme of the community that was posted at the beginning of this week by 
However, then I started having mixed feelings since what I will show today is not even half of my actual collection of books and it somehow felt unfair to come with a post that basically doesn't include all the books I have. That's because I am living with rent in a different city than where I was born, and every few months I send home a box full of books since there is plenty of space to store these nicely on the shelves instead of keeping them in some dusty boxes. But if, one day, I will manage to give up on living with rent and have an own place to call home, no doubt a large space of at least one room will be filled with shelves of books and even organize a little reading corner which I am dreaming about for so long.
Either way,
Historical Readings
I won't take these books in a specific order but rather based on how I took pictures of them, which is randomly. However, these first two are what I would place in the "Historical events" theme, or... even in the "Weird" theme, lol.
The first book was a blind buy after seeing it on BookTok for months, so I decided to buy it without reading its synopsis. While I still hear lots of people saying it's a good book, I didn't really feel it that way. It's true that I am not really into history or historical love stories, but at least at the moment I read it, it felt like a very strange book that I wanted to give up on for many times.
The 2nd book is a bit controversial because it is attributed to the biblical patriarch Enoch, the ancestor of Noah, which describes visions of fallen angels, heavenly secrets, and the Last Judgment. While politics and religion should never be spoken, I reserve my rights to say that this one was one of the weirdest books I've ever read, no matter what religion one follows.
Romanian Authors
One thing I constantly hear from my boyfriend is that, despite being appreciated for how much and diverse I read, there are very few books from Romanian authors in my collection. I don't have a proper explanation for that, as in fact most of my readings are in Romanian language anyway, so getting to read something from a Romanian author wouldn't make much of a difference other than remembering more quickly the author's name written on the front covers.
The first two books from the image are based on a love story that took place long time ago, while the 3rd one is a collection with all kinds of jokes from more Romanian stand-up guys. I think I have a couple more books from Romanian authors at home, mostly poetry, but it's one thing that I promised to myself. Namely, to invest more in purchasing books from Romanian authors, especially that I discovered some very interesting titles since I started crafting minibooks.
Dark Romance
This is a category that I only discovered less than a year ago when I got to read Phantasma and Enchantra after receiving them as a b-day gift in September, but ever since, I fell in love with this kind of books. I am aware they are not for everyone as they usually involve lots of explicit content making them not be allowed to be purchased by people under 18, but they surely have quickly saved a special spot both in my heart and on the shelf.
Plus, most of them are coming with printed/sprayed edges! Aren't they lovely?
Oh, and don't worry, I will complete both Into Darkness and Dark Verse series once the rest of the 3 books are out in Romania! I am aware these two series are currently incomplete. 😉
Romance
Still romance.. but a little softer if you know what I mean, there are also the 6 books from above where some of them come with sprayed edges as well.
Also in this case I have 3 books missing from the Dream Harbor series written by Laurie Gilmore, but again, these haven't been translated in Romanian and in fact I have to wait a bit more before completing my collection with this purpose.
Both Laurie Gilmore and Penelope Douglas are writing mainly romance, and there can be quite a few naughthy chapters in there even if they are not Dark Romance, but they surely look a lot more innocent than what you can see in the Dark Romance series. And there is really none I could not recommend further because I enjoyed them all a lot.
Cat Related
A really unique theme which I am wondering if anyone else has in his/her collection of books, is represented by the cat related writings.
Maybe it sounds funny at first, but ever since I became a cat mamma, I literally never hesitated purchasing this kind of books to educate myself more in terms of how to understand better both the behavior and needs of a cat, since we all know they can't be truly domesticated and there will always be a wild part within that no one wants to see getting out if you don't know how to behave.
That's why, if you love cats and want to understand them better, I strongly recommend you reading all of these, where you can find case studies with real situations that happened to others, proper indications on how to treat a cat, interesting facts about them, but also short and quick stories about the love these little felines are able to share with their favorite people.
Psychology/Self Development
A while ago, especially during my college years or very early after graduating, I used to read lots of psychology/self development books. It's not like I can properly understand how these books work as I think we can all agree that the change can only start from within, no matter how many books you read, but depending on your mood they could come handy, making yourself feel understood.
And with that purpose, I can recommend both Mark Manson and Roxie Nafousi's writings which have a really special way of sharing thoughts, without getting you into lots of specific terms hard to be understood. Funny thing is that on Thursday, when it was celebrated the International Book Day, I saw all Mark Manson's books being recommended in a top 50 books one should read in his/her life.
Fiction/Romantasy
Not an actual "collection" since I only have one book of this theme, but both fiction and romantasy are two strong categories I will always enjoy reading. Actually, back where I was born, maybe more than 50% of my books are from these two categories and Jennifer L. Armentrout is the first author that made me fall in love with these genres.
The book from the top is a later volume that was released from the LUX series and that's why I only have with me this book and not the rest of the series too, because those have been read 10 years ago and are now part of the shelves where my parents are currently living. Either way, I would strongly recommend anyone to read the LUX series either you are into the two genres mentioned or not. You might as well fall in love with these, just as I did.
Crime/Thriller
Another category that I am not too proud with, is the Crime/Thriller one, because if you've seen some of my monthly recaps of books read, you will notice there are plenty of books from these two genres. Sadly, most of them are on my kindle and that's why I have very few in a physical format, but at least for the Jeneva Rose and Freida McFadden authors, I am very determined to get a few more copies in a different format than the digital one.
Happy or not, Freida McFadden is quite popular in Romania and it gets a new book translated and released every 2 months which became really hard to keep up with and a constant investment in her books since she has plenty of them, but equally Jeneva Rose did a great job with this book that made me reconsider my all time favorite author when it comes to Thriller/Crime genres. So there is no doubt I would love to have a few more books from her as well. Plus, look at that book! Such a smart and cool way to design it, making it seem like a real tape. It was actually my first time seeing something like this.
Comics & Others
Last but not least, there is this category I didn't properly know how to name but where I believe the pictures speak for themselves.
The two comic books by Anna Todd are made based on the AFTER series, which I read 10 years ago and there are also movies based on the books released more recently. I actually have over 10 books from this author, and even if the love story is more of a young adult one, it felt really cool to be read back then and I am more than happy to collect the comic books that are still in development right now. I believe there are going to be over 10 of these since the 6 volumes of the series were quite large books. Additionally, I would love to invest a couple of bucks into comics with superheroes, but there are so many of them that it makes me keep pushing the moment when I will begin purchasing them.
The 3rd book is a special one if you are a Will Smith fan and want to discover more of his personal life, his journey before becoming famous and some other insights you won't discover elsewhere. Plus, this one is also written by Mark Manson, so no doubt it's a chill and interesting read to say the least.
Before this post comes to an end, there was no chance to miss this moment and share a picture again with my favorite bookmark which is personalized with me and my kiddos. It might not represent much in terms of designs, but it has a very special meaning for me although I have dozens of bookmarks in my collection too. Who knows, maybe a future monthly theme,
Disclaimers:
- Since I know most of my books have a Romanian title, if you are interested in any of these and can't find the actual title in English, feel free to ask about it, and I will happily help.
- Down below, you can see a list of my monthly recaps of book reads, where you can discover a proper review of most of the books you've seen in the images from this post.
- This is not my full collection of books, but only a part of it because of the reasons already mentioned. I also have over 100 books on my kindle but I felt a bit unfair to include them in this post. But, whether you are reading a digital or physical book, I still consider it a very healthy habit one can have in the 21st century when reading is less and less common, sadly.
Check out my previous monthly recaps:
- August Recap: 9 Books That Kept Me Hooked
- September Recap: What I've Read Last Month?
- October Recap: My Best Reading Month Yet
- November Recap: The Good, The Cozy, and The Unexpected
- December Recap: The Books That Closed My Year
- January Recap: New Year, New Books
- February Recap: Books That Stole My Attention, Not My Heart
Gabriela Travels is a Curator for Worldmappin and Hive Gaming communities, but also the FOUNDER of "Festival Mania" who started this community from the passion of attending various festivals and with the purpose of encouraging more people to explore festivals all around the world and share their experiences.
At the same time, Gabriela is an independent Graphic Design Freelancer since 2019 completing over 600+ orders in this time and collaborating with various businesses and people from all over the globe.
Additionally, Gabriela has her own corner on the internet since 2017 where she writes various articles for her blog, the most popular being the travel ones (300+ articles written on this field), but also approaching other topics as well, like game and book reviews, lets plays, movie and series reviews, photography posts, cooking recipes and more, boosting the total number of articles written to 750+ blog posts.
Gabriela is also a gamer since she was 11 years old and gaming remains one of her biggest passions along with traveling, owning a YouTube channel for each of the two.
~ @GabrielaTravels ~