Sunday, March 31, 2013

My Life...

Happy Easter!
source

I wish you all a wonderful Easter Sunday and I hope you'll enjoy the extra free day tomorrow and spend it with family and friends (either human or reading ones).

March's Monthly Rewind will be up on the blog tomorrow morning. Hope you'll check back in!

Saturday, March 30, 2013

My Life...

Happy Birthday Mum!

Today is my mum's birthday and as always we celebrated in the morning with the essentials:

Cake 
 and 
a lot of books!

Yes, my love of books definitely comes from my family and my mum not only reads a lot but also has as many unread books as I (even though I'm sure she will not admit it). 

Love you Mum! 
You're the best!

Thursday, March 28, 2013

...in books



Review
Meant To Be
by Lauren Morrill

First sentences:
There are certain things in life that just suck.

Summary:
Meant to be or not meant to be . . . that is the question.
It's one thing to fall head over heels into a puddle of hazelnut coffee, and quite another to fall for the—gasp—wrong guy. Straight-A junior Julia may be accident prone, but she's queen of following rules and being prepared. That's why she keeps a pencil sharpener in her purse and a pocket Shakespeare in her, well, pocket. And that's also why she's chosen Mark Bixford, her childhood crush, as her MTB ("meant to be").
But this spring break, Julia's rules are about to get defenestrated (SAT word: to be thrown from a window) when she's partnered with her personal nemesis, class-clown Jason, on a school trip to London. After one wild party, Julia starts receiving romantic texts . . . from an unknown number! Jason promises to help discover the identity of her mysterious new suitor if she agrees to break a few rules along the way. And thus begins a wild goose chase through London, leading Julia closer and closer to the biggest surprise of all: true love.
Because sometimes the things you least expect are the most meant to be.
source: Goodreads

My opinion:
This book combined a lot of things I love to read about:
  • London, which feels like my second home
  • school trips
  • certain expectations that might not be fulfilled
Lauren Morrill combines all these and many more in one wonderful YA novel.

On a school trip to London Julia, a straight A student, gets paired with Jason, the class clown and is really not happy about that. Her goal is it to learn a lot during this trip and this is clearly not Jason’s main interest. But thanks to the alphabet, Lichtenstein and Lippincott are right after each other on the class list, those two are now buddies for the entire trip.

I really thought that this book will be just another London based book telling us the story of two teenagers finding love in the land of the Bard. I was wrong! Of course those aspects are part of the book somehow but that was not the main focus.

Julia, a straight A students who is really only interested in school, good grades and her swimming career, joins the school trip to London because for her parents London was a special place. After her dad’s death many years ago she wants to get to know the place her parents loved so dearly and it looks good on her record too. On her first night, thanks to Jason, she gets a bit tipsy at a party and pretends to be a girl she clearly is not. After receiving a text message the next morning from a mysterious Chris she gets to know a whole new side of her.
At the beginning Julia was this shy girl who concentrated too much on behaving well but during the book she changes ever so slightly with each day. She will never be a wild rocker kind-a-gal but she changes and these changes in character, makes this book so interesting. I could not put it down because I needed to know what happens next. With Jason at her side, Julia explores a need side of her and I’m sure that without Jason and his encouragement she wouldn’t have changed at all.

Lauren Morrill manages to write a wonderful teenage school trip story, with characters that I really liked and a storyline that made me smile. That it was set in London too was an added benefit. I not only saw the story evolve before my inner eye, I also knew many of the places and that makes me really enjoy a book. I like it when a book is set in places I know and when I know them so well that I can follow the characters around without concentrating.

If you want to read a wonderful story about growing up, personal development, a school trip and love than try this one. I really enjoyed it.

For more information about Lauren Morrill visit her Homepage, Blog, Facebook and Twitter pages.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

...in books


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and Bookish.
This week the girls at The Broke and Bookish want to know my:
Top Ten  Books I Recommend The Most

Twenties Girl by  Sophie Kinsella
 
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
 
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
 
Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett
 
The Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich
 
Die for Me by Amy Plum
 
The To-Do List by Mike Gayle
 

Monday, March 25, 2013

...in pictures

 This week's topic will be:
Orange

Please link you post to mine in time. 
Submission period is between the 25th of March and the 1st of April
(11:59 pm CET). 

...on the blog

 
It was time for Bloggiesta!

Sad to say but Bloggiesta is over again. I really enjoyed working on my blog, connecting with other bloggers and chatting with all of you guys. Here is my to-do list again. I accomplished a lot and I will continue working on my blog on Monday too so that I will at least finish my reviews and will be able to schedule some more posts. I still have no idea what to do with my "About" page but I will find a solution pretty soon - I hope! 
 
My goals:
  • write my review for Ettiquette & Espionage
  • write my review for The Archived
  • write my review for Reunited
  • write my review for Simply Irresistible
  • write my review for Snuff
  • write my review for Snark & Circumstance
  • update my "About" page
  • update my List of Reviews
  • update my Challenge page
  • write and schedule posts for next week
  • write and schedule Photochallenge posts for the next weeks
  • do my Photochallenge post for this week
  • write all my ideas down in one place and not have small pieces of paper floating around everywhere (Organization is the key word here!)
  • write and schedule my Showcase Sunday post
  • HAVE FUN! - accomplished :) 
I had 14 things I wanted to do during the last three days and was able to finish 10, which I'm happy with. I am looking forward to the next Bloggiesta which will be sometime in September if I am informed correctly.  

A big thank you for all the nice comments that I received here, welcome to my new followers and a nice week to all of you!

Sunday, March 24, 2013

...in books

Showcase Sunday is weekly meme hosted by Vicky at Books, Biscuits & Tea which was inspired by In My Mailbox from Kristie at The Story Siren.
It is a possibility for us to show what amazing books we got during the week.

I loved Richelle Mead's first Vampire Academy book when I read it last year but I never continued it after reading Book 1. Some weeks ago I saw a Vampire Academy Box Set on a blog somewhere and ordered it straight away and it finally came this week. 

source
I can't wait to dive into those books. I might be going on a Vampire Academy reading binge.



I also bought Geek Girl by Holly Smale and The Extraordinary Secrets of April, May & June by Robin Benway for my Kindle.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

...in pictures

 This week's the picture for the Photochallenge should deal with/represent
Time
 
I didn't want to capture time in combination with a clock or watch so I started thinking about other ways to represent it. Thinking about time led to associations with Times Magazine, Financial Times and finally it hit me:

 

Friday, March 22, 2013

...on the blog


 
It's time for Bloggiesta!

What is Bloggiesta?
It is a time for us blogger to dedicate a longer period of time over the next three days to our blog - writing reviews, chancing layouts, creating headers, buttons, giveaways, etc. It is a time for us to spice up our blogs, talk with fellow fiesta (I really can't speak Spanish) party people over Twitter, find inspiration, solutions and have fun! For more information check the Bloggiesta Homepage or follow them on Twitter.

What do I need to do to participate?
Not much - publish your to-do list for those three days on your blog, link this post to the Bloggiesta Homepage (there's a linky), start working and have fun!

My goals:
  • write my review for Ettiquette & Espionage
  • write my review for The Archived
  • write my review for Reunited
  • write my review for Simply Irresistible
  • write my review for Snuff
  • write my review for Snark & Circumstance
  • update my "About" page
  • update my List of Reviews
  • update my Challenge page
  • write and schedule posts for next week
  • write and schedule Photochallenge posts for the next weeks
  • do my Photochallenge post for this week
  • write all my ideas down in one place and not have small pieces of paper floating around everywhere (Organization is the key word here!)
  • write and schedule my Showcase Sunday post
  • HAVE FUN!
I will update this post regularly so you can see my progress here.

Are you participating in Bloggiesta this time? Is it your first time? What are your goals?

Thursday, March 21, 2013

...in books



Review
Audrey, Wait!
by Robin Benway

First sentence:
The day I broke up with my boyfriend Evan was the day he wrote the song..

Summary:
California high school student Audrey Cuttler dumps self-involved Evan, the lead singer of a little band called The Do-Gooders. Evan writes, “Audrey, Wait!” a break-up song that’s so good it rockets up the billboard charts. And Audrey is suddenly famous!
Now rabid fans are invading her school. People is running articles about her arm-warmers. The lead singer of the Lolitas wants her as his muse. (And the Internet is documenting her every move!) Audrey can’t hang out with her best friend or get with her new crush without being mobbed by fans and paparazzi.
Take a wild ride with Audrey as she makes headlines, has outrageous amounts of fun, confronts her ex on MTV, and gets the chance to show the world who she really is.
source: Goodreads

My opinion:
Jamie, the mastermind behind The Perpetual Page Turner and The Broke and the Bookish, recommended this book to me and I usually can’t read one of her reviews without checking the book out for myself and I hardly happens that I don’t put them on my wish-list.

Audrey, Wait! seemed to be just another one of Jamie’s reviews I need to check out but she raved about it so much that I bought it straight away and I’m glad I did. The idea of the book is quite unique and hilarious. Every other page I had to stop reading to think about all the crazy things that had just happened to Audrey, who tries so hard just to be normal but isn’t after her ex-boyfriend wrote a song about her which became popular.

None can imagine how hard it must be for people to become famous over night and Audrey, Wait! gives a bit of an insight of what might happen and how you will struggle. This book was funny and witty and plain awesome! I cannot believe that I didn’t discover it earlier but I’m so happy that it was recommended to me and that I read it.

It’s one of those books that are not popular enough and that I will, from now on, recommend to everyone. I will definitely check out more of Robin Benway’s books.

For more information about Robin Benway visit her Homepage, Facebook and Twitter pages.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

...in books

 
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and Bookish.
This week the girls at The Broke and Bookish want to know my: 
Top Ten Books I Had To Buy...But Are Still Sitting On My Shelf Unread

Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde
Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Mass
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Unearthly by Cynthia Hand
Divergent by Veronica Roth
The Mystery of Mercy Close by Marian Keyes
Just One Day by Gayle Forman
Eldest by Christopher Paolini
Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

Monday, March 18, 2013

...in pictures

 This week's topic will be:
Time / Zeit

Please link you post to mine in time. 
Submission period is between the 18th and the 25th of March
(11:59 pm CET). 

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

...in books



I have to tell you something:
I love books that deal with time-travel, incarnation and similar topics.

That is why I instantly fell in love with Michelle Madow's books in her Transcend Time Saga. They have a theme that appealed to me, her writing is amazing and the characters are really realistic. They have flaws, are jealous and make mistakes but they are also great friends, people who fall in love head over heels (which I'm sure happened to all of us at 16) and try to help their friends if they need help. 

Today I am going to present you, my post for the Transcend Time Book Blitz hosted by Xpresso Book Tours



REINCARNATION IN THE TRANSCEND TIME SAGA

 An explanation of how reincarnation works in the series
To write the Transcend Time Saga, I had to create my own version of reincarnation. The first thing I did was research reincarnation on the Internet. Even though I don’t personally believe in reincarnation, I had fun learning about it. There are tons of websites on the topic—from ancient Buddhist beliefs to people who claim there are scientific ways to prove reincarnation. It was interesting doing the research, but I came across a problem: Nothing was fitting into the story I had started to create about Lizzie and Drew.

Then I realized something: Remembrance was going to be a work of FICTION, so I was free to create my own version of reincarnation! 

The main thing I knew about Lizzie’s story was that she had a dramatic early death in her first life that made it so she couldn’t be with her soul mate, Drew. She and the people close to her who were negatively impacted by her death had been reincarnated to set things right. I decided to create my own version of reincarnation that revolved around that idea. 

I created a Word document with bullet points describing the important aspects of reincarnation in the Transcend Time Saga. This document is called “Reincarnation Rules,” and this is the first time I am sharing it with readers. 

Here are some of the basic Reincarnation Rules in the Transcend Time Saga: 

1) The only reason a person will be reincarnated is if they have to change something dramatic that left them unfulfilled in their past life. They continue being reincarnated until they do this. 

2) Most people are not reincarnated. Once they live one life, they go to Nirvana. Most people living on Earth are “New Souls.”

3) Major events in present day lives parallel past lives, so people will be thrown into situations with other reincarnated souls from their past.

4) Their physical features are similar to those they had in their past lives, although not so similar that they look the exact same.

5) A big part of initially remembering a past life is a recognition of the soul of a person they had a positive deep connection to, usually a soul mate. (In Lizzie’s case, this person was Drew.) If you were friends with someone in a past life (like Lizzie/Chelsea and Elizabeth/Catherine), you will feel very close to that person, but they will not trigger memories of the past to return.

6) Objects from the past will also serve as triggers. (Lizzie loved Pride and Prejudice in her past life, so reading the book for her English class triggered her memories. Drew built the music box for Lizzie in his past life, so seeing the music box again triggered his memories.) However, people usually believe their memories to be figments of their imaginations until they meet the person who is their “big trigger.”

7) A soul can only reincarnate into the same species it started in. (You cannot be a human in one life and a dog in the next.)

8) People remember images and scenes—they very rarely remember full conversations. They can, however, remember their feelings from those conversations.

9) People don't reincarnate immediately. They reincarnate during a good time for them to complete whatever it is they need to do to sort out the issues they had in their past life. Plus, if a spirit went through something traumatic in their life (usually resulting in death), they need time to recover. 

10) Reincarnees have Memory Guides that help them remember their past life so they can make changes in their current life. These Memory Guides have been reincarnated, and successfully fixed what they needed to. They go through training, and then come into the Reincarnee’s life when they are ready to remember their past life.

After I had those basic ideas, Lizzie and Drew’s story pieced together as I wrote. I outlined the book before writing the draft, but it was still fun to see their story unfold.


I reviewed all three books in the Transcend Time Saga and did an author interview with Michelle:

If you want to check out the books, here are the synopsis' for all three:
(Attention: they might contain spoilers!)



Remembrance

Michelle Madow

Series: Transcend Time Saga #1

Publication date: July 27th 2011

Genre:YA Time Travel




Lizzie Davenport has been reincarnated from Regency Era, England ... but she doesn't know it yet. 

Then Drew Carmichael transfers into Lizzie's high school at the beginning of the year, and she feels a connection to him, almost like she knows him. She can't stop thinking about him, but whenever she tries talking with him about the mysteries behind her feelings, he makes it clear that he wants nothing to do with her. Reaching him is even more difficult because she has a boyfriend, Jeremy, who has started to become full of himself after being elected co-captain of the varsity soccer team, and her flirtatious best friend Chelsea starts dating Drew soon after his arrival. So why can't she get him out of her mind?

Even though Lizzie knows she should let go of her fascination with Drew, fighting fate isn't going to be easy.



Right now you can buy Remembrance for only 0,99c



Vengeance
Michelle Madow
Series: Transcend Time Saga #2
Publication date: December 8th 2011
Genre:YA Time Travel

How far would you go to get revenge?

When Chelsea Givens discovered that her ex-boyfriend Drew dumped her to be with her former best friend Lizzie, she'd never felt so betrayed in her life. Then her new friend Shannon tells her she can help set things right. Chelsea's willing to listen, but what Shannon wants her to believe -- that she shared a past life with Drew -- is impossible. And what she wants her to do to get him back … well, it's downright crazy.

Could Shannon be telling the truth? And if she is, what lengths will Chelsea go if it means making Lizzie pay?

Find out in Vengeance, the second part of the Transcend Time Saga.

*Vengeance is the short story that bridges the events in Remembrance and the final novel in the Saga.
 



Timeless
Michelle Madow
Series: Transcend Time Saga #3
Publication date: November 14th 2012
Genre:YA Time Travel

IT'S A RACE AGAINST TIME.

In Remembrance, Lizzie and Drew changed the course of fate so they could be together.
 
In Vengeance, Chelsea set fate back on its original, deadly path.

Now, strange things keep happening to Lizzie. Things that are omens of darkness to come. A curse has doomed her to die an early death, just as she did in her past life. To make matters worse, even if she can figure out who cast the curse, it's irreversible. There's only one option left for her to save herself. It's crazier than anything she's heard yet, and to do it, she'll need Drew and Chelsea's help.

Because to make things right, they must go back to when it all began ... and Lizzie discovers that the final events in her past life were more sinister than she ever imagined.

 

Michelle also published:

Transcendence
A bonus pack filled with lots of information about the Transcend Time Saga, character information, character interviews and much more. It is available for free download here.





And because Michelle is super awesome, one of you can win an e-copy of Remembrance (open internationally). The contest will run from today until March, 30th 2013. To enter fill out the form below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

...in books

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and Bookish.
This week the girls at The Broke and Bookish want to know my: 
Top Ten Books At The Top Of My Spring 2013 TBR list

Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Snuff by Terry Pratchett

German cover
Emerald Green by Kerstin Gier

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

To The Nines by Janet Evanovich

Until I Die by Amy Plum

Pushing the Limits byKatie McGarry

  

There are a lot of books on this list that are on my shelves for some time now and that so many of you read, loved and recommended to me. As always; I'm not sure if I will read all of these in the next weeks because I usually read depending on my mood but those are all books I am excited for and hope to read soon.

Monday, March 11, 2013

...in pictures

 This week's topic will be:
straight / gerade

Please link you post to mine in time. 
Submission period is between the 11th and the 18th of March
(11:59 pm CET). 

Sunday, March 10, 2013

...in books

Showcase Sunday is weekly meme hosted by Vicky at Books, Biscuits & Tea which was inspired by In My Mailbox from Kristie at The Story Siren.
It is a possibility for us to show what amazing books we got during the week. 


Since I was not able to find the second book in the Beautiful Creatures series by Kami Garcia and Margret Stohl at any bookstore in Vienna I finally decided to order it online and because the box set was cheaper I bought the first three books in a set and the fourth as well. So now I have the complete series and cannot wait to read Beautiful Darkness. 
 

I also got Wait for You by J. Lynn for my Kindle.