J'adorehappyendings

I'm in Curacao!

2012-02-01T16:25:00.000-08:00

Tuesday morning was my flight to Curacao! Everything went well & instead of writing in my traveldiary and read I watched two movies and listened to music. The movies were Rise of the Planet of the Apes & a dutch movie called De ontvoering van Heineken (The kidnapping of Heineken). Both movies were great & I recommend Rise of the Planet of the Apes to everyone. Such a good movie. Anyway, we arrived at 15.15 & when we got our suitcases there was a men waiting for us. Nothing serious, he was there to pick us up and bring us to our house. Our house is located nearby the city (Punda). In fifteen minutes we are in the city. It's perfect.

Tommorow we (another student & me) are going to the beach and try to get a rental car. We do need some wheels to go to the places we want to go.

Pictures are coming!

Nina in sunny Curacao!

Things to do when you are up in the Air!

2012-01-30T08:25:00.000-08:00

Last night I was thinking about the last time I was in an airplane for 8 hours & realised that was a long time ago. The last couple of years I only travelled to places in Europe and those were flights of one or two hours. I started to think about what I’m going to do while I’m in the airplane. I’m sure there are many more things to do in an airplane, but I could only think of these:

Read a book. Or magazines. I’m one of those persons that get nauseas when I read a book on the plane. I do love to bring magazines with me and just flip trough it and look at the pretty pictures. I am going to bring two books with me, True Whit by Whitney Port & Vogel by Enne Koens, but I probably am not going to read them on the plane.

Listen to music. When I travel I love to listen to music. Time goes by very fast if you listen to music on the plane. Music I have on my mp3 for my flight tommorow is Young blood by Young and Famous, It will rain & On the other Side by Bruno Mars, With your love by Cher Lloyd & many more.

Write in diary. I recently bought a beautiful notebook and I’m declaring it as my travel diary. Every day, starting the 31st of January, I want to write in it what I have done, seen, my feelings and experiences. I can start with writing some goals in my diary or just write about the plane ride, the people in the airplane, the food etc.

Watch a movie. I like watching movies on the airplane, but those movies have to be fun movies and not depressing ones. I’m not a big fan of flying and watching movies can take my mind away of what I’m actually doing and where I am. In the air, oh my!

Sleep. Maybe it’s a good thing that I’m flying in the morning, because I can sleep in the airplane. I usually don’t sleep well in the airplane, I always keep thinking about my destination place and what I’m going to do there. I should write the things down that I’m thinking about and then try to fall asleep. Let’s hope this helps.

What do you like to do in the airplane? Do you have some advice or tips for me?

Bye, bye January!

2012-01-29T04:19:00.000-08:00

Reading:
My goals for January were to read at least one book from my to be read pile & change the layout of my blog. I managed to do both things & I can cross them off my list. Yay! I read Need So Beautiful & Love Letters II. Both two fabulous reads. I also finished reading The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan. I loved all of these books, but if I had to choose my absolute favourite it would be Need So Beautifull. I managed to read these books, because I was sick and decided to do a kind of little read-a-thon over the weekend. See, being sick has some benefits.

Travelling:
This month I needed to buy everything I need for my stay abroad. So, last week I went shopping with my sister & bought everything I needed. I’m now almost broke, just kidding, most of the stuff I need I already bought in November/December 2011, but I needed some small stuff that I forgot. I already packed one suitcase & decided to bring another one with me. I just have too many shoes. Too many! I just hope I don’t forget anything.

Life:
I needed to be more organized in January. I love making lists, but when things can’t get crossed off I feel anxious & I forget about the list or throw it away. I know! I wanted to be more organized by having a daily planner and using it everyday. But, I didn’t get one & I lost the lists I made. Last week I did made a list of the things I needed to do, finished & get for my internship. So, it can be crossed of, but I really want to be more organised in February too…so it stays.

Another goal was getting a new haircut & Friday I went and the hairdresser changed it. It now looks like this. Yay!

The two toughest goals this month were changing my morning routine & eating breakfast everyday. On days I didn’t had school, I woke up at 9 or 10. I didn’t eat breakfast everyday, but I did drink tea or orange juice when I woke up. I can cross of those two goals for the month January. It is still important to eat breakfast everyday, but I think drinking tea or some fresh juice is a great option (for me) if you get nauseas eating in the morning. I’m going to stick with this, fresh juice, in February & hopefully it will become a routine!

So, it looks like this:
1. Be more organized.
~~2. Buy everything I need for my stay abroad.~~
~~3. Change the layout of my blog.~~
~~4. Get a new haircut.~~
~~5. Read at least one book from my tbr pile.~~
~~6. Change my morning routine.~~
~~7. Eat breakfast everyday!~~

Goals for February are: 1. Be more organized, 2. Every Friday write an e-mail (weekly update) to my best friend, 3. dress up and walk in high heels ( I count this one as one goal) & 4. be positive. 5. visit my grandmother (She lives in Curacao), 6. write everyday in my travel diary & 7. take loads of pictures (Take my camera with me everyday).

The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan

2012-01-27T08:25:00.000-08:00

Title: The Dead-Tossed Waves
Written by: Carrie Ryan
Released date: March, 2010
Pages: 407
Source: Bought

My feelings:

Description:
Gabry lives a quiet life. As safe a life as is possible in a town trapped between a forest and the ocean, in a world teeming with the dead, who constantly hunger for those still living. She’s content on her side of the Barrier, happy to let her friends dream of the Dark City up the coast while she watches from the top of her lighthouse. But there are threats the Barrier cannot hold back. Threats like the secrets Gabry’s mother thought she left behind when she escaped from the Sisterhood and the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Like the cult of religious zealots who worship the dead. Like the stranger from the forest who seems to know Gabry. And suddenly, everything is changing. One reckless moment, and half of Gabry’s generation is dead, the other half imprisoned. Now Gabry only knows one thing: she must face the forest of her mother’s past in order to save herself and the one she loves.

My Review:
After reading and falling in love with the Forest of Hands and Teeth, I immediately bought a copy of the companion novel. I wanted to read it when I would do a zombie month, but seriously I couldn’t wait.

First of all let me say that I could relate more to Mary in the first book. She always wanted more out of her live and nobody could stop her in her journey to find the ocean. Yes, she was selfish, but sometimes you have to be. Gabry isn’t like her mother. She thinks more about her actions and the consequences. A likeable character, who for me could have used more *balls*.

I loved the plot. It gave me answers to the questions I had at the end of the Forest of Hands and Teeth. It also gave me chills and a lot of moments where I couldn’t rest my eyes, because I needed to read all of it straight away. I love the twists and turns that I didn’t expected. The love triangle was awesome. Yes, this one people, worked out great.

This series is the best zombies series ever and you should check these books out. Don’t read out of order, because you need the first one to get the bigger picture. I cannot wait to read the third and final book in this awesome series.

Let’s hope that Carrie Ryan will write lots and lots of more young adult books and include zombies in them.

The forest of hands and teeth series:
The forest of hands and teeth
The Dead-Tossed Waves
The Dark and Hollow Places

My Promise to You!

2012-01-25T06:38:00.000-08:00

In 2011 I told a couple of bloggers that I would read the Harry Potter series before the year ended. We are now here in 2012 & I still haven’t touched a single Harry
Potter book. (Shame on me!) I’m not sure why I didn’t read them when they first
came out. But probably it’s because I thought they weren’t that much fun. (Oh,
how wrong am I?) I don’t even have to go out & buy the books, my sister has
the Dutch copies and I can borrow them from her. But I probably have more fun
reading them in English & with these covers. Beautiful.

This promise is for you, everyone who reads this, that I will read the
Harry Potter series this year. I promise that I will read every single book,
all seven of them, before the year ends. I solemnly swear.

Read in 2012

2012-01-25T05:35:00.000-08:00

January
A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young
Unlovable by Sherry Gammon
Settling by Shelley Workinger
The Dig by Audrey Hart

Saying goodbye to GFC

2012-01-25T04:58:00.000-08:00

I only have found a couple of weeks ago, yes apparently I’m living under a rock, that GFC is going away in March. I’m not sure what the reason is why they decided to this, but I love using the GFC widget & I hope that they think twice about it. Anyway, I just wanted you, my readers, know that there now are other ways to follow Jadore Happy Endings. You can follow Jadore Happy Endings by:

E-mail. If you subscribe by e-mail, you will get in your inbox an e-mail with updates from Jadore Happy Endings.

Networked Blogs. I saw this widget on some blogs & decided I would give it a try too. It kind of works like the GFC, but you need to sign up with them and get an account.

RSS Feed. This feed have a lot of feed readers & you can decide which one you want to use to read my updates.

Facebook. So, finally I decided to make an face book account. You can follow me by just adding me as a friend.

Goodreads. You can also follow me by goodreads, but this is a little different. The only thing you can read at goodreads are the reviews I have written. So, you don’t get every update I post on the blog.

Top Ten Books I'm Dying to Read.

2012-01-24T03:14:00.000-08:00

The Broke and the Bookish created this weekly feature where bloggers/readers can post their top ten list.

Freebie --- Make a top ten list about anything book related that you want. That super specific topic you thought would make a great top ten list or that past topic you wished you would have gotten a chance to participate it? This is the week to do it!

Do you have time? Seriously, the list is too long & picking out ten books that I desperately want to read is a very tough thing to do. I mean, I want all of the books that I have listed & I know that’s quite unrealistic, but still picking ten is so hard. So to make it a little more easy for me, I’m going to pick two books per genre.

Genre: Dystopian
1. Hourglass by Myra McEntire
2. Wither by Lauren Destefano

Genre: Horror
3. Posses by Gretchen McNeill
4. Graveminder by Melissa Marr

Genre: Historical Fiction
5. Huntress by Malinda Lo
6. The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross

Genre: Fantasy
7. Angelfire (#1) by Courtney Allison Moulton
8. Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz

Genre: Dramalicious Reads
9. Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
10. The Disenchantments by Nina

Win Tempest by Julie Cross!

2012-01-23T02:56:00.000-08:00

February the 6th could be your lucky day! St. Martin's Press is giving away one fabulous book (you know you want to read it!), Tempest by Julie Cross & all you have to do is fill in your name and e-mail. Simple, right? Click away!

Good luck & it's ONLY open for US/Canada!

My Addiction to Dramalicious Reads.

2012-01-22T03:08:00.000-08:00

I can’t seem to get enough of dramalicious reads. You know those books with a lot of drama in it & kind of remind you of Gossip Girl (TV) or reality shows like The Hills, The City or yes, even The Jersey Shore. The rich girl that loses all her money and becomes a middle class citizen (Oh my!) , the new girl at a preppy boarding school (oh the drama!), the girl that becomes popular in high school after she, herself started a rumour she hooked up with the most popular guy ever (You go girl!). I love these kind of stories! The lesson these girls all have to learn is something precious & at times you can relate to the characters. When I start reading these kind of books I always get swept away and it’s like I’m in the book beside the main character. This year, you can definitely expect a theme month filled with dramalicous reads!

Dramalicious reads I look forward to & can’t wait to get when I’m back in July:

The Disenchantments by Nina Lacour (February, 2012) Colby and Bev have a long-standing pact: graduate, hit the road with Bev’s band, and then spend the year wandering around Europe. But moments after the tour kicks off, Bev makes a shocking announcement: she’s abandoning their plans—and Colby—to go her own way in the fall. But the show must go on and The Disenchantments weave through the Pacific Northwest, playing in small towns and dingy venues, while roadie-Colby struggles to deal with Bev’s already-growing distance and the most important question of all: what’s next?

The List by Siobhan Vivian (April, 2012) An intense look at the rules of high school attraction — and the price that’s paid for them. It happens every year. A list is posted, and one girl from each grade is chosen as the prettiest, and another is chosen as the ugliest. Nobody knows who makes the list. It almost doesn’t matter. The damage is done the minute it goes up.This is the story of eight girls, freshman to senior, “pretty” and “ugly.” And it’s also the story of how we see ourselves, and how other people see us, and the tangled connection of the two.

Don’t you wish by Roxanne st. Claire. (July, 2012) Ever wonder what would happen if your mother had married another man and had you...would you still be you? Travel with teen Annie Nutter as she gets transported to a parallel universe where she is gorgeous, rich, popular, and her every wish has come true. Except…perfection has a price. Will she pay it?

& Pretty Crooked by Elisa Ludwig, The Fame Game by Lauren Conrad and many more!

Top Ten Books I'd Recommend To Someone Who Doesn't Read Dramalicious Reads

2012-01-17T02:56:00.000-08:00

The Broke and the Bookish created this weekly feature where bloggers/readers can post their top ten list.

1. Private series by Kate Brian. I have to admit I still need to finish this series, but if you adore drama this book is for you. I love the characters, the backstabbing and especially the mystery about what really happened to one character. Such an amazing good series!

2. Sometimes It Happens by Lauren Barnholdt. Absolutely love this book & it’s cover! Falling in love with the boyfriend of your best friend is the stupidest thing ever, but feelings are feelings. Can you feel the drama?

3. Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood by Eileen Cook. The title alone is perfect! It’s so much fun to see someone plotting revenge & seeing the perfect, popular girl fall of her high pedestal.

4. Past Perfect by Leila Sales. A light, hearted read and there is a bit of drama involved. And the main character has the most awesome job ever, working at a Essex Historical Colonial Village. How awesome!

5. He’s So Not Worth It by Kieran Scott. He is definitely not worth it, but still wanting him after all is pretty dramalicious!

6. You Wish by Mandy Hubbard. Such a fun book to read! Blowing out a candle at your birthday & getting all your wishes coming true. That does sounds nice, right? But it isn’t very cool if all your wishes from all your birthdays are coming out. Even though Ken in real life is pretty HOT. Hilarious!

7. Cum Laude by Cecily von Ziegesar. All these characters are great and they all have a bit of drama in their live. Yes there isn’t a lot of depth, but still enough to be enjoyable.

8. L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad. Again, I still need to finish this series, but it’s full with drama. It’s like reading about Lauren herself & the paparazzi that follows her.

9. My Double Life by Janette Rallison. “When you ask teenage girls what they dream about, a lot of them would say a celebrity life, full of glitz, glamour and designer clothes. A life in the spotlight. They don’t think about the drama, the pressure and the media that comes along with it. Neither does Alexia...at first.”

10. Audrey, Wait! By Robin Benway. I think that everyone already read this one, but it’s still a book I would recommend. Getting in the spotlight for one very wrong reason & getting dumped was never so hilarious! A great read with a lot of drama.

Sick at home: Making the best of it

2012-01-13T03:47:00.000-08:00

With winter comes the flu. Everyone in my family has got it & I thought that I would not get it, but my resistance is apparently not that great, because I got it bad. So what’s a girl to do when her head feels like it’s going to explode & the only thought she has is to go lie into that comfy bed & sleep. I say sleep, but after 1-4 hours I’m done with that & I want to do something different. So, I’m going to attack my to be read pile.

What I need is:
1. Tea &
2. Books. Lots of them.

I’m going to make a hot cup of tea & start with the first book on that pile, which is: The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan. If I manage to read the entire book & I want to read something after that, I can choose between these: Deception by Lee Nichols, Betrayal by Lee Nichols, Rot & Ruin by Jonathan Maberry, Rosebush by Michele Jaffe & many more.

Have a great weekend!

A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young

2012-01-11T03:39:00.000-08:00

Title: A Need So Beautiful
Written by: Suzanne Young
Release date: June, 2011
Pages: 267
Source: Bought

My Feelings:

Description:
We all want to be remembered. Charlotte's destiny is to be Forgotten...

Charlotte’s best friend thinks Charlotte might be psychic. Her boyfriend thinks she’s cheating on him. But Charlotte knows what’s really wrong: She is one of the Forgotten, a kind of angel on earth, who feels the Need—a powerful, uncontrollable draw to help someone, usually a stranger.

But Charlotte never wanted this responsibility. What she wants is to help her best friend, whose life is spiraling out of control. She wants to lie in her boyfriend's arms forever. But as the Need grows stronger, it begins to take a dangerous toll on Charlotte. And who she was, is, and will become--her mark on this earth, her very existence--is in jeopardy of disappearing completely.

Charlotte will be forced to choose: Should she embrace her fate as a Forgotten, a fate that promises to rip her from the lives of those she loves forever? Or is she willing to fight against her destiny--no matter how dark the consequences.

My Review:
A Need So Beautiful is one hell of a book and I mean that in a good way. I freaking adored this book.

Charlotte is a young girl, who’s confused, scared and definitely not read to give up on life. I could feel with her and empathize for her. I was connected to her and felt so sad when she find out what it meant to be Forgotten. The relationship Charlotte had with her best friend and boyfriend was so strong and towards the end very emotional.

The plot is easy to follow and is hands down, one of the best I read this year. Yes, I can already say that. It’s unique and I never read anything like this before. Especially the ending. It was sad and unpredictable and even though I cried a bit I still felt satisfied with it.

With an ending that I can’t tell you much about, I’m in desperate need for the second book in this amazing series. What are you waiting for? Go, get a copy.

The second book in the series is:
A Want So Beautiful.

Top Ten Authors I Wish Would Write Another Book

2012-01-10T03:43:00.000-08:00

The Broke and the Bookish created this weekly feature where bloggers/readers can post their top ten list.

1. Sophie Dahl. I loved Playing with Grown ups & I still need to get a copy of The Man With The Dancing Eyes, but I would love it if she would write another book. She’s a great writer, very talented.

2. Caren Lissner. My favourite contemporary Young adult literature is Carrie Pilby & therefore I wish Caren Lissner would write another young adult novel.

3. Michelle Rowen. I still need to read the sequel to Reign or Shine, but I would love if Michelle Rowen would write another young adult book. And if she does, a paranormal young adult book with another character that can totally kick ass.

4. Antony John. I ADORED Five Flavors of Dumb. One of my favourite books of 2011 & yes, I wish he would write more young adult books with awesome, unique characters!

5. Ebony McKenna. Please give us another book in the Ondine series. They are fabulous fairy tales & I need one more!

6. Jane Austen. This one doesn't need any explaining. Right?

7. Elizabeth Rudnick. Tweet Heart was such a fun, light hearted book that I would love it if Elizabeth would write another book.

8. Gareth P. Jones. After reading The Thornthwaite Inheritance & absolutely adoring it, I want Gareth P. Jones to write another book. Another middle grade book, please.

9. Andrew Kauffman. All My Friends Are Superheroes was super hilarious & I would love if Mr. Kauffman would write something similar to it. Something that’s laugh out funny.

10. Laura Esquivel. I already read two of her books & Malinche is on my to be read pile. Her books are so romantic & very tragic, but so, so good. I really love her books and I want to read more of her. Please, write more.

Reading Like: Carrie Bradshaw!

2012-01-09T04:10:00.000-08:00

Well, not exactly. Have you seen the movie Sex in the City? If you have, you probably saw that scene where Carrie is in bed reading Love Letters of Great Men. I never had the intention of buying it, but when I saw Love Letters II I thought why not & I bought it.

It’s been lying on my bedside table for a long while now & last night I thought it was time to pick it up and start reading it. It’s such an interesting book. Love Letters II is a book filled with romantic love letters of woman (known & unknown) throughout history. There are love letters written by Anne Boleyn, queen Victoria, Emily Dickinson etc. The letters are filled with compassion, secrets, hopes & longings. They take you away for a little while to another world where Internet did not exist & where writing a letter was the most common thing to do if you needed to contact or tell something to someone. My favourite letter is the letter written by Anne Boleyn. She asks for forgiveness, even though she feels like she didn’t do anything wrong. And even after Henry, her husband, put her in jail & feels like she should be punished for what she did, she still loves him. I love that letter!

Love Letters II is a beautiful collection that every romantic person should have on her or his bedside table. And now I need Love Letters of Great Men.

SR: Unlovable, Settling & The Dig

2012-01-08T07:39:00.000-08:00

Unlovable by Sherry Gammon
Released date: January, 2011
Pages: 307
Source: Received by Author

My Feelings:

Description:
Port Fare, New York, has fallen into the clutches of true evil. The Dreser brothers have arrived with a scheme to increase drug sales in the area by whatever means possible. Seth Prescott is part of MET (Mobile Enforcement Teams) a branch of the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration). He's been assigned to work undercover at Port Fare High, and things aren't going very well, until senior Maggie Brown enters the equation. He's harbored a secret crush on her from day one, and now that she is in the center of the case, he's trying to stay clear and objective while walking the line between business and unrequited love.

Maggie is truly the poster child for Heroin Chic, complete with jutting bones and dark-ringed eyes, but is she an addict, or is there another reason for her appearance? She struggles with her feelings for Seth, fearing he is just another person who will eventually let her down, as everyone in her life has done thus far.
Maggie has spent her life caring for her alcoholic mother. A task that has left her heavily burdened and alone. Before long, her mother's health takes a turn for the worst, sending Maggie's life into a tale-spin.

While Seth works relentlessly to inject fear into the dealers and flush them out into the open, Maggie fights to stay alive as the hunt turns deadly. Seth and Maggie's romantic journey is one of humor, heartbreak, and self-discovery.

My Review:
This cover is so creepy & at first I thought it was going to be a story with ghosts involved. Something paranormal. I read the description & immediately knew I had to give this one a try and that I was so wrong about the genre. The characters in this book are amazing, Seth and Maggie are truly made for each other. There was no way that I couldn’t feel sad for Maggie. She has to care for her mother, whose an addict & she abuses Maggie too. The things she said to her daughter were just shocking & I felt sad that Maggie had to go through that each day. Seth was so loveable. You just have to read it to find out for yourself, but he’s one hell of a guy! The story had a lot going on and I couldn’t stop reading it. Emotional, romantic and funny moments!

Settling by Shelley Workinger
Released date: July, 2011
Pages: 242
Source: Received by Author

My Feelings:

Description:
At the beginning of the summer, Clio Kaid was one of a hundred teens brought to a secret Army installation. But it was no ordinary camp and they weren’t ordinary kids…
Picking up where “Solid” left off, Clio and her friends realize that they aren’t ready to go home; they’re determined to stay on campus and continue their journey of self- discovery. But someone doesn’t feel the same way and will do anything to drive them away – even kill.
Friendships will be tested, abilities will evolve, and more secrets will come out as the teens race to stop the killer before he sets his sights on one of them.

My Review:
Settling is how a sequel supposed to be, better than the first book! I really enjoyed reading Settling. The best thing about this book is the friendship all these characters have with each other. Yes, Clio did made some mistakes that were mouth dropping bad, but still she’s likable and I did understand her actions from time to time. Settling is fast paced & when you start reading it you will find out it’s pretty damn hard to put the book down. And wow, Jack, yep, loving him!

The Dig by Audrey Hart
Released date: November, 2011
Pages: 208
Source: Received by Author

My Feelings:

Description:
Zoe Calder has always been an outsider. Stashed away in boarding schools since her parents died, Zoe buries herself in the study of ancient worlds. Her greatest thrill is spending her summers with her archeologist aunt and uncle on digs around the world. And one day, while investigating a newly unearthed temple in Crete, Zoe discovers a luminous artifact that transports her to ancient Greece. As Zoe quickly learns, the Olympian Gods are real, living people—humans with mysterious powers… Powers that Zoe quickly realizes she has come to possess, as well. However, when the people of ancient Greece mistake Zoe for an Olympian, the Gods must restore the balance of the ancient world… No matter what.
Zoe is forced to play a confusing and dangerous game as Hera rallies the gods against her—all except for Zeus, the beautiful, winged young god who risks everything to save her.
Out of time and out of her element, teenager Zoe Calder finds herself in ancient Greece, battling against the power of the Olympians and the vengeance of a scorned goddess—all for the strange and mysterious boy she has come to love.

My Review:
The Dig was a light, easy & very quick read. I love Greek Mythology and therefore when the author contacted me I immediately jumped on the bandwagon. Zoe was a great character and a girl that loves history is a character I LOVE. I loved the relationship and dialogue between Zoe and Zeus, so funny. I couldn’t get enough of Zeus! The story is really cute and I liked it a lot. If you love Greek Mythology, you should get this one!

The big news!

2012-01-07T03:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I told you that today I’m going to tell you the big news that I’ve been hiding for a very long time now. And omg it was killing me not telling you guys. So without stalling, here it is: I’m going abroad! You probably are thinking “Nice, Nina is going to take a holiday vacation.”, but I’m not. As I told you many times before (sorry, to say it again) I’m a History student & this year is going to be my last year in university. I have to do an internship as a history teacher at a high/ secondary school and I’m going to do my final internship in the Caribbean. I’m going to Curacao and I will be staying there for 5 months.
Yes, you read that right! 5 months! In Curacao! On the 31st of January I’m taking the plane to this little peace of heaven and I won’t be back until the end of June. Hooray! I’m so excited!

Of course, that means that are going to be changes to the way I blog and the blog itself. It’s one of the reasons why I wanted to change it and post about my travels too. So, let’s talk about what’s going to change:

The Dutch Cover Alert posts will not continue when I’m abroad. I’m not sure if I’m able to post every Wednesday & therefore DCA will start again when I’m back. It will start again in July.

Less book reviews. I love to read, but I probably am not going to be able to read a book every single week. I’ll try, but there are no guarantees. Now this all doesn’t mean, that I’m not posting book reviews. I still have a couple book reviews that I’m going to post when I’m there and when I finish reading a book over there I will write a review for it and post it.

More personal & travel posts. This is obvious. Right? I’m going to keep a travel diary with me and I want to write every single thing down so I don’t forget anything. So there will be updates when I have something fun to share or not so fun, but I’m not thinking about that. I’m all positive here! I would love to see every single thing that is to see on the Island, so expect photo’s and posts about what I’m doing.

That's the big news! Yay!

Hiatus is over! (Yay!)

2012-01-06T05:28:00.000-08:00

So here it is, my new layout. The header is not temporary, but it will do for now. I like it. As you can tell there are some new features that I’m going to do and a new archive. Hopefully you can find the books I read and my travel posts much easier than before. Hooray!

In 2012 I want to start with something new. Beside book reviews and book related posts, I want to tell you more about the places I visited and the places I’m going to visit in 2012. I want to talk more about my travels. I also want the blog to be a little more personal. Don’t worry, I love to read and that’s never going to change. But from now on you probably will see a lot of personal and travel posts from January till June and from June till December a lot of reading posts. From then I will be catching up with books that I desperately want and need to read. Tomorrow I will let you know what the reason for this is going to be.

What also new is that at the end of each month I will write a post about what I have done and what I have read. The post will be about looking back and see if I reached all my goals. It will be one post, that’s going to be divided in three parts: read, travelled & life. Because I’m going to start this at the end of January, my goals for this month are written below.

My goals for January are:
1. Be more organized. I need to get a daily planner for 2012 & start using it every day.

2. Buy everything I need for my stay abroad. (What?) Tomorrow I will let you know more about it! But let me tell you it’s going to be awesome! Maybe even EPIC!

3. Change the layout of my blog. It’s time to change the look of my blog again and I want to do more with it. Let’s say, a little bit more about my other addiction.

4. Get a new haircut. My hair is so long, I need to get a haircut. And why not start the new year with a new hairstyle. I’m going on the 24th of January! So, so excited.

5. Read at least one book from my tbr pile. Okay, so I know that I just can’t finish all the books that are on my to be read pile. Two weeks ago I wanted to do a little read-a-thon, but unfortunately with all the new year preparations I only managed to read one book. I just want to read at least one book from that pile. I already started three books, but I’m not sure if I can finish them all. I do hope so, but one is my goal for January. I can do this, right?

6. Change my morning routine. Wake up at 8.30 on the days that I’m free, shower, eat breakfast & take my vitamins. I seriously need to stop sleeping in on days that I’m free.

7. Eat breakfast everyday! This is so important and I never have done it in my life.
I should start eating bread or some cereal in the morning.

Do you write goals for yourself? And of course are you liking the change?

Features

2012-01-06T05:10:00.000-08:00

Around the World
Short reviews about books that take place in cities/countries that I visited or want to visit someday. The reviews will be (of course) about the books, but also about the setting in the city/country. Do I actually feel that I’m in Paris while reading ‘Madame Tussaud’? Is it realistic? Has the author been to the place she/he is talking about or is this just basically written on ideas and fantasies? If you have any recommendations about books that take place in the cities/countries I want to visit, please contact me. I love to hear from you.

Dutch Cover Alert
Dutch and American covers are compared & you give your opinion about the covers.

Theme Month*
I love to read from different genres and I don’t want to limit myself with reading books from one particular genre each month. So why do a theme month? Well, because some months are perfect for themes. I’m going to pick a theme for the months: February, June, October and December. I will announce what the theme is in my book haul posts.

* Theme month will start in October!

Traveling

2012-01-02T09:23:00.000-08:00

2010 TRAVELING
2011 TRAVELING
2012 TRAVELING

2010 Traveling

2012-01-02T07:59:00.000-08:00

In June I went with school to Gent, Belgium. A lot of sightseeing, walking and “OMG, look at that!” moments. We didn’t stayed in Gent, we also visited (Brugge) Bruges and Ieper, the city that was destroyed in World War I.

In August I went for two weeks to London, England. I was in London to study the language and get some help with my grammar. London is always going to be one of my favourite cities ever and I loved every bit of it. The best thing I did in London was going to the Westminster Abbey and go in to the room where the tombstone of Elisabeth I was. I know, but I’m a History geek by heart! It was so cool!

Around the World

2012-01-02T07:36:00.000-08:00

America. New York city, baby! Gosh, I so want to go and see a musical at Broadway. And of course shop on Fifth Avenue.
I’m thinking about reading: Other Words for Love, Summer and the City.

Cuba. My dad loves Cuba and maybe someday we can go together to this fabulous country. Since a couple of months I’m reading as much as I can about the Cuban Revolution and Che before school starts and I don’t have any free time anymore. It’s very fascinating.
I’m thinking about reading: The Red Umbrella.

Egypt. I love, love everything that has to do with Egypt. The reason why I’m currently studying History is because of Cleopatra and the pyramids.
I’m thinking about reading: Lily of the Nile.

France. I live in Europe and I never been there. I can easily take a train and be there in a few hours, so I’m now wondering why I didn’t go there this summer. Maybe when I have long, free weekend.
I’m thinking about reading: Anna and the French Kiss, French Milk.

Russia. The language is so beautiful. I know a lot of you may disagree and say French is the most beautiful language in the world, but for me it’s Russian. I love, love it.
I’m thinking about reading: Anastasia’s Secret.

Maastricht 2011

2012-01-02T07:14:00.000-08:00

Maastricht, The Netherlands. It took us 2 hours to get to Maastricht, but the long train ride, the walk to the city and the creepy passenger on the train who hit on us was all worth it. Maastricht is one of the best cities in the Netherlands if you are addicted to shopping and if you are a history nerd as me!

2011 Traveling

2012-01-02T06:51:00.000-08:00

In May I went to visit Berlin, Germany. I went with my school class and I had an amazing time. We went to see the Berlin Wall, the Brandenburg gate, the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche, Berliner Dom, Checkpoint Charlie and a lot more famous attractions in Berlin.

In July I went with one of my best friends to Maastricht, The Netherlands. We walked through the streets from morning to evening and had the best time. We were laughing the whole time and taking silly pictures. We saw the most beautiful bookstore in the Netherlands, that’s located in a church and shopped till we literally dropped.

In November I've visted London, England. I had to do a research in an English Speaking Country and I decided to do my research in London. I love London, there is so much history there and you can just feel it. Unfortunately it was just like a business trip and therefore I only spend two hours at Oxford Street. Bummer!

Young adult

2012-01-02T06:35:00.000-08:00

Contemporary fiction
Dystopian
Fantasy
Historical Fiction
Horror
Mystery
Paranormal

Reading

2012-01-02T06:29:00.000-08:00

Middle Grade
Young Adult
Adult

2011 READING
2012 READING

Read in 2011

2012-01-02T04:48:00.000-08:00

January
The Carrie Diaries by Candace Bushnell
Lifted by Wendy Toliver
Tweet Heart by Elizabeth Rudnick
The Snowball Effect by Holly Nicole Hoxter
Rampant by Diana Peterfreund
She Smells The Dead by E. J. Stevens
Mistify by Artist Arthur
Glimmerglass by Jenna Black
An abundance of Katherines by John Green

February
Lost in the River of Grass by Ginny Rorby
Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood by Eileen Cook
Once in a Full Moon by Ellen Schreiber
Radiance by Alyson Noel
Wolven by Di Toft
Crave by Melinda Metz & Laura J. Burns
Graphic Novels (3-1)
Calling for Angels by Alex Smith

March
Big Bouffant by Kate Hosford
5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth by Matthew Inman
Rebelles-Libertad! Che Guevara by Maryse et Jean-Francois Charles
Plan B (Surviving Southside) by Charnan Simon
Still Sucks to be Me by Kimberly Pauley
Jaq’s Harp by Ella Drake
The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong
Need by Carrie Jones
All My Friends Are Superheroes by Andrew Kauffman

April
The Mind Readers by Lori Brighton
The Julian Game by Adele Griffin
Death in the Desert by Jim Eldridge
You Wish by Mandy Hubbard
Jane Austen, A Life Revealed by Catherine Reef
Rage (Horsemen of the Apocalypse #2) by Jackie Morse Kessler
Lipstick Laws by Amy Holder
Everything I Was by Corinne Demas

May
Recruited by Suzanne Weyn
Pearl Versus the World by Murphy
The Arrow Chest by Robert Parry
The Mice of Bistrot des Sept Frères by Letourneau
Wolf Camp by Katie McKy
When Rose Wakes by Christopher Golden

June
Secret Pony Society by Janet Rising
Forgotten by Cat Patrick
Hexbound by Chloe Neill
He’s So Not Worth It by Kieran Scott
Firespell by Chloe Neill
Sometimes It Happens by Lauren Barnholdt
The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder
My Sparkling Misfortune by Laura Lond

July
Angel’s Fury by Bryony Pearce
Early to Death, Early to Rise by Kim Harrison
Shadowspell by Jenna Black
The Autumn Palace by Ebony McKenna
Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers
Lies by Michael Grant
Other by Karen Kincy
Walk the Wild Road by Nigel Hinton
Solid by Shelley Workinger

August
A blue so dark by Holly Schindler
Badlands by Seleste DeLaney
Blameless by Gail Garriger
Clean by Amy Reed
Solid by Shelley Workinger
Swapped by a Kiss by Luisa Playa
Winterborne by Augusta Blythe
Fury by Elizabeth Miles
The Twisted Tale of Stormy Gate by Christine Bell

September
Tempestuous by Lesley Livingston
Darklight by Lesley Livingston
Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston
Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John
Cum Laude by Cecily von Ziegesar
Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
The Paladin by Kenneth Newman
Catalyst by Marc Johnson
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Blood & Flowers by Penny Blubaugh

October
Past Perfect by Leila Sales
Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris
Honestly, Red Riding Hood Was Rotten! By Trisha Speed Shaskan
Tales of a Sugar Hero by Michael Dahl
Dael and the painted people by Allan Richard Shickman
Walk the Wild Road by Nigel Hinton
Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow
The Shadowing, Skinned by Adam Slater
The Girl with the Silver Eyes by Willo Davis Roberts
Where I Belong by Gwendolyn Heasley
Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country by Allan Richard Shickman
Secrets, Monsters and Magic Mirrors by Donald Lemke

November
Betrayals by Lili St.Crow
Jealousy by Lili St. Crow
Bliss by Lauren Myracle
The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester
Reality Check by Jen Calonita
Die for Me by Amy Plum

December
Defiance by Lili St. Crow
Two Moon Princess by Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban
The Liar Society by Lisa & Laura Roecker
Necropolis by Anthony Horowitz

CLOSED UNTILL THE SIXTH

2012-01-01T10:48:00.000-08:00

Wow, it’s already 2012. Can you believe how fast 2011 went? I hope you all had a happy new year. I wish you all the love, luck and everything your heart desires in 2012. I’m going to change the look of my blog. I just can’t wait any longer. I still haven’t received the new header, but I’m still going ahead with my plans. So fingers crossed that it will come this month. The things that I need to this week are: Change the layout| Adding features to the blog| Update archive & make it more easier to find books in different genres.
The blog will be closed from today until Friday, the sixth of January.

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T00:41:00.000-08:00

Looking back on 2011, my resolutions & goals were:
Read more YA books. Goodreads says that I have read 115 books. Are all of them YA books? I think that 105 of them are probably YA books and then the rest is Adult. So did I made my goal? Yes, absolutely.
Check my e-mail more often. I have checked my e-mail often, but in November and December I didn’t check it a lot. But hey, those were (and are) busy months. So did I made my goal? Yes, freaking absolutely. Maybe it did took me a long time to answer everyone of you back, but hey I did write back, right?.
Do my absolute best and not get sidetracked. Yes and no. I have done my absolute best at school, but there were moments where I got sidetracked. Those moments (and I have to be honest, there were a lot of them) I regret the most. Yes, those moments when you sleep in until noon or when you watch SpongeBob in your pyjama are truly not memorable and a complete waist of time. Anyway, did I made my resolution? Yes and No. BE HONEST! Okay, no.
Go on city trips. This year I went to London and it wasn’t really a city trip as it was a research trip for school. I also went to Maastricht with my best friend. Did I made my goal? No, because I wanted to at least visit three new cities.
Do more fun stuff with friends! OMG. Let’s see. I went to the cinema with my best friends a couple of times. We saw Breaking Dawn, Isabelle (A Dutch movie) and a few other that I forgot. We have eaten out a lot. A LOT. We have drunk hot chocolate at a little coffee shop near school. We went shopping a few times and we went swimming. Did I made my goal? Absolutely freaking yes.

My Resolutions & Goals for 2012:
Do a monthly update. I already started doing Monthly Recaps and I’m still going to do those in the new year, but I also wanted to do other updates. Sort of like personal updates, what I’ve been doing that month and what I’m planning to do in the new upcoming month. Maybe write some goals that I want to achieve in the next month. These monthly updates will come at the end of each month.
Write reviews in the same week as you finished reading the book. Sometimes I finish reading a book and I don’t write the review for it right away. When that happens I usually tell myself that I will write the review for the book in the weekend and then the weekend comes and I don’t write any reviews. The review books just pile up and I don’t want to do this. I want to finish a book and within a week write a review for it.
Write notes in notebook. Just because sometimes I forget what I love or hate about a book.
Participate in one meme. I want to participate in at least one meme. I have my own features on my blog, but once a week I want to participate in someone’s other meme/feature. I’ll probably am going to do that meme on Tuesday from The Broke and the Bookish.
Read all the books that I bought in 2011. Last week I had a little read-a-thon and I wanted to read the books that were on my tbr pile. Unfortunately it didn’t happen. In 2012 I want to finish all the books that I bought in 2011. It will make me feel much better if I do.
Change my blog layout. I’m changing my layout. I’m still waiting for my header and then I’m going to change everything. I’m hoping that it’s going to be ready in January, fingers crossed.
Enjoy Life. Simple isn’t it?

The End of 2011 Survey

2011-12-30T04:36:00.000-08:00

Last year I discovered a fun survey for the end of 2010. The survey was made by The Perpetual Page Turner. So I thought I do it again, but then of course for 2011. Here it goes..

1. Best book of 2011?
There are so many great books that I loved this year, but two of my very favourites were Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris & Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John. I also loved Sometimes It Happens by Lauren Barnholdt.

2. Worst book of 2011?
I looked up if I gave one heart to a book, but I haven’t. I did give two hearts to a couple of books and Fury by Elizabeth Miles is one of them. I did not like this book and will not read the sequel. Once in a Full Moon by Ellen Schreiber is also probably one of the worst books I read in 2011. Sorry.

3. Most disappointing book of 2011?
Die for Me by Amy Plum. Before you all start (lol), I am planning to read the sequel ‘Until I Die”. I’m hoping that it’s going to get better. I had pretty high hopes for Die for Me, but unfortunately it all reminded me a bit too much of Twilight.

4. Most surprising (in a good way) book of 2011?
The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder. I only had tried reading one verse novel and I didn’t like it. I thought it was horrible and I had no intention to read another verse novel again. When I read the description of The Day Before I immediately wanted to try it. It just sounded really good. I read the book and fell in love with it.

5. Book you recommended to people most in 2011?
Not just one book, but three in the Strange Angels series by Lili St. Crow. This series rocked my world. I won this series and I had no intention of falling in love with it. I read the first book ‘Strange Angels’ and wham I was hooked. I still need to get the last book in my possession, but this series is seriously one of my favourites. You should read this series!

6. Best series you discovered in 2011?
Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston, Dark Elite by Chloe Neill and Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow.

7. Favourite new authors you discovered in 2011?
One of my favourite new authors is Lauren Barnholdt and I’m planning to read all of her books. Loved Sometimes It Happens. Beautifully written and lots of drama. Apparently a lot of her books are filled with drama, I’m a drama lover. Dramalicious! Another author that has become my favourite is Leila Sales. She’s the author of Past Perfect, which was perfect.

8. Most hilarious read of 2011?
My Sparkling Misfortune by Laura Lond. Hilarious. Lord Arkus is such a funny guy without even knowing it. Laughed out loud with this book!

9. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2011?
Angel’s Fury by Bryony Pearce. “I absolutely loved Angel’s Fury. From start to finish, I was completely enthralled and couldn’t put the book down. Not even for a little reading break.”

10. Book you most anticipated in 2011?
I’m not sure, but when I saw the cover of Where I Belong I fell in love with it. So probably Where I Belong by Gwendolyn Heasley.

11. Favourite cover of a book you read in 2011?
I love this cover and want a poster of it. :)Bad Taste in Boys!

12. Most memorable character in 2011?
Piper from Five Flavors of Dumb. She’s a young girl who’s deaf, determined and stands up for herself. She’s fun and admirable. She cannot listen to the music, but gets to know them and their vibe with the help of her friends.

13. Most beautifully written book in 2011?
The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder.

14. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2011?
Pearl Versus the World by Sally Murphy. This book is very emotional and I could relate to the little girl who’s grandmother had dementia. It dealt with isolation, grief and loss.

15. Book you can't believe you waited UNTIL 2011 to finally read?
The Wondrous Strange series by Lesley Livingston. It took me a contest to win and get all three books to finally read it in 2011. So ashamed, because it’s such a awesome series.

16. Book that you read in 2011 that would be most likely to reread in 2012?
Sometimes It Happens by Lauren Barnholdt, Forgotten by Cat Patrick & Linger by Maggie Stiefvater. (I still need to read the last book in this trilogy!)

Book Blogging 2011

2011-12-28T06:20:00.000-08:00

1.New favourite book blog you discovered in 2011?
There are so many book blogs that I love and to list them all would be a little bit too much. Just go here and you can check them all out.

2.Favourite review that you wrote in 2011?
My favourite review that I wrote in 2011 is probably The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder. I only have read one verse novel before I read this book. The book was called I Heart you, You Haunt Me and was written by the same author. I didn’t like it and never tried a verse novel again. Well, until I read the description of The Day Before and I thought why not?. I loved it. LOVED IT. You should always give authors or genres a second chance, they might surprise you in a good way.

3.Best discussion you had on your blog?
I didn’t had a discussion post on my blog this year. But I did love all of you participating in my Interview With posts. I especially love all your answers to my interview with question: Bilbo has given you the Ruling Ring and a quest. You have to journey across Middle-earth, deep into the shadow of the Dark Lord, and destroy the Ring by throwing it into the Cracks of Doom. You must take two characters with you, who will you choose?

I also loved that a lot of people gave me advice to read or not to read Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Which by the way I read and I loved. Thank you!

4.Most thought-provoking review or discussion you read on somebody else's blog?
Tough one. I’m not sure about this one. Seriously, my brain is not functioning today that well to remember it all.

5.Best event that you participated in?
This year I didn’t participated in any event. Maybe next year… I did go to the ‘boekenfestijn’ in Utrecht. It’s an event where you can buy books for a very good price. Very cheap. I bought a lot of books and I still haven’t read all of them. Oops.

6.Best moment of book blogging in 2011?
The best moment is reading series that are out there for a long while and discovering that they are awesome. The best moment ever!

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog?
That is my ‘Should I?’ post. I didn’t know if I should buy and read the book Eat, Pray, love and asked you guys what you thought I should do. It was very helpful, so when I have a ‘should I?’ question I probably am going to ask for advice to my lovely readers again.

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?
I think that every post has received a lot of love, but if I had to choose one I probably pick ‘Interview with: If you could give your best advice to a character, who would you choose? And what would your best advice be?”.

8. Best bookish discovery?
Selexyz in Maastricht, the Netherlands. The building where the bookstore is located used to be a church. It’s gorgeous. If you are ever going to the Netherlands, you should visit Maastricht and that bookstore. You will love it.

Round up Challenges 2011

2011-12-27T05:20:00.000-08:00

Which challenges did you participate in 2011?
I participated in three challenges: YA Historical Challenge, YA Series Challenge and the Horror and Urban Fantasy Reading Challenge.

Did you failed completing a challenge?
Yes, unfortunately I did failed two challenges. I have not read any books for the YA Historical Challenge and I only finished one series (the Darkest Powers trilogy by Kelley Armstrong) for the YA Series Challenge.

What was the most fun challenge in 2011?
The most fun challenge was the Horror and Urban Fantasy Reading Challenge. Why? I succeeded in reading 24 books for this challenge. So big yay for me and I love Horror books.

Are you participating in new challenges for 2012?
No way. I found out that I really suck at challenges, so no I’m not participating in any fun challenge next year. Maybe in 2013 I’ll start again.

Are you going to participate in any challenges in 2012?

Happy Hollidays!

2011-12-24T07:26:00.000-08:00

Hello my lovely readers,

I want to wish you all a merry Christmas and of course a very EPIC, FANTASTIC, SAFE New year. I'm still posting untill Thursday/Friday, but probably nothing personal, just reviews and some other stuff. I hope that all your wishes and dreams can come out in 2012!

Be SAFE and enjoy the hollidays.

xoxo, Nina

UPDATE DECEMBER 2011

2011-12-19T07:04:00.000-08:00

It seems a long time ago since I have wrote something besides a review. I’m still here, alive and healthy, I’m just not that active anymore. December is such a busy month, but a fun one it is. I still need to do a lot of stuff for school, but hey that’s life. My Christmas vacation starts next week and I have plans. Yes, plans. I need to reduce my tbr pile to at least 5 books. At the moment there are 12 books in that pile that I need to read. Also I need to read the books that I have received for review last and this month. I need to catch up on those. So I’m going to hold my own little read-a-thon week. Probably going to start reading books on Tuesday and stop on Friday. We’ll see how it goes.

Read, but not reviewed: Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
Last year I bought this book in London and ever since I came back it was on the bottom of my tbrlist. For some other reason I couldn’t pick it up and start reading it. Last week I decided it was time and let me tell you, this book blew me away. It was so emotional and very powerful. I just cannot express my feelings about this book, without repeating myself, so the review for this book won’t be coming. I’m sure you all have read it and that I’m the last person on earth that hadn’t, but if you haven’t you should pick it up.

I still need to tell you the awesome news that I have, but you just have to wait a little while longer. I need some more confirmations first and then…NEWS. Lol. Anyway, tomorrow I’m going to buy Christmas presents in Amsterdam and some stuff for myself. Yay.

I haven’t posted a song in a while, so here’s my favourite this month(ENJOY):

Defiance by Lili St. Crow

2011-12-19T06:07:00.000-08:00

Title: Defiance
Written by: Lili St. Crow
Release date: April, 2011
Pages: 304
Source: Bought

My Feelings:

Description:
Now that sixteen-year-old Dru's worst fears have come true and Sergej has kidnapped her best friend Graves, she'll have to go on a suicidal rescue mission to bring him back in one piece.

That is, if she can put all of Christophe's training to good use, defeat her mother's traitor, Anna, once and for all, and manage to survive another day. . .

My Review:
Strange Angels may be my favourite series of all time. This book just wowed me from start to finish.

I cannot tell you enough that Dru is one kick-ass character. Yes, she’s one of those characters that cannot choose between two guys, but WTH have you read about them? I wouldn’t be able to choose either. I love that Dru is going for what she wants in this book. She doesn’t let anyone get in her way to get to Graves.

The action, again, is great and unstoppable. When you read the first chapter, I can guarantee that you will be hooked. Every freaking chapter is awesome and I couldn’t put the book down. Each chapter ends with such a great move/action scene or just intense dialogue that you just need to read further. I love it.

I absolutely loved Defiance and I cannot wait to read the Reckoning, the fourth book in this EPIC series. I cannot recommend this book enough! You, go buy it!

Two Moon Princess by Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban

2011-12-15T06:00:00.000-08:00

Title: Two Moon Princess
Written by: Carmen Ferreiro-Esteban
Release date: June, 2010
Pages: 324
Source: Bought

My Feelings:

Description:
In this coming-of-age story set in a medieval kingdom, Andrea is a headstrong princess longing to be a knight who finds her way to modern-day California. But her accidental return to her family's kingdom and a disastrous romance brings war, along with her discovery of some dark family secrets. Readers will love this mix of traditional fantasy elements with unique twists and will identify with Andrea and her difficult choices between duty and desire.

My Review:
It has been a long time since I read a young adult historical fiction novel and therefore felt that it was time to read Two Moon Princess. My expectations were high, I really loved the description of it and who doesn’t love a good story about a princess. Too bad it wasn’t what I expected it to be and it wasn’t a story that hold my attention.

Andrea is stubborn, immature and even though that sounds all bad, she’s also courageous and daring. She’s the only character that I found interesting, the secondary characters were dull and lacked depth and personality.

The first half of the book was boring. I seriously considered giving up and not read further. But as always I have a hard time going trough with that and started to read again after a good hour break. The time travel part was okay, but it didn’t last that long. I also wanted something more from that part. Something adventurous and exciting. The second half is all about Andrea trying to stop the war and an unexpected romance. The second half was better than the first and I started to actually enjoy reading the book. Does that sound bad? I mean liking the war and all? Anyway.

I recommend borrowing Two Moon Princess at the library.

HALLOWED (2012) trailer

2011-12-13T03:00:00.000-08:00

Here's the trailer for the heart-pounding sequel to Unearthly.

"In the dream, there’s sorrow. I feel it over everything else, a terrible grief that chokes me, blurs my sight, weighs down my feet. I walk through pine trees up a gentle slope. It’s not the hillside from my vision, not the forest fire, not anyplace I’ve seen before. This is something new."

I love it, it's just so good. I cannot wait to read it.
And have you looked at that fabulous cover? If that doesn't make you want to run to the bookstore, I don't know what will.

Hallowed by Cynthia Hand comes out January, 2012.

What do you think of it? Have you read the first book?

The Liar Society by Lisa & Laura Roecker

2011-12-12T07:46:00.000-08:00

Title: The Liar Society
Written by: Lisa & Laura Roecker
Release date: March, 2011
Pages: 361
Source: Bought

My feelings:

Description:
Kate Lowry didn't think dead best friends could send e-mails. But when she gets an e-mail from Grace, she’s not so sure.

Now Kate has no choice but to prove once and for all that Grace’s death was more than just a tragic accident. But secrets haunt the halls of her elite private school. Secrets people will do anything to protect. Even if it means getting rid of the girl trying to solve a murder...

My Review:
When I looked at the cover of the Liar Society I knew that it was going to be my type of book. I just love the pink hair, seriously, pink hair! What’s not to love about this cover. It’s so good.

Kate is such a fun girl. She’s independent, such a great friend, considerate (at times) and sarcastic. I liked her from the get go.
Can I just say that the two boys that are helping Kate to solve the mystery are so cool. Yes, one is hot and the other, maybe not, but still geeks rule, right? I loved Liam and Seth! LOVE. ADORE.

The mystery is so good. I seriously had no idea what was going on. It had me reading late into the night. The suspense was killing me.

The Liar Society is a mystery book that everyone should read. Everyone. You will not regret it. I cannot wait to read the sequel ‘The Lies That Bind’.

Dutch Cover Alert

2011-12-07T10:03:00.001-08:00

Two new Dutch covers to talk about. Both of these book came out in November, 2011.

Wilde Haren by Gerie Smit:
Joke and Suuz (Such Dutch names, lol) grow up together in the little, suffocating town in the North. When Suuz gets a chance to work in the city, she goes. Joke stays behind and lives with her nosy parents. They both have different lives and their friendship grows apart. Joke starts using drugs to escape her problems and doesn't know that Suuz has big problems of her own in the city.

Vintage Verliefd by Petra Drenth:
Nikki never had any trouble finding a fun college, getting a job or even getting someone to fill in her taxform. Nikki loves her life, shopping all day is just too perfect to give up. Her boyfriend, Raymond, decides to start a relationship with the ambitious, too perfect Tatjana and dumps Nikki. Nikki has no where to go. She finds a cute little house in the big city and gets a job at the new age shop from her aunt. Nikki learns how to take care of herself and everything seems to get better. Until Raymond and Tatjana decide to live and start their new live in the house in front of Nikki's.

I love, love the cover of Wilde Haren (The first one, left). It's so beautiful. The girls look like woman from the fifties and also the seventees if you look at the dresses. I just love it and seriously the next time I'm walking by a bookstore someone should stop me. I have a really big need to get this book. Vintage Verliefd (The book on the right) sounds hilarious. It sounds so funny and yes, it's on my wishlist. Love the cover too. It feels vintage.

Necropolis by Anthony Horowitz

2011-12-05T10:04:00.000-08:00

Title: Necropolis
Written by: Anthony Horowitz
Release date: October, 2008
Pages: 388
Source: Bought

My Feelings:

Description:
Hong Kong has been taken over by the Old Ones and has become Necropolis, City of the Dead. Once in, there is no way out… Evil has been unleashed on the world and only five children – with special powers – can save it. Matt and the other three desperately need to find Scar, the final Gatekeeper, who has been trapped in Hong Kong, where puddles of water turn into puddles of blood, where ghosts, demons and hideous creatures stalk the streets. Matt has no choice but to follow her. Now, both imprisoned, their only hope of survival is to reach a secret door in the Man Ho temple. But even if Scar can find her psychic power, it may already be too late.

My Review:
When I bought this book a while back ago, I had no idea that it was the fourth book in the Gatekeepers series. No. Idea. Some people told me that I shouldn’t read it without reading the other books, but I didn’t know if I wanted to give the other books a try. I mean what if I buy the first book and it sucks. Then I still have the fourth book in possession. So, I read the fourth book without reading the other books in this series and it blew my mind.

The characters are really great and the plot is amazing. This book is about the last gatekeeper, Scarlett. She’s very brave and independent. Also very strong. She has no idea what’s going on, but she has a pretty good sense that it’s not good.

There were a lot of evil creatures/people in this book that gave me Goosebumps. They were all scary. This is such an adventurous book, you travel the world with it. You go to Peru, London, Russia , China and with the descriptions you actually feel like you were there with the characters. Also a lot of suspense and “OMG what just happened” moments.

The ending blew my mind. I was on the edge of my seat reading it. And now I need the last book! Necropolis is fantastic. I am for sure going to read the other books in this series too and hope that they are as fantastic as this one.

Monthly Recap (November 2011)

2011-12-03T06:22:00.000-08:00

Books Read this month:
Betrayals by Lili St.Crow/ 5 hearts
Jealousy by Lili St. Crow/ 5 hearts
Bliss by Lauren Myracle/ 4 hearts
The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester/ 4 hearts
Reality Check by Jen Calonita/ 3 hearts
Die for Me by Amy Plum/ 2 hearts

My thoughts for this month:
The Strange Angels series by Lili St. Crow has become one of my favourites this year. In every single book there is so much action going on that it's very hard to put the book down. As you can tell I haven't read as much books as last month, but still they were enjoyable. I did had high hopes for Die for Me, but I didn't like it that much. For me there was something missing. I do want to read the second book to see if it goes anywhere good. This month has been a slow month for me and I haven't been blogging that much. I do have some exciting new to tell you, but you have to wait till next week.

My thoughts for next month:
December, December. It's going to be a full and busy month. Am I going to read a lot of books? I hope I can read a lot of books during the Christmas vacation, but you never know, right?.

Dutch Cover Alert

2011-11-30T09:53:00.000-08:00

This idea/meme came from Jenny at Wondrous Reads.

The Netherlands - The United States

I'm loving the US cover for Night Star, even though I have no idea why the first letter of night isn't a capital one. That can really annoy a person. Anyway. I like the font of the title, it's beautiful. The cover could easily be a perfume add. The Dutch cover is horrible. Yes, I said horrible. Look at those hands. Those are not from that girl, at least I hope they aren't. And they keep changing the girl on the front of the Dutch covers. Last week she had blonde hair. Loving the US covers for this series.

Here you can find the description of the book!

Would you pick the Dutch or US cover?

The Immortal series :

Evermore, book 1
Blue Moon, book 2
Shadowland, book 3

Dark Flame, book 4

Jealousy by Lili St. Crow

2011-11-24T02:50:00.000-08:00

Title: Jealousy
Written by: Lili St. Crow
Release date: July, 2010
Pages: 316
Source: Bought

My Feelings:

Description:
It’s a good thing Dru Anderson is fast. Because the sucker chasing her isn’t slowing down—and he won’t rest until he has tasted her blood and silenced her heart . . .

Dru’s best friend, Graves, and her strange and handsome savior, Christophe, are ready to help her take on the ultimate evil. But will their battle for Dru’s heart get in the way of her survival?

My Review:
While reading Betrayals the sequel to Strange Angels I thought this series can’t possibly get any better. But it can, it honestly can.

In Jealousy Dru is more vulnerable and shows her weaknesses more. If you couldn’t relate to her in the previous books, you probably can now. She’s still strong, but she needs someone who she can rely on. I love Graves, but the most part of this book he was gone. He wasn’t there and I truly missed his voice. Besides missing Graves voice, I also missed the voice of dad. He always gives Dru the best advice and tells her what to do. So instead of the father and Graves, there was more of Christophe. And that's very interesting and entertaining!

In Jealousy we get some answers to questions we had throughout the second book. The plot is action filled and the last couple of chapters where full with it. I loved it. There was so much going on that I just had to finish this book past midnight.

I’m going off line now so I can read the fourth book, Defiance. READ THIS SERIES!

Bliss by Lauren Myracle

2011-11-22T05:59:00.000-08:00

Title: Bliss
Written by: Lauren Myracle
Release date: September, 2008
Pages: 444
Source: Bought

My Feelings:

Description:
When Bliss’s hippie parents leave the commune and dump her at the home of her aloof grandmother in a tony Atlanta neighborhood, it’s like being set down on an alien planet. The only guide naïve Bliss has to her new environment is what she’s seen on The Andy Griffith Show. But Mayberry is poor preparation for Crestview Academy, an elite school where the tensions of the present and the dark secrets of the past threaten to simmer into violence. Openhearted, naïve Bliss is happy to be friends with anyone. That’s not the way it has ever worked at Crestview, and soon Bliss is at the center of a struggle for power between three girls—two living and one long dead.

My Review:
I thought it was quite odd that before I even knew that this book was based on the murder trails of Charles Manson I saw a documentary about him on TV. Very odd, right? Anyway, if you want to be scared you need to read Bliss.

Bliss is a naïve, awesome girl. She’s free spirited and friendly to everyone. A very likable character. Sandy was creepy. From the start I knew that she was up to no good. Definitely a very bad character.

The plot is amazing. It’s so, so creepy. The story is fast paced and has short chapters. We all know I love that. The quotes from the Andy Griffin Show and the Charles Mansion Trial fitted well with the story and I never have seen that before, very original. Again, creepy. Up to the last pages I was scared of one character in this book and her idiotic ideas. I almost screamed at Bliss to just get away from her and then realised I would be screaming in the night to a book. My parents would not be pleased with me.

I have to be honest when I started Bliss I gave it five hearts. I really was hooked and thought it wouldn’t get any better, but then the ending came and I was shocked about how abrupt it all felt. There were many questions unanswered and I was just unbelievable annoyed with it. WTH, I just want a great ending, not a confusing one.

I’ve Been Watching…

2011-11-19T05:31:00.000-08:00

Bridesmaids (2011)
This movie is hilarious. I had no idea that this was such a fun movie. The pooping scene, you guys, that was so funny. Kristen Wiig is such a great actress. Why haven’t I heard of her before? Well, anyway get your friends and watch this movie.

Your Highness (2011)
I have no idea what I expected with this movie. It was so not good. Okay, I admit at times I did laugh, but there were so many (adult) jokes that just weren’t funny. Probably funnier for guys. One of the reasons I watched this movie was because of James Franco. He’s so swoon worthy and made the movie more pleasant to watch.

If I had to choose between those two movies to watch again, it would be:
BRIDESMAIDS!

Happy Friday

2011-11-18T08:52:00.000-08:00

Feature & Follow Friday is now hosted by TWO hosts, Rachel of Parajunkee and Alison of Alison Can Read.

Question:
Letter to Santa: Tell Santa what books you want for Christmas!
Seriously? Loving this question already. As many of you, I also have a tbr list. This list is huge and yes, maybe even out of control. My tbrlist is divided in 2009/2010/2011 and 2012 books, so to list all of these books would be a challenge that I am not going to take on. Let's just go with two books per each year, exept of course for 2012.

2009:
Secret Society by Tom Dolby
My Invented life by Lauren Bjorkman

2010:
Matched by Ally Condle
The Ivy by Lauren Kunze & Rina Onur

2011:
Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari
Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Happy Friday my friends!

And don't forget to enter my international giveaway to win a Dutch bookmark.

Dutch Cover Alert

2011-11-16T09:41:00.000-08:00

This idea/meme came from Jenny at Wondrous Reads.

The Netherlands - The United States

I don't like the Dutch cover at all. The picture isn't sharp and the title doesn't stand out. The US cover is much better. I like that the girl with the dark hair looks a bit evil or just jealous that the blonde is in front of her. And I love the title and the font of it. Very cool. Yes, liking the US cover more than the Dutch cover.

Here you can find the description of the book!

Would you pick the Dutch or US cover?

Joel bookmark giveaway!

2011-11-15T05:43:00.000-08:00

You can win a bookmark from a Dutch book which is called Joel by Carry Slee. Carry Slee is one of the best young adult writer here in Holland and she writes contemporary stories.

The giveaway is for my lovely followers, old and new, and random.org will pick two winners on the 27th of November. It is of course international.

Bezig met laden...

The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester

2011-11-14T05:06:00.000-08:00

Title: The Girl Who Could Fly
Written by: Victoria Forester
Release date: June, 2008
Pages: 328
Source: Bought

My Feelings:

Description:
When homeschooled farm girl Piper McCloud reveals her ability to fly, she is quickly taken to a secret government facility to be trained with other exceptional children, but she soon realizes that something is very wrong and begins working with brilliant and wealthy Conrad to escape.

My Review:
After reading The Girl with the Silver Eyes I was a bit hesitant to pick up another middle grade book. But after carefully deciding what to read in the month November, I couldn’t resist this fabulous cover and picked it up right away. I’m glad I did, because it was a fantastic middle grade read.

Piper McCloud (Don’t you just love that name?) is such a cute little girl. She’s so adorable and loves flying. Yes, flying. All of the other characters were great too, especially the villain. She was just as I pictured her to be, sneaky and smart.

The plot was great, but some chapters weren’t necessary. A lot of talking and no action. Don’t let that scare you, because it were just three/four chapters that I could have lived without. I loved that all the children got the courage to escape and the friendship they had with each other was very special.

The Girl Who Could Fly is a middle grade book that even young adults and adults will enjoy. I recommend it to everyone who wants to read an adventurous story. And to everyone who wanted to fly when they were little.

Happy Friday

2011-11-11T06:00:00.000-08:00

Feature & Follow Friday is now hosted by TWO hosts, Rachel of Parajunkee and Alison of Alison Can Read.

Question:
In light of 11.11.11 and Veteran's Day tell us about your favorite soldier and how he or she is saving the world. Fictional or real life.
What a tough question, but the Squad def. need a mention in this answer. They are Mitch, Gaz, Two Moons, Tug, Benny and Nelson. The codename is DELTA UNIT. They have different nationalities and are fierce! OMG, they can kick-ass and they do in Jungle Kill and in the sequel Death in the Desert.

Reality Check by Jen Calonita

2011-11-10T04:26:00.000-08:00

Title: Reality Check
Written by: Jen Calonita
Release date: June, 2010
Pages: 288
Source: Bought

My Feelings:

Description:
Sixteen-year-olds Charlie, Keiran, Brooke, and Hallie have just been signed up for their own reality television show. They can't even believe it. "You'll be The Hills meets The Secret Life of the American Teenager," the Armani-suited executive tells them, "and the hottest thing on our network." How could they say no?
But soon enough, cameras following them everywhere and interfering producers surreptitiously scripting their lives start to affect the four best friends' relationship. Brooke seems to want all the screen time. Keiran is abruptly written out of the show-and consequently the group's friendship-when she doesn't rate well. As soon as Charlie realizes what's going on, she figures out the perfect way to give the studio and her home audience a much-needed reality check.
Because friends don't let friends do reality shows.

My Review:
Reality Check reminded me of the MTV show The Hills, which is a show that I really like watching. I mean what’s not to love about drama, right? However Reality Check was a bit different and I wished it had…yep..more drama.

Reality Check is about four teenagers who are best friends. They all have their different personalities and the one I could connect more to was Keiran. She was the shy, quite girl who worked her butt off. Unfortunately Keiran did not had the lead in this book. I would have loved if the characters were a bit more developed and probably would have enjoyed the story more if it was told in different points of view.

It started out slow, but the pace gotten faster when the following around with camera’s begun. Again, it reminded me of those MTV reality shows and I loved it. I was a bit disappointed with the ending. There could have been more drama involved and I did not like that someone finally gets what she wants. (Huh? You have to read the book to find out what I’m talking about.)

All in all Reality Check is not on top of my dramalicious reads this year, but it’s still enjoyable for a Sunday afternoon.

Dutch Cover Alert

2011-11-09T10:49:00.000-08:00

This idea/meme came from Jenny at Wondrous Reads.

The Netherlands - The United States

When I saw the Dutch cover of this book I knew that this was going to be read by moi. It just looks so good. It looks creepy and they probably are vampires! Vampires? Wow, I haven't read a book about vampires in a long time. Anyway, I like the Dutch cover a lot. But the US cover looks great too. It looks different from the covers that are out there now. And it also fits with the story and the title. I like it. If I had to choose, I'll probably pick up the Dutch cover.

Here you can find the description of the book!

Would you pick the Dutch or US cover?

I've Been Watching...

2011-11-05T05:03:00.000-07:00

How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
LOVE. ADORE. ME LIKE. This movie is so going to be bought by moi. I loved the relationship the dragon has with the main character. I loved that it was all about not giving up and don’t let anyone make you into a person you don’t want to be. This is a must watch movie. I guarantee you will fall in love with it.

Up (2009)
What’s with me these days. I keep picking one great movie and one boring. Okay, I have to be honest, I had my doubts with this movie. My best friend loved it and usually when she loves something I totally hate it. But I always want to give movies a second change. You never know if it might surprise you in a good way. Unfortunately this movie did not surprise me in a good way. There wasn’t any action in it, boring, annoying characters (yes, I’m talking about that child) and I hate to be reminded that we get old and die. Depressing.

If I had to choose between those two movies to watch again, it would be:
How to Train Your Dragon.

Die for Me by Amy Plum

2011-11-04T06:18:00.000-07:00

Title: Die for Me
Written by: Amy Plum
Release date: May, 2011
Pages: 341
Source: Bought

My Feelings:

Description:
My life had always been blissfully, wonderfully normal. But it only took one moment to change everything.
Suddenly, my sister, Georgia, and I were orphans. We put our lives into storage and moved to Paris to live with my grandparents. And I knew my shattered heart, my shattered life, would never feel normal again. Then I met Vincent.
Mysterious, sexy, and unnervingly charming, Vincent Delacroix appeared out of nowhere and swept me off my feet. Just like that, I was in danger of losing my heart all over again. But I was ready to let it happen.
Of course, nothing is ever that easy. Because Vincent is no normal human. He has a terrifying destiny, one that puts his life at risk every day. He also has enemies . . . immortal, murderous enemies who are determined to destroy him and all of his kind.
While I'm fighting to piece together the remnants of my life, can I risk putting my heart—as well as my life and my family's—in jeopardy for a chance at love?

My Review:
All I was thinking reading this book was ‘OMG, this feels like Twilight’. Twilight has ruined books for me. It has and that's not good. I really wanted to enjoy this book, but there was too much that I didn't like.

What I liked about Kate was that she wasn’t afraid to go wander the city and sit at cafés alone. Brave girl. I liked that about her. What I didn’t like is that she couldn’t make up her mind and after deciding not seeing Vincent ever again gets depressed and moody. Girl, make up your mind and stick with it. You would think that I would like Vincent, but he didn’t do anything to me. Sorry Vincent. Jules was the one that made me smile. He’s the cocky bad boy who flirts on Kate all the time. I want more of Jules. But, I don’t want him to flirt with Kate anymore. Am I jealous? Heck yeah, but I really don’t want another love triangle.

Now, let’s talk about the plot. First of all I didn’t felt that the story had a natural flow. It was quite hard to read the whole damn thing. Second, as I said before it felt too much as Twilight. I don’t think that it needs much of explaining, as I think most of you have read Twilight.

Am I going to read the sequel ‘Until I Die’? I want to say yes, but that’s only because of the gorgeous cover. And that just doesn’t feel right. I’m going to wait until someone says, “this sequel is better than the first book”. If someone says that, I’m going to try and give the second book a chance, just because I’m all about second chances. lol.

Betrayals by Lili St.Crow

2011-11-02T15:27:00.000-07:00

Title: Betrayals
Written by: Lili St. Crow
Release date: August, 2009
Pages: 304
Source: Won

My Feelings:

Description:She's no angel . . .
Poor Dru Anderson. Her parents are long gone, her best friend is a werewolf, and she's just learned that the blood flowing through her veins isn't entirely human. (So what else is new?)
Now Dru is stuck at a secret New England Schola for other teens like her, and there's a big problem— she's the only girl in the place. A school full of cute boys wouldn't be so bad, but Dru's killer instinct says that one of them wants her dead. And with all eyes on her, discovering a traitor within the Order could mean a lot more than social suicide. . .
Can Dru survive long enough to find out who has betrayed her trust—and maybe even her heart?

My Review:
After reading Strange Angels, I couldn’t wait to read the sequel. So I dived right into it after finishing the first book and quess what, I loved it.

Dru is still the tough cookie that we know from the first book, but she opens up a bit more towards Graves. I love the relationship between Graves and Dru. I love that it didn’t came fast and that it feels real. I like Graves a lot more in this book. He’s stronger and doesn’t rely so much on Dru anymore.

The dialogue is better than the first one and there’s more of it. Plenty of it to keep me entertained and get to know these characters better. The story builds up nicely and the mystery why they put Dru at that particular school kept me turning the pages rapidly.

I love this series. I seriously do and it’s becoming one of my favourites. Betrayals is a sequel how a sequel supposed to be. Better than the first book! I’m looking forward to Jealousy!

Monthly Recap (October 2011)

2011-11-02T07:53:00.000-07:00

Books Read this month:
Past Perfect by Leila Sales/ 5 hearts
Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris / 5 hearts
Honestly, Red Riding Hood Was Rotten! By Trisha Speed Shaskan/ 4 hearts
Tales of a Sugar Hero by Michael Dahl/ 4 hearts
Dael and the painted people by Allan Richard Shickman (book 3)/ 4 hearts
Walk the Wild Road by Nigel Hinton/ 4 hearts
Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow/ 4 hearts
The Shadowing, Skinned by Adam Slater
The Girl with the Silver Eyes by Willo Davis Roberts/ 3 hearts
Where I Belong by Gwendolyn Heasley/ 3 hearts
Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country by Allan Richard Shickman (book 2)/ 3 hearts
Secrets, Monsters and Magic Mirrors by Donald Lemke/ 3 hearts

My thoughts for this month:
My favorite books of this month are Past Perfect and Bad Taste in Boys. They are so, so good. I still need to order a hardcover copy of Past Perfect, but I will do that very soon. These books were awesome. This month two 5 heart books, which is okay, but let’s hope that half of my November picks are 5 hearts. Fingers crossed. I was a little bit disappointed with Where I Belong, but all in all it still got three hearts. I just wanted some more romance in it and the wining could have been less. Anyway, I read 12 books, yay. Well actually 13 books, I finished Betrayals on Saturday.

My thoughts for next month:
This month I’m reading Reality Check, The Girl Who Could Fly, Bliss and finish Die For Me. I also hope that I can read Jealousy by Lili St. Crow and Two Moon Princess.

A quick update:
As you can tell, I'm back! London was fantastic. I didn't get to do a lot of things, but the libraries that I have visited were awesome. The people were so kind and the childeren so, so cute. I haven't taken a lot of photo's, but I will post two/three next Friday.

To London

2011-10-29T07:45:00.000-07:00

This Sunday (tomorrow) I’m going to London to do my research. My research is about finding out what the differences are between Dutch and English school libraries. I have three appointments and I’m pretty excited to go.

Sunday
I will arrive around 11 o’clock in the morning at Gatwick airport. I’m pretty excited and nervous. I never been to this airport and I heard it’s big.
From the airport I’m going to take the train to downtown London and from there the metro, sorry the tube. My check in time at the hotel is 2 o’clock, so I probably am going to ditch my suitcase and go to Oxford Street. Yay!

Monday
In the morning I have an appointment at Schools Library Services and in the afternoon I’m interviewing a librarian at a primary school. At 3 o’clock I’m done with the appointments and I’m going back to the hotel.

Tuesday
Tuesday night I’m flying back to the Netherlands, but in the morning and afternoon I have an appointment with two librarians at a secondary school. When I’m done with the interviews, I rush back to the hotel, take my suitcase and go to the airport.

The books that I’m taking with me are:

I'll be back blogging on Wednesday!!

Nina

Yay or Nay

2011-10-28T04:02:00.000-07:00

We all have things we like in young adult books and things we absolutely hate. Here are my yay and nay’s.

Yay
Boys who are nice to girls
Boys who aren’t really attractive, but the main character still falls in love with him
Geeks (or Nerds)
Girls with self-confidence
Girls who can think for themselves
Girls who listen to their consciences
Parents who are there for their children

Nay
A bitchy best friend
Absent parents
Boys who are HOT and play in a band
Boys who are HOT and mysterious
Boys who are HOT and rude to girls
Girls with low self esteem
Girls who know that the HOT boy is dangerous, but cannot stay away from him
Girls who compare themselves to their popular, beautiful best friend
Instant love connection
Jealous friends
Stupid friends

Please share your yay and nays in the comments. I’m very curious.

Strange Angels by Lili St.Crow

2011-10-27T03:09:00.000-07:00

Title: Strange Angels
Written by: Lili St. Crow
Release date: May, 2009
Pages: 293
Source: Won

My Feelings:

Description:
Dru Anderson has what her grandmother called "the touch." (Comes in handy when you're traveling from town to town with your dad, hunting ghosts, suckers, wulfen, and the occasional zombie.)

Then her dad turns up dead - but still walking - and Dru knows she's next. Even worse, she's got two guys hungry for her affections, and they're not about to let the fiercely independent Dru go it alone. Will Dru discover just how special she really is before coming face-to-fang with whatever - or whoever - is hunting her?

My Review:
Why did I waited so long to read this book? Someone should have told me it was awesome.

Dru is cautious, considerate and very creative. She also knows that she can only trust herself and I love that she listened to her instincts. A other character I really liked was her friend Graves. The dialogue between these two characters, even though there weren’t a lot of that In the beginning, is funny and sweet. He’s caring and nervous all the time, so cute. I’m not sure what I think of Christoph, other than that he is ancient. Serious!

The plot is great. It got zombies, vampires and werewolves in it and the action is unstoppable. It comes and goes in this story. There are a few parts that are slow, but that’s only so you can catch your breath and brace yourself for another huge action scene.

Strange Angels ends with a cliff-hanger and I’m so glad I won the sequel too. I already started to read it and now I’m thinking about getting the third book too.

Strange Angels is a book you should read if you adore Urban Fantasy/Paranormal stories and great kick-ass characters.

Will you buy it?

2011-10-26T10:36:00.000-07:00

Lauren Conrad just revealed the cover of her new book 'The Fame Game'. She says: "If you’ve read my L.A. Candy series, then you know bad girl Madison Parker. In The Fame Game, Madison is ready to claim the spotlight at last. The only problem? Carmen, who has grown up in Hollywood, and might just be better at playing the game than Madison.... Get ready for some dishy, drama-filled fun."

Don't you just love this cover? I'm so in love with it and it probably would look great on my coffeetable. I still have to read the last book in her L.A.Candy series, but this is going to be on my tbrlist.

The Fame Game comes out April 3, 2012.

What do you think of the cover?

Destined by P.C.Cast & Kristin Cast Giveaway

2011-10-26T07:10:00.000-07:00

Zeitghost Media has another great giveaway for you guys, this time you can win a copy of "Destined" by P.C.Cast & Kristin Cast. USA/ Canada only!

"...Zoey is finally home where she belongs, safe with her Guardian Warrior, Stark, by her side, and preparing to face off against Neferet – which would be a whole lot easier if the High Counsel saw the ex-High Priestess for what she really is. Kalona has released his hold on Rephaim, and, through Nyx's gift of a human form, Rephaim and Stevie Rae are finally able to be together – if he can truly walk the path of the Goddess and stay free of his father's shadow…"

Fill out the form and remember USA/ Canada only! Good luck!
The winner will be announced on November 7th.

Bezig met laden...

Dutch Cover Alert

2011-10-26T03:11:00.000-07:00

This idea/meme came from Jenny at Wondrous Reads.

The Netherlands – The United States

The US cover gives a fantasy vibe to me. I have read the description of the book and now I'm wondering why I haven't read it yet. It sounds really good. Anyway, I like the US cover, but I don't love it. I don't like that the font of the title is little and that the colour of the words are black. It doesn't really stand out for me. I really do think that the cover fits with the story. I heard that the girl is taking on a ship to go to this place called Elsewhere. I'm not so sure about the Dutch cover. It's just a close up of a girl and nothing more. So this time I would go with the US cover.

Here you can find the description of the book!

Would you pick the Dutch or US cover?

Bad Taste in Boys by Carrie Harris

2011-10-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

Title: Bad Taste in Boys
Written by: Carrie Harris
Release date: July, 2011
Pages: 201
Source: Bought

My Feelings:

Description:
Someone's been a very bad zombie.

Kate Grable is horrified to find out that the football coach has given the team steroids. Worse yet, the steroids are having an unexpected effect, turning hot gridiron hunks into mindless flesh-eating zombies. No one is safe--not her cute crush Aaron, not her dorky brother, Jonah . . . not even Kate!

She's got to find an antidote--before her entire high school ends up eating each other. So Kate, her best girlfriend, Rocky, and Aaron stage a frantic battle to save their town. . . and stay hormonally human

My Review:
I started reading this book when I was going to work and finished it while I was travelling back home. Bad Taste in Boys is a super hilarious, quick and quirky read. I loved it and I hope that Carrie Harris is going to write more of these fabulous books.

Let’s say it out straight, Kate Grable is a nerd. Big time and she’s proud of it too. She’s very smart, quirky and just makes these awesome remarks which I thought where laugh out loud funny. I loved the relationship she has with her little brother. It was real and honest.

The plot is awesome. Yes, it is. The action starts right away and it’s such a quick read. The zombies where scary and disgusting. I thought Kate was very brave for fighting them alone. Very brave! There wasn’t really a well developed romance, but because the romance wasn’t a big part of the story I didn’t mind.

I’m not sure if this is part of a series, but if it is, I’m going to pick up the sequel and hope it’s as badass as Bad Taste in Boys.

Interview with...

2011-10-21T01:00:00.000-07:00

What’s the most beautiful bookstore you’ve been to?

This summer I went with my best friend to Maastricht and in Maastricht they have the most awesome bookstore that I’ve ever seen in my life. The name of the bookstore is Selexyz and it’s located in a church. Two hundered years ago the church lost it’s function and a couple of years ago they turned it into a bookstore. When you step inside it’s huge and light. And very busy, but def. worth to see if you are ever going to visit Holland soon.

Dutch Cover Alert

2011-10-19T02:06:00.001-07:00

This idea/meme came from Jenny at Wondrous Reads.

The Netherlands – The United States

I'm not sure what I really think of the Dutch cover. It's confusing and weird. Why is the girl jumping? Is she going to fall into the water? What is that black supposed to be? I wouldn't pick up this book if I saw it at the bookstore. Not even with a big sticker on it saying discount. It's also so dark and depressing. I don't like it. I love the US cover. I heard that they have a different cover for the book now, not sure what the reason behind that choice is. Because look at it, it's fantastic. Loving the blue and the girl behind the letters. Really nice.

Here you can find the description of the book!

Would you pick the Dutch or US cover?

I couldn't resist...

2011-10-17T05:42:00.000-07:00

Do you remember the Dutch cover post of a week ago? I loved the cover of Vogel by Enne Koens. Last Friday I went with my best friend into the city and of course we went into a bookstore. I saw the book and I just couldn't resist. So I bought a copy!

The Shadowing, Skinned by Adam Slater

2011-10-17T05:10:00.000-07:00

Title: The Shadowing, Skinned
Written by: Adam Slater
Release date: August, 2011
Pages: 288
Source: Egmont UK

My Feelings:

Description:
Black Annis smiles. Her pointed teeth do not gleam; they are black with age and the bloodstains of her victims. She looks up at the human child - surely meant to be in bed and asleep. Some things don't change. Every hundred years the gateway opens between their world and ours. A human coven has joined forces with the dark beings of the Netherworld. Evil is growing. And Callum is caught in the middle. The Shadowing has begun…

My Review:
When I looked at this cover I was immediately scared. Look at it! It’s so creepy. I read the back of the book and it totally reminded me a bit of those R.L.Stine books that I loved when I was younger. Yesterday evening I started to read it and I just had to read the whole damn thing. I could not put it down, because A) It was creepy B) I could not sleep with that book on my bedside table (Again the cover). Yes, I admit when I finished reading it, I put the book in my drawer. And it will stay there, unless I can find another good hiding spot for it.

Skinned is the second book in the Shadowing series. I have not read the first book, but I wasn’t lost or missed out anything to not enjoy the story. Callum is a brave, strong, caring boy. He’s a likable character and very feisty. I liked the secondary characters a lot, especially his grandmother. My only complaint is that she gave in too easily. If she says no, it should have stayed a no and he should have listened to her.

The plot is great. There is action, suspense and some wicked spells. At the beginning the pacing was a bit slow, but it quickened it pace when the action kicked in. Also I loved how this story started, so creepy. At the end there are a few twist and turns, which made me anxious to get the third book.

Skinned is a fantastic book that has the creepy factor nailed down. Read it if you are or ever were a fan of R.L.Stine books.

Let's do the hop

2011-10-14T02:44:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Thank you for stopping by at my blog. I can't believe it's Friday already, the days flew by. Looking forward to check out some new blogs. So if you are new here, leave your link and I'll come by and say HI! Thank you Crazy-for-Books for hosting this wonderful hop!

The question of today is:
“What is your favorite spooky book (i.e. mystery/suspense, thriller, ghost story, etc.)?”
My favourite horror series (that I actually still haven't finished, shame on me) is The Devouring series by Simon Holt. The Devouring (first book) and Soulstice (second book) were very scary. At times I just had to stop and look round in my room to be sure that nothing was there. I think I actually slept with the ligths on. I def. recommend if you like horror books. So it's not really spooky, it's more creepy.

Just a short update:
On the 30th of October I'm going to England, London. I have to do a research at a primary and secundary school. I'm staying until Tuesday. Monday and Tuesday I have meetings and interviews the whole day. I'm pretty excited to go and I probably will do a short post about it next week to tell you what my research is all about.

Favourite video of the week:
I love this commercial! It makes me think of summer.

The Girl with the Silver Eyes by Willo Davis Roberts

2011-10-13T07:17:00.001-07:00

Title: The Girl with the Silver Eyes
Written by: Willo Davis Roberts
Release date: January, 1991
Pages: 198
Source: Bought

My feelings:

Description:
Katie Welker is used to being alone. She would much rather read a book than deal with other people. Other people don't have silver eyes and other people can't make things happen just by thinking about them! Sometimes Katie even enjoys playing tricks on people.

My Review:
The Girl with the Silver Eyes has this beautiful cover that I couldn’t resist buying when I was at the bookstore. Yes, I’m that person that cannot walk by beautiful covers with not buying at least one of those books.

Katie is a cute, little girl who is determined, scared and doesn’t really belong anywhere. She’s an outsider. I liked Katie, but sometimes she really was annoying. She didn’t listen to anyone, seems to be trouble all the time and used her power all the time to get out of situations she didn’t wanted to be in. I know, she sounds exactly like a little girl of her age, and it is a middle grade book, but I just couldn’t stand her at times.

The plot is okay. The end was rushed. There could have been a lot more explaining and why wasn’t anyone angry at Katie for running away? If she were my child I would have grounded her for life. I did like that we get to know why these children have silver eyes and the story behind it felt realistic.

All in all The Girl with the Silver Eyes is a really great book for middle graders, but I would not recommend it to adults. There were times that I couldn’t read further, because of the main characters behaviour and therefore think I was too old to read this book.

Dutch Cover Alert

2011-10-11T07:19:00.001-07:00

This idea/meme came from Jenny at Wondrous Reads.

The Netherlands – The United States

They look like the same girl, if they are not, I'm sure they must be sisters. Right?. I like both covers. The US cover is fun, I like that the girl is leaning on a suitcase and I love the envelope she has in her hand. The cover gives me the feeling that it's all about traveling and that it's going to be a really fun book to read. Def. a book to read on your vacation. I also LOVE the place of the title. The Dutch cover is fun too. I like that the whole cover is kind of the envelope on the US cover. I think if I saw both of these covers at the bookstore, I probably pick up the Dutch cover first.

Here you can find the description of the book!

Would you pick the Dutch or US cover?

Where I Belong by Gwendolyn Heasley

2011-10-10T06:02:00.000-07:00

Title: Where I Belong
Written by: Gwendolyn Heasley
Release date: February, 2011
Pages: 304
Source: Bought

My feelings:

Description:
Meet Corrinne. She's living every girl's dream in New York City—shopping sprees at Barneys, open access to the best clubs and parties, and her own horse at the country club. Her perfect life is perfectly on track. At least it was. . . .
When Corrinne's father is laid off, her world suddenly falls apart. Instead of heading to boarding school, she's stripped of her credit cards and shipped off to the boonies of Texas to live with her grandparents. On her own in a big public school and forced to take a job shoveling manure, Corrinne is determined to get back to the life she's supposed to be living. She doesn't care who she stomps on in the process. But when Corrinne makes an unlikely friend and discovers a total hottie at work, she begins to wonder if her life B.R.—before the recession—was as perfect as it seemed.

My Review:
I love this cover. It’s such a cute, romantic cover and gives you the impression that it’s all about finding love in unexpected places. But this cover is misleading, because the story is not all about love, it’s more about growing up.

Corrinne is annoying. I’m sorry, but she was. She whines, talks about brands that she always bought (like Gucci, Prada etc.), loathes Texas, and talk about how amazing New York is all the time. I could not stand this person. I wanted someone to slap her in the face and just burst her bubble. And I’m so glad that it finally burst, but it did take a long time for it to happen. I was at page 130 (or so) and then I thought it was just too cliché. She meets a boy who’s hot and plays in a band. OMG, freaking annoying. Yes, readers, there are characters I did love, like her grandparents, little brother and her new friend at school. They where fantastic and I really liked them.

Corrinne starts to learn that life isn’t always peachy perfect and that hers in New York certainly wasn’t. I love that she finally realises that there’s so much more then buying expensive clothes and going out everyday. Her growing process took a long time, but that’s naturally. So, the plot was good, but it was all a bit too cliché for me to really fell in love with the story.

Don’t be fooled by the cover, buy it if you want a nice growing up story.

3SR: Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country, Dael and the painted people & Walk the Wild Road

2011-10-10T05:39:00.000-07:00

Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country by Allan Richard Shickman (book 2)
Release date: September, 2009
Pages: 151
Source: Earthshaker Books

My feelings:

Description:
The prehistoric saga continues in Zan-Gah and the Beautiful Country, the sequel to the award winning Zan-Gah: A Prehistoric Adventure. In this story, Zan s troubled twin brother, Dael, having suffered greatly during his earlier captivity, receives a ruinous new shock when his wife suddenly dies. Disturbed and traumatized, all of his manic energies explode into acts of hostility and bloodshed. His obsession is the destruction of the wasp men, his first captors, who dwell in the Beautiful Country. When he, Zan-Gah, and a band of adventurers trek to their bountiful home, they find that all of the wasp people have died in war or of disease. The Beautiful Country is empty for the taking, and Zan s people, the Ba-Coro, decide to migrate and resettle there. But the Noi, Dael s cruelest enemies and former tormentors, make the same migration from their desert home, and the possibility develops of contention and war over this rich and lovely new land

My Review:
I had a hard time getting into this story. Not only was it darker than the first book, it also felt like I was reading a text book coming to life. I didn’t get that interested in Zan or Dael, I was more interested in the girls of this story. A lot of times when you read about this time period, there isn’t a lot told about the woman, so yay, that they were feisty and showed the boys their skills. I did enjoyed the story and would def. recommend it to middle graders.

Dael and the painted people by Allan Richard Shickman (book 3)Release date: August, 2011
Pages: 168
Source: Earthshaker Books

My feelings:

Description:
A prehistoric adventure, this is the third of the Zan-Gah young adult books. When Dael, guilty and tormented, came to live with the tribe of the painted people, he longed for peace and restoration; but without knowing it, he made a powerful enemy. Luckily, Dael had friends-including a troop of crows-and his own mystical powers. The disturbed and violent hero learns from the Children of the Earth, and from his submissive wife, a new way of life that is peaceful and generous.

Description:
This third book is such a great addition to this series, it’s really wonderful. It’s not about Zan anymore, it’s the story of Dael and Sparrow. Throughout the book you see that Dael is changing from this aggressive young men into a calm, responsible men. I really enjoyed reading about his process. I also really liked Sparrow, she was very strong and smart. The other new characters were fantastic too, they really helped Dael with dealing with his past. I really like this series and every history teacher should get it for their classroom.

Walk the Wild Road by Nigel Hinton
Release date: January, 2011
Pages: 288
Source: Sourcebooks

My feelings:

Description:
Leo took one step forward and then stopped. This was it-the road away from everything he knew. He could turn back. But then who would save his family from starvation? No, Leo was their last hope. He must go on...
The journey is not easy-he'll have to sleep on the streets, steal food, and even fight off greedy soldiers. Along the way, Leo discovers the kindness of strangers and the loyalty of friends. But he also learns there are some people you just can't trust, especially when you're on the wild road to America.

My Review:
Walk the Wild Road is a fantastic historical fiction/adventure book. The main character Leo has to go trough a lot before he finally gets what he wants. It’s really heartbreaking to read his story. Especially when he finds a friend and then something bad happens. Not going to tell you much about it, but it's so sad. I was crying a lot when it happened. Walk the Wild Road is such a great book and you should def. put it on your tbrlist.

Challenges...

2011-10-09T05:40:00.000-07:00

I really suck at challenges. When summer begun I thought I had tons of free time to read a lot of books and complete the challenges I participated in. But, yeah, that didn’t happen.

The challenges that looked good and I couldn’t resist them are:

YA Historical Challenge hosted by Yabliss.com
Challenge : read 1-5 books
How many books did I read? Zero. Yes, you’ve read that right. Maybe it’s because I’m a history student and in my free time I want to read books in other genres. Excuses, excuses. Anyway.

YA Series Challenge by Stalking the Bookshelves
Challenge: finish reading 5 series
How many books did I read? I only have finished the Darkest Powers trilogy by Kelley Armstrong, so one. I really had high hopes that I could finish a lot of series, but damn those other books that are getting in my way.

Horror and Urban Fantasy Reading Challenge by Book Chick City
Challenge: read 24 books
How many books did I read? I haven’t really counted the books that I read in this challenge, but I’m sure I have finished it. I’m pretty sure. Doing a victory dance in my pyjama’s.

What to do? Well, I’m quitting. I’m not the person that give ups, but in three months I cannot finish the two challenges that are left.

Do you participate in challenges? Or are they a big nay for you?

3 SR: Honestly, Red Riding Hood Was Rotten!, Secrets, Monsters and Magic Mirrors, Tales of a Sugar Hero

2011-10-07T14:08:00.000-07:00

Honestly, Red Riding Hood Was Rotten! By Trisha Speed Shaskan
Release date: August, 2011
Pages: 24
Source: Netgalley/ Capstone

My Feelings:

Description:
OF COURSE you think I did a horrible thing by eating Little Red Riding Hood and her granny. You don't know the other side of the story. Well, let me tell you...

My Review:
OMG, just the title alone is hilarious. And she was rotten in the version the wolf gave to us. I liked it a lot. The illustrations were colourful and just beautiful. The wolf was crazy, seriously, he was addicted to apples and he was so hungry. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost. Awesome short book.

Secrets, Monsters and Magic Mirrors by Donald Lemke
Release date: August, 2011
Pages: 176
Source: Netgalley/ Capstone

My Feelings:

Description:
Five of the world's greatest fairy tales are retold in the popular and attractive graphic novel format. Beautiful, bold illustrations give these timeless tales a modern edge. The stories include Beauty and the Beast, Rapunzel, Princess and the Pea, Snow White, and Thumbelina.

My Review:
Secrets, Monsters and magic Mirrors is a great book for someone who adores their fairytales. I liked it, but didn’t fell in love with it. The illustrations where very cool, I liked these a lot. I also loved that after a fairytale you will read the original title of the story and who has written it and when. For me there could have been more telling in between these stories about the author who written has written them. I wanted to know how this person came with this wonderful idea and wrote it. If there was more explaining, I probably would have loved this book more. But still a really nice book. Beautifully done.

Tales of a Sugar Hero by Michael Dahl
Release date: August, 2011
Pages: 128
Source: Netgalley/ Capstone

My Feelings:

Description:
On her eleventh birthday, Halo Nightly receives a mysterious collection of candy jars from her Aunt Pandora. The sweet treats inside fuel her with the powers of fire, water, earth, and air! As the world’s newest sugar hero, Halo must defeat the evil sour-villains who threaten to rid the world of fun and flavor!

My Review:
Tales of a Super Hero is in one word just cute. I loved that there where several short chapters with each their own little adventure. It’s very sweet and colourful. Not much to say about it, it´s fun!

With Ur Love...

2011-10-05T10:37:00.000-07:00

OMG, my mom is so funny. Today I was listening to this song, which btw is awesome. My mom said to me: 'I swear I could hear a baby'. Me: Turning volumne down, 'Really?' Mom: Yes. Me: 'oh, weird.' Turning music up. Mom: laughed out loud. 'It's this song.' LOL.. I quess when the door is closed and you can't make out the lyrics or hear the song properly, it does sounds a bit babyish. OMG.

Anyway..for you love...

Dutch Covers...

2011-10-04T09:27:00.000-07:00

Vogel by Enne Koens: Bird
Berres is eight when her parents get a divorce. She is really angry and on the day of her final exams for secondary school, she leaves the house. She calls herself Elke and goes to live in the city and study philosophy. She meets lassie, a girl who is everything that Elke def. isn’t. Lassie asks Elke questions about her past and she finally realise that she cannot hide from her past anymore.

Webcam Girls by Theo&Marianne Hoogstraaten
After a boos fest in a cafe, Cindy disappears. Her friends don’t know what to do. The lead goes to Romeo The Great, who had IM contact with Cindy. They try to find out if Romeo has anything to do with the disappearing and where Cindy is.

30.000 woorden van Charlie by Kaat Vrancken: 30.000 words by Charlie Charlie has fallen in love and at the same day she tells her mother this, she tells her Charlie that she’s depressed. It’s the first time that she has a boyfriend and she wants to tell her mother all about their romantic outings, but how can you that to a mother who stares to the walls every single day. Charlie is also competing in a writing marathon, she has to write 1000 words per day and a month long.

Eerste kus by Jeanette Molema: First kiss
Philippa and family move to Sweden. There she gets her first kiss, but Wander (the boy) tells her that the kiss doesn’t mean anything to him. She’s confused, does she love him or is she mad at him?

My favourite covers are Vogel (the first) and 30.000 woorden door Charlie (the third). The first cover is amazing and I love the curly hair of that girl. I also love her dress and she totally looks like a girl from the city. I really want to get this book. The third cover is fun too. I love that it's pink. lol.

Monthly Recap (September 2011)

2011-10-03T09:57:00.000-07:00

Books Read this month:
Tempestuous by Lesley Livingston/ 5 hearts
Darklight by Lesley Livingston/ 5 hearts
Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston/ 5 hearts
Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John/ 5 hearts
Cum Laude by Cecily von Ziegesar/ 4 hearts
Linger by Maggie Stiefvater/ 4 hearts
The Paladin by Kenneth Newman/ 3 hearts
Catalyst by Marc Johnson/ 3 hearts
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater/ 3 hearts
Blood & Flowers by Penny Blubaugh/ 3 hearts

My thoughts for this month:
This month was so busy. School started and I had so little time to read. How I managed to read 10 books? I have no freaking idea. Well I actually do, I read lots during my train rides. Yay for the 5 heart books this month. Def. loved the Wondrous Strange series. I loved the world that Lesley Livingstone created in those books and I can’t wait to reread them all next year. Five Flavors of Dumb was another favorite of mine. I didn’t think it would be so awesome, but it was. And Cum Laude surprised me. I thought that I might not like it, but I loved it. Not quite as good as the Gossip Girl series (the tvshow) but still enjoyable and dramalicious.

My thoughts for next month:
It will be a busy month. Oh gosh, I haven’t told you yet, but I have to go to England in November. I have to do a research in a secondary school. So excited, want to tell you all about it, so look out for a post of it this month.

Past Perfect by Leila Sales

2011-10-03T09:30:00.000-07:00

Title: Past Perfect
Written by: Leila Sales
Release date: October, 2011
Pages: 322
Source: Schimon & Schuster e-galley

My Feelings:

Description:
All Chelsea wants to do this summer is hang out with her best friend, hone her talents as an ice cream connoisseur, and finally get over Ezra, the boy who broke her heart. But when Chelsea shows up for her summer job at Essex Historical Colonial Village (yes, really), it turns out Ezra's working there too. Which makes moving on and forgetting Ezra a lot more complicated…even when Chelsea starts falling for someone new.

Maybe Chelsea should have known better than to think that a historical reenactment village could help her escape her past. But with Ezra all too present, and her new crush seeming all too off limits, all Chelsea knows is that she's got a lot to figure out about love. Because those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it….

My Review:
Past Perfect was such a fun and quick read. When I started reading it, I was hooked. It’s one of the best light hearted book I read so far this year and I’m definitely going to get my own copy of it.

Chelsea is a likeable, typical teenager who by the way has an awesome summer job. I liked her comments. The dialogue between her, her best friend and Dan is laugh out funny. Oh wow, what can I say about Dan. He’s so adorable. Love him.

The plot is so much fun. I loved the war and that they where all so serious about it. The romance was awesome and just so sweet. Nothing too heavy. I liked that there was a message in this book and that everyone, even if you are a adult, could relate with the character and her situation.

Past Perfect was just perfect. I loved it. And now I’m off to order Leila Sales debut novel Mostly Good Girls.

The Pursuit Of Happiness

2011-09-28T07:04:00.000-07:00

Once in a while you just need a song like this.
Put the volume up and go WILD or CRAZY, whichever suits you.

"I’m On The Pursuit Of Happiness And I Know Everything That Shines Ain’t Always Gonna Be Gold
I’ll Be Fine Once I Get It; I’ll Be Good"

The Crown on Your Head Giveaway

2011-09-28T01:24:00.000-07:00

Macmillan Children's Publishing has another great giveaway for you guys, this time you can win a copy of 'The Crown on Your Head' by Nancy Tillman.

"On the day that we met and I put you to bed,
I noticed a crown on the top of your head.
It was made up of sparkling, glimmering things.
Like moonlight, and fireflies, and dragonfly wings."

It's open for USA/CANADA only and ends on Monday, October 10th.
Bezig met laden...

Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John

2011-09-27T05:29:00.000-07:00

Title: Five Flavors of Dumb
Written by: Antony John
Release date: November, 2010
Pages: 352
Source: Bought

My Feelings:

Description:
The Challenge: Piper has one month to get the rock band Dumb a paying gig.
The Deal: If she does it, Piper will become the band's manager and get her share of the profits.
The Catch: How can Piper possibly manage one egomaniacal pretty boy, one talentless piece of eye candy, one crush, one silent rocker, and one angry girl? And how can she do it when she's deaf?
Piper can't hear Dumb's music, but with growing self-confidence, a budding romance, and a new understanding of the decision her family made to buy a cochlear implant for her deaf baby sister, she discovers her own inner rock star and what it truly means to be a flavor of Dumb.

My Review:
Sometimes you pick up a book, start reading it and find out that it’s impossible to put it back. That happened to me, I read the first chapter and was sold. Five Flavors of Dumb is a fabulous read and like many other readers have said it’s made out of awesomeness.

Piper is a young girl, who’s deaf. I have not read any books with a deaf protagonist, so to read how she deals with this is interesting. I liked Piper a lot. She stands up for herself and is very determined. She also learns from her mistakes and grows in the story. The best part (for me) was to see her grow and the relationship she has with her family. I loved that the family was around and that they truly felt caring. The other characters are equally amazing as Piper. I now have a special fondness for Ed.

The plot is awesome. I loved the music references a lot. It made me a bit like Piper, because I knew who they were but never heard their music. In every little chapter something happened and it made me read faster just to find out what happens next. The romance was just cute! What I also liked about this book is that it has short chapters. I could easily finish a couple of chapters while I was in the train and not have to rush trough a chapter before I arrived at my destination place.

Five Flavors of Dumb is awesome. You should pick it up, because well, who doesn’t want to read a book full with awesomeness.

Cum Laude by Cecily von Ziegesar

2011-09-24T05:17:00.000-07:00

Title: Cum Laude
Written by: Cecily von Ziegesar
Release date: June,2010
Pages: 272
Source: Bought

My Feelings:

Description:
They're here for a higher education . . . and you won't believe how far they'll go.
Dexter College is a small liberal arts college in the quiet town of Home, Maine. But it won't stay quiet for long with this group of freshmen. There's Shipley--blonde and beautiful, the object of envy and more than a little lust. Determined to assert herself and to shed her good-girl image, she buys cigarettes and condoms, because that's what every self-respecting college girl does. Her edgy roommate, Eliza, came to Dexter to get noticed, and she has the attitude and the mouth to prove it. Then there's Tom. Handsome, privileged, used to getting his own way, he's a jock-turned-artist who thinks his paintings will change the world. Sensitive Nick, Tom's wake-and-bake pot-smoking roommate, wants to follow in the footsteps of his boarding-school hero. And then there are brother and sister Adam and Tragedy Gatz. The freckle-faced farm boy lives at home with his parents and his little sister, who does all she can to stop him from being a wuss.
As Shipley, Eliza, Tom, Nick, and Adam find out, that first year of college is more than credits and cramming. Between the lust and the love, the secrecy and the scandal, they'll all receive an unexpected education. It's a time of shifting alliances, unrequited crushes, and coming of age. Find Yourself is Dexter's motto. And they are determined to do just that.

My Review:
Cum Laude is the first book I read that is written by Cecily von Ziegesar. Shocking right? I mean I am a massive fan of the TV show Gossip Girl, but never read a Gossip Girl book. So when I found out that Cecily von Ziegesar written this book I knew I had to buy a copy of it.

The characters were interesting. They all had their own secrets and insecurities to hide. There wasn’t any depth to any of these characters, but there wasn’t any need for it.
I couldn’t relate to the characters, but I could relate to the experience they had with their first year of college. The late night cramming sessions at the library, going to Starbucks to get loads of coffee to feel awake in the mornings and not knowing where this will all lead.

I liked the plot a lot. It wasn’t full of drama like the Gossip Girl show, but there was still enough to keep me entertained. Every little thing that happened to these characters was fabulous to read about and at the end there even was a bit of suspense.

Cum Laude won’t be the first and last book I read written by this author. I’m curious to find out more about these characters and what will happen to them when they are in their second year of college.

Dutch Covers...

2011-09-20T06:20:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that for two weeks now I haven’t posted any Dutch Cover Alert posts. I still have a lot of Dutch covers to show you, but Wednesdays is a busy day for me. I have school from ten till five in the afternoon and when I’m home it’s near seven o’clock. I’m trying to think of another day that will be best for me to post the Dutch Cover Alert posts and I’m thinking about doing them on Mondays. I still haven’t decided, but anyway, I wanted to do something different today. There’s a lot of Dutch young adult books coming out each month and I wanted to show you my favourite covers among them.

Bitter Zoet by Simone de Jong: Bitter Sweet.
Joel by Carry Slee: Joel.
Tegen De Muur Op by Karlijn Stoffels: Against the Wall.
Dagboek van een klotejaar by Saci LIoyd : Diary of a bad year.

My favourite is Joel by Carry Slee. The girl looks tough and sad. I love that it’s so dark. I get the feeling that she wants to run away, but from what? Maybe a good mystery book.

2-1RV. The Paladin and Catalyst

2011-09-19T03:05:00.000-07:00

The Paladin by Kenneth Newman
Release date: May, 2011
Pages: 272
Source: Received by author

My feelings:

Description:
Larry is an angel of the Lord... retired. To avoid final judgment and rather warm room without a view he seeks to make amends by helping humanity against spiritual darkness. Unable to directly interfere, he must use a human to do his dirty work, or as he calls them... Paladins. A lonely kindergarten teacher, Harriet Smith, dreaming of romance and an exciting life of high adventure, has no idea that she has been chosen... that is until she is kidnapped by a five year old, and reborn as the sultry, Maggie Black. Maggie is about to find that the world is a far different place than she could have ever imagined as she faces shape shifting hit men, psychotic witches, and four thousand year old living weapons of mass destruction. Fortunately, Maggie isn't alone, as Silas Cole, a deceased Paladin, comes to her aid, possessing the body of his murdered great grandson. Maggie soon falls in love with the dashing Silas, but finds that to save humanity, she must sacrifice the man she loves.

My Review:
When I saw the cover of The Paladin I knew that this book would be action packed. And let me tell you something, it was. Harriet Smith is one tough cookie who can kick ass, just like the Bride (Beatrix Kiddo) in the movie Kill Bill. She was awesome. The story was fast paced and I was quickly absorbed into the pages to read what happens to this character. The thing I didn’t like about this story is that there where too many characters. And too many characters can make you either love the story more or get you confused. I got confused. I would love the book a bit more if it would be turned into a graphic novel.

Catalyst by Marc Johnson
Release date: March, 2011
Pages: 197
Source: Received by author

My feelings:

Description:
For centuries, the kingdom of Alexandria has protected Northern Shala from the monstrous creatures lurking in the Wastelands. Now, a dark force threatens that fragile peace.
Far from home, Alexandria's princess is abducted. When a young villager named Hellsfire stumbles upon her and her captors, he rushes in to rescue her, alone and unarmed. His fear and fury unleash an uncontrollable magical force that grants him the power to save the princess-and change the world.Hellsfire has never craved nor dreamed of power. But such magic as he now possesses has not been seen in Northern Shala for a thousand years, since the devastation of the War of the Wizards and the creation of the Wastelands.Now Hellsfire must leave all he's ever known, and make a dangerous journey to learn to master this wild, ferocious power-power he knows he is not ready to wield. More difficult still, he needs to master his emotions. If he can't, the power will consume him, Alexandria will fall, and darkness will eclipse the land, destroying everyone he loves.
In the dead of cold, the spark shall burn

My Review:
The story started very slow and at times I was tempted to browse on the Internet instead of reading further. But I read further and after 40 pages it became better. Some of the characters where likable, others I didn’t really care for. Hellfire, the main character, was just okay. He was likable, but that’s basically it. I also found it sad that his name was Hellfire. I mean, wow, that’s not very cool, is it. I thought that there would be a explanation why his father named him that, but there wasn’t. The plot is predictable, but still nicely done. I loved the fantasy elements a lot and I loved the quest that Hellfire was on. Overall a nice fantasy book that probably will appeal to younger people.

Interview with...

2011-09-17T05:08:00.000-07:00

Where do you buy your books?
Whenever I’m in Amsterdam and I want to buy a Young Adult book I will visit the American Bookstore. It’s my favorite bookstore in the Netherlands. The first floor has beautiful photographic books and magazines from all over the world. They have a lot of new and older young adult books, which is on the second floor. The paperbacks are about 12 euro and the hardback covers are about 20 euro. I usually don’t buy books with a hardcover there, because well I’m a student and that’s a lot of money. I love going there at the end of the month, because then there is a discount on young adult books. I also love that they got many books in different genres.

The next bookstore where I buy books is the English bookstore. It’s also located in Amsterdam, but it’s smaller then the American Bookstore. The books in this bookstore cost five euro. They don’t have a lot of young adult books, just four/five shelves. Also each week they have different books. So when you see a book two weeks ago and you come back to get it, it will be gone for sure. You also have to pay with cash and I love that about them. Why? Because I usually don’t have a lot of cash with me, I love to use the card, so I won’t be able to buy the store empty.

Some Dutch stores that I adore are Slegte, Bruna and two small bookstores that are located in my hometown.

Last year I discovered bookdepository.co.uk. Such an amazing online bookstore. They have lots and lots of books and cheaper than the bookstores in Holland. I love it. Usually when I can’t find the book in the bookstore I will buy it online. It takes about two weeks for the books to arrive, but I’m not complaining.

I still haven’t tried to buy any books on amazon.com. I just keep hearing people say that they ordered their books there and they arrived damaged. So, I’m a bit afraid to order things there, but I’m sure in the near future I am going to order some movies and cd’s.

Where do you buy your books?

Shiver and Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

2011-09-15T05:52:00.000-07:00

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Release date: August, 2009
Pages: 400
Source: Won @ Feeling Fictional
Thank you so much Sarah!!!

My Feelings:

Description:
Grace and Sam share a kinship so close they could be lovers or siblings. But they also share a problem. When the temperature slips towards freezing, Sam reverts to his wolf identity and must retreat into the woods to protect his pack. He worries that eventually his human side will fade away and he will left howling alone at the lonely moon. A stirring supernatural teen romance.

My Review:
I love reading fast paced books and action that kicks in right after the first chapter. This book had almost any action in it and still I loved it. These two characters are fantastic. They are perfect for each other. Sam the emotional one and Grace the character that was very steady. I haven’t read a lot of werewolves stories, but Shiver is now my favourite one among them.

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater
Release date: July, 2010
Pages: 360
Source: Won @ Feeling Fictional
Thank you so much Sarah!!!

My Feelings:

Description:
In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.

My Review:
The first couple of pages of Linger where very tough to get in. I just didn’t feel it and I did not wanted to read further. But then something happened, well someone happened, his name is Cole. Yes, Cole was very interesting. He was mainly the reason why I read further. I wanted to know who he was and why he wanted so bad to be wolf. I found his story entwined with Isabelles more intriguing. Sam and Grace where boring. The last couple of pages I loved the fastened pace and Sam and Grace weren’t boring anymore, but more exciting. I can’t wait to read the last book in this trilogy, because wow, the ending took my breath away.

Dreamland by Alyson Noël Giveaway

2011-09-14T07:37:00.000-07:00

CLOSED!
Macmillan has given me the opportunity to let one of my readers win Dreamland by Alyson Noël. It's the third book in the Riley Bloom series. USA/ Canada only!

"Riley's finding that the afterlife can be a lonely place when all you do is focus on work. So she goes to the place where dreams happen, hoping to find a way to contact her sister, Ever. She meets the director, who tells her about the two ways to send dreams. As a Dream Jumper, a person can jump into a dreamer's dream, share a message, and participate. As a Dreamweaver, an entire dream can be created in a studio and sent to the dreamer. But Dreamweaving was outlawed decades ago, and the studio was boarded up. Thinking it's her only way to reach out to her sister, Riley goes in search of the old studio. There she finds a ghost boy, who's been creating and sending nightmares to people for years. In order to stop him and reach out to Ever, Riley is going to have to confront and overcome her own fears."

Alyson Noël continues the bestselling story of Riley Bloom as she learns how dreams are made and tries to make contact with her sister, Ever.

Fill out the form and remember USA/ Canada only! Good luck!
The winner will be announced at Sept 26th!

Tempestuous by Lesley Livingston

2011-09-12T10:37:00.000-07:00

Title: Tempestuous
Written by: Lesley Livingston
Release date: December, 2010
Pages: 368
Source: Won@The Epic Rat
Thanks goes to the amazing Cecilia!!!!

My Feelings:

Description:
"I don't love Sonny Flannery."
That's the lie Kelley Winslow told to protect the boy she loves from a power he doesn't know he possesses. Devastated, Sonny retreats—to a haven for Lost Fae that's hidden deep underneath New York City.
But Kelley's not about to let things end in heartbreak. To get Sonny back, she's got to find out who's after his magick—and how to use her own. She's got to uncover who's recruiting Janus Guards to murderously hunt innocent Faerie. She's got to help rebuild the shattered theater company she called family. And she's got to do it all without getting dangerously distracted by the Fennrys Wolf, whose legendary heart of stone seems to melt whenever he's around Kelley.

My Review:
And I was devastated to hear Kelley say those words. Seriously Kelley, you made me so sad.

Kelley has grown a lot. She’s still learning how her powers work, but she’s very determined to find that out. I also love that the relationship between her and her parents are getting better and better. I felt sad for Sonny. He was so angry all the time. I totally understood why, but I just felt sad for the poor guy. All the other characters where fabulous too. Especially Fennrys and Maddox. Friends that will back you up is all you need in life.

The romance in this book was addicting. I needed more. If there only was a fourth book in this series. The last few chapters MADE the whole story fantastic. I’m so sad that this series ended, so I’m begging *going on hands and knees now* Livingston please right another one. Please.

Still haven’t read the first book? Shame on you! Get the entire series and start reading it!

I've Been Watching...

2011-09-10T05:44:00.001-07:00

Red Riding Hood (2011)
The first 30 minutes I laughed out loud. That outfit of the woodchopper looked like the outfit of Gaston in Beauty and the Beast, OMG, hilarious. It just looked ridiculous. The story itself is okay. It did had a bit of suspense in it and I had no idea who the wolf was. The ending made a little bit up for the slow, boring parts and the romance, which was really stupid.

Beastly (2011)
Bo-ring. I knew it when I saw that one of main characters was Vanessa Hudgens. Ever since I watched High School Musical, which by the way was also not a lot of fun, I did not like her acting skills. The only thing that made the movie watchable was Mary Kate Olson, which I thought was great. But unfortunately we didn’t get to see that much of her. Bummer. He, the beast, changed into himself again so quickly, it was unbelievable, it felt all like a big “boohoo” moment.

Ps: Interview With will start again next week.

If I had to choose between those two movies to watch again, it would be:
Neither of them!

Darklight by Lesley Livingston

2011-09-09T11:20:00.000-07:00

Title: Darklight
Written by: Lesley Livingston
Release date: December, 2009
Pages: 310
Source: Won@The Epic Rat
Thanks goes to the amazing Cecilia!!!!

My Feelings:

Description:
Much has changed since autumn, when Kelley Winslow learned she was a Faerie princess, fell in love with changeling guard Sonny Flannery, and saved the mortal realm from the ravages of the Wild Hunt.

Now Kelley is stuck in New York City, rehearsing Romeo and Juliet and missing Sonny more with every stage kiss, while Sonny has been forced back to the Otherworld and into a deadly game of cat and mouse with the remaining Hunters and Queen Mabh herself.

When a terrifying encounter sends Kelley tumbling into the Otherworld, her reunion with Sonny is joyful but destined to be cut short. An ancient, hidden magick is stirring, and a dangerous new enemy is willing to risk everything to claim that power.
Caught in a web of Faerie deception and shifting allegiances, Kelley and Sonny must tread carefully, for each next step could topple a kingdom . . . or tear them apart.

My Review:
I absolutely adored Darklight just as much as I loved Wondrous Strange. Well maybe even a bit more.

I love Kelley’s attitude. She’s strong, confident and has a lot of spunk. I love that she doesn’t wait around for things to go well, but that she takes action herself. Sonny is still one of my favourite characters ever. He’s protective of Kelley and wants nothing but the best for her. He will literally go to the nastiest, scariest place to keep her save. Okay he has too, but I bet that he would do the same if he had a choice. Even though Fennrys is no real competition for Sonny, I love the thought there might be a love triangle in the last book.

The plot is amazing as ever. It kept me entertained from beginning to end. I can’t wait to read the last book in this fabulous trilogy! If you haven’t started reading this series yet, you really need to!

Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston

2011-09-05T05:58:00.000-07:00

Title: Wondrous Strange
Written by: Lesley Livingston
Release date: September, 2009
Pages: 336
Source: Won@The Epic Rat
Thanks goes to the amazing Cecilia!!!!

My Feelings:

Description:
17 year-old Kelley Winslow doesn’t believe in Faeries. Not unless they’re the kind that you find in a theatre, spouting Shakespeare—the kind that Kelley so desperately wishes she could be: onstage, under lights, with a pair of sparkly wings strapped to her shoulders. But as the understudy in a two-bit, hopelessly off-off-Broadway production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, wishing is probably the closest she’s going to get to becoming a Faerie Queen. At least, that’s what she thinks... In this fun, urban fantasy, Kelley's off-stage life suddenly becomes as complicated as one of Shakespeare’s plot twists when a nighttime trip to Central Park holds more than meets the mortal eye.

My Review:
Okay, so let me start by apologizing to Lesley Livingston, after all it took me two years and a contest (that I won) to read Wondrous Strange. And now that I have, I am deeply ashamed of not reading this series sooner. OMG, I can’t tell you how much I loved this book.

Kelley is courageous, determined and feisty. I like this character a lot. She’s not the helpless young girl who needs help from others to survive, she’s strong on her own. Yay. And then there is Sonny. Can I just say that he’s totally swoon worthy. Yes, he is. I must take more strolls to the park to see if I can find myself a Sonny.

The story was fast paced and had twist and turns I wasn’t expecting. The characters where truly ALL awesome and I loved the building up moments to the actual event in the park. I’m so happy *big smile* that I won the entire series, because after reading the last page I can’t wait to find out what happens next for Kelley.

A must read for fairie-lovers!

In My Mailbox (44)

2011-09-03T05:19:00.000-07:00

Every Sunday or Saturday (depends on how I feel) I will show you the books that I bought, received or borrowed! This meme/idea is hosted by The StorySiren.

Tomorrow I'm going with my best friend to the boekenfestijn (book festival). It's in Utrecht and there will be books with 60-80% dicounts. Yay! So look for another IMB post next week.

The books that I BOUGHT are:
Cum Laude by Cecily von Ziegesar:
Who doesn’t love the show Gossip Girl? Seriously I love it. I haven’t read a lot of reviews for this book, but what I have read isn’t very good. Oh no! Anything with drama in it is going to be read by moi, even if it got little of it. So yeah, not expecting this to be my wow book of the month, but still hoping it’s enjoyable.

Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John:
I love the cover and description of this book. This book will be my first read that has a main character that’s deaf, very interested in it.

Where I Belong by Gwendolyn Heasley:
Okay, I admit, I only bought this book because I adore the cover. Yes, I am deeply in love with this cover. Look at it, it’s cute!

Reality Check by Jen Calorita:
This sounds like a dramalicious read and I love dramalicious books. LOVE.

Crush Control by Jennifer Jabaley:
Last week finally this book arrived at my doorstep. I have waited so long for this book to come. The cover is fabulous and I’m certain that it’s going to be awesome.

Dutch books:

Memoires van een bitch by Francesca Petrizzo: (Memoirs of a bitch)
This is a romance novel written in a memoir form. The bitch mentioned in the title is Helen of Tory.

Sophie, koningin van der Nederlanden by D.Hamer & Dianne Hamer: (Sophie, queen of the Netherlands)
This is a biography of Sophie. In my previous mailboxes you may have seen that I bought a couple of books written about the kings of Holland. Sophie was the wife of the third king, Willem III. Everything that is written about these kings I want to read. It’s like a obsession to find out everything I can about them and their lives. So of course a book about the wife of king Willem III is a must read for me.

Malinche by Laura Esquivel:
I have read two other books written by this author and both I adored. I’m curious if I’m going to love this one, but I’m sure I will. I love the cover of this book and when I saw it in Maastricht I knew I had to buy it.

What did you get in your mailbox?

Blood & Flowers by Penny Blubaugh

2011-09-01T12:26:00.000-07:00

Title: Blood & Flowers
Written by: Penny Blubaugh
Release date: March, 2011
Pages: 352
Source: Bought

My Feelings:

Description:
Three years ago, Persia ran away from her drug-addict parents and found a home with the Outlaws, an underground theater troupe. This motley band of mortals and fey, puppeteers and actors, becomes the loving family Persia never had, and soon Persia not only discovers a passion for theater but also falls in love with Nicholas, one of the other Outlaws. Life could not be more perfect.
Until an enemy with a grudge makes an unfair accusation against the group and forces them to flee the mortal world and hide in the neighboring realm of Faerie. But in Faerie, all is not flowers and rainbows—with bloodthirsty trolls, a hostile monarchy, and a dangerous code of magic, the fey world is not quite the safe haven the Outlaws had hoped for. And they must decide what’s more important: protecting their right to perform or protecting themselves.

My Review:
Blood & Flowers has everything for me to fall in love with it. But sadly beside the pretty cover, it wasn’t meant to be.

The problem I had, was with the narrator. Persia tells the story, but she felt more like a secondary character. I also found her a pushover. She had ideas, told them, but then everyone ignored her or rolled their eyes. She could have been tougher, say something back, but she just stood there, doing nothing. Really! So now it sounds like the other characters are awful, but they are not. They are just fine, but they could have listen more to Persia and her ideas. I really liked Max and Tonio. They reminded me of those two gay guys in Modern Family. Unfortunately there isn’t any character development and with so many characters I really missed that.

And then what’s up with the villain, Major, in this story? He didn’t feel that evil at all. I just felt sorry for the guy. Seriously, the outlaws are five people and one fey against one little *evil* men. They could easily have done some nasty faerie tricks with him, scare him to death and he would have run and never looked back. It also bothered me that they didn’t have a really good reason to hide in faerie. They felt more like a bunch of cowards. Ouch, I know!

I did enjoyed reading about the play and their performances. Those parts where very light-hearted and fun to read. I just wished there was more action, the actual feeling of magic and something wonderful happening when you actually enter Faerie.

I’m not a fan of this story and I am wondering if the sequel is going to get better.
If the reviews are going to be top notch, I may read it, but for now let’s say I tried to love it. I really did.

Dutch Cover Alert

2011-08-31T09:15:00.000-07:00

This idea/meme came from Jenny at Wondrous Reads.

The Netherlands – The United States

I absolutely love the UK cover of this book, it’s beautiful, but in these Dutch Cover Alert posts I only post the Dutch and US covers. So if I had to choose between these two, I will go for the US one. I just hate those butterflies on the Dutch cover. Why are there butterflies on that cover? I don’t get it and I actually have read the book. Weird. I also don’t like that it’s grey. Yeah, US.

You can find the Dutch cover of the first book in this series here.

Would you pick the Dutch or US cover?

Monthly Recap (August 2011)

2011-08-30T07:07:00.000-07:00

Books Read this month:
A blue so dark by Holly Schindler/ 4 hearts
Badlands by Seleste DeLaney/ 4 hearts
Blameless by Gail Garriger/ 4 hearts
Clean by Amy Reed/ 4 hearts
Solid by Shelley Workinger/ 4 hearts
Swapped by a Kiss by Luisa Playa/ 4 hearts
Winterborne by Augusta Blythe/ 3 hearts
Fury by Elizabeth Miles/ 2 hearts
The Twisted Tale of Stormy Gate by Christine Bell/ 2 hearts

My thoughts for this month:
This month I haven’t read a book that wowed me. And there isn’t really a book that was my favorite. If I had to choose a book that I was most looking forward to it would be Blameless. The previous book in this series ended with a massive cliffhanger and naturally I had to find out what would happen next. I also really liked Clean. Fury disappointed me. It has a amazing cover, but it did not deliver. So sad.

My thoughts for next month:
School starts again and I have a part-time job. So? So that means I have even less free time to read. I read during the train rides (and lunch breaks) and therefore hope that I can read and finish these books: Strange Angels, Betrayals by Lili St.Crow, Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston and Warped by Maurissa Guibord. Also I have three review books that I need to read.

Interview with...

2011-08-27T04:29:00.000-07:00

Part 2 of recommendations
My three recommendations of Adult books in three different genres.
You can read my first post for recommendations of YA books here.

Playing with the Grown-ups | Goodreads
Written by: Sophie Dahl
Genre : Contemporary Fiction

I absolutely adored Playing with the Grown-ups. Sophie Dahls writing is beautiful and it felt like I was reading a fairy tale. A strong, courageous young character and a mother who couldn’t get her act straight. It’s all about growing up and to finally realize that mom isn’t picture perfect. Definitely worth the read.

All My Friends Are Superheroes | Goodreads
Written by: Andrew Kauffman
Genre : Supernatural/Urban Fantasy

You should definitely put All My Friends Are Superheroes on your to buy list, because it’s AWESOME. It’s one of my favorite books and I will reread this book every year. It’s super funny, light hearted and so, so sweet. I can’t tell you a lot about this story, because I’m sure if I do I will spoil it for you. It’s a very short read and perfect for the beach or when you travel a lot. The end will blow you away, it’s spectacular.

Like Water for Chocolate | Goodreads
Written by: Laura Esquivel
Genre : Historical Fiction, Romance

Like Water for Chocolate is one of the best historical romance novels that I have read. And because I loved it so much, Laura Esquivel has become one of my favorite writers. Tita, the main character, puts all the emotions she has in her food and the people who eat it feel it too. It’s magical. The romance is beautiful, but heart breaking. The end of this book will take your breath away. I promise you will adore Like Water for Chocolate if you love a good romance.

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake | Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn | Yes, I’m cheating here, but who really cares and I just have to mention these awesome two books.

Saying goodbye to summer 2011

2011-08-25T04:20:00.000-07:00

This summer I learned:

Start making ‘to do’ lists again. Without them I forget what to do and buy the things I need to buy before school starts.
Start early with baking or else it will end up as a disaster. You’re not Nigella Lawson!
Glaring at veggies, won’t make them disappear. Damn.
How to tie a bow tie. Not, because I love Avril Lavignes style back in the days. But I have to wear one for work. Very modern right.

This summer I loved:

My visit to Maastricht. It’s such a beautiful city and I loved the shops. They have the most awesome bookstore, the building used to be a church.
Watching Master chef Australia. The first season is absolutely fantastic, the contestants are so, so good. But are they truly amateurs? Or are they secretly chefs and just want to show off their incredible skills. Can you tell that I’m jealous.
Buying the handmade soaps for my mom in Maastricht. She loves them. Yay!
Waking up at eleven and watch Spongebob Squarepants. He’s so funny.
The book my mom bought for me. A beautiful Dutch book about Sophie van Weimar, daughter of king Willem II. Sophie van Weimar by Thera Coppens.
Going to the subtropical swimming pool with my best friend.
The Musical Zorro. Loved it.

You guys, have you seen the commercial of Levi’s? It’s amazing. It makes me feel so happy! Watch it!

Dutch Cover Alert

2011-08-24T05:59:00.000-07:00

This idea/meme came from Jenny at Wondrous Reads.

The Netherlands – The United States

I like the US cover of this book. Even though the Dutch cover also has a summer vibe, I just like the simpleness of the US cover. I just want to get a copy of this book and read it next summer. Because the girl is sitting in a car on the Dutch cover I would think that she's going on a trip. I would pick the US cover this time.

Here you can find the description of the book!

You can find the Dutch cover of the first book in this series here.

Would you pick the Dutch or US cover?

A blue so dark by Holly Schindler

2011-08-23T04:44:00.000-07:00

Title: A blue so dark
Written by: Holly Schindler
Release date: May, 2010
Pages: 288
Source: Bought

My Feelings:

Description:
Fifteen-year-old Aura Ambrose has been hiding a secret. Her mother, a talented artist and art teacher, is slowly being consumed by schizophrenia, and Aura has been her sole caretaker ever since Aura's dad left them. Convinced that "creative" equals crazy, Aura shuns her own artistic talent. But as her mother sinks deeper into the darkness of mental illness, the hunger for a creative outlet draws Aura toward the depths of her imagination. Just as desperation threatens to swallow her whole, Aura discovers that art, love, and family are profoundly linked—and together may offer an escape from her fears.

My Review:
A blue so dark is a serious book with a serious tone to it. I’m not that kind of person that loves these kind of books. I mean give me a story with a lot of backstabbing, lies, secrets and paranormal creatures and I will devour it. But a book like this is not my cup of tea, but still I wanted to try it. As I expected, it took me days to read it. Not that it was bad, but just so intense.

Aura Ambrose is a strong character. Very strong. At times I wanted her to ask for help or just to run away, but she stayed and found the strength to go on. I didn’t liked her dad. He was selfish and was only looking out for himself. It felt like he wanted to forget about his past and that meant forget about his first daughter too. I hated him for doing that.

The story is emotional and very intense. I was angry, sad and happy, but most of the time just sad. I wanted someone to help Aura and her mother, but it felt like that never happened. I never read a story with someone who had this mental illness before and it was very intriguing to read about.

A blue so dark is a book you should get if you like these kinds of stories.

Interview with...

2011-08-20T03:36:00.000-07:00

Pick three books in three different genres that you recommend.
Only three books? Wow, that’s going to be hard, but I will do my best. Because I read Adult books too, I’m going to give my recommendations in two posts. This first post will be my recommendations for young adult books. My second post will be my recommendations for adult books. Post 2 will be up next week.

Carrie Pilby | Goodreads
Written by: Caren Lissner
Genre : Contemporary Teen Fiction

If you know me, you know that I don’t love to read about people with lots of issues. I seriously don’t, but this book is my absolute favorite of 2010. Carrie Pilby is absolutely brilliant. Carrie reminded me a bit of me, and that doesn’t happen very often in books. There’s also a lot of humor in the book, which makes it a very light read. You will keep turning the pages so fast just to find out if Carrie actually is going to change for the better. Carrie Pilby is super-entertaining.

Angel’s Fury | Goodreads
Written by: Bryony Pearce
Genre: Paranormal/Urban Fantasy

Angel’s Fury is one of my favourite reads for 2011. It got everything I love in this genre, suspense, plenty of action, likeable characters and a bit of romance. Angel’s Fury has that and one thing more that tops every book that I read so far in this genre, historical events. The characters have historical flashbacks, which where awesome to read. You got transported back to times as 1942 and earlier days. I highly recommend Angel’s Fury, it’s incredible.

Wildthorn | Goodreads
Written by: Jane Eagland
Genre: Historical Fiction

Wildthorn will make you want to know more about woman in the Victorian era. You could really tell that Jane Eagland has done a lot of research. While reading it, the words will transport you to England right next to Louisa. You can smell what she smells, feel what she feels and love who she loves. The mystery of who has put Louisa in Wildthorn is suspenseful. I was blaming a lot of people who could have done it, but I suck at mysteries and was surprised to find out who it actually was. Wildthorn is a book you should get.

Have you read any of these books? Do you have some recommendations for me?