Merry Christmas

Wow

Wow, I'm really not used to all this responsibility followers entail, but I'm really honored and very happy, Yes, I'm a aware that it isn't a big number, but I've been blogging for over two years now and I had a constant following of five people, so ..(and I really appreciate you all! )...

Anyway, you're probably all waiting for some insightful, or eeh very personal book review of mine. I hate to disappoint you, I still haven't been able to read a book since I've finished 'Anna and the French Kiss' I guess it has spoiled me tremendously. And, on another note, I still don't feel comfortable to read a lot. After this autumn's scare I had ( I was practically blind on my left eye, and the pain was even worse - for almost THREE moths -- and what am I without reading??). So I have to take it slow, step by step.

I still find it hard to sleep a lot, or  *rest-my-eyes* or at least *not-use-my-eyes*  (that means NO reading, no studying, no watching the telly, no nothing!), because I get really restless, feel like I miss out on so much, but I wasn't really prepared for the bad conscience, for feeling bad, because NOW I have a RESPONSIBILITY one I really really want to deliver on.

I've been thinking a lot about the books of this year lately, should I or shouldn't I mix YA and chick-lit, and I was/am still very thankful for all your inputs. Today I got an idea about different categories, because lets face it, not all books fulfill the same *needs*..haha. But I've got some problems of originality so far...

Anyway, that's all I wanted to say today, hope you all have some patience with me (again - I'm sorry), if you have any suggestions at all so feel free to send me an e-mail or comment below, I'm off now - reading, until my eye(s) hurt.

Happy (or Merry - depending where you are from) Christmas and above all

HAPPY READING :)

New Books # 30

New Books

Postie didn't come today, so I guess I'll have to wait for more books until Monday, and I'm not good at waiting, grrr. Yesterday I was supposed to go to Stockholm, where I wanted to browse the book-store where they actually sell books in English, but due to lots of  snow and a storm and ensuing chaos I was forced to stay at home.

So, this is what I got since my last New Books :

Nightshade - Andrea Cremer; Firelight - Sophie Jordan; The Iron King - Julie Kagawa

Beautiful Covers - but what's up with all these partial faces?

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer
Firelight by Sophie Jordan
The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

Halo - Alexandra Adornetto

Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

New Books #29

New Books

Since there won't be any more IMM's this year I've decided to post the new books I get, whenever I get them.
So, today I got two books, I'm really excited....But there are still 5 books missing...'postie where are you? You haven't gone to the North Pole I hope, I know it's a bit confusing right now, with the temperature so low and the masses of snow...but please please....'

The Iron Daughter - Julie Kagawa; Walking Back to Happiness - Lucy Dillon

The Iron Daughter - Julie Kagawa
Walking Back to Happiness - Lucy Dillon

These are two of the most gorgeous covers I've ever come across. I already knew that The Iron Daughter was beautiful but it's even more so in reality, and there are like *actual* snowflakes on the cover of Walking Back to Happiness...so pretty!

In My Mailbox # 3 (New Books # 28)

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren , find out more about it on her IMM-page.

As usual I'm doing things in the wrong order: I always read the last page first ( interested in the how instead of the where), this is only my third IMM even though I've been blogging now for over two years, I read my first book for adults when I was 11 ( Outlander - Diana Gabaldon) my first historical romance when I was 13 (The Duchess - Jude Deveraux) lots of Crime, Drama and the Classics after that. I started reading chick-lit a few years back and now I've recently discovered YA..this time next year I'll probably be reading children's books with lots of pictures in them. Anyway, these are the books I've bought this week, there should've been a few more, I guess my Postie got lost in the snow :P

New Books this week

The Nature of Jade - Deb Caletti; Same Difference - Siobhan Vivian; Skin Deep - E.M.Crane

 Deb Caletti - The Nature of Jade
 Siobhan Vivian  - Same Difference
 E.M. Crane - Skin Deep

Sleepaway Girls - Jen Calonita; Wish You Were Here - Catherine Clark; Nothing but the Truth (and a few white lies) - Justina Chen Headley

Jen Calonita - Sleepaway Girls
Catherine Clark - Wish You Were Here
Justina Chen Headley - Nothing But the Truth (and a few white lies)

The Six Rules of Maybe - Deb Caletti; Take Me There - Carolee Dean; You Are Here - Jennifer E.Smith

Deb Caletti - The Six Rules of Maybe
Carolee Dean - Take Me There
Jennifer E.Smith - You Are Here

Matched - Ally Condie; Anna and the French Kiss - Stephanie Perkins; The Thirteenth Chime - Emma Michaels

Ally Condie - Matched
Stephanie Perkins - Anna and the French Kiss ( my short and very personal review here )
Emma Michaels - The Thirteenth Chime

Bad Apple - Laura Ruby; Into the Wild Nerd Yonder - Julie Halpern

Laura Ruby - Bad Apple
Julie Halpern - Into the Wild Nerd Yonder

I'm so excited :) So, what did you get?

Review # 7 - 'Anna and the French Kiss' by Stephanie Perkins

Anna and the French Kiss - Stephanie Perkins

So, I wasn't going to review this book. Honestly, I wasn't! There has been such a big hype about this book, everybody is raving about it, every bookblogger out there is reviewing it and every single one of them loves it. So, I thought, why should I? Well, this is going to be a short review, mostly written for myself, so I'll remember the feelings and using it as an outlet for the feelings and emotions still lingering in my body.

Anna was looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. So she's less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris - until she meets Étienne St.Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all ... including a serious girlfriend. 

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss? Stephanie Perkins keeps the romantic tension crackling and the attraction high in a debut guaranteed to make toes tingle and hearts melt.

Anna and the French Kiss has been a very emotional read for me. I picked it up and couldn't put it down until I've read the very last sentence. I've been dreaming about it last night and I woke up with all the emotions still lingering in my body. The emotions going through my whole body while reading were bitter-sweet. I love Paris. I really really love Paris, sometimes I miss the City so much it hurts and I have trouble breathing. I try to visit at least once a year, this year though it just wasn't possible and reading about it, feeling the asphalt under my feet, having the different scents and smells in my nose, feeling the air against my skin - let me tell you, it was pure agony. Like when someone puts a big chocolate-cake in front of you but you're not allowed to taste! Perkins does a beautiful job of making Paris come alive on the pages, it's beautifully written.
And the second thing, I know/knew a boy/guy like Étienne, memories are a tricky thing and not everybody has a happy-ending.
So, my rant is over. I love this book. Really really love it. It is one of the best books this year. Books like Anna and the French Kiss are the reason why I read. Why I sort through all those bad ones out there, why I keep going, to finally find a jewel like this one and then the quest starts anew. I would give it 10 stars if I could, hihi :)

Question # 2: What do you do with all your books?

I have quite a few books to arrive this week so this morning I stood in my room contemplating what to do with them, where to put them.  There's simply no space left!

I have six bookcases in my little room, of various sizes. I store books in four boxes under the bed, in one box under a bookcase and I have a small little room for storage, where I have lots of boxes and shelves with books.

So, this morning I had to clear out one shelf, believe me, it wasn't easy!
Now I'm wondering what do you with all your books? How do you manage to find a place for them?

Now, it looks like this:

Review # 6 - 'The One Before the One' by Katy Regan

The One Before the One - Katy Regan

To Do List

Make something with Quinoa.

Do something ' cultural' every week.

Dump married boyfriend.

Thirty-two year old Caroline Steele is a woman in denial. After calling off her wedding to teenage sweetheart Martin, she should be moving on. Instead she's racked with guilt, downing her sorrows with Pinot Grigio and has developed a penchant for dressing up in her never-used wedding dress.

Add to this the fact that she is head over heels with the delectable, but unavailable Toby Delaney and it's clear her life is not going to plan.

Then her little sister Lexi comes to stay for the summer and life gets even more complicated. How is Caroline supposed to advise her on matters of the heart when she can't even come clean about her secret lover? In order to find The One, Caroline needs to deal with The Ones before...

I've been looking forward to this book ever since I've read Katy Regans first novel One Thing Led to Another , a warm and funny novel about an unexpected pregnancy. So I was very excited when The One Before the One finally arrived on my doorstep (the book, not a guy :( ) and I had to start reading it immediately. I was sucked into it from the start. I already had tears in my eyes after the prologue, I could feel the heartache and the guilt.
The actions of the main character, Caroline, would normally make me dislike her, she's dumping her fiancé and boyfriend of fourteen years right before their wedding, she's involved with a married man and she's lying to her family. But Caroline is human, she's hurting. The lists she's always writing are her desperate ways to get control over her life. She's lost and unsure of herself and also a bit naive. Caroline is warm and funny and totally likeable despite her actions.
The second character, her little sister, Lexi, makes the book interesting and keeps you reading .It's the relationship between those two, its development and the role Lexi plays that makes this book an entertaining and wonderful read. I really liked how Regan added so many layers to Lexi, and how she was nothing like she seemed to be from the start.

I really enjoyed this book, I liked to read about the emotional journey these two women made, how they changed and developed.
I wanted to read on forever, I was sad when I reached the final page. It is written beautifully, the words flow, its pace is exactly right, the emotions feel real.

4.5 stars from me!

Thank you & Question

Well, first of all I'd like to thank all my new followers and all you kind bloggers out there who left a comment yesterday! And thanks to Bookalicious for  promoting me on your blog and your help on Twitter

Well, I'm in the middle of writing my masters-thesis and don't have as much time to read as I'd like to, but I try to squeeze in some books anyway..ok, I admit, I'll try to get some thesis-work/writing done when I take a break from reading :P

Sweden, winter 2010

This year is slowly but surely coming to an end, and with the arrival of 2011 a list of my top 5 or  top10 of 2010 has to be compiled. Now to my question, I've lately discovered the joy of reading YA-novels but I still like Chick-lit and other non-YA-books. Now, should I do two separate top 5 lists or only one? And is it better to have a top 5 or a top 10? Should I only include books that have been published during 2010 or all books that I've read during this year? What do you think?

Now, back to the books! (to study, not pleasure)
I'll be back later with a review....(But first I'll have to decide which book I'm going to review though)

In My Mailbox #2 (New Books # 27)

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren , find out more about it on her IMM-page.

I've had kind of a bad week, I only got three books. It's mostly due the snow and the bad weather, my ordered books just didn't arrive. But be sure to come back here next week, I have lots and lots of  (mostly) YA-books on the way!

Coming Home and Could it be Magic? by Melanie Rose

After I've read Down to Earth by Melanie Rose recently, which I loved, loved, loved, I just had to order her other two books, aren't they cute??
Coming Home - Melanie Rose
Could it be Magic? - Melanie Rose

Psych Major Syndrome - Alicia Thompson

The third book I've received this week is Psych Major Syndrome by Alicia Thompson. I've already read it (rather quick, in only a few hours) and I've written a very very short review here.













This is what was in my Mailbox this week...so, what did you get?