Bookshelf tour - aka 'I own too many books'

I own way too many books :)

I think it's time for another bookshelf tour. Yes, I know, I've done it before, but I for one never tire of them, I love looking at other people's bookshelves, so I thought why not do another. I actually wanted to do it as a vlog, so I just spent a lot of time filming my bookshelves, but it didn't turn out so well, so I'm showcasing my shelves with lots of pictures instead. (Please ignore the dust you'll see in some of them, it's not easy to keep dark surfaces dustfree haha).

My books

Yes, I'm running out of shelf-space :)

Yes, I like pink, why?

yep, and hearts too...

and pretty covers...

So, that's it. You can, obviously, only see the front row of my books on my shelves, there are, eehhm, lots of books behind the books you can see pictured..and I have boxes full of books under my bed, in my closet....and so on...

Contrary to what you see in the pictures I'm actually not a very girly girl. Not outside my bedroom. My friends are mostly guys, I watch sports, hate shoes and make-up and other girly stuff, and I don't have many girl-friends..Yep, contradictory that's me :)

Booktalk #1 : How I treat my books

Booktalk-Books and Me-Talking about Books

Hello and welcome to my new *feature*, where I talk about Books and Me or Me and Books. Let's be honest, this will be me basically rambling about various topics concerning books. So if you don't like my ramblings you can just skip this feature. If you have any suggestions of topics, or any topic-ideas you'd like me to ramble about, please let me know so in the comments or send me an email.

- Please excuse the bad quality of my pictures, I have no idea what is wrong with my camera.

How I treat my Books

Attention, this is not for the faint of heart. There's some serious book-abuse going on here!

How do I treat my books? Well, let's just say I don't treat them very nicely at all. I'm a serious book-abuser, I should go to book-prison for it. I'm really not kidding. Luckily my hardbacks fare a whole lot better than my paperbacks. The first thing I do when I start a new book is that I break the spine. Yes, you heard correctly. Sometimes I break the spine so hard that the book almost falls apart, and pages slipping out from my books is NOT an uncommon occurrence for me!

My poor poor paperbacks

The second book-crime I commit is that I very rarely use bookmarks. So, yeah, I'm guilty of dog-earing (is that even a word?) the pages of my books. If a book is lucky and I can't put it down then it won't have that many dog-ears, if not, well you can imagine how my books look like afterwards..tihiii..

Poor dog-eared book

Book-crime 2.5 - When I don't dog-ear my book-pages then, gasp, I put my books  opened on the floor. Yes, I do. And I do this on the floor beside my bed, so sometimes, gasp, I step on them when I get up in the middle of the night. Poor poor books!

Bad book-owner, bad

Book-crime number 3 - I not only mutilate my books with my own hands, nope, I also torture them with water, sand, filthy hands and beverages. I read my books on the beach, by the pool, in the bathtub (if I could figure out a way to read while I'm showering I would do that to). I eat while I read, fatty things like potato-chips, I drink while I read, things that stain, like coffee.

Unfortunate encounter with water

So, these are my book-crimes (I'm sure I forgot a few)..If you see a book on my shelf with an unbroken spine, no watermarks or other stains, then you can be sure I haven't read it and you should stay away from it because it's NOT a good book.
My books are my friends, I'm a serious re-reader, on a well-read book you can see all the years it has spent with me, every emotion I've gone through, they have aged with me.

So, how do you treat your books? Would you *hate* me if you met me in real-life and saw my bookshelves?

Stuff

Hej y'all

Health issues
Some of you may have wondered what happened with the rest of my *chick-lit-week* posts. I had planned to do another three review-recommendation-thingies but as always, life got in the way. On Tuesday when I looked into the mirror I noticed a small white/grey spot in my iris. It hurt. Badly. I don't really know how to explain it, but that spot wasn't even with the rest of my eye, it stood out a bit. It didn't only hurt but it also tickled a bit and big was the temptation to try to take it away with my fingernail. The rest of the eye was very very red. Anyway, that meant I couldn't wear my contacts, I have no new glasses (the ones I have I see quite blurry with). So, I've been staggering around half-blind for most of this week, seeing almost nothing with my left eye. This means of course almost no reading/writing/posting. What do people do all day when they can't see? No tv, no walking in the sunshine, no reading, no studying, no writing....ghaaaa!
I feel a bit better now, the red is almost gone, the spot has become smaller.



Ideas?

I really liked writing these review-recommendation-thingies of chick-lit and I would very much like to continue these regularly. Now, of course, I can't call it chick-lit-week anymore. Any ideas what I could call this *feature*?? Any help with names is most welcome :D


Upcoming posts
Something I've been thinking about a lot lately, and actually wanted to start last Tuesday is a new regular instalment where I talk about Me and books, I'm thinking about calling it Booktalk..but maybe that's a bad idea?! The idea is that I talk about different topics concerning books, my first topic is going to be *How I treat my books*...

My second idea is a regular feature, like once a month or so where I ask a question...something like: Which books would you save in a fire?....

The third idea I had this week (after reading a few tweets of fellow book-bloggers)...is writing  some posts with titles like: My favourite contemporary YA, or Paranormal YA and so on. In which I would list my favourites in said *genre*. ..But maybe such posts are unnecessary?


Anyway, let me know what you think.

End of 2010 Survey (I'll post a second Best of later! )

Jamie, at The Perpetual Page Turner, came up with an awesome book blogging survey. I just decided decided to fill it out. I hope it's okay that I'm not concentrating only in YA but on all books I've read this year :/. Only 31 minutes left to 2011, so I should get this under way now! Check out the other responses and fill out your own here here!


1. Best Book of 2010?

Help, I can't even answer the first question :/ :S! I don't know which book is my personal favourite of 2010. There are so many! There are a lot of books I've given 5 stars to. Maybe I should say ' Becoming Scarlett' by Ciara Geraghty. On the other hand I've read a lot of awesome books this year. A Girl Like You by Gemma Burgess (I read it the day before yesterday) or The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa are some of my favourites and thus Best Books I've read 2010!

2. Worst Book of 2010?
I'm sorry to say that I don't have a worst book of 2010. If a book is bad I don't finish it so I wouldn't know how bad it is :D

3. Most disappointing book of 2010?
Ahh, there are many. Some of which I haven't finished. As Nightshade by Andrea Cremer ( Iwasn't in the mood) or Matched by Ally Condie or how about Jane by April Lindner (soo disappointing - I love Jane Eyre!)

4. Most surprising (in a good way) book of 2010?
Another difficult question, maybe I shouldn't have filled out this form after all. I can't answer this question directly either. But most of the YA I've read this year surprised me. Surprised me that I actually liked YA, that I should read it! Like North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley or the books by Sarah Dessen I've read this year. All of them made me start reading YA in earnest

5. Book you recommended to people most in 2010?
Well, I haven't recommended any books to people this year (apart from my recommendations and reviews on my blog). People I know don't read chick-lit or YA, they don't read in English...

6. Best series you discovered in 2010?
Well, as I've just started reading YA and the chick-lit I read doesn't really do series I don't have much to choose from :P. But I'd say The Iron Fey by Julie Kagawa - I love it!!!!

7. Favourite new authors you discovered in 2010?

Oh, there are many!! Justina Chen Headley, Kody Keplinger, Julie Kagawa, Gemma Burgess, Michele Holman, Sophie Jordan, Alicia Thompson and of course Stephanie Perkins!!! to just name a few!!!!

8.Most hilarious read of 2010?

A Girl Like You by Gemma Burgess or Katy Carter Wants a Hero by Ruth Saberton

9. Most thrilling unputdownable book of 2010?

The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa

10. Book you most anticipated in 2010?

Ehm, about every book I bought:)

11. Favourite cover of a book you read in 2010?

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

12. Most memorable character in 2010?

Etienne St.Clair in Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins or Ash in The Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa...or what about Bianca in The Duff by Kody Keplinger??

13. Most beautifully written book in 2010?

All of my favourites were beautiful in some way. I really liked the writing in The Iron Fey though.

14. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2010?

Well I really shouldn't have answered this 'poll'. ALL OF THEM. They all have an impact, they all move me, they all change me...if not they are rubbish!

15. Book you can't believe you waited UNTIL 2010 to finally read!

The books by Sarah Dessen - I'm late to YA- obviously!

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 :)

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!

In My Mailbox #1 (New Books # 26)

In My Mailbox #1

In My Mailbox is hosted by The Story Siren

Here is what I've got this week:

When it Happens by Susane Colasanti
Cruel Summer by Alyson Noël
Labor of Love  by Rachel Hawthorne

From Notting Hill with Love ... Actually by Ali McNamara

Nothing Like You  by Lauren Strasnick

Book recommendations #2

Have you all read The Duff  by Kody Keplinger?

If not, and you like a very very well-written YA-novel with problems, issues and sex ..read it. I read it in one night when I couldn't sleep. It was my saviour. I loved it.
I really recognized myself in it. The self-sabotaging streak we all have, at least I did, I didn't use the same method, but I could relate. But most of all I got sucked into the story by the wonderful writing.

Book recommendations #1

Hi everybody,
Welcome to a new instalment on my blog.
As you all know (well, the you who still bother to come here now and then) I don't and didn't have much spare time lately. I've started an intern-ship that is part of my university-studies and is only for five weeks, I have two and a half week left, that means I'm halfway through. On top of all that I came down with a nasty eye-infection that still hasn't healed properly and made reading, at least in the first two weeks, really painful (not that that did stop me much anyway). So, I don't have time/eyes to read as much as I would like to and I have even less time to write something here which makes reviews a very hard task for me. So,I spend a big chunk of time every day travelling, at least three hours a day I spend on a train to and from *work*, which actually gives me some opportunity to read, good books and bad books and I thought I could write a few lines about the books I read, give you recommendations until I find the time again to write proper reviews.

The book that has impressed me most these past weeks is the utterly breathtaking and wonderful North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley

North of Beautiful is actually one the best books I've read so far this year. It leaves you thinking, it still hasn't left my mind, it has oozed through my skin, is still surrounding me. Apparently there are two kinds of North, the True North and the Magnetic North. But there are many kinds of beautiful, right? Or is there a True Beautiful? Is it only skin-deep. Shallow?

Yeah, well, apparently I'm in love with this book. READ IT! :)

New Books # 21

This week I only got one book (bought - ordered by me) in addition to the four books I bought in Stockholm at the beginning of this week. Anyway, it's a book I've been waiting for a long time and the Swedish mail took a looooong time to send it to me...arrgh

I have a few reviews lined up, hopefully I'll have time to post them soon (my days are busy with the intern-ship at the University library and the travel there, which takes my about 4 hours every day due to delayed trains)

If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home Now - Claire LaZebnik

Just Arrived #15

Today I got four book-deliveries. Lucky Me :) and earlier this week I got another one. So many books, so little time to read.

Anyone for Me? - Fiona Cassidy; Slicker - Lucy Jackson

The Thing about Jane Spring - Sharon Krum; I say Tomato - Katie Wall; Vintage Magic - Sally Anne Morris

Cover themes #1 - Umbrella

Because it's raining outside, a lot, and I haven't slept all night because of it (it's too loud against my window) I thought I'd treat you with some gorgeous book-covers with an umbrella-theme

No time for reading :(

Hello
I think I'm going to have to take another hiatus --again! I'm so sorry! I'm renovating the kitchen right now. We got the last bits out today :S Now it is an empty room. (It's now even harder for me to lose some of my overweight, because I have no freeze, no oven, no stove. That means takeaway all day, right?). Anyway, due to all this I barely have time to read, and soon uni will start again...oh, what to do. I have so many plans for this blog. I want to have several pages, a review policy and write more reviews too. I haven't quite figured out yet how to do all that technical stuff...but somehow.
Anyway, please check-in here anyway, who knows, maybe I can steal away for an hour or two and read.

Just Arrived #13

Just Arrived # 13
(and hey, today's the 13th too :) )

Hook, Line and Sink Him - Jackie Pilossoph

I was only partially dressed when the postman rang on the door - I hid myself behind the door and took the delivery. I guess I seemed somewhat desperate! I hope the get a second delivery later today, 'fingers-crossed'

Review # 3 -' Forget You' by Jennifer Echols

There is something magical with books like these. I haven't quite figured out yet what it is. Fact is that I liked the emotions  Forget You evoked in me so much that I found myself reading slower and slower towards the end. When I'd reached the final page, closed the book, it felt like a break-up, it hurt. I haven't been able to start a new book since then (But don't worry, I'll force myself to jump right back in later today).
Anyway, Forget You is about control. Forcing control where you can't have control. Control situations you can't control. And people and situations that control you that you want to be free of. And it is about forgetting on various different levels. Trying to forget what you can't forget and forgetting what you so desperately want to remember.

I loved Jennifer Echols' previous book Going Too Far, I can't decide which one I liked more.
This is a really precious book for me, so check it out if you long to feel like a teenager again.

Just Arrived #12

It felt like birthday and christmas rolled into one when I finally could order new books again in the beginning of last week after not been able to for almost a month. Today they arrived! Yay :)

The Liberation of Alice Love - Abby McDonald; 29 - Adena Halpern, Forget You - Jennifer Echols

Girl Racers - Janet Gover; Just Look at me Now - Nell Dixon

Hello Again - A few short reviews/ratings

Hello again!

I'm back in Sweden, which means I have my 'bigger' laptop back ( it was getting a bit annoying with my 10.1'' laptop). Anyway, I had a great time this last month and I did a lot of reading. Because it would take too much time right now I've decided to only give you a quick run-down of the books I've read ( I saw that there are a lot of reviews out there already and I'm kinda late - due to the 'no-internet-connection).

I thought I'll start with the one i liked the most and continue with the others (without order - I could never decide which one would be second, third and so one..it all depends on the mood, they are all different somehow..and anyway it is after all what I think, my subjective opinion..my perception changes everyday anyway).

• You're the One that  I don't Want - Alexandra Potter                                                                         I'll be honest with you here. I've been waiting like forever for this book. I've had really big/great expectations. I've been in love with A.Potters books ever since I've read: Be Careful What You Wish For, I've liked all her books since and the ones before that with the exception of Me and Mr. Darcy. For once a book actually lived up to my high expectations. I really loved it. I read it in one afternoon at the pool. I didn't notice the warmth, didn't have the urge to go into the water. I just wanted to read the book! Of course it wasn't perfect, no book is. On the blurb on the back of the book it states that Lucy was 18 when she first met Nate, on the first page inside the book it says that she was 19. Why, why, why, do these mistakes happen? They make my crazy! The other thing I didn't like was the 'naivety' of Lucy when she first got back together with Nate again, she should have known that something wasn't right. And what's up with all the randomness? But I really liked the prose, the writing, the interesting plot, the newness of the plot, the moral of the story. I greatly enjoyed this book!
• Single in the City - Michele Gorman                                                                                                   I had no idea what to expect of this book. I heard that it was once called: The ex-pat diaries. The blurb and the title simply made this book irresistible for me. Me being somewhat of an ex-pat myself. ( I moved to Sweden by myself when I was 18). I found Single in the City simply hilarious. It's funny, wonderful and a really great holiday/summer read.
• The Not-So Secret Diary of a City Girl - Abby Spencer                                                                     This book was a bit different from the others. I liked it, of course. But I just couldn't see the connection between the blurb and the book. And what is up with it's title? Her diary is on-line for like five minutes. I really was expecting something different. But this book really is worth reading. It had me interested from page one to the end. I liked Alex, I liked Laura - smart and girly and human (like all women are, the men just haven't realised it yet!). What this book needs is a name-change so that it stops misleading the readers.
• The Final Hitch - Samantha Scott-Jeffries                                                                                          As you all know, I never finish books I don't like. So even this one was good-enough to finish. I've read the first one in the series - I Do, I Do, I Do  and really liked it, so of course I had to read the second one. I found it a bit too predictable, Harrisson a bit too nice/likeable, and the plot a bit too slow. But all in all it was a good enough beach-read.
• Katy Carter Wants a Hero - Ruth Saberton                                                                                          This little gem really really surprised me. What a wonderful book. This book has it all. A likeable funny, clumsy, real heroine and a relationship/connection that feels so real you find yourself getting jealous. It goes straight to the heart I tell you. This book is so funny, so wonderful, the storytelling feels so real, so close to the heart that you'll never want it to end. You'll dread the final page, you'll want it to go on forever. Ok, maybe I got a little carried away with this one. But, please, give it a chance. It may surprise you!                                                

Desperate Book-Shopping

Hello everybody!
I'm back from Spain again. I had a wonderful time, lot of time to read. The 9 books I brought with me weren't enough and the last few days were quite boring, suffering from withdrawal anxiety from having nothing to read.
Anyway, now I'm back in a place where I at least have an internet-connection and this morning I hurried to town. Of course, there were no english books, or at least, the ones they had I also have. But I managed to find one:

Melissa Hill - Please forgive me

I normally don't like to read books that are translated, thereof the problem with finding books this morning. I like to read books in their language of origin. In the end I bought these three books, with a little compromise:

Jessica Bird - Wenn es plötzlich Liebe ist; CécileKrug - Die Sache mit Edgar; Silke Neumayer - Die Männerversteherin

Anyway, it's only the first one that is originally in english, the second one is translated from french and the third actually is written by a german author. They looked lovely so I bought them :)