My Life...

 

That's me right now!

Do you know the part of the good old movie "You've got Mail" where Tom Hanks moves out and tries to write an e-mail to Meg Ryan trying to tell her what he's been up to? That's me right now!

At the moment my life came in the way of blogging - my university life to be more exact. For a long long time I had HUGE problems getting my priorities straight and somehow university courses and studying was never high on my list. Everything else was more important. Everything! Which not only annoyed me and unfortunately my parents too (yes, I do understand why) but it also left me with a bunch of really hard exams that I kept putting off. I got sidetracked extremely easily. 

 

Finally this semester I managed to get my priorities straight but that hit me one evening and I was not prepared in any way - blog wise. That's why I only have many many ideas and almost no blog posts up. I only have five more weeks of university this semester and after that I have three whole months of glorious summer holidays (I feel so priviledged) and I will finally have enough time to work on the ideas I have, participate in read-a-thons, be outside and get a tan, etc. 

I have an exam on Saturday so that is why there isn't anything going on on the blog this week and but I plan on writing a lot of blog posts on Sunday because I have a lot of chatching up to do and I miss writing and talking to you guys. But until Saturday afternoon you can be sure that I look a bit like this:

...in pictures

 This week's topic will be:

Smooth  / Glatt

Please link you post to mine in time. 

Submission period is between the 20th and the 27th of May

(11:59 pm CET).  

I'm currently swamped with university stuff to write and major studying to do. I know that I have been really bad posting my pictures over the last weeks but I promise I'll post them as soon as I have a bit of room to breath which will hopefully be the case at the end of next week. 

Why didn't anyone tell me that I forgot the Linky for Purple last week?
I included it in this week's post. You can link both your Purple and your Smooth picture below.

...in books

Sadly Bout of Books is over now :(

To be honest; this Bout of Books read-a-thon wasn't the most sucessful for me but I managed to not only stick to reading at least an hour but I also kept my priorities in order and studied quite a lot daily. I usually have huge problems see studying as more important than reading but this week I finally managed and this feels like a HUGE accomplishment.


My Stats:

• I read at least an hour a day even on days when I was super busy.
• I finished 2 books (yeah!) - The Sweetest Thing by Jill Shalvis and Cinder by Marissa Meyer
• Thursday (the day of my exam) was my slowest reading day because I did a lot of last-minute studying and on my way home after exam I met a friend on the tram and chose talking to him over reading my book. 
• Sunday was my best reading day with 241 pages. I alternated my day between reading and studying (not in that order).
• Overall I read 3 books:
• The Sweetest Thing by Jill Shalvis
• Cinder by Marissa Meyer
• Educating Jack by Jack Sheffield
• Overall I read 813 pages. Now I'm impressed - I thought it would be a lot less. 

The next Bout of Books read-a-thon will be from August 19th to 25th

For more information check the Bout of Books website.

...in books

Review

Reunited

by Hilary Weisman-Graham

First sentences:

“Is the blindfold really necessary?“ Alice asked her parents.

Summary:

1 Concert
2000 Miles
3 Ex-Best Friends
Alice, Summer, and Tiernan are ex-best friends.
Back in middle school, the three girls were inseparable. They were also the number one fans of the rock band Level3.
But when the band broke up, so did their friendship. Summer ran with the popular crowd, Tiernan was a rebellious wild-child, and Alice spent high school with her nose buried in books.
Now, just as the girls are about to graduate, Level3 announces a one-time-only reunion show.
Even though the concert’s 2000 miles away, Alice buys three tickets on impulse. And as it turns out, Summer and Tiernan have their own reasons for wanting to get out of town. Good thing Alice’s graduation gift (a pea-green 1976 VW camper van known as the Pea Pod) is just the vehicle to get them there.
But on the long drive cross-country, the girls hit more than a few bumps in the road. Will their friendship get an encore or is the show really over?

source: Goodreads

My opinion:

Road Trip!

If you follow my blog for a while now, you will know that I love road trips – being on one, reading about it or seeing it in a movie. I love that everything gets this special dynamic when on a road trip and that being “stuck” in a car with people usually leads to interesting situations.

Reunited was such a book. The synopsis was really promising; going on a trip with your two ex-best friends (oh, how I love this description) to see a one-time-only show of your favorite band that unfortunately broke up shortly after you did; how awesome will that be.

I enjoyed the book and I liked the idea but it wasn’t as captivating as I thought it would be. Don’t get me wrong – it was a nice story of three girls who grew up together and were now, many years later, “forced” to spend time with each other. The situations they had to face and maneuver through were hilarious but the ending was a bit obvious for me.

The girls were lovely (most of the time) and typical 18 year old girls with boy- and parents-problems. They were convincing and real.

So if you are looking for an entertaining road trip novel than pick up Reunited. It’s a quick and fun read with lovely characters and a nice storyline.

For more information about Hilary Weisman-Graham visit her Homepage, Blog, Facebook and Twitter pages. 

...in music

If you follow me on Twitter you might have read that I was at a concert Monday night. My parents gave me two tickets for David Garrett's concert in Vienna and me and my best friend, who is the only one I know who listens to classic on a regular basis, had such a blast.

David Garrett is a German violinist which is living in New York and he plays a crossover of classic and modern music. I heard him play Beethoven as well as Coldplay or Metallica. I love the sound of the violin in general and his way of introducing the masses to classical music is wonderful.

Okay, let's be honest here too - he's really good looking and funny too. Between songs he told stories about things that happened to him during his last tour and some were so funny that I almost couldn't breeze. A friend of mine went to the last three concerts he played in Vienna and loves him so much and now I totally understand why.

credit goes to my friend Berni

The concert was an entertaining show with lots of good music, wonderful musicians, awesome dancers and David Garrett himself was just to die for (and I don't mean because he was so handsome - which of course played a minor role too). He even had a small stage that was almost next to my seat so he was basically standing 10 meter away.

The playlist included songs like Viva La Vida by Coldplay, the Overture of Carmen, Michael Jackson's Earth song, Beethoven, Chopin, Argentine tango, ACDC's Thunderstruck and many many more.

Here are some of my favorite songs for you:

If you like interesting music and modern takes on classical music you should listen to David Garrett's songs. I will try to get tickets for the next concert he's playing in Vienna because this one was just awesome. I'm still on a high today.

...in books

Review

Simply Irresistible

by Jill Shalvis

First sentences:

Maddie drove the narrow, curvy highway with her past still nipping at her heels at fourteen hundred miles.

Summary:

Maddie Moore's whole life needs a makeover.

In one fell swoop, Maddie loses her boyfriend (her decision) and her job (so not her decision). But rather than drowning her sorrows in bags of potato chips, Maddie leaves L.A. to claim the inheritance left by her free-spirited mother - a ramshackle inn nestled in the little coastal town of Lucky Harbor, Washington.

Starting over won't be easy. Yet Maddie sees the potential for a new home and a new career--if only she can convince her two half-sisters to join her in the adventure. But convincing Tara and Chloe will be difficult because the inn needs a big makeover too.

The contractor Maddie hires is a tall, dark-haired hottie whose eyes and mouth are making it hard for her to remember that she's sworn off men. Even harder will be Maddie's struggles to overcome the past, though she's about to discover that there's no better place to call home than Lucky Harbor.

source: Goodreads

My opinion:

I discovered Jill Shalvis’ books by coincidence last year and instantly fell in love with them. I read the first three books in the Lucky Harbor series and bought the first six but I failed to write a review for them after reading. Epic Fail!

So, I decided to pick Simply Irresistible up again, reread it and finally write a review because I really love this series.

Simply Irresistible is the first book in Jill Shalvis’ Lucky Harbor series and introduces us to the three estranged sisters, Tara, Maddie and Chloe and the inhabitants of Lucky Harbor – all of them, especially the hot guys. Why are they all living in a small seaside town in Washington and can’t be found here?

The three sisters, even though they are as different as possible, are such a lovely bunch and after some differences about how to deal with the inn, they become a really good team. Each and every one of the characters introduced in this book is nice and lovely and someone I would love to know in real life.

Simply Irresistible starts when Maddie, Tara and Chloe arrive in Lucky Harbor to take inventory on an inn they inherited from their mother. Maddie wants to renovate it and make it into a flourishing business because her life is upside down at the moment and she can’t think of anything better than to start fresh. Tara, also known as the Steel-Magnolia, just wants to get out of this town as soon as possible and Chloe is a free spirit and cannot think of anything worse than being in one place for long.

Entering Jax, a really super hot carpenter/town lawyer/major/bar co-owner, who not only helps renovating the inn but also helps Maddie find herself.

Simply Irresistible is a wonderfully written, entertaining book that I had difficulties putting down and if you are not against reading slightly steamy scenes you will like it.

The books in the Lucky Harbour series are:

• Simply Irresistible
• The Sweetest Thing
• Head Over Heels
• Lucky In Love
• At Last
• Forever And A Day
• Under The Mistletoe
• It Had To Be You
• Always On My Mind (expected publication: September, 2013)
• Once Upon A Time (expected publication: February, 2014)

For more information about Jill Shalvis visit her Homepage, her Blog and her Facebook and Twitter page.

...in pictures

 This week's topic will be:

  Purple / Lila

Please link you post to mine in time. 

Submission period is between the 13th and the 20th of May

(11:59 pm CET).  

I'm currently swamped with university stuff to write and major studying to do. I know that I have been really bad posting my pictures over the last weeks but I promise I'll post them as soon as I have a bit of room to breath which will hopefully be the case at the end of next week.