Series Challenge 4 - reviews and summaries

So, it's about time I wrote up a post to gather all the reviews and summaries.

The reviews so far:
1) Samantha: Once Bitten, Twice Shy by Jennifer Rardin

The summaries:

and thus, the Mystery Read-A-Thon begins

For this weekend, I'm pretty much all set for the 3rd Mystery Read-A-Thon. Except for tonight, when I'll be out celebrating my Uncle's 50th birthday (Happy birthday, Bardo!), I will spend the weekend reading.

1) Give us five fun-facts about you.
I really have to figure out how to make buttons, so we have a button for the 4th Mystery Read-A-Thon in summer!
I completely forgot we'll celebrate my uncle's 50th b-day tonight. Sorry! Just prepared the panna cotta, will then make some mousse à la vanille.
Earlier this week I was worried what I would do if my male (but not gay) hairdresser would leave, and today Mom tells me he took over from the previous owners, so there's no need to worry.
I have two cats - they're brothers and we found them in our garden, sick with the cat flu or something like that and only the two of them survived :-( But they're hilarious! (Pictures will follow later this month, or maybe a vlog.)
I've semi-successfully weeded out Mt. TBR so now I'm back to about 300 books. What a relief!

2) What is on your TBR stack for the next two days?
John J. LeBeau's Collision of Evil - I'm excited!
Charlaine Harris' Dead Until Dark

3) Do you have any specific hopes and plans for this read-a-thon?
I want to finish the book. Everything else is a bonus.

4) Did you participate in the Mystery Read-A-Thon in the past?
Yes, I participated during the first read-a-thon, but couldn't make it for the second

5) If you already participated, can you give the new participants any tips on what to do and what not to do?
Don't overdo it, take short breaks - and keep hydrated... Nothing is worse than forgetting to drink something while reading and then having a headache. And pick shorter books for in between! Otherwise: Send everyone out so you can read and order-in.

Book Review: The Secret Year by Jennifer R. Hubbard

Author	Jennifer R. Hubbard
Title	The Secret Year
Publisher	Viking
Date of Publication	January 7, 2010
Page Count	192
ISBN	978-0-670-01153-7

Julia and Colt have been secretly seeing each other for a year when Julia dies in a car accident. She is from the Black Mountains, the rich part of town where country club parties are a regular event, while helives in the flats and it is an unusual thing that his brother even attends university. Keeping their relationship a secret - even from Julia's boyfriend - at first was not problem, but when she is dead, he can't even mourn her openly. When he receives Julia's journal made up in letters for him, he relives their year together while simultaneously trying to Especially now that he feels he played a part in her death?

What a debut! Jennifer R. Hubbard created a male lead character I could feel for. His pain, his grief practically jumped out of the pages while reading. While everyone, Julia's friends, her family, her boyfriend Austin, is allowed to openly grieve, Colt can't show his feelings, his loss, so it is all restricted to his thoughts and, to a part that is only visible to the reader, to his actions. He was was head over heels in love with Julia, so losing her shook his world as nothing else in his life did.

Hubbard begins to tell the story of a couple no one would be able to picture together with Colt finding out Julia is dead. He gets a phone call from a good friend, Syd, and from then on, we get to see his feelings, the emotional roller coaster he is in. From the beginning, is thoughts, feelings and actions are visible to us, Colt grew on me throughout the book and I was so very sad to see him go as I closed the book after reading the last page.

With Julia, it was quite different. At first, she is a likeable character, one we only get to know through Colt's eyes, and later through the letters to him she wrote in her personal diary (which she never intended to show Colt). It seems she is overwhelmed with the expectations everyone has for her, her family, her friends, her boyfriend, and maybe even society. She is, after all, the daughter of rich parents, she has to be perfect.

After a while, though, Julia's actions and her behavior seemed a lot like that of a spoiled brat. She might not mind getting somewhat dirty, but only when she wants to. Everything has to go her way, her meetings with Colt (whenever she wants it), them ignoring each other throughout the day when they're at school. It's her way or no way, which is even visible in her diary.

I can't wait to see more of Jennifer R. Hubbard's books on Mt. TBR. And I hope it will be sooner, rather than later.

Musing Mondays (January 11)

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about tidy bookshelves.

Are your bookshelves strictly books only? Or have knick-knacks invaded? Do your shelves also shelve DVDs? Photos? Why not snap a photo – I’m sure we all like to spy on other’s shelves!

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own Musing Mondays post, or share your opinion in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog). Thanks.

Now, I already posted my bookshelves a while ago (they're now filled with more books, but otherwise it looks the same). As I am not with my bookshelves, you'll have to make do with these shelves (or maybe I'll vlog with them in the background one say)...

I absolutely love my bookshelves and I have sorted all my books first by read and unread and then by author. My new bookshelves, who also divide my room) hold my DVDs and the unread books and the old shelves hold the books and mangas I already read.

Other than that, I only have a few knick-knacks on my shelves: three scented candles (vanilla, chocolate chip cake and some caramel-y dessert), a pen that looks a lot like that yellow bird on Sesame Street, two wooden mini-puzzles, one in form of two cats, the other in form of a bear. Oh, and the plastic and cloth flowers I got at various flea markets/festivities and the wooden rose a good friend of mine gave me as a present are all on top of the shelves, where nothing else would do much use (I can't reach up there anyway, so why not put those up there?)

In My Mailbox: lots of books

Time for another vlog! This time around, I'm going to share with you the books I read between December 30 and January 6 and the books I bought so far in 2010. Links (to GoodReads.com) for the books can be found below...



As mentioned in the vlog:
books read
in 2009
Vicki Lewish Thompson, Jill Shalvis & Rhonda Nelson: Better Naughty Than Nice
Sarah Mayberry: She's Got It Bad
in 2010
J.K. Rowling: The Tales of Beedle the Bard

books bought
Melissa Walker: Violet on the Runway
A.J. Jacobs: The Year of Living Biblically
Dia Reeves: Bleeding Violet
Christa Holder Ocker: auf Wiedersehen
Maggie Stiefvater: Shiver
Agatha Christie Death on the Nile (graphic novel/comic)
Nicholas Sparks: Dear John (movie tie-in)

challenges mentioned
World Religion Challenge
THIB! 20 Minute Book Club Challenge

And an addition, because it arrived in the mail on Saturday, but I didn't get it until today:
Jennifer R. Hubbard: The Secret Year

Note: In Your Mailbox is hosted by Kristi from The Story Siren. For more IMM posts and to post your link go her blog.

Bloggiesta - the summary

It's getting late-ish here and I can't concentrate any longer, so I'll call it a Bloggiesta and go back to reading for the rest of the evening.

Today, finished up officially following all Blogger bloggers where I could find the follow button.
Then I wrote my bio to send to Nicole at Linus' Blanket for her blog to include it in the That's How I Blog post (For those who haven't listened to it yet, even though I think most already know this great show, That's How I Blog is a web radio show on Blog Talk Radio hosted by Nicole where she interviews/chats with book bloggers and even has a 20 Minute Book Club at the end. And this book club even has it's own challenge!). Now all I have to do is take a picture of me and I can send it off to Nicole. I hope that's the case tomorrow!

Now, with these tasks, I completed the following during this Bloggiesta:

• updated blog rolls at this blog and at my German blog


• created gravatar and added it to blogger and twitter


• worked out a new review template that you will seen early this week


• edited labels on all blog posts


• created favicon, but couldn't add it


• created link on blog to follow me on twitter


• created sign up for posts right on the blog


• finished a few old reviewlets


• now officially following the bloggers I've been subscribing to for many, many months


• wrote bio for Nicole to put up

Now, there is still a lot to do, but I think I did okay for this Bloggiesta and maybe I'll just dedicate the week after my term finals to working on my blog. Oh, no! That's the carnival week, so let's say the week after that!

My second Bloggiesta update

Now that the second day for the Bloggiesta at Natasha's blog, Maw Books Blog is almost over (at least for me here in Germany), I figured it's about time I write another update.

Yesterday I updated my blog rolls for both my English blog here and German blog. Then, I also finally got myself a gravatar which I now use for my blogger profile and on twitter.

Today, I worked on my review template (which you'll see very soon, so let me know what you think!) and I fiddled with the labels on all my posts. Now it should be a lot more organized. I also created a favicon, but so far I haven't figured out how (or where) to upload it so that I can even think about putting it up there. (If you can help me, please, please let me know!)
Also, you can now follow me on twitter with the help of a cute button on the right side and you can even sign up to get my posts via e-mail.
Now, I have also finished up a few reviews I started writing a while ago. Technically, they're only reviewlets, though, because I waited far too long to be able to write a proper review...

What is left for this weekend (besides finally getting my a** up and work on the essay due next Friday) is thinking about who could be my blogging buddy (if you have an idea or could help me there, send me a short message at dreamworldofabookaholic AT googlemail DOT com - I'm generally very shy when it comes to meeting people or introducing myself to people, which doesn't really help me going out there, I'm afraid!) and work on a few more reviews.