Saturday Snippet: Happy Holidays!

Hello everyone!

So, due to a large list of circumstances, and also because I feel like I need a bit of a break, this is my last blog post of 2015.

I know, right?! The year has gone by SO FAST.

Never fear though, I'll be back in January with more movie, TV show and book reviews, all for your enjoyment.

In the mean time - happy holidays!

xx

*image not mine

Tome Thursday: The Omega

Hello everyone!

Right, so lately I've been going through more recent books I've read, despite the fact that I still have a huge list of them backlogged from my vacation and through autumn. Although apparently, according to Goodreads, I've only read twenty-two books in the entire year of 2015 ... well.

I may have forgotten to add them onto my list there, because I'm pretty sure I have more than 22 of them on my reviews!

In any event.

I've been sort of jumping through genres recently, going through what seems to fit my mood best, and it might be something historical (like A Breath of Snow and Ashes) or it might be something slightly more ... well, shall we say religious? I mean, Laini Taylor's Days of Blood and Starlight have both demons and angels in there, so there might as well be something about religion.

And then of course, every once in a while a good Greek Mythology book comes along, or something along those lines, and then I settle down quite cozily to read it. I'm talking, of course, of Lizzy Ford's Omega.

Talkie Tuesday: Edge of Tomorrow

"We should just reset."

Hello everyone!

So tonight's blog post is probably not going to be one of those sterling, praise-waxing I usually post. Then again, I usually kind of like the movies I watch, but every once in a while I run into one that I could have done without.

I'm not saying that's a bad thing. Obviously, tastes differ and some things just aren't for everyone, especially not with as many people as the world has on the surface.

But this surprised me because before I watched the movie the initial reviews and response was positive, largely so, although I will admit I haven't gone back to check whether or not it changed at all after I returned from my summer vacation (yes, this is still one of those from way back when, and hey look, it's almost Christmas too!)

Maybe I should have known it for what it was, but a good friend of mine raved about it and so I kept my hopes up. But Edge of Tomorrow absolutely failed to deliver in my opinion.

Saturday Snippet: Christmas Trees

Hello everyone!

This post is going to be kind of short, because, really, what I did today was mostly just a) freeze my behind off outside helping my sister with some stuff for university and b) decorate Christmas trees.

Yes, as in, plural, because we have three.

Well, four technically, but the fourth hasn't happened yet.

xx

*image is mine

Tome Thursday: A Thousand Nights

Hello everyone!

Apparently, I have so many books reviewed in my little notebook that I'm covered until way after New Year's. That's pretty awesome, isn't it?

But then, I've always been a pretty voracious reader, it didn't matter what was happening around me at the time. Reading was my escape, even if it was just ten pages per day on a really busy one, or just enough to tire me out and have my head drop after a long day of exams when I couldn't unwind and was too keyed up to sleep.

And the best part of this is that I've started a couple of series and have definitely not finished all of them yet! So there's still a whole lot more on the book front to go, which I am very excited about.

Of course, every time I think I'm done, a friend of mine suggests another book or another book series, and I'm like MUST. READ. NOW. 

Yeah, I'm a bit of a monster.

But I found A Thousand Nights by EK Johnston on Youtube through Sasha's channel.

Talkie Tuesday: San Andreas

"Now we rebuild."

Hello everyone!

Back with a movie review, and I just realized I absolutely have to get back on track with watching movies, as I seem to be running low on them. Not like there's never enough, obviously, but it looks as though, like I said way back when, I've had enough to last me until Christmas ... now it's time to start hoarding them again! 

The movie I'm talking about tonight is certainly one that I'm probably going to buy on DVD once I get around to going to the shop itself, because really, it's one of those that are sort of believable, which makes them scary, but then they go and be unbelievable, which makes them hilarious.

It's also one of those love them or hate them movies, and no in between, which is sad because if you judge it only by IMDB ratings, you might miss out on one you would actually enjoy otherwise.

Take it from me. I would have bypassed some movies completely if I'd only been looking at the IMDB ratings (like Age of Ultron, for one), and yet the movies were actually enjoyable as far as I was concerned and I liked them.

San Andreas is one of those.

Saturday Snippet: Saint Nicholas' Day

Hello everyone!

So tomorrow is Saint Nick's day, and while it may be a Christian tradition, it sort of became a family one here over the years as I was growing up, so it will be a family day spent mostly just teasing each other back and forth (and then ferrying my sister back to the capital as well).

Make sure you've been good! Otherwise, instead of sweets, you'll get a hazel rod!

You'll still be luckier than Don Carlos of Spain in the Reign TV show this week though ...

xx
*image not mine

Tome Thursday: The Flame and the Flower

Hello everyone!

I'm just off the Arrow / Flash crossover for this season, and I'm so happy with that fact. Also happy that they promised to make it a yearly event because they can see that fans enjoy this type of thing. So yay to that!

But I also had to think about which book to write into the blog post, and I've been bouncing in the sci-fi world for a while now so I figured I'd try something else again.

Into my trusty notebook we go, and I remember that, whenever I'm out of ideas as to what to read, or better whenever I honestly just need a break from every other story and whatever else happens in there, I turn to Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, because she tends to supply all my needs for some romance, history, and a general relaxation.

At least, it was until I got to the book that established her as a historic romance writer and introduced this genre to the world.

I'm talking about The Flame and the Flower.

Talkie Tuesday: The Mockingjay, pt. 2

"She has become mythical."

Hello everyone!

So this past Saturday, IT HAPPENED.

You know what I'm talking about. 

THE MOCKINGJAY.

Part 2.

Can you tell I'm excited yet?

I will admit. The Hunger Games as a whole have never been one of my favourite dystopian stories (I prefer the Divergent series books), but the movies have certainly made it likeable despite everything, and like everyone who has been following them, I wanted to see if the ending would be just as everything was in the books, or what was promised.

Turns out, it was, and with the impact of it happening on-screen, it was even better.

Saturday Snippet: Movie Night

Hello everyone!

This post is a little late - and a little short, but I'm short on time - but I figured I should probably put something up, right? Right.

Last night was movie night! We went to see Mockingjay, pt. 2, and let me tell you guys.

IT WAS AWESOME.

Not to mention, FINALLY someone decided to actually follow the source material (aka the books), because too often nowadays I get to see movie adaptations that look like people haven't even sniffed at a book.

More on the movie this Tuesday!

xx

*image not mine

Tome Thursday: Valor on the Move

Hello everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it!

I think I keep getting asked whether we have this too, and I repeatedly have to explain that, while it's a lovely tradition (and certainly better than some others I could name!) alas, we do not.

So you Americans have a grand ol' time for me too, 'kay?

'Kay.

Back to the intro for my review tonight.

I will admit, I would never have thought, a couple of years back, that I'd be reading books like these, and not because they're bad or scandalous. Far from it! I actually think most of them are much better than the lot of regular, YA and your usual 'guy-and-girl-fall-in-love' type of deal. And I also didn't even know these kind of things existed, if I'm being perfectly and completely honest with you here.

Yes, yes, I live under a rock in a medieval village.

In any event, on to the absolutely fantastic Valor on the Move!

Talkie Tuesday: Insurgent

"I'm factionless because I don't fit in any one faction. And you're Divergent because you belong to too many."

Hello everyone!

So, I have a confession to make.

Well, it shouldn't be too weird to some of you who know me, because sometimes, this is just how I get. I wanted to see Insurgent as soon as was humanly possible once it was released, because, well, I love the Divergent series and I am definitely a big fan. Also, the first movie was quite amazing as far as everything goes. 

But then I'm not exactly sure what happened.

Friends kept asking me if I'd seen Insurgent already or what, and all the time, my answer would be 'No, not yet', 'Working on it' or 'I'm getting there'.

What happened?

I really have no idea.

For some odd reason, once I got the chance to actually see the movie, I was hesitant. Maybe it was a sixth sense telling me all about it.

Saturday Snippet: Snow!

Hello everyone!

So okay, okay, I was going to post something else today again - but it started snowing here and my plans got derailed!

I don't necessarily love snow in the sense that I'm crazy about it; in fact, I'm sure the second I have to drive somewhere in the snow, I'll be as unhappy as I can possibly be. But the first snowfall of the year is ALWAYS something magical, no matter what!

Aside 1: I've been translating so much this past week I think my brain is constantly hardwired to two languages, so sorry if I seem ... disjointed? Is that a good use for the word?

Aside 2: Our stores here may already have The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies Extended Edition. If this is actually true, I think Christmas just came early for me.

xx

*image not mine

Tome Thursday: The Inheritance Cycle

Hello everyone!

Back to books, since it's Thursday and all, I would have gone to my trust little notepad where I keep my notes on reviews and the like, but then I had a different idea. 

Sometimes, when I feel like it, I can read just about anything, and then at other times my brain is pointing me to a specific book or series. In this case, it just so happened to be one I'd already finished a couple of years ago (and even so it took a freaking DECADE to get to its final point, which is probably less complicated than with GRRM's books, but, you know). But hey, my head didn't want me to read anything else, so I couldn't argue much about it and I just went with the flow I guess.

I first bought Paolini's Eragon book on a whim waaaaaay back when, I think I was still in grade school at the time actually, and the hardcover was really, really cheap. I didn't even know much about it, the blurb on the back sounded interesting, and it had a blue dragon up front.

Yeah, I know, pretty superficial.

But hey, it got me started with the Inheritance Cycle!

Talkie Tuesday: Mr. Holmes

"If you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains - however improbable - must be the truth."

Hello everyone!

Back again with another movie review and I have to say I had a different one waiting, as I still have quite a list of those I watched during my time spent in Croatia, but I postponed that in favour of a more recent watch. And with recent I mean I actually saw the movie this week. 

I was invited to have a bit of a get-together and a movie night with two good friends of mine, and even though it was a weeknight which means that mostly everyone has to either get up early the next day or there's a lot to be done and you'd do well to be well rested, we spent quite a few hours just chatting and catching up before actually plunging into the movie itself. Once we did though, it was easy to see why it's so much better, sometimes, to watch movies at home rather than in the cinema, as it's a lot more comfortable and discussion-prompting.

The movie we watched was Mr. Holmes.

Saturday Snippet: Paris

Hello everyone,

I was going to post something else today, but cannot, in good conscience, ignore what has happened.

I stayed up pretty late yesterday, November 13th, and I remember before going to bed refreshing my Google News page; there was mention in a title of an 'explosion' in Paris, with an unknown number of casualties, but at the time, it was as yet undetermined what had exactly caused this.

I woke up this morning at 7 am to find my parents and sister watching the BBC news in an eerie reenactment of what happened earlier this year during another French situation, and I saw to my horror that the death toll was now around 120 people, and rising ...

Not to mention everything ELSE that seems to be happening in the world right now.

I have no words. 

Tome Thursday: The Duke of Shadows

Hello everyone!

So I've realized it's been a while since the last book that I read out of the so-called 'beach reads', or as I like to call them 'doctor novels' after a saying in my language. Basically, the point of these books is not to make much of a point in the long run, the premise is the love story and it doesn't force you to think deep thoughts while the hero and heroine are acting like Bollywood lovers ("I love you! I want to marry you!" "No, I can't!" "Come back, now I want you!" "I can't now!").

I wish I could remember precisely how or why I got to this book, because I know I realized later that there's a physical copy of it in the house, but how I got to it is a mystery. I might have seen it advertised or it popped up on Goodreads ... I'm pretty sure it wasn't recommended.

In any event, what happened was that I needed a bit of a break from my usual reading material, and this means that whenever I do this, I pick up a cheesy romance novel.

This time I went for a sort of my thing, as it was a historical romance, Meredith Duran's Duke of Shadows.

Talkie Tuesday: Pitch Perfect 2

Hello everyone!

I seem to have a tendency to sort of type these blog posts really late at night here in my timezone, or maybe that's just because I tend to get distracted by other things during the day. Who knows? In any event, it's 10 pm here and I'm thinking I should probably get this done BEFORE I nod off and fall asleep without finishing it. Sounds like a plan, no? 

It's been a while since I've seen this movie, though I don't think it was actually one of the ones I took to summer vacation with me. I think I just left this one for a later date and didn't worry too much.

To be honest, I was excited when they announced the sequel to Pitch Perfect as I loved the first movie. I'm just into this accapella singing thing, because Glee was totally my style and I watched it from start to finish, so PP was also something that was right up my alley.

So then when they said movie number TWO was coming out, and obviously Anna Kendrick is pretty much awesome, I wanted to do nothing more than sit down and watch.

Saturday Snippet: Lipgloss

Hello everyone!

Okay so, I've said this before and I will say it again.

I'm no make-up person.

It's the truth; I own a total of one mascara and one concealer, both of which have only found their way into my routine recently because I'm naturally pre-disposed to shadows under my eyes, and the mascara was more or less something my friends foisted on me. They say I have long eyelashes and have to show them, or something.

Back to the topic at hand, which are lipglosses!

Because, for some reason, I have a lipgloss addiction. I can barely walk by those cosmetic stands without at least looking at them, and I usually end up taking at least one home or something.

Those are the ones I currently own, as listed below. The first one is actually so old ... but this is where the fact that it's from a high-quality brand comes into play, because it's still perfect as the day I wore it first, which was at prom. I know the silvery one will be perfect through Christmas time, and while I'm not too sure about the matt I'm sort of going to test it and see. And the Cinderella one ... well, I HAD TO. The last one is the recent purchase from Maybeline though because it's the closest I can come to the first, Max Factor Silk Gloss in tone. I just love the first one and I'm hoping I'll see it again soon. No such luck yet!

Max Factor Silk Gloss Crystal Dew

Max Factor Silk Gloss Silver Frost

UMA cosmetics Matt Gloss Vanilla Flash

Essence Cinderella special edition So This Is Love

Maybeline Crystal Nockout Pearl

xx

*image is mine

Tome Thursday: The Autobiography of Henry VIII

Hello everyone!

OKAY.

I will admit. This one took me forever. I actually checked on Goodreads and I started reading it in September.

IT'S NOVEMBER NOW, GUYS.

Yeah, I was bad with this. Really, really bad. My only excuse? I kept getting distracted. It's not that the book wasn't interesting or that I was forcing myself to crunch through it. That wasn't the case at all. The problem was that every hundred or two hundred pages, my brain literally wanted to fritz out with all the information and personality complex.

Which was why I always needed a break in between the reading sections, and that was why it took FOREVER to finish this, but I actually made a gameplan and sat down, expressively, to finish reading so that Maegan wouldn't send me over to kingdom come.

She can be a little impatient with her Tudor stuff, so let's get on with the Autobiography of Henry VIII!

Talkie Tuesday: Age of Adaline

"Let go."

Hello everyone!

Back with another movie review this week, although I do have to say all the shows are absolutely living up to their potential for the time being. Monday are totally crowded for me while Dancing with the Stars still lasts, they don't have that much longer to go though so then it should get a whole lot easier! But Blindspot killed it this week, and Supergirl is still adorable. 

Back to movies.

THIS one I've wanted to watch from the moment I saw the trailer. Why? Because it looked magical, and I needed something of the kind. 

Also, because Blake Lively is absolutely gorgeous in it, and I mean GORGEOUS.

It's Age of Adaline, of course.

Saturday Snippet: All Saint's Day

All Saints' Day, also known as All Hallows, Day of All the Saints, Solemnity of All Saints, or Feast of All Saints is a solemnity celebrated on 1 November by the Roman Catholic Church of Latin rite and various Protestant denominations, and on the first Sunday after Pentecost in Eastern Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, in honour of all the saints, known and unknown. The liturgical celebration begins at Vespers on the evening of 31 October and ends at the close of 1 November. It is thus the day before All Souls' Day.

In Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Finland, Catholic parts of Germany, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia and Sweden, the tradition is to light candles and visit the graves of deceased relatives.

*image and quotes not mine

Tome Thursday: The Dwarves

Hello everyone!

I'm back into the realm of fantasy or science fiction, depending how you look at it right now, although I have to admit that this book is pretty much fantasy when it all boils down to it. Epic fantasy, maybe? That, too, but I wouldn't be so sure according to the reviews I've seen on Amazon or Goodreads.

Not that I usually care about those.

To me, the total number of good reviews doesn't say whether or not the book is good or bad. It just tells me that I may find it to be different than what the other readers thought about it. I've seen this happen with movies more often than books, since IMDB tends to have ratings that really do fool people. If you judge a movie just by the rating, you can miss out on a lot of great ones because the only ones who actually review are the people who disliked it. Me, I try to be objective.

But back to books.

Markus Heitz is a German author, and I first saw his books on accident while browsing in the store one day. They attracted me because of the fact that they were, apparently, about Dwarves only. So I eventually decided, what the heck, let's try it!

Talkie Tuesday: Jupiter Ascending

"I am NOT your mother."

Hello everyone!

I'm once again back with a movie review from my time spent at the seaside, so it's absolutely been a couple of months since I've seen this, but luckily, I have my trusty little notebook with its productive sheep on the front cover to keep me appraised of everything I thought about then! 

Or well, if not that, then at least I've noted down what, exactly, was going on haha.

To be perfectly honest, when I first saw something for this movie, I wasn't sure I'd see it, because I just didn't think I'd have the time. But the ginormous character posters in our cinema made me at least WANT to do it, so when summer holidays rolled around I figured, why not? I was going for a lot of fantasy and biographic dramas at that time so I thought I needed something else to spice things up for myself, and some science fiction thrown in the mix sounded like just the thing.

If I told you that the movie is about intergalactic travel, planets, and royalty, what would your answer be?

Hopefully not Star Wars.

I'm talking about Jupiter Ascending.

Saturday Snippet: Apple Pie

Hello everyone!

So alright, I will admit - like I've said a while ago, me and baking or me and cooking don't really go together. BUT I have a lot of time when I'm at home (or I shovel time aside, sometimes you just have to be violent) to experiment a little bit.

Browsing through random stuff in the kitchen, I stumbled over an old notebook of my mother's, which used to be tagged with blood red letters saying DO NOT TOUCH, MOVE AWAY SLOWLY BEFORE SOMETHING GOES BOOM.

Haha that's just the way you see it as a kid!

But it was a book of her old recipes, and I found the one for apple pie that my maternal grandmother used to make (and we all LOVED to devour). Here it is below!

Tome Thursday: The Virgin's Daughter

Hello everyone!

This week, I actually had quite a pick when I was choosing a book to write about in the review section, because at this point, I've amassed SO many notes that my poor notebook is basically falling apart from the middle out.

But it's good, because it means I don't have to scramble as much as I did in the beginning!

And I will confess, I'm under the Tudor influence at the moment, as you can probably tell by looking to the right of this blog to my Goodreads currently reading bookshelf. My friend Maegan told me about the fictional Autobiography of Henry VIII she had read, and I thought to myself, sure, why not, so I'm currently munching my way through it. According to my Kobo e-reader, I'm 60% through. The plan: finish it this weekend.

In the meantime, however, I checked to see whether or not I wrote down some notes about another Tudor-esque book I read a while back, during summer, and I did!

Allow me to start with my review of Laura Andersen's The Virgin's Daughter.

Talkie Tuesday: The Imitation Game

"We're going to break an unbreakable Nazi code and win the war."

Hello everyone!

So last week, I talked about The Theory of Everything, because I seemed to have known, instinctively, that the particular biopic wouldn't hold a candle to the one I'm talking about in this blog post. 

Don't get me wrong.

I admire Eddie Redmayne for what he did with the role he was given and the Oscar was absolutely deserving. But I've been a Benedict Cumberbatch fan for quite some time now I think; I definitely consider myself part of the CumberCollective!

And so when the first teaser image of The Imitation Game was released, I practically jumped around pumping the air with my fists in glee. Because, not only was it Cumberbatch, BUT it was about a topic I'm hugely interested in despite the political debates it can spawn. AND on top of it all, it's about the Enigma!

Saturday Snippet: Bookshelf Tour, part 4

Hello everyone!

To the relief of some ( = P ) this will be the last bookshelf tour post for a while, even though this really is only the first of many shelves I have going along one whole wall in my room. To be honest though, I might actually do a DVD tour at some other point because I seem to have a rather large number of those, too ...

You get the idea.

Tome Thursday: Eight Hundred Grapes

Hello everyone!

This one is another I managed to actually read by the seaside, and I think it came hot on the heels of something science fiction related or historic or fantasy, because it's so much NOT those categories that, even though I can't remember precisely, I can see why I would have picked it.

Because, here's the thing.

I love my personal favourite reading categories, I really do. I mean, Lord of the Rings is by far and wide my favourite book EVER, and I read it once every year. But despite the amount of stuff I read, and as much fantasy as I get into, I do like something entirely non-related to that every once in a while. Like, contemporary non-related.

I will admit; I'm not a big contemporary novel reader. For some reason, I just sit better in the fantasy niche. But after following the adventures of Jamie and Claire Fraser for a thousand pages, Frodo and Sam trudging towards Mordor over five hundred, and an angel and a demon falling in love ... I definitely need a break from all of that.

Which is why I picked up Laura Dave's Eight Hundred Grapes.

Talkie Tuesday: The Theory of Everything

Hello everyone!

Back to my movies from the seaside section (this could probably be its own subtitle, I think ...), since I'm done with immediate movies at least for this week. I still have plans to watch Insurgent at some point (hopefully next week? Maybe?), but I'm defintiely distracted all around with the shows that are now in full swing and giving anything out of a movie cinema a run for their money. 

The Theory of Everything wasn't a movie I would have originally wanted to watch, because unlike some people, Eddie Redmayne isn't exactly one of my favourite actors. Well, at least not yet, maybe he'll get there, you know?

But because I was going to watch The Imitation Game eventually, and because the Oscar race this year had been pretty much between Redmayne and Cumberbatch, I thought, why not? It could be educational and fun. Stephen Hawking is a living legend, after all.

So, here we go.

Saturday Snippet: Bookshelf Tour, part 3

Hello everyone!

Back to the bookshelves again, and this time it's number three - the links for the previous two will be added at the bottom of this post if you want to look back and see what I've already disclosed of the books I own.

As for today's post, I have no clue why this photo turned out with such weird light. I took it at the exact same time as the first four, same time of day, same angle, everyting, but oh well.

Tome Thursday: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love.

It did not end well.

Hello everyone!

Today was spent on a lot of computer de-tox as I spend a whole lot of time behind the small screen and typing and stuff, and my arms sometimes don't agree with me about it at all. Sigh, sad panda over here.

But it turns out I can actually bake apple pie! Which, for a person who hasn't done any cooking at all in her life up until moving to the capital and starting university, is a big deal. I am at war with our oven here at home though because it almost charred it with being way too strong for the settings that were in the recipe, BUT. You win some, you lose some.

Anyway.

Back to blogging, I tweeted yesterday that I had SO MANY book reviews lined up, I actually had to double check I still have enough movies left! I've been reading books left, right and centre, although this particular one happened at the seaside while I was still on vacation, and I can cheerfully say that I read the major part of it sitting at the cafe right next to the sea, listening to the sea gulls, drinking latte and enjoying the salty breeze.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone, here we go!

Talkie Tuesday: Jurassic World

"If something chases you ... run!"

Hello everyone!

My keyboard is completely acting up so if I'm suddenly missing letters here and there I assure you it's not on purpose. I've been having to double-check everything I type, everywhere. I think I type too much ... oops? 

Anyway.

I'm back with a movie blog!

This week, I managed to pretty much dangle a carrot in front of my parent's faces and offered to have a movie night with them. Surprisingly enough, despite the varied tastes of movies in our family, Jurassic Park remains a favourite, so naturally, the sequel was something I couldn't resist. And since I did remember my dad saying something about wanting to watch it, it was a no brainer to wait until we could all get together.

Well, okay, only my mom and I ended up watching the first time since dad had hockey to play, but I'm pretty sure the big screen TV in the living room will be seeing Indominus Rex run around in Jurassic World again soon!

Saturday Snippet: Bookshelf Tour, part 2

Hello everyone!

I may be a little trippy at the moment. Not because I've drank anything, or otherwise consumed anything of the illegal sort of variety - but mostly because staring at translation stuff and then on top of it all reading through Alice Clayton's Cocktail book series is seriously something to make your mind spin.

Ahem.

But I'm back with the second round of my bookshelf tour! If you've fallen behind, never fear, there'll be a link at the bottom of the post to the previous part.

Tome Thursday: Wallbanger

Hello everyone!

Okay, so I will admit - I may be just a tiny bit embarrassed by the title of this blog, and the book, but I will also say right off the bat that it's not as bad as it sounds. I mean, I've obviously heard of worse (Fifty Shades, anyone?) and never read them, but I ran into this particular book on Goodreads when a friend of mine added it to her want-to-read list, so I went and snooped around a little.

It can't hurt, right?

Well, after  finishing off The Fiery Cross (which, for those of you who don't know, is the fifth book in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, and as with each of her books, a chunk to chew on), I needed something that wouldn't make me want to do history math of who threw who overboard and where bags of tea ended up at the bottom of a bay, not to mention, I didn't need to worry about a rapist coming back to haunt me in subsequent books.

So.

To sum up, I needed a book where I wouldn't have to think along with it, which excluded mystery and thrillers, and I needed something that wasn't historical, and also, fantasy was a no go (I'm stuck at around 55% of The Elfstones of Shannara at the moment, poking myself to continue).

That was how I ended up with Alice Clayton's Wallbanger.

Talkie Tuesday: Walking on Sunshine

"Wake me up, before you go, go ..."

Hello everyone!

So this blog post is going to be about a blast from the past, so to speak, considering that I should have blogged about this movie ... oh, ages and a number of blog posts ago. To be perfectly honest, I think I actually watched it sometime BEFORE summer started officially (and unofficially) so really, why did it take me so long?? 

Well, for starters, I got into watching the Tudors at the time (I totally blame you, Maegan, yes, you), and then I was also watching other TV shows trying to catch up (ugh, I still need to see Teen Wolf season 5 to the end ... maybe this week when the other shows haven't started yet), and so this movie review just sort of sat there, in the back of my mind, knowing it needed to be done.

Then I went and forgot about it after returning from vacation with all the goodies, but hey, I FINALLY got to the point where I'm like, you know what? Let's do this.

I'm talking about the Mamma Mia!-inspired Walking on Sunshine.

Saturday Snippet: Bookshelf Tour, part 1

Hello everyone!

So, as promised, I will be doing a bookshelf tour in these blog posts (unless something else positively fascinating catches my attention), and today it's time to go to the top shelf. Now, to be perfectly honest, that's just ONE bookshelf as a whole that I'll be going through at the moment. But one wall of my room is entirely filled with them, so I might do a couple more, depending. Fact: all the pictures are taken with my phone camera, so if the quality might be a bit grainy sometimes ... that's why.

And here we go! As you can see, at the very top I am graced by some games and toys. Ahem. The first one, The Lord of the Rings: The Search, is an oldie, back from my LOTR-craze days. Fun fact: my sister and I played this only once, and she beat me, regardless of the fact that she had never seen LOTR before in her life at that point. I was too humiliated to play again afterwards! The next are Manga cards, which I didn't want for playing purposes, but more for the fact that the ilustrations on the cards are cool. Go figure. Next, a figurine of Elizabeth Swann from At World's End, and at the end a box full of Star Wars figurines. I may or may not be a bit of a geek.

Moving on to actual books.

Tome Thursday: Throne of Glass

Hello everyone!

So today was spent mostly in ... let's see, doing chores, running around the house, running around town on a special quest for DVDs (but then, you guys should know by now I have a DVD problem ... oopsie?), trying to tame my impossible hair andddd ...

That's enough.

I feel exhausted either way though!

But as promised in the morning, or mid-day, whichever really came first, I can't remember, here is the book blog post! Now, some of you may remember I wrote about Sarah J. Maas and her novellas in a previous post, right here, so I'd encourage you to read it just so you're familiar with who and what I'll be talking about.

Though, if you're unlike me - which I presume most of you are - you already know all about Throne of Glass and are on the fourth book already, while I'm still struggling behind!

Not to worry tough, I have every plan of catching up.

Talkie Tuesday: Avengers - Age of Ultron

"Sokovia is going for a ride ..."

Hello everyone!

So, first off, let me just say that I had originally planned on writing about a different movie in this week's movie blog post, because I'm sort of sticking to a schedule, or list shall we say, which I made while I was watching them and such, but my plans went completely out of the window this weekend as I sat down to watch one of the most anticipated movies of 2015, I believe. 

 Well, at least where Marvel is concerned.

I am absolutely talking about the new Avengers movie which brings us to the (almost) conclusion of Phase Two in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (actually, Ant-Man does that, but I'm still waiting to watch it, so).

I will also admit to being a bit of a dork when it comes to these things, seeing as I've been a Marvel fan for a while now, and can we just say YAY on the fact that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is coming back next week?!

Saturday Snippet

Hello everyone!

So apparently, starting with next Saturday I'm going to be doing a bookshelves tour here with the Snippet blogs, as there has been some interest about that. I would have started it tonight already, but unfortunately I forgot to take pictures in daylight so they looked horrible with artificial one and I decided against it.

I'll be doing it one shelf at a time though, maybe two, depending, so it might take a bit as one entire wall in my room is dedicated to books and DVDs ... I might have issues haha.

In the meantime though, I was so thrilled with Dancing with the Stars this week! They have some really good dancers this season, and I mean ... I might just be fangirling a little over Nick Carter.

What can I say, I listened to Backstreet Boys when I was a teenager.

xx

*image not mine

Tome Thursday: The Bourbon Kings

Hello everyone!

Whew, today has been a long day. My arms are beginning to ache a little so this blog post may be a little shorter, or maybe I'll start typing and not want to stop, who knows? But I'm powering through, because I want to be on top of these posts now that I'm back, after all.

So I did have a different book lined up for this week's review, because I happened to finish a couple while I was on vacation, and since then at home, BUT.

And there's a big BUT here.

I finished one yesterday which pretty much made me do a couple of spinning circles around my room, rocking back and forth trying to figure out what the hell just happened, and on top of it all, I now have to wait a FULL YEAR before the next one's published. 

Seriously.

I am, of course, talking about JR Ward's newest book, The Bourbon Kings.

Talkie Tuesday: Mortdecai

"Don't imbibe the crime scene!"

Hello everyone!

Last week was a bit of a fluke, considering the fact that the whole seaside trip wasn't really something I thought would happen in the end, but it did, and so I am once again a bit behind on my blogging, but from now on I do believe it should all be in the clear! 

Before I begin properly typing this blog out, however, I'd like to give a shout-out to the fact that this year's show season is officially starting again! Yeah, I'm a little bit of a dork in that matter, but Dancing with the Stars premiered last night and I'm really happy about that since it's one of my absolute favourites. What can I say, I like dance! And it's amusing, too.

Back to my blog, after watching a lot of fantasy for a couple of nights in a row, I finally decided I needed something else that wasn't going to make me remember any red capes or growing beans, so I fished out a movie I was unsure about from simply watching the trailer, since I didn't know whether it was supposed to be a comedy, a drama, a crime solving thing, or ... what?

If you're thinking about whether or not your man needs that moustache of his, you've guessed right that I'll be talking about Mortdecai.

Saturday Snippet

Hello everyone!

OKAY, I think I'm finally back for good. Like, with no other upcoming migrations southwise for this year, considering I think I spent more than a month in total by the seaside.

Which, in itself, is pretty awesome, but it does hamper on one's ability to be online!

I mean, okay, theoretically I COULD have been, but I think my phone bill would have been astronomical.

So yeah.

September being well and truly here (there was SO MUCH fog outside this morning, you wouldn't believe it), it's soon going to be show time!

image © to me

I might have a slight problem with the amount of shows I watch. Can you say oops? I had to colour-coordinate so I don't mistake one for another! Also, it's much easier this way because I don't have to overthink, I just look at the schedule haha. I still need to finish Teen Wolf season 5 though ... working on it!

Are you guys excited for any shows?

xx

Saturday Snippet

Hello everyone!

I have some news.

Come tomorrow, I'm off to the seaside again for the week. I know, I know, I just got back, shocking, right? Well, the weather will be nice, there's always stuff to do, and some more relaxation down by the sea never hurt anyone.

ALSO, this time my sister is coming along. So that's a bonus!

I will see you all come Thursday/Friday once I get back again!

xx

*image not mine