Top Ten Books I Would Love To See As A Movie/TV Show

I came up with eleven - and not even that's enough. I could go on and on. In a world where books don't get  butchered on the screen, I'd want to see all my favorites!

Tackle Your TBR - Read-a-Thon Kick Off and Sunday Update

Admittedly, this post is a bit late, seeing how my Monday (in Germany) is almost over now. However, this was mostly due to my ambitious and successful reading day :)

My Goals for the next two weeks:

- Read 7 books

-comment on at least 5 blogs a day

- be on Twitter more (let's make this every two hours, k?)

- write all due reviews (I don't even know how many those would be!)

Books to Read:

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (finally)

Star Cursed by Jessica Shirvington (I've been WAITING for this one!)

Blood Promise by Richelle Mead (I somehow can't get into it)

Pantomime

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michele Hodkin

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (already started this one)

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnsson (audiobook!)

SUNDAY:

Number of Books Read: 0

Number of Pages Read: 177

Books: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Okay, I did read a lot slower than I thought I would. I usually do one page a minute and read 4 hours in a row, I should have made it to 240 - but there were potty breaks (drinking 4 liters a day will do that to you) and snacking breaks and chocolate breaks...

Other than that, I'm really happy with the progress I've made so far and can only hope the rest of the Read-a-Thon will go on like this :D

How are you guys doing? 

I know, I asked this before, but do you have any tips to share about reading more and motivation to read? I'd (still) love to hear!

Tackle Your TBR - The Gameplan

It's an easy routine you learn in elementary school: make a mistake, figure out what went wrong, try again.

 

My last attempt at a Read-a-Thon (Bob8) obviously was a fail, but that doesn't have to mean this one will be, too. If you feel like you're in that kind of situation you might be interested in some of the things I'm going to do for the Tackle Your TBR event next week in order to actually get some reading done!

 

The mistakes I made last time:

 

- I had no set reading times

- I let other stuff (okay, the Internet) get in between and spend hours doing nothing

- I was out and running a LOT (which is great, but should be more planned)

- I read books that weren't on my list

- the books I read were too long!

- I didn't really participate online, no blog hopping, no updates on the blog...

 

 

 

Strategies for this time:

 

- read every day

 

Week 1

SUNDAY: from 2PM to 6PM

MONDAY: from 6PM to 8PM

TUESDAY-SATURDAY: 11-12AM, 5-7 PM

SUNDAY: 7-10AM

 

Even though I know it'd be better to have a gameplan for week 2, too - I really have no idea what I will even be doing that week :)

 

- I won't look at any electronic devices while reading - just won't!!!

- I 't run every morning so that it doesn't collide with all my other plans for the day

-I won't buy new books (this one should be obvious, but...)

- I will start the week off with short novels and start with the longer ones later on

-Will visit at least five blogs a day and update on Goodreads and the blog every day ;D

 

Okay, so what tips do you have for actually reaching your Read-a-Thon goals?

Review: The Lucy Variations by Sara Zarr

            

Lucy Beck-Moreau once had a promising future as a concert pianist. The right people knew her name, her performances were booked months in advance, and her future seemed certain.
That was all before she turned fourteen.
Now, at sixteen, it's over. A death, and a betrayal, led her to walk away. That leaves her talented ten-year-old brother, Gus, to shoulder the full weight of the Beck-Moreau family expectations. Then Gus gets a new piano teacher who is young, kind, and interested in helping Lucy rekindle her love of piano -- on her own terms. But when you're used to performing for sold-out audiences and world-famous critics, can you ever learn to play just for yourself.

National Book Award finalist Sara Zarr takes readers inside the exclusive world of privileged San Francisco families, top junior music competitions, and intense mentorships. The Lucy Variations is a story of one girl's struggle to reclaim her love of music and herself. It's about finding joy again, even when things don't go according to plan. Because life isn't a performance, and everyone deserves to make a few mistakes along the way.

 

 

 

 RATING: 3/3 Smarties

 

Long Story Short:

The Lucy Variations is not only one of the most beautiful composed Yound Adult contemporary novels I've read in a while. It is also a book that I would recommend to anyone who just wishes for something a bit different, not only different from the books you normally read, but also the world you usually live in!

 

 

Review:

I've had an on and off relationship with contemporary fiction for a while now. I don't get all excited about books that have no other remarkable features than being set in a highschool and I feel like almost every topic in contemps that could interest me, I've already read about.

Ever since reading The Lucy Variations, though, I know that my attitude was completely superficial, ignorant and stuck up.

Contemporary fiction can be amazing, interesting and incredibly originally done - especially by Sara Zarr.

 

Of course, she did choose an interesting topic, no world, to begin with. I personally don't even know anyone who is as much into classical music as Lucy and her family are. This theme alone made for an outstanding, and really interesting, novel. I felt like I was getting to know a whole other...community in this world. It felt a bit like seeing my first few book blogs on the Internet. It might sound cheesy but I find that books like that, that show access to a whole other group of people and accent of this world, can expand ones horizone so much. Simply by pointing out that there are so many aspects of this world that we could never discover all of them.

 

I personally have only read How to Save a Life and don't know any of Zarr's other books, but if you do, you'll agree with me that Zarr is the master of characterisation and transferring emotions directly from the pages into your heart.

This story had basically nothing to do with my own life, yet, it was like I could just slip into her skin and be her when I was reading the book - and even after I finished it, her story didn't leave me right away.

 

Lucy, and the side characters, stuck with me in a way that only very few book characters do.

Partly, I blame this on how realistically the story was portrayed. The details were right. Not too few, not too many little anecdotes, twists, character traits. A few conflicts between the characters but very seldomly to never dramatic outbursts that noone really lives through in real life.

Of course, there was the incredible tension between Lucy and her family members and sometimes also her friends. However, as a reader, I could feel it build up, and then get a bit weaker again. Then there was a well-up of emotions on the one side, then the anger faded in the background again.

 

The relationships between Zarr's characters, as well as the plot developed exactly how they would do in real life. Slowly, without a clear direction. There were moments when Lucy realized something was just true and then again, she would despair and doubt her own decisions.

In my opinion, there are only very few books that live and breathe the Growing of Age title, and this one certainly did.

 

If you like to read about really growing up and finding out who you are as a person, I recommend The Lucy Variations. Not only to teens or Young Adults, though, but for everyone, because I think looking for one's true self and meaning never really stops in life.

Oh, and if you didn't plan on going so deep, you could also read The Lucy Variations, because it will give you a window to peek into the beautiful world that classical music seems to be!

I Am Tackling My TBR - Wanna Join Me???

 

 

 

We won't talk about the Bout of Books 8.0 disaster, yes? Let's just...forget that it ever happened. Period.

 

I actually did not plan on doing another Read-a-Thon this summer. However, Diamond Cronen over at Dee's Reads asked so nicely on Twitter and we're pulling an all-nighter, too, so I basically absolutely can't say no and now I'm hooked and ready to take on another challenge!

 

This Read-a-hon is called the Tackle-Your-TBR- Readathon and you better believe I will tackle that stubborn thing this time.

 

My strategy for this one is just to find the right times of the day when I'm actually up for some reading and than just dive into the book. As Uni starts to get more and more real, I am dedicated to return to a normal schedule again. Remember how I used to be that time management genius? Yeah, exactly. I will get there again.

 

'Nough with the rambling, though. Who's with me on this? Please comment below and tell me if you're participating in the Read-a-Thon, too or what other fun bookish (virtual) events you have coming up this fall. I'd love to get back into the groove again :D

 

Happy Wednesday!

Your 2013 Reading List - or Top Ten Books Every Highschooler Must Read

 

1) Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys

A beautiful, heart-breaking book. I think it's not only great for highschoolers because of its meaning for the historical time period, but also because there is so much strength and faith and love in this book.

 

2) Dear Bully (Anthology)

I cannot recommend this book enough. I definitely didn't like every single story in it, but all of them together composed a very special message: that you are never alone. Not really.

 

3) Harry Potter Series

Hello? It's a classic. And if it's not, it will be in fifty years or something. So why not introduce it to highschoolers today, so that they all can realize how amazing books  are and be passionate readers until the rest of their lives. I'm serious. The world would be a peaceful place, sure thing!

 

4) 34 Pieces of You by Carmen Rodriguez

I would have saved this place for 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher, but everyone has heard of that one and Carmen Rodriguez is lesser known, but so incredibly cool and has gorgeous writing and you guys need to read her book ASAP!!!!

 

5) Perfect by Ellen Hopkins

Again, I could have picked Impulse, too. I personally, though, can relate to the issues addressed in Perfect a lot more (and I liked the book better). Impulse was really good, too, though.

 

6) The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I don't know how it is in the US or other parts of the world, but German kids (obviously) deal a lot with WWII in school. I do think this part of history must be talked about - especially to highschoolers. However, a lot of the books we read about it were really dull and not much fun to read. The Book Thief is a must. SO good. Can only recommend the audiobook, too!

 

7) A Sara Shepard Series

Admittedly, it might not be class material, but for me those books (along with Gossip Girl) were my life savers when things got really stressful at school. The little time you have left for reading, you usually don't want to spend on something heavy. These books are just the perfect amount of fun and lightness, but also addicting, because of the mystery!

 

8) If I Stay by Gayle Forman and

 

9) Looking for Alaska by John Green

 

These books I could imagine for an English class. They are beautifully written and a bit deeper than most YA.

 

10) Why do I always run out of ideas for 10??? Does that happen to anyone else, too or is it just me?

August Wrap-Up and September TBR

Wow, looking at everything I've read in August, I just realized I wasn't even bad! 9 books is solid ;)

Of course, given the free time I had and those many moments when I preferred the headphones to my book, I could have been more dedicated to reading...but a hobby should never be a chore, right?

I think part of my meh-attitude towards books right now was my choice of reads.

August started with The Lucy Variations (superb!), then read Heist Society in one day but wasn't nearly as happy with it as I thought I'd be. 34 Pieces of Me was the next book I read in a day. This one, though, completely threw me off the hook!

The three Mediator books were fabulous, but I read them at the wrong time. Running for Women was, of course, due to my running addiction and fueled it even more! Lastly, I read that Judy Blume book and realized I might be a bit old for it (but it was cute) and The Catastrophic History which was a good book, but not for me.

I'm starting University soon (more on that in a couple of days - I'm SO excited), so I will be smart and not set amazing pressure on myself to read so and so many books.

The only thing I want to do is read as many of my physical copies as possible...simply because I can't take them all to Uni with me and I'd hate to leave some unread :)

The selection looks like that:

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michele Hodkins 

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green 

Star Cursed by Jessica Shirvington

Blood Promise by Richelle Mead