Weekly Favorites

I could go on and on about all the snow that just won't go away, now that we're officially transitioning into April. Or about how I'm drowning in school work, because I'm facing the most important exams of my life (so far!!!) in two weeks, but instead of doing that and being my whiny, anxious self, I will accentuate the positive, because there's a lot, actually.

Spring Break

It's not even that I'm doing anything, going away for vacation or hosting a big party or something (ha,me, yeah...right!). The simple knowledge that I will wake up tomorrow morning without having to go to school is so relaxing - it's like a drug, I'm telling you (not that I ever tried. really, promise!I fear for my lungs if I only sense cigarette smoke!).

(If I looked like that when I run, I'd totally try the Olympics, too :D)

My First Official 10K

Apart from the fact that I was so excited (okay, anxious) about it that I (and the rest of my family) had a really hard time sleeping the nights before the event - it was the best experience I made in a very long time! The thing about always running alone and never going on events is...you stay alone. And your running can feel very senseless when it's never for something. Now that I've done it one time, I'm addicted. Thousands of people in one place who love to do what I love doing, too. Who actually care about the differences between a morning and night run and a barefoot running shoe and a normal one...you get the picture. It's just like bookblogging.

The Sims 3

Will I ever grow up? I don't think so. There I was, thinking I had finally left that phase where I could spend days in front of a computer screen with little animated characters who speak their own language - which I don't even understand . Apparently not. Oh well, it's not like I'm ...ummm... seven books behind on my Goodreads challenge or something. Or, you know, in the middle of studying for exams....

Lés Miserables

Yes, I'm talking the movie. That new one that came out and that brought Anne Hathaway an Oscar and that I went to see in theater and that I came out of with the desperate wish to become a musical star? Yup, that one. And now I cannot help myself, I have to listen to that soundtrack 24/7. It's my life.

Soo...what were your highlights this week? Are you doing something special for Spring Break? Are you maybe a runner, too? Or do you want to be one? Or a musical star? And have you seen Lés Miserables?

Review - Reached by Ally Condie

Reached

by Ally Condie

One sentence: sorry for the mess. I know this month was a crazy chaos on the blog with the Cinder review first, then the one for Crossed (that should have been up months ago), followed by my Scarlet review last week and Reaches now. I can only aplogise for this complete lack of structure and hope you guys can still enjoy the review :)

Happy Easter!

After leaving Society to desperately seek The Rising, and each other, Cassia and Ky have found what they were looking for, but at the cost of losing each other yet again. Cassia is assigned undercover in Central city, Ky outside the borders, an airship pilot with Indie. Xander is a medic, with a secret. All too soon, everything shifts again.

Hardcover, Dutton, 512 pages
Published November 13th 2012 by Penguin

A Long Story...Short!

Reached was a lot thicker than the previous installments in the trilogy but just as beautifully and fluently written, so that it didn't take me long to finish. It was great meeting the three main characters again and reading the story from those three points of view, but at the same time I didn't think the voices were any different or unique at all. There were quite a few events in the book when I really wanted to see some action, but it never came and sadly, the plot could not make up for that, either. Besides, the ending left me pretty unsatisfied, but still, not exactly wanting more.

Review for You:

I liked Matched, although some people were disappointed with it. I enjoyed Crossed a great deal, while many of you found it boring. I went into Reached with neither high nor lower expectations. Throughout the first half I had fun reading the novel. Then, I started to see it coming. My sudden disappointment with the author.

I know now what it was that made so many fans turn their backs on this trilogy. It's not Condie's writing  style, because it's pretty amazing how she poetically describes each character's thoughts without ever boring me. It's so easy to race through her books, you never have to take a break, you just seem to soar through the pages - that's how fluent and lively she tells a story.

The plot, you ask? Yeah...about that.

It doesn't exist. Not really. This book is about a revolution. However, the revolution takes place and no one even seems to notice! Sure, there is a believable explanation why we don't get any action or fights etc. But that is not how it works! We've been waiting for this to happen for two books! You can't just tell us that this is it!

Also, the characters. I had my problems telling Cassia's voice from Ky's in Crossed, but it was completely impossible to identify the three different voices used in Reached! When I got interrupted within a chapter and had to start over, I always went back to the beginning of the chapter to find out who was talking. 

I could go on and on here about what was good and what wasn't in Reached, but the result would stay the same - utter and complete disappointment. There was so much potential in this last book, but Condie (in my opinion) lost herself in beautiful words and descriptive writing and pages and pages of symbolism and metaphors, slowly making me fall asleep instead of coming up with that BAM moment that would have made her trilogy extraordinary.

Geeknote!

Happy Friday, y'all!

If you've read my little Blogoversary series, you know I thought about doing Geeknotes again. Basically, for those of you who don't know, these entries will be short updates about things in my life (probably mainly not book - related) that I feel the need to share with you. 

Today, anxiety has brought me here. I probably won't be able to sleep at all tonight, because I'm running my first real and official 10K race tomorrow. 

Well, it's not exactly my first 10K ever, but I've been running consistently for four years now and I've always been afraid of actually participating in a race.That is why the only one I ever ran was a really small event in my village together with a handful (really! a handful) other people. 

You didn't even have to sign up for it and they didn't take your time, either.

Tomorrow is going to be a little different, though. This 10K I'm mainly running because I train for a half marathon in April which I would run away from (literally!) kicking and screaming if I didn't experience at least one real race before.

So, all this basically means that tomorrow really doesn't matter and I shouldn't worry about it. Except, I do. Now, my question for you is, do you run, too? If so, do you have any tips for the race (or preparation)? What do I have to take with me? (Trust me, I will forget my ID, or running shoes...)

Or do you do other sports? I'm curious :)

Review: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer

Scarlet

by Marissa Meyer

The fates of Cinder and Scarlet collide as a Lunar threat spreads across the Earth...
Cinder, the cyborg mechanic, returns in the second thrilling installment of the bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She's trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she'll be the Commonwealth's most wanted fugitive.
Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit's grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn't know about her grandmother or the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother's whereabouts, she is loath to trust this stranger, but is inexplicably drawn to him, and he to her. As Scarlet and Wolf unravel one mystery, they encounter another when they meet Cinder. Now, all of them must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen Levana, who will do anything for the handsome Prince Kai to become her husband, her king, her prisoner.

Hardcover, 452 pages

Published February 5th 2013 by Feiwel and Friends

A Long Story Short:

Scarlet is pretty much like Cinder. But two times that. You get two fierce heroines, two fast paced Story lines, two times more plot twists, a futuristic Asia and a futuristic Europe. On top of that Meyer's writing style is still incredibly perfect, not too fast, not too slow, not too descriptive, never redundant. To cut it short  - I flew through this book and so will you.

Review for You:

Let's talk about the awesomeness that was this book. Freaking amazing, I'm telling you.

I was very worried about the second plot line and heroine thrown in. I couldn't imagine turning away from Cinder and Kai even for a little while and busy my mind with a girl I never heard of before and whose story I didn't care for.

Including Scarlet, or the idea of different story lines that intertwine in the different Lunar Chronicles novels, thankfully turned out to be one of the most brilliant ideas of the century. I'm pretty sure, not even Steve Jobs could have topped this. 

Having only Cinder as the main heroine in the second book would have meant following one plot that I would have gotten pretty tired of after a while. Or, phenomenon number two, or so to say, would have been Meyer throwing everything in the majority of authors have to give in second books: um...a love triangle. 

Wasn't the case.

Instead, the author took me to futuristic Europe, more specifically - France, showed me around, explained the new social structure and way of living there and introduced me to a heroine that is not only uniquely stubborn and confident, but also very different from Cinder without trying too hard to be.

I also met Wolf, whose true identity I wasn't even sure of after the book was over and together with Cinder I had the pleasure to be introduced to a very...interesting young fellow who will hopefully join us in the next books, as well.

If you were worried until now that your favorite sidekicks and villains fail to come back in the sequel to Cinder, never fear - they don't. They are very much present and true to their old selves and they never cease to entertain you.

I think I've said enough to get my opinion across - Scarlet is an amazing read, even better than Cinder and you should not wait a second longer to read it.

Oh, or listen to it. Esther Bochner from Macmillan Audio was so kind to offer an audio clip from the Cinder audiobook, so that you guys can get an impression of it. I personally think, it sounds like it's definitely worth a try :)

How about you guys? Have you read (and loved) these two books already? And what do you think about audiobooks? If you listen to them, when and where?

 Let me know in the comments!

Looking Forward to the Future

In this last post in my little series to celebrate One Year Anniversary, I thought I'd talk a bit about  the right now and what I plan for the blog in the future. 

End of Highschool, Start of Something New

I feel like I mention it all the time lately, but I'm pretty much done with high school now (except for four exams). That alone is a huge change in my life, as it probably is for everyone else around my age. Right now, I plan on going to University in the fall, leaving my home and family for the first time to live on my own which is certainly exciting (and frightening). 

However, the end of High school even means a bit more for me,personally. Those of you who stumbled upon my header or who followed my very early post might have noticed that high school and all the drama that goes along with it wasn't really my...thing. Not to say I hated it. 

Not everything. There were moments when I was sure I would never want to leave school and the friends I made there and the lessons I learned. Then again, walking away from that life now, step by step, makes me feel relieved and open for new experiences and influences. 

New Design

One example of how that transforms to my blog is the new design. I was so sick of all the pink doodling I saw every time I visited the page - I needed a change! The new design is supposed to stand for my girlyness, but also for a fresh look into the future and compared to the old background, it seems a bit more grown - up to me.

New Ways of Blogging

Along with the new design, I also decided to freshen things up a bit for the second year of the Booksmartie. Inspired by all the new websites, YouTube channels and online movements I stumbled upon lately, I want to make this blog more spontaneous and up to date. I want to be a member of the awesome communities forming around me, I want to discuss, to argue, to share, to put my opinion out there and to bring other people's views into my life. 

As the result of this little Looking Back series, I thought it'd be nice to set some goals for the following year of blogging: 

- I want to blog more spontaneously and not cling to my schedule like a  madwoman

- I want to use Twitter more to interact with other people and actually know what's going on in the world

- I want to include some more personal updates in the form of "Geeknotes"

- I want to redesign my reviews to make them more interesting

But what about you guys? What do you want from the blog? What are some post ideas you want me to realise? 

One Year Anniversary!!!

Happy Birthday to meeee! Exactly this day, one year ago, I uploaded my very first post on the Booksmartie. 

It's been a great, sad, adventorous and exciting year for me - in the blogging universe and beyond - and in the next few days to come I want to share the highlights with you guys! I hope you enjoy!

Looking Back On...Blogging in Everyday Life

With the late spring and early summer month the routine I developed became...a habit. Basically, that meant two things. 

-One, I got posts done faster because I actually knew what to do and didn't feel completely lost with all the symbols and settings on blogger.

-With that, blogging found its way into my everyday life. 

-started reading whenever I found a free minute or two, taking notes on my phone for my reviews 

-made it a habit to check other blogs during breakfast, watch Youtube reviews as I cleaned my room and so on.

One important milestone during those months was Bout of Books 4.0 - my first Read-a-thon.

-recommend everyone but especially new bloggers to participate in an event like that

-makes you feel more at home in the blogging universe 

-having a common goal and so many opportunities to talk about it and interact with each other.

Bout of Books was also my first time seriously trying to use Twitter together with my blog - which I've been failing at miserably ever since. 

-forget it even exists 

-only very rarely actually post something on there.

With June came summer and with that my first themed reading month,

- summer-y contemporaries beyond -measure 

- but also Meg-a-Readers, another Read-a-thon

-didn't finish the way I wanted to. 

-Once-Upon-a- Readathon ended the same way 

- if not worse. That was also when I

- learned that sometimes however much fun things are, I can't do them all at the same time :) 

One Year Anniversary!!!

Happy Birthday to meeee! Exactly this day, one year ago, I uploaded my very first post on the Booksmartie. 

It's been a great, sad, adventorous and exciting year for me - in the blogging universe and beyond - and in the next few days to come I want to share the highlights with you guys! I hope you enjoy!

Looking Back on...Spring Break in the Blogosphere

Spring Break usually is 

- a rather difficult time for me

- the weather is horrible

- everyone else seems to be somewhere sunny

- there is nothing to do 

- I always get sick!

My new blog, though

-made things rather interesting

- kept me busy

- helped me understand that highschool is only the beginning

My reading habits

- changed completely

- I read for hours, sick in bed

- I learned how to enjoy doing nothing for a change

Blogging - wise

- I started to have a real routine in my posts

- I noticed that routines are rather boring

- I started including random posts just to change things up

Interestingly enough, I used to be a lot more spontaneous during the first few weeks of blogging and I'd really like to get back to that again. After all, blogging is about sharing something about yourself with the readers and I think it might be more fun to include some rather personal, fun updates from time to time!