I Really, Really Love You Guys

I know, I know. It's totally Thursday and totally time for a review and there's no reason why there shouldn't be one.

Especially because I even have one. A review, I mean. I was crazy busy reading lately (duh! BTH, anyone?) and I reviewed most of what I read, so I can assure - the reviews will come! Starting tomorrow!

Why not today, you ask?

Oh, that's because I'm a sentimental mess right now and therefore need to tell all my readers something that's been on my mind a lot lately.

I really, really love you!

All of you! 

The ones who always comment and the ones who never comment and the ones who leave shorter statements and the ones that write novels in my comments section!

I am actually obsessed with all of you!

(Awesome right??? Heart-shaped SMARTIIIIEEES!!!)

Just in case you're not a blogger, I'll explain this obsession.

You know, there was a before when I had all these things (about books) in my head that I wanted to talk about and noone would listen! And on top of that, they often just turned around and walked away when I started talking about how I'm head over heels in love with Dimitri.

Now, I can write about all those things and have people come to actually read what I wrote.

Amazing!!!

And I love chatting with you guys on Twitter! I even think we should do that way more often. I'm just not on Twitter enough, ya know? Gotta change that!

So, to cut it short (or, as short as my never-ending rambling can be), I just wanted to let all of my readers know that I love you with all my heart and that I don't know what I would do without you and the blog and that I am soo happy for all the nice and sweet comments you always leave me!

Thank you so much for that!!!!

Top Ten Books That Take Place in my most Favorite Country in the Whole Wide World

...the USA, of course!

Most of my readers know I'm from Germany and LOVE everything American (except maybe...GM food...but is that really only American? Let's not get into political correctness here. Because I suck at it)

Naturally, I had to pick the Top Ten Novels set in the US that I read so far (something about my grammar is off today)

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Such a classic. Also, did I mention I love everything about US history, too?

1) Caster Chronicles by Kami Garcia and Margret Stohl

I love reading about the Southern mentality. It's like home. Seriously, people in my town are just as narrowminded and conservative as say...Link's mom. I love them anyways (shhh! not literally all of them!)

2) The Lucy Variations by Sara Zarr

I'm not even completely sure, but I believe it's set in San Francisco and that...made me add another city to the list of places I've got to visit before I die...

3) The Lying Game Series by Sara Shepard

LOVE the whote desert-like city Shepard describes in those books. I could never live there for long (I need rainy days and storms that I can run in), but it sure sounds cool!

4) The Pretty Little Liars Series by Sara Shepard

Sorry, sorry. I had to. I love Rosewood even more than that deserty town. Might also be because of the way they portray it in the TV show. The houses are too pretty to be true!

5) 52 Reasons to Hate My Father by Jessica Brody

I would trade my hometown for L.A. at all times. Sorry. And yes, I really am that disloyal.

6) Belles by Jen Calonita

Although I'd actually prefer to live where Izzy lives. I wouldn't feel comfortable around rich people. I'm a klutz and I can't behave myself.

7) Airhead Trilogy by Meg Cabot

8) The Princess Diaries Series by Meg Cabot

9) The Caster Chronicles by Cassandra Clare

...because they're all set and noone (don't lie!) can pretend not to be sooo curious about NYC. I'm dying to see it and someday I will.

10) The Mediator Series by Meg Cabot

Set in California and gives a really great and different image of California. Also, it's plain hilarious!

#BTHReadathon - The End

Let's just say I tried really hard. And those efforts did pay off, too.

From last week's update on the Readathon, you might remember that I did finish four books!

Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo

The Lucy Variations by Sara Zarr

Heist Society by Ally Carter 

34 Pieces of You by Carmen Rodrigues

This week, though, I've been working a lot more (I'm having two jobs - but only for ten days) and my focus has been, I'll admit it, on running a bit more than on reading (see this post).

Anyway, this week I have read the second book in Meg Cabot's The Mediator Series, Ninth Key and I'm almost done with the third book. In addition to that I have started (and almost finished) Kara Goucher's Running for Women and of course, I had to read at least a couple of pages of my books for school.

All in all that makes one book plus two almost finished ones....uh..just count them however you want to :D

The point is that I finished most of the books in one sitting and that I had a blast reading them!!!

Aaaand there's Bout of Books coming up next week and then there won't be marathon-reading for a while anymore 'cause it's Back To School/ Uni (first time!!!).

I'll leave you with this little update for today and hope you all are going to have an amazing week!

How did you do on BTH?

And do you plan on participating in Bout of Books next week?

Eat, Sleep, Run

This post has been in my head for a while. I just never wrote it, because it's even more off topic than all my other discussion posts from the last few weeks.

And looking at all those discussions I know will be up in the following weeks, I really shouldn't write this. But I will because it's my blog and I do what I want to. Hehe...

Most of you guys know by now that I'm obsessed with two things. Reading and running. And food. And lately TV. Not with maths, obviously. But that's beside the point.

 

 

The point of this post is to tell you about my running story and maybe inspire you to be a runner, too. Maybe, maybe.

 

It all started when I was five. No kidding. My uncle took me on a run of which I remember nothing at all anymore (my family shot a million pics, though, so that's how I know).

 

Then, I didn't think of running the next nine years to come.

I'd always been athletic, mostly loved swimming and soccer and just running around in general. But running for the sake of times and miles? Nahhh

 

Then I turned 14. That summer was particularly awful. I didn't just lie in bed all day doing nothing (except read and watch movies and shows) - I did that plus felt awful the whole time.

You know how it is, being 14. Nothing about your body looks normal or like it should or like in the magazines. You feel chubby and weird (or, in some of my friends' cases, scrawny and weird).

 

That's when my aunt and mom suggested I go running. Just like that. Just to try it.

As soon as so much time had passed that they wouldn't remember it had been their idea in the first place, I put on those H&M juicies we all thought were cool and started running around the neighbourhood.

 

 

 

It was awful. I had my Ipod, of course, but the rest of it? Awful. Too hot, too much polyester and too many people staring.

But did I quit? No.

Those 10 minutes (it was never more than that) a day filled me with the kind of satisfaction nothing else could give me. I'd feel so lazy all day, every day and that bit of exercise really helped me...not feel so lazy anymore. I added a bit of very awkward, absolutely wrong Pilates while watching TV.

But it was SOMETHING!

 

And I kept it up. Come fall, I'd run 20 minutes a day. ( Definitely not how you should start doing it, but how should I know?) During the winter, I replaced running with online exercise videos and Pilates (again:no clue what I was doing) and then I picked up running again in the spring. That year, I started my first real training plan, got running clothes (a relief!) and in the winter of 2010, after running in my gym shoes for 2 years, I got my first Níke running shoes.

I ran throughout that entire winter and the following year without ever taking a break. I just ran, almost every day, proud of my accomplishments each time I got home exhausted.

 

 

One big change in my running routines is happening right now, though. As I learn more and more about running on fitness blogs and magazines and since I ran my first real race in April, I want to get more out of it. I want to get faster, stronger. I want to compete in races and I want to do fine.

Also, I have to confess I kind of want to start a Running blog to report my progress... :D

 

My Questions for You Today:

 

Do you run? Or do any other sport?

How did you get into it?

And would you like to read about running more often on this blog - or would you like to see a running blog?

 

Review: Ten Things We Did by Sarah Mylnowski

2 girls + 3 guys + 1 house - parents = 10 things April and her friends did that they (definitely, maybe, probably) shouldn't have.

If given the opportunity, what sixteen-year-old wouldn't jump at the chance to move in with a friend and live parent-free? Although maybe "opportunity" isn't the right word, since April had to tell her dad a tiny little untruth to make it happen (see #1: "Lied to Our Parents"). But she and her housemate Vi are totally responsible and able to take care of themselves. How they ended up "Skipping School" (#3), "Throwing a Crazy Party" (#8), "Buying a Hot Tub" (#4), and, um, "Harboring a Fugitive" (#7) at all is kind of a mystery to them.

In this hilarious and bittersweet tale, Sarah Mlynowski mines the heart and mind of a girl on her own for the first time. To get through the year, April will have to juggle a love triangle, learn to do her own laundry, and accept that her carefully constructed world just might be falling apart . . . one thing-she-shouldn't-have-done at a time.

A Long Story Short:

You can of course not change the nature of a contemporary novel, so if these are really not your thing, don't go for it. However, if you do enjoy contemps, this is a good one. A lot more mature than you'd think, very funny, too and just life as it happens to most of us. I was disappointed by the ending, but as the rest was great, I don't really care.

RATING: 3/3 Smarties

 Review for You:

I was surprised by how attached I got to the characters from Ten Things We Did. Seemingly just another fluffy, meaningless contemporary "beach read", I envisioned a few teenage misssteps, alcohol, maybe parties and annoyed neighbours in a suburban area.

What I did not expect were the serious issues and problems that were acknowledged in Ten Things We Did. Also not the characters whom I could all identify with in some way. Well, what I did expect was the super cheesy and unbelievable ending with the "my parents would never, ever do/say that" effect.

But whatever.

Until the last three pages, Ten Things was extraordinarily well done.

I connected with the main character, April, by the second I opened the book. I loved the chapter captions and the headings within the chapters, I loved the writing style and character's voice. In short - I was excited to read the book directly after the first page...which happens not very often for me. The plot took over where the excitement about the beginning left off. Instead of dragging on and on until the real theme of the book started to set in, the author got "straight to the point" which yes, did take a bit of realistic atmosphere away. However, I'd rather have to overlook that than get bored by the first quarter of the novel.

The rest of the novel was carried on just by characters and their development and mostly April's experiences of living on her own meanwhile dealing with friends and family issues like any teenager has to.

I especially liked how - although this was a book without parents  - it still dealt with parents a lot.

April, but also Ivy, one of her best friends, and later also Lucy all revealed to have serious issues with their versions of adults and it was interesting to see them deal with it.

This, but also the things the girls went through with their boyfriends - or boys in general - made Ten Things We Did a lot more mature than I'd first realized.

The way the characters figure out how far they are willing to go with a boy and why and how and under which circumstances was interesting to read about and certainly reassuring and interesting for younger girls.

In the end, there's not that much to tell about Ten Things other than it was a lot better than expected, you will probably really like it a lot and it would be sad if you missed it.

Top Ten Stories I Never Wanted to End

Notice a theme in this? They are all contemporary novels! I guess I just grow too attached to those characters (if the books are really, really good, which all of the above are!)...and also, most dystopian/fantasy/etc. novels have sequels :D

Beat The Heat Readathon - It's already been a week!

Hello everyone! 

Opposite from all the other Read-a-Thons I have participated in lately, I decided to stick with a lot less update posts throughout the whole thing. For one, because I don't want your Feedreaders and Email Inboxes overflowing with my current page count - and then, I also don't think it's very benefitting for my reading goals to update every day.

It's been a week of (pretty intense) reading now, though, so I thought I'd let you guys know how things are over here.

Overall, from Monday to Monday I have read 4 books. I actually wanted to have that goals achieved within 7, not 8 days - but I'm still pretty proud!

Especially, because I read two of them, Heist Society and 34 Pieces of You, in one day. 

The other two Siege and Storm and The Lucy Variations were really good, too, though!

The only problem I face now? I have no idea what's next! I crave a book that's just as good as the other ones were, but how to choose? I'm thinking The Fault in Our Stars, but I'd rather read that one without the pressure of a Read-a-Thon at the back of my mind...

What do you guys think? Do you read specific books for Read-a-Thons? And, if you're participating, how far have you come with your goals?