And again it is time for another part of the 30 Day Book Challenge! Today the prompt was:
A Book You Loved But Don't Anymore
And for me this is definitely Twilight.
When I first read the book years ago I really loved it. My friends loved it and when we were talking about it a lot, an we talked almost every girl in our class into reading it, too (even some boys).
The second book was not so great but I loved the third and I definitely was really desperate to get my hands on the last one. Breaking Dawn was actually the first book I read in English outside of school. I wanted to find out how the story ended so badly that I purchased it online.
And it was a huge disappointment. I really disliked the ending and how a lot of things were handled in the book. This let to me and another friend to look back at the other books more critically and we found out that the writing style and the whole story was not as great as we thought it was on first glance.
I am still really thankful for the great time I had during the first read, but I am sure I will never pick them up again. I know how the story goes and I do not think this is a book I could finish twice.
And do not get me started about those terrible movies! I did not even watch the last two movies...
What's your opinion on Twilight?
Love and Words
KJ
Monday, May 6, 2013
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Vampire Academy Movie Casting
Well I already told you who is going to play the leads in the upcoming Vampire Academy movie (I am so excited, I can't breath :D) in this previous post. Here is a short round up:That's Zoey Deutch as Rose Hathaway, Danila Kozlovskiy as Dimitri Belikov, and Lucy Fry as Lissa Dragomir.
Last monday the news were released that Olga Kurylenko would be playing the headmistress of the school Mrs. Kirova.
My first thoughts were something in the line of this:
(I am Sam and the casting director is Dean :D)
(Gifs are not mine! If it's yours and you want credit mail me :) )
Then I thought a little more about it I realized that Olga Kurylenko is nothing like I imagined Kirova when I read the books. She was a headmistress of an academy, always cold and I kind of imagined her as an old lady. Like professor McG in the Harry Potter movies.
And hands down Olga Kurylenko is just gorgeous!
So I could be sitting here and cry about the fact that she looks so much different than I wanted her to look. But of course I am not doing that. You know why? Imagine they cast a actress that looks exactly like the Kirova of my imagination. I would be thrilled! And then I would maybe find out that she sucks at acting and gives a terrible performance.
If a character is supposed to have blonde hair and the actress has brown hair, or pink hair, I am fine with it as long as she plays the character in a good way.
I am sure the movie will be great! This will be fangirl-heaven!
Oh, please do not let them disappoint me :D
What are your thoughts on the casting?
Love and words
KJ
PS: I just love gifs :D
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Book Challenge Day 11: On "Hating" Books
In order to complete the challenge for today I need to write a post about A Book You Hated.
I skipped day 08 because it was about the in my opinion most overrated book. I skipped it because I do not like bashing books on the internet for various reasons. There is a small line between giving a critical nevative review of something, stating your opinion politely and bashing something.
It is very easy to cross this line especially on the internet. It is such a anonym place and you easily forget that real people are behind the usernames and websites. I thought about skipping this day, too, but I think stating my motivation on this once and for all would be a better way:
A book is an authors baby and even if you hated it you should always be polite. I already said that on my post about Day 08.
I just have a feeling that the more I get involved with the blogging community the more "constructive critism" turns into "bashing".
Let us just take tumblr as a example. I am part of that community since a few months. I think it is a great place to find other people who like the same things as you do and to share creative work and opinions.
But I get more and more the feeling that you cannot join a fandom without having to deal with hate.
It is normal and completely understandable if you hate the things I love. You can even tell me that you hate these things without making me angry. I may try to convince you how great those things are but I will never judge you based on your opinions. But I will judge you on the way you talk to other people on the internet.
I will never get why there are so many fights going on on tumblr. Every fandom has its own fight.
The Game of Thrones fandom fights about Sansa or the Lannisters.
The Spartacus fandom fights over Gaxa vs. Gannibyl.
The Les Mis fandom fights currently over Enjonine.
If you search the Harry Potter tag you will always find someone fighting over Dramione.
And the list goes on and on and on...
I for one example disliked Sybil while watching Spartacus, too. I disliked her because I thought she was blind for what made Gannicus really himself. There I stated my opinion nicely and no one got hurt. Now I will continue my life and stop being obsessed over a fictional character.
Seriously sometimes I just want to scream "SHE IS FICTIONAL GET OVER IT!" at people through the internet. We can discuss Sybil in a normal way but at the end of the day I have to admitt that there are more important things for me than her. It is not like we are discussing politics or animal abuse. We are talking about fictional things.
And here comes the important part: The people you are talking to on the internet, the authors behind the books, and the authors of tumblr posts are not fictional. They are real. They are real persons with a life, a family, hobbies, and maybe even a dog. Words can hurt.
We have a saying here: "If you do not have something nice to say, say nothing at all"
Hate is a really strong word. I for an example hate it when people hurt animals, I hate it when my friends lie to me (which end-friends them automatically), and I really hate the fact that I was mad at my father over something stupid when I last talked to him before he died. That was something I can never take back and it will always cloud the memory I have of the last moments with the most important person of my life.
That is something you can hate, something important, something that matters and stays with me for the rest of my life. It changed the way I treat other people.
But fictional characters? Books? A book I dislike turns into something I do not care about. I may be angry for spending money on it and I may tell my best friends "No don't buy it!". I will even give it a bad rating on Goodreads. But I will not spend my time writing a post about how much I disliked it.
Because I can spend my time with more important things. Things I like and love. A book, as hard as it sounds, is not worth the time you spent hating on it. It is not worth the energy you spent bashing it.
At the end of the day it is only a book.
(It is different with "evil" books people write to affect other people or if a book is discriminating a minority. These are valid points to hate it and if something like that happens we as a community need to state our discontent with such books. That counts as important but negative feedback and has nothing to do with bashing a book).
A book is only a book to you. But to the author who wrote it the book means a lot more. It represents a time of their life, they channeled their feelings to write it. They care for the characters and the story like someone cares for their children.
And then they go online, and let's face it we live in a world were a almost all authors are conecting with their fans online, and they read all those things people write about their books. Especially debut authors read a lot of reviews online. And hearing that something you love so much, something that is a part of your life, is bashed and called trash really hurts does authors.
Just imagine you walk down the street and you run into a woman with a newborn baby. And it is, in your opinion, a really ugly baby. Do you take the time and stop to tell the woman: "Wow, your child is the like the ugliest baby I have ever seen!" No you don't say that. (If you say that you are a really bad person! Shame on you!). That woman loves her baby after all!
Authors love their babys, too. And their babys are books.
If an author writes a book and publishes it he gives you a part of his soul. Remember that when you write a bad review.
Do you want an author you love and admire stop connecting with his/her fans because of people bashing her? Do you want an author you love feel bad about the things they love because of something an idiot wrote online? Do you want them to stop writing because they are hurt by what people say?
No?
Then don't bash authors other people love!
So to answer the question for today's challenge: Yes there are books I dislike, there are even books I would rather spent the whole day working in a mine in District 12 than reading them again, but there are no books I hate. Simply because I do not waste my time on hating books.
And do not get me wrong. I love making fun about things I dislike, stupid movies, and terrible books. But there is a difference between making fun about something when you're alone with your friends and shouting it out loud on the internet. I created this blog to talk about the things I love with other people and to celebrate those things. I will not turn it into the opposite.
Love and Words
KJ
I skipped day 08 because it was about the in my opinion most overrated book. I skipped it because I do not like bashing books on the internet for various reasons. There is a small line between giving a critical nevative review of something, stating your opinion politely and bashing something.
It is very easy to cross this line especially on the internet. It is such a anonym place and you easily forget that real people are behind the usernames and websites. I thought about skipping this day, too, but I think stating my motivation on this once and for all would be a better way:
A book is an authors baby and even if you hated it you should always be polite. I already said that on my post about Day 08.
I just have a feeling that the more I get involved with the blogging community the more "constructive critism" turns into "bashing".
Let us just take tumblr as a example. I am part of that community since a few months. I think it is a great place to find other people who like the same things as you do and to share creative work and opinions.
But I get more and more the feeling that you cannot join a fandom without having to deal with hate.
It is normal and completely understandable if you hate the things I love. You can even tell me that you hate these things without making me angry. I may try to convince you how great those things are but I will never judge you based on your opinions. But I will judge you on the way you talk to other people on the internet.
I will never get why there are so many fights going on on tumblr. Every fandom has its own fight.
The Game of Thrones fandom fights about Sansa or the Lannisters.
The Spartacus fandom fights over Gaxa vs. Gannibyl.
The Les Mis fandom fights currently over Enjonine.
If you search the Harry Potter tag you will always find someone fighting over Dramione.
And the list goes on and on and on...
I for one example disliked Sybil while watching Spartacus, too. I disliked her because I thought she was blind for what made Gannicus really himself. There I stated my opinion nicely and no one got hurt. Now I will continue my life and stop being obsessed over a fictional character.
Seriously sometimes I just want to scream "SHE IS FICTIONAL GET OVER IT!" at people through the internet. We can discuss Sybil in a normal way but at the end of the day I have to admitt that there are more important things for me than her. It is not like we are discussing politics or animal abuse. We are talking about fictional things.
And here comes the important part: The people you are talking to on the internet, the authors behind the books, and the authors of tumblr posts are not fictional. They are real. They are real persons with a life, a family, hobbies, and maybe even a dog. Words can hurt.
We have a saying here: "If you do not have something nice to say, say nothing at all"
Hate is a really strong word. I for an example hate it when people hurt animals, I hate it when my friends lie to me (which end-friends them automatically), and I really hate the fact that I was mad at my father over something stupid when I last talked to him before he died. That was something I can never take back and it will always cloud the memory I have of the last moments with the most important person of my life.
That is something you can hate, something important, something that matters and stays with me for the rest of my life. It changed the way I treat other people.
But fictional characters? Books? A book I dislike turns into something I do not care about. I may be angry for spending money on it and I may tell my best friends "No don't buy it!". I will even give it a bad rating on Goodreads. But I will not spend my time writing a post about how much I disliked it.
Because I can spend my time with more important things. Things I like and love. A book, as hard as it sounds, is not worth the time you spent hating on it. It is not worth the energy you spent bashing it.
At the end of the day it is only a book.
(It is different with "evil" books people write to affect other people or if a book is discriminating a minority. These are valid points to hate it and if something like that happens we as a community need to state our discontent with such books. That counts as important but negative feedback and has nothing to do with bashing a book).
A book is only a book to you. But to the author who wrote it the book means a lot more. It represents a time of their life, they channeled their feelings to write it. They care for the characters and the story like someone cares for their children.
And then they go online, and let's face it we live in a world were a almost all authors are conecting with their fans online, and they read all those things people write about their books. Especially debut authors read a lot of reviews online. And hearing that something you love so much, something that is a part of your life, is bashed and called trash really hurts does authors.
Just imagine you walk down the street and you run into a woman with a newborn baby. And it is, in your opinion, a really ugly baby. Do you take the time and stop to tell the woman: "Wow, your child is the like the ugliest baby I have ever seen!" No you don't say that. (If you say that you are a really bad person! Shame on you!). That woman loves her baby after all!
Authors love their babys, too. And their babys are books.
If an author writes a book and publishes it he gives you a part of his soul. Remember that when you write a bad review.
Do you want an author you love and admire stop connecting with his/her fans because of people bashing her? Do you want an author you love feel bad about the things they love because of something an idiot wrote online? Do you want them to stop writing because they are hurt by what people say?
No?
Then don't bash authors other people love!
So to answer the question for today's challenge: Yes there are books I dislike, there are even books I would rather spent the whole day working in a mine in District 12 than reading them again, but there are no books I hate. Simply because I do not waste my time on hating books.
And do not get me wrong. I love making fun about things I dislike, stupid movies, and terrible books. But there is a difference between making fun about something when you're alone with your friends and shouting it out loud on the internet. I created this blog to talk about the things I love with other people and to celebrate those things. I will not turn it into the opposite.
Love and Words
KJ
Friday, May 3, 2013
Time for a new TBR!
So I am trying to do that TBR thing every week now. I will answer three questions that the people over on the Penguin Teen Australia Blog answer every week, too.
1. What is new on your shelf?
Today I got Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier and I already started reading it. The begining is really good and there is a lot of buzz going on about it. I hope I am not disappointed. I picked up this book because a lot of people told me that it is great. The movie hit theatres here in Germany a few months ago and the trailer looked really interesting. So I am definitely going to watch it and give you a full review of the book and the movie.
I do not know if the movie will be available in English... If you are a fan of the book you may want to check out the trailer anyway, just to see your favourite characters come to life:
2. What have you just finished on your shelf?
The last book I finished was Demonic Dora by Claire Chilton. I did not like it that much, but it was pretty good. The full review is already on here somewhere... Just follow the tags :D
3. What is the most anticipated book you want to read next?
As you already know if you have read my previous post I spend my day desperately trying to find a copy of Erin Bowman's Taken. So this is definitely the book I am most anticipating this week. I want to read it now!
But I have so many other books to read first...
So I am off reading, you have a nice day!
How would you answer these questions?
Love and Words
KJ
1. What is new on your shelf?
Today I got Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier and I already started reading it. The begining is really good and there is a lot of buzz going on about it. I hope I am not disappointed. I picked up this book because a lot of people told me that it is great. The movie hit theatres here in Germany a few months ago and the trailer looked really interesting. So I am definitely going to watch it and give you a full review of the book and the movie.
I do not know if the movie will be available in English... If you are a fan of the book you may want to check out the trailer anyway, just to see your favourite characters come to life:
2. What have you just finished on your shelf?
The last book I finished was Demonic Dora by Claire Chilton. I did not like it that much, but it was pretty good. The full review is already on here somewhere... Just follow the tags :D
3. What is the most anticipated book you want to read next?
As you already know if you have read my previous post I spend my day desperately trying to find a copy of Erin Bowman's Taken. So this is definitely the book I am most anticipating this week. I want to read it now!
But I have so many other books to read first...
So I am off reading, you have a nice day!
How would you answer these questions?
Love and Words
KJ
My adventures in the bookstore...
So today I went bookshopping. (Yeah, I know I was on some kind of a book buying ban but I just love bookstores!)
And know I am telling you a little story. I will call it The worst treasure hunter in history. I got carried away by the whole fairytale thing so just bear with me here :D
But before she started her adventure our heroine told a little blue bird named Twitter that she was so excited about the German release. And Twitter brought back a message from the author Erin Bowman herself! Our little heroine was so joyful about that. Because everyone knows that authors are like superheroes and superstars combined, pure little bundles of awesomness.
Our little heroine lived in a small village in the middle of nowhere. Well to be honest it was more like the middle of Germany (as in the exact geographical middle of Germany). She lived a happy life with her dog and lots of books. She loved to read books. And even more she loved to write about the books so other people could read them.
One day she looked at her magic looking glass called the Internet and found out that a covenant of good witches, known as the publisher Piper, would publish the German translation of the book Taken by Erin Bowman. A book our little heroine wanted to read since she once heard about it months ago.
The heroine could have told the looking glass that she wanted the book and it would show up magicaly on her doorstep. But she just loved the scent of bookstores so she decided she would go on a treasure hunt to find the book in the wild.
But before she started her adventure our heroine told a little blue bird named Twitter that she was so excited about the German release. And Twitter brought back a message from the author Erin Bowman herself! Our little heroine was so joyful about that. Because everyone knows that authors are like superheroes and superstars combined, pure little bundles of awesomness.
And Erin Bowman said: Take a picture of it if you see it somewhere.
So the quest was clear. Our heroine had to find Taken, take a picture, and read the book imediatly.
As I sad before our heroine lived in a little village. There was no supermarket, not even a tiny one. And definitely not a bookstore.
So she had to embark on a dangerous journey into the next big city. To go not alone she brought two of her friends with her. The lovely giant Martin, who was hands down twice as large as our heroine, and her lovely fairy Mary. And since our heroine is a sucker for fantasy stories she made a little war speech before they entered the big city. I can tell you that Martin and Mary were kind of annoyed...
She went into the first book store and searched for Taken while Martin got lost in the world of words and Mary was just kind of bored. She searched on the fantasy shelf, she searched on the shelf for YA and Teens, but no Taken could be found. She asked the good fairy of the store and the fairy said: "No we do not have it in stock. But we could get it by tomorrow"
Our heroine was really sad. She could not make the dangerous journey again on the morrow. So she sent Mary to search for Martin and they continued on their quest.
They had to survive some adventures in several fashion shops and a restaurant until they finaly found the entrance of another bookstore. "No we do not have it hear. But we can request it for you", the lovely bookstore fairy said when our heroine asked. So she had to leave without a picture or a book, again. All the while the other books in the store whispered of the great stories within them, trying to get our heroines attention. But she stayed strong and carried on.
At the end of the day Martin was still a giant, Mary was really tired of runing around in bookstores and our heroine had searched five different stores without getting the book she wanted.
So the treasure hunt failed, but this is still a happy ending. Because our heroine requested the book in the end from a little indiependent bookstore and she surely will get that picture and find out how the story of Taken ends...
...And yeah I admitt it, I bought another book, too. Do not judge me! Try walking through five bookstores without buying something and you will fail, too :)
Love and Words
KJ
Book Challenge Day 10: Faust I by Goethe
Today I am talking about my Favourite Classic Book.
This is, again a German one. And it is again a hard decision.
You know I love me some classic books. Dracula, Frankenstein, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Wuthering Heights, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Of Mice and Men, Don Karlos...
I love them all.
But if I have to pick a favourite one it would definitely be one by Schiller or Goethe since they were both great writers (and best friends).
I loved Faust I by Goethe. Here is a short summary for everyone who does not know the book (as always taken from Goodreads):
Goethe’s Faust reworks the late medieval myth of a brilliant scholar so disillusioned he resolves to make a contract with Mephistopheles. The devil will do all he asks on Earth and seeks to grant him a moment in life so glorious that he will wish it to last forever. But if Faust does bid the moment stay, he falls to Mephisto and must serve him after death. In this first part of Goethe’s great work, the embittered thinker and Mephistopheles enter into their agreement, and soon Faust is living a rejuvenated life and winning the love of the beautiful Gretchen. But in this compelling tragedy of arrogance, unfulfilled desire, and self-delusion, Faust heads inexorably toward an infernal destruction.
Faust is a strange character. I am halfway torn between really disliking him and loving him. Mephisto on the other side is really great. He pulls of some great quotes and is perfection in demon form.
The story itself is really interesting, showing a man that searches for the real meaning of life. What if one day you find out that everything you will ever accomplish will not be enough in the end? What if you want more than you can ever get?
And I just love the idea of the devil betting with god on human souls :D
What is your favourite classic story?
Love and Words
KJ
This is, again a German one. And it is again a hard decision.
You know I love me some classic books. Dracula, Frankenstein, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Wuthering Heights, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Of Mice and Men, Don Karlos...
I love them all.
But if I have to pick a favourite one it would definitely be one by Schiller or Goethe since they were both great writers (and best friends).
I loved Faust I by Goethe. Here is a short summary for everyone who does not know the book (as always taken from Goodreads):
Goethe’s Faust reworks the late medieval myth of a brilliant scholar so disillusioned he resolves to make a contract with Mephistopheles. The devil will do all he asks on Earth and seeks to grant him a moment in life so glorious that he will wish it to last forever. But if Faust does bid the moment stay, he falls to Mephisto and must serve him after death. In this first part of Goethe’s great work, the embittered thinker and Mephistopheles enter into their agreement, and soon Faust is living a rejuvenated life and winning the love of the beautiful Gretchen. But in this compelling tragedy of arrogance, unfulfilled desire, and self-delusion, Faust heads inexorably toward an infernal destruction.
Faust is a strange character. I am halfway torn between really disliking him and loving him. Mephisto on the other side is really great. He pulls of some great quotes and is perfection in demon form.
The story itself is really interesting, showing a man that searches for the real meaning of life. What if one day you find out that everything you will ever accomplish will not be enough in the end? What if you want more than you can ever get?
And I just love the idea of the devil betting with god on human souls :D
What is your favourite classic story?
Love and Words
KJ
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
