Christmas Struggles + Merrybookmas

Hi guys!

Sorry for being away the last two weeks. The Christmas crazyness just catched up with me.

As I am helping Santa and the Christkind (yes I do believe in both) with presents and buying a tree as well as prep everything and baking cookies like a mad woman, I also attended traditional get-togethers for some Glühwein.

All of the above and the fact that I am participating in #Merrybookmas on Youtube this year (which you can find below ;)) got me pretty stressed out these last couple days and weeks.

Fun fact, I am not even doing as good with the daily videos for #Merrybookmas as I hoped.

This is just a quick post to tell you that I haven't forgotten about you lovely people who read my blog :). There is new content coming very very very soon. I promise you that!

And for now I hope you all enjoy the holidays and have a great time. Don't let the crazyness get to you ;)

Katharina

Top 5 Books I Read This Fall

Hi guys!

After the example of Regan from PersueProject over on Youtube I wanted to start this seasonal series of 'Top 5 Books I Read'.
So I am scrolling through my Goodreads and telling you which books I read in September, October and November, what rating I gave them and my Top 5 picks with a little synopsis. As this series progresses you will find more summaries and reviews in my monthly wrap ups :).

Weihnachtliche Buch Geschenksempfehlung

 Frohen Advent liebe Leute!

Für alle die dieses Jahr dem Christkind oder Weihnachtsmann unter die Arme greifen wollen, und dabei an ein Buchgeschenk gedacht haben, ist dieser Blogpost.

Ich habe meine persönlichen Favoriten in den folgenden Gruppen verlinkt. 

Es sind noch 2 1/2 Wochen Zeit, also wenn ihr auch so Weihnachtseinkaufsmuffel seit wie ich: Jetzt aber ran und schnell die Besorgungen erledigen ;).

Viel Spaß beim stöbern. Ich denke es ist für jeden etwas dabei, vielleicht findet ihr ja ein wenig Inspiration :).

Bookish Christmas Gift Guide

HOHOHO and Merry Christmas - almost ;)!

For all of you who were thinking about gifting a book this year, I wanted to share my personal picks.

I am pretty sure you will find something for everyone, just browse through the inspiration here. 
With two and a half weeks more to go, there is still enough time for buying a bookish gift. 

November Wrap Up / Lesemonat November

Hi guys and welcome back to my blog!

So this is going to be an interesting new thing I want to start for every month.
Since I was born and raised in Austria and still living there I wanted to include monthly reading wrap-ups also in german. Many of the books I read in english have a later release date for the german version. So why not share my opinion for them also in my native language.
Also I do know a lot of people who do prefer reading in german ;).
To make this easier I will start off with the english Wrap-Up and than follow up with the german one in a different color.
Hope you like this new extension of my blog :).

Hallo Leute,
ich wollte eine neue monatliche Serie starten, für alle die ebenfalls so gerne lesen wie ich aber dann doch lieber auf Deutsch. Da ja viele von den Büchern die ich so auf Englisch lese auch auf Deutsch rauskommen, könnt ihr hier jedes Monat nachlesen welche Bücher ich gelesen habe und meine ersten Gedanken dazu. Ich hoffe die Veränderung gefällt euch. Ich weiß ja dass einige meiner Freunde auch lieber auf Deutsch lesen ;). Die deutsche Zusammenfassung wird immer unter der englischen in dieser super tollen Farbe sein, um die Dinge ein bisschen zu vereinfachen. Viel Spaß :)!

NANOWRIMO 2015 Update #3 - The End

Hi lovely internet people!

Monday the 30th of November was the last day of National Novel Writing Month 2015.
My total word count for this month is 25.150.
So I didn't win Nanowrimo this year but at least I made it through the half way, which I am totally fine with. Like I said before, 50.000 words are a lot and this is more than I have written in a long time. I still like my steampunkesque novel idea and I will keep writing it until I have a final first draft. I do believe that this has the potential to be a great story, or at least I would like to read the finished project ;).

Review: Simon VS. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Simon VS. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Series: Standalone

Released: April 7th, 2015

Pages: 303 (Paperback)

Source: Purchased

Rating: 5 / 5

Link: Goodreads








Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.

With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.


This book is one of my favorite contemporary books since I read it this year. I loved all of the characters and how Becky Albertalli made me care for them so quickly.
Not only is Simon the funniest and most adorable kid in town, his entire family and friends made me laugh out loud so much. This book makes you wanting to be friends with all of them so you can please hang out with them.

NANOWRIMO 2015 Update #2

Hi lovely readers!

As of today we are in week 4 of National Novel Writing Month. My word count is currently at 21.677. It should be at 40.000. You probably can guess that I haven't done a lot of writing last week. I am trying to catch up a little, but it looks like I won't win Nano this year. 30k words in one week...doable but I know me, so let's just adjust the personal word count goal a little.
I am still 100% behind my story idea, even if it started to take turns and directions I didn't expect. For a first draft that is pretty normal...I checked with other authors ;).
The thing that let me fall behind the most last week, besides my omnipresent lack of motivation was using Book Expo Vienna and ComicCon Vienna as an excuse not to write.
So this week, I really want to start writing every day again. Even if it's just 100 words. If I can keep that up I will eventually have a first draft in my hands at least in the next couple months. That's not bad, and the real work just continues afterwards, editing, asking if the plot really makes sense, changing things. Although December will most likely not be my revision month, I am excited to see how far I can get until next Monday. Maybe I will even surprise myself.
So if you like, you can add me on Snapchat (thelifeofkatha) because I am now going to update my word count daily again ;).
Or you can just watch my Vlog videos on Youtbe:

Either way, if you are doing Nanowrimo this year, or attempted previously, I would love to hear from you guys. How are you doing?

Hopefully better than me ;)...
Katharina

Fall Book Haul

Hi guys!

So, I don't know if you saw this, but I uploaded my giant Fall Book Haul video on Youtube a couple of days ago. 

Over the months of September/October/November I accumulated a lot of books, and yes I know November isn't over yet, but until Christmas I am on sort of a book buying ban to avoid getting doubles, because what more joy can it bring than to find a lot of books you really wished for under the Christmastree - getting festive already just while thinking about it...jingle bells, jingle bells,...ok enough, not yet, I know guys! My birthday is in October so I received a good junk of books as presents from my loved ones.

If I am not mistaken, I am talking about 17 books and 2 comic trades. Insane! I know! But there is just so much excitement in opening a new book, and smelling it for the first time - ok I get weird again, but yes I do smell my books. 

As much as I love watching Book Hauls from other Booktubers I also really loved to film this for you, to share with you all of the wonderful reads that are now in my home, just waiting for me.

Also featured in the video: some hyped new releases that hopefully won't disappoint.

As my blogging journey moves forward, I will review every book, once I have read it here on my site, to share, recommend and talk with you about it, or even discuss because please do share if you read any of the books and have a completely other opinion!

So if you are now super curious and want to know which books I got this Fall check out my video :)!

See ya next time!

Katharina

Review: Solitaire by Alice Oseman

Solitaire by Alice Oseman

Series: Solitaire #1 (Standalone?)

Released: July 31st, 2014

Pages: 400

Source: Purchased

Rating: 3.5 / 5

Link: Goodreads






My name is Tori Spring. I like to sleep and I like to blog. Last year – before all that stuff with Charlie and before I had to face the harsh realities of A-Levels and university applications and the fact that one day I really will have to start talking to people – I had friends. Things were very different, I guess, but that’s all over now.

Now there’s Solitaire. And Michael Holden.

I don’t know what Solitaire are trying to do, and I don’t care about Michael Holden.

I really don’t.

That's the blurb of Solitaire, I really don't think you should know more before reading this novel. Maybe except of, it's about a typical teenager, with problems, that you will find yourself remembering you had too, or you have right now, because you are the same age as Tori (if so, it will get better, I promise ;)). The book has a sader vibe to it, with occasionally funny bits. It's a growing up thing!

Review: The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

Series: The Invisible Library (#1)

Released: January 15th, 2015

Pages: 329

Source: Birthday Gift / Purchased

Rating: 4.5 / 5

Link: Goodreads







Irene is a professional spy for the mysterious Library, which harvests books from different realities. She and her new assistant Kai, are posted on a mission to an alternative London. Their mission - to retrieve a dangerous book. But when they arrive, it's already been stolen. London's underground factions seem prepared to fight to the very death to find her book. Adding to the jeopardy, this world is chaos-infested - the laws of nature bent to allow supernatural creatures and unpredictable magic. Irene's new assistant is also hiding secrets of his own.
Soon, she's up to her eyebrows in a heady mix of danger, clues and secret societies. Yet failure is not an option - the nature of reality itself is at stake.

I got this book as a surprise for my birthday in October. I haven't heard of it before and started reading right away. I just wanted to read the first chapter, but I got sucked into this world. So I basically flew threw this book. The world is super interesting! There are alternating universes but Irene and her assistant get send into a Steampunk London. Steampunk! I love it! I don't know when this obsession started but I love reading action stories set in this fictional time period. 

NANOWRIMO 2015 Update #1

Hi guys!

We officially crossed the halfway point of National Novel Writing Month today. So this means the total word count should be 25.000 or more.
Did I reach it yet? No. But that's okay. I was super busy the past couple of days and my motivation to write at night or while others are watching my current Netflix obsession aka Supernatural (need to start Season4!!) wasn't at it's top.
So what to do when you fall behind? Just don't give up. I gave up last year, but regretted it for the last eleven months. So now, even if I am not in reach of that word count goal yet, I will keep on writing. I almost wrote every day. I admit some of the days I only wrote about 200 words but that is still 200 more than nothing. The two days I didn't write were packed with a concert and a wedding, so I knew from the start that I probably wasn't going to write on these days anyway.
Although I like writing from the beginning to the end, I had problems with that during the last week of Nano. I started to jump around in the story, and started new chapters, some people swear on. If you are currently writing on your Novel too, and you feel stuck, just try this method, it can help a lot. I personally used it mostly to outline future chapters, but in some cases I got caught up in the scene and now half of the chapters are already finished. It helps to set the direction of your plot, especially if you are like me and haven't gotten around to figure out the resolution yet.

I am snapping every day of Nanowrimo to document my journey. I got inspired to do that from the lovely Youtuber Kristina Horner who did this for a couple of years now. I put up a video about the first half of Nanowrimo, so if you want to see how I was doing day by day, check that out!

Thanks for reading, hope to see you all at the Nanowrimo Finishline at November 30th.
PS: I am still looking for some writing buddies, so add me if you want -thelifeofkatha- ;).

See ya soon,
Katharina

Bloglovin'

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/14529651/?claim=kspxqxrtzbh">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Hi guys!

Quick update:

I am also now on Bloglovin' - check it out! :)

NANOWRIMO 2015

Hi guys!

I finally managed to get back to posting on my blog - wow.
I have been super busy lately, and some major changes are coming up in my life. On the good side, this means, I will follow my passion and ramble more about books, so you will definitely read, see and hear much more from me comes November.
Make sure you follow me on all of the social media to be updated ;).

But now to the most important thing NANOWRIMO!

BookTubeAThon 2015

It's Booktubeathon time people! 
August 3rd to August 9th, wherever you are wenn the clock strikes midnight it's time to get reading.
Ariel Bissett created the BookTubeAThon Youtube Page where you can find all of the information - Link: BookTubeAThon and is also hosting this years booktubeathon with some others again. This years challenges look like so much fun.

I chose the following books for my tbr:

Review: These Broken Stars and This Shattered World by Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner

Series: Starbound (#1)

Released: December 10th, 2013

Pages: 374

Source: Purchased

Rating: 5 / 5

Link: Goodreads






Lilac LaRoux is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. On the flight in the Icarus the first ever hyperspeed Spaceship, which is build by her fathers company, she meets Tarver Merendsen. Tarver is on a promotion tour as one of the youngest Majors and war heros. When the luxury spaceliner Icarus starts shaking and suddenly plummets from hyperspace into the nearest planet, Lilac and Tarver are the only survivors.
In their search for help they travel a lonley planet. But things change when they find out that there is more on this planet, and what the truth is.

I loved this book! Good stories set in space always intrigue me, because let's be honest here, I always wanted to live on a space station, like Zenon from that long ago Disney movie - has anyone else loved that movie as much as me!? So when I first heard about 'These Broken Star' I knew i need to read this. The whole concept of terraforming planets to make them able to live on is so cool, and the way Amie Kaufman and Megan Spooner can paint pictures in my head with their words just hooked me on this series. 
Once again this book is written from two perspectives, but the voices are so different, so I never had an issue with forgetting who is taking right now. Tarver and Lilac are both very strong characters, who are forced to work together to survive, and let me tell you that's a lot of fun to witness. We get to know them very well during their journey, and half way into the book I couldn't put it down anymore because I felt so strongly for those two. 
I would have liked a little bit more space adventure and I really hope we see some more of Tarver and Lilac in book 3 as they just appear shortly in book 2.
And because I already mentioned book 2 now let's jump to that one! 

Book Haul June 2015

Hold your horses! Here are all of the books I've got in June:

Purchased:

*already finished The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski

 Purchased as audiobook:

*already finished The Lightning Thief & The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan

 Can't wait to read them all :D

Review: The Winner's Curse and The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkowski

The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Series: The Winner's Trilogy (#1)

Released: March 4th, 2014

Pages: 355

Source: Purchased

Rating: 4 / 5

Link: Goodreads

In a world where the empire Valoria enslaves everyone in the countries which they conquer, this book is written from two perspectives.

Kestrel is the daughter of the empire's General and lives with her father on the conquered peninsula Herran. Kestrels father wants her to enlist in the military and beeing 17 she has two choices, to join the military or get married and support the empire with new children. But Kestrel who is quite a strategist and has a handfull of admirers doesn't want to pick any of those both options.

One day while walking through the city with her best friend, the girls happen to stop at the slave auction. Altough Kestrel is not the biggest fan of how the empire deals with the people of their conquered lands, she can't take her eyes of the first slave Arin who's eyes seem to defy everyone and everything. Kestrel follows her instinct as she can find a little of herself in Arin's look and buys him.

Now that their fates are intertwined Arin works as a blacksmith in Kestrels household. But both of them quickly realise that there is much more to the other and who he/she pretends to be. Every medal has two sides and Arin carrys a big secret which is about to Change everything.

“Arin smiled. It was a true smile, which let her know that all the others he had given her were not.” 

I really enjoyed this book and I think our two main characters are very unique.
Kestrel is such a strong minded person, clever and talanted you just have to like her. 
Even if you first don't know if Arin is a nice guy or not, his dedication is admirable.
This was a very good kick off for an action packed series, full of intrigues, lies and double games. 
Fast paced you fly through the book which makes it the perfect read for a rainy day or a long flight - you will forget your uncomfortable seat in no time. ;)
If you like YA fantasy, a lot of backstabbing and no love triangle at it's finest, go buy this book! ;D

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just skip the next part of this joint Review if you haven't read the first book yet because it's going to be a little spoilery ;) Let's face it, what a shocker there - huh!? ;D
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Review: An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

Series: An Ember In The Ashes (#1)

Released: April 28th, 2015

Pages:446 Pages

Source: Purchased

Rating: 4.5 / 5

Link: Goodreads

Inspired by ancient Rome and written from two perspectives this story follows our two main characters - Laia and Elias.

Laia is a Scholar and lives with her grandparents and her older brother in the Martial Empire, which not so long ago overtook her country. The Empire is ruthless, defiance is met with death. If you don't vow to the Emperor you risk execution and destruction.

When Laias brother gets arrested and her grandparents killed, she is forced to make a decision. She seeks out the rebels. For there help to free her brother Laia has to risk her life spying for them as a slave in within the Empire's greatest military academy.

Elias is the school's finest soldier, but secretly he wants nothing more than to be free and escape the tyranny. 

When both of them realize that their fates are entwined, they learn that their choices can change everything.

“This life is not always what we think it will be,” Cain says. “You are an ember in the ashes, Elias Veturius. You will spark and burn, ravage and destroy. You cannot change it. You cannot stop it.”

I'm glad that this is officially no longer a 'stand alone', this book just screams MORE. 
This debut novel is really well and fast paced written, you could finish it in one sitting, if there wasn't the problem of sleep and grumpiness from hungry bellies...

I enjoyed Elias chapters a little more because you could almost feel his struggle for yourself. Also they were a little more action packed and had more darker insights in the world building.

Laia goes through a major development as a character which I appreciated a lot, as I found her a little bit frustrating at the beginning. I just like my female main characters to be as kick-ass as their male comrades ;).

Keenan wasn't my cup of tea and I think he needn't to be a love interest, but maybe with the next book there is more to it...
I loved the creepy, supernatural mystery parts - Cain - and can't wait to find out what's going to happen next!

Overall, this was an awesome read and I really recommend this book, especially if you are looking for something a little bit darker in YA!

Cheers,
Katha