Thursday, October 29, 2015

Review: Daily Rituals by Mason Currey

Hi everyone!!! :)

I hope you're well.

Today I want to share with you my thoughts about this book:

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In Daily Rituals by Mason Currey you will find the daily routine of writers, artist and composers such as Patricia Highsmith, Picasso or Simone de Beauvoir among others. You'll see what these artists do the whole day, what routine has decided to appy to their lives, and how successful it is. 

My Thoughts:

I really wanted to read this book for a long time and when I could borrow from the library I was really excited about it. For months I wanted to know what artists did the whole day, how they did things, how they sticked to routine, etc. 

Once I started reading, I fell in love with the book because in it you could see clearly what the artists did from the morning until night. Sometimes it was explained in a short way (1 page long), sometimes you could read a routine with more detail (3 pages), but normally the routines were short. I really liked knowing how people I admired did the whole day and, if I liked them, I could even try their routines myself. Cool huh?

But, there were some things that started bothering me. The first one was I didn't know how the book was built. It wasn't chronologically, it wasn't built based on how famous an artist was, so I still don't know why the author decided to put these artists in this particular order. (If you know, please let me know). The second thing that started bothering me was the fact that I didn't know the majority of these people and it was a pity because I would enjoy the book way more if I had known them before reading the book. Sometimes I checked who they were, but even knowing that they were painters or composers didn't make me more excited about them.

In the end, I felt that there were too many routines (once you have read 20 you are tired of reading routines) and most importantly that there were a lacking in women. I was surprised that I couldn't find more women. Why was that? Was it because the author couldn't find their routines or he wasn't interesting in artist women?

Overall, I liked this book. I felt really interesting specially when you saw how people who were performing the same art had totally different routines and they had success in their field. 

I gave it *** starts

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

How to read more books

Hi everyone!!! :)

I hope you're having a great day! 

Today I want to share with you some tips that can help you to read more books.

  • Pick short books. This year I was in the mood of reading short books, I don't know why, just happened. It was an interesting experience because, if you're like me, a slow reader, you feel accomplished and happy to add another book to your goodreads account. Graphic novel also can help you here :)
  • Spare time to read books. Instead of watching that really bad movie, why don't you pick up the book you want to read since, well, forever? 
  • Read books you really want to read. Sometimes I pick up a book thinking that I'm going to love, but I don't. Instead of putting aside, I try to read at least a little bit more and I struggle. I have read 5 pages, but they feel like 50. That is the moment to stop and pick another book. You will see the difference because if you're reading a book you really want to read, you're reading so fast that you can't believe you've read 50, 100, 300 pages. AWESOME! :)
  • Focus in one book. Just read one book and not let other books distracted.
  • Or focus in several books at the same time. Because if you're like me, sometimes you need a break from the book you're reading at that moment. I love you Lizzi and Mr Darcy, but now I want to know how Sherlock is going to solve this case.
(I do both. Sometimes I read only one book because I feel otherwise I'm going to start a lot of books and not finish anything, and other times what helps me a lot it's reading 2 or 3 books at the same time, so I can take breaks. Do what is best for you. No rules here.) 

  • Take a book always with you. I don't do this anymore because I have back problems, but i have to say that works perfectly when you want to read more. You're wasting time waiting in a queue, just take out your book. Read in the bus, at the doctor's office, in the destist's office, in a queue. If you do this, you will see you're reading more without noticing and having fun while you have to wait.

 I hope these tips have helped you to read more. Let me know in the comment if they helped you. 

Kisses

Sunday, October 25, 2015

Halloween recommendations

Hi everyone!!! :)

I hope you are well.

Today I want to share with you some books that, I think, are perfect for Halloween.

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Coraline by Neil Gaiman. This book is about a girl who finds an alternative world where she has another father and another mother. It's a place where she can do whatever she wants and her parents pay attention to her, something that doesn't happen in the other world. What will she do? Pick up her world or the alternative world? This book gave me the creeps. The book contains some illustrations that they are really creepy. There is also a movie, but isn't as scary as the book.



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Any book by Agatha Christie is perfect for this time of the year, but one book that disturbed me a bit and I think it's a good book is:The body in the library. The book is about, well, about a body who is found in a library. Nobody knows who this girl is and what she was doing in the library. As always, you suspect everybody and in the end you're susprised because you didn't expect that the book ended in that way, or at least, that was what happened to me.





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Flowers in the attic by V.C. Andrews. This book is about the perfect family. They are great together. The father and the mother and their 4 children: 2 boys and 2 girls. Then the father dies and everything starts going wrong. The mother decides that she can't live that way anymore so they have to go to her mother's house. When they arrive there, the children are locked up in the attic and they can't get out. Yes! This book is creepy. I liked it when I read it and I also watched the film based on the book and I liked it too, but I couldn't carry on with the series. Too twisted for my taste, but I think the book is good and it's perfect for Halloween.


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Through the woods by Emily Carroll. This book is a compilation of stories. I think they are more strange than creepy and sometimes I felt that the story was incomplete, but I think they have a halo of mysterious that make them perfect for Halloween.







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The witch's handbook by Malcolm Bird. I think this book is definitely a great pick for Halloween. It supposes to be for children (or at least I read it when I was a child and I really enjoyed it very much) but I think adults would enjoy it too. It's about how witches are, what they do, where they live, etc. I remember that it includes some recipes that you can make that are great for a Halloween party. 
Here's one:

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The witches by Roald Dahl. Another book for children that I really enjoyed when I was a child. This book is about a child who discovers that witches REALLY EXIST! and what happens to him after that. I really liked it and I recommend it as the perfect Halloween Read.There is also a movie based on the book. Both, the book and the movie, are great and they have also different ending. What is curious is the fact that I liked both endings.
I have to say that the movie and the book are really creepy and children that are less than 12 could have nightmares if they read the book or watch the film. I think I was 11 or 12 when I read the book and watched the film.




I hope you like this list and let me know if you have found here your next read :)

Friday, October 23, 2015

Book Blogger Hop!

Book Blogger Hop


                                     hosted by: Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer

Hi everyone!!! :)

Today I want to share with you the question of this week:


Halloween Edition: Name one book you've read in the past that still haunts you today.

My answer:

 Flowers in the Attic (Dollanganger, #1)

Flowers in the attic by V.C. Andrews. It's not a super scary book, but it's creepy. It's about this happy family and then the father dies and everything changes. The children and the mother go to the grandmother's house, but while the mother lives in the house with the grandmother, the children are locked in the attic.When I read it, I don't remember why, I thought it was a true story so I was scarier than I was suppossed to. Later I learned that it was a series of books, but I didn't want to carry on
with the series. I did watched the film was made based on the book and I like it.  

This is my anwer and what's yours? let me know in the comments :)
 

Thursday, October 15, 2015

10 Books that have marked me this summer

Hi everyone!!! :)

I hope you are well.

Today I want to share with you TEN BOOKS THAT HAVE MARKED ME THIS SUMMER. 

The other day I was watching Booktuber videos and Lala from BooksandLala post a video with the title: Favourite Books I Read in summer. When I saw it, I thought it was a good idea and I decided to create a post where I tell you the books I enjoyed the most during the summer. But when I started to create that list, what is my surprise that I don't remember what they about or what I liked them. So instead of telling you my favourite reads of the summer I'm going to tell you the books marked me during the summer. The books in the list have 3,4 and 5 starts on Goodreads .I hope you like it.

Let's start!

 
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A room of one's own by Virginia Woolf. I really enjoyed this book. In it Virginia talks about women and literature and what women have to do to become authors, what they need to become authors. What I enjoyed the most is how Virginia tells you the whole thing. She takes you to go for a walk and explain you what she knows about the matter. It was really original. I really enjoyed so much that I gave it 5 starts.




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Las astrónomas (Women astronomers) by Sara Gil Casanova. I also  really liked this book. In it Sara Gil talks about the women astronomers since the very beginning in history until now. This book was really interesting and I like how Sara put the whole thing, it made me want to become an astronomer myself. 
I gave it 4 starts.





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I feel back about my neck by Nora Ephron. This book is a compilation of essays about the neck, purses and aging. It was a really interesting book and I didn't expect to love it as much as I did. What I liked the most was the fact that you could read it easily and it was told in an intelligent and interesting way.  Although sometimes I didn't agree what she said, many essays seemed to me very funny and entertaining. Overall I loved it and I gave it 4 starts.



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Croqueta y empanadilla (Croquette and small pasty) by Ana Oncina. This book is about a croquette and a small pasty. The pasty is Ana Oncina (the author) and the croquette is her boyfriend and the book is about their adventures: their first trip, living together. It's really funny and, although this summer it was the second time I read, it didn't let me down. I gave it 4 starts.



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Virginia Wolf by Kyo Maclear. This book is a children book. It's about two sisters: Virginia and Vanesa. One day Vanesa notices that something is wrong with Virginia, she is acting in a strange way. Vanesa tries to help her, trying Virginia was the same the person was before. I liked the story because it's strange and peculiar and it's based on Vanesa Bell and Virginia Woolf, which is a bonus. I liked the originality and the drawings. I gave it 3 starts.







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Little wizard y Jack Frost por Kazuno Kohara. I really liked this author, not only for the artwork, which is beautiful as you can see from the covers, but also about the stories she tells. I really loved both books and I highly recommend them to you. They were great. Little wizard is about wizard that he can't fly no matter how much he tries. Here comes Jack Frost is about a child who is bored because all his animal friends are hibernated. I think these books are perfect for children and I sure they'd enjoy them a lot. I gave them 4 starts.

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¡Oh, diabólica ficción!  (Oh diabolic fiction!) by Max. This book is a compilation of comic strips that were published in the Spanish magazine El País semanal. I liked the book, I liked some comic strips more than others, but in general, I found it entertaining and funny.






 


 30 historias de Tia Mila (Aunt Mila's 30 stories) by Ursula Wölfe. I didn't know anything about this author until I saw a video where somebody told a short story by her. I really liked the story so I decided to borrow some books by her in the library. One, the one I like the most, was this. This book contains 30 stories where the main character is Aunt Mila. Aunt Mila is a young women who lives all kind of adventures. I found the book funny and entertaining. I gave it 4 starts.


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Robot dreams by Sara Varon. I liked this book way more that I expected. I had already read  Bake Sale by the same author and, although I loved it in the end and gave it 4 starts, at the beginning I felt disappointed. This book is a graphic novel about a dog who buys a robot on the Internet. The robot comes and they start a friendship. What I liked the most was the fact that, although there are not words in the whole graphic novel, you only see pictures, you can understand perfectly well the story. I highly recommend it to you. I gave it 4 starts.




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Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson. This book is about a woman who is very porr and she's looking for a job. By mistake, she is going to end in Delysia LaFloss' house and thanks to that mistake her life is going to change. This day she is going to have the opportunity to see how rich people behave and see the place these people go. I highly recommend it to you if you want to read something light, funny and entertaining. I gave it 3 starts.





These all the books are made an impression on me. Let me know what are yours :)

Kisses

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Art Objects by Jeanette Winterson

Hi everyone!!! :)

I hope you are well.

Today I want to share with you my review of this book:


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What is this book about?: This book is a compilation of essays where Jeanette Winterson talks about painting, artists, litetature and her work.

What I liked: One thing I really liked about this book is that Jeanette Winterson has a very unique voice (you can recognised her easily) and the fact that she made me think about things I have never thought about ot at least not in that way.

I like the first essay Art Objects because it's about painting and art and how she started thinking about it. I had "similar" journey. Out of the blue, I felt interested in art and try to study it, just like she did, she started reading books about art. 

What I didn't like: I don't know if it was because it was written in English, the way it was written or if I was tired, but sometimes I didn't feel like reading it, I felt bored. I don't know if the experience would be better if I had read this book in Spanish, but I wish I had been able to read the essays separately, giving me time to think about them and not reading very quickly because I had to return the book to the library.

Overall, I liked the book. I think it was different and interesting.

My rating: ***




Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Tips to have a wonderful read-a-thon

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Hi everyone!!! :)

Dewey's read-a-thon is almost here. Yes! the big day is around the corner and we are all excited about it, aren't we? This time is going to be the 17th of October. If you don't know what Dewey's readathon is, it is the day when everybody in the world we'll be reading at the same time during a day.  If you want to know more about the event, click here.

Today I just want to give you some tips that, I think, can help you to have a wonderful read-a-thon, especially if it is your first time participating.

TIPS TO HAVE A WONDERFUL READ-A-THON.

Two or three days before the read-a-thon:

  • Think in the books you want to read and get them. I recommend you to do this two days before for two reasons. The first reason is that sometimes we think we know where the book is and then the day arrives, you don't know remember where you put it or somebody borrowed it from the library and you have to think of another one in the last minute. The second reason is that you will know better in what mood you are and you pick the books better.
  • How to pick the books. The books should be short. If it's a novel I suggest that it shouldn't be longer than 200. Between 150 and 200 I think it's the best, but not more. Graphic novels, children books and picture books are perfect for the read-a-thon. Choose several books (6-8 books) so you can have a great variety where you can choose and more importantly chose books with different themes.  It's very boring to read the whole day about the same topic even if the books are great.  


The previous day.

  • Sleep. It's important to sleep well the night before to the Dewey's read-a-thon because otherwise you wake up cranky and you don't want to read, or at least that was what happened to me the first time.

The day of the read-a-thon.

  • Think is a normal day. This help me not to create big expectations about day. We are going to try to do our best, but sometimes life happens, so don't put pressure on you. You'll read all you can, but if you can't, it's OK, nobody is going to judge.
  • Take breaks now and then. You can take advantage of these breaks to see what others up to. Leave the room and talk with the people live with you. Go for a walk. Dance. Do whatever you want, but read.  
  • Snacks. Eat something sweet and salty is good. It gives you some energy, but don't use the read-a-thon as an excuse to eat junk food and bars of chocolate the whole day. Eat well. Drink coffee if you feel a bit sleepy or in the mood for it, but don't drink a lot or you can't sleep or read because you'll be very nervous to do any of those things.
  • If you have to do some errands or any other commitment, do it. Life happens and we can't do anything about it.Sometimes something comes up and we have to do it whether we like it or not. Try to read in your way to the place or when you are in a queue. Read what you can.
  • Have fun. This is not homework or work. We're doing this because we love reading and we want to do it together. See what other people are reading and ask them if they like their books. Also talk with the people are around you. This is not a constest. Read one page, a comic, a book, five books, it doesn't matter as long as you have fun.
I hope these tips help you and have a wonderful day :) If you have more tips, please share them.

Kisses


Friday, October 9, 2015

Dewey's read-a-thon

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Hi everyone!!! :)

How are you? I hope you're great.

Today I want to talk about Dewey's read-a-thon. This read-a-thon consists of reading all the day, cool, eh? So this is the perfect day to finish that book you are in the middle of it, read a novel that you have in your shelves since forever or just read books that, for some reason, you can't get around them.

This read-a-thon happens in March/April and October/November. The date chosen this time is the 17th of October. The idea of this read-a-thon is that all the readers around the world start reading at the same time which means that we have different time. Here is a link if you want to know at what time the Dewey's read-a-thon starts for you. Just click here

You can be a reader. If you want that people know that you want to participate and cheer you up, you can sign up here. Also, you can be a reader and a cheerleader which means that you can cheer up people while you are reading your books. If you like that, please click here. Also you can be a volunteer which means you can cheer, you can help organise cheerleaders, host mini-challenges, gather prizes, cohost, etc. Interested? just click here.

I usually only sign up in April because in October I'm not in the mood of reading, but this year I'm going to read at least something. This month I'm living in Canada so that means that for me the readathon starts at a convinient time: 8 am, but I'm not sure how much time I will spend in the read-a-thon since it's probably I will be travelling around. We'll see :) 

Well, I hope you want to participate. It's a enjoyable experience where you can meet new people and where you have the chance to reduce your tbr.

If you have any doubt about the read-a-thon, let me know and if you are going to participate, please, let me know too :)

Kisses.

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Review: Robot Dreams by Sara Varon

Hi everyone!!! :)

Today I want to talk about this book:

 Robot Dreams

What is this book about?: It's about a dog who buys a robot and they start a relationship. I don't want to say anything else because the story is interesting and unique and i don't want to spoil you.

My thoughts about it: I really enjoyed this read. It was really cool to see the friendship between the dog and the robot. I also liked the fact that I could understand the story, that everybody could understand the story no matter where they were from because the whole story is told through pictures. There is no words in this graphic novel and I think that's why I enjoyed this book very much. I liked the whole story, how it was built and what happened in it, it was a very interesting take. I highly recommend to everyone, I think everyone would enjoy it.

My rating: ****

Friday, October 2, 2015

Banned books that I have read and I would recommend to you

 


Hi everyone!!! :)

I hope you are well.

This week is the Banned Book Week and  I want to recommend you some of my favourite banned books.  

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Animal Farm by George Orwell. This book was an interesting take about government, democracy and leadership. I really liked how George Orwell explained the whole thing and how you can easily apply to the world today. It's a pity that somebody who really likes this author and this topic can't put his/her hands on this book.






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The absolute true diary of part time Indian by Sherman Alexie. This one was an interesting read for me and changed the way I think about Indians in North America. It opened my mind and made me understand situations that, since I live far away from the place, I couldn't understand otherwise.







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Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. This book is one of my favourite books. I liked how she explained the situation in Iran. I didn't know much about it and she did a great job for people like me understood it. I didn't like it just only because of history, but also her journey and how she dealed with the situations she had to face.





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The outsiders by S.E. Hinton. I don't remember much about this book. I remember feelings. This book is part of my life, part of me and even I know I'm not going to re-read it, it has a place in my heart. I remember crying, nodding and loving it.






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Drama by Raina Telgemeier. Really? This book? I really loved this book because she is not the kind of girl who falls for a guy and she forgets who she is and who she really wants. I really liked that about the book. She always was thinking about herself and she was a good leader. She was a strong girl who did the best for her. 






BONUS TRACK

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Where's Waldo? by Martin Handford. Really? This book was one of my favourite books. I think it's really cool to look for this guy in different places like Egypt or the space. It opens your mind.







My take on this: I totally understand that parents don't want their children read something inappropiated for their age, but what I don't understand is why you have to ban the books. Tell the teachers and your children that they are too young to read that, but not ban all the world to read books that are amazing and make you grow up as a person.






Thursday, October 1, 2015

October TBR

Hi everyone!!! :)

I hope you are well. Today I want to share with you the books I want to read this month. Here they are:
 

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Daily Rituals by Mason Currey. This book compiles the routines of many famous people such as Simone de Beauvoir, Patricia Highsmith and Pablo Picasso. In this book you can find what these authors, painters, composers do the whole day, even for years.





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Art (Objects) by Jeanette Winterson. This book is a compilation of essays where Jeanette talks about art, literature, criticism. It's really interesting so far because Jeanette has a very unique voice and make you think about stuff you have never considered.

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So many boook, so little time by Sara Nelson. This one is about Sara Nelson deciding to read one book every week and write about it in a journal. Just to read what the book was about I wanted to read it right away. I hope to enjoy it, we'll see :)

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The book of awesome by Neil Pasricha. This book is about the small things that happen in our life that they're AWESOME such as you buy a toy or an electronic device and the batteries are included or you try the Christmas lights and all of them work. I have already read The book of even more awesome and The book of awesome (holiday edition) and I loved both of them. If you feel a bit low, I recommend you to read them, they'll cheer you up :)

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Finding Father Christmas by Robin Jones Gunn. This one is a novella about a woman who wants to find her father. It's not Christmas, but I am intrigued by the story.








So, yes, these are the books I want to read this month. Let me know if you have read them and what you thought about them and let me know what you're reading this month :)