Monthly recap | September '14. Internship!

I always enjoy watching recaps from other bloggers, so that’s why I’ll be posting my own recaps. This wrap up is also my new ‘Showcase Sunday’ since I don’t have the time to do weekly hauls. Instead, I hope to capture

I FOUND AN INTERNSHIP. I AM SO HAPPY. I start tomorrow and I hope it’s going to be great. I was very nervous when I had my interview, but I found out that they already wanted me and it was more an introduction! I’m going to research the medicinal/anti microbial effects from certain plants extracts. Exiting and scary: I need to write it all in English.

Recap of some other things I did:
-I went to Boekenfestijn (see book haul)
-I joined the gym together with my sister and we had our first work-out. It felt good to do something, because I’ve been very lazy these past three months.
-I had two diners: I went with my boyfriend, parents, sister and her boyfriend to a Greek. The menu was weird, but the food wasn’t so bad. I also went to the Italian with my boyfriend and let me say.. I’m lucky I’m not sick. Very strange place.
-Book club meeting! Our 12th meeting (so our 1 year mark) and I'm so grateful to have these girls around. It's great to fangirl and rant with them!
-I visit my grandparent’s from my mothers side very frequently, but I hardly see them from my father’s side. This month was the first time I saw them in.. 6 months? It was nice.

Review 290. Mindy McGinnis – In a handful of dust.

Title: In a handful of dust.
Author: Mindy McGinnis.
Pages: 384.
Published: September 23rd 2014 by Katherine Tegen Books.
Sort: Part #2. Not a drop to drink.
Review part #1. Not a drop to drink.
Source: I received an ARC from HarperCollins international.

The only thing bigger than the world is fear. Lucy’s life by the pond has always been full. She has water and friends, laughter and the love of her adoptive mother, Lynn, who has made sure that Lucy’s childhood was very different from her own. Yet it seems Lucy’s future is settled already—a house, a man, children, and a water source—and anything beyond their life by the pond is beyond reach. When disease burns through their community, the once life-saving water of the pond might be the source of what’s killing them now. Rumors of desalinization plants in California have lingered in Lynn’s mind, and the prospect of a “normal” life for Lucy sets the two of them on an epic journey west to face new dangers: hunger, mountains, deserts, betrayal, and the perils of a world so vast that Lucy fears she could be lost forever, only to disappear in a handful of dust.

Rating:

This book is pitched as a companion novel to Not a drop to drink, but I recommend to see this one as a sequel. The story relies on information you get in Not a drop to drink and I think it will make this story much more impressive if you know what happened to the characters in the first book.

Review 289. Mindy McGinnis – Not a drop to drink.

Title: Not a drop to drink.
Author: Mindy McGinnis.
Pages: 320.
Published: September 24th 2013 by Katherine Tegen Books.
Sort: Part #1. Not a drop to drink.
Source: I won a giveaway on Reviews from a bookworm.

Regret was for people with nothing to defend, people who had no water.  Lynn knows every threat to her pond: drought, a snowless winter, coyotes, and, most importantly, people looking for a drink. She makes sure anyone who comes near the pond leaves thirsty, or doesn't leave at all. Confident in her own abilities, Lynn has no use for the world beyond the nearby fields and forest. Having a life means dedicating it to survival, and the constant work of gathering wood and water. Having a pond requires the fortitude to protect it, something Mother taught her well during their quiet hours on the rooftop, rifles in hand. But wisps of smoke on the horizon mean one thing: strangers. The mysterious footprints by the pond, night time threats, and gunshots make it all too clear Lynn has exactly what they want, and they won’t stop until they get it….

Rating:

I remember reading the blurb and later on seeing the cover; I knew I had to own this book. I’m not sure what happened after that moment, because I never got a copy until now. Thanks to Reviews from a bookworm, I was introduced to the amazing and terrifying world of Not a drop to drink.

Top ten Tuesday 38. Fall TBR list.

                                                                  @The broke and the bookish.

Let’s take a look at my Summer TBR list first. I went much better this time than my failed Spring TBR list. I managed to finish a total of 13 books from the 15 listed books. I only failed to read Prophecy and These broken stars. If I look at the total amount of books I read this summer: 53. A very good result if you ask me, so why not make another seasonal TBR list?

Top Ten Books on my Fall TBR list.(23 September – 22 December)

Cinda Williams Chima – The demon king.
Rae Carson – The girl of fire and thorns stories.
Kaufman & Spooner – These broken stars.
Jennifer L. Armentrout – Don’t look back.
Veronica Rossi – Under the never sky.

Ransom Riggs – Miss Peregrine’s home for Peculiar children.
Sarah Crossan – Breathe.
Jennifer A. Nielsen – The runaway king.
Robin Wasserman – The book of blood and shadow.
Jodi Meadows – Incarnate.

How did you do with your Summer TBR pile?

The GIF tag.

I was tagged by Reviews of a bookworm to do this tag. I tried to hunt down who started this tag, but I couldn't find it.. Please let me know if you know the creator! The tag is very simple. I got a list of 10 books from Reviews of a bookworm and I had to find a GIF to describe my feelings. At the end I will tag other people with a list of 10 books I came up with.

GIF TAG.

Review 288. Shannon Hale – series: The books of Bayern.

This series came highly recommended by Emily from Reverie Rhapsody (and if you don't know her, you should check out her beautiful blog!) This is one of her favorite series and after devouring a book every day, I understand why.

The goose girl. 383 pages. May 13th 2005 by Bloomsbury USA Childrens

Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, spends the first years of her life under her aunt's guidance learning to communicate with animals. As she grows up Ani develops the skills of animal speech, but is never comfortable speaking with people, so when her silver-tongued lady-in-waiting leads a mutiny during Ani's journey to be married in a foreign land, Ani is helpless and cannot persuade anyone to assist her. Becoming a goose girl for the king, Ani eventually uses her own special, nearly magical powers to find her way to her true destiny.

RATING: 4 STARS. This was by far my favorite book from the series (so far, I haven’t read Forest Born yet) and I think it’s because it’s based on a fairy tale. Ani – short for Anidori – is send away to a foreign country to get married to the prince. Her mother arranged everything to get more ties with Bayern. Ani grew up under her aunt’s guidance and that’s how she learned to speak with animals; a skill that isn’t appreciated by most. When she is on her way to Bayern, Ani is betrayed by her lady-in-waiting and she managed to escape. She takes the job of goose girl for the King until she finds a way to tell the truth.

Ani was a strong character. I liked how she embraces being different and how she uses her gifts. She becomes a goose girl without whining or feeling sorry for herself. Better, she starts to enjoy her new life and the freedom it gives her. There are no twists or unexpected turns, but that's not what this story needs. It was magical.

Mel in Movieland | Into the storm review.

Welcome to my new feature, where I will be combining books and movies! I bet you can guess how I came up in the name, but in case you aren’t; Alice in Wonderland. You can find my inspirations in this post Fairytale news: other content.

Here is it! The first movie review I've ever written. I was planning to talk about music too, but to be honest, I wasn't paying attention to that aspect.

Information:
Release Information.
Director: Steven Quale.
Writer: John Swetnam.

Storyline (IMDB):
In the span of a single day, the town of Silverton is ravaged by an unprecedented onslaught of tornadoes. The entire town is at the mercy of the erratic and deadly cyclones, even as storm trackers predict the worst is yet to come. Most people seek shelter, while others run towards the vortex, testing how far a storm chaser will go for that once-in-a-lifetime shot.

Rating:
Based on the fact that I don’t feel the need to buy it on DVD or to watch it again any time soon. It’s a good movie and I recommend watching it if you enjoy disaster movies, but it’s not the most memorable movie I’ve ever seen.

7 Deadly sins tag.

Artwork by Christopher.

I was tagged by Aylee - Recovering Harry Potter addict and Micheline - Lunar Rainbows to do this Deadly Sins Questionnaire Tag (created by BookishlyMalyza)

1. Greed - What is your most inexpensive book? What is your most expensive book?
If I don’t count free books, I would say 0.50 cents. I used to go to the second-hand bookstore all the time until it was shut down. I only buy new books now and my most expensive one has to be one of my school books. I would say Campbell – Biology with 84 euros. (I’m lucky enough that my parents paid for my books)

Other expensive ones; I think all the Dutch books I bought for 20 euros when I bought them in the store, before I knew TBD and switched to English YA.


2. Wrath - What author do you have a love/hate relationship with?
Lauren Oliver. I absolutely adored her Middle Grade books Liesl & Po and The spindles, but I hated Panic and the Delirium series. I’m very curious how I feel about her upcoming adult book.

3. Gluttony - What book have you devoured over and over with no shame?
I would say Markus Zusak – The book thief, J.K Rowling – Harry Potter and Juliet Marillier – Wildwood Dancing, Heart’s blood and the first three books from her Sevenwaters series. These are a couple of my favorite books in the world and I often reread them. I also reread quite some books this year, like Grave Mercy, Dark Triumph, Shadow and Bone, Siege and Storm, The girl of fire and thorns, The crown of Ember so I could finish all the conclusions. I hope to reread Tiger Lily soon.

Review 287. Kat Zhang – Echoes of us.

Title: Echoes of us.
Author: Kat Zhang.
Pages: 638.
Expected publication: September 16th 2014 by HarperCollins.
Sort: (Conclusion) Hybrid Chronicles #3.
Review #1. What’s left of me.
Review #2. Once we were.
Source: ARC from HarperCollins international.

To change the world, I may lose everything
All Eva ever wanted was the chance to be herself. But in the Americas, to be hybrid—to share your body with a second soul—is not tolerated past childhood. Now Eva and Addie, her sister soul, are constantly on the move, hiding from the officials who seek to capture them. But the tide is changing. A revolution is brewing, and people are starting to question the hybrids' mistreatment. Then Marion, an ambitious reporter, offers Eva and Addie a daring proposal: If they go undercover and film the wretched conditions of a hybrid institution, she will not only rescue them, she'll find a way to free Jackson, the boy Addie loves. It's risky, and Eva will have to leave Ryan and her friends behind, but if she succeeds, it could also tip the scales forever and lead to hybrid freedom. As Eva and Addie walk into danger, they cling to each other and the hope of a better future. But the price they might pay is higher than they ever could have imagined.

Rating:

A good conclusion to a solid Dystopian series. It’s not the most memorable story ever, but if you want an interesting story that delivers constant quality, you might want to give this series a shot. There are no hard spoilers for any of the books.

Review 286. Maria Snyder – Fire study.

Title: Fire Study.
Author: Maria V. Snyder.
Pages: 441.
Published: January 16th 2009 by MIRA Books.
Sort: Study #3.
Part 1. Poison study.
Part 2. Magic study.

Warning: spoilers in the blurb if you haven't read the other books.

The apprenticeship is over
Now the real test has begun
When word that Yelena is a Soulfinder — able to capture and release souls—spreads like wildfire, people grow uneasy. Already Yelena's unusual abilities and past have set her apart. As the Council debates Yelena's fate, she receives a disturbing message: a plot is rising against her homeland, led by a murderous sorcerer she has defeated before. Honor sets Yelena on a path that will test the limits of her skills, and the hope of reuniting with her beloved spurs her onward. Her journey is fraught with allies, enemies, lovers and would-be assassins, each of questionable loyalty. Yelena will have but one chance to prove herself—and save the land she holds dear.

Rating:

I’m glad that this book returned to the old charm from Poison Study. I was a bit underwhelmed by Magic study, but in the end, I found this one so much more enjoyable. There is more Valek time, Yelena has settled down and I liked the tension of the rise against Ixia.

Top 10 Tuesday 37. Underrated books.

hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. 

Top Ten Underrated Authors or Books in X genre.

I don’t think it will surprise you that the genre I picked is ‘Fairytales and Fantasy.’ There are definitely a lot of YA books popular in this genre, like Throne of glass & Shadow and bone, but I also have a feeling some other gems are overlooked. So today I want to spotlight 5 fairytales and 5 fantasy books I feel are underrated.

Mel in Movieland: introduction.

I talked about this in my discussion post ‘Other content’ and I took the decision to go for it. It was very important to me to find a way to combine movies with books. I’ve been trying to work this out and here is a little sneak peek for some posts: Disney project –> Snow White in combination with book retellings and other movies, Into the storm (movie) with disaster books and I have several ideas that include animation movies like my favorite movies with non-Disney princesses.

I thought it might be fun to show you the rating scale I will be using. They are not spectacular, but I’m satisfied with the result. The ‘exit’ button is for the movies with a 1 out of 5 rating or even a ‘DNF’ because yes, that happens. The ‘movie premier’ button is for the special movies; my favorites. The ones I want to re-watch right away.


(illustrations are free vectors I found on Google)

I have never written a movie review before, but I’m trying to think of an easy way and I've come up with these aspects: casting, music, special effects, story and ending. It’s definitely a completely different approach then writing a book review. It’s fun, but it will takes some time before I’ve found a way that works for me. I hope you will keep this in mind!

For now I’ve planned to do one/two Mel in Movieland posts every month. It takes more time to write these posts and I don’t want to overwhelm my blog with other content. We will see if this new feature is a success or a failure, but I’ve had a lot of fun coming up with post ideas so far.

Fun fact: I'm going to shorten the name in the title into 'MIM' which is also a Disney character you might know from The sword in the stone.

Do you have any suggestions or things you would like to see?

Review 285. Amy Zhang – Falling into place.

Title: Falling into place.
Author: Amy Zhang.
Pages: 304.
Published: September 9th 2014 by Greenwillow books.
Sort: Stand-alone, contemporary.

On the day Liz Emerson tries to die, they had reviewed Newton’s laws of motion in physics class. Then, after school, she put them into practice by running her Mercedes off the road. Why? Why did Liz Emerson decide that the world would be better off without her? Why did she give up? Vividly told by an unexpected and surprising narrator, this heartbreaking and nonlinear novel pieces together the short and devastating life of Meridian High’s most popular junior girl. Mass, acceleration, momentum, force—Liz didn’t understand it in physics, and even as her Mercedes hurtles toward the tree, she doesn’t understand it now. How do we impact one another? How do our actions reverberate? What does it mean to be a friend? To love someone? To be a daughter? Or a mother? Is life truly more than cause and effect?

Rating:

I’m still a little confused by this book. The writing-style was good, but I disliked the main character Liz. She attempts to kill herself and she is close to dying, but the medics manage to keep her alive. The only thing that will bring her back is her own spirit; her own will to survive. It’s the question if Liz is strong enough to come back.

Slowly we unravel Liz story and why she decided to take such a big decision. Her mother is always on the road for her job, her father passed away  and Liz is very unhappy with herself. Addicted to booze, she likes to go from party to party in the hope to forget everything around her. She is popular because of her snarky comments, her harsh behavior and overall meanness to others; Liz is a bully, but she regrets it. She is stuck in her role and that is when her plan begins to shape.

Thirteen days of Ash & Fire blog tour.

Hello! Welcome at my tour stop for ‘Thirteen days of Ash & Fire.' I hope you are all having fun with the tour so far! Today is my time to fangirl over this amazing series and first I want to thank the hosts. Give them a little applause. Also, don't forget to follow these hash tags on Twitter:  #HOF13Tour and #MaasThirteen.

Schedule:

August 25 – Jaz @ Fiction In Fiction In Fiction

August 26 – Magan @ Rather Be Reading

August 27 – Kelly @ Belle of the Literati

August 28 – Elena @ Novel Sounds

August 29 – Nicole @ The Quiet Concert

September 1 – Gillian @ Writer of Wrongs

September 2 – Judith @ Paperiot

September 3 – Melanie @ The Daily Prophecy

September 4 – Katie @ Polished Page-Turners

September 5 – Andi @ Andi’s ABCs

September 8 – Gina @ Behind the Pages

September 9 – Rachel @ Hello Chelly

September 10 – Alexa @ Alexa Loves Books

Review 284. Kiersten White – Illusions of fate.

Title: Illusions of fate.
Author: Kiersten White.
Pages: 288.
Published: September 9th 2014 by HarperTeen.
Sort: Stand-alone.
Source: Edelweiss & Publisher.

Jessamin has been an outcast since she moved from her island home of Melei to the dreary country of Albion. Everything changes when she meets Finn, a gorgeous, enigmatic young lord who introduces her to the secret world of Albion’s nobility, a world that has everything Jessamin doesn’t—power, money, status…and magic. But Finn has secrets of his own, dangerous secrets that the vicious Lord Downpike will do anything to possess. Unless Jessamin, armed only with her wits and her determination, can stop him.

Rating:

“I did my best to keep you from crossing paths with this world. And I shall do my best to protect you now that you have.”

This was exactly the kind of book I expected from Kiersten. It’s funny and quick, but I was a bit let down by the fact that it’s not a memorable story. This is not the type of book I would reread and I wish it had been more than only entertaining.