The Last 10 Book Tag

I seem to be in a blogging mood recently but I'm a little at a loss when it comes to potential topics to talk about. But you know what's always fun? That's right: tags! It's been forever since I last did one and I definitely wasn't tagged by anyone to do this, but when I saw The Last 10 Book Tag around on booktube, it sounded fun and I wanted to try it. So here we go!

1. The last book you didn't finish?

I quite often start books and then stop when I can't get into them, but I don't count those as not finishing because I know I'll read them eventually. I do have some books that I mark as dnf and I know I won't ever finish them, but those are very rare. In fact, I think I only ever dnf-ed four books, the most recent one being The Hook Up by Kristen Callihan. Another book I can think of that I started but didn't finish and, to be honest, probably won't ever finish is Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard. I actually quite enjoyed Red Queen when I read it but when I started Glass Sword, I just wasn't really interested in the story or the world anymore, so I don't think I will ever finish that series or that book.

Liebster Award #2

Hello there. I've been nominated for another Liebster Award by the lovely Jess over at My Reading Dress. Even though I've already postet a Liebster Award, I decided to go ahead and answer her questions anyway because they're all book related and I'm really excited.

1. Do you fall for the "pretty cover", and if so, which has been your favourite?

I certainly enjoy a pretty cover. They just look nice on my shelves and isn't that kind of also the point of books? When I go to a book store, I'm usually looking for like one or two books that I want to buy because I've heard good things about them and I always try to only buy those but then end up leaving with five more books because they were so beautiful I couldn't leave them. Sometimes I don't even read what they're about so they end up sitting on my TBR-shelf for ever and I'll admit that that's not ideal, but I just can't resist.

2. What is a hyped book that you've read, but just not agreed on?
The Knife of Never Letting Go. I keep hearing great things about the Chaos Walking series but I just didn't like the first book at all so I have absolutely no desire to continue with the other books. I don't know why so many people like this book so much and I was really disappointed when I read it.

3. Do you have a fictional love interest "type"?
No, I really don't think so. It always depends on the book and usually I just like the main character's love interest because that's who we get to know best.

4. Do you have a guilty pleasure read? If so, then care to share?
Hmm.. This is hard. I would say Twilight because I absolutely loved the series when I first read it but I really can't remember much anymore.

5. Are you a one track mind reader or do you like to balance a large amount of books on your "currently reading"?
I really can't read more than one book at once and I don't understand how other people do it. Isn't the best part about reading to get lost in the world of the book? I can't do that if I'm always switching between worlds. That's also why I always read sequels etc. to books I liked right away because I usually just need more of the world and the characters whenever I finish a good book.

6. Who is your favourite authors(s)?
For contemporaries this is a little easier than other genres in my opinion. I can't really say someone is my favorite author if I only ever read one of their series. Even if that series is one of my favorites. And with contemporaries, you get more stand alones. So I'm going to say Rainbow Rowell (for sure, I love all her books) and John Green. Probably also Sophie Kinsella but I haven't read all of her books and I really need to be in the mood for a Sophie Kinsella book.

7. What is your favourite genre under the YA delineation?
I'm really bad with genres, like really bad. I never know what genre which book belongs to. But I'm just going to say contemporary, fantasy and dystopian.

8. What are some of your most hated YA tropes, and most loved? (think insta!love, love triangle, TSTL protagonists)
Another hard question. I usually don't like love triangles but then sometimes they're really okay and I kind of enjoy them. The same goes for instalove. I've never really minded it but now I also can't think of a case of instalove in a book I read recently. I had to look up TSTL protagonist and then laughed out loud. Yes, I hate that. But they appear so often in the books I read and I can usually still enjoy the story if the rest is okay and just scream at the main character in my head from time to time. I always enjoy a funny and outspoken best friend and sidekick; they make any story a thousand times better. I also really enjoy reading about close families and main characters that love their parents and siblings.

9. Do you have a favourite book(s) read, so far, this year?
I have read so many fantastic books this year. But my absolute favorites would have to be The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey and Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell.

10. Why did you decide to join the blogging community and what do you love most about it?
I've always loved writing and I started a blog when I went to Vancouver for three months to let my friends and family know what I was up to over there. When I got back, I stopped blogging for a year and then decided to start a new one just for fun. And that's what I'm still doing and it's what I love most about it. I can just do this for myself because I liket to do it and without any obligations. I'm still sometimes struggling to find my way around the blogging world because I have a hard time discovering new (book) blogs that I like.

11. Do you have any quirky reading habits? 

I don't really have any special ones. I like to read in bed but I do most of my reading on my way to work. And I always read the last sentence of a book when starting it (even though I've cursed myself multiple times for doing that).

Since this is my second time doing this, I'm not going to tag anyone (I hope that's okay). But a huge thank you again to Jess for nominating me and asking some really toguh questions. Thank you for reading.

Opposite Books Tag

Hello there!

I have decided to do the Opposite Book Tag today, yaay! I didn't really know what to write about so I thought, hey, you love tags, why not do one of those and heey, you love books, why not do a book tag. So then I went and searched for book tags and found this one that I really like. And here it goes.

First book in your collection / last book you bought

I bought three books today so I didn't have to think about that one but first book in my collection? Hmm.. Well it's definitely one in German because I started to read way before I learned English. And I have most of my old books boxed away somewhere because my room is just too small. But of the ones sitting on my shelf right now, I'd probably say it's Türkisvogel by Federica de Cesco. And the three books I bought today are City of Fallen Angels and City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare and Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella.

A cheap book / an expensive book

For cheap I'll go with The Song Reader by Lisa Tucker because I bought this for I think 2 or 5 Swiss Francs in some super sale. And most expensive one would definitely be my Advanced Biology book that I had to buy for school but I'm not sure that counts. And other than that I think all of the hardcover ones I own were about the same. 

A book with a male protagonist / one with a female protagonist

I just realized that I own hardly any books with a male protagonist, so I'm gonna have to go with Harry Potter. And the Hunger Games because Katniss kicks ass and she's like my favorite character ever and have I mentioned that I love the Hunger Games!

A book you read fast / one that took you long to read

I read The Fault in our Stars in one day, so yes, that one. One that took me long to read, hmm. Well, the A Song of Ice and Fire books took me quite long to but not at all because I didn't like them, they're just not those kind of books you read through in one take.

Pretty cover / ugly cover

I'm gonna say Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern is a really really pretty cover. It's just oh so girly and lovely and it makes me happy just looking at it. And the most ugly cover ever would have to be Die Schwarze Spinne by Jeremias Gotthelf (another German one, I'm sorry) because, well, there's a freaking spider on it. I am terrified of spiders and when we read it in school (I would never buy a book called 'The Black Spider' for myself) I had to stick a piece of paper over the spider because I couldn't toucht the thing. 

 

A national book / an international book

I don't really know what is asked here but I'll just assume I'm supposed to name a Swiss book and any non-Swiss book. So here you go: Homo Faber by Max Frisch is a book I've read by a Swiss author. I read this for my final exams in school. It's a good book, but like brilliant good, where you can interpret something into every sentence and one I don't think I would've read outside of school. And for international I'm gonna name a Spanish book that I've read in German and that hasn't been translated to English (I don't know why I keep doing this, writing a blog in English and talking about books that are not English. I'm sorry). It's a trilogy called Geheime Welt Idhun (in German) and Memorias de Idhún (in Spanish). I haven't read it in a very very long time but I absolutely loved it when I was younger and I've probably read each of the books about a thousand times.

A thin book / a thick book

These two are both books I read for school. I own many thin books in German but to show my good will, I've found a thin one in English as well. I picked The Importance of Being Ernest by Oscar Wilde (67 pages) because it's probably my favourite book I've read in school. And the longest one is Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoi (1227 pages) that I read for my final exams in Russian. Believe me, I regretted chosing this book. It took me over a year to read (longer than all of the asoiaf books together, so I should have probably mentioned this earlier) and that's really bad considering I had to read about 15 other books for my finals as well. But I did it and I'm glad I did.

Fiction book / non-fiction book

I'm gonna say Divirgent by Veronica Roth for fiction book because I love it and I haven't mentioned it yet. And for non-fiction I chose Desert Flower by Waries Dirie, which has to be one of the most powerful books I've ever read, it's so heartbreaking and the worst part is that it's non-fiction and all of what you read is true and happening.

Very (way too) romantic book / action book

This is super hard for me, I can't think of a book for either of the categories. But I've decided to go with The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks because it's Nicholas Sparks and even though I love reading his books from time to time, they are all somewhat cheesy. And I really really don't read action books. Like really. There has to be a lot of romance in every book for me. But the least romantic books I've probably read have to be the Game of Thrones series but that's not really action either, is it? I just don't know.

A book that made you happy / one that made you sad

I'm gonna say Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella made me happy. I don't really remember all of the book to be honest but I remember it as a happy book. So there you go. It's a lot easier to think of books that made me sad. Desert Flower, for example, made me really really sad in a very serious way. And then Mockingjay made me sad in a totally different way just by connecting to the characters so much that I got lost in the story world and cried my eyes out even though I knew it wasn't really happening, not like Desert Flower. But the one I cried about most is definitely The Fault in our Stars. I think I've talked about how absolutely lost and helpless it made me feel often enough.

So on this very bright note, the tag is done. Please let me know your thoughts on any of the books or any of the questions. If you have thoughts, which I'm sure you do. You'd be my hero. Thank you so much for reading!

The Liebster Award

Hello you!

I'm still not 100% sure I'm actually supposed to write this post and this wasn't all a mistake. But the thing is, Isabel from I is for Iz nominated me for the Liebster Award. Now I didn't even know there was such a thing but from what I read on her post, it sounds great. And of course I'm gonna do it.

So, the rules are:

1. Answer the questions the tagger has set for you, then create 11 new questions for the bloggers you pass the award to.
2. Choose 11 new bloggers (with less than 200 followers) to pass the award to and notify them of the award.

If you could dye your hair any other colour, what would it be?
I don't really know, I quite like my hair as it is and I'm not really one to try out crazy new things. So, I guess I would just go for a medium brown. I've actually dyed my hair like that once and quite liked it, so maybe I'll go back to it at some point. But at the moment I'm a happy blonde.

When you're not blogging, what do you do for fun? 
I love to read but unfortuantely I usually spend more time on the internet than reading. And I love to play video games, whether it's alone or with friends (or mostly with my boyfriend).
 

On a big night out, are heels a must? 
I don't think so. I like to wear heels every once in a while but usually just for like really fancy events like weddings or something like that. And I absolutely hate wearing heels when you're going out to like a club or someplace where you have to stand a lot because my feet always hurt so much.

What is your favourite item of clothing you own? 
Phu, this is really hard. I don't own that many clothes but I like all of them equally. So I couldn't really decide on just one thing, so I picked two. One for work and one for the weekends. And this is probably gonna change the next time I go shopping, but still. Here you go:

                            

Where would you love to be right now?
Vancouver. I spent three months in that lovely city from September to December 2012 and I really fell in love with the place. Even though I was happy to be home when I first got back, I'm starting to miss it more and more and would just love to go there again. Maybe right now, Vancouver wouldn't be the best choice because in winter it usually turns into Raincouver (during those three months I was there, there were maybe 2-3 weeks of sunshine) but I'd still love to go back and just have a look at all the places I visited and see my host family again.

What is a name you really hate?
Mike. I don't know why but I just don't understand why anyone would call their son that (not trying to offend anyone).

Who is your celebrity idol right now?
Probably Jennifer Lawrence. She's not really my idol but I love her and I think she has a great personality and I love to watch her interviews and of course her movies.

Guilty pleasure music?
Probably ABBA. I just recently listened to some of their songs and it just makes me happy (yes, I was singing along with it and yes, my boyfriend thought I was pretty weird).

Name three essential items you need in your bag when you go out.
Well, apart from purse/keys/phone I would say a book, some tissues and chewing gums. Because a) I love to read and I do most of my reading on trains because if I'm on a train and don't have a book it's just a waste of time, b) whenever I'm out and don't have any tissues, my nose starts to run like crazy and c) I don't like to have bad breath.

Favourite dessert.
Chocolate mousse. It's my favourite dessert to eat and also the easiest to make. Yumm!

Describe an ideal weekend.
I'd say going out with friends from work on Friday night and then sleep until noon on Saturday. Then spend Saturday afternoon on the internet or reading. On Saturday evening I would have a nice cozy evening with my boyfriend or grab a drink with some of our friends first and then sleeep again on Sunday and just spend some time with him until dinner, which I spend with my family.


So, that's it. Now here are my questions:

1. If you could keep any animal as a pet, what would you choose?
2. What's your favourite sport?
3. Name one thing you would like to change about yourself.
4. When's your birthday?
5. Last book you read?
6. What makes you laugh?
7. Favourite nail polish?
8. Name something you keep with you at all times.
9. Do you like your handwriting?
10. What's the best present you ever got?
11.  Are you a good cook?

And because I'm very new to all of this blogging thing and everyone has already done it, I don't really know who to nominate. So I'm just gonna say that if 11 people are even gonna read this, please feel free to answer my questions :). And I would love to see Deenie from Just Add Deenie and beautylover7694 do it.

Sorry for failing the last task miserably. And thank you for reading!