Forever by Judy Blume~ Book Review

Like last year, my family took two weeks of vacation for Halloween and traveled to the States. It was super fun to see my family and to re-connect with my American side.
Sadly, I think it was my last year trick-or-treating, because quite a few adults looked at me funny when I stood at the open door with my nine-year-old brother and tween cousins.
Anyway. One thing I always look forward to when going to the States is book shopping... There is no anglophone library or bookshop here in Lyon, which means I never get to browse around for new releases in the YA world.

I bought and read several books during those two weeks, and brought even more back home.

Today was a good day for reading. I got my wisdom teeth pulled out yesterday (yes, it was very painful, and the anesthesia made me feel quite foggy for a while there, but so far I seem to be surviving), and I read Forever by Judy Blume in less than 24 hours.

I heard wonderful reviews of that book, and I must say, it was not exactly what I expected.
It was definitely a great read. I was pulled into the story, and was definitely heartbroken when young Katherine and Micheal's relationship falls apart... I think it's a story that most people can relate to.

The only thing I did not adore was the pace and tone of Blume's writing. Am I the only one who feels that way? I don't remember her other books, such as Tiger Eyes or Are you there, God? it's me, Margaret containing so many ellipses.

Forever is a story about instant first-love, and first sexual encounters... and what happens when "true love", isn't, in fact, true love. It's a story about love, but also about moving on.  Even though the story is set in the 1970's, it feels as though it could have been set in the 2000's. I think the story is timeless.

It might not be a story for everyone out there, but if you're into teen romance, you should give it a try.

I give it 3.5/5 stars.

:)

Looking For Alaska ♥

You know those lazy, summer days where you tell yourself you're going to do many, many things but then you just kind of lie around in your pj's until one o'clock in the afternoon reading?

Well, I never regret those days. I feel creative, inspired, and all I want to do is LIE on this cloud of comfort and happiness.  Do you know what I'm talking about?

A few days ago I finished Looking For Alaska by John Green. Before I start talking about it, I must say that I'm sort of annoyed with how The Fault In Our Stars just recently became even MORE popular than it already was, all because of the movie. I know everyone should benefit from the greatness of that book, but I feel like now it has become more of a fashion accessory than a book of great philosophical content. You do not know how many people have posted a picture of that book to Instagram! 

Anyway.

You should definitely read Looking For Alaska. John Green just has that magical touch ; he has that way of pulling you into a book and capturing you so that you can't quite get out  before he turns your world upside down and makes you question a lot more about life than you used to. 

"How will I ever get out of this labyrinth!" is the main question he explores through a series of events that Miles Halter and his friends go through.

You cannot help falling in love with the story, the story of Miles Halter, a brilliant, funny, and nonetheless social-outcasted teen who starts a "new" life at a boarding school in Alabama. When he gets there, he makes a bunch of friends who change his way of viewing the world, and most importantly, he falls in love with Alaska, a crazy, emotional girl. Miles's feelings for Alaska are so poetic. And here comes my favorite quote of all times:

"so I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was a drizzle and she was a hurricane."

Need I say more? :')


Read that book. Just read it. The ending will leave you speechless (And you might cry. You've been warned).

Just another fan-girly post about Divergent

     I might possibly be the last teen alive who has not yet finished reading the Divergent series.

I must admit that I avoided it because I didn't like it's cover.

I know I am defying one of the most important bookworm rules here; don't judge a book by it's cover.

Sorry about that. I am truly sorry... Because I also defied another very important bookworm rule: read the book before watching the movie.

Yes, I watched the movie first. But it made me realize that I was missing out big-time on something amazing.

All of this to say, I started reading the book. 

YES it's amazing, and YES I'm totally in love with Tobias. The minute I started reading Divergent, I could not put it down. I just started book two.

     I'm sure there are already a billion other blog posts out there about this series, but I think it has some philosophical content which should definitely still be shared HERE. I quote:

   "A brave man acknowledges the strength of others."

...

"I have a theory that selflessness and bravery aren't all that different."

...

"Becoming fearless isn't the point. That's impossible. It's learning how to control your fear and how to be free from it."

These statements bring tears to my eyes. Especially the last one; it is so, so important to remember we cannot be fearless, that knowing our flaws is what brings us strength and what helps us surpass them.

I made these to illustrate this quote. Which do you like better?

GIVEAWAY ALERT!!!

Want to know something cool?

My mom is an AUTHOR!

And... she is hosting a giveaway! Three lucky winners will win her book! You have six days to enter. All you have to do is like her Facebook page. Here is the link to the giveaway:

https://www.facebook.com/TrailingAMemoir?sk=app_228910107186452

The book is called Trailing: A Memoir. It chronicles the experience of a "trailing spouse" who followed her Médecins Sans Frontières husband to the frontlines in East Africa (in other words, it's the story of five years of my mom and dad's life in Africa, in which I happen to be born). It's been voted one of the best Indie Read of 2013!

Room inspiration + great reads!

These days, when I'm done with school and homework, and I have a few minutes to spare, I open my laptop to search for furniture and wall decor for my room.
You guessed it, I'M RE-DECORATING MY BEDROOM!
I am soooooo excited about this.
Re-decorating a room implies a certain amount of organization, as you can imagine- so I've been sorting through those papers we all stash somewhere with the hopes that they'll disappear on their own.

Do you have any DIY room decoration projects that you'd like to share with me? I've found several, like this heart shaped photo collage:

and this tassel garland:

The other thing that I've been doing a lot these days (actually, these nights) is the immensely pleasurable experience of crawling in bed and reading the books of my choice. I underlined that because it's a TRUE LUXURY for me to have the liberty to read whatever I frickin' want.
The reason for that is that NO teachers, at the moment, have assigned me a book to read.

I finished reading The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (highly recommended) a few days ago and am now reading It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini.

What are you reading? Anything noteworthy?

My Christmas in pictures

Hey y'all,
I hope you all had a Christmas as fantastic as mine. The food we ate was delicious, the jazzy Christmas tunes we listened to (quite a bit of Frank Sinatra and Micheal Bublé) were totally groovy, and there was a mountain of presents under the tree- even my dad (probably the hardest person on earth to shop for) had a ton of presents!
My dad's cousin Nico, who lives in Germany (yet he is Argentinian- another example of how my family is spread out across the globe), is visiting us over the holidays, which means an extra person to open presents with!

On the days leading up to Christmas we watched a bunch of Christmas movies we ordered from amazon. Of the seven we purchased, my favorites were Elf (of course), Christmas With the Kranks, Love Actually (I think this is everybody's favorite) and The Santa Clause.

On Monday my mom invited some new friends over for an afternoon of Christmas baking:

We literally made hundreds of sugar cookies and snickerdoodles. We still had some up until yesterday, even after giving some of them away. And trust me, cookies do not last long in our house, so the fact that we still had some in the house three days after baking them shows how many we had. I make these sugar cookies every year, and they are fabulous, by the way, so I'll post the recipe this weekend.

On Christmas eve, we all helped to prepare empanadas, traditional Argentinian turnovers which you fill with cow meat or a veggie mixture which most commonly would be corn, mushroom, black beans and olives.
As you probably guessed, mine were veggie.
Here is my mom holding our beautiful plate of piled empanadas, and my dad next to her holding our beautiful new umbrella over their heads:

Our tradition is to open all our presents on Christmas eve, over the course of several hours while we eat dinner.
My presents were super awesome: I got an apron with The Veggie Polyglotographer written on it, a bunch more baking stuff, books, clothes, bath products... I even got an electric hand warmer! It stays at 43 degrees for 3 hours!

I believe that the most successful present of all is the massage chair we gave Nico. Everybody's been taking turns on it since Christmas eve. It's amazing. I want one for myself.

  I mean, look at his face.



On Christmas day, we basically just sat around and relaxed until the late afternoon when we took a long walk to the movie theater to see A Long Walk To Freedom.
That movie is INCREDIBLE. Go see it. Now.
I learned so much I did not know about Mandela. His story really inspires me; it's proof that if you want something badly enough, if you work and work at it, without giving up a single time, you can get what you want. This movie really got me thinking.
And Idris Elba is a terrific actor. When we got home, I watched a video of him on Jimmy Kimmel, and was surprised to learn that he is actually nothing like Nelson Mandela. He managed to completely transform himself for the movie. I find that amazing.

The conclusion is, I absolutely adore being on vacation. Why can't we stop working and just be on holiday forever?

Oh how I love October!

Hey guuuuuuuuuuuuuys :)

If I have not made it clear enough in my previous posts, let me re-iterate that I LOVE FALL.

These fall days are full of ecstacy.
I wanted to share with you a few things I did this weekend (I meant to post this yesterday but there were complications, sorry about that).

First off, on Saturday there was a zombie parade in my neighborhood. It was impressive. The costumes were quite realistic, and, I'm not exaggerating, scary.
It was the perfect excuse for me to take a break between the long hours of homework and studying that were eating up my afternoon.
The French aren't much of Halloween celebrators, so this really was a fun surprise.
Unfortunately, I grabbed my camera too late, and only managed to get one good picture. Here it is:

Second of all, I've been reading this graphic novel called Fun Home by Alison Bechdel. It's one of those books which you cannot put down, and leaves you feeling smarter than before.
Have you read it? I definitely recommend it if not.

And last but not least, (definitely not least) I wanted to tell you that I'M GOING TO THE STATES ON FRIDAY!!!!!
YEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAH!
I'm so exited! (Can you tell?)

I'm going to Bethesda, Maryland, to see my mom's side of the family which I haven't seen in over a year (can't wait!), and I'm also going to spend lots of time in Washington DC doing all the fun stuff: museums, restaurant and bakery testing, shopping...
OH and I get to go trick-or-treating! This is honestly the biggest thrill for me I think. I've always felt that I missed out BIG-TIME on this because I don't live in the States.

I may not have the chance to post anything before I leave, because I have many things to organize before my departure if I don't want to return from the States and be completely behind on schoolwork.

Don't worry, I did plan several posts that I'm excited to share with you which are scheduled for when I'm gone.

I hope you have a wonderful week everybody :)

"Fill your house with stacks of BOOKS, in all the crannies and all the nooks!"



Do you get as excited as I do when waiting for a book to arrive in the mail?

Last week I had the fun of surfing goodreads on a mission to choose which books I want to read next. 'Cause, you know, it's summer, and even though three books have to be read for school I definitely need some new books to devour.

In five days I'll be in Paris and I'll be able to visit the American Library of Paris to check out a few books to read until I return to Lyon.

But what happens after that? WHICH BOOKS WILL I READ?

You see, when you love reading like I do you think ahead to these types of situations.

Even if I don't get back from Paris until two weeks from now I've made plans for what I'm going to read next because I just know I'm going to need a book. And there have been several times where I've had nothing to read. Nothing.

Do you realize how horrible it is when that happens? Can you even begin to imagine? No books. No articles in The New Yorker. Not even a measly horoscope!

In those moments, I suffered. Oh, how I suffered.

Which is why I ordered these books:

 

1) 



Confessions of an Angry Girl by Louise Rozett

 

2) 





The Summer I Became a Nerd by Leah Rae Miller

 



3) 



Seeds of Yesterday by V.C. Andrews
 

Apart from Seeds of Yesterday (which I've been wanting to order for a while) the books I've ordered are girly and fun. When summer comes around I start craving uncomplicated girly books. It matches my mood.

 

These books should be coming any day now and I'm super excited!!!

 

What types of books do you like reading in the summer? Have you read any of these books? What will you be reading?

 

P.S: Creds to Dr.Seuss for the title of this post :)

The Fault In Our Stars

Guys. I've just started reading this book. It's AMAZING. I just had to write a blog post about it! It is so, so good. I am in love. With a book.

 

                      

 

It's The Fault In Our Stars, by John Green, and I realize that a lot of you who are reading this post right now have probably already read this book because it won an award and was on everyone's bedside table a little while ago already, but I HAVE to rave on about this book. So poo you. I've been wanting to read it since this summer but never got the chance to because of all the books I've been reading for school and because I had all these other books I wanted to read too and also just because I have so much to do all the time in general that it's not like I really have the time to sit around for a couple of hours just enjoying a good book. But TGIF, when I got home from school that's exactly what I did! I came through the door, dropped my bag to the floor, took off my shoes, ran up to my bedroom to grab The Fault In Our Stars, ran back down and plopped myself down onto our new fabulous L-shaped sofa and read for two whole hours. It may not seem like a lot to some of you bookworms, but right now having that time to spare without having to worry about anything is pretty rare for me. It was pretty dang awesome.

I guess I had been craving a good book for a long time because my eyes literally devoured more than half the book.

I don't know how to explain what it is about John Green's writing. Sometimes there's just something that keeps you reading, and reading, and reading. His writing is addictive. Is this what it feels like to be on drugs?

He writes so convincingly from the point of view of a teenage girl with cancer, Hazel, that it's almost too hard to believe that John Green is a completely healthy man.

This book is not one of those books on someone with cancer that is unrealistically inspiring, like where the person with cancer wins the marathon, starts a foundation and beats the cancer, and all throughout the book the person talks about how wonderful life is. Not that those books are bad, but this book is so true and real. But not in a depressing way. In a sweet and humouristic way, which is one of the things that makes Hazel so lovable.

This book was perfect for a rainy day like this one (spring has promised us beautiful rays of sunlight but has betrayed us with cold windy showers)

If you haven't already, get your hands on this book.

I can't wait to learn what happens to Hazel and Augustus next!

This is off subject, but today my Grandma is 77 years old. Happy birthday, Grandma! :)

Book review: Never fall down, by Patricia McCormick

Mes excuses aux lecteurs francophones, aujourd'hui je n'écris qu'en anglais, car je fais une recommandation d'un livre que j'ai récemment fini de lire, et il n'a pas été traduit de l'anglais. Peut-être un jour il le sera! :)

I recently finished reading this book, and I recommend it to all of you, especially you humanitarians.

Never Fall Down

In this book, Patricia McCormick, the author of Cut (another great read) tells the story of Arn Chorn-Pond, a poor child in Cambodia whose life changes dramatically when the Khmer Rouge arrive in his hometown and evict everybody, separating him from his little brother, aunt and sisters. He is forced into working the long days under the blazing sun in the rice paddies. Every day he sees and hears people dying of sicknesses and starvation. He saves his own life when he volunteers to play an instrument, regardless of the fact that he's never touched an instrument before. But doing that pulls him into the centre of the killing fields, and he is forced to become a soldier, and if he wants to survive, he will have to be very brave...

This book is wonderfully written, and very informative. You will be shocked at how far cruelty can go, and how inhumane humans can be. You will be even more shocked about the fact that this is a true story. That all of this stuff actually happened and it is still happening
Arn is brought to do things he would have never in his lifetime imagined himself doing.

I read this book quite fast. I think that the content of this book is very important, and it is necessary that everyone reads this to be more aware of the problems in the world. The end is very inspiring, and brought tears to my eyes.
So add it to your reading list.
I give it five stars.
Happy reading! :)