Book Review: The Circle by Sara B. Elfgren & Mats Strandberg

"Only together can they survive.
 Engelsfors. A beautiful name for a scrubby little town in Sweden where six girls have just started high school. They have nothing in common -- except they are all hunted by an ancient evil.

The autumn semester has just started when a student is found dead in one of the school toilet cubicles. Everyone suspects suicide. Everyone except those that know the truth. One night, when a mysterious red moon fills the sky, the girls meet in the park. They don't know why or how they were brought there but they learn that they need each other in order to survive.

They are told that they are witches. An ancient prophecy states that they are The Chosen Ones. From this day on, high school is a matter of life and death. They must learn how to work together despite their differences and they have to master the forces that have awakened within them. Time is running out. Something is hunting them and if they don't find it and defeat it, it will kill them."

Genre: YA, paranormal (witches)
Published: June 7th 2012
Pages: 592 (paperback)
Goodreads

The Circle is translated from Swedish and was first published in 2011. The story takes place in the Swedish village of Engelfors and is all about six girls, or better said six witches, who are only finding out what their powers really are.

Book Review: Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally

"What girl doesn't want to be surrounded by gorgeous jocks day in and day out? Jordan Woods isn't just surrounded by hot guys, though-she leads them as the captain and quarterback of her high school football team. They all see her as one of the guys and that's just fine. As long as she gets her athletic scholarship to a powerhouse university.

But everything she's ever worked for is threatened when Ty Green moves to her school. Not only is he an amazing QB, but he's also amazingly hot. And for the first time, Jordan's feeling vulnerable. Can she keep her head in the game while her heart's on the line?"

Genre: YA, contemporary
Published: March 1st 2012
Pages: 283 (paperback)



Catching Jordan is an adorable YA novel that follow the life of Jordan Woods, a boyish girl with only one dream: getting an athletic scholarship. Jordan is quite the type, one that is very different from the prom queen girl we so often meet in contemporary novels.

Jordan is the quarterback of her high school's football team and she is one of the boys. The boys on her team are really the only ones who really do know her, because she's always either on the field or doing her homework. Then we meet Henry, one of the football players and Jordan's best friend. Their relationship is somewhat strange but also extremely cute, due to their long history together and the fact that he often stays the night. As friends.
And then there is the troublemaker, now called Ty Green, who moves into town and quickly joins the football team. Ty is funny, charming, sweet and yet again I kind of started disliking him because I was rooting for Henry and Jordan..

Anyway, the novel basically follows Jordan, who falls in love with Ty. From the way Miranda Kenneally managed to create a handsome, sweet, genuine guy who wants nothing but to fit in, I can't help but have some feelings for Ty as well. Even though the novel doesn't discuss any moral topics or social problems, it is an awesome twist on the life of teenagers. Normally, we experience the life on an American high school in the form of conversations in hall ways and boring classes, but in this novel, basically everything happens around the football field.

A wishlist filled with books that I already should have bought two years ago.

Does it ever happen to you guys that you have this wishlist, one that is filled with amazing books that you have been dying to read for the longest time, and yet you order completely different books?
Well, it did to me. This week.
Don't get me wrong, I will be perfectly happy with the books I ordered in the beginning of this week, but I do wish that I would have taken a closer look at my wishlist. Because to be honest, I know that the books on this wishlist will change everything. And they will fit me so well that I would never ever want to change again.
As you might have guessed from the lines you've just read, I have a small book haul coming up. Small, only four books and there is only one reason for that.

The incredibly annoying economic crisis. 

Hello, my name is Laurien and I have been jobless (is that a word? If not, I have now invented it) for three whole months.
(p.s: there is a discussion about this topic coming up very soon)
(p.s.s: I have quite a few feelings about this topic.)

Book Review: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

"It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.

Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak, author of I Am the Messenger, has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time."


Genre: Historical Fiction
Published: 2005
Pages: 554 (paperback)

Oh oh, how I fell in love with this story is a whole other story to tell. I had always been avoiding reading this book and sometimes I even told people that I had read this book just because they had expected me to. In my eyes, it's a modern classic. One that every living soul should read. Not just because everyone loves it, but because it tells a story of this little girl who has to endure death and loss and danger at a very young age. She has a beautiful personality and Markus Zusak has treated her like his own daughter, it so seems.
Anyway, I decided to order this book from amazon and boy, I have no regrets whatsoever.

Long time no see!

Hello there.
I am slightly embarrased.

I didn't post anything for three whole months. School is definitely to blame, since senior year is never easy and I have to work quite hard to keep my grades up. Not that my grades are fantastic (far from that) but I am determined to graduate this summer and that will require some work.

Anyway, enough with the excuses. The reality is is that I have neglected this blog even though I was really excited to post reviews, updates etc.
As for now, I have made a list that is filled with ideas for this blog and I will (hopefully) be posting those one for one.
I'm forgetting something.

Hi new followers, welcome! It's so awesome to see that people are still willing to follow my blog even though there has not been a new post for 3 months. I'm gonna work hard to get this baby up again in hopes that my blog can grow even more and thank you all for sticking with me.

Bookhugs,
Laurien.

Introducing December: the last month of 2013.

It is already December, which still amazes me. I know that it's a catchy thing to say, but I honestly feel as if 2013 flew by with the speed of a lightning bolt. It's so strange to think and somehow trying to realize that we will be in the year 2014 in less than a month. I do love the month of December, Sinterklaas (dutch holiday thing aka St. Nicolas), Christmas, NYE and all kinds of fancy dinner parties and food.
I still feel as if my holiday in Turkey happened only two months ago, while it's actually been five months. Where does the time go?
Anyway, 2013 was also a good year for reading and books and meeting new people and starting my own blog! It's been a good year so far and I still have a few good things coming up, but I also can't wait for the new year to start.
2014 will be my year of (hopefully) graduating high school (oh please let me pass my exams!), moving to a new city and studying English and turning 18!

As for my Goodreads challenge, I am now on 46 read books. My goal is to have read 50 books this year, which means I still have four more to go. But that won't be any problem since I'm currently reading both The Hobbit and An Abundance of Katherines.
So far, I am thoroughly enjoying both of them and even though I normally don't read two books at the same time, the two stories are completely different from oneanother and that makes it easier.
I am rereading The Hobbit and I'm currently at 247 pages and so I'll probably finish both books by the end of this week.