Life update: A lot of stuff is happening

Hi guys, it’s me again! And I’m here to give you some updates about my fascinating life! Just kidding, I felt like talking and somehow I felt the need to explain myself… I have a lot going on right now and it’s very exciting but also very time consuming! So bear with me if I have grabbed your interest.

And first of all, I didn’t really know where I was going when I started this blog, but I managed to post a lot more than I expected, and I sure do enjoy it. Thanks for being there and thanks for reading this, it means a lot ♥

Then. As you may know, I transferred college for this new school year. I had a lot of problems with administration to sign up for all my classes and get my student ID, etc. Monday night, I was finally done with everything, I had paid, gotten my student ID, signed up for all the classes I needed. It just felt so good, really. And then I checked my emails. My college had sent me a note to tell me I had been accepted in the course I wanted. Classes had started a week earlier, but by some miracle I had gotten late acceptance, when I honestly had totally given up. (I had first planned to post this on Monday night but all of this happened and I was a bit busy as you can guess!) So an hour of pure hysteria came up. Why did they have to wait for so long? I couldn’t believe it, I had to check several times that I was not dreaming. I went to bed flustered, not knowing what to do, but on the next day I told my friends and they were all like “This is what you wanted to do it’s so cool!!” So today I waited for 1 hour and a half at the administration to change my course and I am officially a Literature and English student at La Sorbonne university, Paris.

The thing is, I live in the Parisian banlieue, which means I need to take the train every morning for about one hour and I live about 30 minutes away from the station. But I don’t care. The college is so great (even if it sounds like a mess. The classes are so interesting). Also this is actually a good thing because I have three hours of reading a day and this is more than I’ve had for a long time!

I also got to student job, I’m giving private lessons to my neighbour who is in 8th grade, and I work at my old high school on Saturday mornings (the students have tests and I’m supposed to check up on them and collect their papers… Another great time for reading actually).

So yeah, I am really enjoying this new life, even if living with my parents again after two years still feels a bit weird. Finally I am waiting for a response from a language school because I want to take Korean lesson once a week in the evening. I am so excited about this too!!

Basically, I am so happy about this late acceptance, and exhausted by all the things I have to do at the moment. But this is exciting. And when I really realised that this was actually happening, I felt so relieved because hell yes, this is what I like, and what I wanted to do, and I am so happy I won’t be missing it!!

My conclusion if you are going through a bad time: hang in there, life will get better! Those who work hard and wait patiently will be rewarded.

Feel free to share whatever you want in the comments below ♥

Bookish update: If you have read my previous articles you probably saw that I read both Benny & Shrimp and Memoirs of a Geisha last week. As I said, I spend a lot of time in the train and the bus to get to college, and it actually has a positive aspect because it means I can spend a lot of time reading! I also finished The Color Purple by Alice Walker, and will try to review it very soon, probably over the weekend. I started re reading The Maze Runner because I didn’t know what to read next, and since I’m waiting for the Scorch Trials movie to come out in France. I am also reading TS Eliot’s Collected Poems for my American Literature class, and it is absolutely amazing. I don’t read much poetry, so I wasn’t expected to enjoy it that much, and really it is absolutely beautiful and fascinating!!

I have tons of other articles I want to post soon, so I guess see you soon ♥

Memoirs of a Geisha: My Review

Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden, is another one of the books I read in the past week, and I absolutely loved it.

The story:

The novel is presented like a memoir, and is the story of Chiyo, a young peasant girl, who becomes the great geisha Sayuri. Set in Japan at the beginning of the twentieth century, it ends after World War Two, and depicts both the story of a girl who was sold by her father to become a geisha, and the historical background of Japan at the time. A coming of age story, and so much more. Tea, jealousy, betrayal, revenge, virginity, dance classes, men are among the topics you can find in this brilliant story, but this brief summary doesn’t do it justice.

Spoiler: yes it is a fiction, and yes, I was tricked during almost the entire book into thinking that Sayuri had actually existed, which she appearently hasn’t.

My opinion:

It was an extremely beautiful story, and an amazing book. I highly recommend it to about anyone (though, it’s more of an adult book, so I will let you judge if this is the book for you, or if you should wait a few years before enjoying it).

I had been wanting to read this for a while, and I was absolutely not disappointed. I didn’t really know what to expect, actually, and was entirely satisfied. This book is so beautiful, and intimate, and unique.

The writing is extremely well-done, it is absolutely believable, and shows how much research the author did. And it feels so natural too. Everything feels so real, the characters are perfectly depicted and come to life easily.

It may get a bit draggy towards the ending, but dear me that was worth it. I was completely blown away by the ending, and I got to say, it was worth the wait.

This book is beautiful and captivating. It’s a must read. I don’t have much more to say about it… But I think it’s the kind of book I’m going to re read someday. And I would love to talk about it, so if you want you can leave your opinion about it in the comments!!

My rating: ★★★★☆

Benny & Shrimp: My Review

Benny & Shrimp (Grabben i graven brevdid) by Katarina Mazetti is my last read so I thought I would review it since I haven’t written an article in a while. I bought this book like two years ago because I absolutely love the cover and it had been waiting on my shelves ever since, and miraculously I finally picked it up. I checked the reviews on Goodreads, and there are really different points of view. Personally I had only heard good things about it, but I was a bit disappointed…

The story:

Désirée (aka Shrimp) is a librarian and a very cultivated woman in her thirties, who lost her husband. Benny is a dairy farmer who has to manage the property and 28 cows on his own ever since his parents died. What do they have in common? Nothing but the fact that the very tombs of the ones they love happen to lie side by side in the cemetry… And this is the story of how they meet. One day, a smile is exchanged, and a bond seems to appear between these two people that everything seems to separate.

My opinion:

As I said, I had only heard good reviews of that book. But now that I read it… I don’t understand. Maybe it’s just not my type of book, but I was expecting maybe something more. I read it in three days, on the train on my way to college, and I found it hard to put down, yet I didn’t like it that much.

It’s a bit different from what I usually read, and I really liked the Swedish setting, it really brought me a change. But the story… It alternates a chapter from Désirée’s and Benny’s points of view, and they usually tell the same thing from different points of view, but since it’s usually something you can expect, it’s not always necessary.

It was somehow plain, not enough. I tried to like it, I swear, but something in the back of my mind kept thinking this book was a disappointment. But don’t get mad at me if you like it, I would love to see your opinion! ♥

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Tara Duncan and the Spellbinders: My Review

If you are following me on Instagram, you probably have heard me blabbering about this book as I just re read it. It’s a Young Adults fantasy book written by French author Sohpie Audoin-Mamikonian, the first of many others. It has been compared to the Harry Potter series by a lot of people, including myself, but it’s also a complete other world on itself. Yes, it is not the best book ever, but if you get every prejudice out of your mind, it’s still a good book, and an enjoyable read. It has many cultural references to different mythologies, which is always amazing in my opinion.

The story:

Tara is trying to live as a normal kid, in a small French city. She lives with her grandmother in her manor, as both her parents are dead. But at the age of 9 she has started developping strange powers. With the help of her friends Fabrice and Betty, she manages to hide it from her grandmother, until the day Fabrice discovers he has the same powers, and is sent to OtherWorld. He is a Spellbinder, and so is she. Tara discovers the same night that her grandmother is hiding her a lot, that her mother may be alive, and that the manor is under attack. On the next day she is sent to OtherWorld with her great-grand-father wha has has for ages the shape of a black dog. There, she discovers her power and tries to control them. On another planet, where everything is different, and magical, and colorful, and exciting, she makes new friends: Cal the thief, the timid Gloria who may or may not be hiding something, and the mysterious – and handsome – Robin. But the attack at the manor is only the first one of many, and Magister, her enemy, is trying anything to capture her and other young Spellbinders.

My opinion:

It’s hard to imagine the heroine is only twelve, but I had the same feeling while re reading Percy Jackson, and decided I don’t care anymore. She’s going to grow up in the next books anyway.

Yes, at first it seems really familiar, like we have already read similar stories. But throughout the book, it changes, and the author has really manages to create a whole new world. The series has 12 books and a lot of companion novels, and I have only read 8 book so far I think, I remember enjoying them a lot, and really liked re reading the first one. I recommend them if you’re still in middle school or high school, but my dad has read them too and loved them so it’s like a lot of fantasy books, everyone can enjoy them.

So my point is. Yes, the story may not seem very original at first, but it is still worth the try! It’s very creative and has many funny descritption. The fact that part of the characters are originally French also adds something different to the story I think. And really, I wish I could live in OtherWorld. It has non magical people as well, which is pretty cool. I really love the universe of the story, and even if the villain is indeed not the best villain ever (who can compare to Voldemort, to be honest the competition is hard!) the main character feels relatable (and she’s a girl, I have to admit I like that!) and I love her friends.

So why not give it a try if you don’t know what to read? And I would love to read your opinion on this book if you have read it! (Please no spoilers if you have read the other books, though I have spoiled myself a lot already, I don’t want any bas surprise!)

Life update: I’m transferring universities

Hi guys! I thought I would give you some updates about my life, just because I feel like it. Today has been hectic, and I’ve been wanting to talk about this whole transferring universities thing for quite some time now.

For the past two years, I was in a prep school (the kind we have in France is for two years after high school, and allows us to try out for universities more prestigious than the ones directly after high school). It was hell, but I still stayed for two years. I made some friends, and among the unbearable amount of homework and oral presentations I even managed to enjoy it a little. I learnt a lot, and I don’t regret it. I’m just glad it’s over. Of course, I failed my exams and didn’t get into any prestidigious college. I’m just transferring universities, and a new life is starting for me.

Today was my first day, we only had a meeting, classes actually start next Monday. It was both interesting and boring. But more importantly, I still don’t know if I’ve been accepted in the course I wanted. I asked a lot of people where to find information about it, and in the end, all I could get is that it was not normal I hadn’t been given notice. Thank you people, that’s really helpful. I guessed that so far. Does it mean I’m not in? Apparently it does but there is still a little hope. I really wanted to get in. I was sick all night because of the stress.

And yes, I am feeling much better now than for the past two years, which have been hell for me. This summer was like a miracle, I started feeling alive again. But I still don’t know where I am nor where I want to go with my life, and even though I don’t care most of the time, sometimes it all comes back to me and just make me want to crawl in my bed and cry and just sleep until I wake up with a job and a steady life where I don’t have to wonder how I will ask my parents for money because ooops I spent it all on books. Or food.

Yes, I feel I am growing up. I am feeling it and enjoying it. These past two years have changed me, and now I realise it was for the best. I thought it had broken me but I overcame it. It taught me a lot, culturally, but also about myself. I learnt where my limits are. It made me stronger. But at the same time, I don’t want to grow up. I want to be taken care of, I want to be sure about what I want. That’s a part of me too, and I guess that’s normal.

So yeah, I will probably give more updates like this from time to time because I like talking and I thought if people read it, why not? I wish you all the best, see you next time! (And on a side note I can’t wait for The Scorch Trials movie to be released in France, why do I have to wait until October!!)

Bookish update: I am currently re reading Catching Fire and Tara Duncan and the Spellbinders (which I really recommend). Moving on slowly with my TBR. I actually started enjoying re reads this year, and since I’m trying not to buy books this month it is also a good thing. I will have to buy books for uni though, so it makes up for it!

I also wanted to thank you all for following me, I notice the number slowly growing and it makes me incredibly happy. Thank you for bearing with this useless talk about my life, and feel free to talk to me any time!

The Book Thief: My Review

It’s been a while since I last posted a review and I just finished The Book Thief a few days ago. It was absolutely amazing, and I am barely recovering from everything that happened. So I decided to share my thoughts on that one! And I know a lot of you have probably read it already, but better late than never, right?

The story:

As you may know, it’s a story that takes place in Germany, during World War Two. Liesel Meminger is the main character, and lives with her foster parents Hans and Rosa Hubermann in a small town called Molching, not far from Munich. She befriends her neighbour Rudy, and discovers herself a passion for reading, and stealing books. Told through the voice of Death herself (who loves to give spoilers) the story also involves street football, stolen apples, bombings, Hitler Youth and a Jew in the basement. Spoiler: people die.

My opinion:

It was a wonderful book, one that anyone can read. It’s extremely clever and beautifully written. And moving. It involved a lot of tears and dirty sobbing, especially when the end became closer. I recommend it for all of you who haven’t read it.

My review on Goodreads: It was amazing. Brilliant. Sad. Beautiful. Clever and well written. There’s no doubt, it’s a masterpiece. And I gave it 5 stars.

I don’t have much more to say except that it was also unpredictable, which made it even better. The characters were really appealing and it was impossible not to like them – or hate them, depending on whether they were nice or not!

This book is unique, it’s on a different level. It leads to reflection and teaches us more about history. As a French resident, World War Two is no mystery to me, but it’s important to know we were not alone in that. War destroys on a every side. Yes it’s a sad book, but do not be afraid. It’s worth it.

If I daresay, pain demands to be felt and I know I am quoting The Fault in our Stars too much in my articles but it somehow felt appropriate. It’s sad, but even if it’s a fiction, it also depicts reality. People die, and even more so in war time. Towns were bombed and destroyed. This was reality, and such things still happen in some parts of the world. It’s not something we can deny. Jews were persecuted and killed. This is our history as European, and there’s no denying it, even if it’s not an easy thing to bear, we can’t say it did not happen. Who would you have been if living in such a situation? Would you have been Max Vandenburg and not given a choice about the situation? Would you have been Viktor Chemmel and embraced the Führer? Would you have been Hans Hubermann and tried to do good deeds for everyone?

My point is, this book allows you some reflection and relativism, which is important from time to time. My mind was really blown away by this book, and I think, even if it’s just a tiny bit, this book has changed me.

Berserkers and Senior Year

… or where I planned to talk about season 4 and 5a of Teen Wolf but I’ve only seen the first episode of 5a and I couldn’t wait

I watched season 4 of Teen Wolf in about two days and absolutely loved it. I miss season 1 a lot, but I thought this season was really good, and much better than 3b. I absolutely love the new characters, Kira, Malia, Liam, Mason. And I am a huge fan of Chris Argent so I was really glad he was actually still there, though Isaac was not.

Another thing I wanted to discuss – because my hatred for Kate Argent is not worth the chat – is the Berserkers. In 11th grade I had to do a group project on Scandinavian Mythology (it was absolutely fascinating) and yes, Berserkers come from this mythology (so why on earth were they in Mexico?? There are some things I cannot fathom…) So yeah, imagine my surprise… But it was interesting! They did a pretty good job as antagonists, and thankfully I didn’t get any nightmare so far. They were pretty similar with the “original berserkers” and I thought it was a good idea to introduce this kind of characters and this kind of culture. I just wanted to mention this because this project was so amazing and interesting… (So yeah if you have any question about it don’t hesitate I love talking about it!!)

So yeah, I really liked this season. I liked Braeden’s character’s too, and it was nice to see Derek getting his share of happiness (though yeah, losing his powers was not that much of an enjoyable moment for him, he was nevertheless extremely badass with the gun, and I will miss him in season 5.)

Kira and Scott are absolutely adorable and also badass, and I loved seeing Stiles and Malia together ♥ (though some part of me still wants some more Stydia, I love those two as friends, and Stiles seems so happy with Malia I don’t want to break this!!)

So yeah. These are basically my extremely satisfied feelings concerning season 4. I think it’s my favorite season along with season 1 (because Scallison ♥).

I also watched the first episode of season 5 and I’m not sure what to make of it because I have seen a lot of spoilers (my bad, I shouldn’t spend my life on tumblr and instagram!). But I really loved the Senior Scribe scene (and I may or may not have cried because of all the people I wanted to be there who were not). I saw really different opinions about season 5 yet, and I’m scared of being disappointed since a lot of my favourite characters are gone (Isaac, Allison, Derek… I even miss Jackson and the twins). But I’m going to watch the rest soon, and I will keep you updated!

Harry Potter: The Exhibition

You have probably heard me talking about it if you are following me on Instagram, I went to the Harry Potter Exhibition on Tuesday! This exhibition started in 2009 in Chicago, and went to Boston, Toronto, Seattle, New York, Sidney and Singapore, before coming to Paris in April. Today is actually the last day, so yes I am a bit late, but it was absolutely amazing. Yes, a bit pricey, but I enjoyed it a lot anyway and took some pictures I wanted to share with you guys!

Some of my pictures were deleted by my phone for absolutely no reason, but I still have some left. The exhibit starts with the sorting hat, and then the Hogwarts express. We move on then to a bigger room which has a series of portraits on one of the walls, some of them moving, including the famous Fat Lady.

The room is huge and displays on either sides costumes from all the movies, as well as objects such as wands, necklaces, books, and copybooks. There are a few televisions with passages from the movies.

This is one of Luna Lovegood’s outfits.

      

Professor Sprout’s outfit in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when she teaches her students how to re-pot Mandrakes. There was also several Mandrakes, and yes they screamed every time someone tried to move them.

Now we move on the the Potions and Snape’s outfit. There were outfits for all the DADA’s teachers as well.

Next room, here is Buck along with Harry and Hermione’s outfit’s in The Prisoner of Azkaban. (Sorry it’s in no particular order.)

Alas, my pictures of Harry and Ron’s room are lost into oblivion, but this is a (bad) picture of Hagrid’s hut, with Norbert’s egg on the table! And trust me, Hagrid is really HUGE.

This is Harry’s outfit in The Philosopher’s Stone and Tom Riddle’s outfit from The Chamber of Secrets (and I’m still trying to figure out why they were put together).

Giant chess piece from The Philosopher’s Stone.

    

More and more outfits. (Sadly, this was already the last room). From left to right, these are from The Goblet of Fire: Durmstrang student, Beauxbaton student, and Cedric Diggory’s uniform.

      

From The Goblet of Fire as well, the Yule Ball outfits. From left to right: Viktor Krum, Hermione, Ron, Harry, Cho and Cedric.

      

Now some magical artefacts, we have first the Goblet of Fire itself, Dumbledore’s wand, and the Sword of Gryffindor.

   

Dobby and Kreacher the House Elves. (Dobby is the cutest, really!!)

Again in no particular order, the decrees from The Order of the Phoenix.

Fawkes, Dumbledore’s phoenix.

I also photographed a few posters, they were scattered arount the corridors, it was so well done! (I almost bought this one, but everything was so damn expensive so I didn’t…)

I know the order is a total mess, but I haven’t talked about Quidditch yet.

From left to right: Draco Malefoy, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Cedric Diggory.

And this is a miniature Quidditch game!

This is a small display of what Fred and George sell at Weasleys’ Wizard Weezer.

As well as their outfits on their final day at Hogwarts.

And last but not least candies from Honeydukes.

And this is the end of my pictures. The exhibition was really lovely, I really felt for about an hour in the wizard atmosphere, it was so exciting. There were so many things to see. If it comes near you, don’t hesitate to go an visit it! I hope you enjoyed my pictures !

(And yes of course, I stopped at the shop!)

“Would You Rather” Booktag

Hi guys! I just reached 20 followers on this blog! Yes, it’s a small number, but it’s a good beginning. I never thought I would get followers anyway, so here it is: THANK YOU ♥

I was tagged by mylifeasitis to do the Would You Rather tag!

Here is her article: https://mylifeasitisines.wordpress.com/2015/08/31/would-you-rather-book-tag/

This is a booktube tag first and here is the original video if you want to check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcZFaBgg7xw (I used the original questions)

My answers!!

1. Would you rather read only series or stand-alone books?
Really, that’s a good question. Some of my favourite books are stand-alones, but at the same time, it would mean no Hunger Games, no Percy Jackson, no Harry Potter… But I’m still going to go for stand-alones.

2. Would you rather read only females or male authors?
Another hard question. (Really, all these questions are hard??) Bye John Green, Rick Riordan, David Nicholls… I’m chosing female authors because I think I have more books written by female authors.

3. Would you rather shop only at Barnes & Noble or Amazon?
 Where I live we don’t have Barnes & Nobles. The closest thing is Fnac, and I absolutely love it. So yeah, I would go for it. Amazon has expensive shipping and takes weeks to deliver books. And I love going to bookshops!

4. Would you rather all books become movies or TV shows?
TV shows all the way. Look at The 100!! Okay they changed a lot of stuff but the show is amazing and it’s all that matters. TV shows have so much potential. And they can show much more than movies. (Though the Hunger Games adaptations are absolutely amazing!)

5. Would you rather read 5 pages per day or read 5 books per week?
Five books per week of course.

6. Would you rather be a professional book reviewer or an author?
I love writing and want people to read my books, so an author of course.

7. Would you rather read the same 20 books over and over or only read ones that you haven’t read before?
As much as I love re reading my favourite books, 20 is not a lot. And reading new books is like an adventure. So I would go for that. Some stories stay with us forever, I don’t need to re read them!

8. Would you rather be a librarian or own a book store?
Own a book store for sure!

9. Would you rather only read your favorite genre or your favorite author?
Favourite genre. Because my favourite author would probably be included in it!! Yeah and that means more possibilities.

10. Would you rather only read physical books or e-books?
Physical books of course.

I tag:
Elle from elle.biblio
and
Jen from mybookiejourney

September TBR

As you probably guessed, this is my September TBR.

What I am already reading:

– Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn (free ebook). I started it in late August and am struggling with it. I have read about 2/3 of the story and it finally seems to catch my interest.

– A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin. I started it last year and put it on hold because of my studies and never got to pick it up again. I don’t start school until September 21st so I guess I will finally have the time to finish it!

– The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I started it yesterday and already read 1/4 of the book. It’s absolutely amazing, I don’t know why I didn’t start it earlier!

New reads:

– The Iheritance by Robin Hobb/Megan Lindholm. I bought it earlier this year because it was on sale and the cover was pretty, and haven’t read it yet…

– Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. Like The book thief it’s a present from my grandmother (she kinda gives me all the books she doesn’t want anymore) and I had it for ages. I’m really looking forward to this book so I hope I won’t be disappointed!

Re reads:

I plan to re read Catching Fire for a readalong, and if I have the time, I might also re read a few John Green books, who knows.

I am also trying not to buy books this month (especially because of all the money I spent on the Harry Potter exhibition yesterday, but I will talk about this in another article!) and hopefully this will allow me to complete all these books, and maybe others who have been waiting on my TBR shelf for years!