Reading – Inferno

As I’ve already promised, I’ll tell you about the other book I’m reading right now. The best seller 🙂 It’s Inferno by Dan Brown and I won it at Lovelybooks. It is the English version of the book and it was sponsored by Random House UK. I am so happy about this cooperation between Lovelybooks and Random House UK and I hope it wasn’t the last one.

This is the first book by Dan Brown that I’m reading and I’m enjoying it. I only knew the movie The DaVinci Code, so I had no idea what I was getting myself into with this book. So far, Inferno is a smooth read and quite exciting. We’ll see if it stays like that.

Image linked from Random House UK¹
Summary quoted from Random House UK¹:

‘Seek and ye shall find.’
With these words echoing in his head, eminent Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon awakes in a hospital bed with no recollection of where he is or how he got there. Nor can he explain the origin of the macabre object that is found hidden in his belongings.
A threat to his life will propel him and a young doctor, Sienna Brooks, into a breakneck chase across the city of Florence. Only Langdon’s knowledge of hidden passageways and ancient secrets that lie behind its historic facade can save them from the clutches of their unknown pursuers.

¹ http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/editions/inferno/9780593072493

Book Stack Cake

As I’ve already told you, I have made a Book Stack Cake for my grandpa’s 80th birthday last weekend.

It took me two days to make and I think it looked great for a first try. It also was my first time working with fondant and it was really fun. In the end, my auntie helped me do the decorating (she did most of the writing on the cake 🙂 )

Here it is:

grandpa cake

My grandpa has always been an admirer of Lenin and Marx, so I included these two books. And his first name is Hans, so the book on top is his book 🙂

 

To make the cakes, I followed these two tutorials:

Tutorial No. 1

Tutorial No. 2

I made three different cakes. Among them was an Earl Grey Tea Cake which was very, very yummy. You can find the recipe over at Visual Heart.

What I learned is:

  • Take your time – you’ll need it
  • Fondant tastes ugly – it’s way too sweet
  • Working with fondant is like working with modeling clay (childhood memories galore)
  • Only do this if you have strong nerves
  • Only do this for a person you really love 🙂

 

I’m glad I made this cake!

 

Incoming ARC – A Thousand Perfect Things

Thanks to Premier Digital Publishing, I got my hands on an ARC of Kay Kenyon‘s A Thousand Perfect Things.

Image linked from Kay Kenyon¹

I started reading a couple of days ago and the story sucked me in instantly 🙂

Summary quoted from Kay Kenyon¹:

In an alternate 19th century, there are two warring continents on an reimagined earth: the scientific Anglica (England) and magical Bharata (India). Emboldened by her grandfather’s final whispered secret of a magical lotus, Tori Harding, a young Victorian woman and aspiring botanist, must journey to Bharata, with its magics, intrigues and ghosts, to claim her fate. There she will face a choice between two suitors and two irreconcilable realms.

¹ http://www.kaykenyon.com/novels/

Bloglovin’ Blog Hop

Bloglovin Blog Hop: find new blogs and get new followers. Inspired by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read hosted by Brandi from Blkosiner’s Book Blog

Rules:
1. Make your own post, grab the icon if you want
2. Link back to this post
3. Hop around. Visit as many or as few blogs as you’d like, but make sure if someone leaves a comment saying they followed you, visit and follow them back.
4. This is a once a week event for now, on Sundays at 1pm she may make it once a month down the road. You are only making a commitment to participate for one week. She would love to see you back next week, but that is your choice. You can make your post on whatever day you wish, and if you chose to host a giveaway, run that as long as you’d like.
5. Make sure to add the link to your post not your homepage so people can find it easily in the link tool below.
6. This isn’t a giveaway hop, although you are free to host one. This is a follower hop.
Thank you so much for participating!

If you want me to follow you as well, please let me know in a comment that you followed me via Bloglovin. If there is another way you want to follow me, feel free to follow me there, just make sure you let me know in my comments! I’m looking forward to seeing your blog and following you as well!

Click the Image to Follow Me

Follow on Bloglovin

Click here for a list of the other participating blogs and a giveaway 🙂

 

Summer Book Exchange

I just found this over at Jessie’s Book Place and I think it’s great, so I joined in and thought I’d let you know about it too.

There’s this Summer Book Exchange going on and it’s hosted by Ruby’s Reads. (It’s something for people who love gifting and getting gifts. And those who miss Christmas, haha)

If you want to know more about the Summer Book Exchange, click this picture 🙂

The *Official* Blog of the Ruby's Reads Book Exchanges

Coming Soon – New Incoming Books and a Book Stack Cake

Hi Guys,

I’ve been gone for a few days because my grandpa turned 80 and had a huge birthday party. My family and I went there and I made him a book stack cake (which took me 2 days to make). I’ll post pictures and the links to the how-tos soon.

I also started reading a new book and I won another book which I’ll start reading today, ’cause taking part in a book discussion is part of the deal. I’ll tell you more about these two books in the upcoming posts. (The first is an ARC, the second a best-seller)

I hope you had a great week!

Stay tuned 🙂

Lovelybooks – Free Bookmarks

Hi there,

Lovelybooks is offering free bookmarks right now. They are super cute, but have a look yourself. You can order them here: click (I’m sorry, this page is German. They’ll probably send the bookmarks all over the EU as the postage is the same within the EU. There seems to be no country restriction).

Movie – EPIC

Last week, I went to see EPIC and I really liked it (although I’m not a huge fan of the computer animated three-dimensional look most computer animated movies have nowadays [and by the way, I hate 3D!]).

EPIC was a lot of fun to watch and I loved the magical cinematography. Mub & Grub are my personal favorites. Here’s the trailer (I decided to post the one that’s not that funny, because it doesn’t have that many spoilers in it):

bohnen4s

Review – The Humans by Matt Haig

Last night, I finished reading The Humans by Matt Haig which I won from The Book Depository.

Image provided by Canongate
Image provided by Canongate

 

Summary quoted from Canongate¹:

It’s hardest to belong when you’re closest to home . . .
One wet Friday evening, Professor Andrew Martin of Cambridge University solves the world’s greatest mathematical riddle. Then he disappears.
When he is found walking naked along the motorway, Professor Martin seems different. Besides the lack of clothes, he now finds normal life pointless. His loving wife and teenage son seem repulsive to him. In fact, he hates everyone on the planet. Everyone, that is, except Newton. And he’s a dog.
Can a bit of Debussy and Emily Dickinson keep him from murder? Can the species which invented cheap white wine and peanut butter sandwiches be all that bad? And what is the warm feeling he gets when he looks into his wife’s eyes?

My Thoughts:

The Humans is mainly set in Cambridge, England. The setting is very believable and realistic.

The book is written from the perspective of the person who took Andrew Martin’s body (let’s call him “the alien”). It is written in conversational style. As if “the alien” was talking to the reader, who, in his opinion, is one of his species. I think this is a very interesting and entertaining writing style, which is also very clever. This way, Mr Haig takes the reader by the hand and leads them right into the story. He makes them part of it instantly.

The main characters of The Humans are “the alien”, Andrew Martin’s wife Isobel and their son Gulliver. For me, they were all very easy to empathize with, especially “the alien” and Gulliver. I was able to follow “the alien’s” problems, his discoveries, his moral changes and his feelings throughout the book. I also had no problems understanding Gulliver’s teenage world and all the problems and feelings that he had. I could feel “the alien’s” and Gulliver’s relationship with all their highs and lows. I could also feel the relationship between Isobel and “the alien” but it wasn’t depicted as intensely as the relationship between Gulliver and “the alien”.

I really enjoyed the plot. It was a little predictable but had its twists and turns. I don’t think The Humans is a book you read for suspense, it is a book that is full of fun and creativity. The only thing I would have left out is the “Advice for a Human” list at the end. I didn’t really see a point in it and it was somehow boring. Other than that, I had great fun reading The Humans and I can fully recommend this novel to anyone who wants to read something different for a change.

bohnen4s

¹ http://www.canongate.tv/the-humans.html

Children’s Book Week – Review – A Bear Called Paddington

Hi there,

This week is Children’s Book Week and this is why I’d like to talk about one of my favourite children’s books, A Bear Called Paddington by Michael Bond.

Image linked from Amazon.com¹
Summary:

One day, the Brown family find a bear from Darkest Peru at Paddington Station in London. They decide to take him in and name him Paddington. That is when Paddington’s new life and his adventures start. He soon becomes part of the family. The children Jonathan and Judy enjoy Paddington’s company and Mrs. Bird, the housekeeper, quickly warms up to him. Paddington makes friends all over the place, his best friend being Mr. Gruber. The only person who can’t stand Paddington is the Browns’ neighbor Mr. Curry…

My Thoughts:

A Bear Called Paddington is set in and around the Browns’ house in London. The setting is very believable and nice and so are the characters. The stories are told by a third person narrator and usually revolve around Paddington, so the reader has a character to connect with.

The book is divided into short stories that are connected to each other and should be read in a consecutive order. In each story, Paddington usually learns something from his or others’ behaviour. So each story has its moral.

I really like A Bear Called Paddington because it is entertaining, easy to read and I think Paddington is simply cute. Also, I learned to read the time with Paddington when I was very young. This is a book I would recommend for both, children and adults 🙂

bohnen4s

¹ http://www.amazon.com/Bear-Called-Paddington-Michael-Bond/dp/1845093208/ref=tmm_pap_title_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1368796247&sr=1-3