Review – Inferno

~ Hanna ~ 1 Comment

Thanks to Lovelybooks and Random House UK (Bantam Press), I won a copy of Dan Brown’s Inferno.

Inferno
Image provided by 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.

My thoughts:

– This review might contain light spoilers –

I cannot write too much about where Inferno is set because that would give away too much of the plot. Inferno’s plot starts in Florence and Mr. Brown made the Florentine atmosphere believable for me. I have been to Florence and one other city he describes in greater detail before, so I don’t know if that could also play a role.

Robert Langdon is a very nice character. I could easily relate to him. I also had no problems with Sienna, who is his companion for most of the book. After about three-quarters of the book there were some problems with the characters that also had to do with the plot. There was a plot twist and, in my opinion, that plot twist made a lot of characters lose all credibility.

Overall, the plot is full of suspense and the first 200-300 pages are so full of action that I always thought I needed some breathing space. Nevertheless, these first 300 pages also seemed somehow lengthy. Unfortunately, I can’t really grasp what made me think that. I can only say that the remaining ~200 pages went by much quicker and were a more relaxing read with a lower heart rate involved.

This was my first book by Dan Brown and it was definitely not boring. (Although there were some lengthy parts that were less interesting.) Still, Inferno has its weaknesses. I had many issues with character credibility. (It’s also embarrassing when readers find the answer to a letter riddle much faster than Langdon and a very intelligent person) Overall, Inferno is a book for people who are already fans of the series, or who are interested in a thrill ride that involves art, literature, history and a secret I’m not going to tell.

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

Incoming ARC – Crafty Creatures

~ Hanna ~ Leave a comment

Thanks to DK Books, I got an ARC of Jane Bull’s Crafty Creatures, which includes many tutorials for all sorts of cute and easy animal crafts. I’ll tell you more about this book in a separate post where I will also try one or two crafts myself 🙂

Image linked from DK Books¹
Summary quoted from DK Books¹:

Packed with more than 30 inspiring ideas, from fat felt cats, to dangly octopuses and zany pom-pom pals, Crafty Creatures and author Jane Bull help you create your own world of colorful, cuddly animals, as well as phone pouches, purses, jewelry, and more!

With helpful templates and patterns alongside basic sewing techniques, Crafty Creatures includes simple step-by-step instructions with detailed photographs to make sure everyone can accomplish any project in the book.

¹ http://us.dk.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9781465409140,00.html?strSrchSql=crafty+creatures/Crafty_Creatures_Jane_Bull#

Movie – The Great Gatsby

~ Hanna ~ Leave a comment

Have you read F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby? I’ve read it a few years ago and I really enjoyed it. It is a smooth read and I would really recommend it to those who are scared of reading classics because they think that classics are long and boring. The Great Gatsby is anything but long and boring 🙂

But now on to the movie.

When I first saw this trailer, I was excited. This excitement turned into horror, when I found out that the music in the movie would be modern music instead of 20s music. Now that I’ve seen the movie, I have to say that the music was okay. It wasn’t as disturbing as I’d expected it to be and it was quite pleasant sometimes. There was something else that bothered me: The computer animation.

At some points in the film, the computer animation becomes obvious. Waaaay too obvious. I haven’t seen the movie in 3D, so I have no idea if it’s the same for people who have seen it in 3D. But the water for example, or the star-filled sky, they were really ugly to look at. This wouldn’t be a problem, if the whole movie was a computer animated Disney movie but it wasn’t. I don’t know why the movie’s creator did this.

Other than that, I really enjoyed The Great Gatsby. Great costumes (!!), beautiful houses and, of course, the actors 🙂 Tobey Maguire did a wonderful job. Isla Fisher, Joel Edgerton and Carey Mulligan were also very good. And Mr. DiCaprio is a great Gatsby. Don’t you think?

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Reading – Inferno

~ Hanna ~ 1 Comment

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

~ Hanna ~ 8 Comments

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

~ Hanna ~ 4 Comments

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

~ Hanna ~ 15 Comments

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

~ Hanna ~ Leave a comment

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

~ Hanna ~ Leave a comment

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

~ Hanna ~ Leave a comment

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).