World Book Day

Happy World Book Day 2018

~ Hanna ~ 6 Comments
Hello there!

Happy World Book Day everyone! Yes, it’s me and yes, I’m still alive and breathing.
Those who have been following me for a while now will also know that World Book Day usually also means that it’s Blogiversary time and that is why I couldn’t keep silent much longer 😉 It’s our fifth Blogiversary this month and even though there won’t be a huge celebration, I wanted to write a little update.

Some of you might have noticed that little notification on the right where it says that I’m working on my thesis and that there will be fewer blog posts these days; Well, that’s absolutely true! When I’m not working on my thesis, I’m trying to relax while sewing, doing jigsaw puzzles, visiting the local zoo or reading just for pure pleasure! I hope you can forgive me if writing a book review isn’t the first thing I’d like to do after spending time with my thesis.Volumes of books

If you are interested in what I’m reading, my Goodreads profile is always up to date. The only thing I usually don’t do when I’m planning on maybe someday reviewing a book, is rating it. But if you see something that I’ve read and would like my opinion on it you can always ask me. 🙂

Of the books that I’ve read since last summer, there were a few books that stood out:

What have you read and really enjoyed in the past months? I’m always looking for an awesome read!

Anyways, I hope you’re enjoying World Book Day in style today.
Have a great day! I will be back 😉

* A copy of this book was provided by the publisher.

Giveaway – World Book Day 2017: Blogger Schenken Lesefreude (Bloggers Give Books)

~ Hanna ~ 5 Comments
Happy World Book Day, Book Lovers!

Bloggers Give BooksTo celebrate World Book Day and our Fourth Blogiversary, I’m giving away a copy of Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West that is provided by our friends at Penguin Random House UK. I chose this novel because it is one of the best books I’ve read so far this year and I’d love to share its story with you.
If you’d like to enter the giveaway, all you have to do is answer one quiz question. The giveaway is open to people with an address in the EU, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Monaco and Norway and you have time to enter from today until April 30, 2017. Good luck!

 Mohsin Hamid Exit West
Exit West
Image provided by Hamish Hamilton¹

Synopsis quoted from Hamish Hamilton¹
An extraordinary story of love and hope, traveling from the Middle East to London and beyond, from the bestselling, Man Booker-shortlisted author of The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Nadia and Saeed are two ordinary young people, attempting to do an extraordinary thing – to fall in love – in a world turned upside down. Theirs will be a love story but also a story about how we live now and how we might live tomorrow, of a world in crisis and two human beings travelling through it.

Civil war has come to the city which Nadia and Saeed call home. Before long they will need to leave their motherland behind – when the streets are no longer useable and the unknown is safer than the known. They will join the great outpouring of people fleeing a collapsing city, hoping against hope, looking for their place in the world . . .

  • The giveaway is open to people with an address in the EU, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Monaco and Norway.
  • You have to be 16 or older to participate.
  • The giveaway runs from April 23, 2017 until April 30, 2017.
  • Be fair! One entry per person/immediate family/household.
  • I am not responsible for lost or damaged items. Neither is Penguin Random House UK.
  • There will be one winner who will receive one English language copy of Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West, sponsored by Penguin Random House UK.
  • You you have to enter through Giveaway Tools.
  • The winner will be selected at random and notified via e-mail. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, another winner will be drawn.
  • The personal information you enter will only be used to contact you in case you win. It will be deleted after the giveaway.
  • I can amend and interpret these official rules at any time, and terminate, suspend or cancel the giveaway at any time for any reason.
  • All decisions are final.
If you want to win a copy of Exit West, enter the giveaway here!
Do you want to find out about the other books you can win trough Blogger Schenken Lesefreude? Look no further than here.

Good Luck and Happy World Book Day!

The Giveaway is over and we’ve contacted our winner Lili!

¹ https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/300265/exit-west/9780241290088/

World Book Day – Blogger Schenken Lesefreude

~ Hanna ~ 4 Comments
Happy World Book Day everyone!

As you hopefully all know, today is World Book Day. The UNESCO organizes this annual event on April 23rd to “pay a world-wide tribute to books and authors, encouraging everyone […] to discover the pleasure of reading”¹

Blogger Schenken Lesefreude

Blogger Schenken Lesefreude (German for Bloggers Spread the Joy of Reading) has been an integral part of World Book Day here in the German-speaking book-world for years. It is a project organized by Christina, Dagmar and Sonja to help compile a list of all bloggers, companies and organizations who give away books on this special day. This year however, they want participants to think of new ways to spread the joy of reading other than simple blog giveaways.

The Wander Society
Image provided by Particular Books²

When Penguin Random House UK contacted me about a book crossing project, I knew this was a perfect match for Blogger Schenken Lesefreude. This is why I will release one copy of Keri Smith’s new book The Wander Society into the wild here in my hometown for some stranger to find. I think it’s a great book not only to spread the joy of reading but also to spread the joy of wandering around, exploring your surroundings.

I will keep you up to date on how the release of the book went. It hasn’t arrived yet, but should be here next week.

Happy World Book Day and keep on reading! 🙂

¹ http://www.un.org/en/events/bookday/
² https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/289139/the-wander-society/

Winner – World Book Day 2015: Blogger Schenken Lesefreude (Bloggers Give Books)

~ Hanna ~ Leave a comment
Hi,

It’s finally time to announce the winner of our giveaway to celebrate World Book Day and our Second Blogiversary. Unfortunately, I had to disqualify one entrant for entering the giveaway multiple times. Did you really think I wouldn’t notice?

Edit (5/5/2015 05:12pm):

[Anyways, Rachel, you are the lucky winner of a copy of Donal Ryan’s The Thing About December. I just sent you an e-mail and you have 72 hours to reply.]  Sorry Rachel, but you didn’t answer my e-mail.

This is why we have a new winner: Fornika! Congrats! I just sent you an e-mail and you have 72 hours to reply.

If you haven’t won, don’t be sad, it’s the weekend. Go on and read a good book. There are many more out there 🙂

Blogger Schenken Lesefreude

 Donal Ryan The Thing About December
The Thing About December
Image provided by Transworld¹
Synopsis quoted from Transworld¹:

‘He heard Daddy one time saying he was a grand quiet boy to Mother when he thought Johnsey couldn’t hear them talking. Mother must have been giving out about him being a gom and Daddy was defending him. He heard the fondness in Daddy’s voice. But you’d have fondness for an auld eejit of a crossbred pup that should have been drowned at birth.’

While the Celtic Tiger rages, and greed becomes the norm, Johnsey Cunliffe desperately tries to hold on to the familiar, even as he loses those who all his life have protected him from a harsh world. Village bullies and scheming land-grabbers stand in his way, no matter where he turns.
Set over the course of one year of Johnsey’s life, The Thing About December breathes with his grief, bewilderment, humour and agonizing self-doubt. This is a heart-twisting tale of a lonely man struggling to make sense of a world moving faster than he is.

¹ http://www.transworldbooks.co.uk/editions/the-thing-about-december/9781781620090

Giveaway – World Book Day 2015: Blogger Schenken Lesefreude (Bloggers Give Books)

~ Hanna ~ 14 Comments
Happy World Book Day, Book Lovers!

To celebrate World Book Day and our Second Blogiversary, we’re giving away a copy of The Thing About December by Irish author Donal Ryan. I chose this novel because it is one of the best books I’ve read in 2014 and I would love to share this wonderful story with you. All you have to do is answer one quiz question. The giveaway is international and you have time to enter from today until April 30, 2015. Good luck!

Blogger Schenken Lesefreude

 Donal Ryan The Thing About December
The Thing About December
Image provided by Transworld¹
Synopsis quoted from Transworld¹:

‘He heard Daddy one time saying he was a grand quiet boy to Mother when he thought Johnsey couldn’t hear them talking. Mother must have been giving out about him being a gom and Daddy was defending him. He heard the fondness in Daddy’s voice. But you’d have fondness for an auld eejit of a crossbred pup that should have been drowned at birth.’

While the Celtic Tiger rages, and greed becomes the norm, Johnsey Cunliffe desperately tries to hold on to the familiar, even as he loses those who all his life have protected him from a harsh world. Village bullies and scheming land-grabbers stand in his way, no matter where he turns.
Set over the course of one year of Johnsey’s life, The Thing About December breathes with his grief, bewilderment, humour and agonizing self-doubt. This is a heart-twisting tale of a lonely man struggling to make sense of a world moving faster than he is.

  • You can participate as long as The Book Depository ships to your country for free.
  • You have to be 16 or older to participate.
  • The giveaway runs from April 23, 2015 until April 30, 2015.
  • Be fair! One entry per person/immediate family/household.
  • I am not responsible for lost or damaged items. There will be one winner who will receive one English language paperback copy of Donal Ryan’s The Thing About December, sponsored by All That Magic.
  • You you have to enter through Giveaway Tools.
  • The winner will be selected at random and notified via e-mail. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, another winner will be drawn.
  • The personal information you enter will only be used to contact you in case you win. It will be deleted after the giveaway.
  • I can amend and interpret these official rules at any time, and terminate, suspend or cancel the giveaway at any time for any reason.
  • All decisions are final.
If you want to enter the The Thing About December giveaway, click this link: Entry-Form

¹ http://www.transworldbooks.co.uk/editions/the-thing-about-december/9781781620090

The Winners – World Book Day: Blogger Schenken Lesefreude (Bloggers Give Books)

~ Hanna ~ Leave a comment

To celebrate World Book Day and my First Blogoversary, I was doing a giveaway of the following three books: Life After Life by British author Kate Atkinson, the German edition of Y (“Hier könnte ich zur Welt kommen”) by Canadian author Marjorie Celona and the German edition of The Art of Fielding (“Die Kunst des Feldspiels”) by US author Chad Harbach.

Just so you know, all your answers were correct! 🙂 Unfortunately, not all of you lovely entrants got to win something. The winners were chosen at random by Giveaway Tools. I’ve already contacted them, but to make things official, here they are. They’ve got 72 hours to reply to my e-mail.

Thank you for entering!

Blogger Schenken Lesefreude Banner

Also: A big “Thank You” goes out to Dumont Verlag and Insel Verlag for offering the two German-language books to give away to two lucky readers!

 Kate Atkinson Life After Life
Life After Life
Image provided by Transworld¹
Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life goes to: Melanie D.
You can also double-check in the Entry-Form
 Marjorie Celona “Hier könnte ich zur Welt kommen“
Hier könnte Ich zur Welt kommen
Image provided by Insel Verlag²
Marjorie Celona’s “Hier könnte ich zur Welt kommen” goes to: Bettina
You can also double-check in the: Entry-Form
Chad Harbach “Die Kunst des Feldspiels”
Die Kunst des Feldspiels Cover
Image provided by Dumont Verlag³
Chad Harbach’s “Die Kunst des Feldspiels” goes to: WolfgangB
You can also double-check in the: Entry-Form
¹ http://www.transworldbooks.co.uk/editions/life-after-life/9780552776639
² http://www.suhrkamp.de/buecher/hier_koennte_ich_zur_welt_kommen-marjorie_celona_17562.html
³ http://www.dumont-buchverlag.de/buch/Chad_Harbach_Die_Kunst_des_Feldspiels/12836

Win Books – World Book Day: Blogger Schenken Lesefreude (Bloggers Give Books)

~ Hanna ~ 7 Comments
Happy World Book Day Book Lovers!

To celebrate World Book Day and my First Blogoversary, I’m giving away books to three lucky people. Life After Life by British author Kate Atkinson, the German edition of Y (“Hier könnte ich zur Welt kommen”) by Canadian author Marjorie Celona and the German edition of The Art of Fielding (“Die Kunst des Feldspiels”) by US author Chad Harbach. Please be aware of the terms & conditions of each giveaway. While the Life After Life giveaway is open internationally (some restrictions do apply), the “Hier könnte ich zur Welt kommen” giveaway and the “Die Kunst des Feldspiels” giveaway are only open to participants with an Austrian mail address*. You have time to enter from today until April 30, 2014. Good luck!

Blogger Schenken Lesefreude Banner

A big “Thank You” goes out to Dumont Verlag and Insel Verlag for offering the two German-language books to give away to two lucky readers!

*I would have loved to open these giveaways for EU participants, but the Austrian Post is ridiculously expensive. Mailing a book within Austria costs more than Germans pay at German Post to mail a book within the EU. The Austrian Post charges almost 10 € to mail a book from Austria to a EU country. 😦 I hope you understand. You can still enter the Life After Life giveaway if The Book Depository ships to your country for free.

 Kate Atkinson Life After Life
Life After Life
Image provided by Transworld¹
  • You can participate as long as The Book Depository ships to your country for free.
  • You have to be 16 or older to participate.
  • The giveaway runs from April 23, 2014 until April 30, 2014.
  • Be fair! One entry per person/immediate family/household.
  • I am not responsible for lost or damaged items. There will be one winner who will receive one English language paperback copy of Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life, sponsored by All That Magic.
  • You you have to enter through Giveaway Tools.
  • The winner will be selected at random and notified via e-mail. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, another winner will be drawn.
  • The personal information you enter will only be used to contact you in case you win. It will be deleted after the giveaway.
  • I can amend and interpret these official rules at any time, and terminate, suspend or cancel the giveaway at any time for any reason.
  • All decisions are final.
If you want to enter the Life After Life giveaway, click this link: Entry-Form
 Marjorie Celona “Hier könnte ich zur Welt kommen“
Hier könnte Ich zur Welt kommen
Image provided by Insel Verlag²
  • You have to have an Austrian shipping address!
  • You have to be 16 or older to participate.
  • The giveaway runs from April 23, 2014 until April 30, 2014.
  • Be fair! One entry per person/immediate family/household.
  • I am not responsible for lost or damaged items. There will be one winner who will receive one German language hardcover copy of Marjorie Celona’s “Hier könnte ich zur Welt kommen”, sponsored by Insel Verlag.
  • You you have to enter through Giveaway Tools.
  • The winner will be selected at random and notified via e-mail. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, another winner will be drawn.
  • The personal information you enter will only be used to contact you in case you win. It will be deleted after the giveaway.
  • I can amend and interpret these official rules at any time, and terminate, suspend or cancel the giveaway at any time for any reason.
  • All decisions are final.
If you want to enter the “Hier könnte ich zur Welt kommen” giveaway, click this link: Entry-Form
Die Frage ist auf Englisch. Die Antwort ist aber in beiden Sprachen fast gleich. Solltest du Probleme haben etwas zu verstehen, kannst du mich gerne fragen.
Chad Harbach “Die Kunst des Feldspiels”
Die Kunst des Feldspiels Cover
Image provided by Dumont Verlag³
  • You have to have an Austrian shipping address!
  • You have to be 16 or older to participate.
  • The giveaway runs from April 23, 2014 until April 30, 2014.
  • Be fair! One entry per person/immediate family/household.
  • I am not responsible for lost or damaged items. There will be one winner who will receive one German language paperback copy of Chad Harbach’s “Die Kunst des Feldspiels”, sponsored by Dumont Verlag.
  • You you have to enter through Giveaway Tools.
  • The winner will be selected at random and notified via e-mail. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours, another winner will be drawn.
  • The personal information you enter will only be used to contact you in case you win. It will be deleted after the giveaway.
  • I can amend and interpret these official rules at any time, and terminate, suspend or cancel the giveaway at any time for any reason.
  • All decisions are final.
If you want to enter the “Die Kunst des Feldspiels” giveaway, click this link: Entry-Form
Die Frage ist auf Englisch. Die Antwort ist aber in beiden Sprachen gleich. Solltest du Probleme haben etwas zu verstehen, kannst du mich gerne fragen.
¹ http://www.transworldbooks.co.uk/editions/life-after-life/9780552776639
² http://www.suhrkamp.de/buecher/hier_koennte_ich_zur_welt_kommen-marjorie_celona_17562.html
³ http://www.dumont-buchverlag.de/buch/Chad_Harbach_Die_Kunst_des_Feldspiels/12836

Blog Birthday – One Year Of All That Magic

~ Hanna ~ 5 Comments

Hello there,

It’s our birthday today!

A year ago I started this little blog and I had no idea what it would turn out to be. And here it is, ready for toddler’s group 😀

I’m reading a lot more than I used to read which is time well spent I think. I’m also spending way too much time reading tweets. Something I didn’t do before I started blogging. So this is something that I probably shouldn’t do. I’m still not writing as many culinary blog posts as I want to, simply because they are very time-consuming, just like university is right now. (kudos to all those food bloggers out there) So I try to combine things that easily match: Reading and writing for pleasure and reading and writing for university. 😉

birthday balloons

I have two birthday presents for you, my loyal readers!

The first one is the book-related questionnaire down below. (I got tagged by Sandra a couple of weeks ago).

The second present is actually more than one. On World Book Day (April 23), you’ll get the chance to win one of three books. This is part of a huge blogger giveaway called Blogger Schenken Lesefreude (unofficial translation: Bloggers Give Books) and is organized by Christina and Dagmar. But more about that at a later date.

And now, let’s be merry 😀 I hope you enjoy this little tag. I won’t tag anyone. If you, however, insist to be tagged, I can do that. Just drop me a line.

Either – Or
Slim book or weighty tome?

I love books with lots of pages to get lost in. 🙂

Second-hand or new?

That depends. Of course, who doesn’t love a new book, fresh out of the press? I do! But I don’t mind a clean second-hand copy if I know I’ll just read it once and bring it back to the open book exchange.

Historical fiction or fantasy?

Can I please have a mix of both genres?

Hardback or paperback?

Paperbacks are so convenient if you have a low-budget (like I do) and if you want to take them with you everywhere you go! I love them. But I also don’t say no to beautiful and special hardcover editions of great books I’ve read.

Funny or sad?

I love drama. I love to read books that hurt. So if I have to choose, I’ll choose sad. Nevertheless, books with the right amount of humor are great!

Summer or winter reader?

I think I read as much in winter as I read in summer. I don’t have any preferences concerning the right reading temperature or weather. Imagine that: “Oh it’s way too hot outside. I don’t read when it’s hot,” or “Did you hear the news? They issued a storm warning. You can’t read during a storm!”

Classics or contemporary fiction?

It all depends on how you define classics…

Self-help books or novels?

If I’m in a situation that requires a self-help book, I’ll go for that. They can come in very handy sometimes! Other than that, I prefer novels.

Crime fiction or thrillers?

Neither! I’m easily scared.

Ebook or print book?

Same answer as for paperbacks vs hardbacks.

Hoarding or throwing out?

Hoarding. I admit it. I’m a book hoarder. And so is my dad. There is no denying who I got that from. Although he started putting some of his read books into the open book exchange.

Online bookshops or traditional bookstores?

I love to browse traditional bookstores. Unfortunately, over here many of them have hardly any English books for sale. Forget browsing. And the few books they have are irrationally expensive. This is why I have to buy most of the books I read from online stores.

Bestseller or shelf warmer?

I read what I like. No matter if it’s a bestseller or not.

Cook book or baking book?

As many cook books include baking recipes, I’ll choose the cook book. Clever, eh?

 
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