TSS Just to drop a line or two...

...and to apologize for not posting any reviews this week. I have a huge book presentation on Wuthering Heights on Monday and the preparations took much time more than I thought they would.
Several reviews are in drafts, Cleo's Daughter and three bus books (Cirque Du Frique, Daisy Miller and Bleachers) and I'll try to finish them this week. Also, I finally caught the bull by the horns and started reading Moby Dick. It's going very slow so far, and if anyone is up for some healthy competition let me know :) I need a push to get through it.
This week I finally bought my own copy of Pride and Prejudice. I just couldn't resist the Dover edition with such a wonderful covers. I read Age of Innoccence and Daisy Miller from Dover and I absolutely adore the covers! Next week I think I'll buy either The Time Traveler's Wife or The Lovely Bones. Both movies look amazing, but I want to read the books first.

Oh...and speaking of movies...I went to see New Moon after all. I know I swore I wouldn't, but hey...I didn't like the movie, but the soundtrack is amazing. I can't stop listening to it. Hellou, there's Muse on it. Enough said.

Thank you for all your wonderful comments this week. I'm sorry I didn't make it much to your blogs, but I promise to catch up.
Also, the weather was perfect for the last couple of weeks and I spent a lot of time outdoors with Little Hobbit, catching the last few rays of sun. Anyhow, it's raining today and the nice weather is gone, so I'm leaving you with this beautiful song. It makes me curl into my bed with a good book or write something romantic.

Oops...This post happened to be a lot longer than I intended.

Everyone have a WONDERFUL week!

TSS What a week...

...and the worst is yet to come. The first round of revision tests is just around the corner, starting Monday with Puritan Literature. Next thing you know, it's Christmas, New Year, then February and the battle for exams begins.

The last week wasn't very fruitful when it comes to reading. I finished The Age of Innocence for the Global Classic Challenge. The only reason why I didn't post the review is that I forgot my reading journal with my favorite quotes, and doing the review without them would be like...chocolate chunkies without the chocolate. I loved the book, and I can't wait to share my favorite quotes with you. For a guy boring as Archer Newland, he did impress me several times.
Also, I started Wuthering Heights again. I'm near the point where I put it down last summer, but this time it's going to be different. Few months ago there was a discussion on not liking a book vs. not getting a book, and the conclusion was that some books demand a certain set of circumstances and a perfect timing. Hallelujah- mine seems to have come!

There is another book I started this week. It's The Tale of Time City by Diana Wynne Jones. When I was a kid I heard so much about her books, but never got to read any. It's what would today be labeled as Tween, and it's about a eleven-old girl in the time of WW II who finds herself traveling trough time. It's interesting to read a book about time traveling that was written in the year I was born. 

My copy of Cleopatra's Daughter arrived this week. It's looks amazing. Michelle sent me a signed hardcover with a bookmark!  Thanks, Michelle! I can't wait to start reading it, I read the first chapter and had to lay it aside until I finish the compulsory reading for college.


Friday was TWLOHA day. Since I didn't go out much, no one saw my tattoo. In the evening we went to see and Austrian movie, and that's when it came in handy since, well, I used a sharpy that glows in the dark!


Altogether, it was a bad week. I didn't feel like blogging , though I read a lot. I hope you guys had a better week, and I'll keep my fingers crossed that the week to come is going to be much, much better!

TSS: Booking through the week...

As some of you may know, last week saw me returning to Osijek for college. I passed my last exam with a great B. Considering the conditions under which I prepared the last ten exams, I cannot but say WOW to myself. But enough bragging. This semester, I will have a class on creative, essayistic and journalistic writing, first in German, next semester in English. I'm eagerly looking forward to these.
In a record time, I managed to find an amazing apartment. It's less than a ten minutes walk to the university. On the way, I pass the beautiful cathedral, the main square, my favorite bookstore and the oldest park in town. My roomie is a great girl. I had no idea who occupied the other bedroom until I came to see the place. We went to high school together, and though we were never close friends, we got along great at the instant that I moved in!
The only thing that bothers me is that there is no internet access in the apartment, and I'm so NOT buying that little mobile internet device. It's way too expensive for my limited budget. I'll have to use the computers in the college library or schedule posts at weekends when I'm home. Neither of these makes me too happy, but hey, it's not like I get to be picky here.

What actually bothers me most is that, again, I'll be away for four days a week from my little sunshine. He is staying with my parents. It's horrible to leave each Monday morning, but it's the best solution for all of us. I get to concentrate on studying, so the weekends are only to be enjoyed with him. The sooner I graduate, the sooner we'll be able to build up a living together. I know that, everything I do know, will pay off well some time soon, and it makes all the sacrifice less painful.

This week I'm hosting my first giveaway. Michelle Moran, author of three bestselling historical novels, who was also my guest blogger, donated a copy of her latest novel, Cleopatra's Daughter. To enter the contest, simply click on the cover image on the sidebar or follow this link.
For more awesome giveaways, check out Froggaritavilles's Bookcase, Ms Bookish who has a weekly updated list and, if you are a member of Book Blogs, there are several groups where you can find the newest giveaways. I have tried to compile a list on my sidebar and found it very time-consuming, so kudos to all of you wonderful bloggers who do it for us!

This week I finished two more books from my Fall into Reading Challenge list. I finished Christopher I King's motorbikes, ducks and crispy sweet apples and Cathy Marley's Peeking over the Edge. Reviews are coming up this week. Seems like I will need to add some additional goals, since I read the first two college assignments faster than I thought. I was thinking about Herta Mueller, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature this year. I'm going to read the German version of her book. Hopefully they have it in our college library.

Writing, you ask? Ehem...beside one single chapter to my current WIP, I did some rewrites for another WIP. I'm not happy with that status. Not at all. I think its was largely due to the fact that I was sick. I caught a bad flu and couldn't get out of bed, let alone to spend hours starring into the screen when I could barely sit straight. To make things worse, I passed it on to Little Hobbit, so none of us slept last night. Being sick is horrible; watching your child being sick when there is only so little you can do to help him is excruciating.

This week, I will have one more great author as guest blogger,  Nadine Laman, whose books I adore. It should be posted  on Wednesday if nothing gets in the way, so stay tuned!

It's been a long week, and I couldn't wait for Sunday to come. I'm going to spend the rest of the day cuddling with my little precious, reading and watching cartoons.

To all my dear fellow Saloners,  I wish you a nice Sunday and great week!

September Report!

We're already in October, can you believe it? September was crazy and hectic and I wonder now how I managed to read anything beside my textbooks. I guess, if you're passionate about something, you'll find the time. I wish I could say the same for writing. I think I didn't write more than 5K words in the whole month, and it was mostly edits and few rewrites. Shame on me, I know...The good news is I'm back to writing, I did more than 5K in the past two days and it has the same effect on me as when I started-it's relaxing and thrilling at the same time, reminding me why I write in first place.

A bunch of books arrived in my mailbox last month. You already had the chance to read my reviews in Seeking Sara Summers by Susan Gabriel, The Sitting Swing by Irene Watson and High Tide by Nadine Laman. I enjoyed them all. I have just finished Storm Surge, the last in the Kathryn's Beach trilogy. The review is coming up on Sunday. Currently, I'm reading motorbikes, ducks and crispy sweet apples by Christopher I King, which I won at DJ Kirkby's giveaway. I read the first hundred pages on the bus today. Several times I burst into laugh and got myself puzzled glances. It's dark humor all the way and I can't wait to get back to it.

I also took on my first reading challenge, the Fall into Reading Challenge hosted by Katrina at Callappider Days. I'm doing good so far: I finished three books from the list. I was supposed to do some book shopping today, but I simply didn't find time. Seems like I'll be able to squeeze in several additional books. Isn't that great?

I also won another blog award! Nadine gave me the Your Blog is Fabulous award. You can read my post about it here.

We have celebrated my Little Hobbit's Birthday. Though it was just the two of us, we  had a great time, eating a great cherry and chocolate cake and dancing our feet off.

These days I'm on a hunting adventure for a new apartment. The dorm has been filled long ago, so I need to find something else. It's difficult now all the good places have been taken. This is the worst time for apartment hunting, but It's my least problem-the important thing is I managed to stay on college despite all the troubles I had this summer. Ah, let's just hope something good will come my way or I'll have to camp on the college.
Kidding.

And...I got myself a new haircut, considerably shorter than the last one I had. Just so I change something.

What did you do in September? What will you be doing in October?

Where the heck is Ivana?

To borrow a phrase from a dear friend-don't turn off the lights! I'm still here! Here’s a skinny on the past two weeks here. But be warned. I always say I can’t tell a short story. And I won’t mind if you quit reading somewhere around the middle.

Long time no blogging, right? Well, the thing is, as some of you may know-exams! And I mean like real exams, hundred plus pages textbooks each, ten of them throughout September…eight more to go, actually! The first two went perfectly well; I got B’s when I actually expected to fail. But my luck of the Irish didn’t fail me. It’s always like this; you get three questions you have no clue how to answer, three out of seventy you don’t know, and you start to sink into despair. And then you start the topic from the long way around, and finally get to the point, and then, after twenty minutes of excessive talking, just when your mouth dries out to the humidity level of the Sahara Desert the, professor asks for your student’s book. He praises your systematical overview of the era and you wonder once again what the big deal was.

Yeah. You can do that in Literature. Try it on Syntax.

Everyone is back to their usual activities here, back to school and work. G. and I spend most of the days alone at home, at least by mid-afternoon, and I like it this way. I can organize my time better, find some time to write through the day while the lunch is simmering in the pot, read while the washer is running etc. Even G. seems to enjoy these days more; often he watches his Peppa Pig DVD’s for more than an hour. And he learned some English. Mommy is so proud. Especially because he hasn’t fully mastered Croatian yet.

There are some great books that have arrived in the past few weeks that I’ll be blogging about in the next few Sundays. This Sunday, Susan Gabriel will be my first guest blogger and we’ll discuss her wonderful novel Seeking Sara Summers. Then it’s time for Samir Selmanovic’s It’s all about God that hits stores September 22nd. I’m loving it, and I can’t wait to share some things with my readers. Samir offers a whole new perspective on religion, one that doesn’t impoverish any but rather enriches three major religions and atheism. I have just started reading The Sitting Swing: Finding Wisdom to Know the Difference by Irene Watson. She sent me her book without me knowing it was coming, so imagine my delight when I ripped the envelope open. It will be on the review menu as soon as I finish it.
In the meanwhile, Nadine’s Storm Surge should arrive, along with Cathy Marley’s Peeking Over the Edge and a picture book for my Little Hobbit by Kip Cosson.

After a long summer, I have visited my dear library lady in the college library. It’s still humbly small, but there are some great new reads I can’t wait to sink my teeth into. I forecast myself a nice and long reading winter. You’ll get to know all about it.

If there’s anyone still reading, thank you. You deserve a nice cup of tea.

(picture courtesy here)

The Sunday Salon...

...which is actually not a Sunday Salon...



I have spent my Sunday so far trying to come up with an excuse for why I don't have a proper book review for the Sunday Salon. Then I read JoAnn’s and Katie’s posts and realized I am not the only one who has been recapitulating July both in what I’ve read so far, what has been left to be read, and what I have accomplished in other areas of life.


I can not use JoAnn’s excuse -I’m on Facebook for two years now, but I still spend too much time there. My dear JoAnn, your kids are right, the obsession will dimnish very soon. But I really have to admit that Facebook was very useful for me while I was on maternity leave for a year. I kept contact with all my college fellows and I could keep up with what they have been doing though we were hundred miles away. Not to mention that I found my first best friend, a girl I met in first grade while we were living in Germany. That was in 1993, and the last time I heard of her was Christmas 1994. Do I need to say how loud I was screaming when she sent me a message on Facebook after all those years?


I have done a lot of reading and writing this week. As usual, I read three books at once and I seriously need to get rid of that habit since I barely keep track of what I read last in which. Sometimes I even mix them up, and that becomes quite a problem when doing a book report or a review (What does Edward Cullen have to do with L. Erdrich, anyone?)


Currently I’m reading S. Selmanovic’s It’s all about God, and I am positively surprised. It fulfilled all my expectations. The review is coming in two weeks probably. Thanks to Samir who was so kind as to send me a typespad copy! The only reason why I haven’t finished it yet is that I can’t read long from my computer, but no fear-I’m almost done!


My copy of Kathryn’s Beach by N. Laman has arrived on Friday morning. That was quick; it took only a week from Arizona to Croatia! Nadine, I’m enjoying it, already halfway through!


I started reading Wuthering Heights again. I recently bought my own, being reminded of it in New Moon which I reread two months ago and I really wanted to read it now. It is the ultimate test for my language skills. It’s demanding and challenging, not to mention the rich vocabulary. I have been learning English for four years in high school, starting with the basics, and three years in college, so please, read my posts forgivingly.


The writing…ah, the writing. There are three drafts of the same story. I’m experimenting with three different POVs, each 30,000 words so far…The last one seems fine. I better stick to that and stop experimenting or I will never move forward.


The heath is seriously messing with my spelling accuracy. It has been 39 Celsius today (102 F) and there is no escape from it. The shade in my backyard is a weak comfort, since such a warm wind is blowing that you have the feeling someone is blowing a hairdryer at you. Horrible.

Hope you have it better than me, and that you found an effective way to keep cool. Wish you all a beautiful Sunday evening!

Odds and ends

I put my kid to nap and made myself a nice cappuccino. Luckily, the house is empty, so it’s just me and my blog! At last!

It's been wild few days here. I barely have time to read, but I'm making my way through Elijah's Cup anyway. Mostly I read late in the night. It’s way too hot to sleep, and I just got to use the chance to read more than a page without being interrupted five times in five minutes. I’m waiting for several books to arrive, so I might change my reading plans and remix my TBR list.
The writing is doing just fine, thank you for asking. I’m doing much more than 500 words a day. Saturday was my day off, but that doesn’t mean the voices in my head would shut up! The untitled new thing is unstoppably growing into a YA novel. Which couldn’t turn out any other way, I guess. Who feels more misunderstood and alienated than teens? I was seventeen not so long ago, so I might use some of my own experience. Yes, you guess right, I was the one with a brace and a stack of books in my hands, always aside from the popular kids.
At the present, I have 27 000 words and it would be time to send it off to my reader/ex-roommate.

I'm trying to catch up with all those amazing book blogs, but there are just so many to explore. Some of the recently found is surely Peeking Between the Pages . Darlene is hosting a giveaway for Song of Renewal by Emily Sue Harvey. You can read her beautiful review here and here is Emily’s guest post on Peeking Between the Pages.

Another great blog- Hey, Lady! Whatcha Readin’? Don't you just love the pinup girl?

Oh, and my rye field has just been harvested! So, I think it would really be high time I post the story!

Autism Awareness

With the Tesla book, I inadvertently started a series of non-fiction books. I am currently reading Elijah’s Cup: A Family’s Journey into the Community and Culture of High-Functioning Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome by Valerie Paradiž. This book has a very personal meaning for me, and I will explain it further on the next Sunday Salon post. In that spirit, I also changed my blog background. Though Autism Awareness Day is on April 2nd, I think it’s never the wrong day to warn against the problems and prejudice they are faced with. I’m keeping this background for a week or so as a humble act from my corner of the world to show my support to people with autism and Asperger’s and their families. I truly admire you!

Thank you, cutestblogontheblock.com for providing this awesome background!

After that, I will be reading Warris Dirie’s Desert Flower. Also a very touching book…more on it in days to come.

Wish you all a beautiful day!
xo,
Ivy

Currently reading...

Though I should be studying for my German Linguistics exam on Monday, I can't put my fetched copy of A Town Like Alice (N. Shute) down. I read it seven times already, and I’m still not tired of it. I suppose it’s the lack of sun that draws me to reading about the hot Australian summer.

And the fact that one of the main characters is a strong young woman, who builds a whole new town in the middle of the Australian desert just adds to the appeal.

I also just started J. Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper. So far so good.

So now I better pull my socks up or my luck itself won’t help much.

Love,

Ivy

P.S. God, how I hate it when I can't upload pictures...