NaNoWriMo

Okay, I’ve been neglecting my blog for a while. That is stuff that happens, sometimes you just have to take a break and take care of other things instead. And I am not here to tell you that I am so sorry and promise to start blogging more often. Nope, I am here to tell you that I won’t blog much during November.

Why? I am doing NaNoWriMo baby!

Yes, I have thrown myself into this whole crazy thing. I hope that everything will go fine, and that I get to 50 000 words by November 30th. But as they say, even if I don’t get that far, I have written several thousen words that I wouldn’t have written otherwise.

It’s the beginning of day four, and as off the end of yeasterday I had 8000 fricking words! It is crazy! I have never attempted to write a big thing like this (not seriously anyway) and it has been a dream of mine for a long time to write a book. Ever since I was eight I have wanted to be an author (although now I have started to think about more likely carreers).

You probably won’t hear much from me here on my blog. So if you want to hear things from me, follow me on twitter! I am magical_books and I tweet a lot about my NaNo word count. You can also add me as a writingbuddy on NaNo’s website. My name there is oliviaherber.

Are you doing NaNoWriMo? Do you have any tips for a newbie NaNo:er like myself?

Happy writing!

24 hour read-a-thon: What happened?

So yeah, I particiapted in Dewney's 24 hour read-a-thon yesterday/today. And you may notice that I didn't post any updates. That's because my frickin computer decided to die! (I'm typing this at my grandfather's) I know that I could've posted through my iPhone, but it takes a long time, is very annoying and I didn't feel like taking the time and energy to do it. I did update a bit on Twitter though.

And if you follow me on Twitter, you know that I went to bed at 2am (12 hours into the read-a-thon). I'd just finished Looking for Alaska, which was just so brilliant and mindblowing, that I couldn't concentrate on starting a new book. Some books you just have to process for a bit before reading something fresh. So I slept for about seven hours and started reading again at 9am.

I read Diary of a Wimpy Kid in about one hour, and then I started reading Room by Jenna Donoghue. During the last 4 hours of the read-a-thon I read about 250 pages of the book, which was pretty good. The first thing I finished was City of Glass, which was amazing.

So, all in all I read three and a half books. Concidering some breaks and that I slept during the night, I see that as a successful read-a-thon! I had a lot of fun and am hoping to do this sometime again - with a working computer.

24 hour read-a-thon update #1

The read-a-thon just started! For the first hour, everyone awswers some questions about themselves.

1)Where are you reading from today?
2)Three random facts about me…
3)How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?
4)Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)?
5)If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time?


1. Stockholm, Sweden!
2. I'm part Finnish, I currently don't have any bookshelves and I love the UK tv series Skins!
3. I've picked 10 books that I'm looking forward to read, but I might choose something else from my other tbr list.
4. Just to have fun and read a lot!
5. This is my first 24 hour read-a-thon, so I'm a newbie in this. But my advise is just to read, read and read!


I'm starting with finishing City of Glass, I've read about 200 pages of it. I'll hopefully be tweeting a lot during this read-a-thon you can follow me at @Magical_books


Now to reading!

Dewney's 24 hour read-a-thon

(I will not acknowledge the lack of posts on my blog) (Although I just did ..) (Oh well)

Hey y'all! (Read with Texas accent)

I'm going to participate in Dewney's 24 hour read-a-thon tomorrow, and I think you should too! It starts tomorrow at noon GMT (2pm here in Sweden) and we're practically just going to read books during 24 hours.

You can find more information about this here.

I'll do some update posts during the read-a-thon, so you'll see how much I read. I will try to stay up the full 24 hours, so you might find some weird tweets and blog posts from a super tired Olivia. I get crazy when I'm tired. Just so you know.

I'll see you later. And I'll try to blog more often, it's just that school is kind of eating my whole cake of time. (... I'm tired)

Bye.

Solid - Review

Solid (Solid #1)
by Shelly Workinger
Published: July 9, 2010
Rating: 3,5/5

Goodreads | Website

"After deftly replacing the desk to camouflage the secret door and once again securing the journal in the locked drawer, he looked up and caught his reflection in the window glass. He jauntily flicked his stiff cap with one finger, his mouth widening a fiendish grin as he unabashedly admired the face of the soon-to-be most revered geneticist in, not just military or medical, but, in fact, world history." from the end of the prologue


In Solid, Clio and a hundred other teenagers learn that they've been genetically altered before birth in a secret experiment. The scientist took his secret with him to the grave, but his journal was found by the government, who bring the teens together and help them develop their super abilities. But Clio quickly learns that everything is not as it seems. Workinger has written a fast paced novel filled with friendship, romance and mystery. With a strong group of characters who work well together, an original plot and a lot of questions that aren't answered until the end, Solid is a quick and interesting read. The mystery aspect could've been a bit more developed, but Solid is still worth a read.

Some things change

You might start noticing some changes in the way that I blog. Ever since I started my book blog, I've tried to be like all other book bloggers, written my reviews in a certain way, participated in memes, always written about the same things. And I feel like that's not really how I want my blog to be.

So I'll start blogging the way I want to. I'll make my book blog more me. It will still be a book blog and nothing else, don't worry. But I'll probably stop participating in memes, write my review a bit differently and just blog about whatever bookish things I want, whenever I want.

I just wanted to let you guys now. And I hope that I don't scare you away, hah. But the changes won't be too major, I promise. Who knows, maybe you won't even notice anything?

I'm finally on Pottermore (and my overall thought of it)

Ever since J.K. Rowling announced her new mysterious project I've been so excited for Pottermore. The day she was going to release the information about it, I sat bunked in front of my computer screen and watched the seconds tick down to zero. And then I found out that I would have to try follow some owls on July 31st to gain access to the website. What a disappointment. Especially since I was in England on that exact date, so I wouldn't have time to be on the Internet. Well, somehow I succeeded with getting an account on the fourth or fifth day I think. And yesterday I finally got my welcome email.

I spent about two hours on the site that Sunday and have played through the ten first chapters. And well, I've had some fun with it. The pictures of the scenes are amazing and I really enjoy the extra information you can read. It's a bit slow though and the site crashes from time to time. And it lacks in sound. Also, I'm not really sure what I'm going to do there after I've played through the first book, but I like it at the time being. 

If anyone would like to add me as a friend, my name is NightChaser95 (seriously Pottermore, what's with all this super high privacy stuff, I want to choose my own username!) I'm in Ravenclaw! (so happy about this, me luvs it!)  I feel like I'm one of those few lucky people who got in the house they wanted, haha. And I got the best wand ever; Elder, Pheonix feather core, 14½ inches, hard. A little tip to Pottermore, can't you start up an online shop where I can buy the exact wand I got and some Ravenclaw clothes? Please? It would be so cool!

Have you gotten into Pottermore? Do you like it? 

Books I feel like I'm the last one to read

Inspired by this weeks Top Ten Tuesday (a meme which I don't participate in) I wanted to share a list of books that almost every book blogger has read, except for me.

Anything from Sarah Dessen I've heard so many good thing about her books, but haven't had the time to read anything by her yet. Anything from John Green I feel like the worst nerdfighter / vlogbrothers fan. Well, I've read Will Grayson, Will Grayson, which hardly counts since it's co written by David Levithan. I loved that one, and am really looking forward to reading more by John. I have Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns waiting on my shelves, soon my darlings!

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater This is even one of the books that I heard about before I started blogging. But I've never really felt eager to read them. Maybe I'll pick it up one day. Matched by Ally Condie I want to read it so bad! It sounds so awesome, and that cover .. Gorgeous! Across the Universe by Beth Revis No I haven't read this one yet! I own it and two people have borrowed my copy and loved it. Have to read it now!

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee If you look this book up on Goodreads, about 90% of the reviews on the first page are people who have rated the book 5 stars. The other 10% gave it 4 stars. I want to read it to see why everyone love it so much! Various other classics Pride and Prejudice, The Great Gatsby, Jane Eyre, Lord of the Flies, the Wonderful Wizard of Oz etc. The list can be made long.

Which books do you feel like everyone have read except for you?

Spellbound - Review

Spellbound (Spellbound #1)
by Cara Lynn Shultz
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Published: June 28, 2011
Rating: 4/5

Goodreads | Author Blog | Twitter

Life hasn't been easy on sixteen-year-old Emma Connor, so a new start in New York may be just the change she needs. But the posh Upper East Side prep school she has to attend? Not so much. Friendly faces are few and far between, except for one that she's irresistibly drawn to—Brendan Salinger, the guy with the rock-star good looks and the richest kid in school, who might just be her very own white knight.

But even when Brendan inexplicably turns cold, Emma can't stop staring. Ever since she laid eyes on him, strange things have been happening. Streetlamps go out wherever she walks, and Emma's been having the oddest dreams: visions of herself in past lives—visions that warn her to stay away from Brendan. Or else.

Spellbound is an awesome paranormal-type book. Actually, I would call the genre modern fairy tale, because it really did have a fairy tale-is feel. I've never read anything like it, which is great. I love discovering new genres and crossovers!

Emma moves from her crazy stepfather to her rich aunt in New York, where she gets to attend an expensive private school. And she doesn't really feel that she fits in with all the other snobby students. But then she meets a boy called Brendan, who she instantly feels drawn too. When I was reading the beginning I thought "oh no, not one of these books again" And with that I mean the paranormal romance books in which a girl falls in love with a vampire/angel/warewolf/whatever and their love is impossible.

But I was wrong. Spellbound isn't one of those books. This book was so much more.Spellbound is twisted, extraordinary and not at all what I expected. It was a very interesting read.

And the ending? The last few chapters were so intense. I was holding my breath and didn't do anything than read. I needed to know how everything would end!

Spellbound is a great debut that paranormal romance and fairy tale fans will love. I'm a  bit confused about this being a series though. According to Goodreads, the next book will be released next year. But I think this book would've suited perfectly as a standalone and can't really figure out how a sequel would be written. I'm very interested in seeing what Shultz does with that!

Insurgent cover revealed!

The cover for Insurgent (the sequel to Divergent by Veronica Roth) was released today. I love it and think it will probably look gorgeous on the shelf together with Divergent!

The book will be released in May 2012. You can read an that was released with the cover on EW.