End of the Year - Book Survey

Here we are again with the annual End Of Year Book Survey, hosted by The Perpetual Page Turner. I had a lot of fun looking back at my reading in 2015 and answering these questions. I hope you enjoy reading about it and let me know your thoughts if you've also read some of the books I mention here!

2015 READING STATS

Number Of Books You Read: 59. A little less than last year, when I read 66 books, but considering how busy I've been, I'm quite satisfied!
Number of Re-Reads: Only 1,5/2 (I reread Lady Susan and The Watsons by Jane Austen, but they are both so short, I wonder if you can call it 2)
Genre You Read The Most From: Historical fiction/historical romance

8 Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts (8) + Poll

Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. sharing exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things they've encountered during the week etc.) 

1. High summer has started and it's quiet in a lot of places. Many housemates of mine have left for their holidays and at work many colleagues are also away. Only my workroom is still full, with 5 of us toiling away on our articles. Let me tell you, editing is not fun. It's staring at my screen for half an hour thinking: there is a better way to formulate this sentence, but how?? Luckily, next week I also have a week off (Hello, Belgium!) and another week in September to look forward to (Hello, England!)

8 Bookish or Not-So-Bookish Thoughts (7)

Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. sharing exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things they've encountered during the week etc.)

Hello everyone *waves*, here are a few things which have been keeping me busy for the last few weeks. Apart from work ofcourse, ugh (last half-year of my PhD, let's-not-talk-about-it)

1. Don't you just love this part of the year? Well, it depends on where you live ofcourse, but here in The Netherlands, May and June are the best. So many trees and flowers are blossoming, baby birds can be seen everywhere. There are lot's of great events to be visited and you can sleep with your windows open (I love that!). But the thing I look forward to every year is the fresh food: spinach fresh from the land, the first new potatoes, strawberries and peaches, yummy! What's your favourite thing to eat this time of the year (apart from ice cream, that's self-evident ;-) )

The Bookshelf Tag

This really fun tag, hosted by Natalie at Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens has been going around my blogging friends. I finally found time to take some pictures and type this up!

Describe your bookshelf (or wherever it is you keep your books-it doesn't actually have to be a shelf!) and where you got it from:
I've got two bookcases since I moved in January. I think they're both from IKEA, I bought the second one from the girl who lived in my appartment before me, but it looks IKEA to me. The main one (left) is in the living room and holds all of my fiction and the historical/general interest non-fiction. The other one is in my bedroom and holds my spiritual/theological books, my studybooks and some nature related references.

 

8 Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts (6)

Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows
book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. sharing
exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things they've encountered during the week etc.)

1. More than a month has gone by (again) without me posting anything here. I really do want to, but there are only so many hours in a day and so many things to do... I did write two other things though: a guest post about The March Family Letters for Hamlette's 'Little Women read-along' and an article about two nativity 'adaptations' for the newest issue of Femnista.


 

8 Bookish and Not-So-Bookish thoughts (2)

                Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows

book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. sharing
exciting plans for the weekend, rants on things they've encountered during the week etc.)

1.Next weekend, one of my best friends is getting married and so I needed some festive clothes. Now I really, really don't like clothes shopping and I haven't had to buy special/festive clothes for years, so I was dreading this a bit. Luckily, a sweet friend of mine went along and I bought a lovely dress. Mission accomplished, now I can just look forward to the wedding day!

2.It's been so warm here in The Netherlands the last weeks. I was walking around in summer clothes mid-September and even bought a icecream at a stall this very weekend! The next week looks to be a bit more autumn-like and I must say I don't mind at all, it's just time for cosy afternoons with hot chocolate and scarfs etc.

3. At my mother´s birthday party this weekend, I was talking with one of my uncle´s (from the in-law side). He told me about his family history and how his grandfather (his grandparents where Germans) had been fighting in the trenches in WWI and had been wounded there. It was so interesting to hear about this as I never before talked to someone who had a direct connection to WWI, being that The Netherlands was neutral during this war. 

4. I've been reading quite a lot about WWI recently, last month The War Horses by Simon Butler about the horses who were used in the (British) army in WWI and am currently reading a book about Dutch people who volunteered to fight with either the Allied or the German armies during this war. There is also an exhibition going on at a museum close to where I live about the Belgian refugees who came to The Netherlands in large numbers in 1914 which I hope to visit sometime soon.

5. I've been enjoying the return of Downton Abbey very much! It almost feels like returning to a group of well-known friends after a long absence! It's such fun seeing the Dowager at her scheming again and hearing Mrs. Hughes down-to-earth wisdom.SPOILER

I'm really glad to see Daisy developing herself, but I'm not to keen on the developments with Miss Bunting and Tom and also Mary and Tony Gillingham.

END SPOILER6. I went to see the new Woody Allen movie Magic in the Moonlight in the cinema last week which was okaish (I'm not a big fan of Woody Allen movies, but I just love this particular old-fashioned cinema and like to go there now and then, even if the movie is not super interesting). But the fun thing was, a few days later I was having a conversation with my boss about movies and we discovered he has also been to that movie AT THE SAME TIME AND PLACE! And we hadn't seen each other!

7. Work-wise, it's only a few weeks until I officially enter the last year of my PhD and with that, the last year of my contract at the University. I'm starting to stress a little bit about finishing up my research and writing my thesis, but on the other hand, I've learned in the past three years that you can't really rush research, it goes as fast as it goes. So I just keep doing my best and hoping it will be alright
:-S

That's about all I've got to talk about this time! I hope you're all having a nice weekend and enjoying autumn.

8 Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts (1)

           Bookish and Not-So-Bookish Thoughts is a weekly blogging event hosted by Bookishly Boisterous. It allows book bloggers (and non-book bloggers) to write about pretty

 much anything, bookish or otherwise (i.e. sharing exciting plans for the weekend, 

rants on things they've encountered during the week etc.)

For a while now I've been looking for a 'format' to talk a little bit more about real life stuff or just small observati ons and shout-outs that I'd like to make which don't fill a whole post. I think this weekly blogging event is just what I need for that! I hope to make posts like this more often (though perhaps not weekly...)

1. Tomorrow I'm going to visit a traditional country market. There are going to be demo's and workshops of old farming techniques, cooking and crafts, rare animal breeds and lots of stand with interesting traditional products. The weather promises to be good and it all takes place in an open-air museum. I'm really looking forward to it!

A-Z bookish questions

A to Z Bookish Questions

Borrowed from Kara at Flowers of Quiet Happiness

Author you've read the most books from: I'm not sure, but I think it might be Lynn Austin. I read almost all of her books.

Best sequel ever: Well, maybe not the best (and I know many people will not agree with me), but certainly a remarkable one was Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley. Just because it gave us a chance to spend more time with Scarlett and Rhett and for them to have a happy (happier?) ending.

Currently reading: Slowly making my way through He knew he was right by Anthony Trollope and just about to start on Jane Austen's First Love by Syrie James

Drink of choice while reading: Tea all the time!

Middlemarch watch-along: giveaway winner

We have a winner! The Middlemarch watch-along giveaway was won by:

Karalynn aka msantimacassar on Livejournal

Karalynn, congratulations with winning My life in Middlemarch by Rebecca Mead. I hope you enjoy reading it, I know I did!

For all the other people who entered: thanks for your participation and... better luck next time!

Reading challenges 2014

You guys have 'infected' me... I'm going to submit to some reading challenges for the first time this year!



The goal of the Mount TBR Reading Challenge, hosted by My Reader's Block is to read as many books as possible which you already owned before 2014. As I currently have 16 physical unread books and 13 unread books on my Kindle, I hope to make a good dent in this numbers with the Mount TBR Challenge. My goal is somewhere between Mount Blanc (24 books) and Mt. Vancouver (36)!

End of the year - Movie, book, tv masterlist

It's becoming a bit of a tradition (you can call something a tradition when you're doing it for the fourth time right?) to post a fandom picspam/masterlist of everything I watched and read at the end of the year (or the beginning of the next...) In the lists I've linked to reviews and posts I wrote about various movies, books and tv-shows (links are to my LiveJournal. I didn't feel like changing all the links after I'd posted this at LJ...). If you're interested in anything which I haven't reviewed, don't hesitate to ask!

End of the year - Book survey

There it is again, the wonderful End of Year Book Survey hosted by The Perpetual Page Turner. The survey without which a year of reading is not complete ;-) Hope you enjoy reading my answers and I'm looking forward to reading all your end-of-year lists!

Best in books 2013

1. Best Book You Read In 2013? (If you have to cheat — you can break it down by genre if you want or 2013 release vs. backlist)
Sigh, let's tackle the most difficult question first. I'll make it a top 5, in no particular order
1. Her mother's hope by Francine Rivers
2. Cinder by Marissa Meyer
3. Promise me this by Cathy Gohlke
4. Crusade in jeans by Thea Beckman
5. Miracle on Regent Street by Ali Harris

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten books I'm dying to read in 2014

 Top Ten Tuesdays is a weekly meme, created by the blog The Broke and the Bookish

I know, it's hardly Tuesday anymore... But I really liked this weeks topic and it got me thinking about the books I want to read in 2014. So here are my 'Ten books I'm dying to read in 2014'. (Because I don't always keep up with the newest releases, these are both books to be released next year or books new-to-me)

New releases in 2014:

1. Cress (Lunar Chronicles #3) by Marissa Meyer



I read both Cinder and Scarlet this year and enjoyed them tremendously. So I can't wait to read how the saga of well-known fairytales set in a futuristic world will continue!

My bookshelf link-up

Multiple people on the blogs I follow have been doing this link-up in the last few day: What's on your bookshelf? by Modern Mrs. Darcy
Now I dearly love to read books, but I also like to look at them, so I love these kind of things!



This is my single bookcase. As you can see, it's getting rather full. Might be time for a second one in not too long a time!

Becoming a fangirl

Last week, I've reread one of the very favourite books of my teenage years: Geef me de ruimte! by Thea Beckman (freely translated Give me space).

In this first book of a trilogy, Marije, daughter of a rich middle class family in the thriving city of Bruges hears she is to marry soon and that to a boy she absolutely can't stand. Spurred by stories about France from a travelling storyteller, Marije runs away with nothing but a set of extra clothes and her trusty horse Victor. Arriving in France, she rescues and later marries the troubadour Berton de Fleur. While war and epidemics rampage through France, Marije, Berton and their traveling companions journey across the country, bringing music, stories and news to all and making friends in high places.

The first time I read this book I must have been about 14 or 15 years old. It started of my 'love affair' with the Middle Ages, where for years I devoured everything (book and movie-wise) connected with this period. But this book also made me a fangirl, even before I knew what being a fangirl meant! I made a list of who I would cast as the characters where these books ever to be adapted.... This was before the age of IMDB, so I simply chose actors and actresses from series I watched and loved at that moment: Doctor Quinn, Road to Avonlea, ER and some Dutch series.

I dearly wish I could find that list again and laugh a little over my teenage fantasies. Not too much though, because don't I still make dream casts in my head (and sometimes on the internet) for books that I would love to see adapted? I'm afraid the list did not survive though and if it did, it's buried on the attic somewhere. But it sure was fun rereading this book and thinking back to the early days of my being a fangirl!

If you would like to read about the single book of Thea Beckman which has been translated in English (and adapted!), read my article about Crusade in Jeans in Femnista May/June 2013 here