Friday, October 14, 2011

Goodbye

This blog changed places. 

It can now be found under http://life-of-karin.blogspot.com/

There I will write about many aspects of my life - like books, cooking, music, I will show you some of my photos, tell you about travels I made, write about my university life, tell you funny stories about my friends and much much more!

I hope I will see you all at "My Life ..."!

Thanks for stopping by, 
Karin

Saturday, September 17, 2011

What's in your bag?


Yesterday I was at a bar with my friends. Well it is local brewery. Does this classify as a bar? I don’t know.
Anyways, we sat outside even if it was freezing (around 15°C) and after a little while I started looking for a piece of chocolate in my bag. I put it there in the morning after I received it from a nice girl after taking part in a survey at Ikea. I am not one of those girls who regularly have chocolate in her bag, unfortunately. 

Okay, back to the story:
I was looking and found a fortune cookie I received at a Chinese restaurant where I had dinner with my parents. Well maybe I am one of those girls who are hoarding food in her bag. I opened it, read my fortune (“Change is happening in your life. So go with the flow!), distributed pieces of the cookie and continued the quest for the chocolate. After I found it our two boys started discussing that I had a Marry Poppins bag that holds everything I own and sooner or later I will disappear in it while looking for something and they will only hear an echo of my voice when talking to me. 

So I decided to take a “what’s in your bag” photo, post it here and send them the link. #


There isn’t so much in it. Isn’t there? 
Yesterday I also had a scarf in it because I was pretty sure that I would get cold and I really needed it. 

Things I had in my bag yesterday:
  1. wallet
  2. pens
  3. lip balm (3 times)
  4. i-Pod
  5. cell phone
  6. book
  7. tissues
  8. water bottle (empty)
  9. watch
  10. two bracelets
  11. candy
  12. band aid
  13. some pills
  14. gum
  15. umbrella 
  16. bag
  17. hair brush (two times - I don't know why)
  18. two barrettes
  19. make up 
  20. three small stuffed animals (one pig as a lucky charm, one dog I got from an ex-boyfriend many years ago and a microbe)
That's not so much, isn't it?

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Sooo bookish....

Look what I found. Well actually Jamie at "The Perpetual Page-Turner" found it.
Book Buttons at Cafepress. So cool.
Here are some examples:








I really need some of those!


Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Ruby Red

Yeah! I found it!

While checking my daily blog list today I found a review for "Ruby Red" by Kerstin Gier in English.


Here is the link to it.
Click
I found this book really really good. I am not able to pack into words what I think of this book. So wonderful and enthralling. Wonderful story, great characters and an open ending which I anticipated because two more books were published. Thank god, in Austria all three books are published. I also bought all three already.

So I am able to read "Saphire Blue" and "Emerald Green" after finishing the books I am reading right now.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

No new books for me ...


After my last trip to London (I spent it mostly in bookstores) and my huge pile of new books, which I amazingly enough fit into my bookshelves somehow, I decided that I need to read some of my many many unread books - they are all really cool, interesting, nice onces, so I really want to read them - before buying new ones.

I found a challenge on a German blog where followers commit themselves to a book buying ban from August 29th until October 9th. There is the option of buying three books during this time when using a joker but you can only use a joker after you read 3 unread books. Maybe I’ll join them.

This is why I am standing in front of my bookshelf daily and cannot decide which book to read. I started so many in the last days and they never felt right. Maybe it is just time that university starts again. I really need a clear structure in my day. If I don’t have that I tend to just lie around, doing nothing and getting bored, which also leads to a major reading crisis. When I am bored I normally don’t like to read. I don’t know why but unfortunately that’s the case. I start reading my book and after some time I either fall asleep or start watching TV. Hopefully this will diminish over the weekend but if not than it will take some time before I will finish my next book.

Do you have any tricks against a reading crisis? 
 
On the other hand I really love this time of year. I love the feel of a new school year which for me resembles a start of a new year. I start planning my next semester, figuring out which courses to take, getting cross with the university because all the interesting courses I wanted to take are at the same time, I am able to buy a new calendar without feeling sorry for my old one because it is the beginning of a new year (kind of illogical, I know) and so on and so forth.

So right now I am kind of feeling strange because I would like to plan and order my life and on the other hand I am so not motivated to do anything.

I found the following picture somewhere on the internet and I think it really fits my situation right now:


So long and thanks for all the fish!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

I have bookshelves full of nothing to read ...


University starts again in October. So right now, I am on a break and would have enough time to read and relax. I also have enough new books to read but they do not appeal to me.  
Did you ever experience this?

Last week I found a blog post at a German blog I am reading, where the author writes that she has the same problem. She would love to read but cannot pull herself together and start a new book or continue with the book she is now reading.

I was so happy when I read this because I felt the same. After I came back from London I was so enthusiastic. I bought many new books which all sounded so interesting. I had a crime novel and Tina Fey’s biography to finish back at home and after I did so I couldn’t get myself together. I was absolutely unable to find a new book. I started some but I always put them back on the shelf after about 10 pages because they didn’t feel right. It was so strange.

But yesterday everything changed. I was so relieved. In the morning our postman brought my Amazon order. I bought Kerstin Gier’s book “Rubinrot – Liebe gehtdurch alle Zeiten”, which could roughly be translated “Ruby red – Love follows you through time”. Kerstin Gier is a German author who is widely known for her chick-lit books. But some years ago she started writing young adult books which are known as the “Gemstone Trilogy”. Unfortunately they can only be purchased in German right now. 


So, back to my story: I get my package shortly before I had to leave for work. I never leave the house without a book and because I read so many good reviews about this particular book I put it in my bag and went to work. I started it on my tube ride to work and was immediately blown away. It tells the story of Gwendolyn, a young British girl and her life. The only problem is that there runs a time travelers gen within her family and everyone thinks that her cousin is the one who inherited this gen. So she was brought up learning all the important stuff about time travelling and what to do or not to do when time travelling and all the information was kept secret in front if the family. But somehow something was miscalculated and Gwendolyn inherited this gen and starts to time travel without any knowledge of what to do or not to do in the past.

I haven’t read to much till now because yesterday was a pretty hectic day and I only had time to read on my tube ride to and from work and my tram ride from a friends surprise farewell party (which went really well by the way) but I am eager to start reading on my way to work today. I really want to know what will happen with Gwen and her family, especially when they find out that she inherited the gen and not her precious cousin.

So, I will now pack my bag and head to work!

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Someting old, something new, something borrowed, something blue


Yes, I have something for every category mentioned above.

As you can see, I updated my blog a bit.
A renewed my design, created a new header and put some new sites up (including one about myself with some information about me). I am pretty sure, this counts as something new.

The something blue category is also easy to fill because I started reading Kate Morton’s “The Distant Hours” and as you can see its cover is blue. 


The book itself is extremely cool and so captivating. I only read about 40 pages but I am soooo into it. On the other hand I am pretty sure it is not the kind of novel I want to read before bed or in the middle of the night when driving home. After I finished reading it I will tell you if it kept its promise to be a wonderful and enjoyable book.

Something borrowed … well … oh, got something. I found the following pictures somewhere on the internet (and I have to say, I am not sure where exactly) and I really want to share them with you because they are so funny. 

The first one is just really hilarious especially in my case. I am a student of English at the University of Vienna and in our literature courses we often need to interpret poems, novels, short stories, etc., basically everything that was ever written by a famous or not so famous author, and I suck at this. I can’t come up with a good interpretation of things because I kind of have this image in my mind that the author sits at his/her desk while writing the story and thinking: “What the heck will all the literature professors and book clubs interpret into this?” I really think they enjoy this part of writing a book the most.

The second picture is just such a wonderful quote by Richard Steele. 


 So and now only the something old part is missing … well, I could tell you that I went to London last week and as always (which mean as in the last 7 years) I bought so many books there because I just needed them. After 4 days I came back with 23 new books and no shelf space for them. I think I will never learn to control my book buying habits.

The good news is, a rearranged my book shelves during this week and found enough space for my new purchases but now there are just two options if I continue buying books.
Option 1: Move out!
Option 2: Move my books to an apartment for themselves!

We’ll see which one will happen or if I will just keep buying more books and trying to put them all onto my shelves until they collapse, which I think is the most likely option.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Something to think about and something to laugh about

Today I want to share some really good links with you.

The first article is from the blog “The Broke and the Bookish” and is about differentways of reading books. The author of this post is Julia and she talks about the fun of rereading a book. During rereading Philip Pullmann’s “His Dark Material” series she discovers the different approach to reading between her and her sister. She said something that in my opinion really sums it up. She said that her sister savors a book like good wine while she devours a book like cake. That is why she can read a book more than once.
I am so like Julia. I can and I do reread a good book with joy. I love visiting the characters again and to relive the moment when I first read it. It always brings back good memories.

The second blog I can really recommend is “The Perpetual Page-turner” by Jamie. She writes wonderful and funny posts and entertains me so often because I can often identify myself with her entries. I want to share her super funny “I thinkAmazon is spying on me….” post with you. I feel like a member of her “Big Ass Purse club” – which I think is a super idea. My purses are so big that my friends often laugh about me and my luggage. Well actually, because I live in Austria, they call it “Reiseschwein” which can freely be translated as a travel pig. This is a quote from an Austria children book “Gretchen Sackmeier” by Christine Nöstlinger in which the main character goes on a trip with the neighbors’ boy and his mother packed so much into his bags that they are as big as fat pigs.

And because I think they are hilarious and sooooooooooo funny … the recent Kindle ads. 


Sunday, July 31, 2011

Back again ...

I am back again!


It was such a wonderful vacation!
I saw soooooo much!
Western Australia is just awsome!

a Humpback Wale

We stayed in Perth for one week (which brought me eleven new books) and then drove around the state.
We took the coast road up North till Coral Bay and then saw parts of the outback while driving back South on the inland route. It was really amazing!

I also just finished 5 books and started 4 others (some were just not right at that moment) which is not a lot in three weeks with a lot of time for reading on my hands. You can see which books I read in the right hand column under the headline "Read in July ...".

a dolphin in Monkey Mia

I am at home now for one more week and then I will fly to London for a week - a mix of vacation and work. Hopefully my siutcase will not be that heavy when I fly over there so I can pay a lot of visits to Waterstone's and shop for books, which I am looking forward to each year.

Friday, July 1, 2011

Monday, June 27, 2011

Just 4 more days ...

... than I will be on my way to Australia!


There is just one more portfolio to write and one more exam to pass.

Right now I downloaded some books to my Kindle to take with me to Australia, I got my visa, updated my MP3-player and collected adresses for cards.

Now I will pack my bag, attend my last lecture for this semster and meet with a friend of mine who was in Great Britain this last year.

So, I will leave you now with this wonderful quote:

Friday, June 17, 2011

Thank you university


Right now, I start to get a little dizzy from all this sounds.
Sounds strange – well, it is.
I am preparing for my PPOCS exam, which is a kind of conversational course. There I have learned the CORRECT General American way of English. I mean I am speaking English – American English – since I was about three but I wasn’t speaking it correctly. Thank you!
So I need to practice my th-sound and my voiced s and all this …
And yes, I am kind of annoyed with all this. It is just one course for crying out loud. After that no one will ever ask me if I speak British or American. We American English speakers are the minority at the department anyway. There are just three to five professors who speak American English and there sometimes I get to hear things like “Yeah, that is an American pronunciation. We don’t use that!”! I mean, people! Come on!
I think it is not necessary to read between lines to see that I am not happy with that situation but I have to deal with it and make the best out of it.
So I will now turn back to my prepared three pages of Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat Pray Love” and read it once again to my room. I so hope that I will pass this exam because I am not sure if I can do this over again without turning crazy. 


Wednesday, June 8, 2011

What shall I do?

There are so many options....
Should I visit Diagon Alley, Narnia, the Hobbits Shire, ....
Or must I go back to reality and study?

Read in May...

May, was a really good month for me!

As I said, I had some really hard weeks university-wise, so I divided my time into chunks.
  • studying
  • going to university and attending my courses
  • reading
  • sleeping
  • and did I say studying?
Well, I made it!
I even received some good grades!

I also read several books (all good, by the way):
  • Joanne Harris - Chocolat
  • Walter Moers - The Alchemaster's Apprentice
  • Janet Evanovich - Eleven on top
  • Sophie Kinsella - Remember me?
  • Emily Giffin - Something borrowed 
  • Maggie Barbieri - Murder 101 
  • Jill Smolinski - The next thing on my list
I really really like Maggie Barbieri's "Murder 101". I have already ordered the next three books of this series via my good old friend Amazon!

So now, I will only have to keep my pecker up until the end of June (which will also be a hard month) and then I am going on vacation!

I am really interested how many books I will read this month. Right now I have only finished one and time is running.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Some news!

Can you remember that I took part in a raffle at "Beauty & Books". Stephanie asked us all to leave a comment and tell her how high our pile of unread books is right now. I decided to reveal my well kept secret and told her about my many many many unread books.
It was worth it!
I won! I won! I won! I won! I won! I won!

Three of my friends celebrated their birthdays this week. So we had three major birthday bashes this week. So much fun. Last one was yesterday. We did some barbecueing, sunbathing, played "Cluedo" and laughed and talked a lot. I am so grateful for all my friends and I know that they are really something super special!


So now, I am so (not) looking forward to the following week. One presentation at university, one paper to finish and prepare for exams....I am really looking forward to July!

Friday, May 27, 2011

Back again

Yeah!

After three stressful days I finally had time to finish "The next thing on my list" yesterday evening. Nice story with an unexpected ending. Somewhere in the middle I thought I figured it all out and then some things happened and the whole story was flipped and the ending was not at all what I expected. I really enjoyed that.

Then there was this obvious problem that I needed a new book - in the middle of the night with no plan what to read next. So I spend 30 minutes in front of my books and settled on Terry Pratchett's "Night Watch" which I started almost three times by now and never read more than 30 pages. So I am really curious if I manage to finish it this time. It is not that this book is not interesting or amusing it just wasn't right at that time.

I still have some exams left and I really need to write my paper but it is a bit more relaxed till end of June. Hope I will have time to read some more books and find enough good ones to load to my Kindle for my Australia trip.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Completely stressed out?

I don’t know why but there is so much to do that I am really lax with keeping track with this blog. Sorry for this. I am not a person who whines that she has so much to do and is soooooooo stressed out. I am still not stressed out but I must whine for just a second. I have so much to do I need more hours per day. A well known problem to all of us.

And now to something completely different. 


I lost track with my “I am reading…” picture. Well, not really lost track as I still haven’t finished “The next thing on my list”. Due to my recent purchase – an Amazon Kindle – I started downloading books and surfing the net for good book recommendations and started reading some books I downloaded.
I also have to find a good part of a good book for my upcoming PPOCS (practical phonetics and oral communication skills – if anyone is interested) assignment at university. I need to read a text out loud on front of my teacher and a second professor and they will grade my American English skills. So I practice a bit and try finding THE perfect text for my exam. So I am reading or better starting a lot of books right now. Anyone has a tip? I would be really greatful!

And because this week is really crazy, teaching on Monday, exam today and one more tomorrow and my last tutoring lesson for this semester on Thursday (which really needs preparation this time), I will not be able to read a lot more this week. So I will now update my “I am reading…” picture and then I’ll try to keep up with the blog from Friday onwards.

Have a nice week and enjoy the days – summer finally arrived in Vienna!

Friday, May 20, 2011

Here it is...

...my new Kindle!

Screensaver 
Soooo nice!
I really love it!
Soooo happy!
It is so much easier to study today!