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12/31/2017

Adieu 2017 – Hello 2018


My reflection on the past twelve months will be a bit different from the one, I´ve done last time around this time of a year. 2017 has turned out to be a year I am glad that it will be over in a few hours. Like every year as soon as December arrives, people go nuts. Christmas Eve is coming, presents need to be bought or created and as soon as the first snow is falling, the chaos is perfect.

From the so often praised festive spirit or the special time of a year, the fifth season, so to speak, I didn´t get much this year. Until Christmas Eve I had no lights, no Advent wreath, or decoration up not to mention a Christmas tree.  And if you were looking for an Advents calendar, you are definitely looking in the wrong place too. I just wasn´t in the mood for all that.

2017 was in some ways a very changing year – and not all changes were good ones. We got bad medical news to deal with, and it soon became a very costly year when I had to replace some of my technical equipment.

In other areas, I had to face and deal with a really bad situation that got worse from day to day and ended up me leaving a reviewer-team I had been a part for almost ten years. To see how a once-great team got more and more turned into one not so great was hard.

Sure, I haven´t read fewer books as some feared I would. To speak in numbers, I read one-hundred-and-fourteen (in numbers 114) books in total - three more as in the year before. Seventy-six of them new releases. And almost all of them were given to me by publishers. Some I bought myself, won some in giveaways and others I got while participating in various reading challenges. There was never a lack of books and I am sure that in 2018 I won´t have a lack of them either (peeking over at her huge pile of books).

I already have some pre-ordered and today I just expanded my reading-list with titles I am sure I will get one way or the other.

My blog got renamed, I changed the design or better said the look of my reviews and got more and more active on Twitter. My follower number there is now up to one-hundred-and-twenty-three (in numbers 123), tripled in fact during 2017 and on Instagram, the number is rising as well. Don´t worry, I won´t present more numbers here. But as it turns out, I started loving to write tweets. In fact, more than doing posts on Facebook (maybe that´s why I´m kind of struggling there), and though I am not posting two or three times a day pictures on Instagram, I kind of enjoy taking them and edit them a bit. Yes, other bloggers do much better growing their followers no matter where on social media, but I am happy with the numbers I have right now and think that they will keep raise in the new year.

I learned many new things, some of them good ones, others not. And during the course of the year, I found out who are real friends, and who isn´t. Not very pleasant, but okay It is their loss, not mine.

Though 2018 will be a bit of a sad year in some ways since my family will mark towards the end the 10th anniversary of the death of a beloved family member and my father is coping with his illness, I am sure that it will be a better one as the past one. At least I am trying to see it that way.

Blog related I will take part in two challenges, the 2018 New Release Challenge and the Beat The Backlist Challenge. Besides them, I will continue to do the Waiting On Wednesday and am planning on doing the Stacking The Shelves again. But that´s not sure yet. And maybe I participate in the one or the other challenge along the way besides those I already signed-up for. We´ll see.

Yes, many changes and challenges are laying behind me and new ones I am sure are ahead of me. At the end of the year, I can say that I am looking forward to 2018. Because as I see it: It can´t go any worse.




Happy New Year - we see us in 2018







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12/31/2017

Best Authors Of 2017


During 2017 I discovered some new-to-me-authors like Kristina Ohlsson, Erin Watt or Sarina Bowen. I read many more authors but narrowed them down to a list of ten. You might miss the one or the other name, but I chose them for the books I´ve read and who impressed me the most.

Since a few months I like to discover new authors, though I am not always happy with the covers, their books have when it comes to the German edition. And I am sure I wouldn´t have read Raphael Montes thriller if I had gone after the English cover. That was, in my eyes, way too girly. But the German edition was one hell of a motive and while reading it, I felt literally sick. This author has a way of digging deep into human psychology and bring out the worst and darkest part a human soul can have, holy Christ!

The style of Erin Watt is the complete opposite. Naïve looking covers, that remind me always of a little girl´s drawings (don´t ask why I can´t explain it) but the insight, the novel itself is wow!  The combination of teenagers, money, and jealousy is well played in their books and speaks to everyone.

Kathrin Lange, a German author, made it on my list because I read her thriller Ohne Ausweg, which totally got me. She writes in a brilliant way about the dark side of a human soul and like Raphael Montes, she knows how to get you with psychological finesse in her plot and figures.

Sarina Bowen entertained me very well with her True North novel and I had the time of my life while reading it during a reading challenge. Her style is full of humor, great scenes, and dialogues and you´ll have no other choice but to love her figures. Combined with a touch of dark in them as well as the plot, she found the perfect way to entertain her readers.

Usually, I don´t like following a hype and read a book only because the entire reading world goes crazy about it. Well, over the past twelve months I´ve made some exceptions. One of those exceptions came out of the feather of Mary E. Pearson. An Australian author who writes incredible good fantasy.

I wouldn´t have picked Kristina Ohlsson from the shelves myself since I am very careful when it comes to Swedish thriller writers. I once started a trilogy by colleagues of her, and I still need to finish that trilogy. They have a different kind of psychology that kicks right in and write about it in a blunt and yet not so obvious way about it – that gives you the creeps. Kristina Ohlsson is no exception. But when I got her books offered, I thought I try them. That´s how she made it on my list.

The rest listed below, Abbie Roads, Viola Shipman (the pseudonym for Wade Rouse), Geneva Lee and Karin Slaughter I guess don´t need many words. Each of them writes in a haunting and very thrilling way. Each of them is brilliant in their own genre and style and know, how to catch their reader´s soul. And I hope that in 2018 I will have the chance to read them again and discover with them new things about the human soul.


Abbie Roads ©private

Abbie Roads



Kathrin Lange ©Susanne Kraus

Kathrin Lange



Karin Slaughter ©Alison Rosa

Karin Slaughter



Sorry, but I can´t provide a picture here
Erin Watt




Sarina Bowen ©private

Sarina Bowen



Raphael Montes ©Bel Pedrosa

Raphael Montes



Kristina Ohlsson ©Anna-Lena Ahlstrom

Kristina Ohlsson



Viola Shipman aka Wade Rouse ©John Quiri

Viola Shipman aka Wade Rouse



Mary E. Pearson ©private

Mary E. Pearson



Geneva Lee ©Derek Henthorn

Geneva Lee



Hopefully, the one or the other will capture your interest and you will have the same great time reading them as I had during the past year.



Happy reading







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12/30/2017

Best Books Of 2017


This year I got my Best Books-post done earlier than last year. It was no question of time or energy, it was more a question whether the last book I´ve read would be one that needed to find a place on this list or not. It has been a really great year in reading books and I am already looking forward to the new books that the one or the other author will have coming out in 2018. My Best Books of 2017 contains new releases, older books, some I read in English, some in German. The list shows them in random order which I wrote down as they came into my mind. Since I´ve read so many great books this year, I narrowed them down to ten titles. Among them some authors who were totally new to me like Erin Watt, Sarina Bowen, Mary E. Pearson or Raphael Montes.

Abbie Roads (Saving Mercy) writes Dark Contemporary Romance with a touch of Mystic in it. With three books published, she isn´t a debut author anymore, but if you still haven´t heard of her or read anything by her (which would make me wonder) I really suggest her books to you. Especially when you are a fan of the genre she writes in. 

When I saw in every book forum popping up the Erin Watt books, I wasn´t very intrigued at first. The cover reminded me too much of a cheesy romance novel and even the summary couldn´t change that. It needed a break in my daily life and a trip to my local library, to make me read them. And so, the first didn´t make it onto my list, after starting the second book of that series, I was totally hooked.

I came across the Sarina Bowen novel Bittersweet while participating in a reading challenge. The entire group had so much fun and this novel was one of the most amusing reads I´ve had in 2017.

Kristina Ohlsson is another new-to-me-author I discovered this year. As far as I know, her book is currently available in Swedish and English. 

It always amazes me, what a difference the style of a cover can make. I literally jumped on the dark and very mysterious looking cover (at least that’s how I see it) of Perfect Days when the German edition was visible for the first time on the German publisher´s website. It looks totally different from its US edition. Which is rather girly I might add.  

But no matter which of those books you will read, each of the above named is worth your time though I have to say that the Kathrin Lange book “Ohne Ausweg” is currently only available in the German language.









 


 

 


From all the books I´ve read in 2017, those were the ones who stood out and had a deeper impact on me as the others.



Happy reading







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12/30/2017

Come Sundown by Nora Roberts


As an old NR fan (in age and years) I had to have this. I guess her entire fan base was eagerly awaiting this new book. And when the cover got revealed, it was clear to see that the author had made some changes in her life as an author. But don´t ask me why it took me so long to read it. I have no clue why I put it first on my TBR and looked at it for so many months, before finally starting to enjoy it. And it was enjoyable in every way.


Come Sundown*
by Nora Roberts
Publisher St. Martin´s Press on June 6, 2017
Genre Novel
Pages 466
Format Hardcover
Source Purchased
Goodreads
✶✶✶✶½

The Bodine ranch and resort in western Montana is a family business, an idyllic spot for vacationers who want to ride horses in the apple-crisp air or couples holding weddings under the wide-open sky. A little more than thirty thousand acres, it is home to four generations – and behind the scenes, Bodine Longbow does all she can to keep things running with the help of her siblings, the staff, and the new hire, Callen Skinner. But not far away, an aunt Bodine has never met lives in her own twisted version of a family, one no one knows about, one she never chose. Years ago, Alice was a rebellious eighteen-year-old who ran off looking for freedom and adventure. Now she cowers in fear, rarely seeing the sunlight, her mind shattered by a man who views her – and her offspring – as his rightful property. The Longbows don´t talk about Alice anymore. Many quietly presume that she is long dead. Then a young bartender leaves the resort late one night, and Bo and Cal discover her battered body in the snow. It´s the first sign that danger lurks in the mountains that surround them, and it will not be the only murder to unnerve this peaceful town. But the greatest shock is yet to come when Alice returns – and the threat that follows in her wake will test the bonds that hold Bodine to this place and these people, and thrust her into a darkness she could never have imagined.
Story
Bodine is running her family´s business very successfully. And when one of her employees is found dead, she starts to feel that there is more to it. Way more. But what to do, when a killer is on the loose, guests are coming to the resort every day and her family is still dealing with another loss that happened over twenty years back?

Style
It is also clear that Nora Roberts has moved more and more into the Contemporary Romance genre when it comes to her writing style. At least with her standalone novels. I don´t mind it. Though I loved her pure romance novels very much. The setting in the fantastic landscape of Montana was a plus, that made me feel like I was there myself while reading. I could literally smell the spring air, could feel the freezing cold of the winter, or saw the events with all their details that Bodine and her employees were doing. I don´t know why, but I had and have a certain picture of the ranch and resort in my head and can´t get rid of it *smile*

At some point during the ongoing novel, I started to have a feeling for who the bad guy was. There was one character that gave me the chills every time he showed up. Maybe because he was too much of a pale figure, not only in his appearance but also in his behavior. Aaaaaand BINGO! Woohoo – I guessed it right *YAY*

Characters
The author brings a huge variety of figures into the game of this novel. The modern women who run businesses as well as they have a family of their own. Or the men who really believe they can grab a strange woman off the street, and then go and claim them to be their possessing. But what struck me the most was, that Alice didn´t fight. When she was caught, she was in her early twenties, if I counted it right, and from the first minute, she did everything to please the man who took her. She gave up way to easy and fast for my taste - though Nora Roberts probably needed that for her ongoing plot. Otherwise, she wouldn´t have had a figure to keep going with her story.

As much as I liked reading this novel, I also – again – saw that I am not fond of a certain type of woman.


Conclusion
All in all, I had a great time reading Come Sundown. This was very entertaining, set in a gorgeous landscape, and with well-created figures, despite my dislike of one or the other. This novel is a must-have for every NR fan, no question. Read and judge for yourself.



Happy reading













*This book was published Licht in tiefer Nacht by DIANA on September 25, 2017 

Nora Roberts
Nora Roberts ©Bruce Wilder




Nora Roberts, born in Silver Spring, Maryland, is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than 200 novels. During the now-famous blizzard, she pulled out a pencil and notebook and began to write. It was there that a career was born. Several manuscripts and rejections later, her first book, Irish Thoroughbred, was published by Silhouette in 1981. Having spent her life surrounded by men, Ms. Roberts has a fairly good view of the workings of the male mind, which is a constant delight to her readers. It was, she’s been quoted as saying, a choice between figuring men out or running away screaming. Nora is a member of several writer´s groups and has won countless awards from her colleagues and the publishing industry. Recently The New Yorker called her “America’s favorite novelist.” She is also the author of the bestselling futuristic suspense series written under the pen name J. D. Robb. There are more than 500 million copies of her books in print.


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12/29/2017

Love Around The World Challenge

This challenge came to me earlier this year. My blogger friend Isa at Mikku-chan tagged me to show the world some love. Originally this post has looked a bit different. But after a night of sleep and re-reading my words again, it didn´t felt right to publish it, so I started again from scratch. In this challenge, I am asked to show some love to whomever or wherever I want. And since I am better with words by writing a letter or a post for that matter, than I am by talking to an actual person, I decided to do this my way. Though I am called a damn good listener and adviser, I fail most of the time miserably when it comes to me following my own advice I give others in the same situation.

So, here it is, and I hope that you´ll like it and show it some love with a nice comment at the end of it *smile*

What is this Love Around The World challenge anyway? Well, it is all about spreading love. No matter if you write a love letter, write in general about love, and what it means to you or show someone in your close environment some love – you decide how you want to participate. All you have to do is to tell others about it in a post.

Invented was this challenge by Saskia at Life With Saskia. Her blog is run in German, but if you like, hop over and leave her some kind words too.

I want to start this by thanking Isa. You tagged me a few months ago for this. We “know” us from another place in the www (I am sure there is no need for us both to have me write that name here), though we both aren´t in that team anymore.

When I first met you there, I didn´t really notice you, and since you were mostly writing reviews for the Comic/Manga section, there was no need for me to read that work of yours since I wasn´t interested at all in those genres.
Well, over the years that has changed. I now have a different view when it comes to those genres and whenever I am in a bookstore I look at what´s new on those shelves. But I wouldn´t call myself an expert in that field. That is your thing, not my *smile* Though I do appreciate all the knowledge you gave me over the years. It is quite interesting to see your pictures on Facebook or Instagram when you got new Mangas or other stuff that belongs to that niche.

And though we´ve never met in person – yet I might add – we have become dear friends over the years, shared some dark moments, and helped each other whenever needed. And for that, I want to thank you from my heart. It means a lot to me and I am very proud to have you as a friend and in my community.

Pat at FiktiveWelten, is another friend I made in the blogger community over the years. Over the past two years (I guess that is about right) you literally kept me sane while we had our problems and differences with one particular person. It was always a great relief when I could write all my anger, disbelief, and rage about “her” behavior, and all the damn things she thought she could throw at us in an email and get out of my head.
Your humor and witty writing style took me through all the anger and other things. It is a pretty good feeling to know that I can call you a dear friend.

With Anna at Life of Anna, I am tagging another book-blogger. Anna and I met over at Goodreads, and since we found out, that we share in some ways the same taste in books, we became blogger friends.
You´ve helped me with many questions about social media and I like reading your reviews or looking at the pictures you post on Instagram. It is fun to see that we share the same opinion when it comes to certain books we both read. Your thoughts, and how you see things were very helpful and mind-opening for me.

With Ardis at Pondering The Prose, I share the love for books as well. The books we want to read or do read are sometimes totally different, but we both value an author´s work, no matter how we rate the book in the end. You have helped me in many ways without even knowing it. Thank you for that, Ardis.

My next blogger-friend is a young woman I met over the Stacking the Shelves meme I once did too. Don´t ask me why I stopped doing that meme, Alyssa Susanna at The Eater Of Books, I have no satisfactory reply to that.
You are one of the very few that think of me and tag me in a tweet when you see some book-related tweets that are destined for the country I am currently living in. I have no clue why you started doing that, but it is really appreciated. Thanks a lot for becoming my blogger-friend.

And last but not least, I want to tag Trish at Between My Lines. I know you love being tagged and after all, I´ve heard, read and saw from you on your blog and your social media accounts, I guess I am doing the right thing with this challenge since you aren´t obligated to reach a certain goal by reading books. You are one of those book-bloggers who express their love for the written word in a  very special way and it is always a pleasure to read your reviews.

Love is nothing I take lightly. I know from my own experience that love is pain, pleasure, hard work, and the greatest think on earth a human being can experience. If you aren´t loved by someone, you are a poor soul. Being loved by a caring family, to feel that love is the best that can happen to you. And if everybody would know that feeling, the world would be a much better place.

But to see how a person you love is struggling with an illness, and all of the sudden you are in a role reversal isn´t easy to adjust with. I have witnessed over many years how a once big love became an everything destroying power and tore a family apart.

Love is something that can make you fly, do great things, set energy free you´d never thought you´d have until you are right in it. The biggest power that can be as positive as much as it can be the most negative thing you´ve ever experienced.

No matter how you see things, with loving eyes everything changes….


Okaaaay, that was my way to spread some LoveAroundTheWorld. Now it is time to give you some rules. They are easy so don´t be shy and do your own post about love.


  • Explain briefly what is meant by the “LoveAroundTheWorldChallenge” (you are welcome to link back to me and Saskia)
  • Use the header Saskia has created or create your own – whatever you prefer.
  • Spread love!
  • Nominate 7 people (more or less, the number is up to you)
  • Non-bloggers are welcome too.




Happy reading







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12/28/2017

Sweet Tomorrows by Debbie Macomber


The last novel from the author´s Rose Harbor Inn series. And a book, I didn´t read within a couple of hours. In the end, I was not sure about it, and it took me some days to write this review. You want to know why I feel mixed about this last Rose Harbor Inn book, then keep reading. When I remember that I´ve read the first books of this series within hours because they were so wonderfully entertaining and gave me the chance to go back to Cedar Cove and see how things were going there. Then this last book was the sheer opposite.


Sweet Tomorrows*
by Debbie Macomber
Rose Harbor Series #5
Publisher Ballantine Books on December 27, 2016
Genre Novel
Pages 416
Format Softcover
Source Library
Goodreads
✶✶✶

Nine months ago, Mark Taylor abruptly left Cedar Cove on a perilous mission to right a wrong from his past. Though Mark finally confessed his love for her, innkeeper Jo Marie Rose is unsure if he´s ever coming back. The Rose Harbor Inn barely seems the same without Mark, but Jo Marie can´t bear to lose herself in grief once more. Determined to move forward, she begins dating again, and finds companionship when she takes on a boarder who is starting a new chapter herself. Recovering from a twice-broken heart, Emily Gaffney, a young teacher, is staying at the inn while she looks for a home of her own. Having given up on marriage, Emily dreams of adopting children someday. She has her eye on one house in particular – with room for kids. Although Emily´s inquiries about the house are rudely rebuffed, her rocky start with the owner eventually blossoms into a friendship. But when the relationship verges on something more, Emily will have to rethink what she truly wants and the chances she´s willing to take. The inn seems to be working its magic again – Emily opening herself up to love, Jo Marie moving on – until Jo Marie receives shocking news.
Story
Jo Marie starts her life all over again. After Mark left, she is determined to go on without him, without waiting for him to come back. For her there is no need to go through the same hell again, she did when her husband Paul went missing while on a mission. But now, when she gets a postcard Mark has sent her, she is in an awkward position. Now, between two men, she has no idea how to cope with everything and needs more time than ever to deal with a strange situation.

Style
For me, the tone was way too dark, though it was very fitting for the story itself. But somehow, I couldn´t get really into it. Couldn´t get in touch with Jo Marie or all the other characters as I had while reading the other books of this series. No doubt, Debbie Macomber hasn´t changed her soft style, the way how she uses words, and creates her figures. That was again, well done. But there were scenes I thought that wasn´t necessary. Like the author needed to stretch her novel for whatever reason before she set the final end to it. That was, at least for me, sad. I believe that if you write a good novel, you don´t need to use stretching material to get a certain length in pages.

Characters
There were some scenes where I kind of felt thrown back into another century. I mean, sorry, but we are living in the 21st century and a woman can make her own decisions and doesn´t need a providing husband to be able to live her life. And then again, I think that some women grew up in a completely different environment, were raised a different way and for them, it´s clear that a woman can´t be without a husband. That a woman stays at home and the man takes care of everything else. Well, not my way to see the world. 


Conclusion
An average novel in my eyes. Sad to say it, but this isn´t the best book written by the author and for sure not a good end to this series. Sure, the author tied all open ends neatly and left no unanswered questions. But I missed something I found in her other Rose Harbor Inn books. 



Happy reading













*I read the German edition new release by Blanvalet on July 17, 2017  




Debbie Macomber
Debbie Macomber ©Dan Gregory Meyer




Debbie Macomber is the owner of the Victorian Tea Room and the yarn shop A Good Yarn, which was named after the store in her successful book Blossom Street. She is the author of Sweet Tomorrows, among many other books, and a leading voice in women´s fiction. Ten of her novels have reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller lists, and five of her beloved Christmas novels have been hit movies on the Hallmark Channel, including Mrs. Miracle and Mr. Miracle. Hallmark Channel also produced the original series Debbie Macomber´s Cedar Cove, based on Macomber´s Cedar Cove books. She has more than 200 million copies of her books in print worldwide. Debbie Macomber, who likes to be a grandmother, lives with her husband Wayne in Port Orchard, Washington, where her novels play, and spends the winter in Florida. 

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12/27/2017

News - The Versatile Blogger Award


It is crazy: I got a new award! It happened some weeks or better said months ago, but I hadn´t the time until now, to write a post about it and give back the honors. How great, I am totally happy. Good, 2017 is running out and I underestimated the time I´d have left to post such wonderful things and how time-consuming Christmas can be, totally. As if that time of a year wouldn´t happen every year. Well, I hopefully am able to learn and schedule my time next year in December a bit better. But for now, I don´t wanna bother you with my time-problem and give you instead a bit of an insight into me, as a person. So keep reading, and you will learn more.

As most of the awards I was nominated for over the past few months, this one has some rules to obey as well. So I cut right to the small talk - as if anyone would be interested in it anyway, and give you some details about me.

The rules for this award are easy:
1Thank the blogger who nominated you
2Tell 7 facts about you
3Nominate other bloggers

Okidoki, my thanks belong to FiktiveWelten – Patricia, you are the best girl ever. Thanks to you I am still sane when it comes to a certain topic. You are GREAT!

That was the easy part. The next with naming the seven facts about me is a bit trickier. One or two facts, okay, and answering questions, in general, is okay too. But talking about me out of the blue and with no questions to answer, but asked to tell seven (!) specific facts about me as a person, phew, that isn´t quite easy. I am usually not that much of a chatterbox when it comes to me personally, so what the hell am I writing here? *lol*



Okay, now to the seven facts about me:


1 I am a diary girl. Yes, some of you will probably not believe it, but I do have a blue & black- bound diary in which I write with blue ink all the things that go on in my mind. And that is quite a lot. I am not writing every night before I go to bed in it, but whenever I feel like my head is exploding or something touched or moved me in a special way or simply I want to remember it – it goes into my diary. The box where I keep them all is almost full and it is always very interesting to read in my older ones.


2 Don´t ever lie to me. I hate it when people do that. No matter if they do it on purpose, straight into my face or for whatever good reason they think they have. I HATE IT! Period. I prefer the truth, even if it’s a painful and inconvenient one. But rather that than to figure out hours, days or weeks later that I got told a lie. Be straight and honest with me, always. No matter what. I appreciate you way more when I know that I can trust your word.


3 When it comes to books, I can say that I am reading since I was able to read. Writing reviews was first meant to be the first step during my study to get practice and the ability to differentiate between all the various writing styles. Without a doubt, I can say that I am a passionate reader. I remember riding to the library with my bike, a white basket fixed to the carrier and in that basket, was a huge silver bag in which I had all the books from the library. I brought them back and filled my bag with another huge pile of books. I read Enid Blyton´s Dolly series in one swoop, as well as the Hanni and Nanni series and all the other children series that were out and available at that time.


4 As a typical Virgo, I need a clear structure in every aspect of my life. You don´t have to give me every detail, just some basics I can work with and which I can understand, and I am happy. That is one of the many reasons, why my reviews look the way, they do and why my writing style is the way it is. Studying at the HAF helped me to become the reviewer I am today and why I write reviews in the first place.


5 Lefthander. Yes, I am that kind of human being who writes with her left hand. No matter what, if writing, painting, crafting, or sketching things, I do it with my left hand. But when I have to cut something with a scissor, I use my right hand though I have and use a scissor especially made for lefthanders. Weird, huh?


6 Technical stuff is geek to me. I can run my blog, yes. And if I have a proper step-by-step instruction containing some pictures, I am able to handle things. But if you´re asking me to go deeper into the technical stuff a blog has running in his background, I am lost. No matter how often I read stuff about it or try to go into it, my head isn´t working with me on the same side.


7 There are days where I can´t read. Where I don´t touch any book at all. During those times I can´t even write reviews (and if I try everything reads like crap) and it seems that my head simply needs a break from books and everything that comes along with it. Know that too?



I nominate this time

Isa over at Mikku-chan
Anna over at Life of Anna



Thanks for taking the time to read this. Hope it wasn´t as boring as I fear I am when it comes to me in person.



Happy reading







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12/24/2017

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays


Christmas, the fifth season of the year. A time meant to be special. Filled with anticipation, preparations, decorating, baking cookies, some of us buy their Christmas presents, others tinker them and some of us might do nothing at all.

Yes, this time of a year is special in many ways.

Some of us will spend the weeks until Christmas Eve with lots of work, stress and with the feeling that there isn´t enough time to get everything done.

While others only decorate their flat, apartment or house for the holidays and start to slow down and enjoy every minute of this special time. Those people actually live the Christmas spirit. Wear sweaters with all kinds of Christmas motives, no matter if they are ugly or not. This special time means to get into the Christmas spirit. To slow down, relax and enjoy a hopefully joyful time with friends and family.

No matter what you do around this time. If you are wearing Christmas sweaters or not, if you tinker your presents or go and buy them – you hopefully can enjoy yourself and the time with your family. And if you one of the millions who are spending Christmas all on their own, be assured that you are not alone.

And with that in mind, I want to wish you my blogger-friends, followers, and fans of Inkvotary in general.


Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays







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12/23/2017

Das Mädchen Im Eis by Robert Bryndza


Somehow, I got fascinated by the cover. Not only that it is the same as the original book shows, but also in the same color style and when you hold it in your hand and move it a bit, you can see some ice glitter – nice effect. My very first book by the author and my first thriller about Detective Erika Foster. And after finishing it, I am in an awkward mood.


Das Mädchen Im Eis*
by Robert Bryndza
Detective Erika Foster #1
Translation Charlotte Breuer, Marion Matheis, Norbert Möllemann
Original Title The Girl In The Ice
Publisher Penguin on September 11, 2017
Genre Crime
Pages 430
Format Paperback
Source Publisher
Goodreads
✶✶✶✶

Eight months have passed since Detective Erika Foster´s last mission, which ended in disaster and cost her husband his life. But it is time to look ahead. The daughter of one of London´s most powerful families was murdered, and Erika does her utmost to find the culprit. As she fights against the demons of her own past, she is facing a merciless killer. (personal translation ©Vi at Inkvotary)
Story
Erika Foster is fighting her demons and somehow the English aristocracy while investigating her case. The daughter of a rich family and a very influential politician was murdered, and her father is giving Erika a very hard time to do her job. But the more information Erika is bringing to light with her unusual method, the more she gets into trouble. The killer is hunting her, and it seems that there will be only one way to solve the case.

Style
I do hope that the way how police work in England is only fictional in this thriller. Because otherwise, I am not sure if that area of English society is good. Erika´s boss Marsh is, literally spoken, an ass, doing almost everything he can to keep her from doing her job properly and the father of a dead young woman is not helpful either. The moment I discovered the truth about the rich girl´s killer, I was shocked and thought holy moly, why on earth would a father do such a terrible thing?

Robert Bryndza´s style is clear, to the point and he uses a direct and sometimes very blunt language. But always with style and on a high level. He pictures a society that isn´t like any other you might be familiar with. And he creates an atmosphere that keeps you on the edge of your seat. You never know what´s going to happen on the next page and while reading I caught myself many times biting my tongue – because of the fantastic thrill this story is giving you.

Characters
Nothing is as it seems. Everything has two faces, literally, and Erika Foster and her boss Marsh are no exception. The only difference between them is, that Erika isn´t hiding anything. Sure, she is pained by her past and has her own demons to fight, but she is also on a point where she says that she´s lost already everything that´s dear to her. So why bother and pretend something else? 

Sure, she isn´t doing things the way they are usually done. But the way she brings proof and facts to light that isn´t always comfortable to others. She always follows her instincts. Trusts only the plain facts and it is very hard if not impossible to convince her to work in a different way. She lost her private life with the death of her husband and with that, her working day changed completely. And she stands her ground if she must, no matter what.  


Conclusion
This was a very impressive and fascinating thriller. Lots of unexpected twists and turns and written in a soft but very direct tone. In the end, I was in an awkward mood and kind of surprised that, despite the fact, the author had used the normal pattern a thriller and crime novel usually follow, I hadn´t seen it coming until the very end. For sure worth being recommended to every thriller and crime novel fan.



Happy reading







*This book was kindly provided to me by Penguin in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Thank you. Therefore, the cover of the German edition is shown first in this review.









The Thriller was originally published The Girl In The Ice by Bookouture on February 12, 2016 



Robert Bryndza
Robert Bryndza  ©private



Robert Bryndza was born in England and lived in the US and Canada before he moved with his husband to Slovakia. He completed an acting education and is currently working as a full-time writer. His books have sold over 2 million copies and have been translated into 27 languages.  

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12/22/2017

2018 New Release Challenge – Sign-Up


I am signing- up for this challenge again and hope that it´ll be as much fun to do as the last two years were. This year I am planning on reading books like I do every year so the next year won´t be any different from this current one. The only exception could be, that I might not read as many new releases, as I have been reading the past years. But I don´t think that that will change the fun and with that in mind, I am looking forward to going in again and see how it will turn out.

The challenge will be hosted by Lexxie at (un)Conventional Bookviews.

Some things in my reading life have changed and since I can´t evaluate how the coming year will turn out for me when it comes to receiving or buying new releases, I rather keep it low key this time and only plan on reaching the first level. Despite that, I still will be reading and reviewing.

There is only one thing I want to add (to avoid any misunderstandings). I handle this blog and my reviews in English, but the books I read are mostly German books, which means – for this challenge – that the German translation is published in 2018. And I will be reading some English books, too. And the ones I will use for this challenge are of course released in 2018.

With that cleared, here some rules about this challenge. Not working without them and so that you know what you´re signing up for – in case you want to join the club *smile*

The 2018 New Release Challenge is a year-long challenge in which we aim to read books released in 2018. Lexxie at (un)Conventional Bookviews will host this challenge. There will be monthly update posts, and each quarter – the end of March, end of June, end of September and in December, there will be a giveaway with the update as well.

There is also a Facebook Group, to have a place where we can keep up with each other, cheer each other on, ask questions, and get to know each other better. It is also a place where we can help each other to find even more new releases. So, make sure to step in and have some fun along the way …


The Rules For The 2018 New Release Challenge Are Simple

  • Books have to be released and reviewed in 2018.
  • Other challenges can be used as well, if you are participating in the Netgalley / Edelweiß challenge or in the COYER challenge, books can count towards more than one challenge, as long as the ones you use for the 2018 New Release Challenge qualify to the other rules.
  • The minimum length for a book to qualify is 100 pages, it can be in any format though, physical, e-book, ARC or audiobook.
  • The New Book Release Challenge is open from January 1st through December 31st 2018, and sign-ups are open until September 1st 2018.
  • You don´t have to be a blogger to participate, you can link to your review on Goodreads or Booklikes instead – so don´t be shy!


There Are Five Levels In The New Release Challenge
  1.  1-30 books per year – New Release Newbie - my goal
  2.  31-60 books per year – New Release Pro 
  3.  61-100 books per year – New Release Veteran
  4.  101-200 books per year – New Release Enthusiast
  5.  200+ books per year – New Release Obsessed


To sign up, please link your sign-up post in the linky on (un)Conventional Bookviews, and there you´ll find some more details too …



Happy reading







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Vi
I am an avid reader, book blogger, and painter who loves to talk and write about books. A day without one in my hands is a wasted one. Skilled florist with a degree in writing - oh yes, that works! I like many genres, but horror is nothing for me. Here on Inkvotary I will show my love for books, things that move me and what´s going on off the blog - called life. The personal as well as life in general.

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