The first day of the rest of my life #Globalgoals

Soooo….I am back…I guess… the last post I wrote was nearly two years ago and started with the same thing.. trying to explain why I was gone for so long…

Well, a lot has happened in my life. I recently quit my job, will go back to university next week and am thinking about maybe becoming my own boss (as I figured, I can’t be worse than my previous ones).

But that’s only one of the reasons why I decided to write a blogpost. There is something else I wanted to talk about. It all started with a video I saw on youtube by one of my favourite youtubers, John Green:

side note: I just realised that wordpress also got a lot nicer since I was here last time.

It then continued a few days later with another video by his similarly awesome brother Hank:

In case you can’t (or don’t want to) watch a video right now, I will give you a short summary (I highly recommend to watch the videos tho!).

Both talk about the Global Goals that the UN set to make the world a better place by 2030. John explains what has changed since they last set the goals 15 years ago and Hank introduces us to the 17 new goals for the next 15 years. As they are both made of awesome, they want to motivate everyone to help with the goals – this is a job for all of us after all. And for me…it worked! I am motivated. So I had the spontanious idea to dedicate one week for every goal and try to do something according the goal. Some of them will be easy and some of them really hard and I haven’t really planned it through so I am not sure how this will turn out.

At first I wanted to start next week, but this week is just too perfect for one of the goals, so I decided to start today. As this post is already getting really long, I will post about this weeks goal and what I am doing about it tomorrow. Until then you can find further information and all the goals here:

http://www.globalgoals.org/

I would be really happy if you decided to join me on this!

2014: New Year, new me, new chance.

So it is the time of the year again where everyone recaps 2013 and makes new years resolutions (or not) and as I am pro-resolutions even tho I am anti-sticking-to-them I want to do that too.

One thing I realised in 2013 was, that I didn’t like it too much how I restricted myself with this blog to stay within one topic. “Everyone” (as in “I read a lot about it”) is telling me, that you are supposed to stick to a topic or theme when you write a blog. I understand why, but I figured that this is not for me.

I often wanted to write about a lot of things but couldn’t because they were not book related. So, as this blog started as a new years resolution and had not a real theme at first I will go back to the roots so to speak.

So be prepared to read here about other things that happen in my life in the future.

Now that I’ve warned you, I can go ahead and start with “these other things” which will be my new years resolutions today. They are far from well thought about but I hope, that they will get better as I go. I started thinking about them about 2 days ago, that might be a reason. What I have are a few general topics under which I want to try to get stuff done..or right. And as I am one of these people who need to tell it other people to stick (a little bit better) to them, I will do so. Man, I just realise how rusty I am in blogging already, need to practice more often again. Without further ado, here are the main topics:

1. FOOD
2. FITNESS
3. DIY
4. EDUCATION
5. SPACE
6. FUN

These are not sorted by priority just by the order they came to my mind. So what do I mean with these things. Let’s take a closer look.

1. FOOD: I want to eat healthier this year. Not totally strict as I wouldn’t be able to stick to it forever anyway but I want to start building habits. “Totally strict” would also interfere with 6. General things might be: eat vegan more often, fish less (I am pescetarian). Less sweets (I want to stay sane so I will still eat a little bit of sweets!), less fatty things and more veggies and things that are good for me. I also want to cook more often as I haven’t really done that in the last year which I am missing. Oh, I almost forgot: drink at least 2 litres of water a day (got a handy dandy app on my phone for that and it did work out quite well in december already).

2. FITNESS: I have done close to no activity in 2013 and that’s not good at all. Also I am working full time again for a year now and I am sitting in front of a computer more than ever (even tho I was an expert in that before that already). Having probleps with my sciatic nerve in the second half of 2013 made me also realise that I am not getting younger. So I will try do more exercise this year. Even if it is only for 5 or 10 minutes. I am thinking about trying the Blogilates Workout Calendar and maybe getting a FitBit-thing.

3. DIY: I had so many Ideas, bought so many magazines and watched so many DIY videos on youtube last year but did hardly anything myself which made me mad about myself. So I want to make something as often as possible this year. And not only make, but finish! Also I really want to start an Etsy shop this year (as I am talking about that for ages already – and annoying all of my friends with it).

4. EDUCATION: This is rather simple to explain. I have to be done with my study by April 2015 and I still need a hand full of classes and all of my final paper. I want to be done with all that by the end of the year.

5. SPACE: No I don’t want to travel to the moon. With SPACE I mean the space around me. The apartment I live in (which is mostly my bf’s at the moment even tho I still have my own) and the stuff I surround myself with. I would like to move to a bigger place with my bf this year and also want to get rid of stuff (best case would be BEFORE moving) and organise the stuff I have better. Also, as I was reminded of the film Plastic Planet a while ago I also want to try to get rid of at least some of the plastic in my surrounding.

6. FUN: Doing all that I still want to have fun. It is of no use if I am miserable all the time. I want to make my life better and not worse! So I won’t punish myself if I don’t act according to the points above (this will be a hard challenge) and not give up immediately when that happens (“Now that I didn’t do any exercises for the last two days there is no need of continuing anymore”). Another thing I want to do this year is to watch all Episodes of Classic Doctor Who (I am in the middle of season 2 right now). And last but not least I don’t want to neglect this blog any longer even tho I have a lot on my plate and I won’t be able to promise anything.

Ok, I think the wall of text is long enough now. Respekt to everyone who read until here!

Do you do new years resolutions? If yes, which are yours for 2014? Do you stick to them normally?

Happy New Year everyone!

Review: The Maker Movement Manifesto by Mark Hatch

Title: The Maker Movement Manifesto
Author: Mark Hatch
Pages: 256
Source: NetGalley
Language: English
Published: September 27, 2013
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
ISBN: 9780071821124

Goodreads Summary :

WELCOME TO THE MAKER MOVEMENT. A revolution is under way. But it’s not about tearing down the old guard. It’s about building, it’s about creating, it’s about breathing life into groundbreaking new ideas. It’s called the Maker Movement, and it’s changing the world.

Mark Hatch has been at the forefront of the Maker Movement since it began. A cofounder of TechShop–the first, largest, and most popular makerspace–Hatch has seen it all. Average people pay a small fee for access to advanced tools–everything from laser cutters and milling machines to 3D printers and AutoCAD software. All they have to bring is their creativity and some positive energy. Prototypes of new products that would have cost $100,000 in the past have been made in his shop for $1,000.

The Maker Movement is where all the next great inventions and innovations are happening– and you can play a part in it.

“The Maker Movement Manifesto” takes you deep into the movement. Hatch describes the remarkable technologies and tools now accessible to you and shares stories of how ordinary people have devised extraordinary products, giving rise to successful new business ventures. He explains how economic upheavals are paving the way for individuals to create, innovate, make a fortune–and even drive positive societal change–with nothing more than their own creativity and some hard work.

It’s all occurring right now, all around the world–and possibly in your own neighborhood.

The creative spirit lives inside every human being. We are all makers. Whether you’re a banker, lawyer, teacher, tradesman, or politician, you can play an important role in the Maker society.

So fire up your imagination, read “The Maker Movement Manifesto”–and start creating!

Amazon.com | Amazon.de | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

My Thoughts:

I just finished the book a few hours ago and I had to write this review instantly even tho it still takes more than a month until it comes out. One reason for this was because I got so excited reading the book and I still am and I had to transfer this into the review before it wears off.

When I download books off of Netgalley I often flip through the first few pages when I get them to see what it is about and if it looks interesting. I also did that with the Makers Movement Manifesto and two things happened. First, I stumbled upon some real life stories about people at the place who Mark Hatch Co-founded and I am a sucker for these kind of stories. Second, I read the name of the place he founded and instantly went on google to look it up. There I found videos about it which I watched. Even one hour long ones. I watched all of them and I thought: “OMG I want to be there, I want to try that, where is the nearest TechShop”. This thought kept coming back while reading the book about every 2 pages at least.

I finished the book in two days which is quick for me (it also was a fairly short book tho) and read it whenever I could. I even thought of writing an email to TechShop begging them to open a shop in my city when I did some more research on google and found out that there is a hackerspace called HappyLab (I love that name btw) in my town which isn’t a TechShop but the closest I can get and I am SO EXCITED. I will definitely check it out as soon as I can.

This book came around just at the right moment because I was thinking about doing something creative for months now. I was even trying some stuff but hit limitations in term of space, material or tools a lot. Also I want to try something new, especially the “gateway drug” as – I believe – Hatch called the laser cutter. This really sounds like a drug to me and one of the few I really want to try (one of my other drugs is chocolate).

To sum this bowl of excitement up, I want to add that this is may be not everyone’s cup of tea but I think a lot of people do want to “make” something with their own hands… may it be “only” by pressing the start button an a laser cutter…

Cover: I like the cover. It is simple but dragged my attention when I browsed through NetGalley.

Rating: 5 Chocolate Hearts

Review: Pale by Chris Wooding

Title: Pale
Author: Chris Wooding
Pages: 67
Source: NetGalley
Language: English
Published: September 10, 2012
Publisher: Stoke Books
ISBN: 9781781120910

Goodreads Summary :

The Lazarus Serum can bring you back from the dead. Only thing is, it turns you into a Pale. Jed can’t imagine anything worse, but then the choice is taken out of his hands…

Amazon.com | Amazon.de | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

My Thoughts:

So this is a REALLY quick read. It’s only 67 pages which made me finish it in about an hour, maybe less. It felt like less. The Story was predictable but still well told.

I just would have loved to get to know the characters better and everything. It was a little too short for my taste. But I totally understand that I am not really the target audience so if I was an early reader this would be a nice start. It probably would make me want to read more in dept books like this.

Another thing I figured was, that this book can be considered Dystopian but it still has a lot of truth to the world as it is now. You would just have to switch “Pale” with “(Illegal) Immigrant” or “Ex-Prisoner” and it would still make as much sense as it does now. Made me think about the topic, especially as bullying at school is also a trending thing right now. Sadly.

So if you have an hour to kill you can check out this Novella or one of the other  16 or so books Chris Wooding wrote so far. That’s a lot isn’t it? Given that he is only 32…that’s only 2 years older than me. Gosh! I need to start do important things in my life!

Cover: This Cover reminded me SO MUCH of Starters by Lissa Price and as I loved her book I was probably not very objective about this one at first. Maybe this was also the reason why I was a little bit disappointed with this book which isn’t really fair. You shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover – and especially not by some other books cover!

Rating: 3 Chocolate Hearts

Counts for these Challenges:

• 2012 E-Book Reading Challenge
• 2012 E-Book Challenge
• 2012 Free Reads
• 2012 Outdo Yourself Challenge
• 52 Books in 52 Weeks
• First in a Series

IMM #15 – In my Mailbox August, 19th 2012

So the past couple of weeks I was first sick (stupid summer flu) and then really busy so I didn’t do any IMM Posts for a few weeks. But don’t worry, you won’t miss anything, because I will tell you what I got the past 3 weeks. As I haven’t been to the Library (even tho I REALLY need to go by now – books overdue) I only have NetGalley Books except one Book I got offered by the Author on Goodreads which I just downloaded a few minutes ago. I will split the Post by weeks.

Books I got at NetGalley (Week 1: July 30th – August 5th):

Will write Release Date next to Titles.

    

Lucretia and the Kroons by Victor LaValle (July 23, 2012)
Oreimo Volume 1 by Tsukasa Fushimi (September 5, 2012)
Tab Bennett & The Inbetween by Jes Young (April 30, 2012)

Books I got at NetGalley (Week 2: August 6th – August 12th):

    

Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley (April 2, 2013)
Etiquette for the End of the World by Jeanne Martinet (August 1, 2012)
Right where I belong by Krista McGee (December 11, 2012)

Books I got at NetGalley (Week 3: August 13th – August 19th):

    

The Archived (Sneak Peek)  by Victoria Schwab (January 22, 2013)
The Paradise Diaries #1: Dante’s Girl by Courtney Cole (July 1, 2012)
Point 4 #2: The Future we left behind by Mike A. Lancaster (November 13, 2012) (D’oh! Didn’t realise that this is a second book in a series until now)

    

Atticus Claw Breaks the Law by Jennifer Gray (September 6, 2012)
Katya’s World by Johnathan L. Howard (November 6, 2012)
Miriam Black #2: Mockingbird by Chuck Wendig (August 28, 2012) (Noo! Another one I didn’t realise it was 2nd in a Series!)

This is a Bindup of:
The Matchmaker’s Mark and
Shadows of Justice #1: Justice Incarnate by Regan Black (August 1, 2012)

Book I got offered on Goodreads today:

Please Stay by Denise Kim Wy (August 2012)

Ok, now you are up to date again with the books that I got. I’m a little angry about myself that I didn’t see that two of the books where 2nds in Series especially as they look really nice but I don’t want to read books of Series out of order. Seems like I will have to find the first ones first and read. Also I wanted to mention that I love most of the covers of the books that I got the past three weeks. Nearly all of them look really intriguing and awesome and/or cute.

What did you get this week? Hope you had a great week too and Happy Reading!

Wrap up: July 2012

So this month I finally picked up the pace a little after the end of Uni. Now I can allow myself again to read more without having a bad feeling about it (or at least not THAT bad of a feeling).

These are the books I read in July (underlined Ratings are Links to Reviews):

    

    2,5 Chocolate Hearts             5 Chocolate Hearts               2 Chocolate Hearts

 

     

    5 Chocolate Hearts                 4,5 Chocolate Hearts           3 Chocolate Hearts

So this was a pretty good month for me even tho some of the books were pretty or very short but I am still proud of myself. I nearly reached last years total amount of books read and it’s only July! Woho! Also I finally managed to read a few Netgalley Books.

So what did you read that month? Have you had a good or a bad month in Reading?

IMM #14 – In my Mailbox July, 29th 2012

This week was a rather quiet week in regards of books. I didn’t have to go to the Library (even tho I was for about ten minutes or so to show a friend around) so I didn’t get any books from there. Also on netGalley there wasn’t a lot of excitement or at least I wasn’t aproved for a lot of books. Only for two to be precise. But it could have been a lot more because I realised that we have a Shakespeare & Company in town and went there with friends on Friday but stayed strong and didn’t buy any books. I am really proud of myself.

Books I got at NetGalley:

Will write Release Date next to Titles.

  

Zombie by J. R. Angelella (June 5, 2012)
One Breath away by Heather Gudenkauf (July 6, 2010)

So that’s it already for this week. That was the shortest IMM I ever did. I hope you still enjoyed it and got some great books for yourself. See you next time and happy Reading!

IMM #13 – In my Mailbox July, 24th 2012

Again a long time has passed since I did my last IMM Post. One part of it being me MIA and one part trying to not get too many books at the library as I have way to many NetGalley books left to read (And they are constantly coming in too). Still I was a bad girl this week. It started off pretty innocent as I “just” wanted to return some books that were due… and ended up getting 6 new books *sigh*. Yeah, whatever. So here they are. (All of them exciting enough to not being able to leave them at the Library)

Books I got at the Library:

    

Uglies #2: Pretty – Erkenne dein Gesicht (Pretties) by Scott Westerfeld
A House of Night #5: Hunted by P.C. and Kristen Cast
A House of Night #6: Tempted  by P.C. and Kristen Cast

     

Riley #4: Der erste Kuss (Riley Bloom #4:Whisper) by Alyson Noel
Awaken #1: Die Rebellion der Maddie Freeman (Awaken #1) by Katie Kacvinsky
Der Nachtzirkus (The Night Circus) by Erin Morgenstern

(aren’t these Covers amazing? The Riley Bloom book even has sparkle on it! I am a sucker for sparkling things!)

And now for the NetGalley books. Did I already mention that I have some kind of Obsession or NetGalley addiction or something like that?

Books I got at NetGalley:

Will write Release Date next to Titles. (Only the ones I got last week. Got way too many since my last IMM which was way too long ago)

     

Inbetween (Kissed by Death #1) by Tara Fuller (August 28, 2012)
The Intruders by Olive Peart (February 28, 2010)
A Life in Parts by Vicki Bennington & Daniel Brannan (October 8, 2012)

     

Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire (August 14, 2012)
Pushing Upwards by Andrea Adler (September 17, 2012)
Frozen by Mary Casanova (September 1, 2012)

 

The Demon Catchers of Milan by Kat Beyer (August 28, 2012)
Pale by Chris Wooding (September 10, 2012)

  

The Tall Tale of Tommy Twice by Nathan Leslie (October 30, 2012) (Couldn’t find a better Cover Picture for that one)
The Enchanted Truth by Kym Petrie (March 9, 2012)

Woho I’m done! What did you get last Week? See you next time and Happy Reading!

Review: Unbreak my Heart by Melissa C. Walker

Title: Unbreak my Heart
Author: Melissa C. Walker
Pages: 240
Source: NetGalley
Language: English
Published: May 22, 2012
Publisher: Bloomsbury Children’s Books
ISBN: 9781599905280

Goodreads Summary :

Sophomore year broke Clementine Williams’ heart. She fell for her best friend’s boyfriend and long story short: he’s excused, but Clem is vilified and she heads into summer with zero social life.

Enter her parents’ plan to spend the summer on their sailboat. Normally the idea of being stuck on a tiny boat with her parents and little sister would make Clem break out in hives, but floating away sounds pretty good right now.

Then she meets James at one of their first stops along the river. He and his dad are sailing for the summer and he’s just the distraction Clem needs. Can he break down Clem’s walls and heal her broken heart?

Told in alternating chapters that chronicle the year that broke Clem’s heart and the summer that healed it, Unbreak My Heart is a wonderful dual love story that fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Susane Colasanti will flock to.

Amazon.com | Amazon.de | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

My Thoughts:

If you are looking for a light quick summer read then this is for you! But be warned! You might – just as I did – desperately want to go on holiday (preferably on a boat) after you’ve read this. Don’t blame me for it in the end, I told you :).

What I like about the book that it is two stories in one. So one story is Clem going on a sailing trip over the summer with her family and the second story is the past year at school and how all the mess she got into started. So you slowly get to know Clem and her story over time.

This isn’t a book with a lot of stuff going on or twists or thrilling moments but it doesn’t have to. It’s a quiet little story more about feelings and relationships than about a big plot. I for myself liked it.

Also it wasn’t like all happiness and everything more about how to get it back. This made me think a little and also left a cosy feeling within me when I finished reading it.

Cover: I adore this cover. It is simple but I liked it the second I saw it and made me want to read the book. And it didn’t let me down.

Rating: 5 Chocolate Hearts

Counts for these Challenges:

• 2012 E-Book Reading Challenge
• 2012 E-Book Challenge
• 2012 Free Reads
• 2012 Outdo Yourself Challenge
• 52 Books in 52 Weeks
• 2012 Young Adult Reading Challenge
• 2012 YA Contemporary Reading Challenge
• Just Contemporary Reading Challenge

Review: The Journeys of John and Julia in Chapter One – Genesis

Title: The Journeys of John and Julia in Chapter One: Genesis
Author: Aurelia
Pages: 264
Source: NetGalley
Language: English
Published: June 29, 2012
Publisher: Gerber Rigler
ISBN: 9780984001965

Goodreads Summary :

The Journeys of John and Julia begin.
The Twenty-Two are watching.
Reality is about to change.

It all starts when Julia’s parents totally mess with her summer. First Julia’s dad takes off to start a whole new family. Then Julia’s mom yanks Julia from cheerleader camp to spend the summer with her grandmother in the land of no signal, no mall, no best friend Kellie. Julia’s only hope for human contact is geeky John Freeman, who is six months younger than she and about a million years behind her idea of cool.

If only Julia knew that her mom plans to dump her at Grandma’s not just for the summer, but for a whole year. If only Julia knew that a collective of wondrous beings called The Twenty- Two are watching over her and trying to make contact. If only Julia knew that they could tell Julia every thought she never knew she had and bend her reality in any way they choose. And that she’d be with John Freeman when it happened. He’d think that was way cool.

And that is just the beginning. For this seemingly mismatched pair have cracked open the door to another reality. And their enemy-to-be, the beyond evil Niem Vidalgo Oten, is about to enter the picture.

Amazon.com | Amazon.de | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository

My Thoughts:

To be honest I’m not totally sure what to say about this book. I finished it pretty quickly and it was nice to read but…

I think I missed the connection to the main Characters. I couldn’t really connect  and feel with them. In one way they just didn’t bother me enough? Also some events or dialogues just confused me. A few times I was like “what? why did that happen now?” or  “Why did he do that?”

I mean I am aware that there is supposed to be something mystical or magical or however you want to call it in the book but sometimes I just didn’t see the reasons or connections. Probably I would have needed some more explanation and in depth description or the book was just not for me.

However I still finished it which means that it’s not totally lame and boring 🙂 otherwise I  would have stopped at some point.

Cover: I am not very fond of this Cover. It’s not bad but also nothing spectacular.

Rating: 2,5 Chocolate Hearts

Counts for these Challenges:

• 2012 Debut Authors Challenge
• 2012 E-Book Reading Challenge
• 2012 E-Book Challenge
• 2012 Free Reads
• 2012 Outdo Yourself Challenge
• 52 Books in 52 Weeks
• 2012 Young Adult Reading Challenge
• First in a Series