2016 : statistics and achievments

Yearly Statistics % & Achievments

I wrote this a week before the end of the year so I might add changes!

First of all I completed the Around the World in 52 books challenge (link here)
& I also read all the books in my Books I want to get to in 2016 (link here)
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Classics I read this year (link here) - totaling around 17 including short story and poem collections

In total I read: 119/or/137

            7+15+21+19+22+17+11+4+6+9+2+4

Pages ~39 973
    Average length 338 pages

Format: ebook x23, audio x8

Arc/sent: 6

Reviewed: 11

In Finnish: 5

Month read most: May & least: November
Most popular (according to Goodreads):  the Catcher in the Rye
     Least popular Alien Busters

Length: longest  Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories, Volume I : 1059 pages
               shortest Thing Explainer, 64 pages

Publication oldest: Sense and Sensibility 1811 & books I read published this year: 18
Stars: in order of most: 3,4,5,2,1
       average being ~3.42 this year & over all in all the years ~3.15
       This year I gave 10 five-stars & 2 one-stars
Highest rating on Goodreads: Heir Of Fire 4.55

2017 goals, TBR and anticipated releases: all coming in next week's post.

Read on lovelies,

Sally

What Makes a Book Good

Feelings, statistics, both or neither

When rating a book I try to make an effort to distance myself from looking at purely the ending and my feelings right after finishing it. Looking back at books it's easier to see things that you really liked and what were unique and stayed with you.

So what makes a book good?
The feelings, the memorableness, the characters, the plot or something else entirely?

When I review a book I try to look at the book as a whole and work from there. But when rounding half stars on Goodreads - I just go with my feelings.

My STAR SYSTEM:
* Nope, maybe even DNF
** Decent? but wouldn't recommend
*** Good & Promising
**** Great & Entertaining
***** Unique & Loved it

Questions to ponder:
-Sensation after (is the book still good if the ending and only the ending was bad?)
-What do you remember (characters or feelings etc.)
-Which do you have rather lived? (like regret more what you did or didn't do)
-I love suprises and twists, isn't that just playing with your head & feelings?
-Should the book be a world that you are submerged in? - and you don't have a "wait a minute why is..." moment
-The importance of the writing, characters, plot, world and the development. If one is lacking are the others also affected?

The fact of the matter is - it's your opinion, and yours alone.

Read on lovelies,

Sally

Book Related Questions

[Tag/Survey]

1. Which book have you read most frequently?
Harry Potter, The Goose-Girl, The Gallagher Academy books and Babe

2. Reading right now and next?
About to start Agatha Christie: Five Little Pigs

3. What distracts you usually when your reading?
N* 1 Youtube...

4. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through? Do you ever skim them?
In the past I couldn't not finish a book, but I've learnt to not force it - there's not enough time to continue one that isn't for you
>Also if I'm in a book slump because of a certain book I start listening to audiobooks!

5. Do you have an e-reader?
I use kindle on my iPad

6. Prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?
Usually one at a time, but at times I have another book like a short story collection if the "main" book I'm reading is a classic or tough to get through.

7. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?
Maybe regarding deadlines I've started to rhythm my reading.

8. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
Not too often, but I've started branching out at least reading a book once a month that I wouldn't normally pick up.

9. Do you like to keep your books organized?
YES! I also love re-arraning my bookshelves. Goodreads is my go to app when cataloguing books, but I also have an excel so I can get all kinds of statistics

10. Can you read on the bus?
Yes, but usually I rather listen to music

11. Favourite place to read?
On my bed or a couch

12. Policy on book lending?
I'm defenitely for lending books

13. Do you dog-ear books? Write in the margins? Not even with text books?
I don't dog-ear them or write text in them, but I do underline and highlight things in all books

14. Favourite language to read in?
English, but I also read some in Finnish

15. What makes you love a book?
I just wrote a post about this and it should be out next week

16. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
All the books that I recommend are either ones I love of think a person in particular will enjoy

17. Genre you rarely read, but wish you did?
Non-fiction, especially biographies and ones that don't have huomour balancing it out

18. Favourite book in that^ genre?
Roald Dahl's Going Solo, Cheaper by the Dozen, We Should Hang Out Sometime and Hyperbole and a Half

19. Favourite reading snack and drink?
I tend to not be able to drink or eat whilst reading, so maybe water

20. Favourite / most disappointing adaption of a novel?
The Maze Runner is the one movie that I liked better than the book,
from book I like I really loved the Lizzy Bennet Diaries and Howl's Moving Castle

21. Feelings about giving bad/negative reviews?
In the start I hated it and tended to just not write reviews on them, but on the other hand I quite like reading negative reviews so I've started writing more about them.

22. Most intimidating book you've ever read? Most intimidating book you're too nervous to begin?
I usually get most intimidated by books that are either really long, or non-fiction without huomour to balance it out for me

23. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
Usually around three, and at least one pretty much at all times

24. What books do you have on request at the library?
Gemina, Crooked Kingdom & A Torch Against the Night

25. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you've read them?
Yes and no. I buy books that I'm quite sure I'll enjoy. When I don't I usually get rid of it, but that doesn't happen often. I prefer to read from the library and then buy the book if I loved it.

For favourites/least favourites, genres and other statistics of the year, I'll be doing a wrap up at the end of the month.

Read on lovelies,

Sally

Social Media

[Something Different]


Social media is a big part of our lives but at times I feel like there are way too many. Each one prizes themselves to be unique and different, yet lots of the same stuff go around all the sites.
>So which ones do I use and for what?

>We can't really say what will stick and what will disappear (like Vine).
Whether you just want to talk to people you know, find new people to talk to, talk about certain subjects, see pictures of other people's lives, see pictures of certain subjects, see videos about this or that, live stream a video, see business profiles or simply see memes about silly animals - there are so many to choose from.

In this society we feel pressure to have an account in certain places so that we can be kept "in the loop" of things. It may be Facebook, Instagram or Twitter depending on your age, country and friends but many of us want to have another account somewhere else to feel apart of the whole world.
>For example this blog: most of you readers are people whom I don't know - and I love that. It makes me feel like I'm actually accomplishing something.

A question to ask yourself before choosing your social media outlet of choise is what do you want it for. People, pictures, certain subjects (dancing, painting, huomour etc.), videos, or just a way to spend time when you are stuck in line.

The most used ones are (in order):
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, Pinterest & Instagram

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>I feel like it all started with Facebook. A way to communicate and find people, and for that I still sometimes use it.

>Then there is YouTube, which I love for watching videos, but I don't know where it's headed with the YouTube RED subscription.

>Then I went right into Tumblr, which I loved for seeing pictures by following different hashtags and subjects.
   I don't use it anymore since I switched to Pinterest for finding those same things, but I'm not too acting here either.

>Goodreads is my go to book catalogue app where you have a page and you can meet people, find new books, see lists, quotes and authors and vote in polls.

>Then there is Instagram which I have grown to love. I made one solely based around books (@booksonal).

Read on lovelies,

Sally

Three Dark Crowns : review

Kendare Blake

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This is the first book in a new series(?) by Kendare Blake, and there won't be any spoilers!

The premise is a darker YA book (with magic) about three queens:

The night the sisters turn sixteen, the battle begins. The last queen standing gets the crown.

Goodreads' link to the book

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>I gave this book 2.5 stars

So as usual, I'll tell 2.5 things I liked about the book and 2.5 thing I didn't like.

So what did I think?

First of all three queens & a battle to the death about whom will become the next queen. Great right?

Well I was disappointed. BUT it did have some great elements!

And the battle itself starts in the next book...

+1 |  The idea and premise is so intriguing

+/-0.5 | The writing is gripping but the pace was at times slow.

Also the plot twist in the cliffhanger (the last sentences if you've read it!), was predictable! Anyone else think so?

+/-0.5 | Characters. I liked the sisters well enough, but some of the other main characters not so much. Also so many new characters were introduced I definitely lost track, and because of that I couldn't exactly relate to anyone.

Also I really want to see some character development in the next one!

+/-0.5  | World and building. The world is so interesting so more of it should have been explained!

How did the whole competitions start? What's with the temple? The island's culture?

(Instead of all the romance, which I'll get to at -1 down below)

-1  | Romance. It's not that all the romance was bad - but there was so much of it! I wanted more of the relationships to the sisters and different interests. Also I get that all the sisters are courted by the same guys, but enough with the traingles!

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Overall rounding everything up, the book was disappointing but I did enjoy it.

Read on lovelies,

Sally

Read This Month

November

You can already tell that this month was not great regarding reading - it was quite a slump but I did managed to read a couple

1. Alien Busters, part 1 REVIEW
2. Three Dark Crowns
(3. the very beginning of: The Raven King)

Rereads

Time and Series

I've been on a journey regarding my TBR (To Be Read: books you own and haven't read). As you might know if you've been following my blog - I made an arrangement with myself, that I would read all the books I'd bought and not read before that year. (You can read more about that and how it worked here: link)

Other than not bying that many books, part of being able to reduce my TBR was not rereading that many books.
I LOVE rereading books because:
a) you know you'll love it
b) It's like reconnecting with an old friend
c) You get the perfect book for your mood, and sometimes you just really don't wanna get dissapointed
& d) it doesn't take as long as reading a new book

So not rereading books really made me appreciate how much I truly love doing it - and now that I've gotten my TBR down I'm loving rereading!

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The problem I usually have with reading series is that I don't remember what happened in the last book, and I don't have time really want to get to the next one, and won't reread it.

So if you have this issue here is a solution that I really like:
A website like Shmoop, SparkNotes, Cliffsnotes have detailed everything for a classics book. From characters to the plot and themes you can find it there to refresh your memory.
(Also it might be a good idea to have one of these open to understand a book better)

But for YA books and books that aren't on those, there are similar websites:
Recaptains
BookSeriesRecaps

If the book is not there you can also always check if someone has made a spoiler review on it.

Read on lovelies,

Sally

Playing With Emotions

[Tag]

I've been writing a post about what makes a book good, and a big part of that is that it makes you feel things. So in light of that, and the fact that it's taking me quite some time to finish that post:
here is a tag about emotions and what books I link to them.

The book that makes me happy…

… is Anna and the French Kiss by Stephenie Perkins

The book that makes me sad…

… is If I Stay by Gayle Forman

The book that makes me angry…

… is Speak by Laurie Anderson

The series that makes me nostalgic…

… are the Roald Dahl & Dr. Seuss books

The book that makes me scared… (for the main character that is)

… is The Raft by S.A. Bodeen

The book that surprised me the most…

… was Murder in the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

The book that disappointed me the most…

…was My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

The book that made me feel distressed…

…was Me Beofre You by Jojo Moyes

The book that confused me… (in a good way that is!)

…was Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi

Alien Busters : review

Alien Busters: Alien Hunting, Part 1
Safa Shaqsy

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*Book kindly provided by the author in exchange for an honest review!*

This is a novelette, part 1 (10 chapters) of the Alien Busters series by Safa Shaqsy,
and there won't be any spoilers!

The premise is quite self explanatory from the title; the main character is an alien buster with a mission to kill all alienss, but on a mission she finds an alien baby and everything changes.

Goodreads' link to the book

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>I gave this book 2.5 stars

So as usual, I'll tell 2.5 things I liked about the book and 2.5 thing I didn't like.

So what did I think?


+1 | The idea and premise is clever and intriguing.

+0.5 | Entertainment value. It had some good points in there.


+/-0.5 | Characters. I liked the main character and Star was so adorable! This was a short novelette so the character development was yet to be seen.
A problem I had with the main character was that she didn't really think of her actions

+/-0.5  | World and building. Overall I really liked the world, but the building of it had holes in it.

-0.5  | Explanations. There were so many things that I would've wanted more infromation on - consequently it fell flat.
I want to be immersed in a book and not wonder about unexplained things.

-1  | The writing. Unfortuantely there were mistakes that made the experience as a whole less than it could've been.

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Overall rounding everything up, the book is halfway there and I think it has potential.

Read on lovelies,

Sally

Fairytale Retellings pt. 3

Top 10 Disappointing

From 2 years back I have a part one with a top 5 (link), and from a couple months ago another one of those (link), so for some variety I decided to list ones that I was disappointed with.

1. Eon
Retelling of Mulan that I actually DNF'd...I really hoped that I'd like it and tried multiple times to continue it, but it just wasn't meant to be for me.

2. Sisters Red
I have a weird relationship with this one, but for the gist of why it's on this list check out TheBookSmugglers review!

3. Faery Tales & Nightmares
I don't even remember exactly what it cointained, but I do remember NOT liking it

4. Curse Dark as Gold
As a child my favourite fairytale was Rumplestiltskin, and so when I heard of this award winning retelling I was excited. But alas, I was disappointed, but it wasn't bad per se.

5. Sleeper and the Spindle
And lastly maybe a suprise? I gave it 3 stars, so I liked it, but it was a disappointment and not memorable. The illustrations were gorgeous though!

Read on lovelies,

Sally

Read This Month

October

1. Bombshells vol. 1 graphic novel
2. And I Darken REVIEW
3. Blue Lily, Lily Blue
4. Illuminae
5. This is Where it Ends
6. The Sun is Also a Star REVIEW

The Sun is Also a Star : review

Nicola Yoon

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*Book kindly provided by Penguin, the publisher, in exchange for an honest review!*

This is the newest book by Nicola Yoon, the author of Everything, Everything,
and there won't be any spoilers!

Goodreads' link to the book

It'll be published November 1st 2016, so next week!

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>I gave this book 4 stars

So as usual, I'll tell 4 things I liked about the book and 1 thing I didn't like.

So what did I think?


+1 | The language and writing style is absolutely gorgeous. Ms Yoon also uses lists and some abstract styles, which I just absolutely love.

+2 | The characters were so alive. My heart broke in the very beginning for Natasha even though I hardly even knew her at that point.
I also loved the contrast that was between the main characters: the poet and the analytical scientist.
Also the fact that all these nationalities bonding was portrayed really well.

+3 | The premise. There were so many layers to the characters and the problems of loss and hurt they were going through are not subjects that are written about, especially I think in the YA genre.

+ 0.5 | Science. I always got so engrossed in the story when Natasha was so excitedly explaining a scientific problem.

+/- 0.5 | So many narratives. I liked it in the fact that all the characters brought more depth to the book, but at times I felt that there were too many people to remember.
Also I loved the fact that everything depended on everything, and that every choise isn't always the smallest.

- 0.5 | Instantness. Usually I'm thrown back if there is instant love or some type of deep feelings, whether it be positive or negative, towards someone you don't know. The thing is though, I kind of love it when the characters get to know that someone and change their opinion, so here it was kind of nice, but at the same time still threw me back with that "instantness".

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Overall rounding everything up, I recommend this to those who read Everything, Everything (even if you didn't really love it), and to those who want a story of struggles that aren't too commonly written about with great characters and writing syle.

Read on lovelies,

Sally

Giveaway

End

First of all thanks to those who entered, and congrats to Shannon R. the winner!

I made it available to only a handful of countries in Europe, but even so more than a thousand of you entered! And had I expanded it to the USA and Canada, I know that thousand more would've entered - and for that I am so grateful.
Also since there were some problems with the entering, so if some of you weren't able to enter, maybe next time.

Thank you to Penguin for sponsoring the giveaway books.
(link to the giveaway post here)

And also make sure to check out their Penguin Pocket Classics and the Little Black Classics
(review of them here)

Read on lovelies,

Sally

Book Cover

Tag

I'm doing a mix of two tags today and those are the beutiful book covers tag and the book cover tag.
Also some were answered in the bookshelf tag so that is linked here

1. Opinion on morphed covers
I have loads of mismatched series and I am not going to buy new ones if them just to please the eye, but there are some that are just horrible (when considering both size and covers changes).
Which is worse though? Maybe different covers, and when regarding sizes I like them to be soft covers and so the heights match most.
For example I am not bothered at all by my Ice Like Fire books 1&2 of which the first is a hard cover and second not, but the hieghts match!

2. How important is the cover
I like aesthetically nice things and with an ugly cover I might not be even drawn to pick it up, but of course what's inside is more important.

3. What types draw you in
Simplistic and graphical - as in not a real life picture. And I prefer non-neon colors.

4. Book cover pet peeves
Movie cover and "real" people faces & people over all really...

5. Short descriptions or long ones
I prefer shorter ones, but as long as it doesn't spoil too much and makes you intrigued it's good.

6. Features your fave colour
Isla and the Happily Ever After with its greeny tinge

7. Features your least fave colour
I don't like orange so The Distance Between Us

8. Fave classic cover
I love the splinter watercolor covers, but don't own any. So from the ones I own maybe the Barnes&Noble leather editons and the penguin classic fabric ones, also I really love the classic penguin covers that are quite simplistic.

9. Fave childrens book cover
I really like my puffin chalk Editions of which I have Peter Pan

10. Do you buy based on cover
Only for it's cover no, but lots of the time I see a beautiful cover and then look up what it's about and then maybe end up getting it.

Read on lovelies

And I Darken : review

Kiersten White

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*Book kindly provided by Penguin, the publisher, in exchange for an honest review!*

This is the newest book, 1st in The Conquerors Saga. by Kiersten White author of the Mind Games duology (and the Paranormalcy series, which I haven't read),
and there won't be any spoilers until below the warning at the bottom!

Goodreads' link to the book

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No one expects a princess to be brutal. And Lada Dragwyla likes it that way.

Alternate history retelling of Vlad the Impaler. except this time as Lada, a brutal princess.

Also I'd like to emphasize that this is a darker take in the YA historical fiction genre!

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>I gave this book 4 stars

So as usual, I'll tell 4 things I liked about the book and 1 thing I didn't like.

So what did I think?
+1| The language and writing style. The language was so livid which made the whole story even more interesting.

+2| Historical. I really appreciate all the work that was put into this book. You could tell as a reader that every aspect was thought of, which is extermely important, especially when it comes to historical books (even though this was a reimagining).
Also it's set in the time where women are just expected to produce an heir, and so everything Lada does she does with purpose.

+3| The main character is very different: "starring the ultimate anti-princess who does not have a gentle heart".
I was immidietly intrigued after reading just that and I wasn't dissapointed when I read it. It was really refreshing reading a different type of book, genre and character.

+/- 0.5| The world and worldbuilding. It was a lot to take in in the beginning, with the whole world. And so it kind of started slow for me but it definitely picked up the pace!

+/- 0.5| Characters and their development. As usual there were some characters that I wasn't too invested in (like Bogdan and Radu?), but there were some really fun ones to read about (Lada and Mehmed? I'm not sure if I trust him...).
Both Lada and her brother really developed during the story, from children to people with responsibilites, through loads of obstacles.

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Overall rounding everything up, I recommend this to those who want a different, darker take on a story that you might've already heard about. And you don't need to really like historical books to like this one!

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SPOILERS !!!

Moments of emotion for the reader:

+Scene at the lake (Lada&Radu) >she really cares

+Class (Lada&Radu) >again she really does care, even if it doesn't seem like it

-/+ The ending! I liked it, but I would've wanted to see what was happening in the room from Lada's perspective not Radu's...

Read on lovelies,

Sally

Genres

& feels

I mentioned in a post that I don't really read non-fiction, but when searching those I saw that there are some genres that I read even less, if at all.
I have an excel for my books read/to/etc. and so I have some charts and is one on genres (I have a weird way of sectioning them though so keep that in mind!)
So this has the list of all the books I've read in their categories.

So here they are in order (prosentages are close-ish to actuality):

Fantasy 16%

Magic 13% (and yes magic is part of fantasy, but here the section above is only non-magic fantasy...)
Graphic Novel 12% (from classics to magic)
Classic-y 12%
Realistic Fiction 11%
Romance (only) 8%
Agents 6% (um, yep these are weirdly sorted)
Retelling 4%
Dystopia 4%
Sci-fi 3%
Non-fiction 3%
Crime 2%
Short-story 2%
Childrens 1%
Novella 1%
Plays 1%
Poems 1%
Survival <1%
Horror <1%
Historical <1%

Read on lovelies,
Sally

Furthermore : review

Tahereh Mafi
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*Book kindly provided by Penguin, the publisher, in exchange for an honest review!*

This is the newest book by Tahereh Mafi author of the Shatter Me series,
and there won't be any spoilers!

Goodreads' link to the book

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[Mafi] takes readers beyond the limits of their imagination in this captivating new middle grade adventure where color is currency, adventure is inevitable, and friendship is found in the most unexpected places.

I went to the book having only read the description above which I like doing. Initially I didn't have expectations, since for me the Shatter Me series' characters stayed quite flat, but nonetheless this one really intrigued me!

Also I'd like to emphasize that even though this is a whimsical Middle Grade book, it has depth to it!

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>I gave this book 4.5 stars

So as usual, I'll tell 4.5 things I liked about the book and 0.5 things I didn't like.

So what did I think?
+1| The language and writing style. The language was so livid which made the whole story even more interesting.
Mafi also wrote side notes as a second person addressing the reader and telling the story of Alice, giving us inside knowledge which was really refreshing.

+2| The world and worldbuilding was wonderfully planned from the magic system to the currency and flowers.
We met time, gave some dirt to the sky, made sure we had our ruler at all times, since how else would you measure time (and you really need to so you won't break the law), we saw the sky changing clothes and remember: it's rude to touch someone's pocket without asking!

+3| Continuing from point +2: if I were to summarize the book in one word I'd say whimsical. It has a fairytale-esc vibem which I really loved. It was like Alice in Wonderland crossed with the Wizard of Oz to the power of 10.
As you can tell it had a lot going on and that weirdness was the perfect setting to read about Alices troubles of being different, alienation, poverty and being used when she just simply wants to get her father back.

+0.75/-0.25| Characters and their development. I really enjoyed reading about Alice, and for some reason I was really drawn to Oliver. But there were some qualities in Alice that I strongly disliked, but while reading about these characters and their impulses though, we need to remember that they're only kids.

+0.75/-0.25| Different but at times hard to understand.
From the start I wasn't sure what was going on, but it definetly kept me intrigued. I doubt the land is meant to be fully understood, but inevitably you get slightly detatched in the progress when you don't understand something.

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Overall rounding everything up, I recommend this to those who want a fun adventure and a magical system that is very different in the evergrowing sea of books to read.

Read on lovelies,

Sally

*And all the problems regarding the giveaway have been solved,

so make sure to check that out in the top right corner!*

Read This Month

September

1. Metamorphosis (CftM) REVIEW
2. The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up Non-fiction
3. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
4. The Ask and the Answer
5. Monsters of Men (Series Finisher)
6. Furthermore REVIEW

Fairytale Retellings pt.2

Top 10

I did a part one 2 years ago, link, and felt the need to do another one, since I really love fairytale retellings!

1. Goose-Girl / Thorn
One of my favourite fairytales is the Grimm brothers' story Goose-Girl, so I'm kinda always looking out for retellings of it.
So far Goose-Girl by Shannon Hale which I love (and it has three companion novels in the series!)
Another one I've read is Thorn, which was an interesting take but could've been more developed.

2. Wrath and the Dawn
This retelling duology has been really popular in the last year, and it tells the story of Shahrzad and retells the story of A Thousand and One Nights.

3. Alice in Zombieland
Loosely based on Alice in Wonderland, it tells the story of Alice Bell and you can gether what it's about from the title.

4. Just Ella
This is a very clever take on Cinderella where Ella tries to deal with her new-found status and a prince who is certainly not charming.

5. Isle of the Lost
This is the book prequel-type-thing to Disney's movie Descendants. The book is about the children of the banished villains who are trying to escape their island.
I liked the book and movie and the premise is really interesting, but I won't be continuing on with the series.

Read on lovelies,

Sally

Things We Don't Know We Know?

Language

Many of you probably saw Matthew Anderson's Twitter post circling around bbc, twitter, tumblr, pinterest - anything and everything. If not though, here is the BBC article regarding it - link.

“Adjectives in English absolutely have to be in this order: opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose Noun. So you can have a lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife. But if you mess with that word order in the slightest you’ll sound like a maniac. It’s an odd thing that every English speaker uses that list, but almost none of us could write it out.”

He raised multiple good points on things that native english speakers know, but don't know they know. I for one was tought this rule - I'm not a native speaker - but still when I came across this post I was amazed at how I haven't thought of it in years! While writing I don't think of this rule since when getting the order wrong, it just sounds horrible.

Green great dragons? Nope.

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Then he raises another rule with a bridge from the previous one.
There are some exceptions to the previous order rule like: Big Bad Wolf. But apparently not, since it follows another rule: the rule of reduplications.

Reduplication in linguistics is when you repeat a word, sometimes with an altered consonant (lovey-dovey, fuddy-duddy, nitty-gritty), and sometimes with an altered vowel: bish-bash-bosh, ding-dang-dong. If there are three words then the order has to go I, A, O.

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Then he goes to the tenses. Daunting to starters, natural to natives. To start of do you know what the future present is? Exactly. Daunting.

There are so many tenses you can use without even thinking about it, and almost certainly without being able to name them. It depends how you count them, but there are about 20 that you deploy faultlessly. The pluperfect progressive passive for an extended state of action that happened to you prior to another action in the past is, when you put it like that, rather daunting. But then you’d happily say “I realised I’d been being watched” without breaking sweat or blinking.

Another thing the author mentions is the rules of stress... I'll let you read more on that from the article.

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I remember two poems we read in class five years back and thought they would be a great addition to this post - on the daunting prospect of english as a language.

Hints on Pronunciation for Foreigners

By TSW

&

De Chaos
by Gerard Nolst Trenité

(both can be found here)

So try reading them outloud. There are also videos on YouTube to check how you did.

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Also to get a grasp on the fascination of intuition in regards to the english language check out this link I was sent: http://english.printexpress.co.uk/  to test out how well you can do with the order of adjectives.

Read on lovelies,

Sally

Giveaway!

Penguin Classics

! ! ! THE PROBLEMS SHOULD BE SORTED OUT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, AFTER WHICH YOU'LL BE ABLE TO ENTER ! ! !

As I told you yesterday, I've got some exciting news, and as you can tell from the title it's a giveaway! Beware this post will be filled with exclamation points...

So Penguin kindly provided me with some Penguin Pocket Classics to send to one lucky winner! And let me tell you, I'm ecstatic!

For the prize, one of you will be winning these:

  A Little Black Classic: Three Tang Dynasty Poets
                       This has loads of poems by these three chinese poets, and I really enjoyed it!

  A pocket book: n.27 Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Most of us have read The Little Prince, which I adore, and this one is a non-fiction book:

The aviator and author of The Little Prince describes vast,

otherworldly landscapes, crash landings and magical encounters

in his transcendent account of flying over the Sahara and the Andes.

  Another pocket book: n.10 The House of Ulloa by Emilia Pardo Bazan
I chose this for some variety and I hope the winner will get lots from this book:

Set in a crubling Spanish mansion, this gloriously comic and

gothic novel follows the fortunes of an innocent young priest as he

enters a world of moral decadence, sexual intrigue and corruption.

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At this point you're all wondering how to enter the greatness, and I decided to do it on Goodreads, since that is the place I go for all things books: catalogs, lists, new releases & other people.

So the link is on the top right side of this page!

-> you just follow the link and press the button to enter the giveaway, no commenting or following needed for entry :D
You've got til the end of the month + a week & all the countries eligable will be listed there as well.

Read on lovelies & good luck to you all,

Sally

Penguin Classics : Metamorphosis

Pocket books, little black classics & review

A new series of thirty distinctive, unforgettable Penguin Classics in a beautiful new design and pocket-sized format, with coloured jackets echoing Penguin's original covers.

www.pocketpenguins.com

From the classic orange paperbacks to the clothbound covers, the Penguin that we all recognize has lots to offer. Penguin launched a new set of classics in the classic design, with the covers coloured to show the original language.

Among this new set of pocket classics, they launched a set of 126 short books - the Little Black Classics. Like every girl needing a little black dress, these tiny books are a fantastic way for diving into the world of literature. I've only read a couple, but I am officially in love with them! Poems, short stories and other stuff (though some only have a chapter or few from a whole book and I don't know what to think of that, maybe as a sample to see if you like the style?)... You can chuck one in your bag for wherever you go and read them in a moment. That is also the beauty with the sizes of the pocket book series.

www.littleblackclassics.com

I live in the faraway country of Finland and wasn't sure if these new books could be found. So I went to Helsinki and strolled around through multiple bookstores - and there they were, in Akateeminen kirjakauppa. A table of pocket books adorned with a penguin. The pricing is also very affordable - considering the quality - and the thing that sold them for me is the floppiness! Yup, you heard me, unlike most mass market paperbacks, and small paperbacks in general, these are not the stiff ones that are hard to read and inept to keeping a clean spine. And for that I give it an A+.

Then to the review of Metamorphosis:

*book kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review!*

  This pocket book: n.8 Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

Featuring an ordinary man who wakes up to find himself turned

into a giant cockroach, Kafka's masterpiece of unease and black

humour, Metamorphosis, is brought together here with the best of his short stories.

I'd heard lots of things about this particular novel and had been wanting to read it for quite some time now. And at the same time it was worth the wait, but on the other hand, why didn't I pick this up sooner? So, yes I really liked the book and do recommend it. Also the fact that between the covers, this edition has lots of other goods to offer.

Goodreads' link & text:

From Meditation, a collection of his earlier studies; The Judgement, written in a single night of frenzied creativity; The Stoker, the first chapter of a novel set in America and a fascinating occasional peace, and The Aeroplanes at Brescia, Kafka's eyewitness account of an air display in 1909.

       Metamorphosis brought change, and alienation to a whole new level. As a cockroach one does not exaclty continue on like before. Then again a good way to impact people is to magnify and highlight the problems.

       The main character Gregor has to work through alienation and the disgust toward him from his family, not to mention trying to roll out of bed when your stuck on your shell.

    Kafka's imaginative ideas really brought to life the unforgettable struggles and thoughts that are enclosed in this book, and I think by reading it, one can learn quite a bit.

'I cannot make you understand. I cannot make anyone understand what is happening inside me. I cannot even explain it to myself.'

And for some exciting news come back tomorrow!!

Read on lovelies & good luck to you all,

Sally