Book Blogging Around The World (30) : Jakarta, Indonesia

Name : Novia Rozet
Blog : Novroz' Favorite Things 

City / Country : Jakarta, Indonesia

Welcome Novia!

Tell us a little bit about you.

I’m 32 years old and I still live with my parents, because here in my country it’s a common thing to live with our parents till we get married. When it comes to favourite things, I am a loyal person, I like the same things for years. I am a teacher and I don’t want to be anything else but a teacher. I love my pets very much, I even made a special blog for them, and my deviantart is full of their pictures. I am currently working in 2 places, as a Chemistry teacher for high school and as science experiment teacher for elementary.

Tell us a little bit about your blog.

My blog is about everything that I like (or hate – quite rarely). I write book reviews, movie reviews, music, my favourite bands (L’Arc~en~Ciel and Muse), my pets (kame and Kroten) and how to raise turtles, my job and many things. It’s a combination of 3 languages. I used to write the most in Bahasa and few in English but, since 2 years ago, I’ve been writing more and more in English.

Have you ever lived anywhere else in the world?

Is anywhere else meaning other countries? If it is, then the answer is not yet. If it is in another city, then the answer is yes, I’ve lived for 3,5 years in Bogor (a city next to Jakarta) to study.

What countries have you visited?
I have never visited other countries. I do not come from a wealthy family that can spend money to have a trip to another country.

What countries would you like to visit?
If I have a chance, even though it’s a once in a lifetime chance, I’d love to visit Japan, especially during L’Arc~en~Ciel concert tour. I love things Japanese a lot.

According to you, what are the positive and negative aspects of being a book blogger in Indonesia?
Hmmm…this is a very difficult question. Maybe, the positive aspect is the fact that there are still few book bloggers in Indonesia, and the negative aspect is people rarely read book blogs.

What Indonesian authors and books would you recommend?

The only Indonesian author that I like is Andrea Hirata. He just had his books translated into English. If you can find them, please check them out. His famous tetralogy called Rainbow Troops is based on his past, a very inspiring story. He wrote a new book recently, I’ve bought it but haven’t read it yet.

How many languages do you speak?

I can speak Bahasa (Indonesian Language), because it is my native language. I speak English fluently. I speak Japanese, but still not fluent. And I am a passive Padangese and Sundanese (Padangese and Sundanese are one of many traditional languages in Indonesia. We have 1 national language, Bahasa, and lots of traditional languages).

In which language do you read the most?

I prefer to read books in their original languages (not the translated ones). Since I can read English, I read more and more books in English. I try reading Manga (Japanese Comic) in Japanese. Which one is the most? The answer is in English.

Where do you usually buy your books?

Bookstores such as Times, Periplus and Kinokuniya. I also like to visit second-hand bookstores and book fairs to find cheaper books.

Is getting your hands on foreign books tricky or easy (not mentioning online stores)?

It depends! There are a lot of book stores that sell imported books in Jakarta and Bandung (it’s very difficult outside these 2 cities), therefore it is easy to buy foreign books. But, finding the ones that I want are a bit tricky. I love Stephen King books but they don’t sell much of his books, sometimes I ask someone to buy it for me when he/she goes to another country.

Every country has its clichés. What cliché about Indonesia do you consider disproportionate?
Another difficult question. If you ever heard that Indonesia is a clean country, then you heard it wrong! Because people are still throwing garbage everywhere…one of the things that I hate from most of Indonesian people.

I read that Indonesia is home to some of the rarest creatures in the world, including miniature deer or fish that climb trees to catch insects for example. If you could be an animal with unusual powers, what would you be?
I want to be a komodo dragon because you could only find me here in Indonesia :)

Quick Q&A :

Favourite thing about living in Indonesia:
Least favourite thing about living in Indonesia: Undisciplined People
Favourite typically Indonesian food: Padang Sate
Favourite place in Jakarta: I have no favorite place

Favourite bookshop: Times
Favourite Indonesian author: Andrea Hirata

Favourite Indonesian singer/band: The S.I.G.I.T
Favourite kind of book to read while travelling: Mystery books
Plane or train: Plane

Boat or bus: : Bus

Bike or feet: Feet
Islands are thousands in Indonesia.
My blog is the reflection of my hobbies.

Thank you Novia! It was a pleasure having you up on the hill!

Next week we'll be traveling to Australia!

 
If you'd like to be featured, this post is for you.

It's Time to Vote!

Hey ya all!

As I mentioned a few days ago, I entered Brizmus' Make Me A Button Giveaway and designed a button for her Nihon no Kinyoubi feature, aka Japanese Friday, aka French Friday turned Japanese! And now it's time to vote for your favourite button!

There are some really beautiful entries (I LOVE Kirthi's third button, it's just gorgeous!). So it's time for you to make your choice.

So hop off over here to vote!

My entries:

French Friday (36)

Hello dear French Fridayers!

Now, let's get back to business wiiiith... French covers!

Solace of the Road by Siobhan Dowd

French Title: Où Vas-tu, Sunshine ? (Where Are You Going, Sunshine?)

 

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares
French Title: Quatre Filles et un Jean (Four Girls and One Pair of Jeans)

 

 Wishing For Tomorrow by Hilary McKay
French Title: Les Petites Pensionnaires (The Little Boarders)

 

My thoughts on the covers:

Solace of the Road

I Definitely like the original one better. I love the colors and basically the whole picture. And shall I remind you that I'm not a fan of covers with faces on it?! Plus, what is that title's translation? Why?

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

I like the French cover better. I'm not fond of the font they used on the original cover, and the pair of jeans are just too.. simple? I think the French cover has more peps, with the colors and all.

Wishing For Tomorrow

Again, I must say that I like the French cover better. It's more simple, with less things to look at. And I love the tree. :) It's funny how they used the same girl but not the same place.

Now, What do YOU think?

The Compound (by S.A. Bodeen)

THE COMPOUND
by S.A. Bodeen
Release date: September 2009

Eli and his family have lived in the underground Compound for six years. The world they knew is gone, and they’ve become accustomed to their new life. Accustomed, but not happy. No amount of luxury can stifle the dull routine of living in the same place, with only his two sisters, only his father and mother, doing the same thing day after day after day. As problems with their carefully planned existence threaten to destroy their sanctuary—and their sanity—Eli can’t help but wonder if he’d rather take his chances outside. Eli’s father built the Compound to keep them safe. But are they safe—really? (taken from MacMillan)

MY THOUGHTS : May I say that I ADORED this book?! The permanent suspense and the way the story grew crescendo throughout the whole book turned the atmosphere into that of a Kubrick movie. The characters are perfectly characterized. I lived Eli's life in the compound through his eyes, trying to shield myself from the truth just like he does, which led to discovering this same truth together. Life in the compound and the relationships between all family members are described wonderfully, giving free rein to the imagination but being clear enough not to miss any details. Unexpected twists are around the corner almost during the whole read. It's a very humane story, generating multiple issues, including ethical ones. I kept on wondering what I would have done in their place, which I always love to do when reading a book. A vibrant and original book, I had trouble putting it down and almost read it in one sitting!

Book Blogging Around The World (29) : Hampshire, England

Name : Sasha

Blog : The Sweet Bonjour

County / Country : Hampshire, England

Welcome Sasha!
And HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Tell us a little bit about you.

Howdy y’all! That is something I’d never ever in a billion years get away with saying as I’m a Brit who lives in a kind of insignificant village in the very, very, very, very South of England. It’s near Southampton and Portsmouth but is often overshadowed by these two rather large cities. I’m fourteen and I love reading as well as watching movies (although I’m very critical of every single film I watch), eating Oreos and procrastinating.

Tell us a little bit about your blog.

The Sweet Bonjour is a Young Adult blog that centres around most types of teen fiction. I tend to review books within the romance, fantasy, realistic fiction, comedy area. I take part in In My Mailbox and Waiting On Wednesday as well as posting reviews, interviews, guest posts and just random pieces of bookish news.

Have you ever lived anywhere else in the world?
Nope! I’ve lived in England for the fourteen years that I’ve been alive. It’s okay but I’m planning to live somewhere else in the future. New York, maybe?

What countries have you visited?
Now I think about it, I’ve visited quite a number of places. I’ve been to: Spain, France, Italy, Austria, Holland, Florida, Turkey, China and Wales. I know Wales isn’t that far away but it’s still a different country. I have a feeling I’ve been to other places as well but I can’t remember. I loved Florida! I went to Disney World and swam with dolphins which was just amazing! I also loved China because it was so different and…well it’s China! My all time favourite place was Venice. I LOVE Venice. It was so gorgeous and scenic. I’m also from Italian heritage so I guess I was destined to like it.

Street market in Shanghai

What countries would you like to visit?
Wow, there’s too many to count. Let’s start with Japan, Thailand, India, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Egypt, Lapland. I love countries where you can visit something totally different and immerse yourself in the culture. I’m not really a ‘Oh, let’s go on holiday so we can sunbathe’ kind of person. If I wanted to sunbathe, I could do it here.

According to you, what are the positive and negative aspects of being a book blogger in England?
To be honest there aren’t really any of either. Obviously I like being a blogger so I guess that’s a positive. I like chatting to other bloggers who like books as much as I do. I like talking to authors and I like getting star struck (over the internet if that’s possible) when it’s an author I love. I remember when I went to the Richelle Mead signing and that was all thanks to blogging and reading other people’s blogs. I was like ‘Omigod! It’s Richelle Mead!!’

At the Richelle Mead signing

What English authors and books would you recommend?

I actually can’t think of any English authors off the top of my head. Wow, that’s bad but down to the fact that I read a lot of books by American authors. Most of my favourite books are by American authors as well. Err, let’s see…I really like books by Luisa Plaja and Grace Dent. Julia Green is also a good author with two really awesome books that I liked. I can’t believe my mind went blank at English authors. Err, what about J.K Rowling?! Anyhoodle…

How many languages do you speak?

Just English. I am still at school so I learn French and German but am nowhere near to speaking them fluently. I’m not that good at languages to be honest but I’ll make it my mission to learn a different language one day even though I’ll just forget it all as soon as I’ve learnt it.

Where do you usually buy your books?

Usually in bookshops like Waterstones or W.H Smiths. I sometimes order things off of Amazon or online stores so I can read books that aren’t available in England yet. I’m a neat freak so all of my books have to be in pristine condition. Therefore, I probably wouldn’t buy them in a charity shop.

Is getting your hands on foreign books tricky or easy (not mentioning online stores)?

If we’re not mentioning online stores, it’s practically impossible! All of the new releases in the U.S, are extremely hard to come by without going on Amazon. On the very rare occasion that I do find a book that hasn’t been officially published in the U.K, I tend to buy it. If I ever saw something like Brightly Woven or The Iron King in a U.K store, I’d be flabbergasted!

Every country has its clichés. What cliché about England do you consider disproportionate?
After speaking to many people who live in America, they all seemed to think everyone in England lived in little thatched cottages like we did about five-hundred years ago. For anyone who thinks this, it’s most definitely not true. Not everyone in England knows each other either; there are quite a lot of people in this country.

Hampshire is famed as home of Jane Austen. If you could come back in time and meet her, what would be the first thing you would ask her?
I think I would ask her what her biggest secret was. She probably wouldn’t tell me anyway but people who want to know everything about Jane Austen, still don’t know her deepest darkest secrets. I would want to be the only person in modern day times who’d know something utterly shocking about someone as famous as Jane Austen.


Quick Q&A :

Favourite thing about living in England: Being two hours away from London!
Least favourite thing about living in England: Katie Price and Alex Reid.
Favourite typically English food: Fish & Chips
Favourite place in Hampshire: Southampton.

Favourite bookshop: Waterstones.

Favourite English author: Luisa Plaja
Favourite English singer/band: Florence + The Machine.

Favourite book to read while travelling: Perfect Chemistry

Plane or train: Plane
Boat or bus: : Bus

Bike or feet: Bike
I don’t particularly like tea.
I hate pickled onions, but love ice cream. Nomnom!

Thank you Sasha! It was a pleasure having you up on the hill!

Next week we'll be traveling to Indonesia!

 
If you'd like to be featured, this post is for you.

My Life as a Book (2010 version)

A year ago, I was getting acquainted with the blogosphere. I had started a personal blog (that doesn't exist anymore), where books took so much place that I decided to create The Book on the Hill.

At the time, I participated in a fun meme that I'd seen on many blogs (so many that I haven't the slightest idea of who created it!). The idea was to answer some questions using titles of books that were read during the year. Unfortunately my 2009 version of the meme is not online anymore since I deleted my old blog. But I just saw over at Pop Culture Nerd that she was doing a 2010 version of the meme! So I thought I'd give it another go! She reworded some of the sentences and skipped some others, but I stuck to the original ones.

Here it goes!

Describe yourself: Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

How do you feel: Spoiled.

Describe where you currently live: 666 Park Avenue.

If you could go anywhere, where would you go: Wildwood.

Your best friend is: Guardian of the Dead.

You and your friends are: Little Vampire Women.

What's the weather like: Unearthly.

Favourite time of day: By Midnight

What is life to you: Revolution.

You fear: Personal Demons.

What is the best advice you have to give: Shift.

Thought for the Day: Sucks to be Me.

How I would like to die: Sudden Death.

My soul’s present condition: Cloaked.

Books mentioned :

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini TAylor
Spoiled by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan
666 Park Avenue by Gabriella Pierce
Wildwood by Colin Meloy

Guardian of the Dead by

Little Vampire Women by Lynn Messina
Unearthly by Cynthia Hand
By Midnight by Mia James
Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly
Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers

Shift by Nicole Maggi

Sucks to be Me by Kimberly Pauley

Sudden Death by Nick Hale

Cloaked by Alex Flinn

Wanna join?!

The Eyes of a King (by Catherine Banner)

THE EYES OF A KING
by Catherine Banner
Release date : May 2008

Fifteen-year-old Leo North's prospects in life are limited. He attends military school, lives with his fearful grandmother, and looks after his brother Stirling. He resists his innate powers, because those who demonstrate any sort of magical ability are considered enemies of the state. But when he finds a blank book in the snow, his typical indifference melts away. From the first moment he touches the book, he senses its strange power. Passages start to appear on the pages—revealing family secrets, telling the history of Malonia, and uncovering the story of Ryan and Anna, two teens from a parallel universe. When Leo’s seemingly narrow path takes an unexpected tragic turn, he finds himself on a journey from which he can never really return. And, as he slowly begins to lose touch with reality, Ryan and Anna’s story comes to the forefront. Their idyllic summer romance—seemingly worlds away from Leo—has everything to do with Malonia. (taken from Random House)

MY THOUGHTS : There are times in life where some things make you angry. When you failed doing something. When you were forbidden to do something you were dying to do. But also when you go and see a movie that is so bad you want to call the director to ask him what was going on in his head when he made it. Or when you read a book that doesn't, in your mind, deserve to be called a book.

I am a nice person. I read a lot of books. My job made be become more and more critical, but in a good way. I am not mean. I simply judge a book for what it is. On this blog, even when I'm not a huge fan of a book, I talk about its positive side and try to be fair. My tastes are not everyone's taste.

But this book is, out of all the 300 books I've read so far as a reader, the one that made me the more angry, frustrated and bored all at the same time. I know that sounds harsh. But I couldn't find one single positive thing to say. I browsed through the reviews on the internet, and saw that my thoughts were shared by many readers. Phew, at least I'm not alone! Now, to the review. I will, for this book, write my review as a list. A list of all the things that made my reading laborious and frustrating.

- The narrative is divided into three stories / different narrators, written in three different fonts: Leo, who recounts his experiences in the past (regular font). The book, which tells the parallel story as a third person (font type "manuscript", ouch for my eyes). And Leo's thoughts on what is being told in the main story (normal font in italic). Very confusing, poorly controlled, I found the change of narrative more disturbing than interesting. In addition, the narrative written in the book appears after a while in Leo's dreams and arises sometimes without you knowing where it came from.
- I was lost with the characters: I didn't understand who was who, who was where and why, and I didn't stick with anyone, not even the protagonists. I won't share spoilers, but one major scene that should've been intense and sad didn't move me at all.
- "I started" was repeated a hundred times.
- In the second half of the book, I felt like I had no choice but follow the non-adventures of a young man who is mourning, crying day and night, and regularly fainting. Leo's tears got to my nerves big time.
- I found the dialogues too elaborate, it became tiring.
- We are led to believe that at some point the story that takes place in the parallel world will mingle with that of Leo, but it only happens late, and without being brought up in an interesting way.
- The general themes of death, religion and politics are treated too lightly and simplistically.
- The book could've been way shorter.

I always finish books, even when I have trouble doing so. This time, I wanted to put it down every five minutes. I don't enjoy ranting, but I really needed to share my thoughts on this one. And I would love to have opinions of people who read it and either liked it or disliked it.

Has it ever happened to you to feel angry after reading a book?

To end on a positive note, here is a link to a more positive review. :)

Make The Girl a Button!

Hello everyone!

Remember French Fridays?
Remember how Audrey, from Brizmus Blogs Books, used to participate when she lived in Paris? Well, now the lucky girl is living the dream in Japan, and her French Fridays became Nihon no Kinyoubi aka Japanese Fridays.

But Nihon no Kinyoubi doesn't have a feature button! How could that be?! So Audrey is having a Make me a Button Giveaway. And, of course, I HAD to participate! I just can't help myself, when there are buttons involved, I'm there!

So, if you haven't entered, if you like designing buttons, and if you want to win a book, this is the place to go to do so! The giveaway had been extended, so you still have your chance.

Here are my entries (yes, I know, I made TWO buttons...).
I will probably get back to you when the voting starts for a little help from my friends... :)

Book Blogging Around The World (28) : San Francisco, USA

Name : Leah aka Amused

Blog : Amused by Books

City / Country : San Francisco / California / USA

Welcome Leah!

Tell us a little bit about you.

Hi there! In real life my name is Leah, but around these parts I go by Amused. Why? Because books amuse me so! Don't you just find them so amusing too? Whether I love them or hate them I blog all about them and tell you whether you should read them or push them aside for something even better!

Sometimes I like to blog about other things to, like how to decorate with books and how to use those books to cook with. I love to read fiction of any kind (and some non-fiction!).

Monterey, CA

When not reading, I am working hard for my money, exploring the great city of San Francisco, and harassing my boyfriend's cat. I work full-time but nobody wants to hear about that, so in my off-time, I also love to cook and when that fails, head out and try one of the many delicious restaurants in the city. My boyfriend and I enjoy fixing up our house by visiting flea markets and plant indoor gardens in our small space. My green thumb is getting better but if you have any tips I will gladly take them because so far I have spent a lot of money on plants that I quickly throw out! In the summer time we love to bbq and make delicious cocktails. I also love to do a bootcamp near my house in the park – it kicks my butt but it’s totally worth it!

Tell us a little bit about your blog.

I started my blog in September of 2009. I’ve always been an avid reader and I was getting a lot of my book recommendations from magazines and discovered that they were often leading me towards books that were not very good. This soon led me to searching the internet for recommendations which lead me to book blogs. A light bulb went off. What a wonderful idea! Cataloguing and discussing your books online with like minded people! It sounded like so much fun and I am so glad I started my blog because everyone is so friendly and there are always so many wonderful events going on. I have learned so much since starting my blog and believe me, the book recommendations have vastly improved since reading blogs and I hope others have gotten a lot of great recommendations from reading mine!

I love to read general fiction and some non-fiction. If you're just checking me out for the first time you might not know that I am a pretty eclectic reader. I love to read all of the books that get listed for the Man Booker and Orange Prize lists but when it comes right down to it, I also love some chick-lit and domestic fiction too. Travel memoirs and historical fiction are great for those times when you just want to escape and non-fiction and cookbooks are great when you need to learn something new. So as you can see, basically throw something at me that sounds interesting, and chances are, I'll find a reason to be amused!

me at the LA Times Festival of Books

Have you ever lived anywhere else in the world?
I am pretty much a West Coast girl through and through. I was born in a small town in Idaho but my family quickly moved us to Seattle, WA. When people ask me where I grew up that’s where I say. To me, I will always consider some of my home in Seattle. The mountains, and the ocean, and the beautiful trees all in one spot it’s hard to compare. I know some people complain that it rains too much but I think that it’s totally worth it for the natural beauty!

During college I spent a semester living in London. That was one probably the most fun 6 months of my life! I had an absolute blast living that far away from my family for the first time in my life, travelling around Europe and learning to really rely on myself. I forged some of my most lasting friendships while living there and as a result, London will always hold a special place in my heart.

After college, I lived in Portland, OR for one year. It was pretty but too much like a little Seattle for me and I needed a bigger change and that’s when I moved to San Francisco and I’ve been here for five years now and it really feels like home.

Port of SF

What countries have you visited?
I’ve been through most of Europe, the UK like I mentioned, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, France, Germany, Austria, Spain, Italy, Czech Republic, Hungary and Portugal. Every time I travel to Europe there is a new place I want to visit and old places that I’ve been that I want to go back. It’s hard to pick a favourite!

Growing up in Washington, Canada was just across the border (and their legal drinking age was before that of the US, so you know, trips had to be made!) so I’ve been to Vancouver, Whistler, and Victoria in British Columbia.

Also living in California puts us close to Mexico (and again their legal drinking age is a little more lax, man this is starting to make me look like a lush!) so trips across the border to Tijuana and Ensenada had to be made. All very cultural indeed!

Oh and obviously, lots of places throughout the US but I’m not sure that counts here...

What countries would you like to visit?
Let me count the many! Well I definitely want to go to Australia and New Zealand at some point! I have a real fascination with the place. I think it just looks like so much fun and the people are so friendly! There are still lots of places in Italy I’d love to go to and I haven’t been to Scandinavia. I would also love to visit South America. Oh and I hear the Bahamas are lovely this time of year. :)

San Francisco's Coit Tower

According to you, what are the positive and negative aspects of being a book blogger in America?
As far as positives go, from what I can tell we seem to have a lot of resources at our disposal with authors and publishing houses on our shores. I would say that having so many book bloggers in the US is great because there is always someone to chat with but since the Internet is 24 hours we can chat with anyone anywhere and I love to connect with people worldwide so I don’t really think that matters in the end.

As far as negative aspects, I have noticed that there are times when it can take forever for foreign books, and by foreign, I mean even British books that have been nominated for major awards to reach our shores! And as someone who tries to read all of those books that can be incredibly frustrating. I think American publishers can be very “American-centric’ if you know what I mean.

What American authors and books would you recommend?
Fun question! What book enthusiast doesn’t love to discuss questions like this? I would have to put Barbara Kingslover at the top of my list. Most of her books are by far, some of my favourites (let’s just not talk about her most recent!). If you haven’t read The Poisonwood Bible and The Bean Trees please do! Some recent books by American authors that I’ve loved include Kelly Corrigan’s The Middle Place (Northern California Author!), Kathryn Stockett’s The Help, and The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls.

How many languages do you speak?
Well, English is what I was born and raised on. My family (from way back) is German so I took that in high school and some classes later on. I was able to practice this when I visited Munich multiple times. I thought what I was saying sounded exactly like what they were saying, but honestly they probably spoke better English than me so we stuck with that!

Where do you usually buy your books?
Honestly, I use a book swapping site called paperbackswap.com. It’s the best thing ever to feed my habit! I couldn’t afford to continue to buy new books all of the time. It was getting too expensive. When I do though, I’ll use Borders, Amazon or some of the many specialty local bookstores in San Francisco. San Francisco likes their quirky bookstores, like bookstores that just do travel or just do cookbooks, so it’s not really one stop shopping!

Is getting your hands on foreign books tricky or easy (not mentioning online stores)?
Well like I said earlier I would say that American publishers, I think, tend to favour American authors unless they are big names. Even if they are award winning. Once they get recognized then we can get them pretty easily. It takes time though!

Every country has its clichés. What cliché about America do you consider disproportionate?
What, the cliché that we are all fat and loud? What don’t say everyone doesn’t say that about us! Here’s what I think, I live on the West Coast which is known for its good weather and it’s outdoorsy healthy types. We’re generally pretty fit but you travel around a bit, and yeah there are some pretty obese people up in this land of ours but there are in lots of 1st world countries so good luck with that. Loud, well, say it loud, say it proud! When you are in a foreign country just try not to bring your US of A hat, ok people?!

The fortune cookie was first baked in San Francisco at the Japanese Tea Garden. If you opened a fortune cookie right now, what would you want it to say?
That’s true, I’ve been there! I’d want it to say something like “You live long, happy life and will be loved’.

Quick Q&A :

Favourite thing about living in America : Mexican Food!
Least favourite thing about living in America : Strip-Malls
Favourite typically American food : Pie
Favourite place in San Francisco : Dolores Park

Favourite bookshop: Omnivore Books

Favourite American author: Barbara Kingslover
Favourite American singer/band: Creedence Clearwater Revival

Favourite book to read while travelling: Anything by Bill Bryson

Plane or train: Plane
Boat or bus: : Boat – Cruise preferably!

Bike or feet: Feet
I’ve always been crazy but at least I’m not going insane (quote from an awesome Waylon Jennings song!).
I would never say never in California.

 

Thank you Leah! It was a pleasure having you up on the hill!

Next week we'll be traveling to England!

 
If you'd like to be featured, this post is for you.

I. Can't. Wait.

November seems so far away suddenly...

YA Fantasy Character Showdown

The ultimate battle is going down now!
Check it out!

Book Blogging Around The World (27) : Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Name : Larissa
Blog : Welcome To Larissa’s Bookish life

City / Country : Rio de Janeiro / Brazil

Welcome Larissa!

Tell us a little bit about you.

I’m a 26-year-old book lover. I’ve studied English language and Communications in college but never graduated. I was an English as a second language teacher for 6 years until 2007. I lived the last 3 years in Israel, but I moved back to my hometown 3 months ago. I LOVE reading and I have been known for reading VERY fast. I read 350 books in 2009 =)

Tell us a little bit about your blog.

I started my blog in November 2007. It was called Welcome to Larissa’s Life and it was a personal blog. November last year I started tweeting a lot and followed my favourite authors. I met a few book bloggers and it was then that I thought “I have this blog that I update much, I read a LOT, why don’t I start reviewing the books I read?”. I started book reviewing right then and there and never stopped.

Have you ever lived anywhere else in the world?

Yeah, I went to Disney World when I was 13 =). I lived in Israel for 3 years and I went to Rome in February for a week.

What countries have you visited?

U.S, Israel and Italy.

What countries would you like to visit?

England, Australia, U.S again =)

According to you, what are the positive and negative aspects of being a book blogger in Brazil?

The negative is that it’s really hard to get books in English here so I spend a lot on Amazon. Also, because of copyright, most publishers can’t send me books for review.
The positive is that I am one of the, or the only person in Brazil, book blogging in English... It’s pretty cool.

What Brazilian authors and books would you recommend?

I haven’t really read anything in Portuguese in a LONG time. I don’t know =/

How many languages do you speak?

Four languages. English and Portuguese fluently, Spanish pretty well and basic Hebrew as well.

In which language do you read the most?
English.

Where do you usually buy your books?

eBook stores or Amazon.com.

Is getting your hands on foreign books tricky or easy (not mentioning online stores)?

Very tricky. They don’t have many options of books in English in our local bookstores.

Every country has its clichés. What cliché about Brazil do you consider disproportionate?

There are a few, but the one that Brazilian women are easy is the worst in my opinion.

You’ve lived in Tel Aviv, Israel, for three years. What are your best memories of your life there?
Feeling like home, the feeling of safety when walking around the streets; People usually have the wrong idea, but I never felt safer anywhere else, ever.

Quick Q&A :

Favourite thing about living in Brazil : No language barriers
Least favourite thing about living in Brazil : the heat
Favourite typically Brazilian food : Churrasco
Favourite place in Rio : my home

Favourite bookshop: Saraiva Megastore

Favourite Brazilian author: I don’t know
Favourite Brazilian singer/band: Cazuza and Renato Russo

Favourite book to read while travelling: hmmm any book I’m reading at the moment

Plane or train: Plane
Boat or bus: : Boat

Bike or feet: Feet
I would never forget in Rio.
I don’t care for coffee.

Thank you Larissa! It was a pleasure having you up on the hill!

Next week we'll be traveling to the USA!

 
If you'd like to be featured, this post is for you.

French Friday (35)

Hello everyone!

Welcome to this week's French Friday!

Here is a little ol' round of covers for your lovely eyes...

Das Geheimnis um die Seelenpest (The Secret of the Soul Pest)
French title : La Peste des Âmes (The Soul Pest)

Day of Tears by Julius Lester

French title : Les Larmes Noires (Black Tears)

The Hollow People by Brian Keaney

French title : Le Rêve Interdit (The Forbidden Dream)

The Cracked Mirror by Brian Keaney

French Title : Le Sacrifice (The Sacrifice)

My favorites ?

1. French

2. Original

3 and 4 : French

What do you think?