Joining some more challenges!

I know, I know. I already signed up for several reading challenges and I really don't need many more. However I have two challenges that I am joining. One is only for this month and the other one is the library challenge I was looking for!

First off is another round of Pin it and do it hosted by Trish of Love Laughter and a Touch of Insanity. There isn't an official sign up post but you can join in an link up any finished project you have done.
I will be aiming to complete at least 4 pins for the level of Pinterested.

A Library Reading Challenge is hosted by Gina from the Book Dragons Lair. I am joining because I do already read a lot from the library and I want to continue doing so. I will be signing up for the middle grade level of 18 library books. I might read more, but I can move up, just not down. For the rules and to sign up, please follow the link above.

Will you be joining any of these challenges? 

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Reading Challenges 2013

I know I need to do wrap up posts from several 2012 challenges, but that doesn't stop me from signing up for new challenges in 2013.

First I host the Wishlist Challenge 2013. Read 12 books of your pre 2013 wishlist, one for each month. I have written a seperate entry about that and you can read it here.

I will join the Foodies Reading Challenge once more, Because it also allows cookbooks, I always find it a fun challenge. I will be doing the Chef du Cuisine level - 14 to 18 books. This year the Foodie Reading Challenge can be found on it's own page.

A new challenge I will be joining is the Ik lees Nederlands Challenge, hosted by Judith on her Dutch blog De Boekblogger. The goal is to read books from Dutch authors. So far most Dutch authors I know, I find longwinding. It must be the last remaining part of the dislike for reading I had while in high school. They really kill every love for reading in there by forcing you to read all these boring books and in my case mainly by Dutch authors. I thought long and hard about joining this challenge, but I decided to give it a go and see if I can change my mind about Dutch authors. I am in doubt about reading 5 or 10 books. I actually have some Dutch books on hold at the library and I can make it to 6 books ;) So I guess I will be aiming for 10, which is the Stroopwafel level.

And finally I will join the 2013 ebook challenge at Workaday Reads. Because I now have a Kobo Touch eReader, I can actually read ebooks in a relaxing way. I will sign up for the CD level, this means 10 ebooks. This doesn't sound like much but the next level is 25 ebooks. And I think that is too much.

I am not signing up for another dystopia challenge like last year. I thought it was fun, but now I want to spread my genres more. I also won't sign up for the what's in a name challenge. Again, very fun! But I need to limit the amount of challenges I do, or else I will not ending up completing any at all.

However I am still looking for a library reading challenge!

Which reading challenges did you join?

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Wishlist Challenge Wrap Up post

I participated in the Wishlist Challenge hosted by Leeswammes this year. Where the goal was to read 1 book each month from your wishlist (12 for the year).

My original list was this one:

1) The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - Read & Reviewed
2) The Kitchen Daughter by Jeal McHenry - Read & Reviewed
3) Crossed by Ally Condie - Read & Reviewed
4) Among Others by Jo Walton - Chose as prize from bloggiesta
5) Eve by Anna Carey - Read & Reviewed
6) When She Woke by Hillary Jordan - Read & Reviewed
7) Miles from Ordinary by Carol Lynch Williams
8) Orchards by Holly Thompson - Bought
9) Bitter Melon by Cara Chow
10) Season to Taste by Molly Birnbaum
11) Chi's Sweet Home vol.3 by Kanata Konami - Read & Reviewed
12) With the Light vol.5 by Keiko Tobe

As you can see I have finished 6 books of my orignal list. 2 of them I actually own, but I haven't read yet. (there is still time!) and the other 4 I wasn't able to get because they weren't at the library and too expensive to buy. (I don't buy that many books). Luckily you were allowed to use your whole wishlist as long as it was from before 2012 and I made a list of reserves. So lets see if I made 12 books!

1) Where She Went by Gayle Forman - Read & Reviewed
2) Left Neglected by Lisa Genova - Read & Reviewed
3) Grace Williams Says it Loud by Emma Henderson - Read (dnf) & Reviewed
4) Chocolat by Joanne Harris - Read (review to come)
5) Kobato vol 3 by CLAMP - Read (review to come)
6) Kobato vol 4 by CLAMP - Read (review to come)

I barely managed to finish but I did it! To me the key was to set up a selection of my wishlist on the blog and choose from there mainly but not stick to it if you can't make it and switch in other books from your larger wishlist. It does help that my wishlist is huge! My current new wishlist is around 250 books ;) All though I plan to sort it out and see if I still actually want to read all those books ;) It also helped me to read a lot of those books in the beginning of the year when your choices are still new and fresh :)

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What's in a Name Challenge Wrap Up

I am participating in some reading challenges and What's in a Name, hosted by Beth Fish Reads is all about picking titles with names in certain categories. Because I don't want to swamp you at the end of the year with a ton of wrap up posts and I already finished this one, I decided to to my wrap up post now.

Here is what I read:

1. A book with a topographical feature (land formation) in the title: Shanghai Girls by Lisa See. (review here)
2. A book with something you’d see in the sky in the title: Probably the Fault in our Stars by John Green (review here)
3. A book with a creepy crawly in the title: The Spiderwick Chronicles (review here)
4. A book with a type of house in the title: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (review here)
5. A book with something you’d carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack in the title: Snow Flower and the secret fan by Lisa See. (review here)
6. A book with a something you’d find on a calendar in the title: The potential Hazards of Hester day (review here)

It was fun to choose titles like this but it could be kinda hard. The creepy crawly category was the hardest for me. Depending on which categories there are, I will participate again next year.

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Pin it and Do it! October edition.

I participated in the first challenge where it is all about pinterest and now I am back for more. How often do we pin things to our boards, and then just leave them there, doing nothing with them? This challenge from Trish at Love, Laughter and a Touch of Insanity, helps to actually do some stuff from the things we stick a pin in.

The Details (shamelessly copy pasted):
1. To participate you will choose your level and then make (or do) that amount of pins during October 2012. Challenge ends October 31st.
2. Report back on your Pin It and Do It success. On October 1st I'll post a linky for you to link up. Ideally this will come in the form of a blog or tumblr post. Or you can post about it on Facebook or Flickr if you don’t have a blog or tumblr. Or create a board on Pinterest for this challenge. If none of the above, report your success in the Wrap-Up Post comments.
3. Anyone is welcome to join. If you need an invite to Pinterest, let me know your email address and I’ll send an invite.

The Levels: 
Timid Pinner: 1-3 Pins
Pinterested: 4-7 Pins
Pin Obsessed: 8+ Pins

I will be going for the Pinterested level. Sounds like fun? Sign up here.

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Joining: Pin It and Do It: A Pinteresting Challenge

This is a challenge hosted by Trish from Love, Laughter and a Touch of Insanity. This challenge is all about using that inspiration we store on Pinterest and then might be forgotten. I often use Pinterest for recipes and sometimes I even have a Pinterest week where I will mainly cook from there. But this challenge sounded like fun so I am in! I will be joining on the Pinterested level.

Here are the details copied from Trish her post:

Pin It and Do It: A Pinteresting Challenge 

The Details:
1. To participate you will choose your level and then make (or do) that amount of pins during May 2012. Challenge ends May 31st. (can be new pins or old pins...doesn't matter)
2. Report back on your Pin It and Do It success. Ideally this will come in the form of a blog or tumblr post. Or you can post about it on Facebook or Flickr if you don’t have a blog or tumblr. Or create a board on Pinterest for this challenge. If none of the above, report your success in the Wrap-Up Post comments.
3. Anyone is welcome to join. If you need an invite to Pinterest, let me know your email address and I’ll send an invite.

The Levels: 
Timid Pinner: 1-3 Pins
Pinterested: 4-7 Pins
Pin Obsessed: 8+ Pins

Some Pinterest Etiquette and Courtesies:
-- If you create a pin from a post, make sure you are pinning the true URL of the post and not the main website so folks can easily find the link again.
--When you create a pin, try to include the website in the description of the pin.
--Do not include the entire recipe or instructions in the pin description.
--If you embed a pinned picture on your own blog, make it clear that it is not your original picture
--a link back to the original blog post is always appreciated.

And other little tidbits...this does not have to be a food or crafting challenge. Saw an interesting photography lesson? Click! An outfit you'd love to put together? Yup! Organizing idea for around the house? Go for it! A workout Regiment? Kick butt! Really this challenge is endless--you just need to tell us what you pinned and what you did. Make sure to note the original pin wherever you complete your wrapup (or if you do progress reports) to give the originator credit.

Pinterested? Sign up here!

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Wrapping up the Magical March Challenge

In March Adam of Roof Beam Reader is hosting the Magical March challenge. I have read several books in the fantasy and dystopian genre and today I will write the wrap up post for this challenge. Let's see how well I did ;)

The Levels:
Magician’s Class: 1-2 Books Read & Reviewed
Sorcerer’s Class: 3-5 Books Read & Reviewed
Wizard’s Class: 6-7 Books Read & Reviewed
Grand Merlin Class: 8+ Books Read & Reviewed

I was aiming for the Sorcerer's Class and to read between 3 and 5 books and I made a list below.

1) A Hat Full of Sky - Terry Pratchett
2) Wintersmith - Terry Pratchett
3) The Northern Lights by Philip Pullman
4) Some books of the Spiderwick Chronicles series

This was my original plan. However because I had some dystopian books on hold at the library that finally came through, I had to change around my reading plan and this is probably the reason why I read a lot more than I thought I would.

So I ended up reading:
All five books from the Spider Chronicles series (review here)
A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett (review here)
Delirium by Lauren Oliver (review here)
Crossed by Ally Condie (review here)

This makes 8 books in total which means I made it to the Grand Merlin Class! I would never have thought I would make that, but it turned out I did. I am pretty amazed by that. Also.... I hope that everyone who participated enjoyed this challenge very much and I hope that Adam will host this one next year too!

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Joining the Magical March Challenge

Adam from Roof Beam Reader is hosting this challenge and because I have some Fantasy books on my shelves that are still unread, I will join this challenge.

Here is the info from Adams blog:

Throughout the month of March, a Mister Linky will be available for pre-registered challengers to link-up their qualifying reviews. There are different “classes” of magician, outlined below, and completion of the various levels could earn you a prize!

Rules:

- You must register with the Mister Linky below prior to March 5th in order to be eligible to participate.
- You must read only “new” books – meaning, no re-reads are allowed. Books for other challenges can be cross-used for this one, but you must read the book and review it in the month of March (previously completed books for other challenges do not qualify).
- You must link up each book review to a separate Mister Linky, which will be available on March 5th (once registrations close).
- Challengers must post on their blog an “Announcement” post, indicating they are participating in this challenge and which level they hope to attain. One completer from each “Class” will be randomly selected to win the corresponding prize for that level.
- You do not need to meet your level in order to win a prize. If you aim for “Grand Merlin Class” but only achieve “Magician’s Class,” you will still be entered into the Magician’s Prize Pool!
- You do not need to list your books in advance, but I plan on doing so (to keep me motivated and to help me stay organized).
- Any Fantasy, Science Fiction, or Magical Realism books will qualify. This means you can read Young Adult, Dystopian, Steampunk, or Alternative Histories.

Other:

*There will be “Weekly Wand Mini-Challenges” posted on each Saturday of the month. These could be trivia challenges, random tasks, blogger treasure hunts, etc. Winners of each challenge will earn a Wand, and those Wands will be tracked to be entered to win another magical prize!

**Ebooks & Audiobooks are acceptable.

The Levels:

Magician’s Class: 1-2 Books Read & Reviewed 1 Book $10 or Less
Sorcerer’s Class: 3-5 Books Read & Reviewed 1 Book $12 or Less
Wizard’s Class: 6-7 Books Read & Reviewed 1 Book $15 or Less
Grand Merlin Class: 8+ Books Read & Reviewed 1+ Book(s) $20 or Less

I will be aiming for the Sorcerer's Class and this is what I plan to read:
1) A Hat Full of Sky - Terry Pratchett - Read
2) Wintersmith - Terry Pratchett
3) The Northern Lights by Philip Pullman
4) Some books of the Spiderwick Chronicles series - Read all 5

It could be that some dystopia comes through it, depending on when my books that are on hold at the library come through. I have two on hold and if they come through, I will read those first.

And this has happened that is why I read:
5) Delirium by Lauren Oliver - Read
6) Crossed by Ally Condie - Read

With currently 6 books read from this list, I made it to the Wizard's Class!

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Joining the Dystopia 2012 Challenge

Last year is discovered this genre and I am really into it. I just love books that are set in societies that are very different from our own. Therefore I want to read more books in this genre in 2012 and the challenge that is hosted by Bookish Ardour fits that perfectly.

It is a very open challenge and a lot is allowed. You can even read graphic novels. Not that I know any in this genre, but it is awesome that the challenge is so easily accessible.
There are multiple levels to choose from and I will be joining in at the lowest level of Asocial, read 5 dystopian books. I do this because the next level is 15, and in combination with my other challenges the chance is big that I won't make 15.

My list of books:
1) Revealing Eden by Victoria Foyd - Read
2) Crossed by Ally Condie - Read
3) Delirium by Lauren Oliver - Read
4) Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi - Read
5) The Declaration by Gemma Malley - Read

I have some more books that are on my wishlist that would qualify, but it mostly depends on what I can pick up at the library.I might end up reading more, but we'll see :)

If you are curious about joining this challenge please go to the sign- up post at Bookish Ardour for all the details. Do you like Dystopian books?

Are you my mommy? Doctor Who fans will get it ;) (couldn't resist)

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Joining the Foodies Reading Challenge 2

I think most of you already heard of this challenge, but in case you don't you know it now :)

This is the second year that Margot of Joyfully Retired hosts this challenge. It is for everyone who loves food and to read at the same time :)

Here is how the challenge works: (copied from the blog)

1. Decide how many food books you want to read in 2012. Pick one of the reading levels below. Remember, this is a challenge, so try pushing yourself. Participants from last year, please notice I’ve pushed the numbers up a bit. Levels:

Short-Order Cook: 1 to 3 books
Pastry Chef: 4 to 8 books
Sous-Chef: 9 to 13 books
Chef de Cuisine: 14 to 18
Cordon-Bleu Chef: More than 19

2. Grab the challenge button and write a post on your blog so we can spread the word. No blog? That’s okay. Sign up in the comments section.

3. After you read each book for the challenge, come back here and tell us about it. On January 1st I’ll provide pages so you can post links for your reviews. We’ll use the same categories as last year: Cookbooks, Memoirs/Biographies, Fiction, and Nonfiction. I’ll also include a page where you link up your Challenge Wrap-Up post.

Guidelines:

The challenge runs from January 1 through December 31, 2012.
You don’t need a pre-selected list of books.
It’s okay to cross over with other challenges.
Any book format is allowed (print, audio, ebook)

Sign Up Here: at the Foodies Read 2 blog.

I will join in at the highest level again which means I will have to read more than 19 books. Because you may also include cookbooks, this is doable for me. The food novels will be reviewed here and the cookbooks on my other blog She Likes Bento. In fact I am reviewing a cookbook there today! So if you are curious, hop over to check it out! I also have read The Kitchen Daughter already and I have borrowed The School of Essential Ingredients from the library. So look forward to reviews of those in the next Weekend Cooking posts :)

My list:
- The Rabbit Food Cookbook - Read
- The Kitchen Daughter - Read
- The School of Essential Ingredients - Read
- Papinette - Read
- Everyday Happy Herbivore - Read
- Home Made Winter - Read
- Veggie Burgers Every Which Way - Read
- The Colour of Milk - Read
- Healthy in a Hurry - Read
- Best Veggie Burgers Around the World - Currently Reading
- 500 Vegan Dishes - Read
- The Restaurant of Love Regained - Read

9 more to go.

Will you be joining the Foodies Reading Challenge?

This post is part of Weekend Cooking. Make sure you check out what other participants are up to, and maybe you will find the perfect book to start off your Foodies Reading Challenge with :)

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The What's in a Name Challenge

A new year brings new reading challenges so slowly but surely I will sign up for various challenges :)

The What's in a Name Challenge is hosted by Beth Fish Reads. You need to read six books in several categories which each have a theme. The book titles need to match the categories. Luckily you may overlap with other challenges.

1. A book with a topographical feature (land formation) in the title: Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
2. A book with something you’d see in the sky in the title: Probably the Fault in our Stars by John Green
3. A book with a creepy crawly in the title: The Spiderwick Chronicles
4. A book with a type of house in the title: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
5. A book with something you’d carry in your pocket, purse, or backpack in the title: Snow Flower and the secret fan by Lisa See.
6. A book with a something you’d find on a calendar in the title: The potential Hazards of Hester day

It sounds like a fun challenge and I am curious if I will be able to do it :)

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Foodies Reading Challenge Wrap up

I signed up for this challenge hosted by Margot from Joyfully retired at the end of January 2011. This will be my wrap up post to share what I have read this year in food related books, even though I might read another cookbook or two before the end of the year, but then I will just edit this later ;) I committed to the reading level of a Glutton, which meant that I had to read 12 more more foodie books. I have succeeded to do this and even more ;)

What I have read:
Face food by Christopher D. Salyers
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Runaway by Wendelin van Draanen
Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
Hawaii's Bento Box Cookbook by Susan Yuen
Life from Scratch by Melissa Ford
Ravenous by Dayna Macy
Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
Fresh & Fast Vegetarian by Marie Simmons
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender 
Vegan Family Meals by Ann Gentry
The Vegetarian Student Cookbook
Quick-Fix Vegan by Robin Robertson
The Kitchen Counter Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn
Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard
Puur Plantaardig (Purely Plant based) by Antoinette Hertsenburg and Jacinta Bokma
Fine Cooking Cookies by Fine Cooking Magazine
Just Tacos by Shelley Wiseman
Jamie's 30-minute Meals by Jamie Oliver

This makes 19 books in total! I enjoyed participating in this challenge very much and I will also be doing this challenge again in 2012. It is a great challenge that does combine well with both my blogs :) So see you in 2012 all!

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Wishlist Challenge 2012

Judith at Leeswammes hosts a wishlist challenge in 2012. I had my doubts if I wanted to sign up for this, because I have no idea if I can get the books I want. I am mostly depending on my library because I can hardly afford to buy any books, but here I am, doing it anyway ;)

So here’s the wishlist challenge:

Read 12 books (one for every month of the year) that you would like to read, but don’t already have on your shelves.

Rules

1. The challenge runs from January 1st, 2012 to December 31st, 2012.

2. You are to read 12 books from your current wishlist. If you don’t have a list anywhere, write down books that you are eager to read, that you don’t own yet, and choose 12 books off that list.

3. If you can’t find a book that’s on your wishlist (your library doesn’t have it, or you don’t want/can’t buy it) then you can use another book. But: you are not allowed to include any NEWLY added books for this challenge. So, whatever your list is now, that’s it.

I.e. you can’t read amazing things about a book on someone else’s blog, decide you want to read it, then read it for the Wishlist Challenge. The opposite is true: you want to read something for the Wishlist Challenge, so you go to your wishlist, find a book that was on that wishlist before January 1st, 2012, and read it for the challenge.

4. You can overlap with other challenges, as long as you read books that were on your wishlist before January 1st, 2012.

5. Sign up here by leaving a comment with a link to your announcement post for this challenge. I will then add it to the linky list below.

6. When you’ve read your 12 books, come back here and leave a comment with a link to your final post about the challenge. Make sure you’ve done this by January 15th, 2013

I have a wishlist on Goodreads with loads of books on them that called out to me at the time (but some not anymore, I need to clean it out.) and I picked out 12 for this challenge.

My List:
1) The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - Read
2) The Kitchen Daughter by Jeal McHenry - Read
3) Crossed by Ally Condie - Read
4) Among Others by Jo Walton - Chose as prize from bloggiesta
5) Eve by Anna Carey - Read
6) When She Woke by Hillary Jordan
7) Miles from Ordinary by Carol Lynch Williams
8) Orchards by Holly Thompson
9) Bitter Melon by Cara Chow
10) Season to Taste by Molly Birnbaum
11) Chi's Sweet Home vol.3 by Kanata Konami - Read
12) With the Light vol.5 by Keiko Tobe

Reserves:
Because I cannot get everything in the library and I know I can get these, they will be my stand ins, if I can't get certain books. These were already on my wishlist though.
1) Where She Went by Gayle Forman - Read
2) Left Neglected by Lisa Genova -Read
3) Grace Willams Says it Loud -Read (DNF)

Read 4 more

I have honestly no idea if I will make it because I only read about one or two books a week and then it can be a bit much. But at least I do have an excuse to read some books of my wishlist ;)

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Mini Book Review: I am Tama, Lucky Cat by Wendy Henrichs

Title: I am Tama, Lucky Cat
Author: Wendy Henrichs & Yoshiko Jaeggi (Illustrator)

Genre: Children's Books
Subject: Legends, Japan, Cats
Publisher: Peachtree Publishers
Release date: August 1, 2011
Length: 32 pages
I got this book: From the publisher for review through NetGalley 

Summary: This is a tale of the legend of the Maneki Neko (Lucky Cat) from Japan.

Personal opinion: As a lover of Japanese culture, I was drawn to this story and was very happy that I was able to review this. I like the Maneki Neko statues but I never had heard or read a story behind it. Of course I knew what the Maneki Neko stands for, but reading a tale behind it makes it more real. The story is cute and richly illustrated. I adored the illustrations. They are colorful and tell the tale without even reading the words. I would have loved to own a book like this when I was younger. I think this is a great book for young children, even for those who can't read yet.

I liked it!



Purchase Link: Amazon

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Hello Japan Challenge - July

I often wait with my participation until the end of the month and therefore I didn't have the time to participate last month. So this time I wanted to complete the task earlier, so I wouldn't miss out on this fun challenge :) This month the theme is non-fiction and you can read all about it on In Spring it is the Dawn.

For this challenge I read Fear and Trembling by Amelie Nothomb, because it happened that I found a copy in my mailbox through bookcrossing. This is a novel, but it is an auto biographical one. It is based on her work experiences in Japan and while exaggerated at points, it does gave a good impression of the Japanese office culture and how the Western Culture clashes with the Japanese Culture. I actually did learn a lot for the little book. I read the book in Dutch and my copy only had 130 pages. This is also one reason why I am not using my normal book review template, but there is also another reason: a few days after I read the book, I also watched the movie.

I have to say that I never saw a movie in my life before that stuck so close to the book as this one. Whole dialogues were the same. I have to say that it was a bit boring to watch the movie because not much time did pass between me reading the book and watching the movie. Still the, to me, sometimes ridiculous things happening were even more funny on screen. I loved the actress, Sylvie Testud, who played Amelie. She really did an amazing job at playing the naive, quirky girl that Amelie was. Still it is not the best movie ever made. It is a bit of a B-movie but to me these kind of movies are an okay watch once in a while. The book read really fast and was enjoyable, so I honestly don't know which I liked better.

Movie trailer: (it has a wrong author in the title though.)

Have fun watching/reading :)

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Art Calendar Challenge 2011 - June

It is that time of the month again where I show off my Calendar Pages. I am still keeping up :)
Here are the finished May pages:

I just can't believe how busy I was in May. I had so much to do! My final school day for the year if only 2 weeks away and I have to finish everything up. Next to that I am so busy with various appointments, that it even surprised me I had still time to make the pages for June:

The pages can use some more decorations but I will add them during the month. I choose circles for this page to represent the sun since in June it will become Summer and the sun will be most powerful. I want to add more red, yellow and orange flowers to the pages :)

For the ones participating in the Calendar Challenge: do you work with a theme for the pages, or do you just go with the flow? Don't forget to check out the pages of others that are participating. Linky list at the Kathryn Wheel.

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Book Review: XXX Holic vol.1 by CLAMP

Title: XXX Holic Vol.1
Author: CLAMP
Genre: Manga, Mystery
Subject: Spirits, Paranormal
Publisher: Del Rey
Release date: April, 2004
Length: 176 pages
I got this book: Bought it a few years back

Summary:
From Goodreads:
"Watanuki Kimihiro is haunted by visions of ghosts and spirits. Seemingly by chance, he encounters a mysterious witch named Yuuko, who claims she can help. In desperation, he accepts, but realizes that he’s just been tricked into working for Yuuko in order to pay off the cost of her services. Soon he’s employed in her little shop—a job which turns out to be nothing like his previous work experience!"

Personal opinion:
I re-read this manga because of the Hello Japan challenge since the theme was mystery and I wanted to share this series with others. I took a break from my current read, to refresh my memory for the review. I have to say that when reading manga, CLAMP manga are one of my favorites. However it did took me a bit to warm up to XXX Holic. In the beginning, I only started to watch the anime because it crosses over with Tsubasa Chronicles, another one of CLAMP's works. But I have to say that after a while, this series grew on me. I think that I needed to get used to the style in the beginning. Because the anime left things unfinished, I picked up the manga later. The strong point about XXX Holic for me are the characters. Watanuki is really outspoken and has a short temper, which makes his interactions with the other characters often funny. The other characters do make fun of him and he gets angry a lot and the interaction makes me grin. Every character has something mysterious about them. It isn't really noticeable in the first volume yet, but everyone is surrounded by it and as the story progresses their fates are tied more and more. Next to the close interaction, I also think that the characters are quite unique. In the first volume, we only meet a few of them though and it is more an introduction volume. I have to say that I am not really into mystery a lot, but I came to appreciate this series. I haven't read the whole series yet, so I have no idea where it all ends but I can tell you that it gets more interesting after a few volumes so I would advice not to judge this series by the first volume alone, since there isn't happening that much yet. This series needs time to build up and that is not possible to do within one volume with this story. Also: if you are going to pick this up, I do advise you to pick up Tsubasa Chronicles along side it. They can be read separate, but they are more fun together. A nice little extra is that Del Rey took their time to include explanations after the story about typical Japanese customs or references to other CLAMP works. I personally liked this a lot.

I liked it!

Purchase links: The Book Depository
From the same group: Kobato
Other reviews: Puss Reboots
If you have reviewed this book and want your link here, please leave a comment with the link, and I will add it :)
Also part of the manga challenge 2011.

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Art Calendar Challenge 2011 - May

So it is time for another update on the calendar pages from the challenge I am doing hosted by Kate from The Kathryn Wheel.

This is what my finished April pages look like:

It turned out to be a birds page all the way :) The pages look really cheerful but to be honest, it was a rough month for me. Hopefully things will be better again in May :)

For May I have a Beltane theme going on. Beltane is celebrated on May first and is mostly about fertility and passion. It is a very cheerful and outgoing celebration. Typical Beltane colors are reds and whites. I used hearts on this page, strawberries, ladybugs and flowers :)

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Autism Awareness Reading Challenge

Since April is Autism Awareness month and both me and my boyfriend are autistic ourselves, I wanted to participate in making people more aware of autism. I decided to do this by hosting a reading challenge on autism.

It is my first time hosting a reading challenge, so I will keep it simple :)

The Rules:
- The challenge runs from April 1st till April 30th.
- You only have to read one book that has something to do with autism.
- Write your thoughts in a blogpost and leave the link to this post in a comment (I will edit this post throughout the challenge to add the links)
- Sharing this post is appreciated because I would like to reach as many people as possible and hope that they will participate :)

Some recommendations:
- A Friend Like Henry by Nuala Gardner. About how a Golden Retriever changed a boy with autism.
- With the Light by Keiko Tobe. This is a very thick manga for adults that covers the challenges a family faces when their son is autistic. It also tells a bit about how this is handled in Japanese society.
- The curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon. An enjoyable novel with an autistic boy as narrator.
Of course there are plenty more books on the subject but these are some books that I read and enjoyed.

I hope you will all enjoy participating in this challenge and please spread the word :)

Reviews:
All I Can Handle Im No Mother Teresa by Kim Stagliano at Daily Woman Blog
(the) Curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon at Writing Torberta
How to talk to an autistic kid by Daniel Stefanski at Bookish Delights

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