MarjoleinL's reading project 2014

Hi there and welcome in my challenge area!

My name is Marjolein, I am 18 years old and I live in Holland. I am studying to become a worker in childcare and I love doing that! In my spare time I love to -ofcourse- read and crochet. I also do gymnastics twice a week, which is really fun!

I like a lot of different genres, like thrillers and chicklits, romantic books and detectives. Oh wait, that isn't as much as I thought. But am willing to try new books and writers, even new genres. So if you have any suggestions: yes please!

Most of my books I read on my ereader. I bought my ereader in may 2013 and I love it! Even though I miss the feeling of paper, the smell of it and the sound when you turn a page, the ereader is a real solution for me. It's nice and thin and it so easy to take with me to any place, and the batteries go on forever!

I hope you'll all have a wonderful year full of reading and being happy!

Marjolein







Reads 2014


January
1. Scandal Becomes Her by Shirlee Busbee
2. Digital Fortress by Dan Brown
3. Emily and the Notorious Prince by India Grey
4. Divergent by Veronica Roth
5. Insurgent by Veronica Roth
6. Presumed Guilty by Tess Gerritsen
7. The doctor takes a princess by Leanne Banks

February
8. The keepsake by Tess Gerritsen
9. The sleeping doll by Jeffery Deaver
10. Deception Point by Dan Brown
11. The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau

March
12. The Testament by John Grisham
13. Vanish by Tess Gerritsen
14. The Sinner by Tess Gerritsen
15. Recipe for Love by Katie Fforde
16. Olivia and the Billionaire Cattle King by Margaret Way
17. Invitation to the Boss's Ball by Fiona Harper

April
18. Allegiant by Veronica Roth
19. De Kraamhulp by Esther Verhoef (too bad, LT didn't know this book!)
20. Bond girl by Erin Duffy
21. Gone by Lisa Gardner
22. Mia and the Powerful Greek by Michelle Reid

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Welcome! Nice to have you here. Be sure and check out our group reads and monthly themes!

Welcome, nice to see another newbie at this on here :) Good luck to you!

Thank you!
@drneutron: I'll check it out some time soon!

Welcome, Marjolein! You're off to a great start. I'm Mamie, and I have a daughter named Abby that is going to join this challenge group - she is just your age, so I'll have to point her in your direction. I also love to read thrillers, too, so I will check back to see what you are reading.

@Crazymamie: Thank you! I'm looking forward to hear something from her!

Hi Marjolein! I'm Abigail, Crazymamie's daughter. I am really looking forward to following your thread. You have no idea how excited I was when I heard that another girl of my age was joining the group this year!

@Thebookdiva: I just sent you a message. :)

It's 2014 everyone! Happy new year! Let the challenge begiiiiiiiin!

My first book of 2014 will be Digital Fortress by Dan Brown. I don't know when I'm about to finish it, since I'm pretty busy with school, but we'll see!

Happy new year! Hope you find tons of good reads this year!

I finished my first book of 2014: Scandal Becomes Her by Shirlee Busbee! I wrote my very first review. As soon as I know how to link that here, I will. :)

If you want an easy fix, just copy the review and post it here as a regular post. It should all transfer over just fine. I can't wait to read it.

This is my first review ever! So I'm not that good with writing that, but we'll just ignore that.

Scandal Becomes Her by Shirlee Busbee
3.5 stars
Nell and Julian have to marry each other to prevent a big scandal. They both aren't happy with the situation, but they are able to live together. Slowly, they start to fall in love. But Nell is having really bad nightmares. Who is the killer in her dreams?

It is a very romantic story, but there's also a bit of mystery involved. I didn't guess who the killer from her dreams was, until the very end. It was a good combination. The characters were lovely and they seemed very nice. The story was easy to read, I couldn't stop myself after the first 100 pages.

Great review! Hope you have a good day!

Thanks Abigail!

I also added a goal for a number of pages: 15.000!

I just finished two books. I already was reading Digital Fortress by Dan Brown, I finished it yesterday evening. Then I decided to read another book and since it wasn't too big, I also finished that one yesterday evening. I will add my reviews here!

Digital Fortress by Dan Brown
3 stars
This is the 5th Dan Brown book I read, and also the first book I read by him in which Robert Langdon doesn't appear.

The NSA has the TRNSLTR, with which they can decode everything sent on the internet. The TRNSLTR decodes everything within a maximum of 15 minutes. But then, someone has put Digital Fortress in the TRNSLTR, which it still hasn't decoded after 18 hours. What is it? Why hasn't it decoded yet?

I found on the internet it was of the books he wrote in his earlier carrier. You can see that it's the base of books like The DaVinci Code, but it isn't as developed as those books are. You can see Dan Brown has really grown with his writing.

I don't think it was one of Dan Browns best books. It's not very exciting, though there were some thrilling moments in the books. It just wasn't wow, it was okay. I would recommend this book if you want to read every book of Dan Brown, or don't like to read too exciting books. But I wouldn't recommend to read this one first if you want to start with Dan Brown books, then you probably won't read his other books.

Emily and the Notorious Prince by India Grey
4 stars
Emily Balfour has fled the day after her mothers funeral, she found out there are a lot of lies in the rich Balfour Family. She feels very betrayed. She starts a new life in London. But then, Luis Cordoba comes to one of her ballet perfomances, the man who kissed her a year earlier! She tries really hard to avoid him, but he won't leave her alone. And then, he makes her an offer she can't refuse..

I thought it was a good romantic book, it was written in typically Harlequin style, you know how it ends before you even started the book. I like those books every once and a while. I finished it in an evening. I finished it with a happy feeling!

Hi, Marjolein! I see you are a fan of Tess Gerritsen's books, as am I. I am all caught up on the Rizzoli-Isles series, waiting for a new one to appear. Happy reading!

@rosalita: Yes I love the Rizzoli and Isles books too! First I saw the television show, but I didn't like that at all. If I had known the books were from that show, I wouldn't have started them. But while I was reading I found out that it was the show, but I loved the books!

Did you read all the books yet? I didn't, there are so many books I want to read that I can barely choose, and soon I forget about a book or a writer. and then all of a sudden I think about it again and start reading it again :) so that has happened a few times now with her books too. I have to read another Rizzoli and Isles soon!

Hi Marjolein, how lovely of you to stop by my thread ... will be following along here. Welcome to LT and our crazy group!

@lit_chick: Thank you!

Here I have two more book reviews! I started tuesday with part one and finished part two yesterday, I couldn't stop reading..! I read at school, at home, everywhere!

Divergent by Veronica Roth
4.5 stars
This is part one of the Divergent series!

Since I'm going to visit the movie with a friend of mine, I had to read the book first of course!

The story is about Beatrice. She lives in a world where everyone lives in a faction, like erudite or dauntless. There are 5 factions. At age 16, everyone has to choose one faction to live in for the rest of their life. First they do a personality test, which gives you an advice to choose for a faction. You'll get one faction where you fit the best in. But Beatrice her test gives her 3 factions.. Why does she have these results? Why can't she talk about it?

I thought it was a good book to read. It's easy to get caught in the story, it was easy to read and I just couldn't stop anymore! I am happy that I started it, since I first had my doubts: isn't it going to be a Hunger Games look a like, but then the bad version? But it wasn't. It's kind of the same style, but it's a different story and a lot different characters than the Hunger Games.

If you want an easy, fun and fast book to read, this is a good one!

Insurgent by Veronica Roth
3.5 stars

Insurgent is the second part of the Divergent series.

I must say, it's different than the second book. It finished where the first story started, but I don't think it was as good as the first one. Also I must add, that I most of the time don't think the sequels are as good as, or even near the first books.

I don't know why, I can't name it why the book didn't get me as much. In the first place, I think I was a bit distracted, because I didn't understand the story perfectly and I read a part of it at school, where everything is always busy. I feel the book was more chaotic, I had to think more with this book. It didn't get me as much as the first book. I think I will re-read it, to fully understand it, then I will also be able to write a better review and give a better opinion about it! And not being distracted because of school would be helpful too! :)

Still I think it's a must read when you finished the first book. I think the story was a good sequel for the first book.

I must say it's harder than I thought it would be, to write reviews! In the first place, because I have to find the titles and have to translate them to English, finding that on google. In the second place, because a lot of names are different. For example: in Divergent the factions are called different, since it's Dutch. Before I write a review, I have to find all these things on the internet and I have to translate everything in my head. But I think it will get easier. I hope so!

You're doing great! So glad you liked Divergent, I myself am fond of that book. I haven't gotten around to reading Insurgent yet, I want to be able to read all the books of the series back to back.

I hadn't realized prior to this that there would be such big changes between my version and your version of a book like Divergent, but it make complete sense once you mentioned it! Nice reviews.

@drneutron: What do you mean by that? Since it's another language?

Yeah, like the faction names. Do they translate from Dutch into the same English faction names as are used in the English books? It makes sense that they would, but translation between languages isn't always that easy.

I just hadn't thought through the translation problems with sf or fantasy kinds of fiction before and it struck me as interesting!

The names of the factions are Dutch in the books. I translated them by searching on google: factions divergent, and then I found them all. But I'm pretty sure if I for example would've used google translate it would be the wrong translation. A lot of times I do use google, since I know what the word is I'm looking for but I just forgot it and then I have to translate it. I can feel whenever it isn't right what google said. But it is harder. Book series are also called different. You have the titles where you barely have a difference like hunger games - honger spelen, butyu also have books and series where there is a big difference like insurgent - opstand. But it's doable/possible! (Doable isn't a word right? Or is it? This is a perfect example for the little problems I sometimes have.) And it's fun, so I'm very motivated to find all the book titles, even if I have to search for more than 5 minutes. :)

Thanks for the info! Sounds like an interesting process.

Doable is definitely a word. :)

It isn't as interesting as it sounds. You use google and it's done. :) It would've been a lot easier when I would read the English books. But I'm too lazy for that. I'd be able to do it, but I would've to focus more. So I would rather translate it :)

I feel like the Dutch books are shorter than the English books! For exaple: Presumed Guilty by Tess Gerritsen is on my ereader 203 pages and LibraryThing says the English book has 288 pages. This isn't the first book where I saw this. I just hope it's because of the difference in the translations, or the English pages are just smaller, and not because things in the stories are left out!

I read another book! This time a book by Tess Gerritsen, I haven't read her books in a while. It was fun to read one of her books again, but it wasn't one of her best.

Presumed Guilty by Tess Gerritsen
2.5 stars
That evening, Miranda gets the third phonecall by her ex . He says he'll be there in 15 minutes. Miranda panicks and goes to the beach. After an hour, she has found the courage to go back to her home, she hopes he'll be gone. When she arrives, she doesn't see him. She goes to her bedroom and there he lays on the bed, naked and stabbed. With a knive from her kitchen! What happened? Who went into her house? Who wants to make her guilty for the murder on Richard?

I've read multiple books of Tess Gerritsen, also multiple that were published by Harlequin. This story has some romantic and some thrilling moments in the book. The story was okay, bit it didn't get me. I didn't find out who the killer was untill the end, but it didn't surprise me either. Sometime parts were written too long. I personally think it isn't one of Tess Gerritsens best books.

I have posted the artwork over on my thread. It is from October of last year, so my artwork has changed a little bit, but this was one of my mom's favorites.

Marjolein - What a lovely name!

Saw you posting over at Abby's thread and came over to see what you are up to over here.

Amsterdam is a favourite city of mine and I used to like to stay at a small hotel near the entrance to the Vondel Park, cruising the canals and eating frites with curry sauce outside the cathedral next to the Anne Frank Huis.

Nowadays I spend most of my time in Malaysia with my lovely wife (don't tell her I said so), three kids and my wonderful maid and coffee maker, Erni.

Don't be shy about dipping into other threads as everyone is friendly in these parts (hint hint).

Abigail - I will take a look, I'm very curious! I bet it's beautiful.

Paul - Welcome and thank you! That's awesome that you know Amsterdam so well! What was your favourite place there? I have to eat dinner now, but I'll take a look in your thread after that! :) I HAVE TO HURRY WHAAAAAAAA, I'M LATE!

Hey, the scanner wasn't functioning earlier, but I will try to get it up later.

Hallo Marjolein. I thought I have to go and star your thread since you are Dutch and I am too (but definitly much older). I found you through Paul's thread. I think Paul is collecting Dutch followers!

Hi, Marjolein (I agree with Paul - what a lovely name!); thanks for the explanation of the differences in translations - it's very interesting!

I've got the Divergent series on my wishlist - I need to bump it up to the top, I think!

Have a great weekend!

Scaifea: Thank you. And yes, you definitly need to bump it to the top! Or at least the first one!
Abby: Thanks. You too!

Book 7 of this year: The Doctor Takes a Princess!

The doctor takes a princess by Leanne Banks
3,5 stars

Bridget Devereaux has to find doctors for her country Chantaine. One day, she gets stuck in the elevator with a very attractive man, Ryder McCall, and his twin nephews. They get rescued and they both go their own way. But then, it turns out that Ryder McCall is a doctor! They feel very attracted to each other. Will he work in Chantaine? Will they be able to build a relationship together?

It's a very romantic book. When you start it, you know how it ends. It's easy and fun to read, and I wanted to know the end! (though I actually already did :))

Marjolein - The Leanne Banks doesn't quite look like my normal reading material but it is refreshing sometimes when the ending is obvious from the beginning and the only fun is how to get to that end. xx

Paul - That isn't too weird, those books are more written for women I think. And sometimes it's just fun to read something ''light'', as we call it in Dutch. Something ''airy'' (luchtig) lol. Sometimes I don't feel like the heavy books or thrillers and then I read those kind of books. I have to change the subjects I'm reading about!

Marjolein - I watched Despicable Me last night with two of my siblings and loved it! It was SO funny. I am so glad that you told me to watch it. After the movie, the three of us got up and randomly danced across the room. It was great. I loved the minions probably the most.

Abigail - I'm so glad you liked it! It's my favourite animated movie ever! Make sure to pick up part 2 too. You will also love that one! Oh and on youtube you have a few little bonus movies with just the minions! For example ''Banana'', you'll love that too.

Got it! I will put the second one on hold at the library. I'm sure my siblings will love to see more of the minions with me as well.

I watched part two last wednesday with my brother (50 something) and we both loved it! Happy!!

Both Despicable Me movies get quoted in our house all of the time. We love them!

Connie - I think anyone, any age will love it! The smaller children will love the voices and the minions and the older people will love that plus the sometimes a bit dirty jokes that are hidden in the animation movies! I never got the jokes as a kid but as I watched a lot of animated movies again as a teenager and there are some pretty funny jokes hidden for the adults I think!

Scaifea - Here too! Especially me and my brother. My brother is really good in the Gru accent and in the minion voices so I always laugh very hard! And whenever ''bottom'' is used in a sentence here (but then the Dutch word!), we say ''Bottom'' and laugh like the minions. So funny! Oh and me and a friend always imitate the purple minions when we're bored. And we're way too old for that haha.

Somewhere this week I'll put up another review of a book, since I read another one. But now I don't have the energy to think about what I thought of the book. Tiiiiiiireeeeed!

I also like Despicable Me. I have a friend from Montreal who is the spitting image of the lead character.

So we have a weekly staff meeting for the project I'm leading, where about 25 engineers gather to talk about status and budgets and such. Usually pretty dry stuff. Last week our project scientist brought a Minion she got for someone as a birthday present - and we spent probably half an hour getting it to make various noises and do stuff. The fart noises were the most popular. :)

I'm so sorry I still didn't write a review and barely reply to messages! It's been a very busy week. I just started in a new class since that's how it works in the education I follow. I started a higher level of my education and with that comes a new class. I barely know the people, though I'm with some friends in class but feel like I don't fit in. I feel like I'm totally weird compared to the class. But I'll stop complaining now! Also a few other things happened this week and I just didn't have time to reply! So sorry again, I hope I will be able to so so today, I think I have time tonight. I will reply to every minion post :) and post a review of the book I read, promised!

Hi! I think we all know how busy weeks can be; sometimes you just can't find the time! I am sure that you will fit into your class quickly, and we all feel weird when we start something new. I am sure that it will pass and you will have fun with the others.

Sometimes RL gets in the way of everything, Marjolein! I hope you will feel at ease soon!

I'm sorry you feel out of place in the class, and I hope that changes for you soon.

I FINALLY WROTE THE REVIEW!

The Keepsake by Tess Gerritsen
3 stars
It's a while ago (well a week, but it feels like a long time when you've started a new book!) since I read it, so my memories aren't very clear anymore. Plus the book was a bit complicated in my idea, so that makes it all a little harder for me to review, but I'll try!

There's a mummie found in the basement of a museum, Madame X. She'll be scanned with a machine, and then everyone will know when she was mummified. After the scan, it turns out she's a mummie for about 20 years. What happened? And where do all the other kinds of mummies come from?

It was a good book, but a bit complicated in some parts. But I managed to understand everything. I had a lot of fun reading it.

Good for you, Marjolein. I really love Tess Gerritsen. But what is the Dutch title of this book? LT has some combining issues, I noticed.

Oh poop, I have the wrong title. I already thought it was a weird title since it didn't match the book at all. I will edit it later on my computer! Thanks Connie.

drneutron: That's so funny, especially since it are engineers and I wouldn't expect that at all! And yes, the fart noise is very funny!

You're welcome!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Aaawh, thanks Abigail, that's very sweet of you! ♥ Have a happy valentine's day too!

A little update in my life: I started my new internship this week, which is from wednesday - friday. I have shifts that are 8 hours and I have to travel about an hour to get there, so I'm 10-11 hours gone from home. After that, I'm sooooo tired! I'll now take my time to write another review!

Undone by Karin Slaughter
4.5 stars
An elderly couple drives on the high way, when they see a deer running across the road. They hit it, and they stop to check if the deer is okay. It appears that it isn't a deer, but a women. She has a lot of bruises and the ambulance comes to get her. In the hospital, they find out her 11th rib is missing. Near the place the woman was hit, they find a hole underground. There's a bed at it's clear that a person was held there. What happened? Who was held there and are there more victims?

I thought it was a really good book. A thriller that ''makes my toes curl'' as we say it in Holland. It was creepy, and I didn't find out who did it until 3/4th of the book. It was great, 4.5 stars!

Sweetness! I am sorry that you are tired, that's no fun at all when the tank is running on empty. When I get super tired I get slap happy. I mean it, I will laugh at anything. Tears will be streaming down my face and I won't be able to breath I will laughing so hard.

Ok, I put the pic of an old piece of artwork up on my thread. Come by whenever.

The sleeping doll by Jeffery Deaver
4.5 stars
What an intriguing book!

In the past, Daniel Pell killed a whole family. No one knows why he did so, they can't find any clues. No money was taken, nothing. The only one who survived was Theresa.

The book starts when Daniel Pell escapes from prison. The police doesn't know where he went and they start a big search for him. Will he go after Theresa? Or does he have other goals?

It was a really good book. The plot was so much different than any other plots I read before, it was really smart how Jeffery Deaver thought of it. I also didn't expect how it ended, the book kept suprising me.

Deception Point by Dan Brown
4 stars
This was the last Dan Brown book I had to read. Now I finished them all, whoohoo!

Rachel Sexton is called to the office of her boss. He says the president of the United States demands to speak to her, now. He already sent a plane to pick her up. She goes in the plane and it flies north. After an hour she wonders why she hasn't landed yet, since it isn't too far. It appears the plane goes to the north pole, where Rachel Sexton is asked to tell the staff of the presisdent about a special meteorite.

But there are weird things with the meteorite and there happen weird things on the northpole. What's wrong with all this? Why are there people getting killed?

It was a typical Dan Brown book. Always when I finish one of his books, I feel like I've learned things (though I don't know if everything is correct in the books). I liked this book. It was exciting and everything was unexpected for me. Too bad I read all his books now!

The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau
4.5 stars
I read this book in English, it was a lot easier to review. :) I couldn't find it in Dutch, and I had to read it NOW, so I had no choice but reading it in English.

Cia is chosen for the Testing. Her parents aren't happy, even worried about her going there. But she has to, when you're chosen to do the Testing, you have no choice. The Testing has 4 parts. Some are about knowledge, some about survival. Will Cia make it through the Testing alive?

I was a bit sceptical when I started this book, but also enthousiast, since I might have found a Hunger Games-ish book. And it was.

I reminded me a lot of the Hunger Games. There were tests where kids had to prove they were good enough to survive. Still it was a good book I thought. It sucked me in the story and it was kind of scary in some parts.

Hi Marjolein, hope your weekend is going well. I own The Testing myself, but I haven't gotten around to reading it. I will have to start it soon, your review has me curious about it.

BB: De slaappop sounds good! I have it as an ebook. I have put it in my wishlist folder!

Abigail: yes you should start it! It is really easy to read and easy to follow!

Connie: it's a great "psychologische thriller", I kept guessing what would come next but I was never right!

Ok, will do. Also, I was thinking about posting another art pic. Is there anything in particular you would like to see? I do clothes, original characters, fanart, animals, etc., you can request something if you want. Or I could just post whatever if you don't have a preference, let me know. Hope your Monday isn't too work filled.

I would love to see some animals you drew! I'm really curious how that looks, since it's really hard to draw I think! But you can post whatever you want. :) I'll probably like everything you show me lol

That's so sweet. I will work on getting my animals completed & then I will post them. Hope your week is going well.

Posted the animal drawings on my thread. I decided that I would show you my lion sketches.

Happy Friday! Hope your weekend is full of fabulousness.

Thank you Abby! I hope yours is and was too.

I read a lot of books! Every day I travel for 2 hours and then I read. So it goes pretty quick this way. And since I was still so busy (my internship takes so much time and energy! But it is a lot of fun.), there will come a lot of reviews here! I hope you're ready for them.

The Testament by John Grisham
2 stars
With this book, I did something rare, something I almost never do.. I didn't finish it. I didn't like it al all. The idea of the story was good, and so was the beginning. But after about 100 pages, it started to bore me. :(

The Sinner by Tess Gerritsen
4 stars
A young nun gets killed in the cloister. Soon there are found a lot of mysteries around this young lady. Why was she killed? What did the little girl see?

It was a great book. I didn't read the Rizzoli books in order, so with every book I read I understand a lot more about Rizzoli, her relationship with Gabriel Dean and her daughter.

Recipe for Love by Katie Fforde
4 stars
Zoe is competing in a cooking contest. There she meets Gideon, one of the judges. She almost immediately falls in love with him. But she can't start a relation with him, right?

Katie Ffordes books are always a lot of fun to read. They are perfect for those rainy days when everything sucks, they'll make you instant happy!

Harlequin books
Olivia and the Billionaire Cattle King by Margaret Way
Invitation to the Boss's Ball by Fiona Harper

>73 connie53: I would try to read them in order, Marjolein. It brings so much more that way.

@Connie53: I know, I started the books and didn't know it was a series. But I think I've now read 4 out of the 5 books or something so I'll just let it be that way. But I plan on reading the other books in order!

Popping in to say high! I like your reviews, they are succinct and to the point. I sometimes get carried away with mine.

@Thebookdiva: Hi abby! I had to remember what the books were about, since I read some of them a few weeks ago, so that's why they are so to the point! After a few weeks, you'll only remember the important things. But thank you. :)

Marjolein I have missed reading whilst travelling. Until recently I had a driver in Kuala Lumpur and was able to read whilst he struggled through the traffic in Kuala Lumpur. My new driver starts on Wednesday and my reading should improve.

Have a lovely week.

hahaha, well, whatever works right? That usually happens with my reviews too. I'm terrible about remembering to review books on a regular basis. I think that I will just start reviewing a book a week, even if I just put down a few lines.

Here to wish you a fabulous weekend!

Thank you Abby!

Allegiant by Veronica Roth
4 stars
Wow, this was not the ending of the Divergent series I saw coming, nor that I wished..

I won't tell anything about the story itself, I know I'll spoil a lot! Once started telling about this book, I won't stop talking about it. So you can better look at Amazon for the story!

I thought it was a good ending though. It made me cry (a few days after ending the book I still feel a bit sad thinking about it!), but it was strong.

I have to get part 3 too, Marjolein!

I didn't read a lot the past few days. I was ill since sunday, I got the Scarlet fever (I think that's how it's called? Internet said so! :), from working on the day care centre. First I had such a sore throat and then I got those weird spots. Yesterday I got antibiotics from the doctor, thank goodness. I feel a lot better already.

So I wanted to read but when I started reading I didn't feel like it! Whenever I'm ill I'm so bored but don't want to do anything. So I don't have any reviews for you!

Oh I read a Harlequin book, but since they're all the same I don't write anything about the stories anymore lol. :)

Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that you've been sick. I hope you feel completely back to normal really soon.

I hope you will be feeling better soon, Marjolein! Beterschap!

Thank you, both of you. :) I am at school now for the first time again, and it's going okay. I'm not totally fit again, but I can do it!

Today I have to do a presentation in English. I couldn't prepare since I was so ill. You could choose out of 3 subject, I chose my favorite books. Since I started here talking about books, I hope it will be easy to talk about it. I only have thought of what I wanted to tell, by that I mean my favorite writers and series but I haven't thought of words etc. So it will be interesting! Though I think I can do it, I really do. :) So that makes me feel more confident.

Of course you can do it! I know that you will be great!

And how did you do, Marjolein, with the presentation?

Hi all!

Just very busy again. My excuse sounds boring and made up, but sadly it's true. I have to find more time to visit LT!

My presentation went well. :) Since I didn't have time to prepare anything, I just started to talk. After 3 minutes, I didn't know what to tell any more so the teacher started to ask questions. She was very happy how my English was and she said she could hear that my English was well. I had 8/10 points, but she told me it will probably get higher. So I'm very happy!

@Connie53: If you like thrillers, and if you have the chance to get it somewhere, you must read De Kraamhulp by Esther Verhoef. It is a Dutch thriller and I'm always very sceptical of books by Dutch writers, but this one was gooooooood. You've probably seen the advertisements of the books in the train stations or in the city. It's as good as they say there. So if you have a chance to pick it up somewhere, please do! :)

Too bad LT didn't know the book (yet?), I couldn't find it anywhere. So I don't have a link to the page. Sorry!

>89 MarjoleinL: Well I think my daugther has that book. So I will certainly give it a try. Although I have the same sceptisme you have. Thanks.

Hey! Stopping by to wish you a great weekend.

@thebookdiva: thank you abby!

Also good wishes from the tropics, Marjolein. Have a great Sunday.

@paulcranswick: You are in the tropics? Seriously? That's amazing! I -again- wish it was just sunny here. It has been raining since friday now, boohooo. :( You too have a great sunday!

Hello Marjolein! I'm swooping over to say that the first batch of sketches are posted. I have a few more that I'm still working on and will have to post later. I'm very curious to see if any of them look like you at all, I'm probably quite a bit off the mark. It's been amazingly fun drawing you. I'm thinking that for the sketches I haven't finished with yet I will lean toward some fantasy stuff. Let me know which are your favorites. I will take those you like the most and finish them up with ink and color.

Have a wonderful Monday!

Hey! I've come to post the pics of the hair chalk I was talking about. If your not sure about a color, you could try it out this way. They have neutral colors like blond and brown as well as the wild ones. Some people go all out (see bottom pic) but you can just do a streak here and there too. I've been aching to try them out for myself.

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Marjolein! Happy Birthday to You!

Happy belated Birthday, Marjolein.

I just wanted to pop by and say that I have the sketch of you completed. Now I just need to ink and color it before I post it. It will still take some time (cause I want it to look really nice), but hopefully not too long.

I'm very close to finishing up the drawing of you. I will wait to post it until you return (you are missed) so that you don't miss it. Also, this is your 100th post, so congratulations!

Hi Marjolein, I hope you are all right!

Hi all!

May and June were such crazy months! I had to finish so much for school, I had so many days of internship, my brother graduated, I had my birthday, and had gymnastcs and my job, it was craaaaaazy! And I am, once again, sooooooo sorry for not stopping by for a second to say hi! I missed you all too. But the crazyness is over now: the holidays started for me too yesterday. Though another stress moment started, since I had to pack. I'm going to Italy this week, so I won't be here again.

BUT. After that I will be here. I will read tons in Italy, I'm sure of that. So I will have a list of what I read by then. After that, I would also looooove to see the drawing Abby. I can barely wait!

Once, again, I'm so sorry. I hope you're all doing fine too!

Now I'm going to bed, since it's 11.15 pm here. Last night I slept in the gym with the girls from our gymnastics group and we slept for maybe 4-5 hours. But I had a ton of fun!

Lots of love and see you all soon again!

Glad to hear that everything is going well for you. Italy must be amazing, you will have to tell me what it's like when you return.

Wish you a safe journey and a fun trip!

Missing you...