Blogintern: {Umzug – Die Dritte}

English below.

Ich bin fertig. Das Layout ist zwar immernoch im Entstehen, aber ich habe alle relevanten Artikel drüben (und auch umformatiert), mein Twitter umbenannt, die e-mail-Adresse eingerichtet und so weiter und so fort.

Von nun an findet man mich also unter www.bookexhibitionism.de.

Die Artikel werden vorerst Englisch und Deutsch sein (da ich durch NetGalley öfter auf Englisch rezensieren muss, ist es einfach sinnvoll, auch andere Artikel nicht ausschließlich auf Deutsch zu schreiben), aber der deutsche Anteil ist hoffentlich immer höher als der englische. :>

- – English – -

I’m lazy, so here it comes in one sentence: New blog here, which is going to be written in.. English, most of the times.

Subscribe to the new blog »here«.
(RSS, iGoogle, by Email etc.)

Zusammenfassung: Mai

Important: Ich ziehe derzeit zu WordPress.org um.
Unten mehr!

Meine Challenge-Fortschritte:

• 100 in 2011: beendet
• Heart Beating Stories: beendet

• ABC-Challenge: 18|26 rezensiert (+1)
• All you need is.. Fantasy-Challenge: 4|12 rezensiert (+/- 0)
• End of the Line-Challenge: 8|12 rezensiert (+/-0)
• Ein Jahr voller Bridgertons: 2|4 rezensiert (+/- 0)
• I’m in English-Challenge: 5|12 rezensiert (+1)
• Paranormal-Series-Challenge: 4|5 rezensiert (+/-0)
• Y/A-Debut-Author-Challenge: 5|12 rezensiert (+/-0)

Ich habe gelesen und rezensiert:

1. Jacquelyn Frank – Nightwalkers 01 – Jacob
2. Jacquelyn Frank – Nightwalkers 02 – Gideon
3. Jacquelyn Frank – Nightwalkers 03 – Elijah
4. Jacquelyn Frank – Nightwalkers 04 – Damien
5. J.D. Robb – Eve Dallas 01 – Naked in Death (Audiobook)
6. J.D. Robb – Eve Dallas 02 – Glory in Death (Audiobook)
7. Sherrilyn Kenyon – Dark Hunter 06 – Seize the Night
8. Sherrilyn Kenyon – Dark Hunter 07 – Sins of the Night
9. Sherrilyn Kenyon – Dark Hunter 08 – Unleash the Night
10. Sherrilyn Kenyon – Dark Hunter 09 – Dark Side of the Moon
11. J.D. Robb – Eve Dallas 03 – Eine Mörderische Hochzeit
12. Lynsay Sands – Argeneau Vampire 01 – Eine Vampirin auf Abwegen
13. Lynsay Sands – Argeneau Vampire 03 – Ein Vampir zum Vernaschen
14. Kristan Higgins – The Next Best Thing
15. Nina Bangs – Castle of Dark Dreams 01 – Wicked Nights
16. Sherrilyn Kenyon – Dark Hunter 10 – Dream Hunter
17. Sherrilyn Kenyon – Dark Hunter 11 – Fear the Darkness
18. Sherrilyn Kenyon – Dark Hunter 12 – Devil May Cry
19. Sherrilyn Kenyon – Dark Hunter 13 – Upon the Midnight Clear
20. Sherrilyn Kenyon – Dark Hunter 14 – Dream Chaser
21. Sherrilyn Kenyon – Dark Hunter 15 – Acheron
22. Various – The Art of Alice 2: Madness Returns
23. Debora Geary – Matchmakers 2.0
24. Charlaine Harris – Dead to the World. Der Vampir, der mich liebte
25. Charlaine Harris – Dead as a Doornail. Vampire bevorzugt
26. Charlaine Harris – Definitely Dead. Ball der Vampire
27. Charlaine Harris – All Together Dead. Vampire schlafen fest

→ 27 Novels & 3 Anthologies | Short Stories

Sonstiges:

Dieser Blog hatte im Mai >1500 Besucher. Und ich bin endlich auch bei NetGalley und ARC-Swap. Irgendwie wär es ja klasse, würden dt. Blogger untereinander auch die Rezensionsexemplare auf Reise schicken würden.. Hm.

Ich bin auf bookexhibitionism.de umgezogen und werde von nun an auch dort bloggen, ABER erst ab Mitte Juni wird das zu meinem einzigen Blog. Bis jetzt jedenfalls werd ich hier UND dort noch posten.

Zur Zusammenfassung im April.

 

Blogintern: {Umzug – Die Zweite}

English below!

Da ich immernoch an meinem eigenen WordPress-Layout zu basteln (und kämpfen) habe, hier erstmal die provisorische Version. Hab das Lay, das ich hier habe, nur ein wenig umgestylt, neue Icons geholt, selbstgezeichnete Ratingsterne (Bild unten) und joa.. Jetzt muss ich nur noch die Links alle bearbeiten und ein paar andere Kleinigkeiten machen. An Artikeln habe ich nur alle Rezensionen und ein paar Stöckchen übertragen, alle IMM & WOW Posts sind also weg.

So, I’m currently trying to move to wordpress.org and – thanks to Steffie – found a good hoster/provider. However I’m not satisfied with the wordpress-layout I’m using right now (here and there) and that’s why I’m still working on the “real thing”, but until then »it« has to do. All the reviews are already posted on my new wordpress, but the old IMM|WOW etc.-posts aren’t and will probably never be. I found some cute icons, emoticons and hand-drawn rating-stars.. I’ll also try to find a way to enable “change language”-buttons (so I don’t need to write bilingual posts but two posts & you can basically switch from English to German. Of course, I guess that even Google translate’s more fluent than I am, but come on.. ;p) ….So. Huh. Yes, that’s it for today.

I’m NOT going to use the other blog as my mainblog yet, but I think I’ll be done in two weeks or so. (Hopefully.. -_-) If you know how to code a wp-layout or if you know someone who knows, please let me know!

 

 

Blogintern: {Umzug}

{Book} exhibitionism

Nachdem Steffie so lieb war und mir ein paar Dinge erklärt hat, bastle ich derzeit an einem ordentlichen selbstgehosteten Blog. Bis jetzt bin ich schon sehr begeistert, aber so ein WordPress Layout ist gar nicht so einfach zu codieren.. Also mach ich erstmal ein normales PHP & versuch dann, von da aus weiterzukommen.

Wer schon mal nach Fortschritten schauen möchte – Auf’s Bild oben klicken.

Faaaalls jemand hier sich mit coding und gfxen auskennt, würd ich mich über eine kleine Mail freuen!

Der Blog wird übrigens zweisprachig. Müsste ja eigentlich machbar sein, wenn ich nicht die Website auf WordPress aufbaue, sondern WordPress include.. Ach, jetzt hab ich erstmal was zutun. *grins*

Dieses Wochenende müsste ich dann noch zwei Bücher lesen und rezensieren. Hab die letzten Tage zum ersten Mal die Sookie Stackhouse Reihe auf Deutsch gelesen. Zählt das dann als “neu” gelesen? Oder eher als Reread? *grübel*

Oke, das war’s.

Waiting on Wednesday – Mai #03

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Jill’s,  that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating. (If you like the sticker ↑ visit the Bewitched Bookworms.)

Hunt the Moon (Cassandra Palmer #5) by Karen Chance

Cassandra Palmer recently defeated a god, which you’d think would buy a girl a little time off. But it doesn’t work that way when your job description is Pythia-the world’s chief clairvoyant. Cassie is busier than ever, trying to learn about her power, preparing for her upcoming coronation, and figuring out her relationship with the enigmatic sexy master vampire, Mircea.

But someone doesn’t want Cassie to become Pythia, and is willing to go to any lengths to make sure the coronation ceremony never happens- including attacking her mother before Cassie is even born..

Expected Publication: 7. Juni 2011

Preorder: Amazon (EUR 5,40)

Review: The Art of Alice: Madness Returns (EN)

The Art of Alice: Madness Returns

• Gebundene Ausgabe: 184 Seiten
• Verlag: Dark Horse Comics
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN-10: 1595826971
• ISBN-13: 978-1595826978

Amazon.de (EUR 22,95)

Legendary game designer American McGee created one of the most visually arresting games of all time in Alice. Eleven years later, McGee returns with a sequel just as groundbreaking as his critically acclaimed classic – “Alice: Madness Returns!” Just in time for “Madness Returns”, Dark Horse and Spicy Horse Games invite Alice fans to take a journey through the wonderland of American McGee’s imagination for a look at this magnificent and disturbing world. With text by “Madness Returns” lead writer and executive producer R. J. Berg, and featuring an introduction by McGee, “The Art of Alice” offers an intimate look into the artwork behind this blockbuster interpretation of Lewis Carroll’s enduring masterpiece.

My rating:

German first thoughts below!

Review

Some months ago I met this guy. We were awkward around each other until we found something tot alk about. Games. When he told me about the first Alice Game, I wanted to have it. Needless to say there wasn’t any store that still had it in stock. And of course this little punk wouldn’t give his copy to me for a week or two. Pah!

So, what was the first thing that I did when I got this Galley? YES. Facebook, Twitter and ICQ. And he was so damn pissed. Ha! „Oh please, Patricia. Make some screenshots, show me something, anything, puleaaase!“ Yeah, well, no I won’t! >:D

The real question is how do I review an artbook? oô

When I saw the Galley I had to have it and boy, the concept art for the second Alice game is unbelieably awesome in a surreal, macabre and (comically good) disturbing way.

Unlike other Artbooks *cough* this one included lots of interesting informations. So many that my expectations and my imagination are running wild.

After the introduction by American McGee (Oh, btw: did the NCIS writers name this guy „McGee“ on purpose?) which isn’t only interesting but proof of his good taste in music (just read it, really) there are 6 chapters (very informative and very.. well, I look at those pics and constantly ask myself how the f’ck those guys were able to ‘draw’ that): „Preproduction“, „Alice and Her Dresses“ (← I almost fainted!), „London“, „Wonderland“ (← I fainted..), „Cinematics“ and „Odds and Ends“. Then there is a nice part called „Artist Biographies“ so you basically have pictures of the guys you can use when you build your little shrine.

While showing glimpses of the game development/progress (and wow, I don’t want to know how hard it must’ve been to get the game finished *shiver*) it didn’t do me any good:

Now I need to have the game even more! I can recommend the book to Alice-Fans as well as some of the Artbookfans. It’s worth the money and I already preordered the physical book (and the Game, of course!)

Do you know those books that you dive into? You don’t want to stop reading them, because they are so complex, the worldbuilding is so genious and everytime you look you find something new that you either love or hate or whatever.

I’m so glad I’ll have the game in June. Another FF woulda killed me. Alice 2 is going to be so awesome. Oh boy. Buy the book, buy the game, buy the first Alice game. Die happy.

Thanks to NetGalley & the publisher for letting me review this!

*This review lacks pictures because WordPress wants to mess with me.*

– Deutsch –

Ernsthaft. Ich hatte Sex mit meinen Augen. Okay, das klingt irgendwie dämlich. Wie auch immer, S. hat mir vor einiger Zeit von Alice erzählt (=mich angefixt) und seitdem warte ich auf den zweiten Teil. Dementsprechend habe ich meine Chance genutzt und nach dem Galley gefragt.

Die Grafiken sind unglaublich detailliert und auf eine perverse Art wunderschön. Die ganzen Infos dazu.. Gosh, ich sterbe. Wer wirklich interessiert ist, sollte sich die englischen Reviews anschauen und entscheiden. Im Internet schwirren auch einige Screens rum, aber da WordPress heute nicht mitmachen möchte, kann ich -noch- keine reinstellen.

First Thoughts: Upon the Midnight Clear by Sherrilyn Kenyon (EN)

Upon The Midnight Clear (Dark-Hunter, #13) by Sherrilyn Kenyon

• Paperback: 288 Seiten
• Publisher: St. Martin’S Press (January 2nd 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0312947054
• ISBN-13: 978-0312947057

Amazon (EUR 5,00)

Rating: - (3-)

The Blurb:

Ever think Scrooge had it right before the ghosts ruined his life? Meet Aidan O’Conner. At one time he was a world-renowned celebrity who gave freely of himself and his money without wanting anything in return…until those around him took without asking. Now Aidan wants nothing of the world—or anyone who’s a part of it.

When a stranger appears at his doorstep, Aidan knows he’s seen her before…in his dreams.Born on Olympus as a goddess, Leta knows nothing of the human world. But a ruthless enemy has driven her from the world of dreams and into the home of the only man who can help her: Aidan. Her immortal powers are derived from human emotions—and his anger is just the fuel she needs to defend herself…
One cold winter’s night will change their lives forever…
Trapped together in a brutal winter storm, Aidan and Leta must turn to the only power capable of saving them—or destroying them both: trust.

My Review:

This novel has been somewhat of a surprise. For starters, the roles are reversed – Aiden, famous and bitter³ actor is human, Leta the Dream Hunter. She once fought Dolor – the God of Pain – and cursed him. Seriously injured she went into stasis (for 2000 years) until a stupid human broke the curse/summoned Dolor and woke her up with him. The twist is, that this human has to kill someone of his own flesh and blood/someone whom he loves very much to free Dolor.

This human is Aiden’s creepy brother, who wants him dead.

I didn’t enjoy the thing as much as it would’ve been possible for several reasons. One: How did Donnie, the stupid brother, know of Dolor? Two: The pace was .. weird. It was normal in the beginning and then it was too quick. I couldn’t follow the emotions of Aiden and Leta. Three: Oh, please. The whole “Everyone betrayed me”-thing is starting to get annoying. BUT it wasn’t as annoying as one would guess, because Aiden was a good guy afterall and Leta was, well she was herself. I don’t know. It was nice to see some more Dream-Hunter-details. I really like Kenyons writing and this book wasn’t bad. But gosh, there was no Ash in the main story.

But there were some nice scenes and I really liked that part of a dialogue:

[Leta] “I hate crying.”

[Aiden's] eyes scalded her with their intense heat. “Then do what I do. Turn your tears into rage. Crying will only make you sick. But anger… anger infuses you. It strengthens you. It crawls through your body until you’re forced to act. There’s no dwindling of strength, no mewling blurry vision. It clears your head and focuses your actions. Most of all, it empowers you.”

Kenyon also included a Christmas-special. A short story that updated us on all the folks we met till then (Or almost all of them.. well, some of them. But what do I care? There was Ash. ’nuff said.)

First Thoughts: Devil May Cry by Sherrilyn Kenyon (EN)

Devil May Cry (Dark Hunter #12) by Sherrilyn Kenyon

• Taschenbuch: 384 Seiten
• Verlag: St. Martin’S Press; Auflage: Reprint (1. April 2008)
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN-10: 0312946864
• ISBN-13: 978-0312946869

Auf Amazon (EUR 7,10)

The Blurb:

For millennia, the ex-god turned Dark-Hunter Sin has sought to regain his powers and take revenge on Artemis. But now he has bigger fish – or in this case, demons – to fry. The lethal gallu that were buried by his pantheon are stirring, and they are hungry for human flesh. Their goal: To destroy mankind. Sin is the only one who can stop them… if a certain woman doesn t kill him first.

Enemies have always made strange bedfellows, but never more so than when the fate of the world hangs in the balance. Now a man who only knows betrayal must trust the one person most likely to hand him to the demons. Artemis may have stolen his godhood, but this one has stolen his heart. The only question is: Will she keep it… or feed it to those who want him dead?

Rating:

So. I don’t really know where to start, because while I loved certain parts, I didn’t really care about others. The relationship for instance, had been “nice” but I never felt that “omg, do me, do me”-moment that I sometimes have. The two protagonists where nice and I could relate to them. Sin had been betrayed by all of his folks, his wife, the other Gods, you name it. So he doesn’t trust anyone and the person he hates the most is Artemis, who has stolen his powers.

Thousands of years later Artemis wants Kat to kill Sin, because whoho, he’s soo evil and gonna kill her and so on. So Kat tries to stop him just to find out that Artemis was being herself. A bitch. And a liar.

Well, there is some other stuff, but that’d spoil the whole book. (Although I predicted those things, I don’t want to ruin the fun for anyone and wouldn’t have liked to read it in another review, either).

The main problem is the trust-betrayel-yaddayaddayadda-issue. The plot was enjoyable and sometimes I really wondered “Oh, how will they get that one right? oô”

However, that’s none of which matters. Because of ARCHERON. *happy sigh

So much of Ash, I could almost say I’m satisfied.. Which I – of course – can’t, but huh. Ash. Lots of Ash. Really! There is sooo much.. Awr. And here is a part of dialogue that I bookmarked:

She wiped her eyes before she had a weird off-topic question. “What do you do when [Artemis] leaves you alone like this?”

He shrugged. “I write romance novels.”

and

She didn’t understand that. “How can anyone be afraid of love?”

“How can they not?” His face was completely aghast. “When you love someone… truly love them, friend or lover, you lay your heart open to them. You give them a part of yourself that you give to no one else, and you let them inside a part of you that only they can hurt—you literally hand them the razor with a map of where to cut deepest and most painfully on your heart and soul. And when they do strike, it’s crippling—like having your heart carved out. It leaves you naked and exposed, wondering what you did to make them want to hurt you so badly when all you did was love them. What is so wrong with you that no one can keep faith with you? That no one can love you? To have it happen once is bad enough… but to have it repeated? Who in their right mind would not be terrified of that?”

Kat swallowed against the lump in her throat as she heard the pain inside him. (..)

Oh Ash.

First Thoughts: Fear the Darkness by Sherrilyn Kenyon (EN)

Fear the Darkness (Dark Hunter #11) by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Rating:

The Blurb:

An original short story from Sherrilyn Kenyon

Experience how the world of the Dark-Hunters® and Dream-Hunters intersect in FEAR THE DARKNESS. Also features bonus material with insider details from Sherrilyn Kenyon – including what she’s writing now … and what’s coming next!

This is a special thank you to readers for all the great years. It’s a small story about Nick’s homecoming to New Orleans after his mother’s death and after Katrina.

I knew from the beginning what was going to happen to Nick. I wanted the reader to see the birth of a Dark-Hunter, only to have it with a twist. And even though I knew what was going to happen, I still cried when I wrote the scene.

The story is free and you can download it here

First Thoughts:

I know, I know. How can I give this little thing 3 stars when I gave all the other books just as much. Especially when I already told everyone that Nick’s shit (while Ash is the Shit).

Well, he still annoys the hell outta me, but in this book we see another part of him. Not only the “Oh, the whole world’s crap!”-part, but the “I am crap, too”-part. The part where he doesn’t blame Ash the whole time, but himself, too. I don’t say it’s healthy, because, hell, it isn’t. But it made me sympathize with him.

We already knew that he loved his Mommy, but it was different to read those pages, without thinking about some chick and some Dark Hunter, who wants to get laid.

It was ONLY about the the aftermath of Ash’s *deep voice*
“Yo, bro. You better go kill yourself, because you fucked The Simi (who’s like my daughter, although, yes, you didn’t know she was and yes, she actually seduced you. So who cares?)!”
and Nick’s *girly voide*
“Oh, it’s all Ash’s fault, damn him! I’m so going to be all pissed, becoming a Dark Hunter and get revenge! And oh, I’m also going to be pissed because Ash didn’t safe my mom – although I know that her death isn’t the end of her existence! And while I’m at it, why don’t I blame him for not saving the world from some hurricane? I mean, that is so reasonable, esp. when I have no idea what Ash had actually done back then.”
And after Artemis *stupid bitchy, whiney, artemis-y voice*
“Oh, although he killed himself and it’s against the rules to make him a Dark Hunter, I’m going to do just that, because I don’t want Ash to be pissed at me and I’m a selfish bitch, aah I mean, I’m a goddess who has to bear so much, that this would be too much. Yes. So, here he comes, new Dark Hunter, yay!”

However the Nick-plot seems to be.. well, uncomfortable? Okay, so, yes, some people might call that “thrilling” or “exciting”.. Thinking about it, huh, maybe I just have to be a little more open-minded.. Whatever. I mean, come on. They were buds, right? And I liked old Nicky. Why did Ash and Nick go from that:

to that:

[Blogintern] Englisch?

Ich bekomme ja in letzter Zeit einige englische Rezensionsexemplare/ARCs. Die muss ich dementsprechend auch auf Englisch rezensieren. Jetzt überlege ich, ob ich nicht jede Rezi auf Dt und En verfassen, auf Goodreads beide und hier die Deutsche (mit Verweis zur Englischen oder andersrum?) posten sollte.

Die Rezensionen, die ich bisher auf Englisch geschrieben hab, werd ich wohl auch so posten.. Aber wie ich das in Zukunft mache, weiß ich nicht. Hülfe?

Hmm.. Hätte ich noch mein eigenes Webspace und würde sich WordPress nicht so gut zum Buchbloggen eignen, dann könnte ich einfach einen “Auf Englisch” Schalter einbasteln, der dann die Sprachen wechselt, solang man die css, php und html-Schipsel und Codes richtig anwendet..

Außerdem werd ich eventuell weiterhin eher sporadisch updaten können, wobei ich mir da nicht sicher bin. Es gibt derzeit einiges zu erledigen (ahoi, u.a. Krankenhausaufenthalt, Familiendrama usw. ) und wenn dann mein Internet auch nicht mitmachen mag, werd ich ganz aggressiv.. :>

So, mehr gibt’s im Moment nicht zu sagen – Obwohl es auch knapp Mitternacht ist, könnte Übermüdung sein.

Ich hoffe, alle hatten einen erfolgreichen Internationalen Tag gegen Homophobie und Transphobie.