60 15 - Month No. 1

Wow, the first month of the 60 tasks in 15 months challenge is over already! Time goes by so fast!
Anyway, I've been trying to work on as many tasks as possible so that maybe  - just maybe - I'll be able to finish all the tasks a little early.

This past month I've completed 3 tasks. Of course I've also been working on a lot of other tasks which can't be completed in just one go but take some time and efforts.

Now, I'll try to give you the highlights of last month:
First, and most important to me: I've finally made it through Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen. (I've written about that here) It's been my 4th attempt, so I'm quite proud that I actually read the whole thing this time. It's only one out of ten books that I'm supposed to read, but this one's been a tough one, so I feel like I need to share this milestone.

Also, I've picked out a nice wing chair that fits perfectly into our living room.

Then we had my boyfriend's brothers over for a game night, where I also tried (and succeded) to make cake pops.

Aaaand I watched all episodes of Lipstick Jungle, so that's another task completed.

Above all that I've been trying to not use my car, which isn't so easy because my parents live about 30km from our apartment, so every time I wanna go there or go shopping, I just have to use my car. Also, I'm studying again, so now that it's suddenly turned cold outside, I sometimes use my car to go to university.

Usually my enthusiasm for challenges fades rapidly after the first week or so, but this time I feel like I'll actually pull through and complete all the tasks. I'm so motivated :)

Xoxo, have a great week!

RGRC Update #5

Wow, it's been more than 6 months since I last posted an update for the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge! I'm shocked.

But I just didn't feel like reading anything on the list - I prefered light and entertaining love stories above the sometimes quite hard to read titles on the list.

However, at my 4th attempt in as many years I finally made it through the original version of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. It has been hard to understand her 19th Century language, but after a while it got easier and I finally read the whole story about how Elizabeth's and Mr. Darcy's lives got intertwined. And I loved it! So romantic - but at times a little strange to see how things worked back then.

I hope to be reading some more books of the list soon. Let's just hope that I'll have some more free time and motivation this winter than I had last summer.

Xoxo, happy reading!

RGRC Update #4

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It's update number 4 on the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge. So far, I haven't been working so hard on the challenge, but nonetheless have I read 16 out of 340 books. Aaaand, I've been reading a bit more than last time, but I have to admit, that Brave New World, The Wizard of Oz and The Scarecrow of Oz are quite short and easy to read.

The wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum is a colorful, exciting and entertaining story for children, which I will happily read to my future children. Except, of course for the scenes where the lion beheads some of their enemies.

Just as The wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Scarecrow of Oz is a nice adventure tale for children, taking place in many wonderful, strange and fantastic places. Also, we get to meet a few characters again, that have been in the story about the Wizard of Oz.

A bit shocking, but definitely an eye opener was Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. With all that's going on in Russia right now, it is more relevant than ever to think about what could happen if there was only one government that made all the rules and regulations for everyone - especially a government like the one they have in Russia.

And then there was Madame Bovary, written by Gustave Flaubert, which is a book about a bourgeois woman's (love) life during the early and mid 19th century. The book gives the reader an broad insight, but is a bit lenghty at times.

Xoxo, happy reading!

RGRC Update #3

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Wow, I can't believe it's been three months since I last posted about my progress in the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge.

Over Christmas I had been determined to read at least 3 or 4 books that are on the list, but all I managed to read until now was “The strange case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde”, and I didn't even read it until on the plane to India. And I have to admit, I didn’t get it. I didn’t understand what Mr. Stevenson is trying to say in this book. It is well written and I enjoyed reading it, but I can only imagine that maybe he wanted to illustrate the transition of a nice man into an evil one. Or maybe he’s talking about some kind of psychological disease. Or even something entirely different. Who knows?

What do you guys think this book is all about?

Xoxo, keep on reading!

RGRC Update #2

I've been very lazy over the last two months. Basically, all I did was work. Even the books I actually made it through, I read at work during my less busy late shifts.

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This time I chose two very differential books - The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald on one hand and Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe on the other.

I have to confess, if I had to choose, I'd prefer The Great Gatsby over Uncle Tom's Cabin, simply because it's story is so glamourous and makes you want to live in the Roaring Twenties and experience one of Mr. Gatsby's great parties.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed reading both books. Both of them brought a whole new world to me and made me see certain things in a different way.

So, in light of all this I hereby vow to try and read more until it's time for the next update. I'm planning on reading:

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
Lady Chatterleys' Lover by D. H. Lawrence
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

Xoxo, have fun getting lost in your book's world.

RGRC Update #1

I was very busy working on the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge during my holidays - whilst doing some sightseeing in Paris and the South of France and enjoying a few days of sun, sea and beach in Croatia.

So, during these last couple of months I read about 2300 pages. Three books, that couldn't be more different if intended. "Gone with the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell, an epic love story and famous classic, "The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America" by Erik Larson, which is a non-fiction book about the World Fair in Chicago in 1893 and "Lord of the Flies", a novel about a group of boys stuck on an uninhabited island.

All three books were very interesting to read and carried you off into a whole new world to explore. Now, that I'm finished with these books, I'm planning on reading these:

Jane Austen - Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen - Sense and Sensibility
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby

Xoxo, have a great time reading!

What I'm reading

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Over the last weeks I've been reading two books, that have been on my To-Read-List for months now. Two books that couldn't differ more. Two books that are miraculously part of the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge, too. The first one is "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson, the other one "Gone with the wind" by Margaret Mitchell, which has been made into the same-named all-time classic movie.

"The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America" is a 2003 non-fiction book by Erik Larson presented in a novelistic style so thrilling, that you almost can't put it down. The book is based on real characters and events. Adapted from source

"Gone with the Wind", an epic novel about life in the Southern States of the US during the Civil War. It follows Scarlett O'Hara, a Southern Belle, who pines after - what she thinks is - the love of her life, after he marries another girl. The book describes the events in her life and the Civil War in very colorful terms and pictures.

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All in all, both books are very interesting, thrilling and informative and you feel you can't put them down. In "The Devil in the White City" some parts are nothing for highly sensitive people, but these are the parts that make the story thrilling.

I could only recommend to read both books, as they are stories everyone should have read in their lives.

What other books would you recommend everyone should read? Why?

Xoxo, enjoy the summer and read on!

The Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge

A few weeks ago, while I was spending some time on StumbleUpon, I came across this post about the Rory Gilmore Reading Challenge, where taking part means reading all (or as many as possible) books Rory ever mentions throughout the show. I decided to give it a go and take part because of three reasons:

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1. I love Gilmore Girls! When I was still in school I loved to watch as many episodes as they would show. Also, I admire the way they sometimes integrate quotes from movies, books and songs into their conversations.
2. I love reading. When I was younger people always told me to put that book away and do some sports or whatever.
3. I love ticking things off lists.

And, after going through the list of books, I discovered that a lot of them are either older books or biographies, so I'll be learning a lot while reading. Usually, when reading, I tend to choose books that are romances, which naturally all end the same way, so I am quite excited to get to know other genres (and plots).

I opened up a new page, which you can find here, where you'll find a list of all the books to be read and already read. Also, I'll sporadically write posts to update on my progress.

Xoxo, enjoy your summer while reading a good book and getting tanned!