My Favorite First Lines

Who else loves first lines? Today I thought I would share with you my favorite first lines from the books I've read so far. I think a first line definitely sets the mood for the whole book, so it's really important. Here are my favourite first lines from books, I hope you enjoy it.

"Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood." 

(From The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan)

There is nothing like a book which starts with the narrator explaining himself that he doesn't wanted any of the book to happen. It just makes it more interesting.

"When I was twelve I broke my leg jumping off the wall between Canada and Germany,” I say, but the woman across from me doesn’t even blink."

 (From All fall down by Ally Carter): 

This is just one of those first lines I had to read so many times, before I understood it. It just sounds so crazy and this whole series is just crazy so, it's perfect.

"So here’s the file that almost killed me, Director."

(From Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff)

This first line just straight off made me excited for the whole book (even if I was already excited) and set the perfect mood for it. Not to mention that it describes the whole book perfectly in one sentence, but there is so much more behind it.

"Guilt is a hunter."

 (From Salt to the sea by Ruta Sepetys)

As I said before, this got me sucked into this book, because after this sentence you most likely want answers...

"Every morning I wake up and I tell myself this: It’s just one day, one twenty-four-hour period to get yourself through." 

(From Where she went by Gayle Forman)

This sentence just straight up describes a part of my life and after I read it, it stuck with me. 

"I just punched a girl in the face." 
( From Maybe someday by Colleen Hoover)

I remember reading this and I had to double-check it, because it was so weird. This is definitely one of the funniest first lines I have ever read.

"I suppose a lot of teenage girls feel invisible sometimes, like they just disappear."

(From I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter)

This is just relatable in my opinion.  

"So she tells me, the words dribbling out with the cranberry muffin crumbs, commas dunked in her coffee." 

(From Wintergirls by Laurie hale Anderson)

For some reason this sentence stuck with me, because it's so absurd, don't ask why. Plus it's the first line of an amazing book.

What are your favourite first lines from books you've read? Make sure to leave a comment about it and I'll be back with a new post on Sunday.
Until next time 
B

Talking As Fast As I Can by Laure Graham Book Review

Hello Everyone,
Today I am going to talk about one of the my most anticipated book for 2016, although it's already 2017. And yes, it's by Lauren Graham. You may or may not have heard about her and her most widely known and loved TV-show, Gilmore Girls. Let me tell you I am a huge Gilmore Girls fan and also a big Lauren Graham fan as well. I am almost entirely sure I have seen most of her interviews on youtube and watched her movies and tv-shows. So, yes I was excited for this book.

The synapses:

In this collection of personal essays, the beloved star of Gilmore Girls and Parenthood reveals stories about life, love, and working as a woman in Hollywood—along with behind-the-scenes dispatches from the set of the new Gilmore Girls, where she plays the fast-talking Lorelai Gilmore once again.

(click here for the Goodreads page)

My thoughts:

Going into it, I never anticipated it to be so real. I listened to the audiobook, which I never really do honestly, but hearing Lauren Graham reading it, just made it so real and "authentic". I normally don't like autobiographies, because often they are filled with facts and boring stories. This book was telling her life through a fun point of view,  the sort of I could really feel related to. What I gained from this book was, everyone has their own ups and downs, you just have to find a way to learn something from it. My favourite part out of the book was by far, was the part about the GG revival, because I truly felt like she was talking about "going home" or reuniting with er "family" and this just makes the whole GG thing more lovely and cute.

Also I really enjoyed how she was "telling" the story. It was mostly funny and sarcastic, exactly how you should reflect on your life in my opinion, because why be sad about it if you cannot change it anymore?!

So, yes, I recommend you reading this book if you love Gilmore Girls or if you don't and you just want an easy, entertaining read, but mostly I recommend listening to the audiobook, because it's just better that way. I never thought autobiographies can be fun like this and I actually think I will read more after reading this.

I hope you're all having a wonderful Sunday and I hope you enjoyed reading my review, if you have any suggestion for me to read or if you just want me to write about something, just leave a comment.
Until next time,
Bianka

January Wrap-Up

Is it just me or January really is already over?! Which means for me that freedom is over and uni starts again. Although I am going to have pretty good schedule this semester, still I am going to miss having tons of free time. Without me complaining about going back to "reality" here are the books I read in January:

Heartless by Marissa Meyer: 

This book was enjoyable, but the writing just wasn't for me and this kind of made it slower for me, but other that that I would recommend it. I actually have a review about this one so click here if you want to read it.

Heist Society by Ally Carter: 

I cannot believe I haven't pick this book up sooner. If you're reading my blog frequently, you can assume I love Ally Carter books. They are the perfect books to read if youre in a reading slum or if you want a "one-sitting" type of book. I'll definitely continue on with the series, because this was such an easy and fun read. If you're not familiar with the series, I'll link the Goodreads page of the book here, if you're interested.

World After by Susan Ee:

I gave this book 3 stars on Goodreads, because although it was enjoyable, it was a typical 2nd book in a series, so I cannot wait to read the 3rd book in the series and see where the story goes.

We can be mended by Veronica Roth: 

Okay, technically its not a book, but it's a bonus epilogue for the divergent series and in my opinion it really needed one, because that ending still makes me beyond angry. This epilogue made me so angry, I didn't even start Carve the Mark after this, because I am still so angry about that ending. It takes place five years after the series ended and we get the story from Tobias's point of view. I understand what Veronica Roth wanted with this epilogue, but seriously?! I don't want to spoil you with the details, I am just going to say, it wasn't what I was expecting, I definitely expected more from the writer, even were the story goes would be okay, but it could have been better written. Is it just me or you feel the same?

This was my brief wrap-up for January, I hope to read more books next month and also I am going to try and finally get back to my blogging schedule, because I really want to post more frequently.
Until next time,
Bianka

Heartless by Marissa Meyer book review

Hello Everyone,
I hope you're all having an amazing weekend, in todays post I am going to review Heartless by Marissa Meyer and I am so excited to share my opinion about it, because this book is one that I have so many mixed feelings about. When I first heard that this book is going to be released, I wanted it in my hands right away. It had everything in it and yet it I had a few problems with it. So keep on reading, if you want my further opinion on this book.

The synapses:

Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland and a favorite of the unmarried King, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, she wants to open a shop and create delectable pastries. But for her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for a woman who could be a queen.

At a royal ball where Cath is expected to receive the King’s marriage proposal, she meets handsome and mysterious Jest. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the King and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into a secret courtship.

Cath is determined to choose her own destiny. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.

My Thoughts:

I wanted to love Heartless so much, but I had a few problems with it and it just wasn't the book for me. I mean there were so many things that could make this book out of this world, for example it takes place in Wonderland and it's a villain origin story and did I mention it takes place in Wonderland?! I love Alice in Wonderland and I was so happy when I saw this book. The writing was beautiful, Marissa Meyer managed to recreate the world and for me the way she described it made it more like our world, but a bit crazier. I want to live in this Wonderland. But I don't know why, Marissa Meyers writing is just not for me. Something is just not compactible with my mind, I don't know why. I tried to read her books in Hungarian as well as in English and although I loved the stories and characters, her books just aren't for me. Other than that, I liked this book and I would totally recommend for everyone, who loves a good retelling or a villain origin story.

The characters were crazy enough and even Catherine didn't annoy me, although at the beginning of the book I was a bit worried she will. She was brave and kind and pretty normal, but also very passionate, I can understand why everyone thought she would make a great queen. Also I think she could have been a very good business owner (if they would have let her). To be honest, I liked her a lot at the end and I love the way she became evil, because a lot of times people get "sour" after they lose a loved one instantly and in this case she gave her heart for revenge. I think it made the whole character of the Queen of Hearts a bit ironic, at least for me, because I think its funny that the Queen of Hearts doesn't actually have a heart. I can totally understand why she did what she did, because in a lot of times people can't or don't want to live with their grief. She choose the easier way and whether she did it to get revenge or not, in that position her heart was something she could live without.

Jest was the perfect Joker and I never really knew, whether his intentions were clear or not honestly, but he was just the right character to make Cath question everything about her life.

The king was....the king. He is the weakest person I have ever seen in books, I don't even understand how the kingdom is still his and in one piece. He is a typical king, who never really wanted power, he just inherited it and I fully understand why Cath didn't want to marry him.

Seeing the Mad Hatter before he got mad was kind of a surreal experience, because in my opinion he never was normal. That's kind of how I imagined him.

All in all, I would recommend reading this book to everyone who loves the world of Alice in Wonderland or if you simply want to read a villain origin story.

This was my overall opinion about this book,I hope you enjoyed reading it and if you want to, let me know your thoughts in the comments below and I will be back with another blog post next week.

Bye,

Bianka

Everything, everything by Nicola Yoon book review

Hey Everyone,
Lets just take a moment and look back on the last book review I have done, because it was a long time ago. I am so excited to talk about one of my new favourite YA contemporary book, which I have read in one sitting, because yes, it was that cute and good. As the title says, this book was Everything, everything a YA contemporary has to be.

The synapses:

My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

My thoughts:

This book was on my TBR for such a long time, but for some reason I never really picked it up, because there was always something that I was more interested in. What a big mistake I made....This book just brought me back to the time I was having my first crush and also my first love and also weirdly it made me feel like a 16-year old again, which felt weird since I am only 20 years old and I never thought about how I am not really  teenager anymore, so yes, this book gave me so many feelings, some where really good and some just made me feel old, but thats okay. Maddie was a lovely main character, I think she was pretty unique and weird, which just made her more relatable for me, since let's be honest I also did grow up in a sort of a bubble and when Maddie didn't really know the world in the book, it kind of reminded me of myself and how sometimes I don't know how it works either. Ollie was the perfect cute guy next door, the kind that brings you to new adventures. Their romance was so cute it was almost too much, but it somehow managed not to be annoying or be too cute. Carla was probably my favourite character, because she was always there for Maddie, she was her best friend and at some point she was everything her mother wasn't.

And now lets talk about the mother. Was I the only one who was angry at the end? I cannot be the only one. But at the same time I like how mental illness was sneaked into this book, because I never thought it will be a part of it. It was so well done and it was the perfect ending to the story.
This book is about so many things and the more I think about it, the more things I find. It's story of a teenage girl experiencing the first love and basically the world, the story of a family, which was broken apart, a mother, who lost her child and also her husband. And it's also about friendship, because Carla is the best friend ever in my opinion.

One of the things that made this book so good was that it didn't have too many characters, it only had like, 4 or 5 important characters and this way it was really easy to get to know the characters a lot more and also to relate to them. 

I would totally recommend you to read this book anytime of the year if you love a good YA contemporary novel, with a cute love story, but also with a deeper meaning behind it. If you have read it tell me in the comments below what did you think of it.

Until next time, 

Bianka

20 things I learned in 20 years

Hey Everyone, 

by the time you’re reading this I turned 20 years old. Last year on my birthday I did a similar blogpost about 19things I learned in 19 years and not only did I love to write it, it was one of my most viewed post, so I decided to make it again. It's so weird to say that I am 20 years old already. But I thought sharing 20 things I learned throughout my life and maybe some of them you’re going to find useful. So here we go:

#1: Enjoy every moment and every age, because it will go by so fast you won't even realise it.

I have so many moments in my life I wish I had enjoyed more or took the time to enjoy them and now they are gone.

#2: It doesn't matter how much you love people, you cannot change them.

It's pretty self explanatory, but if you don't get along with someone, don't force, it will never changed.

#3: Sometimes friendships aren't forever. 

I wish someone would have told me that, because it happens a lot and I always kept fighting for them until I hated the people I tried to keep in my life. Sometimes friendships need a break and who knows maybe years later you'll find each other again or not, but let's always hope for the best.

#4. It’s okay to have a bad day.

Every once in a while, I have these days, when I don't want to get out of bed and don't want to do anything. And after that I get angrier and angrier at myself for not being able to do anything. Just let it go and let yourself feel it. Everybody has bad days, so why can’t you have one?

#5. I will always be weird. 

Throughout my whole life I felt weird. And recently I realised it will probably never go away, so I accepted it and now I kind of like it.

#6. Cooking is harder than you believe.

This is something I am not proud of, but I am not a good cook. I tried so many times, but it never works. So, I might as well just memorise every restaurant around me, just to be sure I won't starve to death.

#7. Decluttering your life does really good for you.

I cannot believe I am saying this, but last fall I got almost everything not useful out of my room and it made me so happy at the end. Whoever knows me is aware of the fact, that I could be in an episode of Crazy Hoarders, because I had so much stuff in my room. But at the end it made me feel so much better, so it was worth it, although I am not sure I won't need that old Hannah Montana CD I gave away...

#8. Friends can come from the most unexpected places.

It's really self-explanatory so just keep your eyes open.

#9, Yes, reading-slumps really exist, they are not just a legend...

I had the biggest reading slump last year and I am finally getting out of it, so go Bianka.

#10. Change is good.

I don't want to talk about how much change I have gone through in 2016, because I already did a million times, but change is something I never considered as something good or liberating. But sometimes you don't even know you need it and it will make everything better.

#11. If you're like me, university is a place for you.

I am lazy,  if its about school, let's make that clear. I do not like to go home every day and study as you have to in elementary or in high school, but in uni, you don't have to do that. You only have to study for two or three weeks and youre good to go and leaves you with so much more extra time.

#12. Writing a blog is a big commitment. Especially if you start it during the last year of high school.

I never thought creating a new post every week will be hard, but it was. And I couldn't really do it, so this year I am trying again. Hopefully I will succeed.

#13. You won't always end up where you thought you would in your life, but it's not necessarily bad.

I always wanted to be a figure skater and that was something I knew I had to leave one day, but never really thought about it, because it was so unrealistic. But here I am in a totally different life I imagined and I am happier than ever.

#14. You will never learn how to avoid procrastination. Just get used to it.

I for one procrastinate everything out of the fear of failing and it's the worst feeling ever and I am still trying to figure out how to control it, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to avoid it.

#15. It's okay to watch Disney movies when you're older than 18.

It's one of the biggest life-advise I am going to give you today. Watch what you want to watch, nobody should care.

#16. You have to learn to not care about other people's opinion.

I spent so much time, trying to always make the right thing for others, but somewhere along the way I got lost and it's not okay. Do what you want to do, without other people influencing you.

#17. No matter how you try, it’s possible that you’ll never be a DIY person, if you don’t have the skills for it.

I am not good with crafts, since I was a kid and after 20 years of trying, I finally learned my lesson and although it’s something I like to do, it never turns out okay, whatever I am trying to do.

#18. First days are always awkward, no matter how old you get.

I think first days are incredibly hard and awkward. I never know what to do or who to talk to and the whole thing is just weird, so I always end up acting weird.

#19. Sometimes the people closest to you will understand you the least. 

This just sounds sad, but it’s true. And if they don’t understand you or your problems, it can cause a lot of conflicts and tension and most of the times you cannot do anything about it.

#20. Life will always get better.

I saved the biggest cliché for last, because right now I truly believe, that with hard work and willpower life can always get better and you can find happiness in the most unexpected places, you just have to keep your eyes open.

This was my very long list of things I learned throughout 20 years in this world and the list will just grow with each year so I might have to become wiser and wiser every year. 

I hope you enjoyed reading it and I hope you’re all having a wonderful day.

See you next time,

Bianka

My 2016

Hey Everyone,
I hope you all had an amazing New Year's Eve, today I am here with a post about my 2016. I feel like it was a year worth looking back to so here it is.
The one word that instantly comes into my mind when I think about 2016 is change. It changed me into a whole new person and it changed my life. And I can say it was all for the better. 2016 was full of heart-breaks, laugh, happiness, new friends, new energies and lessons. I grew so much during this past "short" 12 months, that its hard for me to even collect everything that has happened. This year I finally got to a point where I am happy with my life and the people who surround me. I am even happy about my most heartbreaking decision ever, which was to quit figure skating.
I just cannot get over the fact how many new people I got to know this year and how many good friends I got. Also I have experienced that sometimes the people who you weren't close with before can be one of your closest friends. But on the other side I lost friends, which just breaks my heart, but sometimes you grew apart and there is nothing you can do about it. I hope one day I will be able to be friends with these people, but right now I just can't.
My writing has grown as well and I realised I can write poems. Lately that's all I am writing. It's a new way for me to express myself and I just love it so much. Btw., if you want to read my poems, tell me in the comments, although they are Hungarian and I will share them in the future.
Apart from all the things above, I have never felt so much love and support from the people around me as I did in 2016. I never felt so loved before and I never really felt like I belonged somewhere else than the ice. And here I am feeling that I belong and not just to one place. Writing my blog, university, doing bookstagram and also having a circle of friends, I know I can turn to, whenever I want to.
I didn't complete my reading goal this year, but I am not disappointed at all, because I read so many great books in 2016. This year I couldn't read as much as I wanted to, but it was definitely one of my best reading years ever.
Thank you all for following me in 2016 and I hope you'll stick with me for the next year as well.
Until next time,
Bianka