What's the point with school?

I'm having my leadership and organization class at the moment,  my teacher is talking about. .. something and I have my book "beautiful disaster staring back at me,  telling me to break all rules, and just read.  I wish I could.... ugh the book is so good,  I just want to go home and read!!!

That's Julias head btw.

Ruby Red / RubinRöd REVIEW +

Av Linzi Glass

• Översättare: 

  Helena Ridelberg

• Formgivare: 

  Maria Sundberg

• Förlag: 

  B Wahlströms

I maj 1976 förändras Ruby Winters värld för alltid. Det är mörka tider i det vackra och segregerade Sydafrika. Snart ska de svarta i Soweto resa sig mot apartheidregimens styre och landet färgas rött av blod. 
Ruby går sitt sista år i skolan och känner sig allt mer utanför. På grund av föräldrarnas ständiga rädsla för att bli arresterade får hon inte ta med vänner hem, och hon har tidigt lärt sig att inte dela sina tankar och känslor med någon. Tills hon träffar Johann 
Han är afrikaans (Rubys familj är av engelsk börd), hans far tillhör den styrande eliten och Ruby märker snart att fördomar frodas även hos hennes föräldrar och deras vänner. 
Men hon kan inte motstå den första kärleken, som förutom pirrande lycka också för med sig misstänksamhet, hemligheter och fara. 
Samtidigt gömmer sig konstnären och ANC-medlemmen Julian hos familjen. Han målar det hårda livet i Soweto och starka känslor som hat och ilska, men också kärlek. Julian visar Ruby livets alla färger, men hans kritiska tavlor försätter honom i fara. Protesterna i Johannesburg skördar många offer och världen blir aldrig den samma. 

Helt ärligt trodde jag att jag höll i en barnbok när jag tog upp denna bok. glad framsida med fina färger och blommor, 200 sidor kort berättelse, hur hemsk kan den vara liksom?
Mycket visade det sig. Den kunde vara mycket hemsk.
Sydafrika under den här tiden var ingen lätt tid för svarta människor. Man jagades och dödades för sin hudfärg, man såg på svarta som man ser på en hund - någon som man lär upp att stå och sitta. Att föja order.

Julian. han har fått kämpa sedan han var liten, han har fått leva i skuggan av världens orättvisa, och han visade denna orättvisa för andra genom sin konst. Mot slutet såg man att ingenting kunde ändra på det han faktiskt stod för - rättvisa. han höll lika hårt om sina penslar som han höll om vapen när det behövdes. Han bidade sin tid, han visste när han skulle kämpa. Julian kämpade för rättvisa. Hur mycket berömmelse han än fick glömde han aldrig vart han kom ifrån.

De karaktärerna som berörde mig allra mest var utan tvekan Rubys föräldrar. Vilken kämparglöd de två hade! De var två vita människor, rika och väl uppsatta som kämpade för de svartas rättigheter. De har allt, stort hus, berömelse, en älskad dotter, pengar, kärlek, och de väljer att kasta bort allt av betydelse för att låta de svarta få sin rättivsa. De såg människorna för deras inre och inte deras yttre. Jag ser upp till dem. I en värld där du blir stämplad vid födseln som talar om vilka förmåner du kommer ha i livet på grund av din hudfärg kan det inte vara lätt att stå för sin åsikt. De inte bara stod för sin åsikt utan de AGERADE också. 

Den här boken speglade verkligheten för endast 30 år sedan. Den här bokens budskap var tydlig - det är inte hudfärgen som avgör vem du är som person, det är insidan. Vi fick lära känna en kille som var släkt med en nazist-kramare. gör detta honom till Hitler älskare? Vi fick lära känna en svart man som togs under en vits familjs vingar som gav honom ett liv i bekvämligheter. Gjorde detta att han glömde bort vart han kom ifrån? Nej. Vi fick lära känna en familj som kunde leva i lyx om de bara valde att blunda för de svartas verklghet. gjorde de det? - Nej.
5/5

By Linzi Glass

Hardcover, 224 pages

Published by Penguin Books (first published 2007)

In Ruby Winters' world, colour opens some doors and slams others shut. Her opulent Johannesburg neighbourhood is a far cry from the streets of Soweto where anger and hatred simmer under the surface. Ruby can't resist the blue-eyed Afrikaans boy who brings her the exciting rush of first love, but whose presence brings hushed whispers and disapproving glances. She might not see race, colour or creed—but it seems everybody else does. This dazzling novel will entrance teenage and adult readers alike.

Quite honestly, I thought I was holding in a children's book when I picked up this book. happy face with beautiful colors and flowers, 200-page short story, how horrible can it be like?

Very it turned out. It could be very horrible.

South Africa during this time was not an easy time for black people. They were hunted and killed for their skin color, they saw the black people the way you see a dog - someone who can teach up to stand and sit. For following orders.

Julian. He has been fighting since he was little, he has been living in the shadow of the world's injustice, and he showed this injustice to others through their art. Towards the end you could see that nothing could change what he actually stood for - justice. He held a brush as he held on weapons when needed. He bided his time, he knew when he would fight. Julian fought for justice. How much fame he got, he never forgot where he came from.

The characters that touched me most was undoubtedly Ruby's parents. What a fighting spirit, the two had! They were two white people, rich and well established that fought for the rights of blacks. They have everything, great house, praise coming, a beloved daughter, money, love, and they choose to throw away everything of importance to let the blacks get their justice. They saw people for their internal and not their appearance. I look up to them. In a world where you get stamped at birth that tells what benefits you will have in life because of your skin color, it may not be easy to stand up for their opinion. They not only represented their opinion but they ACTED also.

This book reflected the reality of only 30 years ago. This book's message was clear - it is not skin color that determines who you are as a person, it's inside. We got to know a guy who was related to a Nazi-hugger. this makes him the Hitler lover? We got to know a black man who was in a white family's wings that gave him a life of comfort. Did this mean that he forgot where he came from? No. We got to know a family that could live in luxury if they just chose to ignore the blacks reality. did they do it? - No.

5/5

 ~stay smart, stay chic

xoxo Lihini

Book releases: May

Dare to you
Katie McGarry

Hardcover, 462 pages

Expected publication: May 28th 2013 by Harlequin Teen

Ryan lowers his lips to my ear. "Dance with me, Beth."

"No." I whisper the reply. I hate him and I hate myself for wanting him to touch me again....

"I dare you..."

If anyone knew the truth about Beth Risk's home life, they'd send her mother to jail and seventeen-year-old Beth who knows where. So she protects her mom at all costs. Until the day her uncle swoops in and forces Beth to choose between her mom's freedom and her own happiness. That's how Beth finds herself living with an aunt who doesn't want her and going to a school that doesn't understand her. At all. Except for the one guy who shouldn't get her, but does....

Ryan Stone is the town golden boy, a popular baseball star jock-with secrets he can't tell anyone. Not even the friends he shares everything with, including the constant dares to do crazy things. The craziest? Asking out the Skater girl who couldn't be less interested in him.

But what begins as a dare becomes an intense attraction neither Ryan nor Beth expected. Suddenly, the boy with the flawless image risks his dreams-and his life-for the girl he loves, and the girl who won't let anyone get too close is daring herself to want it all....

Harlequin sent me this book so Im pumped to read this when I get time!

Down London Road
Samantha Young

Paperback, 384 pages

Expected publication: May 7th 2013 by NAL

It has always been up to Johanna to care for her family, particularly her younger brother, Cole. With an absent father and a useless mother, she’s been making decisions based on what’s best for Cole for as long as she can remember. She even determines what men to date by how much they can provide for her brother and her, not on whatever sparks may—or may not—fly.

But with Cameron MacCabe, the attraction is undeniable. The sexy new bartender at work gives her butterflies every time she looks at him. And for once, Jo is tempted to put her needs first. Cam is just as obsessed with getting to know Jo, but her walls are too solid to let him get close enough to even try.

Then Cam moves into the flat below Jo’s, and their blistering connection becomes impossible to ignore. Especially since Cam is determined to uncover all of Jo’s secrets …even if it means taking apart her defenses piece by piece.
Well hello bedlove lol, this one was pretty famous this month, people don't seem to be able to sit still in the waiting!



CLICK HERE FOR STARCROSSED #1 REVIEW
CLICK HERE FOR STARCROSSED #2 REVIEW
Goddess (starcrossed #3)
Josephine Angelini

Hardcover, 432 pages

Expected publication: May 28th 2013 by HarperTeen

After accidentally unleashing the gods from their captivity on Olympus, Helen must find a way to re-imprison them without starting a devastating war. But the gods are angry, and their thirst for blood already has a body count.

To make matters worse, the Oracle reveals that a diabolical Tyrant is lurking among them, which drives a wedge between the once-solid group of friends. As the gods use the Scions against one another, Lucas’s life hangs in the balance. Still unsure whether she loves him or Orion, Helen is forced to make a terrifying decision, for war is coming to her shores.

In Josephine Angelini’s compelling conclusion to the masterfully woven Starcrossed trilogy, a goddess must rise above it all to change a destiny that’s been written in the stars. With worlds built just as fast as they crumble, love and war collide in an all-out battle that will leave no question unanswered and no heart untouched.

OMG OMG OMG OMG IT'S FINALLY HERE, OMG, *BREATHS* I CAN'T EVEN, IM BUYING THIS ASAP!

the 5th Wave
Rick Yancey

Hardcover, 480 pages

Expected publication: May 7th 2013 by Putnam Juvenile

After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.


THIS BOOK have been requested tons of times by bloggers, it's a real big deal among us (not me, I don't se the wooooooz in this book) but I think this book might be good if they are able to balance the story with the writing style


School Spirit (school spirit #1)
Rachel Hawkins

Hardcover, 304 pages

Expected publication: May 14th 2013 by Disney-Hyperion

Fifteen-year-old Izzy Brannick was trained to fight monsters. For centuries, her family has hunted magical creatures. But when Izzy’s older sister vanishes without a trace while on a job, Izzy's mom decides they need to take a break.

Izzy and her mom move to a new town, but they soon discover it’s not as normal as it appears. A series of hauntings has been plaguing the local high school, and Izzy is determined to prove her worth and investigate. But assuming the guise of an average teenager is easier said than done. For a tough girl who's always been on her own, it’s strange to suddenly make friends and maybe even have a crush.

Can Izzy trust her new friends to help find the secret behind the hauntings before more people get hurt? 

Rachel Hawkins' delightful spin-off brings the same wit and charm as theNew York Times best-selling Hex Hall series. Get ready for more magic, mystery and romance!

I requested this book and Disney declined me.. but then I saw that they don't accept request's from bloggers so yeah, i forgive them. I still wan't to read it thou, it seems like a great book, I read Hex Hall, and didn't really fall in love with it but it was ok.

Of Triton (of Poseidon)
Anna Banks

Hardcover, 256 pages

Expected publication: May 28th 2013 by Feiwel & Friends

Of Poseidon #1 review 

http://teenbookalover.blogspot.se/2013/01/of-poseidon-review.html

In this sequel to OF POSEIDON, Emma has just learned that her mother is a long-lost Poseidon princess, and now struggles with an identity crisis: As a Half-Breed, she’s a freak in the human world and an abomination in the Syrena realm below. Syrena law states that all Half- Breeds should be put to death.

As if that’s not bad enough, her mother’s reappearance among the Syrena turns the two kingdoms—Poseidon and Triton—against one another. Which leaves Emma with a decision to make: Should she comply with Galen’s request to keep herself safe and just hope for the best? Or should she risk it all and reveal herself—and her Gift—to save a people she’s never known?


EERGMAIGAAAAAD, I wan't this book so bad, and I wan't it now!!

some great books coming out this month!

the sun is at it's best so I can not wait to just take my bycicle and go somewhere far far away, away from everything and just read. That is probably one of the best things I like to do...

... feel free to comment down below or email me if you know a book you think I should read!

~stay smart, stay chic

xoxo Lihini

Excited!

Writing from my cell!

I MIGHT just have my manusscript (my one and only lol) made into a theater/musical show!! My friends school r putting up a show, she goes to a big musicschool and she suggested they do a play using my script, and they seemed to like the idea! If they decide to use it... I have to actually finish it.

REVIEW: The Future of Us

By Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

It's 1996, and Josh and Emma have been neighbors their whole lives. They've been best friends almost as long - at least, up until last November, when Josh did something that changed everything. Things have been weird between them ever since, but when Josh's family gets a free AOL CD in the mail, his mom makes him bring it over so that Emma can install it on her new computer. When they sign on, they're automatically logged onto their Facebook pages. But Facebook hasn't been invented yet. And they're looking at themselves fifteen years in the future.

By refreshing their pages, they learn that making different decisions now will affect the outcome of their lives later. And as they grapple with the ups and downs of what their futures hold, they're forced to confront what they're doing right - and wrong - in the present.

FACEBOOK THE YEAR I WAS BORN, OMG!

This was one of those books you didn't like, nor dislike, but you kept reading it because, why not? 

Emma annoyed the crap out of me more and more, she was so ignorant!

Josh was ok, I felt like I didn’t get to know him that much..

The story overall was good, it was interesting in a very weird way, it was quite different from other books, because of the whole Facebook aspect. I got to know how kids lived on “my year” it was exciting, because to be honest, It felt a bit like the 70’tis with all the walkman stuff, and the way the girls talked, like they were some underdogs who couldn’t even lift a milk pack, my god.

I do not think these authors should write anything together again. I haven’t read anything by Mackler yet, I will someday thou. I felt that Jay’s writing sparkle wasn’t in it; could it have been Mackler holding him back?

But to be honest, I don’t regret reading this book, it wasn’t a deep book, and it wasn’t supposed to be one either, I will take what I get, and what I got was good enough.     

~ stay smart, stay chic

xoxo Lihini

My life right now

Maths, uhhh I love maths but not after 6pm... I have a exam tomorrow that I atleast have to get a C on, otherwise I will be disappointed.. Oh well YOLO. I will write a blogpost 2morrow were I critize Cassandra Clare so stay tuned!

8 tips on how to study effectively.

1. eyes on the prize.

im not talking about some oscars award here. when i start to study I do good for like 15 minutes or so, and then i will drift away. im not motivated. of course i could tell myself that I won't come in to a collage if i don't focuse and no college means no job which means no money etc. but that's just so far away.. 

put up a prize that you will get after you have finished your studies, it could be a jar of ben and jerry, chocolate, getting to watch your favorite tv serie, or as for me, going to the gym.

2. schedule schedule schedule!

make up a routine, and write it down. when i have something written down it's like an appointment to me, I can't miss it because if i do something bad will happen. I know that nothing will really happen but it just feels like that..

3. write a summary of the pages 

this takes a hellof a time but it's worth it, trust me. 

when our teacher would give us 30 pages to read i would just read them over and over again. but to be honest, how many times can you re-read thirty pages? it would probably take me 1 week to read it three times lol. 

so what i do is that i write a summary of every column. I change it into my own words and short it down. studies show that if you write something down you will have a less harder time remembering it, and as a bonus you don't have to re read the whole book

4. highlight!

colors are much more fun than plain and boring black and white right? 

studies show that keywords/ sentences that are marked will be much easier to remember because they are different from other things in the text!

5. find your favorite spot at home/ at the library etc.

finding that spot is important, because you will be spending quit a time there. make sure it's not to comfy and keep it nice and tidy. that way you won't get distracted as easily.

6. study outfit

i know this might sound really weird, but when I study I like to put on my pink adidas pant's, a pink top, fluffy white slippers with pearls, my "nerd glasses" and put my hair up in a bun. I feel like if I look nerd chic i might even get a bit smarter. and it kind of trig's me...

7. partner in crime

I would love to tell you that this is the perfect opportunity to talk to that cute guy from Chemistry, but unless he’s a science whiz you’d better not. When working with a study partner you want to look for someone that can help keep you focused, knows the material better than you do and most of all, won’t distract you especially with dashing good looks.

8. foooooood!

I always have to have food in my mouth. always, so when it's time to study im always prepared with a glass of cottage cheese, fruit and yogurt, or just sliced fruits..

fruits and scrambled eggs

cottage, banana, frozen raspberries,
strawberry yogurt 

 

that was all my secret tips, which are not so secret I just realized... I hope you find them useful, bye, heading for the shower, don't want to smell like a God know's what in school tomorrow!!

~ stay smart, stay chic

xoxo Lihini

Percy Jackson 1 - 5 REVIEW

realized that i havn't written a review about the percy jackson series! so here it goes..

By: Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school... again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus' master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.

Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus' stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.

Percy is a twelve year old boy, goes to school, have a few friends... just a normal lifestyle. until he met's Grover, the real Grover. Percy becomes older with every book, so you really get to see him grow and get older, very andenterous in itself
this book was as much of a fantasy book as a fact book, i learned so much about greek myth's i kiiiiiiind of got obsessed with it during that month (year, i still am, but that's a secret)



The heroic son of Poseidon makes an action-packed comeback in the second must-read installment of Rick Riordan's amazing young readers series. Starring Percy Jackson, a "half blood" whose mother is human and whose father is the God of the Sea, Riordan's series combines cliffhanger adventure and Greek mythology lessons that results in true page-turners that get better with each installment. In this episode, The Sea of Monsters, Percy sets out to retrieve the Golden Fleece before his summer camp is destroyed, surpassing the first book's drama and setting the stage for more thrills to come.










When the goddess Artemis goes missing, she is believed to have been kidnapped. And now it's up to Percy and his friends to find out what happened. Who is powerful enough to kidnap a goddess? They must find Artemis before the winter solstice, when her influence on the Olympian Council could swing an important vote on the war with the titans. Not only that, but first Percy will have to solve the mystery of a rare monster that Artemis was hunting when she disappeared—a monster rumored to be so powerful it could destroy Olympus forever.













When demonic cheerleaders invade his high school, Percy Jackson hurries to Camp Half Blood, from whence he and his demigod friends set out on a quest through the Labyrinth, while the war between the Olympians and the evil Titan lord Kronos draws near.














All year the half-bloods have been preparing for battle against the Titans, knowing the odds of a victory are grim. Kronos’s army is stronger than ever, and with every god and half-blood he recruits, the evil Titan’s power only grows.

While the Olympians struggle to contain the rampaging monster Typhon, Kronos begins his advance on New York City, where Mount Olympus stands virtually unguarded. Now it’s up to Percy Jackson and an army of young demigods to stop the Lord of Time.

In this momentous final book in the New York Times best-selling series, the long-awaited prophecy surrounding Percy’s sixteenth birthday unfolds. And as the battle for Western civilization rages on the streets of Manhattan, Percy faces a terrifying suspicion that he may be fighting against his own fate.







trust me, you will love the books!

xoxo Lihini

going away

hi guys! i just wanted to tell you that i am going to England for a few days so i will not be able to blog during my visit, but my lovely, sweet, kind, funny, book addict friend Linnea will be blogging while im gone! she will write a few words about herself and take care of my blog while im gone. be kind to her and i will hear from you guys soon!