Tuesday, October 29, 2013

The strange case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson


When I picked up this book at the library I was so surprised at how little pages it has, because so many refrences are always being made to this novella that I just assumed it was a bigger book! Eventhough it wasn't a very long story I loved it from the beginning to the end. It's not often that I really like shorter stories because I feel like you don't get to know the characters good enough.

Everyone has a dark side

Dr Jekyll has discovered the ultimate drug. A chemical that can turn him into someone else. Suddenly, he can unleash his deepest cruelties in the guise of the sinister Hyde. Transforming himself at will, he roams the streets of fog-bound London as his monstrous alter ego.

It seems he is master of his fate.

It seems he is in complete control.

But soon he will discover that his double life comes at a hideous price...

The story was a little predictable but it was intruiging throughout the whole book. I found it very enjoyable that the story was not told from Dr Jekyll's pont of view. Grabriel John Utterson was a pleasing character with a curious mind, which I liked. I loved that the story didn't only focus on the horrible character of Mr. Hyde, but also on Gabriel finding out what was really happening to his friend Dr Henry Jekyll. I really liked the idea that every person has a better and a darker side and Stevenson did a great job of making me think about that.

The story had the perfect lenght. Eventhough it's only 88 pages, a lot of details of the story were told, so  after I had finished I felt just like after reading a bigger book. Maybe I'm mainly so enthousiastic because I actually had not expected much of this story, but I still recommend it highly.


Monday, October 28, 2013

Music Monday #33

Today I want to share two songs by the folk singer Lucy Rose. I love her songs and she has a beautiful gentle voice.

Lucy Rose - All I've got



Lucy Rose - Place


Sunday, October 27, 2013

Preparing for Nanowrimo



Yesterday I got back from a two week trip to Sweden, coming week I'll share some of my stories and pictures ;)

The first of november is getting closer and I've started to prepare for Nanowrimo. Last two years of Nanowrimo I started pretty spontaneous, but this time I'm going to be ready! For me, preparting mostly just means that I'm constantly thinking about my story. Eventhough no one actually sees something happen, so much work is being done inside my head. Besides that, I'm also making a music playlist, because a lot of music really does help me to write (except for music with lyrics that I know far to well, because than I just have to scream along and I totally forget about what I was doing).

On my playlist are currently the following songs:
Levi Kreis - I should go
Sanders Bohlke - The weight of us
Northern Lights - Cider sky
Ryan Star - Losing your memory
Beirut - Guaymas Sonora
Ben Howard - Old Pine
Howie Day - Longest night
At the moment I have only songs with lyrics and I also want to find a lot of music without lyrics, so my list is far from complete.

Which songs inspire you and how are you preparing for Nanowrimo?

Monday, October 21, 2013

Music Monday #32

Sanders Bohlke - The weight of us



Sanders Bohlke - Search and destroy


Thursday, October 17, 2013

NaNoWriMo - Are you participating?

http://cfiles.nanowrimo.org/nano-2013/files/2013/09/2013-Participant-Facebook-Cover.png

Last august I participated in Camp Nanowrimo and for the first time wrote 50.000 words in a month. It was hard, but I was so proud of myself when I had finished! This november I'm going to give Nanowrimo another try. Hopefully I'll be able to write 50.000 words again and also make it more of a complete story. Some parts of the story I wrote this summer felt more like a bunch of loose scraps.
The novel I want to write plays in the same world as my previous story and I'm really excited to write more about it.

Are you going to participate this year? Do you already know what you are going to write about?

Monday, October 14, 2013

Music Monday #31

Marble Sounds makes such soothing music. Whether I'm happy or sad, I can always listen to it.

Marble Sounds - The days we care about



Marble Sounds - Dance Clarence Dance




Thursday, October 10, 2013

Hej hej Sverige!



I'm so excited! On Sunday I'm leaving for Stockholm. I'm going to take swedish lessons for two weeks, so hopefully when I'll come back I will be able to say more than just a few sentences in Swedish. I am going by myself so I think it will be easy to learn new things quickly, since I won't have anyone to talk Dutch with.
I'm going to take three hours of lessons each day, so the rest of the day will be free. I have already found some things to do in Stockholm, but tips are greatly apreciated since I'll have a lot of spare time!

For the duration of my stay in Stockholm I have planned some blogposts. Comments will make me very happy, but I probably won't be able to reply to them until I get back.

I have been in Stockholm before and I loved it. Have you been there? What did you like about it and where did you go?

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

More books

I had decided that I wouldn't buy any new books for a while and just go to the library or read some of my unread books, but I was looking around in a bookstore and my mom found me with a book about world mythology in my hand. She offered to buy it for me. When someone does that there is no way I can say no. (And technically it wasn't even against my own rules, I never anticipated anyone else buying a book for me.)

I also got four books at the library. An omnibus of If I stay and Where she went by Gayle Forman, The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen and Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.
I have been quite curious about The Casual Vacancy for a while now. I loved the Harry Potter series, but I found the summary of this books sound a little bit boring. Everytime I saw it in the bookstore I wasn't sure whether or not to buy it, but when I saw it at the library I realised that I could borrow it first and I could always buy it later if I really liked it.

Have you read The Casual Vacancy? What did you think of it?

Monday, October 7, 2013

Music Monday #30

I just discovered a new band, The Head and The Heart, and I love their music!

The Head and The Heart - Josh McBride



The Head and The Heart - Down in the Valley



I've been playing the last song over and over again for the last couple of hours. What is your favorite song at the moment?

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Trip to the observatory


Because of the Weekend of Science Suzan and I went to an observatory. There were a lot of model rockets to be seen and some of them were launched. It was so much fun! We were able to look at the sun through a telescope with special filter and we also listened to a lecture about The wonders of the universe.

Some old parts of real rockets were shown.

Model rockets were launched.

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Weekend of Science

This weekend it is the Weekend of Science in the Netherlands. Today Suzan and I went on a guided tour in the laboratory of Qlip, where the quality and components of milk are tested. I had never really been in a real laboratory so it was fun to be able see what it looked like in real life. It also brought back some memories of our high school chemistry classes of the burning marks on our lab coats and funny smells.

http://www.hetweekendvandewetenschap.nl/cms/wp-content/uploads/QLIP-lab-2.jpg
Source: http://www.hetweekendvandewetenschap.nl/evenenement/open-dag-bij-zuivellaboratorium-van-qlip-dag-van-de-chemie/


http://www.hetweekendvandewetenschap.nl/cms/wp-content/uploads/QLIP-lab-1.jpg
Source: http://www.hetweekendvandewetenschap.nl/evenenement/open-dag-bij-zuivellaboratorium-van-qlip-dag-van-de-chemie/
Tomorrow we are going to an open day at an observatory where a few lectures will be held and we can watch through a solar telescope.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Unread book stack


It is unbelievable how much time I spent on finding new books to read. I browse Goodreads, online shops, local bookstores and thrift stores. Today I ordered a new book online eventhough I know I already have a huge pile of to-be-read books. The picture does not even show all of them. Most of them I bought or got ages ago. I just love that feeling of always having something to read. Some days I'm into fantasy, others I want to read in a foreign language, read non-fiction or an historical romance. Those books may sit on my shelf for ages, and then, the moment is finally right to read them.

Patrick Rothfuss' The Wise Man's Fear, The Girl Who Played with Fire and Eldest by Christopher Paolini are all sequels to books I read quite a while ago and all really loved. I have started to read in The Children of Húrin and The bookthief a very long time ago, but because I was so bussy with school I quit. I really do want to read them though, so they might be some of the first books to be read. People of the Pharaos by Hilary Wilson is a non fiction book that I just need to be in the right mood for to be able to really enjoy. Ingen sommar utan dig (It's not summer without you) and Genom dina ögon (The host) are both books in Swedish. I bought them last year while I was in Sweden along with Hungerspelen (The Hunger games). I was only planning on buying one swedish book to practice reading in Swedish, but they had had a three for the price of two deal that I could not resist, haha. No et moi (No and me) and Le Grand Meaulnes are both French books. I made a bookreport about Le Grand Meaulnes for school once and I actually did start reading it, but I never finished it. It was not even a bad book and now that I own it I'll definitely be reading it some day. I'm currently reading A clash of Kings, the second book in the A song of Ice and Fire series, and A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons are the other sequels.

Are you like me and do you also have a big to-be-read pile? What book has been on your shelf forever?