What is much?

 Song: Swirl 360 - Candy in the Sun
 Book: Joanne K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
            John Elder Robinson - Look me in the Eye [German]
 Manga: Meitantei Conan #20
 DVD: Gilmore Girls Season 2
 Game: Pokémon SoulSilver (DS)
 Food: Caffeine-free Diet Coke
 Weather:

I was kind of lethargic last semester, except for the last one and a half months were it was studying for finals and writing my paper about Reclam 24/7 - I was so stressed out, I could totally understand why Japan has the highest suicide-rate in the world... That's why I've tried to balance it out a little this semester. My presentations are earlier (on Monday I will tell my "The Materiality of the Book"-class how amazing digital printing is...) and there's just one exam I really have to study for. And to prevent the lethargy from coming back I've started to work on some web-projects I had planned for ages ← big procrastinator. For example, I'm cleaning up my fanlisting-collective and I've applied for Irma (W.i.t.c.h.) and Caffeine-free Diet Coke (Freunde bleiben by Revolverheld is still up for adoption!). For the former I've cut two PNGs (there's a shocking lack of HQ-W.i.t.c.h. pics out there!), which you can finde here

I've also added a ranking to the books I've read so far in 2010 (not much, I admit it!) and because I have nothing interesting to write about anymore I will tell you my opinions about them:

CARROLL, LEWIS - ALICE IN WONDERLAND
Read in: English
I've read it because I wanted to be prepared before seeing the movie (which wasn't that good and the 3D-version was a waste of money ) and I think it's okay. I like the Alice-style and all those merchandise and art related to it more than the actual story, but I'm planning to read Through the Looking-Glass too. There's also a book about the life of the real Alice I'm keen on reading and I guess it's always good to drop an Alice-reference here and there

FREY, JANA - SCHÖN
Read in: German
Jana Frey is famous for writing books about every serious problem under the sun (anorexia, pregnancy, being a Jehovah's Witness, doing drugs, being in jail etc. etc.) that a teenager can have. Many of them are based on a true story but this one doesn't and it shines through a little. Helena, the protagonist with a snub nose and an "ass-like" chin, wants plastic surgery because she can't stand her reflection anymore. I could really feel how depressive she is and it made me very happy that God just gave me a round face (so I look always fat in photos ) and slightly protruding ears (other people have bad-hair-days, I have bad-jug-ear-days ). But she's popular, she doesn't get bullied in school, has lots of friends and two guys who are more or less in love with her - and that's just unrealistic. I've been to a relatively liberal high school, but you couldn't walk through it with such a face and not been called names or something of that sort Teenagers are cruel! I don't want to give away the end but let's just say I didn't get what I had expected

HARTL, BARBARA - DREI GROSSE SCHRIFTSTELLERINNEN
Read in: German
Three short biographies of the goddesses of children's literature: Cornalia Funke, J. K. Rowling and Enid Blyton. Very interesting, especially for me who I am still somehow want to be a writer And concerning Enid Blyton, this read was very disillusioning. Just a few months ago I've read her autobiography The Story of my Life where she writes about her perfect childhood, her perfect marriage, her perfect family etc. and know I find out that 80% of this was a lie The only perfect thing in her life was her career, she was a great businesswoman but a terrible mother and human in general. This knowledge won't stop me from re-reading The Twins at St. Clare's but I'll see everything in a different light...

KOLLOCH, BRIGITTE AND ZÖLLER, ELISABETH - HUNGER, HUNGER
Read in: German
How the idea for this book was born: "Hey, let's write a serious book for teens! What are teens dealing with? Man, that's such a long time ago...I've got it! Eating disorders! Everybody more or less has one, so the book will definitely sell! " - "Great idea! But anorexia got so mainstream, why don't we write about bulimia? It can't be that difficult, you eat, you vomit, you feel bad and end up in rehab  Oh and let's write in diary-style; that seems more real and maybe people think we actually know something about the topic! Haha!" - "But we can't just write about eating and vomiting, isn't there more behind such an illness?" - "Yeah, you're right, some soul-stuff...maybe we could just add some poems? Aren't depressed teenagers writing poetry all the time?"
Do I have to say more?

TOKIO, MARNELLE - MORE THAN YOU CAN CHEW
Read in: German
It happened multiple times that I got to bed way too late because of this book! First I have to say that I love books about eating disorders. I know that's weird, but other people enjoy reading about murderers who are killing half of Sweden's population! And they use way less sarcasm than Marty does, an anorexic-bulimic who was put into Camp Eat-a-Lot and analyzes the sick world around and within her. It's not your typical "I'm fat but I want to look like those photoshopped supermodels so I guess I just stop eating"-story (I've read a lot of them), Marty is ill because of different reasons. And finding out what they are is what she's pursuing in this book. I strongly recommend it to everyone who's interested in eating disorders, because it starts where most of the other books end (hint for authors like Mrs. Kolloch and Mrs. Zöller: Just because you put someone into rehab doesn't mean (s)he'll live happily ever after...)

Man, I've just put my new yellow Maybelline nail-polish on and skipped the base coat...I look like I've got the yellow fever...

Mood: happy

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