What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 83

Lymstock is a town with more than its share of shameful secrets - a town where even a sudden outbreak of anonymous hate-mail causes only a minor stir. But all that changes when one of the recipients, Mrs Symmington, commits suicide. Her final note said `I can't go on'. Only Miss Marple questions the coroner's verdict of suicide. Was this the work of a poison-pen? Or of a poisoner?

It this novel the crime investigates Miss. Marple, but while we're on a subject... did you watch the latest Murder on the orient express? I knew I wanted to go see it, although I knew I wouldn't like the actor who plays Hercule Poirot as much as I like David Suchet, because he is for me the perfect Poirot. But if I leave this aside, in my opinion something was off with the character of Poirot. There was the first scene and I thought, omg, Poirot is acting as if he is Sherlock Holmes, and there was a scene where he is running after a suspect and I don't remember Poirot ever running after a suspect. And there is a scene at the end where he is being so dramatic (we all know he likes to feel important and likes to talk but this felt different). I don't want to say too much, so that I don't spoil it for you, but if you saw it, what is your opinion?

The nail polish is from Catrice (discontinued) with a name After Eight. I like the chocolate After Eight and I also like this colour. It's a shimmery dark green nail polish. 

Have a great day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 82

The Cement Garden is the first novel by Ian McEwan, written in 1978. In the Slovenia was first published this year. In the relentless summer heat, four children retreat into an isolated world left to them by their parents and attempt to create their own version of a family.

“Girls can wear jeans and cut their hair short and wear shirts and boots because it's okay to be a boy; for girls it's like promotion. But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading, according to you, because secretly you believe that being a girl is degrading.” 

Does this quote feel familiar to you? That's because you can hear it at the beginning of the Madonna's song, What It Feels Like For A Girl. Of course, the quote in the music video is taken from the film The Cement Garden, where the oldest child is played by Charlotte Gainsbourg.

“At the back of my mind I had a sense of us sitting about waiting for some terrible event, and then I would remember that it had already happened.” 

The nail polish is from Essence, of course discontinued one and it's grey. in the bottle it looks like dark grey, but on my nails, it looks like there is also a hint of blue. 

Have a great day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 81

When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. At first, she just thinks he has gone off by himself for a few days - as he has done before - and she wants Strike to find him and bring him home. But as Strike investigates, it becomes clear that there is more to Quine's disappearance than his wife realises. The novelist has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were published it would ruin lives - so there are a lot of people who might want to silence him. And when Quine is found brutally murdered in bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer, a killer unlike any he has encountered before.

The second book in the Strike series. You know I like crime novels and I did enjoy this one, although I can’t say that this is the best crime novel I've ever read I think is just ok. And you know that Robert Galbraith is in fact J.K. Rowling? Will see what the third book in the series will bring.

The nail polish is from Essence, from the old line Colour & Go with the name Chic Reloaded. It's a duochrome and it shifts from green to violet, and although the effect is not very visible on the photos, you can at least see it on the bottle.

Have a great day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 80

So here we are, on the edge of eternity. Ken Follett's extraordinary historical epic, the Century Trilogy, reaches its sweeping, passionate conclusion. In Fall of Giants and Winter of the World, Ken Follett followed the fortunes of five international families—American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh—as they made their way through the twentieth century. Now in the Edge of Eternity, they come to one of the most tumultuous eras of all: the 1960s through the 1980s, from civil rights, assassinations, mass political movements, and Vietnam to the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis, presidential impeachment, revolution—and rock and roll. 

In Slovenian translation is the third part of Century trilogy divided into two books, so it took me a while to read them. Now that I've read the whole trilogy I can choose a favourite among them. I'd choose the first one, Fall of Giants. The others aren't bad is just that in the third part is such a wide time span and everything goes by so quickly. And there is also the thing that I mention in my post of the second part, Winter of the World. I know that in every book there is a young generation that is narrating the story, but it would be nice if we could have heard some of our old protagonist narrating the story. And there is also another thing that is bugging me, what happened to Eric, in the third book he isn't mentioned at all. He didn't have a big part anyways, but it would be nice to hear what happened to him, or he is mentioned, and I somehow missed it? Somebody knows what's the story with Eric?

The books are a trilogy, so I thought it would be nice to have a connection also with nail polishes. Here it is the nail polish from Essence's LE Vampire's Love, just like in previous books. This one is maybe the ugliest, but it's also the most special colour. The name is The dawn is broken and it's a light grey with silver glitter and I think that it looks prettier in the bottle that on the nails.

Have a great day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 79

Arthur & George by Julian Barnes is a story of Arthur and George, who grow up worlds apart in late nineteenth-century Britain: Arthur in shabby-genteel Edinburgh, George in the vicarage of a small Staffordshire village. Arthur is to become one of the most famous men of his age, while George remains in hard-working obscurity. But as the new century begins, they are brought together by a sequence of events that made sensational headlines at the time as The Great Wyrley Outrages. 

If you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes (the books) then you will certainly know who Arthur Conan Doyle was. The story is based on true facts. Arthur Conan Doyle was not just a writer, he was also a fervent advocate of justice, among other things, and personally investigated two closed cases, which led to two men being exonerated of the crimes of which they were accused. 

The nail polish is from Essence, from their line Show your feet which I think doesn't exist anymore. It's a nail polish designed for the nails on the feet, because it claims to be also anti-bacterial, whatever that means, but it's true that it has different smell than other nail polishes I own. But if it's good for the feet, why not for hands, I don't think there is any difference. The name of the polish is In the jungle and it's a green creme. The application and the brush are ok.

Have a great day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt.78

Black Rock White City is a novel about the damages of war, the limits of choice, and the hope of love. During a hot Melbourne summer Jovan's cleaning work at a bayside hospital is disrupted by acts of graffiti and violence becoming increasingly malevolent. For Jovan the mysterious words that must be cleaned away dislodge the poetry of the past. He and his wife Suzana were forced to flee Sarajevo. Intensely human, yet majestic in its moral vision, Black Rock White City is an essential story of Australia's suburbs now, of displacement and immediate threat, and the unexpected responses of two refugees as they try to reclaim their dreams. It is a breathtaking roar of energy that explores the immigrant experience with ferocity, beauty and humour.

In the library I found this one in the crime section, but I wouldn't put it in the crime genre. True, there are unresolved crimes that are happening in the hospital, but the story is much more profound than that.

On the nail I have the first polish I bought from Catrice. Before the Catrice stands reached Slovenia, there were Catrice nail polishes. This one is Let's Talk About Barrie! and in the bottle it looks berry red, but on the nails is classic red, no berry tones in sight, which is a shame, but otherwise I still find it fantastic. The application is still great, and the brush is so easy to work with.

Have a great day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt.77

When Harold Fry nips out one morning to post a letter, leaving his wife hoovering upstairs, he has no idea that he is about to walk from one end of the country to the other. He has no hiking boots or map, let alone a compass, waterproof or mobile phone. All he knows is that he must keep walking. To save someone else's life.

Meet Harold Fry, recently retired. He lives in a small English village with his wife, Maureen, who seems irritated by almost everything he does, even down to how he butters his toast. Little differentiates one day from the next. Then one morning the mail arrives, and within the stack of quotidian minutiae is a letter addressed to Harold in a shaky scrawl from a woman he hasn't seen or heard from in twenty years. Queenie Hennessy is in hospice and is writing to say goodbye. 

Harold pens a quick reply and, leaving Maureen to her chores, heads to the corner mailbox. But then, as happens in the very best works of fiction, Harold has a chance encounter, one that convinces him that he absolutely must deliver his message to Queenie in person. And thus begins the unlikely pilgrimage at the heart of Rachel Joyce's remarkable debut. 

A hearth worming story of an elderly man, who decided that he has still something to give in his life and that the past mistakes can be still resolved and the unspoken words between him and his wife can still be said. 

"People were buying milk, or filling their cars with petrol, or even posting letters. And what no one else knew was the appalling weight of the thing they were carrying inside. The superhuman effort it took sometimes to be normal, and a part of things that appeared both easy and everyday. The loneliness of that."

Nail polish is from Essence, an old limited edition called Wild Craft, the polish is Mystic Lilac. I wouldn't say it's lilac, it leans more toward plum and brown, but still, nice autumnal colour. 

Have a great day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 76

Sharp object is first novel by Gillian Flyn, for which she won the 2007 Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for the best thriller.

Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. For years, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed in her old bedroom in her family's Victorian mansion, Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Dogged by her own demons, she must unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past if she wants to get the story—and survive this homecoming.

A novel that I've read in a day. It was so gripping that I wanted to stay in the house and neglect my exercising, but I gave in ant went exercising and had to finish it in the evening.

On my nails is nail polish from O.P.I with the name Coca-Cola Red and it's my sister's. The colour is, as the name suggests, a coca cola red and the application was easy. I noticed that the nail polish is thinner in comparison with those from Essence or Catrice, so the application is somehow easier, you just need to be careful a bit that you don't flood your cuticles. In terms of staying power, nothing new with me in this department, one day of full manicure and the second day, there is already chipped nail polish.

Have a great day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 75

Ten strangers, apparently with little in common, are lured to an island mansion off the coast of Devon by the mysterious U.N.Owen. Over dinner, a record begins to play, and the voice of an unseen host accuses each person of hiding a guilty secret. That evening, former reckless driver Tony Marston is found murdered by a deadly dose of cyanide. The tension escalates as the survivors realise the killer is not only among them but is preparing to strike again... and again.

And There Were None by Agatha Christie is a recent addition to her novel translated in Slovene and I see there are more waiting to be translated in our language, so I'm not done with Agatha Christie yet.

The nail polish is from Essence, an old Colour & go line. The name is reach peach and it's a rusty red colour. Perfect for autumn, it reminds me of autumn leaves. The application is very easy with almost every colour from this line and this was no exception.

Have a great day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 74

Picking up where Fall of Giants, the first novel in the extraordinary Century Trilogy, left off, Winter of the World follows its five interrelated families--American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh--through a time of enormous social, political, and economic turmoil, beginning with the rise of the Third Reich, through the great dramas of World War II, and into the beginning of the long Cold War.

Carla von Ulrich, born of German and English parents, finds her life engulfed by the Nazi tide until daring to commit a deed of great courage and heartbreak. American brothers Woody and Chuck Dewar, each with a secret, take separate paths to momentous events, one in Washington, the other in the bloody jungles of the Pacific. English student Lloyd Williams discovers in the crucible of the Spanish Civil War that he must fight Communism just as hard as Fascism. Daisy Peshkov, a driven social climber, cares only for popularity and the fast set until war transforms her life, while her cousin Volodya carves out a position in Soviet intelligence that will affect not only this war but also the war to come.

The story is narrated by the children of the main characters of the first book. We know what is happening with them, because they are still in our story, they just don't get the main role. Everything I said about the first book is also true for the second one in the trilogy.

The nail polish is from the same LE from Essence as it was for the first book. This one is Hunt Me If You Can from Vampire's Love LE and it's black with silver glitter. Unfortunately you can't see the glitter because it seems that my top coat somehow eats the glitter so the nail polish looks black. You must look hard to see the glitter. But it's clearly visible in the bottle and it was also visible before I put on the top coat. Strange.

Have a great day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 73

'I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day of January 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August of l974 ...My birth certificate lists my name as Calliope Helen Stephanides. My most recent driver's license ...records my first name simply as Cal.' 

So begins the breathtaking story of Calliope Stephanides, and three generations of the Greek-American Stephanides family who travel from a tiny village overlooking Mount Olympus in Asia Minor to Prohibition era Detroit, witnessing its glory days as the Motor City, and the race riots of l967, before they move out to the tree-lined streets of suburban Grosse Point, Michigan. To understand why Calliope is not like other girls, she has to uncover a guilty family secret, and the astonishing genetic history that turns Callie into Cal, one of the most audacious and wondrous narrators in contemporary fiction. Lyrical and thrilling, Middlesex is an exhilarating reinvention of the American epic.

Middlesex is indeed an epic novel. I always loved the stories when we get to know the whole history of the family till the present day. It's written in a way that will always pull you to read forward even though you decided that you have enough for today. It is a fatty, and I was a bit scared how long will it take me to finish it, but after I started I saw that it would be a quick page turner.

Sometimes when I finish reading a book I have some questions in my head that are not always connected directly with the story, but maybe there is a theme I would like to explore further. The debate between sex and gender is not new to me, since I had taken gender studies at my university, but it was some time ago so I decided to refresh a subject a little. And there was a book on my reading list that it was perfect for this.

It's the book Sex/Gender. Biology in a Social World by Anne Fausto Sterling. Sex/Gender presents a relatively new way to think about how biological difference can be produced over time in response to different environmental and social experiences. This book gives a clearly written explanation of the biological and cultural underpinnings of gender. Anne Fausto-Sterling introduces the biochemistry, neurobiology, and social construction of gender with expertise and humor in a style accessible to a wide variety of readers. In addition to the basics, Sex/Gender ponders the moral, ethical, social and political side to this inescapable subject.

Human body is very complicated indeed and I didn't get definite answers about sex and gender just a will to learn more. There is some interesting fact in the book and I would recommend the book to everyone that is interested in the debate about sex and gender, since is written in the way that anyone can understand the topics. For example, did you know that the colours, blue for boys and pink for girls, came in use after the second world war, so that the generation that is now around fifty is the first that was raised in this strict colour scheme. 

Here I have another fun fact for you. In Slovenian language we don't have a world for gender, so for the need of having something, at least for studying the subject at universities we say social sex when we mean gender and biological sex. But in everyday use, I don't think we ever use the world gender, is all just (biological) sex for us.

The nail polish is from Essence, from an old limited edition and the name is Blues of being cool. It's a greyish blue, application was ok, nothing to complain about.

Have a great day.

Catrice ICONails Gel Lacquer in 07 Meet Me At Coral Island

Autumn is just around the corner, I can feel it in the air already for a while now, but at least on the calendar summer is still here, so today I have for you a very summery nail polish.

The ICONails are no longer a novelty in Catrice assortment, but this is my first ICONails nail polish. I admired them in the shop, but I just couldn't decide which colour should I pick. I just don't want any dupes in my collection. This one was a birthday gift, and I'm happy for that, as I believe I couldn't pick a colour. The colour I have is Meet Me At Coral Island.

This is what Catrice says: Lasts up to 7 days – without a top coat! The innovative nail polish formula ensures a perfect gel-shine finish and maximum durability on the nails. Thanks to the GLOSS SEAL’RTM technology, the nail polishes have a spectacular high-shine finish. The shock-shield complex offers a perfect balance of elasticity and stability for optimal resistance against chipping and a long durability of up to 7 days. The ICONails Gel Lacquers are enriched with acai oil, which provides pampering care for the natural nails in addition to intensive colour – Colour & Care at its best!

The square cap of the brush is removable, so you can hold it easily while applying it. The application is ok, the brush is quite big, but fortunately not too thick.

About the claim that it last up to 7 days. On me it last just about any other nail polish, so one, maximum two days, with this one I didn't see any difference. But it's ok, I'm used to short wear time, unfortunately.

All in all, it's a nice nail polish and I will definitely buy some other colours.

Have a great day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 72

Jorgen Hofmeester once had it all: a beautiful wife, a nice house with a garden in an upper-class neighbourhood in Amsterdam, a respectable job as an editor, two lovely daughters named Ibi and Tirza, and a large amount of money in a Swiss bank account. But during the preparations for Tirza's graduation party, we come to know what he has lost. His wife has left him; Ibi is starting a bed and breakfast in France, an idea which he opposed; the director of the publishing house has fired him; and his savings have vanished in the wake of 9/11. But Hofmeester still has Tirza, until she introduces him to her new boyfriend, Choukri--who bears a disturbing resemblance to Mohammed Atta--and they announce their plan to spend several months in Africa. 

Most of the story happens at Tirza's graduation party with Jorgen being the host. He is reminiscing about his past so we get to know him and his story. I guess the novel won't be up to everyone's taste. but I liked it. It seems that I like Dutch writers, I think  The Dinner by Herman Koch is still one of the best novels that I‘ve ever read.

The nail polish is from Essence, from a limited edition and it is a nail polish with a thermo effect. The name is My Sweet Escape. Essence had thermo polishes also in their regular line for a period, but not anymore. When it's hot the nail polish is a salmon colour, but when it's cold the polish becomes nude, mauve colour. The colour change it's not spectacular, but it's there.

Have a great day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 71

Veronika is quiet and responsible girl. She was never a kind of girl who hides in the corner with a best friend and shares secrets with her. She doesn't need anyone to go to the toilet with her or share lunch with her. She was without a best friend her whole childhood and this was ok. She encounters her best friend just at the end of teenage era, a girl named Madla. Madla is crazy and wild, she is everything that Veronika isn't. With Madla Veronika finds also a new family, secret love and warmth, that was missing in her life before Madla. But not for long, there is an ugly coincidence that cuts in Veronika's happiness.

Hruškadottir is an awarded first novel of a Czech writer Jana Šramkova. She got the sward in the category Best young author. The novel was written in 2008 and published in Slovene language in 2015, but I don't know if it was translated in some other languages.

The description is a little bit off though, because we could hardly say that Veronika is a girl, with 24 years she is already a woman and she is finishing her studies. But it is also true that we follow more storylines, Veronika remembers her life when she was 18 and just met Madla, then when she is around 20 and also what is happening at the present, so when she is 24. Because of this you must read the novel very concentrated or if you won't know where in time the story is happening.

The nail polish is from Catrice, a discontinued one with the name Dirty Berry. It's a violet, with silver glitter, in the sun you can see the glitter is holographic, but it's not a strong effect. The application was perfect. Catrice has had many shapes of brushes in their polishes and I like the ones that were the first the best. They were flat and not thick and chubby, they were just the right shape for my taste. I miss these brushes.

Have a nice day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 70

Douglas Petersen understands his wife's need to 'rediscover herself' now that their son is leaving home. He just thought they'd be doing their rediscovering together. So when Connie announces that she will be leaving, too, he resolves to make their last family holiday into the trip of a lifetime: one that will draw the three of them closer, and win the respect of his son. One that will make Connie fall in love with him all over again. The hotels are booked, the tickets bought, the itinerary planned and printed. What could possibly go wrong?

"I was looking forward to us growing old together. Me and you, growing old and dying together.'

'Douglas, who in their right mind would look forward to that?"

Us is a 2014 novel by English author David Nicholls for whom it won the Specsavers "UK Author of the Year" award. It was also long-listed for the 2014 Man Booker Prize.

Of all the books I read this summer this would classify for the perfect summer read. Although I don't like summer reading lists, I mean, why should you read something lighter in the summer? I could see myself reading this on the beach and not be bothered by other things that happen around me. If the book is complicated and not a light read I need a more relaxed place and beach is not such. Also, if the heat is too strong I can't concentrate. And this one is also not so trivial that I would instantly know how it would end that I would lost all the interest. And it also made me think about the relationships and marriage and raising children. So, a book that leaves you thinking is always a good thing.

Nail polish is from Manhattan with the number 34K and since we don't have Manhattan cosmetics in Slovenia any more I don't know if this nail polish is still available. It's an orange creme and the application was ok. This polish should dry in 60 seconds, but I use a quick drying topcoat so I don't know if this claim is true. 

Have a great day!