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!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 69

Lolita is a 1955 novel written by Russian American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator—a middle-aged literature professor called Humbert Humbert—is obsessed with the 12-year-old Dolores Haze. 

Humbert Humbert is a middle-aged, frustrated college professor. In love with his landlady's twelve-year-old daughter Lolita, he'll do anything to possess her. Unable and unwilling to stop himself, he is prepared to commit any crime to get what he wants. Is he in love or insane? A silver-tongued poet or a pervert? A tortured soul or a monster? Or is he all of these?

Lolita quickly attained a classic status. Today it is regarded as one of the prime achievements in 20th century literature, though also among the most controversial. 

The book I read came with an afterword from Nabokov that accompanied the first publication in the United States. There he explained the difficulties that came with publishing the story and I found it interesting so with the help of Wikipedia I will include the information here.

Nabokov finished Lolita on 6 December 1953, five years after starting it. Because of its subject matter, Nabokov intended to publish it pseudonymously. The manuscript was turned down, with regret. After these refusals and warnings, he finally resorted to publication in France. Nabokov signed a contract with Olympia Press for publication of the book, to come out under his own name.

Lolita was published in September 1955, as a pair of green paperbacks. Although the first printing of 5,000 copies sold out, there were no substantial reviews. Eventually, at the very end of 1955, Graham Greene, in the London Sunday Times, called it one of the three best books of 1955. This statement provoked a response from the London Sunday Express, whose editor John Gordon called it "the filthiest book I have ever read" and "sheer unrestrained pornography". British Customs officers were then instructed by a panicked Home Office to seize all copies entering the United Kingdom. In December 1956, France followed suit, and the Minister of the Interior banned Lolita; the ban lasted for two years. Its eventual British publication by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in London in 1959 was controversial enough to contribute to the end of the political career of the Conservative member of parliament Nigel Nicolson, one of the company's partners.

Despite initial trepidation, there was no official response in the U.S., and the first American edition was issued by G. P. Putnam's Sons in August 1958. The book was into a third printing within days and became the first since Gone with the Wind to sell 100,000 copies in its first three weeks.

Nail polish is from a limited edition from Catrice called Travelight Story. The polished in this collection have really cute bottles, so this was also the reason I bought this one. The name of this nail polish is Skyline and it’s a metallic blue. It's pretty, but I just don't like the brushes strokes that remain visible after the application. The application is also not the easiest because of the tiny cap. It's pretty but not very functional.

Have a great day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 68

An inspiring literary fantasy about two gifted girls. The Life of Elves sings of the human spirit and conveys a message of hope and faith. Muriel Barbery's new novel is the first of two books about Maria and Clara, unforgettable heroines of a world facing annihilation. Animated by a large cast of endearing characters, it is a timeless story about the forces of good and evil and a moving meditation on the power of nature, music, art, storytelling, and love. When the harmony between living beings turns to discord, the seasons will be loosed from their moorings and the natural world thrown into disarray; human beings--no longer capable of feeling either empathy or enchantment--will abandon themselves to hate, violence, and war. An epic battle between forces that wish to re-establish harmony in the world and those that wish to shatter it definitively is being waged on earth and in the mysterious land of mist, where the elves dwell. A ragtag army of rural peasants gathers in readiness for the fight--their weapons, an age-old kinship with the land and an affinity for magic. But humankind cannot hope to win this battle alone. Victory depends on help from the inhabitants of a world that is hidden from human sight. Hope rests with Maria and Clara, two girls whose prodigious artistic talents and deep connections with nature make communion with the numinous realm possible.

If you look up the book on Goodreads you will see that it has bad reviews and a bad average score. For me it was an average read. I wouldn't say that is as bad as the average score is, but it also wasn't anything special. There will also be a sequel and I will read it, and this means it was good enough for me to read the second part. 

The nail polish is from Essence and still available, it's from The Gel line. The name is Pure beauty, a muted dust pink. The application is not the best, I don't know if it the brushes fault, but it wasn't smooth. I would expect more from a new nail polish. 

Have a great day!