What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 92

Libby Day was just seven years old when her older brother massacred her family while she hid in a cupboard. Her evidence helped put him away. Ever since then she has been drifting, surviving for over twenty years on the proceeds of the 'Libby Day fund'. But now the money is running out and Libby is desperate. When she is offered $500 to do a guest appearance, she feels she must accept. But this is no ordinary gathering. The Kill Club is a group of true-crime obsessives who share information on notorious murders, and they think her brother Ben is innocent. Libby must delve into her family's past to uncover the truth - no matter how painful. 

Dark places is the third novel by Gillian Flynn that I've read. And that makes it all of them which are translated into Slovene. Despite the various reviews I like her novels, they have just what I like in crime genre. Which one was the best out of three for me, hmmm, hard to say. Sharp Object was the shocking one for me, so it might stand out, but I liked all of them.

The nail polish is from Essence, discontinued, and would like to be duochrome, maybe you can see it, it tries to shift from brown to violet, but I would say that in the bottle it succeeds better. The name is Princess Prunella. Interesting colour nonetheless. 

Have a great day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 91

Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality their lives are changed profoundly and for ever. 

Donna Tartt’s cult bestseller The Secret History is a remarkable achievement - both compelling and elegant, dramatic and playful. 

The Secret History is the first novel by Mississippi-born writer Donna Tartt and was published by in 1992. A 75,000 print order was made for the first edition (as opposed to the usual 10,000 order for a debut novel), and the book became a bestseller. 

Set in New England, The Secret History tells the story of a closely knit group of six classics students at a small, elite Vermont college, Hampden College. The story is an inverted detective story. One of the six students is the story's narrator, Richard Papen, who reflects, years later, on the situation that led to a unforgettable and dark occurrence. 

Nail polish is from Essence, of course discontinued, from a line that doesn't exist anymore Nail art magnetics. This is a magnetic nail polish, but I use it as a regular nail polish. This one has a name Hex hex and the colour is steel grey. The application was ok, I just wish that the brush streaks were less visible.

Have a great day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 90

Here's a novel that is not translated into English (yet). The original title is Piaskowa gora which would translate into something like Sandy Mountain, and the author is Joanna Bator. Joanna Bator is a Polish novelist, journalist, feminist and academic. 

Sandy Mountain is a poetic name for a block of flats in a town in Poland. Through many small, seldom moving stories about women we get to see the portrait of Poland society after the war with its ethnical, religious, patriarchal mythologies. 

Nail polish is from Essence, from a limited edition called Rebels, the name of this nail polish is Mauve Like a Rock Star and the finish is latex, although I always put top coat over it, for fast drying reasons. The bottle is small and so is the brush, a really tiny one, so the application is a bit tricky. I like the colour, but seeing the pictures, maybe I should apply three coats instead of two. 

Have a great day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 89

HHhH is a panorama of the Third Reich told through the life of one outstandingly brutal man, a story of unbearable heroism and loyalty, revenge and betrayal. It is a moving and shattering work of fiction. 

Two men have been enlisted to kill the head of the Gestapo. This is Operation Anthropoid, Prague, 1942: two Czechoslovakian parachutists sent on a daring mission by London to assassinate Reinhard Heydrich - chief of the Nazi secret services, 'the hangman of Prague', 'the blond beast', 'the most dangerous man in the Third Reich'. His boss is Heinrich Himmler but everyone in the SS says, 'Himmler's brain is called Heydrich', which in German spells HHhH. 

Lately I've been reading a lot of novels that are set during World War II and in some cases, like with the book HHhH, I came to a realisation, that I really know nothing. I shouldn't be so poor in contemporary history, I also had a subject at the university, but there are just some themes, that I don't know nothing about. Like the Operation Anthropoid for example. So HHhH is not just a brilliant novel, but it serves also for broadening the horizon. 

On my nails I have an old polish from Essence with the name Fateful desire. The colour is beautiful, but the application not so much. Most of my older polishes are ok, but this one became goopey, as you can also see from the terrible application (you can also spot my chopped nail), so I think now is the time to buy a new polish in this colour. Just your typical deep red, that is on the cooler side. 

Have a great day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 88

Facing annihilation at the hands of the warlike Vogons is a curious time to have a craving for tea. It could only happen to the cosmically displaced Arthur Dent and his curious comrades in arms as they hurtle across space powered by pure improbability--and desperately in search of a place to eat. Among Arthur's motley shipmates are Ford Prefect, a long-time friend and expert contributor to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy; Zaphod Beeblebrox, the three-armed, two-headed ex-president of the galaxy; Tricia McMillan, a fellow Earth refugee who's gone native (her name is Trillian now); and Marvin, the moody android who suffers nothing and no one very gladly. Their destination? The ultimate hot spot for an evening of apocalyptic entertainment and fine dining, where the food (literally) speaks for itself.

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe is the second book in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comedy science fiction "trilogy" by Douglas Adams and is a sequel.

The nails are very summery, not your typical colour for winter, but it goes well with the book. The nail polish is from Essence, an old one with the name Wake up! For an old polish the application is no bad.

Have a great day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 87

Twenty years, two people, one day. 15th July 1988. Emma and Dexter meet for the first time on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways. So where will they be on this one day next year? And the year after that? And every year that follows? Over twenty years, snapshots of that relationship are revealed on the same day--July 15th--of each year. Dex and Em face squabbles and fights, hopes and missed opportunities, laughter and tears. And as the true meaning of this one crucial day is revealed, they must come to grips with the nature of love and life itself. 

One day by David Nicholls was a nice novel, a book that is easy to read and a page turner. One day was made into a movie and for being a romance I quite like the film also. But what I really don't like that the cover if the book is based on the films. In this case, I could easily forget that this book was made into a movie, but the cover reminded me of that, so the reading experience was a little damaged, because I knew what happens at the end.

The nail polish is from Essence, an old one. Once upon a time Essence had a line, where there were two polished in the set, where one was a colour base, and the other was a top coat, but you could buy them separately. The line was Nail Art Twins. I have a colour base twin, with the name Chuck. As you can imagine, the top coat was called Blair. The application is not the easiest, because the brush is thin and not easily manageable, so you must put a bit of an effort for a decent application, as you can see in the photos.

Have a great day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 86

Leon and Loise is a novel by a Swiss author Alex Capus. Summer 1918. The First World War is ending when Leon Le Gall, a French teenager from Cherbourg who has dropped out of school and left home, falls in love with Louise Janvier. Both are severely wounded by German artillery fire, are separated, and believe each other to be dead. Briefly reunited two decades later, the two lovers are torn apart again by Louise's refusal to destroy Leon's marriage and by the German invasion of France. In occupied Paris during the Second World War, where Leon struggles against the abhorrent tasks imposed upon him by the SS, and the wilds of Africa, where Louise confronts the hardships of her primitive environment, they battle the vicissitudes of history and the passage of time for the survival of their love. 

Nail polish is from Essence and is not discontinued, I repeat, it's not discontinued! In fact, it’s from their latest line update (the new update is just around the corner though). The name is Loyal Royal and it is a shimmery olive green. In some lights it can also look dirty gold. Here on the pictures I have just one coat on my nails and it is enough, it's completely opaque. The application is easy, so no problems with this polish.

Have a great day!