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!