What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 67

17 year old Tara McClusky s life is hard. She shares the care of her paralysed father with her domineering, difficult mother, forced to cut down on her hours at school to help support the family with a part-time rest home job. She s very much alone, still grieving the loss of her older sister Van, who died five years before. Her only source of consolation is her obsession with art and painting in particular. Most especially she is enamoured with Vincent Van Gogh- she has read all his letters and finds many parallels between the tragic story of his life and her own. Luckily she meets the intelligent, kindly Professor Max Stockhamer (a Jewish refugee and philosopher) and his grandson Johannes, and their support is crucial to her ability to survive this turbulent time.

Mandy Hager in the book Dear Vincent talks about heavy subject like suicide and complicated relationships between parents and children, but in a way that it doesn't leve you completely devastated. Dear Vincent is a YA novel, but in my opinion anyone can read it. 

Nail polish is from Catrice and it's the most gorgeous colour, a mix between red and pink with the name Raspberry Fields Forever. Of course now it's discontinued because Catrice has completely new line out, but I'm sure you could find a similar colour there. The application is so smooth, really this nail polish is pure perfection.

Have a great day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 66

The last novel of Agatha Christie that I reviewed on the blog was The Big Four and I said that I didn't like it very much. With The Hollow I felt that this is the story that I like and what I expect the novels of Agatha Christie to be. 

This is the plot of The Hollow. Lucy Angkatell invited Hercule Poirot to lunch. To tease the great detective, her guests stage a mock murder beside the swimming pool. Unfortunately, the victim plays the scene for real. As his blood drips into the water, John Christow gasps one final word: `Henrietta'. In the confusion, a gun sinks to the bottom of the pool. Poirot's enquiries reveal a complex web of romantic attachments. It seems everyone in the drama is a suspect - and each a victim of love.

Nail polish is from Essence, from a limited edition with the name Snow White. It's a jelly red and it's a perfect summer colour. 

Have a nice day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 65

Emily's best friend Sloane disappears, almost without a trace - the only thing left behind is a to-do list. On it, thirteen Sloane-inspired tasks that wallflower Emily wouldn't normally do, and definitely not without her best friend. But what if completing the list could bring Sloane back?Dance Until Dawn? Sure. Why not? Kiss a stranger? Um . . .Go skinny dipping? Wait . . . what? Emily only has the summer to check everything off Sloane's list. The question is, what will she find at the end of it?

Since You've Been Gone is a nice YA novel, nothing special in my opinion, but an easy and relaxing read. A book to add to your summer list, if you have it.

Nail polish is from Essence, an old one, with the name Glamorous life. It's a shimmery pink and although I prefer crème nail polish this shimmery pink one is really nice and the application is really easy.

Havea great day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 64

Seconds before the Earth is demolished to make way for a galactic freeway, Arthur Dent is plucked off the planet by his friend Ford Prefect, a researcher for the revised edition of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy who, for the last fifteen years, has been posing as an out-of-work actor. Together this dynamic pair begin a journey through space aided by quotes from The Hitchhiker's Guide ("A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have") and a galaxy-full of fellow travellers.

A classic, but new to me. Now That I read the first one I have five more to read. So let's the journey begins.

The nail polish is from Essence, from their line The Gel Nail Polish with the name Electriiiiiic. And you know what, you can still get it, it's still in the shops. As a name suggests it, it's an electric blue colour with a jelly formula.

Have a great day!

P.S. As you can see, the pictures are taken with a phone, but I hope I'll get the camera back again soon.

The best three from the season 2016/2017

I have something different for you this time. We'll talk about films instead of books. In the season 2016/2017 I've seen a lot of films in cinema, because my work at the moment is connected with films. So I have for you the best three I seen. This is not a list of films that were made in 2016 or 2017, but a list of film I have seen in the season 2016/2017. So here is my pick.

1. CAPTAIN FANTASTIC

Comedy, Drama, 2016

Director: Matt Ross,

Cast: Viggo Mortensen, George MacKay, Samantha Isler...

In the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a father devoted to raising his six kids with a rigorous physical and intellectual education is forced to leave his paradise and enter the world, challenging his idea of what it means to be a parent.

I've seen this film two times and I think is just fantastic. This film opens so many themes for debate and when I left the cinema my head was full of questions and I think that it is so moving and sincerely funny and I haven't enjoyed a movie like I have this one in ages. I cried the first time, I cried the second time and if I'll see it again I think I'll cry again. I like a lot of things in this film and even if it's not perfect and sometimes a little bit unrealistic as a whole is just works so well. There is one thing that I like a lot and it's a different view on religion. It's quite a revolutionary view for an American film. I won't say any more, I just advise you to watch it. Oh yes, and Viggo Mortensen is just fantastic.

2. NOCTURNAL ANIMALS

Drama, Thriller, 2016

Director: Tom Ford

Cast: Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon

A "story inside a story," in which the first part follows a woman named Susan who receives a book manuscript from her ex-husband, a man whom she left 20 years earlier, asking for her opinion. The second element follows the actual manuscript, called "Nocturnal Animals," which revolves around a man whose family vacation turns violent. It also continues to follow the story of Susan, who finds herself recalling her first marriage and confronting some dark truths about herself.

As a fan of Tom Ford's first film I had high expectation for his second one and I wasn't disappointed. As it says in the description is a story inside a story and the second one is a brutal one. When I was driving home I felt a bit uneasy and scared. The whole film works so well together, the two stories run fluidly from one to the other. 

3. MUSTANG

Drama, 2015

Director: Deniz Gamze Ergüven

Cast: Günes Sensoy, Doga Zeynep Doguslu, Tugba Sunguroglu

Early summer. In a village in northern Turkey, Lale and her four sisters are walking home from school, playing innocently with some boys. The immorality of their play sets off a scandal that has unexpected consequences. The family home is progressively transformed into a prison; instruction in homemaking replaces school and marriages start being arranged. The five sisters who share a common passion for freedom, find ways of getting around the constraints imposed on them. 

A film that has difficult themes presented in a way that they don't suffocate you. And there are some very difficult themes in it. A perfect film for high schoolers, and not just because of the themes that are in the film but also because the teenagers can see how the other teenagers live in some other parts of the world. A sad and a funny film at the same time. Perfect for a discussion. 

Have you seen any of the films I mentioned?

Have a great day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 63

Baby Max is the perfect prototype of the Nazi eugenics programme Lebensborn; he is the ideal size, he has the correct colour hair and flawless blue eyes. Raised in an ideology driven by hatred and ruled by fear, Max is taught to endure pain and be brave at all costs. But as he is drawn further into the horror of war, Max must fight to untangle the truth from the lie.

Sarah Cohen-Scali brings the details of the Lebensborn program to light in this haunting and heart breaking novel.

A quick and short history lesson: Lebensborn was an SS-initiated, state-supported, registered association in Nazi Germany with the goal of raising the birth rate of "Aryan" children of persons classified as "racially pure and healthy" based on Nazi racial hygiene and health ideology. Lebensborn provided welfare to its mostly unmarried mothers, encouraged anonymous births by unmarried women at their maternity homes, and mediated adoption of these children by likewise "racially pure and healthy" parents, particularly SS members and their families. 

Nail polish is from H&M and as you can see from the bottle of it, is no longer available. The name is U Must Have This. The polish dries to a satin finish so I prefer it with a shiny top coat. The colour is nice, a bright blue that is very noticeable on the nails.

Have a great day!

What I'm reading + NOTD pt. 62

Tsukuru Tazaki had four best friends at school. By chance all of their names contained a colour. The two boys were called Akamatsu, meaning 'red pine', and Oumi, 'blue sea', while the girls' names were Shirane, 'white root', and Kurono, 'black field'. Tazaki was the only last name with no colour in it. One day Tsukuru Tazaki's friends announced that they didn't want to see him, or talk to him, ever again. Since that day Tsukuru has been floating through life, unable to form intimate connections with anyone. But then he meets Sara, who tells him that the time has come to find out what happened all those years ago.

I read a lot of novels of Murakami, but Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage (original title Shikisai o motanai Tazaki Tsukuru to, kare no junrei no toshi) is a bit diferent than everything that I have read so far. There is no fantasy involved, it is a bit more pfilosofical, I would say. And at the end there are some answers that are not answered, the one that bothers me the most is, what Happened to Haita? I will never know.

The nail polish is really really old. Is from Essence and if I tell you that is old, you will also know that is discontinued. The name is fatal and it's a simple black crème, As much as it is old is still fine enough to have a decent application so I can still use it.

Have a great day!