Tips for school (A-levels): #9 Read the Lectures!

Hello again Muggles,

today I would like to present my 9th tip for school to you. :)

#9: Read your lectures!

-> In my school time we actually really started reading lectures in A-level. I think before that time we just read one tiny book in English and two in German, which is pretty sad...

BUT starting A-levels it feels like you have to read one a month, which is a difference... and I really enjoyed it! :)

The thing is that I'm generally interested in literature and I have fun reading and talking about diefferent stories - and I think I was one of the few people, who really read every lecture we got (even if it was italian and I just learned it for 1 year o.o).

In my opinion it is the easiest way to get good marks. Especially if you're writing a test or an exam about lectures. There just won't be anything suprising because the lecture has a limited storyline and you can just prepare yourself perfectly for something like writing a character-analysis, which is what we had to do quite often. You just know what to expect when it comes to tests / exams about lectures and additionally you have another important topic like analysing stylistic devices, interepretating a certain aspect of the story and so on in class, so (as I said before) you know how the test / exam will look like and there won't be any bad suprises.
You can also do great additional tasks like writing an essay about the lecture, which helps you to improve your marks and it shows the teacher that you're interested which is always good and helpful. :)
Okay, to come back to the topic: I think it's very important to really read the lectures / books your given because it's the easiest way for a good mark. :)

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I hope you found that helpful.
Next week there will be the final tip for school by me, so look out for that.
I hope you have a lovely sunday (it actually is quite warm for autumn over here in Germany, which I personally like :)) and I would love you to check out my older posts - I have ordered my first beauty box and also got some things I put in a collective haul. :)

See you next time,
Hermione    


Follow me on Twitter: @HermioneG7   

REVIEW: "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky

Oh hello there Muggles,

so after I finally ordered "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" and already finished it I just had to write this review. I hope you enjoy it! :)

What it is about:

"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" is about Charlie, who is an 15 year old freshman in highschool. All you get to know about him and his surroundings he tells you through letters, who are addressed to a "friend". 

Although Charlie is very intelligent he is socially awkward and too shy to find real friends especially after his friend Michael killed himself before Charlie starts to write the letters. 

After some time in his new school he meets Patrick and Sam, who are siblings, and they become friends like Charlie never had them before.

He also starts something like a friendship with his English teacher, who gives him books to read and write about and this is how Charlie discovers that he wants to be a writer one day.

Charlie writes the letters for about a year and he tells you what happens in his life, which includes first kisses and drug-experiences but you're also confronted by his difficult personality and background.

Picture by teaser-trailer.com

What I though about it:

Shame on me but I only found out about "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" because of the upcoming film starring Emma Watson. I love her because she "incarnated" my favourite book-character ever: Hermione Granger. :)

After reading about the book on Hayleys Blog Water Painted Dreams I looked for it in local book stores and the library but couldn't find it in English (an extra loud hurray for Germany -.-) and when I read about her loving it SO much again I just ordered it on Amazon. Well, this is why so many order things on Amazon, I guess. :/

Long story short: I got it with my mail on Tuesday and I finished it Wednesday evening and now I am sitting here writing this review because to say it as modest as I can: It was mind-blowing! :)

I would like to start talking about the characters because I think they are the leading role - the most important part in a book. 

I felt kind of connected with Charlie right from the start. I felt with him when he was talking about being nervous starting school. I was overwhelmed by his strange way to look at things. Sometimes you think of him being a 10 year old and one moment later he writes down the wisest words I ever heard. And during the whole book he is just pure honesty in person - probably just because he sometimes is not aware of what goes on or how to react and that always reminded me of a child. You definitely notice that something is not right with him and the end just left me standing there feeling helpless for him - but enough for now: I don't want to spoiler.

Charlie often talks about his friends Patrick, Sam, Mary Elizabeth (worst name ever... sorry for all the "Mary Elizabeth's" out there^^), the rest of the "group" and also his English teacher, who he addresses by his first name "Bill" - all those characters are described so detailed that you think they're real and I'm sure everyone can find some character traits of their one friends in them.

Last but not least there is his family, which is just so perfectly not perfect. There is a lot of love within the family but nevertheless they are in a constant sea saw just as the whole story is basically.

Let me pass into the story in general. And this one is hard because I don't want to spoiler here. Let's just say it's a combination of fun(ny moments), tragic and normality in a very special way because Charlie as the main character is special. There are many, many emotional moments especially because Charlie cries a lot but I never found this to be annoying but moving.

As I said before it is quite a sea saw and you never know what to expect next. Because you can only see the whole story through Charlies eyes, or better say his words, you feel especially connected to him and there are moments in which you can't really understand why he acted like he did - at least I thought so. 

In almost every letter Charlie mentions famous bands, songs, books or films, which makes you feel that it is real and a true happening and I love those little details. You can listen to "The Smiths" and try to understand what Charlie feels when putting one of their songs onto a mixtape he gives to his best friend. :)

Final Conclusion:

I enjoyed every minute I read "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" - no matter how happy or tragic or awkward the storyline was. I felt like I experienced everything with Charlie and I would like to meet him and his surroundings because it's like every person in the book really exists.

The most important part and the thing why I already love "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" is that it makes you think a lot and it makes you feel with every character. 

I think it's one of those books that leaves a permanent impression!

I really hoped you liked it.

Please let me know if you already read "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" and tell me what you think of it!

I would also love to know if you saw the film or if your going to see it in cinemas! :)

See you next time,

Hermione :)

THE BEST BOOK EVER (not talking about Harry Potter :D)

Hello Muggles,

I am SOOO excited right now because I found out that my favourite Book "Der Märchenerzähler" by the german author Antonia Michaelis is now available in English -> "The Storyteller"!!

Unfortunately the cover isn't as pretty as the German one but don't be too superficial with that. :D REEEEEAD IT!! :)

What is "The Storyteller" about?

 The Storyteller is about Anna, who lives quite a perfect and carefree life, and Abel, who is the exact opposite as he's called the "school drugdealer". Although Anna and Abel are in the same year in school they don't really know each other. That changes when Anna follows Abel after school finding out that he has a younger sister he has to take care of. Anna then listens to the story Abel tells his sister Micha and as the story continues through the whole book you, the reader, can't really tell if it's only a story or a "real happening".
Of course, Anna and Abel get to know each other better and Anna finds out how tragic Abel's life has been and in a very subtle way they start to like each other - but it's never 100 % obvious, so it's no typical love story at all!  

What do I think of "The Storyteller"?

Hm, so after reading the headline it's quite obvious. I'm totally convinced by the characters, the story and every little thing about it.

I don't want to spoiler, so I try to hold myself back BUT there are some things I just have to say: 

I'm not going to talk about a particular scene that has been discussed and "ripped apart" by German readers, because it would reveal too much of the content, but what's connected to it is the relationship between Anna and Abel. And this is what I like about "The Storyteller" - it's not easy but complicated, tragic and confusing. I personally don't want everything in a book to be pink and full of butterflies, rainbows and gooey declarations of love. 
Well, let's get to the point: The story is told by a 3rd person narrator, who is mainly personal (Annas view!). We never get to know what Abel thinks or what he does when Anna's not around. What a lot of German readers claimed is that Abel doesn't "love" Anna and that she only runs after him. I really can't understand this because we just don't know what's going on in Abels mind due to the narrators perspective. Most people don't know how it is to live with someone that had not even 50 % of the problems Abel Tannatek had in "The Storyteller" - so I think only a few people can understand how hard living is for him and for everyone else with family problems. I hoped there would be more empathy out there. Of course, you don't have to understand everything he does (because he does very cruel things) and you can't but if you deal with psychology just a little you know that you can't just judge him. Otherwise you would be quite an ignorant person. :/

Well, okay - Antonia Michaelis made me feel extremely sorry for Abel due to her style of writing and building up the whole story. Not until the end you will know what really happened to Abel and what he went through and the moment you get to know it (at least it was the case with me) you will break down or cry and just feel the need to take Abels hand and be there for him ... like Anna did. So maybe this is why I could understand what Anna did and why she behaved like she did. I just felt incredibely sorry for Abel and even now (after 15 months or so) I think about Abel Tannatek every freaking day. The whole story and especially his character are still stuck into my head - probably because I "know" that there is someone like Abel in every school and maybe you see this person daily without knowing his / her true background story. 



Would I recommend "The Storyteller"?

This is quite difficult although I love it to death (quite an inappropriate stylistic device^^)...
I would recomment it to everyone, who has quite strong nerves and a good heart. :)
Basically I would recommend it to everyone except for young people (maybe 15+) and those, who are easily offended or very sensitive. ;)

Please tell me if you have read "The Storyteller" by Antonia Michaelis in the comment section down below. :)

See you next time,
Hermione

Tops & Flops (September)

Hello Muggles,

September has already come to an end and I thought of telling you what I liked and disliked. :)

TOP:

1) Danisnotonfire

If you could see me writing you would know how red my cheeks are right now. :') 

I'm turning into a creepy girly-girl when thinking about Dan from danisnotonfire 

I don't watch his videos because he's handsome as hell (oh yeah, we all know it's true - you know it's true, Dan) - although this probably is the reason why I watch so many of them - BUT he's just the funniest guy ever and he makes me laugh every single second - pure entertainment especially in the grey days of autumn that are to come! :)

Watch his videos, if you like a good laugh... and you can handle the handsomeness. ;D

(I also love AmazingPhil, of course! Rawr!)

2) Essiebutton

Let me just talk about Youtubers at once. You probably already know how much I adore Estée from essiebutton but I can't get enough of watching her videos. :) She is hilarious and entertaining like no other and you just have to watch the video I put up below - especially the end will demonstrate you why I'm so in love with her. :D

3) Books ("The Future of us")

As "books" is quite a lame headline for something I liked this month (because I didn't just like books in September...) I added one of the novels I read, which was "The Future of us" by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler. I read within 24 hours because it's just very easy to read and to be honest I had a lot of time and fun reading it so it was ticked of very fast. I will do a more detailed review about it because it's one of the few books I read in the last couple of months that is actually written in English - so everyone of you should be able to read it, which makes the whole thing of writing / reading a review more interesting! ;)
Other books I read were "Log Out" by Sylvia Witt and Oliver Uschmann, "Das Portal" by Elke Pistor (which I didn't like), "Der Krähenturm" by Kerstin Pflieger and last but definitely not least: "Solange die Nachtigall singt" by Antonia Michaelis!
I also finished the "Jane Eyre" audiobook - which I loved! :)


 

4) Dark red / Plum lipstick

Picture by P2 - I bought the middle one (Rue de Rivoli)

 

This is probably mostly autumn inspired but I love darker lipsticks on other people and so I bought my first really dark one, which you will also see in an upcoming collective haul very soon. :)

My favourite look for autumn is wearing a dark lip and only mascara on your eyes - no eyeshadow or anything else that diverts from your lipstick.

There`s a quite interesting "Dos and Don'ts of Dark Lipsticks" on the Glamour page. Just click here to check it out. :)

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FLOP:

1) The Hunger Games (Film)

Picture by mmm-mag.com

Okay, I know that it's not nice to talk about anything in a bad way but I'm just being honest here and I don't want everything to be perfectly good every time because it just isn't. 

After this short disclaimer I would like to talk about how disappointed I am about "The Hunger Games". This film is SO hyped and everyone I know watched it in the cinema and liked it so I wanted to have a look myself. Here's the truth: I watched 30 minutes! That's it.

Firstly, the camera was driving me insane.

Secondly, I think the actors aren't good and convincing at all - worst of all: Liam Hemsworth! I just didn't believe him. He was like thrown in there like anyone told him: "Just be the "pretty" friend of Katniss, don't show any personality:" o.o

Thirdly, the animations. How can a film, which was this expensive have animations that look like in Blue's Clues? 

And in the end: I felt sooo bad watching! I literally felt like one of those crazy people in the Hunger Games world that watches the Hunger Games in TV or something. I couldn't deal with that and felt so bad after thirty minutes that I decided to end my Hunger Games experience there. 

Maybe I will read the books but probably the topic in general is not for me.

Don't be mean with me because I'm just talking about my opinion and if you liked the film than why shouldn't that be okay? Hurray for you. ;)

2) Learning Latin in 3 weeks

Yes, it's as stupid as it sounds. Because I'm about to do "English Studies" in university I have to learn Latin. It's not enough that I already did 4 years of French and 3 years of Italian - no, it has to be Latin, as well! -.-
The genious I am, I decided to do two crash courses for three weeks each. I finished the first one last week and should be able to know about 600 words and a million forms of grammar. Sad story is I am not. So the plan for the following 11 months is to do revision all the time. Hopefully that will work because there is an Latin exam to come next year... and I have to pass! 
Hurray to the future. ;D




 3) Bye, bye summer - hello autumn

Picture by wallpaperzzz.com

As romantic as this autumn picture might look like... I don't like it. I'm surprised how many Youtubers and Bloggers adore this time of a year - but they mostly said they like it because of the fashion... I also like autumn fashion but I fancy warm and sunny days anyway. :'D
I don't know how to survive winter yet... -.-
xD


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Okay, I think that's enough for now. I hope you enjoyed it.

Please let me know what your September top and flops are or link your own blog in the comment section down below! :)

See you next time,
Hermione 

"10 Day You Challenge" - Four books

Hello Muggles,

today it's time for my favourite bit of the "10 Day You Challenge". 

Four books

1) "The Storyteller" by Antonia Michaelis

If there is one thing I am really excited about it is to read "The Storyteller" by german authot Antonia Michaelis in English. I have already read it in German of course, which is why I can tell you that it's the best book I have ever read! I am going to write a detailed blogpost about it now that it is published in English and I can just recommend it to anyone that has a preference for some tragic in books because it really is tragic - but beautiful at the same time.

I just love it and since I read it in summer 2011 I still think of Abel Tannatek, who is one of the main characters, everday!

2) Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

 

Harry Potter probably is the thing I talked about the most on my blog. 

However, I chose "Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban" to be my top 2nd book because it's my favourite one besides "Deathly Hollows". What I love about this one is that what happens inside of Harry becomes clearer and I think the story of his parents and their friends (Sirius Black, Remus Lupin...) is so exciting. Sirius Black is my favourite Harry Potter character after Hermione Granger. :)

3) The Lord of the Rings - The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien

Of course I had to add this all time classic to my list. 

The first book of the series is my favourite because I love the introduction into what Hobbits are and how they live and the beginning, which lets you have a look into the Shire is just my favourite part ever. :') 

What I think is the most astonishing thing about "The Lord of the Rings" is the writing. When I read it for the first time I was literally out of my mind because of the beautiful language Mr Tolkien used. Just reading the first lines makes me smile all over my face. 

4) Dark Canopy by Jennifer Benkau

I'm sorry but this one hasn't come out in English yet. :/  
BUT I just love it and can't wait for the second book to be published in March 2013, so I included it to my little list. :)


I hope you liked it.

Please leave a comment telling me what your four favourite books are or link your "10 Day You Challenge" if you did it on your blog. :)

See you next time,
Hermione

"10 Day You Challenge" - Nine loves

Hello Muggles,

it's time for another part of the "10 Day You Challenge"! :)

9 Loves

1) My family

I'm especially talking about my boyfriend and my dog Baylie because I live with them and I am surrounded by them every single day.

This obviously is not my dog and my boyfriend but my dog and my Mom's cat Lizzie... after I  caught them red-handed sleeping in my old bed! :D

2) England

I just love the language, England as a country (sadly I've never been to the rest of GB) and the little things about the english culture. Take the beautiful cottages and gardens for example... although I'm probably a little too tall for those tiny houses I would love to live in one! :)

3) Harry Potter

Seriously, what is there to say? I already did several Blog posts about my passion for Harry Potter. You can read about my Harry Potter history here or have a look at what I think about the Harry Potter Audio Books (UK Version) over heeeere. ;)

Image by availableimages.com

4) Spring / Summer

I already feel my winter blues coming. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I don't feel very good on cold days. Although I don't like to be in the bare sunshine because my skin is quite sensitive I definitely need sunshine and warmth! This is why spring and summer are my favourite seasons and although summer just ended I can't wait for the first day of spring when the air smells flowery and warm. :)

5) Sweets

 I'm not a good role model at all... because I eat more sweets than other "grown ups" in their whole life. I can't help it but when people ask me about my favourite food the first thing that comes into my mind is "Cake!" (followed by salad, which is way better ;)) You can't say that freaking cake is your favourite food? How strange am I? Or better say: What did sugar turn me into? o.o I smell a conspiracy over here!

Oreo cupcakes I made for my brothers birthday. :)

6) Animals

Who doesn't love animals? They are the most pure creatures in the world and don't do anything to harm anybody - if a lion kills an antilope it is only natural because it's a cat of prey. (Human beings are, in my opinion, not allowed to kill animals because we don't live in a world where it's all about hunting for surviving. It is also proven that the human set of teeth is not for eating meat but vegetables, grain and seeds!) My favourite animals are Koalas - I love them since I can remember. Probably because I always watched a show called "Blinky Bill". Is this popular in the UK and the rest of the world as well? :)

7) Books

It's time for me to say that this is in no specific order because I love books a little more than sweets for example. ;D Well, what fascinates me in books and literature is the fact that you are able to "be another person" while reading because - in the best cases - the author "pulls" you into the action and you experience everything through the characters of the story.

I don't have a favourite genre I like to read but my favourite books in general are: Harry Potter (as you all know now) and "Der Märchenerzähler" by Antonia Michaelis, who is a German author. I definitely have to do a Blog post about it although it's German because it changed something deep inside of me. It's quite rough and hard to read but beautiful at the same time. :)

8) Children

Although this may sound strange but I think with children it's similar to what I wrote about animals: they are pure. Childhood is something beautiful I think. Everything is new and exciting and you are allowed to create your own opinions about everything and in the best case you don't have anybody standing next to you saying what you should think - children should be free. They should be able to form their free minds themselves and childrens free spirits are what I love. :) I always wanted to work with children and doing English but couldn't figure out a way to do so except for teaching and I now know that this wouldn't be my thing for 100 %. I think it's better for me to have my own children one day - and I'm super excited for this time to come! :)

9) Freedom

I think there's not enough freedom in our society at all although everybody is always proud of how "free" we are in Europe. Would you like to hear what I think about it? It's the biggest lie ever. Probably the majority here isn't happy because they feel they have to do things like go to work 5 days a week from 8am - 4pm, buy a house and a nice car, have two perfect children etc. I would like people to be theirselves and do what they really want to do - to be free and not to change theirselves to fit in this strange world. :/  Difficult topic to talk about, I think!

I hope you enjoyed that little "view into my life". 
Leave a comment and have a wonderful day!

See you next time,

Hermione

The ultimate Harry Potter TAG! :)

Hey everyone,

today I watched the Harry Potter TAG by Joey Graceffa and Jim Chapman (click on their names to get to their Youtube-Channels) and I just had to do it of course! By the way: I did the full TAG - I think Joey and Jim left some questions out. ;)

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I hope you'll enjoy it and I would be sooo happy if you would do the TAG as well. You can either answer it in the comment section or link your channel, where you did the TAG. :)

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Let's get started...:

1) Favorite book

- My fav's are Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban (because you get to know more about Harrys father, Lupin and Sirius and it's just so interesting!) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows (just because it's the ending of it all - not that this would be a good thing but I love how everything becomes clear and gets explained).

 2) Favorite movie

- It's part 3 again. I think there are still huge gaps in parts 4-7 and this is why I don't prefer the last movies.

 3) Least favorite book

- I don't have a real least favourite book but I don't like Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as much as the other because Prof. Umbridge just drives me insane! She's even more horrible in the book than in the film! 

 4) Least favorite movie

- This is quite easy: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire! I just don't like the whole atmosphere in the movie and I really don't like Beauxbaton and Durmstrang and their people in the movie. :/

  

 5) Parts of the books/movies that made you cry?

- There were so many but as an example I choose the death of Fred Weasly (I was sitting in an overcrowded bus full of pupils reading that scene for the first time and people were starring at me like I was crazy^^) and the scene when Bellatrix tortures Hermione and Dobby dies shortly after this (I cried my eyeballs out in the cinema!).

 6) Twilight vs. Harry Potter...

- Wtf? 

 7) If you could hook up with any HP character who would it be?

- Actually there is nobody I'm very attracted to... when I was younger I had a crush on Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) but not nowadays anymore. :D

 8) Favorite character?

- Easy-peasy: It's Hermione! She's just so intelligent and helpful and I just love her for doing "S.P.E.W." :')  I also like Sirius Black a lot. :)

 9) What would your Patronus be?

- It would probably be a Deer... or a Koala. :D

 10) If you could have the Resurrection Stone, Invisibility Cloak or the Elder Wand which one would you choose?

- None of them because they are the "Deathly Hollows" but if I really had to choose one I would go for the cloak.

 11) Are you upset with any parts left out in the films?

- Hell yeah! I think there's a scene in every book, which is not in the movies but right now I'm quite mad about the scene from Part 5 when Harry & co are in St. Mungos and they meet Nevilles parents. Especially because Nevilles part is quite big in the last movie I think it would have been important to show his parents and his situation. 

The second scene, which isn't in the movies is when Dudley says goodbye to Harry at the beginning of part 7. They filmed it but it git deleted in the end. :/

I could go on and on but I don't think that anyone's interested in reading it, right?^^

 12) What House would you be in?

- I'm sure that I would be in Hufflepuff. In Pottermore I'm a Hufflepuff as well... and I like it! I'm nobody, who laughs about them - I like being a Hufflepuff. :D

 13) Favorite subject at Hogwarts?

- There was a time when I did some "Hogwarts online" stuff and we had to take classes and do homework and so on (was quite fun actually - although it's nerdy as hell^^) and I enjoyed "History of Magic" the most. But because I didn't like history in my real school life I would go for "Charms" or "Defense Against the Dark Arts". :)

 14) Favorite professor?

- Professor Lupin! :)

 15) If you could meet any member of the cast who would it be?

- Maybe Emma Watson.

 16) If you could do one spell in real life what would it be?

- It would be "Lumos" because I'm afraid of the dark and that would help. :D

 17) Have you played any of the video games?

- I started several of them but didn't like them that much. I played the 1st one on PlayStation, the 3rd / 4th (I think) on NDS and the 7th on XBOX360.

 18) If you were on the Quiddich team which position would you play?

- I would suck at Quidditch! Seriously! But being a seeker sounds better than the rest. ;)

 
19) Were you happy with the ending?

- Yes, I was. I didn't like the "19 years later" thing but the ending before was totally fine.

 20) How much does Harry Potter mean to you?

- Oh, quite a lot to be honest. This is what I grew up with and I always saw Harry Potter as my hero (like Spiderman or whoever is for other people). I'm just in love with the whole magical world and the character and I'm really thankful that Joanne K. Rowling wrote the books and got the opportunity to publish them! :)

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Thanks for reading my TAG, I hope you enjoyed it and like I said: leave some replies! :)

See you next time,

Hermione