Why LA? Pourqoi Paris? Book Review

Hello-Hello! I finally put this review on the world wide web after an unexpected leave of absence from book blogging. I prioritized reading and  book pictures. ^^

Below is a sneak peak of my Why LA? Pourqoi Paris? review. 

Enjoy!

Have you ever been to Paris or LA? I can proudly say that I have. Only to Paris… And by being in Paris, I mean that I spent a maximum of an hour or two there. The majority of that time, I was in a bus station taking a break – bathroom and gas tank refill. It was a beautiful dark station with amazing bathrooms. Yes, I had to pay 50¢ (euros) for the toilet. Besides the station, I had the chances to see La Seine, the river that crosses Paris, and a few random buildings from the bus window. Now, you understand why I need to go back there?

Speaking of which, this book was a great catalyst to remember my love for France and French culture. With the American culture, I am well acquainted already. Wink-Wink. And regardless of my previous knowledge about these amazing cities, Diane Ratican’s travel guide poked my interest in them again...

Melody Obsession of the Week, Brought to You by Me, Presents Photograph by Ed Sheeran

Hello-Hello! Today, I have another song for you. I am listening it for a while now.

Ed Sheeran is growing on me especially with this song - actually it started with the Shape of you (link to post) but moving on...

This song brings up past memories and love just like a good book that resonates with you does.

Apparently, fall is for memories. I often find myself thinking about good books I read and stayed with me. But, I also think about my past, people, events, and songs I listened during that particular year.  

In my opinion, Photograph is a good song to contemplate about stories - from books or real life - that left a mark on you. Every story change you in a way. So that is why it is important to contemplate and learn from the past.

Every last minute is in the past now. :P

I hope you are going to enjoy this song as much as I do; even though, it is on the slow side.

Without further ado...

Photograph - Ed Sheeran

Listen it on repeat!

Happy Music Madness!

PS

Until next time, feel free to check out my latest posts HERE:

The Guilty Reader Book Tag

The last Music Madness Pick 

Melody Obsession of the Week, Brought to You by Me, Presents Fetish by Selena Gomez

Hello-Hello, fellow readers! Fall is here. The weather is chilly and the leaves are changing colors, green for read, yellow or orange. 

After my break from books and blogging, I started to debate what my new song pick is going to be for Music Madness - aka Melody Obsession of the Week. If you read my previous posts regarding this section of my blog, you probably know that I like to give a meaning and a reason to the song I choose. Usually. So, after days of debating on songs I encountered during my leave of absence, I decided on Fetish by Selena Gomez. 

I am well aware of its innuendos and the sexy meaning behind the lyrics. However, one day when I was listening to the song next to my pile of book, it hit me. Its lyrics perfectly describe a reader's - or at least my - relationship with books. 

No matter how long our reading slump or break from books is, we still find our way back to them, to reading. We crave the stories they contain within their covers. We want to go on adventures with the fellow characters, be the heroes, fight the villains or just be a reader. The smell of paper from a brand new book is the most sexy perfume we have ever desired. We love the art on the covers, dust jackets, and pages. And if the story of a book is THAT good, we obsessed over it. We devour its words over and over again through sleepless nights and even decades later. Just like a certain book friend of mine  who read a certain series at least 17 times. (Heck, even I got convinced to read that series again. Good job, my friend! Your passion for those books really inspired me. ^^)

So, you see, our relationship with books it is a bit sexual. We obsess. We crave. We want more. We want so much more from our beloved books that we even start writing our own stories. Books have a huge impact on their readers. They change us because we learn and gain knowledge from them. We, the readers, become imprinted by the books we read because their stories stay with us for the rest of our lives.

And finally, without further ado...

Selena Gomez - Fetish 

  

Listen it on repeat!

Happy Music Madness!  

And, let me know in the comments section if you have a similar "relationship" with your books. Also, what do you think about this week's song?

PS 

Until next time feel free to check out my latest posts The Diabolic Book Review -->HERE<-- and "I am back, readers!" Random Post -->HERE<--.  

Melody Obsession of the Week Brought to You by Me Presents Meghan Trainor, Selena Gomez & Anne-Marie ft. Naruto

Hello-Hello! Another day, another minute, another second... Time passes by and these week's songs are a bit thematic, I might say. To quote one of my favorites comics of all time, W.i.t.c.h., "The end is a new beginning." I am going through a break up with my... myself.

 (Ha! I've gotcha there, didn't I? ;])

Have you ever had a feeling that something is going to change in your life and that change is going to come from you? Well... That's me right now. Sadly any change in one's life, no matter how good it is, comes with side effects like an atrocious reading slump. 

I am searching and mostly waiting for an epic book to appear out of nowhere or my bookshelf and slay that... slump.

Until then...

Naruto Theme - The Raising Fighting Spirit 

Anne-Marie - Ciao Adios

Selena Gomez - Bad Liar

Meghan Trainor - I Deserve Better

Happy Summer Everyone!

Play it [them] on REPEAT! 

And before I go, I want to make an honorable mention to Marina Kaye - On My Own. You know... It matches the theme of the week. ^_^

If you want to check out:

1. My last book review click --> HERE

2. My last music pick, click --> HERE

3. Honorable song mention --> HERE

P.S.

Due to my busy schedule around this time of the year, I will post irregularly and mostly short posts like this. 

See you in my next post! ^-^

The Easter Book Tag (Easter Book Bunny)

Real egg painted for Easter. Yes, that's my hand.

Hello-Hello! Doctor Who just premiered last weekend!!! Wait... Wrong post. Then... Is this the post about the Bunny who was forced by freshly resurrected Jesus to lay chocolate eggs - aren't they made of plastic now? - and then to hide them - no reason behind that - for children to find? At least in Romania the Easter Bunny brings real presents like Santa. Hmmm... Don't think so. I am mixing Christianity with Pop Culture.

Oh! Look! I used the "question inside a question" concept, literally.

I should probably look at the title of my post and stop babbling. :D

It's... A Book Tag related to Easter.

I was sort of tagged by Abi from What Makes A Good Book. (<-- link to original post and blog.) Well....... She tagged "anyone who wants to do this tag." And I said, "Why not?"

Let's get started!

1. Rabbits- A book that you wish would multiply- So a book you want a

sequel to (that doesn't have one)!

Let me check my Goodreads... The first book which comes to my mind is:

It is a standalone I read recently. A sci-fi fantasy well done. I need more from that world and those characters. For more information on this book, check out my review -->HERE<--.

2. Egg- A book that surprised you

For this one, I have two books. A recent release (Letters to the Lost) and an older one (An Ember in the Ashes).  Before starting these books, I was skeptic with low expectations and barely remembering their synopsis. Thus, I got gladly surprised. If you want, you can check my review on Letters to the Lost here.

3. Hunt- A book that was hard for you to get your hands on

Basically, almost all the books I put on hold from my libraries on OverDrive. As of right now, I am number 268 on 43 copies for this book (I already read 32% of it):

4. Lambs- A children's book that you still enjoy

I did not like books and reading when I was little. Shocking! I know. I liked the stories to be told to me by my grandmother. Sooo... I searched in my memory, on Google and Goodreads and I decided on this:

5. Spring- A book with a cover that makes you think of spring

Even the book itself has lots of spring and fairytale elements.

6. Rising from the dead- A book with a deceased author

Mostly all Romanian authors I read and other classics... Which are very few. Or I can put one of those ancient Greek works... Well, I am choosing two books:

Camil Petrescu The Last Night of Love, the First Night of War and Three Plays by Aristophanes: Staging Women 

7. Baskets- A book that is in your Amazon cart or on your wish list right now

I wish the Romanian and English speakers (Romania, U.S.A., and/or U.K.) to finish translating this series cause my French is bad. I will have to use Google and a dictionary if I want to finish this series. COME ON! In Romania, they stopped at book seven while in USA only the first two books are translated. Really! Really! Really! You cannot do this to me. Publishing companies from Romania and USA get your act together. I need this series finished. 

8. Candy- A book that is sweet

 Is love considered sweet? Then, I pick this one:

9. Peeps- tag people!

Are you feeling compelled to do this tag? Consider yourself tagged, mate.