2010... is over! 2011... let's do it!

2010 was a little intense for me: I finished High School, started college, started to collaborate for two magazines, read as much as I could, got to know amazing persons, discovered more of myself... Now, this year is over!

I managed to complete some of the reading challenges, but as I started to read more English books (I can read really fast, in Spanish... in English I still need practice because of some of the words I still do not understand...), my reading pace was quite slow... I managed to read 82 books out of 100... but I got to know some new (for me) authors:

1. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
2. A la Sombra del Ángel de Kathryn S. Blair
3. Alas de Aprilynne Pike
4. Arráncame la Vida de Ángeles Mastretta
5. Azul de Rubén Dario
6. Back Home by Michelle Magorian
7. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
8. Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
9. Carolina en el País de las Estaciones de Luis Ramoneda
10. Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
11. Crepúsculo de Stephenie Meyer
12. Diez (Posibles) Razones para la Tristeza del Pensamiento de George Steiner
13. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
14. El Arco y la Lira de Octavio Paz
15. El Club de los Muertos de Charlaine Harris
16. El Cuento Número Trece de Diane Setterfield (re-lectura)
17. El Círculo Mágico de Katherine Neville
18. El Diario de Lucía de Kathryn S. Blair
19. El Mago de OZ de Lyman Frank Baum
20. El Nombre del Viento de Patrick Rothfuss
21. El Sexto Sol de J. L. Murra
22. El Señor de los Ladrones de Cornelia Funke
23. El Vuelo del Dragón de AnneMcCaffrey
24. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
25. First Impressions: A Tale of Less Pride & Prejudice by Alexa Adams
26. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
27. Harry Potter y el Prisionero de Azkaban de J. K. Rowling
28. Harry Potter y la Cámara de los Secretos de J. K. Rowling
29. Harry Potter y la Piedra Filosofal de J. K. Rowling
30. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
31. Inés del Alma Mía de Isabel Allende
32. La Idea de Europa de George Steiner
33. La Ilíada de Homero
34. La Odisea de Homero
35. La Orestiada de Esquilo
36. La Pianista de Varsovia de Walter Zacharias
37. La Segunda Vida de Bree Tanner de Stephenie Meyer
38. La Vela de Navidad (The Christmas Candle) by Max Lucado
39. Lamento de Maggie Stiefvater
40. Las Batallas en el Desierto de José Emilio Pacheco
41. Las Brujas de Mayfair I: La Hora de las Brujas de Anne Rice
42. Las Horas de Michael Cunningham
43. Leah by J. M. Reep
44. Literati de Barry McCrea
45. Los Filósofos Griegos de W. K. Guthrie
46. Los Guardianes del Libro de Geraldine Brooks
47. Los Trabajos y los Días de Hesiodo
48. Los Trenes del Verano de José María Merino
49. Love Story by Erich Segal
50. Martes con mi Viejo Profesor de Mitch Albom
51. Miracle on the 34th Street by Valentine Davies
52. Muerte de Tinta de Cornelia Funke
53. Muerto Hasta el Anochecer de Charlaine Harris
54. Muerto para el Mundo de Charlaine Harris
55. My Ántonia by Willa Cather
56. No Vuelvas a Leer Jane Eyre de Carmen Gómez Ojeda
57. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
58. Perdona si te llamo amor de Federico Moccia
59. Pirática de Tanith Lee
60. Poética de Aristóteles
61. Protréptico de Aristóteles
62. Songs of Innocence & Songs of Experience by William Blake
63. Sonnets by William Shakespeare
64. Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
65. Teogonía de Hesiodo
66. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
67. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
68. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
69. The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks
70. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
71. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
72. This Year It Will Be Different by Maeve Binchy
73. Titán A.E. de Steve y Dal Perry
74. Travesuras de la Niña Mala de Mario Vargas Llosa
75. Tres Metros sobre el CIelo de Federico Moccia
76. Two Histories of England by Jane Austen & Charles Dickens
77. Una Habitación con Vistas de E. M. Forster
78. Vampire Academy de Richelle Mead
79. Vivir y Morir en Dallas de Charlaine Harris
80. Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
81. Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson
82. Ética Nicomaquea de Aristóteles

Some of them were amazingly great, others were not... but I enjoyed reading them all! Also, I got to know lots of great bloggers, went through the Read-A-Thon for first time, watched some awesome films...

Yes, 2010 was awesomely great, and I hope 2011 being great too!

Now, I have some new resolutions for this New Year:

• Learn a new language (Italian or German... I can understand a little of Ancient & Modern Greek and Latin, French, Italian and Portuguese... but I really want to learn how to speak, read and write German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, and Russian... so, I'll start studying).
• Read 100 books (yeah, I'll be into the 100+ Reading Challenge again).
• Work-out twice a week (I walk a lot... but I think I need to do more!).
• Go back to dance classes (I have studied classic ballet and modern dance... I want to go back to either of them).
• Drink less soda.
• Post more book reviews.
• Enter more read-alongs.
• Enter the Read-A-Thon.
• Go to the movie theater more often, at least twice a month.

So, let's get started!

Wrap-Up... Kind of...

So, my last weeks have been chaotic... it was end of term (it was my first term at college, and I am glad to say that I did well) and I have been quite sick (I have been coughing for a week now... I hate it!), but I have managed to read quite a lot (I have read 2 of the books for the Holiday Reading Challenge and a couple of books for my next school term (which will start on January... I am so excited!). In conclusion... get ready for some reviews throughout the next weeks!

Also, I have a challenge with one of my BFFs... we will read Ulysses by James Joyce... we will read a chapter per week or so until we finish it, and we will do comments about it... I know it will take us some time as it is a quite complicated book, but I am looking forward to read and finish it!

Finally, this week is Christmas, so (hopefully) I will receive some awesome books!!

:D

Hour 18

I have been reading for 10 hours now. I have finished Travesuras de la Niña Mala by Mario Vargas Llosa (he is awesome!), Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling (for the 4th time I have loved it!), some short stories ("The Kiss" by Angela Carter, "A Visit to Grandpa's" by Dylan Thomas, "In Love With Raymond Chandler" and "Happy Endings" by Margaret Atwood (she is one of the greatest writers I have ever read, seriously!), and "The Whore of Mensa" by Woody Allen) and a couple of essays ("Politics and the English Language" by George Orwell, and "The Language Mavens" by Steven Pinker), and am through the half of Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I am quite tired of it, so I'll read a childhood favourite: The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

I conclusion, I have read 868 pages so far, which is awesome!

And, as a footnote, today, October 10th, is my little brother 13th birthday. He is an awesomely intelligent kid and I am glad of being his sister. I wish him the best!

Read-Along: Travelling More & More

I've got some technical issues and that's why I didn't post it, I am sorry! But, here we are!

This is the third part of Gulliver's Travels, it was really good and interessting but I didn't love it as I did with the first one, but I liked it more than the second one.

My favourite part was the one when he's at Laputa (a pretty funny name!), the flying island, and he gives us details of how does it moves (this was really awesome to me!). Also, their people are short of attention and they do not realize their women affairs with the people of Balnibarbi (another funny name!) as they are mainly concerned about math and music (it reminds me a little to the whole World Cup Thing -no offense-... my dad and brothers and some friends tend to ignore me while they watch it!). It seems like the whole story is kind of a representation to some excerpts of England's History, and that's good for me, as Swift represents the idea of a possible destruction to Balnibarbi by Laputa, as if it was showing the domain of England over another country.

Even though, he moves along to other countries: Luggnagg and Glubbdibdud (this names are the funnier of the whole book! and they are pretty difficult to write, too!). where he is allowed to see (and talk) with the ghosts of the dead leaders (that's awesome and kind of scary for me! I don't know tho who I'd talk, perhaps Maximiliano de Habsburgo, Porfirio Diíaz, Benito Juárez, Miguel Hidalgo, Mrtin Luther, King Henry VIII, Elizabeth I of England, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Parr) and he can select to whom he's talking to... I liked this part a lot! Then, Gulliver goes to Japan (this is a real country, but I think it is represented as a fantastic and exotic country because of its distance to England) in his way home.

I think it shows more of the human side of wanting and desiring, and how harmful somethings we want or desire can be to our society. I liked it, because in this way Swift is showing some side of humanity (satirical, political, humanistic... let's see what side shows us the fourth part!).

So, now we have one part left... see you then!

Jane In June + Happy Birthday To Me

Ok, so, I am into this AWESOME blog activity called Jane In June at Misty's blog, Book Rat (check it out asap!), and I've got my guest post posted today! Also, today is my 19th birthday!

Jane Austen + Birthday in one day, how good is that?!

I will be posting a couple of reviews of Austen's books somewhere in the next couple of weeks (as soon as I can)... for now... Thank you Misty!

And... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!!

I WON

I won First Impressions by Alexa Adams in Fly High's awesome giveaway! I'm so happy, I can't wait to read it! Expect a review as soon as I receive + read it!
Thank you Maria and Alexa! I'm sure I'm going to love it!

Give A Little "Rest" To Me

Okay, so I was beginning to read David Copperfield by Charles Dickens when I was noticed that I've to study for a final Psychology exam (and I don't know the date of it)... so, I put it in a "rest" mood (besides, my mom said to me that I have to give whole my effort for my exam), so, yeah, I'll be reading some light things (AKA some tales books and novellas, just for relax myself a while after a couple hours of studying.

Wish me Luck!

LAS PALABRAS

Random House Mondadori sacó un magnífico video sobre las palabras, acá lo comparto (con todo y la transcripción del texto).

Las palabras

Las palabras esconden historias que nos emocionan y nos hacen soñar.

Las une caprichosamente la mano de un autor que decide que érase una vez va antes que una princesa en un reino muy lejano, que pese a las adversidades tendrá un glorioso futuro...

Coge aire…

Las palabras son símbolos, imágenes, pero también son sueños, tus sueños, mis sueños… los sueños de un desconocido…

Me gusta soñar. Me gustan las palabras.

Dejarme llevar a mundos lejanos en el tiempo y en el espacio.

Las palabras causan alegrías, tristeza, risas y lágrimas.

Nos hacen viajar. Nos hacen dudar.

¿Conseguirá escapar? ¿Volverán a encontrarse? ¿Lo logrará? ¿Tendrá un final feliz?

La curiosidad nos deja absortos en la lectura y la intriga se apodera de nosotros.

No puedes parar de leer. ¡Imposible!

Deseas saber como acaba la historia, deseas saber como acaba la historia, pero al mismo tiempo… no quieres que termine nunca.

Alguien llama a tú puerta, vuelves a la realidad.

¿Quién será? ¿Por qué me arranca de mi historia?

Vences a la intensa atracción que te une al LIBRO como a un IMÁN.

Tus pies avanzan hacia la puerta, pero tu mente sigue cautivada por el Relato. Tres pasos, 1, 2, 3. Abres la puerta. :) Sonríes. “Lo siento. Se equivoca”.

No puedes esperar más, te abalanzas sobre el libro como un depredador, ¿qué va a pasar?

Lo abres y ante ti mas de 354 páginas de suspiros, 250.000 frases que haces que tu corazón lata más rápido. Palabras que resuenan en tu cabeza.

Me gusta la intriga, me gusta emocionarme, me gusta el suspense, me gusta dudar, me gusta imaginar… me gusta.

Sí, me gusta leer.

I heart Jane Austen

Take the Quiz here!

Mi Eclipse Eterno

La idea de empezar este Blog fue de unos amigos que me dijeron que sería bueno para mí y para mí futura carrera.

Puede que sea un poco egocéntrico, pero comenzaré a hablar de mí.

Me llamo Carolina Genoveva. Toda mi vida fui solo Carolina o Carol, pero actualmente he llegado a ser Caro, Cato, Charlotte, Charlie, Charles, Carlota, C, Genoveva, Ginny, Veva, Gigi... entre otros.
Soy de México, D.F. (la capital) y tengo 16 años (el 12 de Junio cumpliré 17).
Acabo de terminar mi primer año de Prepa (Bachillerato) en la ENP 6 (afiliada a la UNAM).

Escribo poesías desde hace un tiempo, y tengo una seria convicción de publicarlas antes de cumplir los 25 (una amiga ya esta trabajando en el diseño de la portada) bajo el nombre de Eclipse (relatan cada lado de mi vida, lo brillante y lo oscuro, por ello ese título. De ahí el nombre del Blog).
Me han dicho que si estudio Literatura me moriré de hambre (vaya ánimos), así que me iré hacia el periodismo (muchos escritores han sido antes periodistas, por ejemplo: Arturo Pérez-Reverte... además de que me interesa mucho).

Mis escritores favoritos son Jane Austen, Louis M. Alcott, Charlotte Bronté, Stephenie Meyer, J. K. Rowling, Arturo Pérez Reverte, William Shakespeare, J. M. Barrie, Becquer y Carlos Cuauhtémoc Sánchez (Amo leer, es mi hobby principal).

Me gusta toda clase de música, menos la demasiado pesada. Amo a Muse, The Killers, The Corrs, Kudai, Coldplay, Simple Plan, Play, Six Pack, Shania Twain y las Bandas Sonoras de las películas.
Algunas de mis películas favoritas son Peter Pan la gran aventura, Orgullo y Prejuicio, Peter Pan de Disney, Jumper, Ballet Shoes, Diario de una Pasión, La Princesita, My Boy Jack, December Boys, todas las de Harry Potter, Romeo y Julieta y La Bella y la Bestia de Disney.

Espero publicar cosas que sean de su agrado y que igual me den ideas para mis publicaciones...

x x Carolina