Book Haul

Long time no see. I hope you all are having a great day and that you forgive me for not posting for about 3 months now. I just haven't been feeling inspired lately, but I'll be doing an update post soon. But I think this is the first post of many to come. Because I've been going back and reading my previous posts, speacially those from the beginning of 2015, and I know that I was so happy at the time with this blog and that I was feeling so inspired to write and take pictures...that I want to feel like that again.

So for my first "come back" post, I thought on doing just a simple haul for you guys. Hope you all enjoy!

1-  Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

So, I got this book as a birthday present from one of my best friends. But funny story... My birthday was on July 18th and she only gave the book to me in the beginning of this year, cause she just totally forgot where she'd put it. Despite all that, I loved the gift of course, hadn't read it yet, cause I'm reading the Book Thief (that is the next book on this haul).

2-  The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I've been eyeing this book for a while now. And after the movie came up and all the great movie and book reviews came along, I knew that I needed to read it. So I went to a local second hand bookstore to sell some of my old books, and of course buy some too. So I found a whole shelf of  The Book Thief books, with all of this different editions and covers. And so I picked the one that appealed to me most, and that was the movie cover.

3- An Adundance of Katherines by John Green

Well, I never thought that I would be so into John Green's books, but I have to say I'm obsessed. I didn't think that I would own the 4 major books that he wrote, I just had received some as birthday presents or bought them kind of accidently when I just need some light but fun read. 

I got this book at the same second hand bookstore as I got the previous book. And when I saw that it was the only one there, I knew that I had to get it. The white cover makes me just so happy. This is probably one of the most simple and pretty covers I have in my shelf.

So, I hope you all enjoyed the post and be sure that I'll be back,

thank you for reading,

Ana 

Confessions of a Shopaholic | Book Review

Hi everyone! I finally finished Confessions of a Shopaholic. I read it in a week, because my school didn't have classes for like 5 days, so I had lots of time to start and finish it. I bought this book for myself as a birthday present and I have been putting it aside for almost 3 months now. But I read it and I'm here to do a review on it for you all.

So let's start on saying how fantastic Sophie Kinsella is as a writer. Her writing style is just so smooth and makes reading so pleasant. I laughed a lot reading it. And the way her character interacts with us readers, makes the reading experience 100 times more enjoyable. 

Talking about Rebecca Bloomwood...she is just the funniest, craziest, clumsiest and most relatable character ever. I just love her. She is probably one of my favorite character of all time, because she is so unique. When I say relatable, I don't mean that I am a shopaholic and I can't help myself from shopping, I'm actually the complete opposite. What I meant was that she is just very easy going and  approchable. 

I will most certainly continue this series and probably read other books by Sophie Kinsella. I'm actually very anxious to buy the next book, but I have to read some of the ones I already have and I want to save the series to read during the summer months. This series just screams summer for me, I don't know why. Porbably because it is a light read.

I didn't want to mention the movie in this review, but that's nearly impossible, because I discovered this series through the movie. Well, after reading the book, I thought that the movie adaptation was pretty off. The places didn't match, some situations didn't happend the same or at all and there were lots of characters missing in the movie. I hear people say that the movie is a mixture of the first and second book, so I will have to read the following one to be sure of my opinion of the book to movie adaptation.

I still love the movie a lot, it is still one of my favorites. But I like to separate the movie from the book or it will make me go mad because of its inaccuracy. So I enjoy them as if they were two different things.

So to finish the review, I want to recommend the book and movie to everyone who is interested in reading and watching a very funny, quirky, light chick lit novel or movie. This is the book that you want to read when you are stressed out, want to relax and have a laugh.

I hope you all enjoyed this review and if you want to comment something about this book or it's movie, please leave it down bellow. I want to know what are your opinions, specially on the book to movie adaptation.

I hope you had a great day,

Ana

Movie Favorites Review | September

Hi everyone! I hope you all are having a wonderful day and that you don't mind my absence for about 2 weeks now. I'm very sorry, just been very tired of all the tests that I had for about a month. I thought that I needed a little time for myself, I hope you understand. 

But, I'm not here today to give excuses again, I'm here to write my favorite monthly post, that is the Movie Favorites Review. This post is indispensable for me, because I love sharing with people movies that I enjoyed, specially when it involves Netflix, and because it is a great way to keep track of the movies I have watched. So this month I watched quite a lot of things, but I only gadered 5 movies/Tv show to recommend you this month. Well, I was looking through them again and just two of them are actually from Netflix, I'm sorry, but all the others I watched them online so you could propably find them and watch them too.

So let's start, shall we?

1. Phoebe in Wonderland

In my opinion this movie was amazing, although it doesn't have that many stars on Netflix. But I thought it was so unique, that I can't imagine someone rating it low. Well, the movie is about a creative 9-year-old girl named Phoebe and she lives with a syndrome called tourette. Her parents actually don't know that she has this syndrome until the end of the movie and neither does she. The movie revolves around a school play of Alice in Wonderland and the struggles that Phobe faces because of her syndrome not yet discovered. 

The movie is great I'm telling you, trust me. It is very inspiring watching Elle Fanning acting such a difficult and complex character like Phoebe. And the character herself is inspirational. I never heard about Tourette before and this movie taught me a lot about it. Is beautiful. Just watch it.

2. Love, Rosie

Oh this movie, let me tell you, I cried at almost every scene...not even kidding. I just loved it. It reminded me a lot of the movie One Day, but this one has a happy ending. You probably already know about what the movie is about, because it is really popular...I think. But I'm still going to give you a short summary of what it is about. 

The movie is about the friendship of Rosie and Alex and how a simple situation or mistake can change the whole entire course of your life. But in the end, if is destiny, there is nothing that can stop something from happening.

 And this is all I am going to tell you about this movie, because I don't want to spoil you. If you enjoey the movie One Day you will love this one, no doubt. It is just so real.

3. The Virgin Suicides

What a mystery! I don't have a clue of what actually happend with the sisters. This is not a spoiler ok? The title of the movie is The Virgin Suicides, so you already have an idea of what it might happend through out the movie. 

I'm very intrigued by it, that made me want to read the actual book. This movie is so different and enigmatic. I really enjoyed it. This is what I call a typical tumblr movie. Is one of those types that you always see gifs and quotes of it in tumblr, that's how I actually discovered it. I love tumblr movies haha... that is how I found out about Pulp Fiction too.

4. Narcos

Oh this was the highlight of the month. Gosh, this is one of the best Tv show that I ever seen. It is up there with Prison Break (that is my ultimate favorite tv show of all time), so you kind of can have an idea of how good it is. I really was surprised by the show, wasn't expecting much of it. But the story blew my mind, I never knew that all of that actually happend. And that, that was the beginning of the huge production of drugs and all the narcotrafic that stands till this day.

I really recommend if you like to learn a little bit more about history and how the drug world that we know now began in the 60s. Another thing that was very outstanding was the acting, it was just phenomenal. Wagner Moura, that is a brazilian actor, was awesome. He played the character of Pablo Escobar, who is probably the main character of this show. And the story is real guys.

You all have to watch it. I just want to warn you about the strong scenes that there are in the show, so just be aware of that when watching. If you don't feel comfortable watching those scenes you can always skip, like I did. And another thing, the tv show is like 80% in spanish. So if you don't have a knowledge in the language, you will have to read subtitles. I read almost all the show,but I kind of could get some of the parts because of it's similarity to portuguese, so it wasn't that hard. But the show is worth reading subtitles for, just saying.

5. Life Partners

I didn't watch this movie on netflix, but you can find it on the internet of course. I wanted to see this movie for a long time now, because it is with Leighton Meester. And I really enjoyed it actually, it is really funny. It is just a movie about friendship, but very inspiring too. It is a very light movie, so I recommend for a day that you want to chill. 

So I hope you all enjoyed this month's movie favorites post and that you are having a great day. And if you have any suggestions of movies or Tv shows, you can leave them down bellow,

Thank you all for reading,

Ana

Paper Towns Movie Review

Picture Link

I went yesterday to the movies with my friends to see the film Paper Towns. It was my first time watching a movie that was inspired by a book without having had read the book itself. Because of that I can't make a true, awesome and detailed review comparing the movie with the book. I kind of felt guilty about it, specially because I loved the movie so much. But this is going to be an honest review written by a girl that didn't read the book before watching the movie. And I think most people can relate to this situation, I think, because most of the time people, inclueding myself, don't have time to read the book before the movie comes out.

But I will be doing a review on the book Paper Towns soon. I know for a fact that I will be getting the book as a birthday present from one of my best friends, so you can be sure that I will read it and write a review about. And I will definitly compare the book and the movie on that review, so don't worry.

I actually thought of not writing this post and just wait to read the book and review it with the movie, but I couldn't help myself, I loved this movie and I really needed to talk with you guys about it. I am not going to tell the story because I know most of you might know it already, because of it's popularity. So I'm just going to jump to the review and tell my true and honest opinion.

I laughed I lot in this movie, the characters were extremely funny and sarcastic like all of the other John Green characters. And they each were very unique and different from one another, if I had to pick my favorites characters it would be Margo and Quentin. 

I absolutely loved Margo's personality, she was such a free spirit, smart and very bold. She inspired me in ways, to be more adventurous and you know, just live life and just care for the things that really matter and not superficial stuff. And Quentin, he was amazing. Even if the movie was just like 2 hours, I could see his character developing, growing, getting out of his comfort zone and shell. And that really inspired me too.

Other thing that I really loved was that it happend in florida. If you don't now, florida is my birth state and I like to think that I am pretty attached to it in a way. And seeing it on the screen made me very happy.

Now about some technical stuff. The acting was just beautiful, But we have to take a minute for the american accent that Cara Delevigne did, it  was very awesome and very well done. In my opion she was a great actress.

I had a very Fault in Our Stars vibe in this movie, specially when Ansel Elgort poped up in the middle of the movie! All the people that were at the movies screamed, it was pretty awesome.

Now let's talk about the general story itself. The message that I got from the movie was so powerfull, that I need to read this book, because I think I will get an even bigger reflextion if I read every single word in those pages. I know that it is just fiction and it is just a book, but it doesn't mean that it can't deeply inspire you in a way that you can change the way you are living life. It made me think trough all of my goals in life and the ones from people that surround me. How all of these goal are superficial and don't matter at all actualy, and how we live in a world that everything that really matters doesn't matter and every single shallow thing is the most important.  

I don't know if everyone that watched this movie got the same message as me, but I know that I got it because now that I am finishing high school there is all this pressure that I have to choose a degree, go to college, get a job, get well payed, have a family and them I will be happy. But the movie showed that that isn't necessaraly true, why can't we be happy right now? Happy with the simple things and the things that matter.

I will end this post here, because if I don't I will continue talking and writting forever about this movie and topic. So, leave your comment and opion about the movie down bellow if you have watch it. Or if you had the same or other thoughts about the message of the movie, feel free to tell them down bellow.

I hope you all have a great weekend,

Ana 

Netflix Favorites Review | May & June

If you are searching for a new favorite movie to watch or an awesome Tv series to become obsessed with and binge-watch during the weekend, I might have got you covered. In the past months I have discovered some new tv shows and movies that I loved and actually have still been loving. They are 5 in total, 3 series and 2 movies and they are very different from each other, so there's probably one for every taste. 

So let's start, shall we?

1. The Blacklist

This is my N°1 Tv show right now, I loved this show. My mom and I watched together the first season in a week and we were hooked. Sadly there isn't the next season yet on netflix, but when it comes, I will probably watch it in a weekend. 

I couldn't help but notice the small similarity between this show and the movie Silence of the Lambs, the relationship between the criminal and the FBI agent in both, of the movie and series, are very much the same. Although that would be a problem for most of people, that actually made me like the show a lot more, because I am very fond of the movie. So if you enjoy Silence of the Lambs or just FBI, government and political shows with lots of action, you will probably love this show too. 

2. Downton Abbey

After finishing The Blacklist I was kind of lost, you know that feeling that you get when you finish a series and you don't know what to do? So that was me, I didn't know what to watch next and I spent weeks looking for a good show to watch...then last week I found Downton Abbey and I'm already in love with it. I just finished the first season and I've got two more to go, I was reliefed when I noticed that there were already 3 seasons on netflix. 

What made me like this show was of course the history. The story happends in the early 20th century, when the WWI kind of begins. The show is just beautiful, the costumes are amazing, the history accuracy is outstanding and just the story and characters in general makes the whole show a hundred times better. If you are a fan of movies that have lots of history and ones that shows the life in another century, this might be the tv show for you. 

3. Dance Academy 

I found out about this series a few months ago when I was researching some ballet stuff, and I actually really like it. It is not like a love relationship compared to the other series above, but I really enjoy it. What made me watch this series was of course it's connection with ballet, it is very fun to see how is the dance and ballet world through this show, and you can actually learn some tips and tricks for dancing. I would recommend this series for eveyone who likes dancing and some light teen drama.



4. Flipped

This was such a cute movie, i've never seen anything more adorable. I've already watched this movie a few years ago before, but I didn't remmember the name of the movie so I never watched it again. Until, it came out on netflix, what made me very joyful. I told my little brother to watch this movie too, because I think is suitable for young kids above the age of 10, and he enjoyed it too.

In my opinion this is the type of movie that you get some lessons off of it about life. I recommend this to anyone who is looking for a cute and lovely romantic? I think, to watch in a saturday afternoon with your family when there's nothing to do.
WARNING! You will die of adorableness.


5- Horns

Gosh, this movie was crazy. I'm not saying in like in awesome way, I'm saying actually like in a crazy/lunatic way. After finishing the movie, I caught myself thinking for a few minutes about what in the world was that film. Is not that I didn't like it, I enjoyed it a lot actually. The plot was very cool, and the twist in the end was very good, kind of predictable, but still very good.
Yes, I watched this movie because of Daniel Radcliffe. What can I do, I always take the change if I can see Harry again. Ok lets go back to the movie now, sorry.

The story was different of course, you don't see someone with horns in that much in movies, but I think in my opinion, there is a much deeper meaning in this movie, but I could not find out what. If you have already watched this film, and want to express what you thought of it, you can comment down below.

I recommend this movie if you are just looking for something unique and kind of crazy to watch. If you are like bored in watching the same old thing over and over again, give this movie a try. It might not had been my most favorite, but it could be yours.




Thank you guys so much for 170 followers on Bloglovin. I hope you are having a great saturday morning. And if you watch any of these filmes, please feel free to leave a comment down below about what you thought of them,

Have a good day,

Ana

Favorite Movies | April

1. The Children's Hour

I love watching old movies, specially black and whites ones. This movie was my first favorite of the month because it stars Audrey Hepburn, and I love her movies so much. But there was one thing that intrigued me the most, the show of the subject homosexuality in the 1960s. I have never seen an old movie show such a controversial topic that it was at the time in a feature film, but I was very happy it did. But in the other hand it made me feel pretty sad seeing that almost 70 years later, society doesn't fully accept the topic. Although it is an old movie, it is very current and contemporary. I highly recommend watching this movie.

      2. Unbreakble Kimmy Schmidt

I am in love with this show, it is just hilarious. I recommended it to all my friends and relatives already, and I am ashamed to say that I finished the first season in 2 days, I know I am addicted. You can find this show on Netflix, in fact it is a show created by it. 

This show has such a unique plot, I've never seen nothing like this before, and the main character is so funny, I just loved it so much. 

      3. Little Birds

I discovered this movie on Netflix, at first I didn't give it much attention, but then I saw the movie poster and I thought it was really pretty and I watched it. It is not a bad or horrible movie, I liked it, it was just different. It has a independent movie feel, I don't know if it is, but it looks like one. I really recommend checking it out if you are in the mood for drama or just want to watch something new.

     4. The Audrey Hepburn Story

This movie is a nice way of learning about Audrey Hepburn's life, what she been through, how she became an actress and other adventures she had. Jennifer Love Hewiit played Audrey and I think she made a marvelous job on representing Hepburn's personality on screen. There was so much I didn't know about Audrey and the struggles she had been through, it made me admire her a lot more as an actress and as a person.

     5.  Girl, Interrupted

This movie is so great, a classic I think. The beauty of it is that it can be interpreted in so many different ways in which makes the movie different for everybody. I just really enjoyed it, it is a little  bit crazy I have to say, but really intriguing.


   6. The Impossible

I finish watching this movie yesterday, but I had to include it in my movie favorites. It is such an emotional movie, I cried in a lot of the scenes. This movie is about the 2004 tsunami that happend at Thailand, and it focuses on a family. The most fenomenal part of all of this is that it is a true story, I not about the tsunami part (because that definitely happend), I'm talking about the family's story. They been through all of that tragedy and survived, it is a beautiful story and makes you reevaluate life. I highly recommend it.




Hope you guys are having a great weekend, and thank you so much for 100 followers on Bloglovin.


Ana 

Movie Review: Insurgent

Warning: This might have spoilers

 Yesterday I went with some friends to the mall to watch Insurgent, we were all exited bacause most of us had read the series and loved it . I was hesitant to watch the movie, because I saw the trailer and there was this mysterious box that only a divergent could open and that wasn't even in the book, but of course I was going, it is a book to movie adaptation of a book I have read and loved.

 I watched it in 3D and the quality was perfection, it look like it wasn't even real. Tris hair was awesome, I love how they cut it short just like Tris from the books. Caleb was just as annoying in the movie as in the book (no ofense to people who like him), but Peter was amazing just like in the scene of the book that he saves Tris. Four what can we say, it was Four.

 The only thing that bugged me was the box. Like where did that box come from? Not from the book that is for sure. It didn't ruined the book, in the end everything came together just like in book. I know that book to movie adaptations aren't that accurate, they will always take something out or mix the order of things, but what is the need of adding something that the author did not even write about. Stick with the book people, stick with the book! It is a premade script.

 I think I could point out more imperfections, but I am not going to, because 1- I don't want to be that fan that hates all book to movie adaptations and 2- I really don't remmember much details from the book because I read it 2 years ago. And that is probably why my friends did not like the movie, because they have read the book too recently and they were restless, just looking for flaws in the film.

 I can't say hated it, like my friends said, because I loved it. Of course there were all those imperfections, but regardless of that I still appreciated the movie. The actors and the special effects were amazing, the sound track was stupendous. And it is a movie, not a 100% faithfull one to the book, but it went a lot of work and effort of a lot of people in it, and I think that should be appreciated.

I am not going to say anything more, because I don't want to spoil anybody or influence someones's opion towards the movie. Hope you all are having great weekend.

Ana

My February Netflix Picks

I had a busy month, but of course I found time to watch netflix. I love browsing netflix and looking for some interesting movies and tv shows, sometimes I spend hours just searching for something instead of watching something. These are the tv shows/movies that I really liked this past month and I hope that this post helps someone who is looking for new movies to watch.

1. Bates Motel

I was looking for a new Tv show to watch and stumble upon this one. I didn't thought it was going to be good, but it amazed me. I had never seen something like it, it was just so interesting and mysterious. And the show debates a serious topic that is human trafficking, a very efficient way to get people self aware of this "in the shadows" crime that is not that shown in the media. I have to say that it might not be everybody's cup of tea, but give it a try if you are looking for a new show. 

There is the first season on netflix.

  

    2. What If

Gosh this is such an adorable movie. I think Daniel Radcliffe made it 10X more lovable, but all of the actors were great in this movie, they all had such chemesty. I would say that this movie is a romantic comedie, but I don't want to categorize it in any way, but if you are in the mood for a light/adorable/funny movie this is the one for you.

A lot of people don't know this movie, because it's in the independent movies category on netflix, I really recommend you checking out that category bacause of it's unique and never seen movies. I absolutely love watching independent movies, kind of a personal preference.

     3. Sweet Home Alabama

Who doesn't love Reese Witherspoon. I was looking for some of her movies and found this one, it's kind of and old movie, but a good one. I think it is kind of a romantic comedy movie, and well I love this types of films. Of course, it's not one of her best movies, but if enjoy her movies and you are in the mood for a light film, I recommend it.

    4.   The silence of the lambs

So many mixed feelings about this movie. I liked it, I really did, but I feel that there is a lot more behind the story than it was shown . It is an old movie, 1992. I really enjoyed watching it, although it kind of creeped me out in some scenes. If you like CSI, police/investigative movies, you will absolutely like this movie.

     

    5.  Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters

I was really in the mood for a witch type of movie, but I was looking for a new released one and found Hansel and Gretel. I love fairy-tales-retolds and this was an awesome twist on the typical hansel and gretel story. It is just full of action and great bad-ass characters.

Feel free to express your opinions on any of this movies/tv show or if you have any netflix recommendations be my guest and comment down below.

Have an awesome weekend.

Ana

Book/Movie Review: If I Stay

 I picked up the book on a black friday sale last year, but I only got to read it this summer (January). It was a quick summer read, it has less than 200 pages, and I thought it was so good. I really liked the writing style of the author, it was like hearing the main characters voice talking and telling you her story. The flashbacks were cool, it made the book unique and fast paced. 

 I really liked the main character, Mia, she was very related full, and the plot too. The plot was something real, something that could happend to anyone, and just thinking about that during the book made me a little emotional some of the times. I am probably going to read the second book.

 I watched the movie before I read the book. I went to the theaters with no commitment to read the book, well I didn't even know that it exsisted then, and I didn't know what was the movie about, but I absolutely loved it. ( My opinion before reading the book) I thought the movie was magnificent, the actors were great all together, the family's involvement with Mia's life was something I have never seen in a movie before and I cried a lot in the movie, because you can relate with the plot and the main character, is something that could happend to anyone.

 I thought that when I finished reading the book my opinion would change about the movie, because it is hard to see a movie that is true to it's book, but this movie was very faithful. However there are some things that the movie missed like, when Mia went to summer camp and the physical appearance of the character, especially Mia's. Well, I really don't bother about physical appearance matching, but Mia described herself as ordinary because of her dark hair and eyes, and in the movie she is not like that. Well, this is my opinion about the book and movie, feel free to tell yours, if you read the book or watched the movie.