Monday, December 27, 2010

best reads of 2010

I know the year is not done yet, and I might still add a couple of books to this list, but since I was discussing this with my book loving friends yesterday at lunch, here goes my best reads list of 2010 (out of 68 read so far):

Fiction:
- Room, by Emma Donoghue
- Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel
- The Help, by Kathryn Stockett
- The Bronze Horseman, by Paulina Simmons
- Gone with the wind, by Margaret Mitchell (don't know how I never read this sooner)
- The Wind-up bird chronicle, by Haruki Murakami

Fantasy:
- The Hundred Thousad Kingdoms, by N.K. Jemisin
- A Conspiracy of Kings, by Megan Whalen Turner
- Gullstruck Island, by Frances Hardinge
- Under Heaven, by G. G. Kay
- Foxmask, by Juliet Marillier

Mystery:
- The Julian Kestrel Mysteries, by Kate Ross (especially #3 and #4)

Young Adult:
- The Exiles series, by Hilary MacKay

Comfort reads:
- Minding Frankie, by Maeve Binchy
- A Song for summer, by Eva Ibbotson

And my list of disappointments of the year (I so expected them to be much better):
- Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3), by Suzanne Collins
- Wolfskin, by Juliet Marillier
- My name is red, by Orhan Pamuk

Thursday, December 23, 2010

4 meses :: 4 months



Hoje foi dia de consulta e o resultado foi:

5.675 kg
59.5 cm

E temos ordem para começar a sopa .. vamos ver como corre logo à noite ;)













bamberg



And we left the best for last ... our last couple of days were spent in the beautiful town of Bamberg, with its amazing historical old centre, great shopping, nice restaurants and cozy cafés. Our apartment was right around the corner of the Christmas market, and a few minutes walk from the old town. Despite the cold we spent most of our time outside, and warmed ourselves with some gluhwein or hot chocolate. The perfect ending to our first trip with S. (and hopefully the first of many to come)

















Wednesday, December 22, 2010

baden-baden



Baden-Baden is known for its spas, which regrettably we didn't get to try this time, although our apartment was right next to the much famed Friedrischsbad.

Nevertheless we loved it here, and had a great time exploring the historical sights. And on our last morning there it finally snowed ...





















Saturday, December 18, 2010

saarbrucken



On Sunday we went to Saarbrucken to visit some friends who recently had a baby boy, and we had to visit the Christmas market there as well (to have dessert, actually :)











heidelberg



We went to Heidelberg on a Saturday, and although cold and rainy the streets were incredibly crowded, but the trip was worth it. I loved the old part of this city a lot, and was sorry we only had time for a short visit.