#Readmyowndamnbookschallenge End of the Year Update

I'm proud to say that I only bought one book since the last update and the author signed it, so I think that's allowed. But the pile of unread books in my room is still pretty big. In the last months I managed to read three books. Here they are:

Peter Kurth - Isadora Duncan

This is a huge biography of the dancer Isadora Duncan and I have to admit, I didn't read the entire thing, yet - that's pretty much impossible. But I did read quite a bit and it was interesting. Isadora Duncan definitely had a spectacular life. She's only in her early adult years at the point of the book I'm at, but she already lived in San Fancisca, Chicago, New York, London, Munic, St. Petersburg, somewhere in Italy and several other places I forgot. Isadora and her family came from nothing, literally almost starving to death and it was just her incredible talend which kept them alive. First she struggled to get jobs or got some which weren't paid. It's sad to think that in the creative field when you're starting out, it's still the same after all these centuries. You still don't get paid often times, just with "exposure" which is ridicolous. But soon she swept everyone away with her extraordinary dancing and became famous.

Biographies are often very technical about the famous person's profession. Like biographies about musicians will include a lot of detailed musical description which is always a bit hard to understand and also boring for me. With dancing it's different. I know a lot more about dancing than about music, as I've been dancing on and off since I was six years old and have consumed numerous dance movies etc. So I actually found the technical stuff in this book fascinating. Also I totally agree with Isadora's opinion that classical ballet is unnatural because the body is not designed to do the things ballet requires. She broke free from these restrictions and created her own dance which was based on the old Greeks. Her whole family was obsessed with Ancient Greece and I love that this is also a big part of the book. For dance fans this biography is a great read!

Marian Keyes - Sushi for Beginners

This is a rather untypical book for me to read. I'm not so much into contemporary stuff, but as I've been having a really tough time with Fantasy lately (I just couldn't get into it at all) I chose to read this book, which was waiting to be read on my booksshelf anyway. It's about a group of (mostly) women who start a new women's magazine in Dublin. They try to create something fabolous in a not so fabolous place. As journalism is a passion of mine and women's magazines have been in my thoughts a lot this year (while thinking about my own future) this was right up my sleeve. I was a bit disappointed though that the magazine itself is rather a plot device and the novel actually tells private the stories of the women working on it and their friends. I'm still not sure what the main story of this book was, which is never a good thing.

With that said, it was still an entertaining and very pleasant read. It felt good to finally read something I can find myself in. Of the three main characters, I really liked the editor in chief, Lisa. First she's introduced as this heartless career person but the author did a nice job in showing that she's just human and has her own vulnerabilities. Her strength in difficult times was truly inspiring and something to look up to.

Teri Terry - Mind Games

I've been a fan of Teri Terry since her Slated trilogy, which are still the best dystopia YA books you can find. When I saw that Teri Terry will be coming to the bookfair, of course I had to meet her, buy a book and have it signed. The lady selling the books recommended this own to me (though there are still many more books by Teri Terry I haven't read) and because it's a standalone I took it. It did not disappoint. Mind Games is set in a future where society mostly takes place in virtual worlds. The protagonist refuses first to take part in this even if it makes her a social outcast with no future, until she's sucked into the evil plans and problems of several evil groups.

This book was very well plotted. Just like in Slated Teri Terry managed to show that neither side of a fight (neither the government nor the rebels) are per se the good ones. It was thrilling and all the plotlines actually came together in the end. When I first started reading it, I had trouble sleeping and had nightmares, so I paused it for a while. Don't get me wrong. Mind Games is not horror, not at all! It's not scary but I was alone at home and the whole not-knowing-what's-real thing freaks me out anyway. Once my boyfriend was back from vacation I continued it and had no problems with it anymore. It's not Fantasy at all, but rather Sci Fi but it helped me to get into the genres again.

What I'm reading now: Marc Elsberg - Zero

After Mind Games I really wanted to use the Sci Fi momentum and go further in this direction. My Mum gave me this book months ago, so I decided why not give it a try. And it's fantastic! It's not Sci Fi but a thriller about technology and not only touches it many important topics and trends of our time and makes you think but also is it extremly well built! As I'm not through with it, yet, I'm not gonna say any more right now, but I can't stop reading it.

Why can't we behave like people on vacation all the time?

I've had wonderful four weeks of vacation full of fun, love, family, adventures, new experiences, and living worryfree for once. Isn't that the best thing about vacations? That we can - far away from all our every struggles and tasks - finally be our very best, easy going, fun self? That's why we meet new people on vacation, because that's the time we are peoples' persons. While in everyday life we're so annoyed and stressed, always running towards the next appointment, deadline or goal, that we don't even notice the people around us most of the time.

Now that I'm back home, I miss that vacation feeling. I miss talking about everything and nothing, about philosophy and the future and at the same time about cake and clothes. I miss going out to eat or to see a movie. I miss trying out new things because there's the oppurtunity and hey, we're on vacation! I understand that the way our society is built, people have to work in order earn money in order to save money in order to spend money (for example on a vacation). In everyday life there are always a million things to do, no matter if for you this includes working, studying or taking care of the kids. There's never enough time or money. On vacation we eat out all the time, while in everyday life this habit would just be too expensive and also: do you really wanna go out into the cold, dark night to eat or rather fix something up in your kitchen, then cuddle on the couch and watch The Walking Dead? Don't get me wrong, I'm a sucker of cuddling + food + a good (or bad but enjoyable) tv show. But once in a while, I'd like to have a nice dinner in a restaurant, to really talk, to watch the stars. Not only on vacation.

So, even if we can't live each and every day as carelessly as our vacation-alter-egos do, I think we can still try to include some of the vacation feeling into our everyday life. Even if it's something small like taking your time to sip your first cup of coffee and read the newspaper in the morning or taking a long walk (preferably through a beautiful snow landscape). Life's so much more than work. It's so much more than checking of an endless To Do List and waiting for the next vacation to arrive. All that stuff is pointless, if we don't enjoy ourself - not only once in a while but on a regular basis. If we can find a way to incorperate the vacation spirit into our everyday lives, not only will we become better, less grumpy versions of ourselves, but we will also find something that in the long run makes all the difference: not extatic joy - but contentment.