Lillya

This book was an eye-opener. The things the authors talk about seem obvious, but for some reason one never think about the problem of procrastination that way. I've been dealing with procrastination since high school. Before that, I could do everything on time and did my house chores too without putting them off. But then high school happened. High school was disruptive in many ways for me, and I developed a habit of putting things off, because I wanted to spend my time differently. Instead of doing homework I would read comics, books or watch tv. Often I would be doing something else while studying because I just couldn't concentrate on my work for long without feeling a lot of negative emotions, so putting it off was a defense mechanism of sorts.Back to the book. What it basically says is, procrastination has nothing to do with being bad at planning a schedule - many are really good at the planning part. It's the following through that's difficult. And it's not one's fault or something to be ashamed of. It's just the way our brains work right now due to some issue or other. For example: Being unable to face rejection or failure, one puts off working on an important assignment because one wants it to be perfect - and he/she hasn't worked out how to go about doing that yet. When the time comes where one MUST start on the assignment, the procrastinator finishes it quickly and in the last minute - it isn't perfect, but the procrastinator gets to comfort him/her-self with: 'If I had more time, it would have been perfect' or 'look how great I did with what little time I had. If I'd started early it would have been perfect.' So those people procrastinate because they are perfectionists and fear that they might not perform as perfectly as they want - so they create all these excuses for themselves. There were other reasons for procrastination in the book: for example wanting control back in ones life, fear of success, ADD or executional disfunction. In the other half f the book the writers discuss ways in which one can overcome procrastination. There's no quick or easy fix, I'm afraid, but many of the suggestions seem helpful and I'm going to start working on them.I reccommend this book to anyone dealing with procrastination because it has a great and new perspective that I haven't seen before in any book about procrastination (and I've read/skimmed a few).

A Fairly Honourable Defeat had a great premise. A university professor, Julius, decides to test his friends' relationships by planting ideas and otherwise messing with their lives. He doesn't believe in love or emotional bonds - for him, relationships will always be selfish and one will abandon ones partner in a heartbeat if the situation was right enough. The characters in this book aren't likeable. We have Robert and his wife Hilda, Robert's brother Simon and Simon's partner and Robert's old friend Axel, Hilda's sister Morgan, Morgan's husband Thallis and finally Julius King, Axel and Robert's friend form college. The only people I found likable at all was Thallis, Hilda and Simon. The others act selfishly the whole book and I found myself despising them sometimes. Morgan, absorbed in herself and looking for something huge and life-defining, is the worst here. She's immature and has never learnt that her actions have consequences. She kinds of rushes through her decisions and ideas and expects everyone else to change or adjust themselves accordingly. For example, she cheats on her husband, comes back and kind of throws her dislike of him in his face but doesn't want a divorce. I really hate that kind of character.Axel got on my nerves too on many occasions. But still, the point *is* to somewhat dislike these characters. None of them is in any way in touch with reality except Thallis - though he tries his best to occupy his mind and time with something else to escape life. He's in many ways the complete opposite of the rest of the characters. He is 'a man of action' while the rest of the characters do nothing but talk about doing the right thing (the restaurant scene and the ending comes to mind).I liked the book. The first half is a little dry and nothing happened for a while, but once the book picks up the plot, it gets really good.

This book is not nearly as good as the first book in the series. As other reviewers have said (and more eloquently) Harlan is a complete different person from the one we left at the end of The Front Runner. And the plot with the second shooter (and the reveal at the end) made Billy’s death seem less about Billy and his haters and more about Harlan and his past. That just made me angry. So for me, some parts of this book didn’t really happen. Wishfull ignoarance FTW.Vince’s character development saved this book to be honest. I’m still going to read Billy’s Boy, though.

I’ve wanted to read this book since I first heard about it a year or so ago. Actually, I got really close once, found it at the library, but returned it without opening it. Last week, after reading two depressing books in a row, I decided to finally find this book and just start. I thought the story about a runner and his coach in love would be just what I needed to get me out of, what I call, a ‘book-sorrowful state’. I was right about one thing: the story is about the love between a runner and his coach. The rest though … If you’ve read the book, you know what surprise was waiting for me (and you’re probably laughing at my bad luck).Before I get ahead of myself, let’s start with a synopsis. This book is about Harlan Brown, a bitter coach who’s gay. He is down on his luck – his dream of running in the Olympic Games has long been thwarted and he has lost his position as a coach in one of the best universities because of rumors of him being gay started spreading. In comes 3 young runners, Billy, Vince and Jacques – they’re brilliant, well-known in the amateur running-world and also gay. Harlan falls in love with Billy’s self-confidence and personality, though he fights the attraction with teeth and nails. Billy dreams of The Olympic Games and Harlan helps him toward that goal. It feels almost impossible, since homosexuality is not accepted in the sports world and many want to stop Billy’s way to Montreal before it even begins.Well, I liked this book. The story gripped me from the start and I fell for Billy. He’s a character I don’t usually see in fiction – he knows what he wants and who he is and isn’t ashamed of his wants and faults. He was my favourite character all the way through. Harlan, on the other hand, is completely different. He’s strong, but keeps himself guarded. He also has a very biased view of the world. His comments about women especially are very hateful. But as he changed throughout the book, I found myself warming up to him a little bit. The other characters are great too, especially Vince. I like how protective he is of his friends.The ending destroyed me. I cried, and cried, and cried. I don’t know if I liked the ending or if I feel cheated by it. Maybe both. Billy’s death served the purpose of showing the reader how far people can go when they follow their hatred and ignorance. But I’m tired of seeing those people win all the time. I think a different ending, with Billy winning would’ve been more effective. But maybe this ending was the only ending that could’ve work at the time it was written, I don’t know.I liked the book over-all. I just feel emotionally manipulated by the author.

[April 22, 2011] A little slow in the beginning, but gets better towards the end. I really liked the characters and their interaction with each other. The plot is intriguing and I look forward to see how it develops in the next book.[November 02, 2012] I liked it better the second time. I was confused about the mythology and the backstories the first time, but I understand it much better now. The history of Skala is pretty interesting and I liked the fact that the rule is passed from mother to daughter.

This is what a mystery is supposed to be like! Great characters with layers to them, people keeping secrets and telling lies and of course great clues that the reader can pick up on if they're smart enough. What a book! I'll be back with a proper review once I've had some sleep.

I loved this book. I was in the mood for a light-hearted, romantic YA and this book delivered.I loved the development of Paul and Noah's relationship, especially at the end, where Paul tried to get Noah back by 'showing' him his love. I loved the 'gifts' Paul gave Noah each day, and the gift Noah gave in return made me laugh in delight.All the characters were amazing. I'll never forget Infinite Darlene or Tony, who fought against his parents in a reasonable way, knwoing they loved him, and wanted the best for him.I listened to the audiobook, and the actors' acting, the background music and the emotion you could hear in everyone's voice (I just loved everythime Infinite Darlene showed up!) made me feel like I was a part of the story, standing in the hallway and listening in on their conversation.

It was a cute book. Mindy Kaling is hilarious and her stories are pretty interesting. I did think that some of her essays were without a point - particularly the one about Jewish people. What I loved: The essay about her photoshoot where she got to choose her dress regardless of what the stylist thought. Go, Mindy! And the revenge-fantasy workout. I'm definetely going to use that next time I work out!Good and funny overall, and worth a read. If you want something fluffy and fun, this book is just the thing.

I was undecided about what rating to give American Psycho, but thinking about the last 200 pages of the novel, I decided one star was more than enough. The first half of the book was really great. I loved reading Patrick Bateman describing every character’s outfits, and their superficial lifestyle really was visible through the characters’ actions and the things they talk about (clothes, women, more clothes, other people). But the gore just got out of hand about 200 pages into the novel. I’m sure the author’s point could have come across without all those painfully detailed description about decapitation and torture. I saw no point in many of those scenes, and seriously, that whole chapter named ‘Tries to cook and eat a girl’, had no point other than being ‘edgy and daring’ or whatever. What was the point of that? It’s a shame, because there was real potential here that just fell flat.

This is not - as many seem to think - a diet book. It's a scientific book and the author bases his points on scientific trials and facts. The author talks about the 'myths' about obesity that we take as granted today, which have contibuted to the epidemy.

Oh my God, the ending broke my heart. Poor Parker :( This man really deserves a break!I haven't reviewed any of the books in this series, but I think most people know by now that I love these books (by the fact that I've read 5 of them in such a short time!). The characters are what keeps me reading from book to book, because I want to know what's going to happen to them. Parker is a great main character here, and identifying with him is very easy. His action aren't always what we might call 'morally right' but we can never fault him for any of it. I was worried that his girlfriend Rachel would end up taking the role as the damsel in distress, but that only happens once and for good reason, IMO. She's as strong as any of the other characters, though she is against much of what Parker and his friends, Louis and Angel, do. And that is one of the conflicts in this book.The mysteries are great, and many of them are very chilling. The writing is superb and so rich with beautiful details.

The author has some great ideas about getting rid of clutter without ending up completely overwhelmed by it before even starting (as I've been all the times I attempted to clear up my apartment). I especially love the 30-minutes sweep (I'm not sure about the name, and I'm too lazy to go find the book): take a garbage bag, choose a small limited space to sweep for clutter, f.ex. a shelf or a drawer, and put anything you don't need or haven't used for 6 months in the bag. Move around the home and do that 30 minutes every day - Getting rid of clutter without using ages on it. Simple!This book is worth a read if you feel clutter and disorder is a problem in your home.

I finally got around to reading this book. I already know most of the plot from watching the Disney movie (the first one), but the book had some nice details that were left out (as far as I can remember). I loved the various situations Alice found herself in, for example:1. Playing card gardeners painting white roses red2. The smiling cat that explained to her why it was crazy3. The never-ending tea partyAnd I also liked Alice and the way her mind worked. I'm not sure it was always believable, but it didn't bother me at all.All in all, the book brought a smile to my face several times and it's well worth a read.

This book was SO FUNNY. I laughed so much I almost couldn't breathe. Some of the entries felt a little bit fake to me, but whatever. It's a good read when you want a quick laugh.

It's a good intro into a very important cause. It was very focused on the US, so it's not as relevant to me (I live in Denmark), though it makes me feel grateful to be a Dane! Women have the right to abort here no matter what. But the wage gap is a problem here as well and so is 'rape culture'.

I started this book because of Amrith's love for Niresh but ended up loving the book because of Amrith's relationships with his adoptive family. The love between them is so obvious, though Amrith can't see it until the end. It was also nice seeing a different Sri Lanka than what I'm used to seeing in TV. Beautifully written. I'll be reading more by this author after this.