As a part of Bout of Books 5.0, Virtual Travels is a challenge hosted by Ex Libris.
The Challenge:
Choose a book and find a picture to match the setting you envision for the novel. 
Today I finished Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck.
The major part of it is set in the jungle.
Source: picture taken from here.
As a part of Bout of Books 5.0, Bookgoonie hosts Books Spine poetry challenge, with a nice twist: it has to be a haiku.
This is what I've come up with:
Blood of My Brother,
Forbidden, Phantom Eclipse
– A Trick of the Dark.
Today I am up for dark and mysterious stuff, what can I say. :)
UPDATE: I remembered another one, a bit more romantic, and since this is so much fun, I un-triple-stacked my top bookshelf to take a picture:
The Wolf and the Dove –
Kindred Hearts, Nightfall Moonsong,
Deep Kiss of Winter
As a part of Bout of Books 5.0, Kristilyn at Reading in Winter hosts A Book for Every Season challenge:
Name the perfect book for each season of the year! The book can either have the name of the season in the title, or — and this is the preferred way! — the book can take place in that specific season.
Feel free to jazz it up however you like, by including pictures of the book to go with the name. The entry form will have space for you to submit your entry on the form, or via a link to your blog.
Spring: The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rowlings – The main character Jody is coming of age, the most important parts of the novel are set in spring, and the Slovene translation of the title is 'In the spring of life'.
Summer: Eucalyptus by Murray Bail – Australia, heat, and eucalyptus trees – it doesn't get more summer-like than that.
Fall: The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien – A large part of the novel goes on in fall, alongside some crucial events.
Winter: The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse – Winter is in the title and it is also set in winter.
The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 13th and runs through Sunday, August 19th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 5.0 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books 5.0 team
MY GOALS:
UPDATES:
(The format is adapted from Amanda's.) I’ll also update on Twitter @StrangeNewWords, and you can find me on Goodreads.
August 13:
The books I’ve been reading today (and the number of pages): Dracula (51), Deep Kiss of Winter (169)
Number of pages I’ve read today: 220
Total number of pages I’ve read: 220
Today #insixwords: A great start of this readathon.
As you can see I already changed my mind and picked up a book which isn't on the initial list. I participated in Twitter chat, which was fun, although a bit dizzying because it was going so fast. I met some great new book bloggers, and 'old' ones, too, so that was amazing. I also did the Passing Books challenge hosted by Reading in Texas and The Space Between, but I was lazy, so I just filled the form that was provided rather than making a separate blog post. Oh, and I visited some blogs, too. All in all, a fun readathon day.
August 14:
The books I’ve been reading today (and the number of pages): Deep Kiss of Winter (78)
Number of pages I’ve read today: 78
Total number of pages I’ve read: 298
Today #insixwords: Not bad for a busy day.
I had a lot of work-related things to do in the morning, and then I had to run some errands and do the grocery shopping, so I was pretty tired, especially because it's very hot here. Also, my cousins stopped by, which was great because they don't come often, I usually visit them, and we had some fun time, but I was exhausted afterwards. Considering it all, I read a lot. I visited some blogs, too, and commented, but I didn't do any challenges. I'm quite happy with the day in general, though.
August 15:
The books I’ve been reading today (and the number of pages): Deep Kiss of Winter (53)
Number of pages I’ve read today: 53
Total number of pages I’ve read: 351
Today #insixwords: A weird, half-busy and half-lazy day.
We had a national public and church holiday, The Assumption, one of my favourites, so it was quite nice. I went to church, but then I worked awhile, because without a job I use every opportunity I get to work. Then I was mostly free, I hopped around the blogosphere a little and did Book Word Search challenge hosted by The Musings of ALMYBNENR. It was fun, although I had to take a couple of breaks and come back with fresh eyes to find all the short words, hehe. I read less than I could have, because I procrastinated, but hey, that's what holidays are for.
August 16:
The books I’ve been reading today (and the number of pages): Tiger's Curse (158)
Number of pages I’ve read today: 158
Total number of pages I’ve read: 509
Today #insixwords: I spent too much time online.
I started Tiger's Curse, because this is the book I really need to finish this week. It's been a fast and enjoyable read so far. I completed two challenges: A Book for Every Season hosted by Reading in Winter and Candy Challenge hosted by BookSmartie. I spent a lot of time on line, visiting quite a lot of blogs and commenting on them. So, there went my reading time. Much better than Tuesday and Wednesday, though.
August 17:
The books I’ve been reading today (and the number of pages): Tiger's Curse (120)
Number of pages I’ve read today: 120
Total number of pages I’ve read: 629
Today #insixwords: Where did all the time go?
I blame the Internet for eating my time again, haha. The day was gone so quickly, though I wasn't doing anything special. Besides the usual things, I read (a little), and blog hopped. I loved Book Spine Haiku challenge hosted by bookgoonie, which I completed.
August 18:
The books I’ve been reading today (and the number of pages): Tiger's Curse (186)
Number of pages I’ve read today: 186
Total number of pages I’ve read: 815
Today #insixwords: Relaxed day, did lots of readathon things.
All right, over 800 pages doesn't seem so bad, does it? So, I finished Tiger's Curse (you're welcome to read my review). I did some commenting. And I completed Virtual Travels challenge hosted by Ex Libris. I also participated in Twitter chat. It was great, I found it more easy to follow than on Monday and I actually had some conversations with people.
August 19:
The books I’ve been reading today (and the number of pages): Deep Kiss of Winter (86)
Number of pages I’ve read today: 86
Total number of pages I’ve read: 901
Today #insixwords: I took the last day easy.
My enthusiasm waned a little, so I didn't do neither as much blog hoping as in the previous days nor any challenges. I didn't have a particularly good day, so I did some other things to distract myself from worrying. I read quite a lot considering my general state of mind, though.
WRAP-UP:
Total number of books read: 1 and partly two others
Total number of pages read: 901
Fro me personally, Bout of Books 5.0 was one of the more successful readathons. I was more organized than usually, and I socialized a lot on line through commenting and Twitter chats, which was great. I had set my reading goals pretty high to motivate myself and it worked. Although I didn't exactly reach them, I am happy with how much I read – more than twice as much as I usually read in a week, so hooray! Also, I really enjoyed the challenges I completed.
Overall, Bout of Books was a great motivation for me, and I had lots of fun during the week.
Thanks so much to Amanda and Kelly for organizing everything so well and running it so smoothly! You are awesome!
MY OPINION:
Paris in the Twentieth Century is a relatively short novel, published posthumously, having been rejected by the Verne's publisher during his lifetime. It is basically a science-fiction work, presenting Verne's vision of the world and, in particularly, France, in the twentieth century as he imagined it at the time of writing, in the 1860s.
The novel is set approximately a century later, in 1960. Its main protagonist Michel is a young poet born at the wrong time. The story of his struggle in the world he ultimately cannot survive in is tragicomic.
Verne's image of the twentieth century is on one hand horribly bleak. He describes an emotionless world where everything is subjected to industry, work, and money-making. This materialistic, mechanical world values only technical and financial achievements. Science is praised above all, and everything is evaluated from the aspects of usefulness and practicality.
In such a world, there is no place for anything remotely emotional. Art is all but abolished, and what is left of it is terribly deformed, adopted in a twisted way to suit the industrialised world. Artists in the 'old' meaning of the word are despised, their art unwanted. The art of the past and its famous creators, from writers and poets to painters and musicians, are pushed in the background, forgotten.
On the other hand, Verne's ideas are amazingly fantastic. We can still only dream about some technical achievements he envisioned. For example: a perfectly ecological, fast, and virtually soundless transport – high-speed light trains on elevated tracks, running on a combination of compressed air and magnetic force. Or, very prophetic, although we are still not quite there, hydrogen-powered cars.
Verne is extremely pessimistic and cynical about the future he imagines. Through his presentation of the future, however, we can also see his mocking of industrialisation. Therefore, Paris in the Twentieth Century is partly a satire of the world in Verne's time, shown through his sarcastic and at times paradoxical writing in which he often exaggerates.
Paris in the Twentieth Century is a relatively short and fast read. The only setback for me was getting lost a couple of times amidst all the names of people and places.
RECOMMENDATION: If you like the kind of science-fiction predicting the future which is really already the past, you should not overlook this book.
SUMMARY (from IMDB): Mike (Tatum), an experienced stripper, takes a younger performer called The Kid (Pettyfer) under his wing and schools him in the arts of partying, picking up women, and making easy money.
MY OPINION:
Magic Mike is so over-hyped I felt let down after seeing it. Its basic purpose is for the guys to show as much nudity as they can in a PG-13 rated film. While I have no problem with this movie mainly being about objectifying men (they are, after all, doing the same where women are concerned all the time), but the trailer had been promising more than that and more than the film actually delivers.
The story is very superficial, which was another disappointment. I think there could be more to say about some of the characters, especially Mike, Adam/the Kid, and his sister Brooke.
There was a hint at a romance between Mike and Brooke. Based on the trailers, I had expected more focus on their relationship and Brooke's dealing with Mike's job, but that aspect was only faintly pointed at.
By the end, I began to hate two characters – Dallas and the Kid – who are both world class jerks. The Kid's behaviour is understandable to some extent – after all he is just a kid, a lazy, irresponsible teenager who does not know what to do with himself. I loathed Dallas (McConaughey) for being a selfish arrogant egoistic [insert your word of choice] who breaks his word to people/his friends.
I admit I mostly went to see Magic Mike because of Matt Bomer, although he has only a minor role. He mostly stands in the background and looks good. I think this film was a waste of talent for him and McConaughey. Also, I am a little shocked that a director like Soderbergh made a film like this one – I would expect something different from him.
On the whole, the film is entertaining. It has some funny moments, and there is plenty of eye-candy to enjoy.
RECOMMENDATION: Magic Mike is a watchable movie for some light entertainment when you have some time to kill in this hot summer. Just don't expect too much from it.
MY OPINION:
This is a collection of short stories and essays. The author shares his contemplations about a wide range of life-issues, often sharing his personal experience.
The book is sometimes funny, sometimes touching, but always thought-provoking. I disagreed with some views expressed in it, but mostly found a lot of relatable material in Fulghum's writing. The individual stories/essays are very interesting, the writing is transparent and easily approachable, and the book is generally a fast read.
Everything I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten is probably best to be read as a meditation aid – one story a day, which you can think about in depth. However, I read a library copy which was due back shortly, so I read it in two sittings. I might have taken more from it had I read it more slowly, but I liked it in spite od the rush.
RECOMMENDATION: If you are looking for something inspiring to make you think Everything I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten could be a good choice.
