Apparently, my new camera is actually too good. The resolution is so high that the pictures get fuzzy when I scale them down for the posts. So please click to enlarge; they look much nicer that way. Does anyone know how to solve the problem without having to change the camera settings?

Diary: Katniss-Cam, Munich, and even more Munich

Talking about my new camera: you have no idea what I went through to get that thing! The retailer messed up twice and I wouldn’t have it yet if it weren’t for a long phone call. It basically took them all of March to ship it to me. But it’s gorgeous and I adore it. Have I mentioned that it has freaking WLAN?! You can remote control it with an app on your mobile. So cool! Naturally, it was quite expensive but I wanted a new camera for ages. I’ve outgrown my beautiful EOS 1000D a while ago and it’s literally getting senile anyway. Ever since we strolled through Vienna on a rainy day in March 2013, it has some kind of error and frequently forgets that it has an SD card to which it’s supposed to save the images. It’s my own fault for not taking care of it properly that day. After all, it survived several wet holidays in Ireland and the UK. The new one is waterproof though I won’t test that anytime soon. I’ve been saving for the last couple of years but could never bring myself to spend that much money. When I finished my bachelor thesis, I decided that it was time to reward myself – although I didn’t know whether the thesis was any good. Turns out it was and now my new camera answers to the illustrious name of Katniss EOS-70D-een.

During the first week, I spent several days at Ric’s in Munich, which I always enjoy because we have so much fun and she makes the best salad dressings in the world. Naturally, we went to every bookshop on our way, geeked out at the Item Shop (I so have to get my sister a plush Adipose for her birthday! She’ll go nuts!), talked about books and blogging, argued about her way of sorting books by colour (Soulless is grey!), took turns hiding under the blanket – Ric while watching the first episodes of the second season of Game of Thrones (although she actually didn’t have to, but she said she would), me while watching the boys’ edition of Germany’s Next Topmodel (oh dear God, Fremdschämen deluxe!), watched many Sailor Moon episodes, which involved a lot of hand waving and bursts of laughter, and of course we got ‘a couple’ of books at the awesome book fleamarket.

The best part, however, was our cultural tour/blogger meeting with Steffi and Bou, who functioned as our guide for the day and provided some background information to epochs and the stories behind some of the paintings. That might sound a little boring, but I never had so much fun visiting art galleries! We just loved making fun of some of the paintings, especially of the quite unrealistic boobs, met Thusnelda and Judith, sat in front of not only one but three van Goghs with the glassy eyes of Doctor Who nerds, and couldn’t get enough of Monet’s Water Lilies (well, Bou and I, that is). After we were done with both the Alte and Neue Pinakothek, we turned to architecture. After a short stop at a church which was ugly on the outside but a radiant beauty on the inside, we went on a tour of the Residenz. Pretty much right after we walked through Anastasia‘s ballroom, Bou and Ric decided to buy the place – or rather that they already owned it. The rest of the tour, we spent breaking down the rooms and discussed our makeover strategies. We were constantly cracking jokes about the infinite number of anterooms and decided that the gallery would become our blogroll. I, for my part, only wanted one single ‘room:’ the stunningly beautiful Allerheiligen-Hofkirche, which was destroyed during WWII but reconstructed. Why I wanted to have a church? Well, it’s entirely out of brick stones. Beautiful, gorgeous brick stones. Oh, and then there was our creepy relics room experience. Well, we thought that we were looking at some more kitsch until we realised that there were bones inside – and a dead child or something. After our fun tour, we grabbed dinner and then it was already time to split up but we swore to get back together as soon as possible. You know you have found true friends when they not only accept that you were running around with two pencils in your hair all day, but actually think that it’s pretty cool.

Wrap-Up

Oh, and I actually got some reading done! However, March was a month of ups and downs. I’d been very enthusiastic in the first half but since none of the novels could actually blow me away, I suddenly lost my motivation – right in the middle of The Bone Season.

Finished

1. Tipps und Tricks fürs Westernreiten by Cynthia McFarland
   [OT: Western Riding]

   Since I’m not really familiar with western riding, it was very interesting albeit repetitive. 3/5

2. Der rosa Hengst by Lucy Pinney
   [OT: The Pink Stallion]

   This is actually the February book for the Lieblingsbücher-Challenge. Unfortunately, I totally lost track. I’m already one book behind and still have to write up the review for this one, but it’s coming soon. It’s actually not a horse novel but rather new adult – in the 80s, on a farm. 5/5

Read

3. Das zersprungene Herz (W.i.t.c.h., #22-24) by Elisabetta Gnone
   [LT: The Shattered Heart]

4. Der Schatten aus Wasser (W.i.t.c.h., #25-27) by Elisabetta Gnone
   [LT: The Shadow Made of Water]

5. Mission in einer fremden Welt (W.i.t.c.h., #28-30) by Elisabetta Gnone
   [LT: Mission in a Foreign World]

   Again, a couple of W.i.t.c.h. rereads. The first one finishes the Nerissa storyline, the second one is kind of a filler and the third one introduces a new adventure arc including the new character Orube and unfortunately the astral twins storyline, which I really truly dislike. 3-3-4/5

6. Nearly Gone by Elle Cosimano

   A sciencey murder mystery with a paranormal element? Well, that totally could have been awesome! However, it just didn’t work out for me. Great premise but highly disappointing. You can read a full review here. 2/5

7. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

   I expected something different. Not that it was bad, I did like it. I just thought it would be a little less road trip and a lot more Coldtown. The characters were great, I just felt that especially the secondary characters introduced in Coldtown – although interesting and enjoyable – could have been a little more rounded. In case this novel’s ever going to be a movie, I won’t be able to watch it. I’ve got a phobia against taking blood samples (blood itself is fine, needles are ok, but needles that draw blood are a nightmare) and just reading about it made me shudder. 4/5

8. Phantasmen by Kai Meyer
   [LT: Phantasms]

   It’s Kai Meyer so I had to have it. Although it took me some time to find into the story, I really enjoyed it. It was something different and fresh – apocalyptic sci-fi instead of paranormal fantasy – although it did remind me a teensy bit of the DW episode Army of Ghosts. Still, the idea of the smiling phantasms totally freaked me out. They are really, really creepy! The best part of the novel was definitely Emma, the little sister of the protagonist. Oh, and I’m still wondering why Kai has a dog instead of a cat – he’s definitely a thing for (big) cats. 4/5

9. The Distance Between Us by Kasie West
   [dt. Blaubeertage]

   Awww, that was so cute and exactly what I needed! Caymen’s sarcasm made me laugh out loud and I loved to read about her developing relationship with Xander. Their career days were really funny. I also loved the tension and where this was going, but I think the ending was a little rushed. Suddenly everything happened at once and was resolved in just a couple of pages. Still: 5/5

10. Basteln für dich und dein Pferd by Andrea Berlin
    [LT: Crafting for You and Your Horse]

    There was not much crafting for your horse in there. It’s incredibly thin and mostly focuses on styling your horse and yourself to be a perfect match: just remember that your trousers have to match the saddle pad. At least the layout was nice *sigh*. 2/5

11. Sicherheit für dich und dein Pferd (Pferdewissen, #1) by Emma Jeppsson
    [LT: Safety for You and Your Horse]

    Very pretty layout and there were at least some useful tips in there. 3/5

12. Alles über Pferdeställe by Tiina Vainikainen
    [LT: Everything About Stables]

    I really enjoyed this one. Beautiful images, nice layout and an interesting, not yet overused topic. 4/5 

Started

1. Das Schwert in der Stille (Der Clan der Otori, #1) by Lian Hearn
   [OT: Across the Nightingale Floor (Tales of the Otori, #1)]

   Wait, didn’t I plan on reading the whole series in March? Yeah, that didn’t work out too well. It’s not that I suddenly dislike this novel, I don’t. I still enjoy it, I just couldn’t concentrate on it. My thoughts were wandering off each time I picked it up. Bad timing, but I haven’t given up on it yet.

2. The Bone Season (The Bone Season, #1) by Samantha Shannon
   [dt. Die Träumerin (The Bone Season, #1)]

   Yes, there was a lot of info dumping in the beginning, but I actually didn’t mind. It just takes some time to get used to this world. I really enjoyed the first third, was glued to the pages and wanted to know what would happen next. The world is intriguing. There are just two problems: first, the back flashs are so, so, so boring and downright annoy me. Second, the pacing does not work at all. Somehow, it feels as if there’s nothing happening, although that’s not true. It just doesn’t feel as if anything matters. So right in the middle, right before something is supposed to happen, I fell into a reading slump and haven’t picked it up again.

3. The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line (Veronica Mars, #1) by Rob Thomas & Jennifer Graham
   [dt. noch nicht bekannt bei Script5]

   I’m a Marshmallow! I’m only 90 pages in and I love it! It’s like the actors are speaking their parts in my head and I can actually see how they would look delivering their lines. The only slightly annoying thing is that it’s not written in first person. It doesn’t really matter but I just feel that first person would have been a better choice. So why haven’t I read on? Well, because I don’t want it to end!

4. Changeless (Parasol Protectorate, #2) by Gail Carriger
   [dt. Brennende Finsternis (Lady Alexia, #2)]

   I so want and need to continue the series and thought that it would help me out of my reading slump. Which it didn’t, therefore reading only the first chapter = 30 pages. But I’m planning on finishing it in April. It started great!

5. The War of the Ring (The History of The Lord of the Rings, #3) by J.R.R. Tolkien

   Since my Fun Facts post is one of my most read posts, I should continue hunting down all the juicy details. However, it will probably take me the whole year to get through this monster.

Stats

Trivia