New poem of the month is published!

Hello everybody,

 I went officially nuts. If you thought I was sane, it was very sweet of you but also you couldn't be more wrong. Now you will be shown the full extend of my madness. The lindens, it must be something connected to them. I adore linden trees.

Let me present three poems for June. Yep, you got it right, THREE. SIX short texts (the original version and the English translation) composed by of two French frogs...I mean gentlemen.  I couldn't choose which one was the best, I didn't want to omit any of them as I loved them all. INSANELY.  

Two poems are of my good friend Arthur Rimbaud, one of his good friend Paul Verlaine. I told you I am insane, right? I only hope you will bear with me.Which one is the best, in your opinion?

As usual the poems can be found here - on my special page. Enjoy but, as usual, comment only here. On n'est pas serieux quant on a dix-sept ans...pour la deuxieme fois.

Armchair BEA giveaways galore winners!

It's almost Monday -  time to announce the winners of my Armchair BEA giveaway.
Let me remind that this time  two e-books were up for grabs; more precisely two copies of "The Alienist" by Caleb Carr.

The winners were selected using the service of RANDOM.ORG site  and it is my pleasure to announce  that the e-books have been won by:

Audra and J.L. Campbell

The happy winners have been contacted. Thanks for participating, everyone! Those who didn't win - better luck next time!

Review:Millenium series by Stieg Larsson: The Girl who Played with Fire (02), The Girl who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest (03).

Image by clayworkshop via Flickr

Why I read it at all:

I think I need to explain myself. A friend of mine, knowing about my new ereader, tempted me horribly, sending two e-books by Stieg Larsson. I had read the first part (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) some years ago, even before I started this blog, and I positively hated it, especially those infamous rape scenes and pretty much everything in between. That friend of mine assured me, though, that the rest of the series doesn’t feature any more graphic sexual violence and only then I decided to read the last two books. I admit I was a bit curious.

Synopsis:

The plot of these two installments revolves around the human and sex trafficking industry in Sweden, a certain unpleasant Russian GRU defector, called Alexander Zalachenko, and the murder of three individuals with connections to the Lisbeth Salander character. 

Salander's name and photo appear in newspapers all over Sweden - and not for her greater glory. Evidence places her at the scenes of three killings, and the gun used in two of them bears her fingerprints. The accompanying news stories portray her as an eccentric loner if not a dangerous S&M Satanistic lesbian nutter. She is forced to disguise and change apartments; her old colleague and lover, Mikael Blomkvist, seems to be the only person convinced of her innocence. However, given his tendency to fool around with other women, furious Lisbeth refuses to have anything to do with him. Strangely enough Blomkvist can't understand why Salander avoids him and of course, very chivalrlously, decides to defend her from the whole world.


While looking into the crimes for which she is wanted, Salander again demonstrates her computer-hacking skills but it doesn’t mean the baddies won’t get to her. In the last part she lands in the hospital with one big hole in her hip and head. Blomkvist continues to sleuth on her behalf in order to expose those who have made her life hellish and attempted to frame her for all manner of crimes. Of course, in his spare time he also still manages to attract every woman within a 500-yard-radius like honey attracts bees. Finally a process takes place and Lisbeth is independent and free. Will she know what to do with her freedom and riches though?

What I liked:


There were no ugly sex scenes and definitely less violence than in the first part. Well done.


What I didn’t like:


Here I can spread my red-black wings. Ok, a quick check of other equipment. Horns? Ready. Claws? Sharp and long. Tail? Firmly attached and switching from side to side. Do you scent brimstone? Good. Let me begin.

First the characters. I admit it – in my humble opinion it was a mess. I did not really like them or empathize with any of them. Blomkvist, an intrepid journalist who takes down the entire Swedish government bagging one hot smart woman after another hot smart woman and never ever buying a single packet of condoms, let alone thinking about the psychological consequences of his behaviour ? Ugh. The guy gets around, and then some but why? I've always found Mikael a pretty vanilla character. His partners don’t solve the mystery of his popularity either. Is he especially well endowed or skilled? Protective, understanding and tender? Physically strong? Muscled? Intelligent? No, no and no. He is a guy without any distinguishable traits of character, which only emphasizes his unhealthy attitude towards carnal pleasures, yet the author wants us to believe that he is simply irresistible because...let’s assume he is so, full stop. Tsk, tsk.


Ok, wait, who is next? Niedermann, the 'murderous terminator from hell' who doesn’t feel pain? Sigh. Done to death already, herr Larsson. Erika Berger, a sexy journalist who helps to take down the entire Swedish government while bagging smart men, sometimes two at a time or more (you know she really should wear that t-shirt with a caption “so many boys, so little time”)? How much eye-rolling you can accept in a series?


Now a word or two about Lisbeth Salander, for many readers, as far as I know, the highlight of these books.
By making Salander a mathematical genius whose equivalent of a crossword with her morning coffee is tackling the famous Fermat's Last Theorem, Larsson went truly over the top. Even geniuses need some serious tutoring to develop their abilities and they can’t find them in the popular science books with answers in the back. What’s more, Lisbeth routinely hacks into major corporations for which she has worked with the aid of ancient passwords. Excuse me? I can’t believe Swedish businessmen, security and IT specialists are just a bunch of ninnies. This tactic is the cardinal sin of all three books – the author is constantly underestimating his readers. Mathematicians and computer scientists are recommended to steer clear of the whole trilogy, psychologists too. If she was able to mature a bit and shape up I'd like to see a Lisbeth Salander-like heroine of a  graphic novel where she fights vampires; I'd even like a sexy Lisbeth Salander action figure, complete with zombie makeup, leather pants, a bloody whip and a fancy laptop bag. Of course in real life, such a person would never exist but at least I would understand why.


A second source of my disappointment stems from the fact that these two books are filled with simply too many secondary characters that either had little importance to the story or were cartoon-like. Larsson keeps them all black and white. Funnily enough those who are bad, are always men - evil, corrupt, perverse or plain incompetent. It seems that Sweden is full of deviant male types. Those who are good are mainly women and somehow they didn’t persuade me either. Women can be as mean as any man (well, look at my review if you need a proof) and in this series, with the exception of Harriet's mother in the first part, The Dragon Tattoo, it seems that every other female character is just simply wonderful. None of them are ever greedy, mendacious or spiteful, just misunderstood or a bit lewd at worst. Isn’t it sexism?


One more issue which I must tackle here in order to be perfectly honest. I wouldn’t like to sound overly prudish but generally speaking sex is treated as a purely physiological function here. It’s not even because the scenes are very detailed, far from it. It’s because they are as shallow as a puddle. I deeply disagree with such an approach. Let me illustrate what I mean with two examples. Exhibit one: a married woman (Erika Berger) has an affair with our irresistible Mikael, breaks up his marriage and then continues the affair with her husband's knowledge and blessing, virtually destroying any chances of her lover for any healthy relationship. No pangs of conscience from any of the sides involved. The same woman has previously had group sex, filmed it and kept the video near her bed. What for? To turn on her hubby? To make the blackmail work for any possible creep or stalker easier? Exhibit two: our dear Lisbeth Salander is not only sexually omnivorous and proud of it but also treats sex like nothing more than a visit to the toilet – if you must go there, you should do it when the opportunity knocks, preferably without paying much. Disgusting and as far from reality as you can get.  


 Now the plot. To me, the plot did not at all move along at the same pace as the first book. Mind you I didn’t like the first book. In addition, I managed to find a number of somewhat annoying grammatical errors, sentence fragments, etc. Mind you, I am not a native English speaker. There are entire sections of the books that meander on and on with no apparent purpose with regard to moving the story forward. Frankly, the whole "Erika at the big newspaper" subplot was unnecessary – one of these sections  which would have benefited greatly from some serious editorial paring.

The writing style is juvenile to say the least of it. A lot of paragraphs are quite irrelevant, not offering anything more than some mundane conversation or uninteresting commentary on the characters repeated over and over again. Many of these are, literally, shopping lists: "a jumbo pack of Billy's Pan Pizza, three frozen fish casseroles, three bacon pies . . ." This  is clearly an attempt to capture the texture of everyday life, but sometimes I wish Salander’s or Blomkvist’s  weekly shopping for food and such could be, as lawyers say, stipulated. Not to mention the fact that Lisbeth, a billionaire now, after purchasing a 21-room luxurious flat furnishes it in…IKEA. Is she a student or a blue-collar worker or a single mom? Honestly I snorted loudly reading it (and yes, there is a whole list of her newly-bought furniture presented). Was the author sponsored by IKEA or what? Billionaires, or rather their assistants, just hire an interior designer and pay the bill.

Finally Larrson left too many of the characters and sub-plots in the books without any resolution. For example I kind of remember in the first part Blomkvist had a teen daughter from his marriage. In the second and third part you won’t find the slightest trace of her. Is she dead? How come her daddy is no longer interested in her? Perhaps the author did plan to write some other parts. Who knows.

Final verdict:

I did not enjoy these books. They made me bored for starters, leaving bad taste in my mouth. Add to it the fact that there was little or no humor in them and here we have a total book failure - I should have given up, but being stubborn, I wanted to finish them against my better judgment. I found the ending really dismal, empty and unpleasant. It served me right. Curiosity can kill not only a cat but also your reading experience.

Friday Flash Fiction

Amy C at Romance Book Wyrm and Dottie atTink's Place have come up with the idea for a Monday Morning Flash Fiction challenge. Each Monday a new picture prompt will be posted and if you choose to participate - you publish your Fiction Flash  on Friday - 350 words, give or take. Below you can find the picture posted last Monday:

Here is my story:

"Did he or didn't he?"

If he was an ordinary general the king would have executed him on the spot just in case. Grarron was his nephew, though, the son of his favourite older sister. A very gifted strategist and a loved commander. A man people praised to heavens in ballads as a perfect prince full of noble virtues - as brave as a lion, as wise as a fox, generous as a king and handsome as an angel. Now he was standing before the throne, his bare head as usually a bit tilted, waiting for the judgement of his uncle.

Three days ago the young prince gathered some troops and led them to punish an unruly liegeman somewhere on the eastern border. As usual the operation was deadly swift and fully successful. A thunderbolt. The liegeman was killed, his castle- burnt to the ground, his people - either dispersed or killed as well. So the official report, written by Grarron, said.If only it was the only version of events...

Even before Grarron managed to return, a spy, covered with blood, half-naked and barely alive, reached the king. It was one of the Ravens, the elite spies of the royal household. They were known of their cunning and loyalty towards the king. The spy reported a totally different account of the campaign. According to him Grarron made peace with the unruly liegeman, incorporated his people into his own troops and now was ready for a coup. Regicide, a word never pronounced in the castle, hung in the air like noxious fumes, poisoning the athmosphere, making the king anxious and angry.

"Traitor or not? To kill or not to kill?"  Something was off but the king couldn't put a finger on it..

Grarron's sister, Lorena, stood as always behind the throne. She had begged the king to hear her brother out. She didn't dare to contradict the report of the Raven but she did her utmost to make her uncle think twice before executing his nephew. Maybe he had an ulterior motive to spare the life of that liegeman. Maybe it was a part of some brilliant strategy to find more mutineers. The king was swayed by her reasoning. Now he wanted to hear a good explanation from his nephew.

Grarron kneeled. It was a sign. An arrow was shot from behind and pierced the king's neck. He didn't even managed to say one single word. Lorena closed her eyes and almost fainted.

"Open your eyes, little sister. Look at me," ordered Grarron quietly.

Lorena did as she was told. A horrible pain pierced her body. Another arrow was shot and it went right through her heart.

"Goodnight sweet sister. I am sorry but I am taking no chances," said Grarron calmly.

These were the last words Lorena heard.

Armchair BEA Day 5: Blogging about blogging

Today's topic concern how to blog; bloggers are supposed to reveal some of their secrets, like technical tips and rules they impose on themselves and their visitors. Not that I have a lot to say - I am still learning the ropes.

Well, I think the most important rule on my blog is to write honestly about books I review. Sometimes my reviews might sound a bit harsh but I always try to do a book justice. If I don't like it I state clearly why, often giving examples. I definitely think that constructive criticizm is the best gift you can give to anybody. It might hurt at the beginning but it will be beneficial in the long term. If I write an essay I choose a topic that really interests me - otherwise there is no need to write anything at all. Your personal commitment will be clear for every reader. It is the feature which makes your blog different, fresh and interesting. Be yourself and show it!

Another rule is to react to feedback from my readers. I try to answer every single person, anonymous or not. I highly appreciate that you take time and effort to comment and I suppose every comment deserves an answer (apart from spam but there is an answer too - I delete it ;) ).

Now balancing life and blogging. Sometimes I feel I spend too much time on my blog and generally, in front of my computer. I try to take a day "off" every week but it is not always possible, for different reasons. If I am personally engaged in a book or in a story it is hard to me to let it go and progress to a new topic. Now question time for my readers - I would be pleased if you answered at least one of these questions in your comment! Thanks in advance!

• What is important to you as a blogger?
• How do you choose books/topics for your blog?
• How do you balance life and blogging?
• What would you like to change on your blog in the future?

Review:ONYX BOOX 60 - my new e-books reader

Technical specifications:


Sensor touch screen e-ink display 6” 800 × 600 pixels
CPU ARM-11 double core 532 MHZ
RAM memory 128 MB
Built-in flash memory 512 MB
OS: LINUX
Dimensions: 4.7” X 7.4” X 0.3” ( 196 × 121 × 10,6 ММ ) weight 298 mg ( 10,5 OUNCES )

Formats supported: EPUB ( INCLUSIVE ADOBE DRM ) , PDF ( INCLUSIVE PASSWORD PROTECTED ADOBE 9.1 DRM AND REFLOW ) , TXT, HTML, RTF, MOBIPOCKET (NON-DRM), CHM, FB2, DJVU, PDB, JPG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, MP3. DOC, DOCX, Ppt (in other words a lot but PDF works the best).

What I liked:

- ONYX BOOX 60 comes with an elegant case (brown or white) made of artificial leather, very pleasant to the touch which really protects the device. It is a good idea to carry it in the case all the time.
- The sensor screen is activated only by the stylus ( it is Wacom technology ) so there is no danger that you can accidentally switch something on or off or delete a file by brushing the screen with your finger or a piece of cloth. Sensible solution.
- There are no sharp angles in the reader. The device can be easily held by one hand and is not too heavy (although rather heavier than others).
- All ereader settings ressemble computer interface and are easy to find and easy to use. Navigate the Linux proved to be far easier than any Microsoft product.
- reading really, truly doesn't make your eyes watery or tired after two-three hours! A huge advantage, compared to reading long texts on the computer/laptop screen, especially if you suffer from dry eye syndrome.
- there is a WiFi module with full power internet browser available
- a directional pad which looks like a scroll wheel at the bottom of the Boox 60 is really a good idea – simple, hassle-free, ergonomic.
- The stylus lets you handwrite notes and sketch. This function works fast and well, refreshing just the few pixels that you draw almost instantaneously rather than doing the entire screen. I am enjoying it very much.
- There is a memory cards slot for SD/MMC/SDHC UP TO 32GB so you can always add more books and files if you feel like.
- You can play mp3 music files while reading; great idea for anybody who e.g. learns a foreign language or likes some music illustrating the text.
- TTS ( TEXT-TO-SPEECH) function available

- The battery is replaceable (not every ereader features such batteries) and it loads very quickly (three hours are enough).

What I didn’t like:

- if you lose your stylus you will have some troubles operating the device. I wonder whether it can be bought separately…
- all reading process is plain and controlling is limited to pages turning forward and backward; any other activity demands menu pressing and choosing appropriate action by stylus or silver inner circle control button. It might be a drag.
- ONYX BOOX easily transforms itself from the sleep mode to ready-to-use by light pressing OK button. Too easily sometimes. Another reason why I never take it out of its case.
- you cannot currently export any annotations or notes which is a pity
- the battery life is definitely shorter than stated by the producer. Several months? You must be kidding! Rather several days of intensive usage (roughly 48 hours or so) or several weeks of less intensive reading!
- The WiFi connection works well only when the battery if fully loaded. Otherwise forget about any Internet surfing or downloading books!
- To listen to music you must have your own headphones – would it actually kill the producer to include a pair of these?
- So far TTS hasn’t worked for one single file…I wonder why?
- You can actually overload the battery so forget about leaving your ereader connected the whole night to the power point…

Final verdict:

I don’t regret buying it – now reading e-books became easier, faster and definitely a more exciting experience. There are several flaws, especially those connected with the battery life, which I would like to see removed.

What do you think, guys? Bad choice, good choice? It is my first ereader so I can't compare it to anything else.

Armchair BEA Day 3: A few of my favourite blogs and bloggers

Today is the appreciation day - I am not going to interview anyone but I am going to pay off my debt to some tiny extend mentioning here some of my fav blogs so far - I do owe a bit to several people who have shown me the way - they also supported and encouraged my blogging efforts from the very beggining. Here are blogs which never cease to inspire me, broaden my horizons and make me laugh at the same time (priceless qualities).

Brooke from Brooke Bluestoking Guide is an amazing blogger and reviewer who shares my taste when it comes to YA fiction and whose reviews are not only accurate but also very incisive.After reading her blog I wanted to start my own. Consider it the highest measure of success.

The Red Witch from Distracting From the Now can teach you a thing or two about Latin world and Medieval times and she does it always in such a way that you actually enjoy learning! If every history teacher was like her children wouldn't like to return home from school...

Blodeuedd from Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell, along with her friends Lis and Anna, writes incredible reviews of dystopias, urban fantasy, historical romances, fantasy fiction and different nobly pink and frilly romances as well - I spent many happy moments on her blog and my appreciation for it will be eternal - thank you very much my lady, I am looking forward to your every comment!

Tracy from Addicted to Books is an incredible intelligent lady who, although she writes not as often as I would like her to, can assess a book in a very succinct but accurate way, leaving nothing to add. Her style I try to copy (without much success) and her blog is a joy to read especially that she deals with a bit different stuff. After every visit I feel a bit more intelligent.

Jen from In the Closet with a Bibliophile is a tremendously good reviewer, with unique, personal approach and the ability of  persuading which is simply uncanny. We don't agree on every book (well, who does?) but I highly appreciate her opinions.

Finally, last but definitely not least, it's always a good idea to visit Books and Things, a blog written my Melissa. She's got incredible personality and reviews to match it, not to mention the fact that she loves dogs (and I love dogs and cats...) and her comments are so funny and clever!

Armchair BEA Day 2: Giveaways galore!

Hello everybody and welcome to my blog. I can't be at BEA in New York as I don't live in the US so I'm very excited to be part of the Armchair BEA for the first time. 

I have an exceptional giveaway - two e-copies of The Alienist by Caleb Carr - a very good historical thriller (you can read my review here). As it is an e-book I will be able to ship internationally !!!

To enter, leave your e-mail address in the comments. I'll pick a winner next Monday morning. Good luck and enjoy!

Armchair BEA Day 1: Introduce yourself

Hello everybody and welcome to my blog. I can't be at BEA in New York as I don't live in the US so I'm very excited to be part of the Armchair BEA for the first time. 

My name is Bridget,  I'm from a middle-sized town somewhere in Poland. I started my blog "Books as portable pieces of thoughts" last year because I love to read, I read mainly in English and I enjoy improving my English skills. There was also a second reason: I have always enjoyed reading (even as a kid) and can't imagine how people live who don't read but somehow my family and friends don't share my passion, calling it a weird addiction. Perhaps they are right but it is my only addiction. Ok , I have some others: good coffee, history, hand-made jewellery, fine bone china...but nothing as serious as reading. 

Reading books makes me happy and whenever I leave the house I take with me a book or my brand-new, ereader which I am currently testing.

Ok, have a look around and feel free to leave a comment. Thanks for your visit!

Musical Monday, 23 May

 From time to time, not every Monday, I am going to post some of my fav songs using of course YouTube. I hope you will like them as much as I do.  This week is time for some darker stuff. Meet Falco singing "Out of the Dark".  If you feel like sharing your own fav song, grab the button above, post a song on your blog, give the link to it in comments - I will visit you for sure!

Ich krieg von dir niemals genug 
Du bist in jedem Atemzug 
Alles dreht sich nur um dich 
Warum ausgerechnet ich? 
Zähl die Stunden, die Sekunden 
Doch die Zeit scheint still zu steh'n 
Hab mich geschunden, gewunden 
Laß mich gehen - was willst Du noch? 
Willst Du meine Tage zählen? 
Warum mußt Du mich mit meiner Sehnsucht quälen? 
Deine Hölle brennt in mir 
Du bist mein Überlebensexlixier 
Ich bin zerrissen 
.. 
Wann kommst Du meine Wunden küssen? 
.. 
Out of the dark 
Hörst Du die Stimme, die dir sagt 
Into the light 
I give up and close my eyes 
Out of the dark 
Hörst Du die Stimme, die dir sagt 
Into the light 
I give up and you rest your tears to the night 
Ich bin bereit, denn es ist Zeit 
Für unser'n Pakt über die Ewigkeit 
Du bist schon da, 
Ganz nah 
Ich kann Dich spür'n 
Laß mich verführ'n, laß mich entführ'n 
Heute Nacht zum letzten Mal 
Ergeben deiner Macht 
Reich mir die Hand, mein Leben 
Nenn mir den Preis 
Ich schenk' Dir gestern, heute und morgen 
Und dann schließt sich der Kreis 
Kein Weg zurück, 
Das weiße Licht rückt näher, Stück für Stück 
Will mich ergeben 
.. 
Muß ich denn sterben, 
.. 
Um zu leben? 
Out of the dark 
Hörst Du die Stimme, die dir sagt 
Into the light 
I give up and close my eyes 
Out of the dark 
Hörst Du die Stimme, die dir sagt 
Into the light 
I give up and you rest your tears to the night 
(Gitarrensolo) 
Out of the dark 
Hörst Du die Stimme, die dir sagt 
Into the light 
I give up and close my eyes 
Out of the dark 
Hörst Du die Stimme, die dir sagt 
Into the light 
I give up and you rest your tears to the night.

Rough translation of German lyrics (If I didn't get it right feel free to correct me in your comments):

I can never get enough of you 

You are in each breath 

Everything revolves around you 

Why me of all people?

 Count the hours, the seconds 

But time seems to stand still 

I've slaved away, tried to find my way out 

Leave me be! 

What else do you want, you want my days numbered 

Why must you torment me with my longing, 

Your hell burns in me 

You are my life-elixir 

I am torn 

When will you come to kiss my wounds. 

Out of the dark... 

do you hear the voice that says to you 

Into the light... 

I give up and close my eyes 

Out of the dark... 

do you hear the voice that says to you 

I give up and you waste your tears to the night 

I am ready, because it is time 

For our bond over eternity 

You are already there, quite near,

 I can feel you 

I'll let you entice me, abduct me 

In your power tonight for the last time 

Give me your hand, my life, name your price 

I give you yesterday, today and tomorrow 

Then the set closes 

No way back, the white light approaches 

Piece for piece, I want to give in, 

Must I die, In order to live? 

Out of the dark...

Silent Saturday

My second spring giveaway winner is being announced!

The twenty first of May - it's time to announce the winner of my second spring giveaway.
Let me remind that this time  a yellow-coloured pendant, shown below, was up for grabs; it was designed and made by yours truly.

Every entry was alloted a number  in the following order:

• The Red Witch - 1
• Blodeuedd - 2
• Melissa (Books and Things) - 3
• Brooke - 4
• 
  

The winner was selected using the service of RANDOM.ORG site (I know, a bit impersonal but my dog is good for nothing) and the winning number is 

4

 Brooke - I hope you will like your new jewellery ! I 


am going to send you an e-mail today as well!

Thank you for participating, everyone! 

Friday Flash Fiction

Amy C at Romance Book Wyrm and Dottie atTink's Place have come up with the idea for a Monday Morning Flash Fiction challenge. Each Monday a new picture prompt will be posted and if you choose to participate - you publish your Fiction Flash  on Friday - 350 words, give or take. Below you can find the picture posted last Monday:

AND here is my story (haha, yes, I did write it in the last possible moment!):

"You shouldn't underestimate the power of old myths, Darlene."

Darlene heard this phrase so often, it appeared even in her dreams. Her grandmother and mother were so fond of it. A pity they tended to include it in every conversation. After a moment it seemed simply trivial, after a week - anoying to the extreme. They could have stopped at least now. It was supposed to be her special week, after all. The last week before her marriage.

Somehow nobody thought about the incoming nuptials much. Her mother preferred reading books, her gran visited friends or played computer games. Darlene had to choose a dress and a restaurant totally on her own. Even her fiance, Ethan, had a perfect excuse - his evil, sadistic and horrible boss sent him abroad three weeks ago with a super-important mission of overseeing a distant plant producing totally stupid and unnecessary plastic toys in China. Of course he would return in time for the wedding but all the details and arrangements were left at Darlene's desk. Prepare your wedding yourself or hire a wedding organizer, the choice was hers.

Darlene decided to do everything on her own, helped only by her best friend, Lucie. It proved to be not that difficult, mainly because she kept it simple - a simple dress, a simple reception with no frills, a simple ceremony, nothing fancy or unusual. The day of the final fitting of her wedding dress came in no time. She was so proud of herself. As soon as she put the dress on, however, she felt a very strange urge to run. So strong was the urge that she dashed into the street without thinking and passed all buildings at full pelt not even being aware where and why she was running so fast.

 She managed to reach the woods at dusk, overtaking cars without any problem and never giving this fact a second thought. Under deep-green trees she could finally stop and have a breather. Her dress in tatters, her body covered in sweat, she closed her eyes and howled. Another howl answered her after a while. It made her shiver from head to toes...or were there still toes on her paws left? She didn't bother to check,  hearing soft steps behind her. A big, silvery wolf approached her slowly. It spoke but without any sound,  just sending words straight into her head:

"Old myths, Darlene. Didn't I tell you that, dear child, time and again? Welcome to your true world and your true wedding."

Unusual Wishful Wednesday, 18 May

The meme is hosted by Brooke from Brooke Bluestocking Guide.

 Welcome to Wishful Wednesday! 

This week I wish not for a book but for a brand new e-reader!!!

In fact I've already ordered it!

As soon as it arrives I will test it and I will write a review.

Do you own an e-reader? Do you use it often? Do you like it?