My Top Ten Books of 2012 & Book Prize

In no particular order, here are my favorite books of 2012:

1. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (5/5)
2. Blue Monday by Nicci French (5/5)
3. Still Life by Louise Penny (4/5)
4. Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs (4/5)
5. 11/22/63 by Stephen King (4/5)
6. Fear Itself by Elena Santangelo (5/5)
7. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (5/5)
8. Finding Sky by Joss Stirling (5/5)
9. Iron House by John Hart (4/5)
10. Battle Royale by Koushun Takami (5/5)

Once again it was hard to pick only ten favorites, but now I am happy with my list. Do we happen to share any favorites?

Another thing which has recently made me happy was finding a book in mail box. It's a prize I won during the German blogging event Blogger schenken Lesefreude (bloggers give reading joy). The first thing I saw was Remy from Disney's Ratatouille congratulating on the envelope.

I was also thrilled to see so many beautiful stamps.

Deborah from Deborahs Bücherhimmel (Deborah's Book Sky) wrote some personal words which made me smile. She had asked to write about a lucky moment for the opportunity to win a book, and I chose to describe how I happened to be in the right place at the right time to take a special photo. As Deborah shares my love for taking photos, she chose me as winner. Thanks Deborah!

So now I own a copy of Das Glücksbüro (The Luck Office) by the German author Andreas Izquierdo. Who knows? Maybe it will end up being on my Top Ten list of favorite books in 2013.

Pink + Blue = Purple

You can have lots of fun with vases -- play time for Beverly's Pink Saturday.

Happy Pink Saturday!

X is for Xerophilous Plant

Frankly, I have no idea if my cactus qualifies for a xerophilous plant. At least it suits the definition of a "plant adapted for life with a limited supply of water." I rarely water it, and it still thrives. So I think this xerophilous plant is perfect Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday.

The First Day of May

I went for a walk in the neighborhood today. The magnolia tree in our neighbors' garden is blooming beautifully.

Forsythia.

Another magnolia tree.

A white beauty.

A sweet cat who came over for cuddles.

Ever so watchful.

A glimpse of sunshine on this May evening.

Wonderful blossoms.

What a great shade of light pink.

So very beautiful.

Delicate.

Watching from the balcony.

Fresh as spring.

Lighting up the pavement.

Like white stars.

Another pink beauty.

Lilac will soon bloom.

The perfect spot to spend some time in the garden.

Is anyone else thinking of Alice in Wonderland's tea party?

Happy May!

May Dult

One of Munich's charming markets is the Auer Dult which takes place three times a year. The first one of the year is the May Dult.

From the stairs of the Mariahilfkirche (Mary Help Church) you have a good overview over the booths selling tableware, pottery, and other household accessories.

There's also an area with some fairground rides and food booths.

Do you see the portrait of King Ludwig II on the soup bowl on the right bottom?

Some lovely handmade garden figures -- dwarfs, cats and some yummy strawberries.

A detail of a beautiful bowl.

The bumper car ride.

Lots of dolls.

Stands in this alley offer antique things. If you look closely, you can make out a baby doll on the right side.

This baby doll -- it would give me nightmares if I had it at home...

Time for a lecture in Bavarian! I mog di means I like you (or in German Ich mag dich).

A sweet-looking red robot.

Isn't that antique lace umbrella just beautiful?

You can also hunt for clothes -- lots of colors and patterns.

The trees have wonderfully green leaves now -- spring has really come to Munich!

Spring is finally here

Spring took its time this year. All the more -- welcome spring!

I love the colorful spring flowers.

Cape daisies.

Our neighbors' beautiful cherry tree.

Happy spring!

Easter

Normally, Easter more or less means the beginning of spring, but this year we even had a white Easter. The tulip leaves were all covered with snow.

Inside it felt more like spring.

 Just look at these beautiful tulips.

Here's my Easter bouquet.

Another cute bunny.

Some yummy bunnies.

I had fun dying Easter eggs.

Here they are.

They looked lovely on the Easter table.

The Easter lamb.

Happy Easter and Happy Spring!