Let's Talk About Books

I've always considered myself an avid reader, but in preparing for this blog post I've realised that I'm not as well-read as I thought I was. That's something I'm going to have to remedy I think, there's tonnes of books on my 'to-read' list. I'm not going to set myself a target though, because I always fall embarrassingly short and I'd prefer to read without putting so much pressure on myself. It's supposed to be fun, after all.

Anyway, I'm not here to discuss what I haven't read, but what I have read, both in my childhood/teen years, and what I've read more recently. It's a favourites list, sort of.

A couple of the books I'll mention are not pictured, because I have them on my Kindle rather than a hard copy.

1. Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison. This is the first of ten(!) of the Confessions of Georgia Nicholson books. I probably started reading them when I was in my young teens and carried on until the last one came out when I was probably 19 or 20. I'd always finish them within hours of starting as the diary layout is very quick to read, but they were, and still are, hilarious. I don't think I'll ever get rid of them, I'd happily re-read the entire series. The movie (Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging) is well worth a watch too.
2. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Out of all the books I've ever been forced to read, this is my favourite. I studied it for A-Level English Literature, and I normally end up hating any book I have to study just because you have to go over it in such minute detail that it takes away any potential enjoyment you might have had for it under other circumstances. Luckily, not in this case and I actually really enjoyed it, despite not really taking a liking to any of the characters! Also, it reminds me of this Kate Beaton comic which is hilarious:
   
3. The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I would highly recommend this. It's about the journey of a man and his young son through a barren wasteland to try and find the coast.  It's a little (okay, a lot) emotionally draining, but it is so well written. It's post-apocalyptic and I love that kind of book. I haven't seen the movie adaptation yet, I'm not too sure I want to, but you should definitely read the book, it's fantastic.
4. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. This story is narrated by Death and it follows a young girl, Liesel, who is living with a foster family in Germany during the outbreak of the second World War. She has a penchant for stealing books (hence the title). I don't want to give anything away, but it's beautifully told with an array of different characters, definitely worth a read. Again, I've not yet seen the film but my brother tells me it's good.
5. Firesong by William Nicholson. This is the third book in The Wind on Fire trilogy. All three are great but this one is my favourite. It centres around twins Bowman and Kestrel that have a telepathic connection (which would be so cool) and their journey to their homeland. It was one of my favourites as a teenager and I think I'm about due for a re-read.
6. Redwall by Brian Jacques. The Redwall books are synonymous with my childhood, I don't think I'll ever tire of them. They're so imaginative and wonderfully descriptive. I just love the idea of mice wielding swords and being great warriors. I think Redwall is the first one but any of them (and there are loads) are worth reading.
7. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. I read this last year, and although it took some time to get into it, I became hooked and just had to find out what had happened. I don't want to say anything about it because I wouldn't want to give anything away. I didn't know anything about it when I first read it so it was very refreshing and surprising.
8. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. This is a really sweet little love story but it also deals with some pretty serious issues like child abuse and racism. Another fairly easy read, but I couldn't put it down. 

Honorable mentions go, of course, to the Harry Potter books, but I thought that would be so obvious and so left them out. Plus everyone's read them already. I'm hoping for some more favourites to add to my list this year, if you have any recommendations please let me know!

Song of the Day: Heal Over by KT Tunstall

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Snippets of Christmas

My one and only resolution this year is to drink more water. That's it. So far, on the third day of 2015, I have had precisely three glasses. Not pints either, just regular sized. It doesn't sound much, but if you know me you'll know how bad I am at keeping hydrated. So, you know, baby steps.

Christmas and New Year have passed by in a blur, as they tend to now I'm an 'adult', but it has been wonderful. Quiet family time, fantastic food, lots of wine and even more chocolate. It's been perfect. The tree came down today, so it's looking rather bare in our living room.

A trip to Derbyshire where there had been snow resulted in some unexpected sledging fun. On bin-bags, mind you, but sledging nonetheless. We discovered that we'd grown out of our 'no sense, no feeling' ages, and began to feel the cold very quickly and so retreated inside. Alas, the trials and tribulations and getting old.

I feel refreshed, relaxed and ready for what the new year will bring. Welcome to 2015 everyone. Here's hoping it's a good'un.

Song of the Day: Shake by Walk Off The Earth

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Merry Christmas Eve Eve!

There is no place more claustrophobic than a supermarket on the 23rd December. On this day a few years ago, I went to Waitrose with my Mum like the good little helper I am, and it was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. (I have led a somewhat sheltered existence, I know.) It was so busy (which I had been expecting), and people are incredibly ruthless at Christmas time. They will try and force you out of the way with their trolleys if you happen to be standing in between them and the last box of mince pies. 'Never again,' I said to myself. 

Today, after noticing my Mum's sizeable shopping list, I offered to go with her again. 'It won't be like last time,' I thought. 'I'm older now. Wiser. I can handle this.' How wrong I was.

I spent the majority of the time trying to keep out of everyone else's way whilst my Mum nipped in and out of spaces to grab what she needed. I tried to manoeuvre the trolley into areas where I thought not many people would go, like in front of the avocados or near the end of the aisles where there wasn't actually anything on the shelves. At one point I was nearly squashed in between our trolley and an elderly gentleman's who was pushing his with reckless abandon and not looking where he was going. No one has any trolley etiquette and it is infuriating. Everyone seems to think it's a great idea to leave their trolley horizontally across the aisles so you can't get passed, and when you say 'Excuse me' they either give you a look of contempt that you have dared to speak to them, or they just ignore you entirely.

My Mum overheard a man telling his wife that he couldn't stay in there as it was that busy and just walked out, and I heard a lady threaten her children that it wasn't too late for her to just cancel Christmas. So all in all, everyone was full of Christmas spirit.

So there's a nice festive rant for you. If you're lucky, I may return tomorrow with a tale about how I learned the cold hard truth about Santa Claus. 'Tis the season and all that.

Merry Christmas!

Currently reading: The Walking Dead: Compendium One

Song of the Day: Underneath The Tree by Kelly Clarkson (very catchy - would definitely recommend a listen!)

Link of the Day: 13 Dogs and 1 Cat enjoy a holiday feast with human hands. 

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I'm having a bit of a moan. Indulge me.

I feel a bit like a walking calamity at the moment. On Friday at work, I was warming my hands under the lights where the food gets plated up, and I accidentally touched the bulb with my thumb. I don't recommend it unless you're a fan of burnt skin. Later on, I was going downstairs to let Jack in with the takeaway he'd picked up, when I slipped and travelled the last few steps on my arse. Ever so gracefully. I wasn't really hurt, but I did whinge about it for far longer than was necessary. Partly because I was embarrassed as Jack saw what happened through the window, so when I opened the door he said 'Are you okay?' but not in a concerned way, more in a 'that was really funny but I need to assess whether or not you are actually injured so that it is acceptable for me to laugh at you' kind of way.

So due my 'injuries', wisdom teeth trying to make an appearance, and various other reasons, I feel like a giant ball of misery at the moment. Sleep is hard to come by as I can't quite seem to shut my brain off at night. Has anyone else noticed that any problem seem insurmountable at night, but come daytime you can take on the world again? I'm getting a lot of that currently. As soon as the darkness creeps in, so do the doubts. Which is annoying because it's winter and it's getting dark at about 4.30pm right now. 

Oh well. This too will pass.

Song of the Day: Will You by P.O.D. I'm currently listening to a lot of the stuff I listened to when I was 15. I think it's good for the soul to be nostalgic.

T.G.I.S

I love Saturdays. Today, I had the chance to have a big tidy in my room; Jack and I went food shopping; I had a sing and a dance in the kitchen to this while Jack cooked us some lunch; I had a much needed chat with my mum, and now me and Jack are hanging out in our onesises watching The Office. Bliss.

Honestly I've had a terrible, stressful week at work and I don't think I've ever been as happy for the weekend to roll around as I was yesterday. I don't think you appreciate days off until you really feel like you've earned them, and I've really, really earned this one.

Enjoy your weekends guys!

Song of the Day: We'll Be Ghosts by Brooke Bentham

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A Brief Guide to Rome

So where was I?

Oh yes. Rome. This is a VERY picture heavy post. I just wanted to put it all in one though.

Rome is, as you would expect, beautiful. Everywhere you look, there's something worth seeing. For that reason, I would highly recommend walking places, if you're able to. The metro is always there if you get tired, but you really might miss something. Also, your hotel will most likely give you a street map that has all the landmarks on it, and it's kind of like a treasure hunt when you're looking for places.

All of the above photographs were taken at Castel Sant'Angelo which was one of my favourite places from our trip. It was only about 5 minutes away from our hotel, so we walked past it quite a lot, and there are some great views from inside, not to mention all the history related bits.

Admittedly, I took way too many pictures of St. Peter's Basilica while we were there, but it was really hard not to. It's quite hard to describe, but it's so worth seeing in person. It's a beautiful piece of architecture. The photo directly above was taken from inside the Vatican grounds, and the top two were taken from the rooftop terrace of our hotel, which was right around the corner from St. Peter's.

I started to get to grips with taking photos at night properly for the first time. I'm not quite there yet, but relatively pleased at my progress.

We managed to see all of the must-see's. The only problem was the Trevi Fountain. We saw it, but it was undergoing restoration works and so was covered in scaffolding and there was no water in it. So no wishes for me.

The Colosseum is incredible. It's such a surreal feeling, standing inside when you know the history of the kinds of things that happened there (I've seen Gladiator). We had a guide who took us around which I would definitely recommend, it's really interesting.

The last photo is the only one with both me and Jack in it. I could have asked someone to take one of us but I just kept thinking about what happened to Mr. Bean and couldn't quite bring myself to do it!

Quick Tips:

• If you want to go inside St. Peter's, go early. Some afternoons the queue went right the way round the square and people waited hours. It's much less busy in the morning. Also, make sure your knees and shoulders are covered or they won't let you in.
• Don't keep buying bottled water. Buy one, and just keep refilling it; there's loads of fountains where you can re-fill your bottle for free, and it's cold.
• There are quite a lot of guys selling roses. They'll come up to you (especially if you're in a couple) give you one and say it's a gift, then try and make your boyfriend pay. Just give them a firm 'no' and keep walking.
• Watch out for bum-pinchers. I was actually warned about this but didn't actually think it would happen. It did, once, and it was gross. Be on the lookout for men who look like they're about to bump into you.
• Always save room for gelato. It's every bit as delicious as you've heard.

And this concludes me talking about Rome. Regularly scheduled content will resume...at some point. Arrivedeci!

Song of the Day: Darling I Do by Landon Pigg & Lucy Schwartz

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Just a minute

So I have been back from Rome a little over 2 weeks now and yet my blog remains woefully quiet. Sorry. Well, I've been busy. So I'm not that sorry.

At some point I'm going to try and condense my holiday into one blog post, but for now I'll just say that it was awesome. I would definitely recommend going.

Coming up I've got a leaving do, a potential trip to Liverpool and Jack's birthday. I really don't know where the time goes, it'll be Christmas before we know it. But anyway, I'm off now. I'll be back soon x

Song of the Day: Eyes Without A Face by Billy Idol

Currently reading: We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

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