Friday 30 December 2016

2016 Reading Re-Cap

So 2016 is almost over and I wanted to look back at all the books I've read this year. So many amazing books came out this year and I've fallen in love with so many characters that I can't wait to go back to in 2017. I have reviews on my blog for all of the books below so if any of them catch your eye you can go and check them out (although some of them contain major spoilers for the books themselves). Thank you for reading and supporting my blog. I hope you all have a very Happy New Year that's full of great books!


From Bottom to Top:

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige
The Jewel by Amy Ewing
Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr
Unspoken series by Sarah Rees Brennan
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas
The Night Circus by Erin Morgernstern
Dangerous Lies by Becca Fitzpatrick
The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan & Maureen Johnson
The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater
Uglies and Pretties by Scott Westerfield
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
Passenger by Alexandra Bracken
The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J Maas
Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas

Friday 16 December 2016

Blogmas

Today I want to share with you my Christmas Playlist. The past few days I have been busy making my Christmas Cards and some of my Christmas presents and these are the songs that I have been cranking out while I do it. A small collection of old classics and modern day hits, I am loving this playlist. I can't help but think of Kat and Daemon from the Lux series when I listen to this playlist - I like to think these are the songs they would listen to while trimming the tree. Maybe that's just me though...

  1. Melanie Thornton - Wonderful Dream (Holidays Are Coming)
  2. Michael Buble - It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas
  3. Leona Lewis - One More Sleep
  4. Ariana Grande - Tell Me Santa
  5. Wham! - Last Christmas
  6. Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas
  7. The Pogues - Fairy Tale in New York
  8. Katy Perry - Everyday is a Holiday
  9. Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmas Time
  10. Kylie Minogue - Only You (feat James Corden)
  11. Michael Buble - Let It Snow


Monday 12 December 2016

Blogmas

Since this is a book blog, today I am resurrecting an old book tag that made the circuit on booktube a few years ago; The Winter Wonderland Book Tag. The original tag was started by JackEatsBooks here.

1. What book is so happy and sweet it warms your heart?
I have a collection of Winnie the Pooh stories that was a gift on my christening day that I love. I don't think there are any books that are totally happy and sweet - there's angst in every story surely?

2. What is your favourite book with a white cover?
Empire of Storms by Sarah J Maas. That book destroyed me in every way possible and was my favourite book in the Throne of Glass series.

3. You're sitting in a nice comfy chair, wearing a onesie, with a lovely warm hot chocolate but what MONSTER read are you reading?
I don't think I own a truly monstrous book, although Sarah J Maas' books this year have been huge, so I think I'd probably have to go Empire of Storms again, just because they had to print the book on Bible pages so they would fit on bookshelves.

4. It started snowing so you decided to have a snowball fight! What fictional character would you love to have the snowball fight with?
I'm going to say Daemon from the Lux series, just because I would love to wipe the smug look off his face. There would have to be a rule that he couldn't use his super speed though so that I would have a chance of winning!

5. Sadly, your fire is beginning to go out. So what book would you tear the last few chapters out to throw into the fire?
Allegiant by Veronica Roth. Not because of the ending per say but the whole book in general was just a let down after the first two books. The dual POV didn't work and both Tobias and Tris annoyed me so much in that book.

6.  What book is so close to your heart that you would gift to someone this Christmas who hasn't read before but wants to get into reading?
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas. I think the plot and the world and the characters are just so amazing in this series and, although it takes a while to get going, the last couple of hundred pages grip you and ACOMAF has you hooked from start to finish. So I would gift this series.

Sunday 4 December 2016

Blogmas



Welcome to Day 3 of Blogmas, where the festive feeling is definitely starting to set in. Last night I went to a magical lantern festival at my local botanical gardens and oh was it magical. It was maybe an hour long walk through the gardens and everywhere you looked were some incredible sights. Whoever created these, hats off to them because it was stunning. It was the perfect event for families, and there were a lot of fairly young children whose excitement levels were off the scale! They loved discovering the lanterns and seeing which characters they could spot so I would definitely check your local botanical gardens or even garden centres to see if they are offering anything like this in December, it's well worth a look.







Have you been anywhere or are you planning to go anywhere special this December? Let me know!


Saturday 3 December 2016

Blogmas

With winter well and truly here I thought it would be a good time to talk about my winter essentials that aren't books. I think winter is the only season where I have a list of 'essentials' that I have with me pretty much everyday. It seems to be the time of the year where you just have to be prepared for anything and everything the weather will throw at you. Which is usually rain, wind and occasionally some snow!

First thing on my list is scarves. I really like wearing scarves throughout the year and I have some thinner scarves to wear in the spring and summer but in winter you can't beat a thick, snuggly scarf and this year I am obsessed with this one. I got this in Primark at the end of the summer this year and it is so warm it's unreal! At the time I bought this, they did the same scarf in red but I thought this one was a little more unusual with the cream and grey. I have been wearing this pretty much non-stop the past couple of weeks and I feel like I'm definitely going to get my wear out of it this winter.


I think the other staple in everyone's winter wardrobe is a jumper. You can't beat a good jumper when it's cold, especially if it's fluffy! I've had this jumper for a few years now (again I got it from Primark) and I really love it. It is slightly festive with the snowflakes on it, but you can definitely wear it throughout winter without anyone thinking you've completely lost your mind. On another note, I've never really been big on the Christmas jumper thing. You know the really OTT Christmas jumpers? I know some people are obsessed with them but I've never really been a fan. Anyway, I do save this for really cold days because the fluff does come off a little bit (though I think this is a problem with all fluffy jumpers) and covers me in little bits but it is amazing when the temperature outside is falling.


Despite being a big fan of scarves, I don't normally wear gloves. I have a few pairs of fingerless gloves that I do wear sometimes but actually, I tend to use these more, especially because my coat is quite thick and has quite big pockets so I normally just keep my hands in my pockets. These are hand warmers and I have about ten stashed away. These were really big a few years ago and it seemed like everywhere sold them. They are the most ingenious little devices. There is a small metal disk inside that you 'snap' and it activates the gel surrounding it, heating it up. All of mine are reusable so when you've used it once, simply put the gel pack in to a saucepan of boiling water and heat it up again according to the instructions that come with them and they're good to go. I love putting a couple of these in my coat pocket, especially if I know I'm going to be outside a lot and they're not very expensive at all.


Winter is also the time of year to really break out the moisturiser. My favourite is the Simple Kind to Skin Hydrating Light Moisturiser. I use this all year round but especially during winter when the cold sucks all the moisture out of my skin. I really like this light moisturiser because I have quite oily skin and this just sinks right in, is really hydrating but doesn't leave my skin feeling oily at all.


Winter is also the time for parties, and these next two essentials are definitely more geared towards the party season. First up is fragrance. I'm not a huge perfume wearer, I definitely don't have a huge collection (all my money goes on books!) but I really do love the ones that I have. I've picked two fragrances out of my limited collection, one for the day and one for the night. For the day I love wearing Taylor Swift's Wonderstruck perfume. I adore this scent. It's quite a light, sweet fragrance that is perfect for the day because it's so light. For the evening I like to wear Kylie Minogue's Dazzling Darling fragrance. This is still a fairly light perfume (I don't like my perfume's to overwhelm me) but is a bit more 'grown up' than the Taylor one.


Finally we have nail varnishes. I am a nail varnish fiend. I love painting my nails and the box in my room that is full to bursting with nail varnishes can definitely attest to that! Because it is the party season, I love wearing glittery nail varnish and, to me, you can't get much more festive than wearing red. Below are the four nail varnishes that match at least one of these criteria. All of the red polishes are amazing over a plain red polish to add some festive sparkle. The OPI and China Glaze polishes give a bit more of a subtle shimmer and the Rimmel London polish is a lot more obvious. The Essie polish you can just wear as it is. Two coats of it on your nails and you're good to go!

L-R: OPI 'Underneath the Mistletoe', Essie 'Ignite the Night'
Rimmel London 'Ruby Crush', China Glaze 'Ruby Pumps'

 I hope you guys enjoyed this post. Let me know what your winter essentials are and I'll see you tomorrow!

Thursday 1 December 2016

Blogmas


Welcome to the first of December and the first day of Blogmas! I can't believe that it is December already! Seriously, where has 2016 gone?? This week, winter has definitely arrived in the UK. It has been so cold here this week. November has been and gone and the weather has seriously gone with it. I love watching the seasons change (which sounds really weird but bare with me). I'm a creative person at heart and I love watching the colours around me change as the year goes on. Autumn this year was spectacularly beautiful. Seriously, I don't think I've seen an Autumn as gorgeous.

While I love the autumnal colours, there is something strangely magical about waking up and seeing the frost covering the ground, glittering in the street lights. Tie it in with all the Christmas lights that are popping up everywhere and winter takes on this magical quality that you don't find in any other season. And whenever you step outside, you get to pretend you're a dragon because you can see your breath every time you breath (we all do it and if you don't then you're lying).

I am definitely a Christmas lover. There is a certain sequence that must be completed for it to be Christmas for me.
  1. Bonfire night must have happened. I love Christmas, but anytime before November 5th is too early even for me.
  2. I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here has to start on TV. This programme is one that I look forward to every year.
  3. The German Market needs to have started up, in all of it's chaotic, madness. Seriously, this is one of the most stressful places ever, but it's not Christmas without it.
  4. The Coca Cola Christmas advert has to have played on TV. This is the deal breaker. Once this advert has played, then it's Christmas and I don't care what anyone says.
I'm really excited about the next 25 days of blogmas. I hope you guys enjoy it! Are there any specific things that have to happen before you feel like it's Christmas? Are you a Christmas lover or a Scrooge?