Blog Design Update

tháng 12 24, 2015 ramblings No comments

You may have noticed that I have changed my blog design a bit. I haven't done anything fancy, like buy a predesigned template, or learn code, because I'm far too lazy and that would be completely out of character, but I felt like a change was needed, so I've tweaked a few things. I'm not sure I'm entirely happy with what I've ended up with though, so I would very much appreciate your thoughts. Do you like the new design? Or do you prefer the old one? I do have a backup of my old template, so I could restore that design if this new one doesn't work out. I am already tempted, but that could just be my aversion to change. Not quite sure what to do yet, so please let me know what you think!

(And reviews are coming, honestly. I want to do a favourite books of 2015 post as well. And maybe what I got for Christmas, if that interests anyone. We'll see.)

(Oh yeah, and Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Seasons Greetings!)

My Little Box December 2015 Review

tháng 12 21, 2015 beauty, my little box, non-bookish, ramblings No comments

While I do love this month's "My Little Magic Box", I think I could have loved it more. For one, it arrived late again, so that was a bit annoying. And while I really like most of the lifestyle items, I'm not that impressed with some of beauty products. I think I'm feeling like this mostly because I've seen lots of other people's boxes and have preferred their variations to my own (the perfume! I wanted the perfume!). Overall though, this is still a great box (probably one of my favourites of the year, and a great one to end 2015 on) - here are my thoughts!

The design of this month's box is cute, I like all the sparklers and the lit up Eiffel Tower! It's not very magic-y though, they could have added some wands or potion bottles or something like that - but that's just me being picky! I'm happy with it in general.

The card is very similar to the box design, and simply says "this box is magical". Not much else to say really. (Though yay for the return of the proper magazine [see below] - I really did not like the weird fold out magazine/poster/booklet thing. The normal magazine is much better.)

My thoughts on each individual product:

Rituals Touch of Happiness Body Cream - noooo, not another body cream! I've had so many body creams! I don't even like the smell of this one! I mean, it smells okay (orange and cedar wood), but I personally wouldn't wear it. I'll probably give it to a family member. I suppose it's not a bad body cream, really, I'm just disappointed. I would have much preferred a perfume.

Too Faced Melted Liquified Long Wear Lipstick - I got this in the shade "melted fuchsia", and to be honest, at first, I thought it would look horrible. But I put a thin layer on and it's actually a really nice colour! As long as I don't cake too much on, it looks decent, so I'm pretty happy with this. It's a nice formula too, not too drying, and it doesn't crack as much as other liquid lipsticks. It's not long wearing really though - as soon as I had lunch, it was gone, but I think it's a great product overall. I might try out some of the other colours too at some point.

My Little Beauty Vice-Versa Nail Polish Duo - I LOVE these. Both of these nail polishes are so pretty! The blue is such a nice dark colour that's slightly iridescent, and the gold glitter is lovely and festive! Combined, these two would look amazing. Haven't tried them out on all my nails yet (I did a quick test for both and they seem like good nail polishes), so I can't wait to do a blue and gold glittery look for Christmas.

[EDIT: I've now tested the nail polishes properly, and they are so so gorgeous! They look really lovely on (I put the gold glitter on top of the blue base layer) and I'm very happy with them. I will say they do chip very easily, however (and I even bothered to put a top coat on this time), so that's a shame, but the end look is pretty while it lasts!]

Imperial Label Blend Kusmi Tea - yeah, no. I can see some people loving this, but I really don't like teas with flavours like orange and vanilla in them. The only teas I drink are regular, green, and maybe a chamomile once in a while. The tin is very cute though so I am tempted to keep this anyway.

My Little Box Heat Retaining Mittens - what a great item! These mittens are blue and gold, matching the nail polishes, and really do keep your hands nice and toasty! I like how you can wear them fingerless, or you can unhook the mitten part to cover your fingers - very practical! Really happy with these.

My Little Beauty/Box (the card is not explanatory!) Makeup Bag - this has got to be my favourite item in the box this month. It's so beautiful. I've been wanting a little make up pouch like this that's not too bulky to carry in my bag when I'm out, so as well as being very pretty, it's actually a really useful item! It's just the right size for me too, and I love that it's blue and gold again! Ahh I just love it.

That's my review of this month's box! What did you think? Did you prefer any other beauty boxes over this one for December?

Review: Bookishly Ever After by Isabel Bandeira

tháng 12 20, 2015 review No comments

Bookishly Ever After (Ever After #1) by Isabel Bandeira
Publisher: Spencer Hill Contemporary
Released: January 12th 2016
My Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5
Find it on Goodreads

In a perfect world, sixteen-year-old Phoebe Martins’ life would be a book. Preferably one filled with magic and a hot paranormal love interest. Unfortunately, her life probably wouldn’t even qualify for a quiet contemporary.

Everything changes when Phoebe learns that Dev, the hottest guy in the clarinet section, might actually have a crush on her. So, Phoebe turns to the heroines in her favorite books for advice on a personality overhaul. Becoming as awesome as her book characters isn’t as easy as it sounds and when another girl nets Dev for herself right from under Phoebe’s nose, she’s crushed.

Then, to up the suckage, she gets assigned as his co-counselor at a sixth grade camp and has to spend an entire week tied to the hip with the one guy on the planet she wanted to avoid. Can she make it through the potential danger of romantic bonfires and nature walks without Dev figuring out she’s still not over him, or will her counseling career end in emotional disaster? Can she ever go back to her happy world of fictional boys after falling for the real thing? (from Goodreads)

Ahh this book was so awkward. And embarrassing. And cringey. It meant well, it really did, and I do suppose I’m not the target audience (I feel so old saying that) but I just couldn’t really enjoy it when every ten minutes I had to take a break so I could prepare myself for whatever embarrassingly ridiculous thing was going to happen next.

Phoebe was just a painfully embarrassing character. In a lot of ways, I could relate to her (being bookish especially) but then she would go and do or say the most cringey thing and I wanted to hide! The second hand embarrassment was so intense. I get that was her character and she was awkward and stuck in her book world but it was so hard to read sometimes. And the level of cheesiness in this book - ugh. I mean this is really aimed at young teens, or not yet teens, because anyone a bit older like me will just end up rolling their eyes half the time. Particularly in the parts where Phoebe’s immaturity/naivety took over a bit and she jumped to obviously wrong conclusions. Or whenever she said she had an idea - I groaned at those parts, because I didn’t even want to know what ridiculously embarrassing thing she was about to do. Phoebe had her moments though - one of my favourite scenes was her rant about characters in books always having perfect vision - it’s so true! I can’t think of any other main character who wears glasses or contacts off the top of my head except Harry Potter. Without my glasses, I’m practically blind and would die in any survival situation - and it really gets to me that all these characters in books have perfect vision. It’s so unrealistic. I mean, chances are, in a room full of people, a good portion of them will be wearing glasses or contacts. So take note, authors!

I wasn’t a huge fan of Dev, the love interest, but he did grow on me throughout the book. I think what put me off him was that flash mob at the beginning. Really? A flash mob? Ugh. Things like that get so outdated by the time a book is published, you’re better of not including it at all. I also didn’t like that scene where he acted like Phoebe’s boyfriend to get her out of a situation - could he really not come up with any better idea? He was supposed to be this amazingly creative actor! Anyway, he did seem nice and understood Phoebe and seemed to like her quirky habits so there was that. I just wasn’t really sold on why they liked each other and the relationship as a whole.

Plot-wise, the second half of this book was definitely better than the first. I really enjoyed most of the scenes at camp, and I loved the campers Phoebe was in charge of! They were so interfering, it was hilarious. The writing itself was actually also pretty good (the extracts of some of the books Phoebe was reading were interesting - at times, I wish I could be reading those instead of reading about Phoebe!).

Overall, this was a okay book. It was too cringey and cheesy for me (though I am particularly sensitive to second hand embarrassment), but a younger person might find it sweet so I don’t know. Maybe read an extract before deciding whether to pick it up or not!

Book Talk: Spoils by Tammar Stein

tháng 12 14, 2015 No comments

It's not too often I come across a character in a novel named Lenore, so this was a nice surprise. I asked Tammar how she came up with the name, and this is what she said:

About Lenore...Well, it's a gorgeous name, of course. You know this already. My main character's names always pop into my mind rather mysteriously. I never have to sit and think about it. It's usually names that kind of surprise me, never the name of someone I know with that name. With Leni, I just knew it was Leni. And then I thought, who names their kid Leni? It's probably a nickname...and it went from there. I liked the thought of her taking ownership of her name, changing it to something she felt comfortable with. I feel like Lenore is a name you have to grow into (though I suppose you would know better than I would.) Maybe a young person wouldn't feel comfortable with such a majestic name. I bet by the time Leni finished college, she'll reclaim her full name.

Interesting! Lenore is indeed a pretty majestic name, though I suppose I grew into it early.

So - the book itself. Lenore is the youngest daughter of a family who won the lottery and then spent the money wildly over the years until there's nothing left. Lenore's parents expect her to give up her part of the money when she turns 18 (it has been in a trust) to keep them afloat, and she is ready to do this until her older sister confesses that the money is dirty and that whatever Lenore does, she needs to get rid of it completely.

So that's the mystery - what's wrong with the money? Turns out, a lot. Lenore is visited by an angel who also warns her to get rid of it - and she only has a week until her birthday to figure out what to with it.

The novel explores the idea of the universe having checks and balances on good and evil - when evil is thwarted by good, it seeks out weaker targets.

I really enjoyed this one! Find out more at Tammar's website.

Review: This Raging Light by Estelle Laure

tháng 12 10, 2015 review No comments

This Raging Light by Estelle Laure
Publisher: Orchard Books
Released: January 14th 2015
My Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5
Find it on Goodreads

How is it that you suddenly notice a person? How is it that one day Digby was my best friend's admittedly cute twin brother, and then the next he stole air, gave jitters, twisted my insides up?

Lucille has bigger problems than falling for her best friend's unavailable brother. Her mom has gone, leaving her to look after her sister, Wren. With bills mounting up and appearances to keep, Lucille is raging against her life but holding it together - just.

A stunning debut to devour in one sitting, Laure captures completely the agony and ecstasy of first love. (from Goodreads)

You know when a book just grips you? The kind where you say “just one more chapter” but really you know you’re going to keep reading until you’re done? This is one of those books. Before this I was reading something I literally had to force myself to finish - but with This Raging Light, I didn’t need to make an effort, I just kept turning the pages. It was very engrossing, and while I wouldn’t say I absolutely loved it, I really, really liked it and I’m really hoping that Estelle Laure is going to write a sequel!

Lucille, our main character, was struggling to cope. Her mum was supposed to be home by now, but she was nowhere to be found. She wasn’t picking up the phone, the money she had left to cover a month’s worth of bills had run out, and Lucille was stuck caring for her little sister Wren all by herself, with no money and no job and no-one to help her. It was enough to make anyone panic, and while I really think Lucille should have told someone what was going on, I could understand why she didn’t. She was trying so hard to keep what was left of her family together - she got herself a job after her mum’s money had run out, she reorganised her schedule, she took her sister to school and kept up with her own school work. Not a lot of people could have done what she did. But at the same time, she was feeling hopeless, feeling stressed and also feeling abandoned, wondering why her mother couldn’t even be bothered to contact her. She was going through a lot, and I felt that her thoughts and feelings were portrayed really well. There was one line I really liked about Lucille feeling like her life was “a glitch in the Matrix” - I thought that was really well put. I also really liked the way Lucille’s relationship with her sister was written. It felt very realistic and the dynamic between them was great - they were close but their relationship was strained at times because of everything that was happening, and I just really loved reading about them.

Eden was Lucille’s best friend, and Digby was Eden’s twin brother, and I had mixed feelings about both these characters. With Eden, I feel like at the start, she really did try to support Lucille the best she could. But at the same time, she had her own life, and her own goals (ballet being one of them - that scene where Lucille described how messed up Eden’s feet were due to her ballet honestly made me feel a bit sick - ugh), and she didn’t want to give everything up. I understood that, but I felt she was also a bit harsh at times (though so was Eden). She was definitely an interesting character though, and one of the main reasons I want a sequel is so I can find out what happens next with her! Digby…I’m so conflicted. We kept hearing Eden say how much of a nice guy he was, how supportive he was, how understanding he was - and while at times he really was all those things, I felt Lucille kept repeating this stuff to detract from his behaviour at other times, when he was being a bit of an idiot. And ultimately, he did some things that would be hard to forgive. So I don’t know how to feel about him. He definitely did help Lucille a lot during this difficult period but I’d need to find out a bit more about him to fully make up my mind - so I really hope there's sequel! (I’m pretty sure there’s going to be a sequel. Estelle Laure has a book called “These Mighty Forces” coming out in 2017 - that’s got to be a sequel, or at least a companion novel, right?)

Plot-wise, as I said previously, I was pretty much hooked from the few pages. I really wanted to know how Lucille would cope with all the new problems thrown at her, and there was so much I didn’t expect to happen. The pacing was brilliant because there was a build up of wondering how things were going to turn out in the end - and it ended like THAT and ugh. Seriously. I need a sequel. I'm just working off the assumption that there's going to be one.

Overall, this was a really great contemp, one with a lot of feeling, that addressed a lot of difficult issues, and I think everyone should give it a go, even if you’re not the biggest contemp fan.

First Draft Pod!

tháng 12 08, 2015 industry interview No comments

This summer, the fabulous Sarah Enni was in Paris and asked me and Amy Plum to be guests on her podcast series called First Draft in which she interviews writers about books and life. The episode is now live (we discuss travel and how writing letters and blogging got us into publishing) and I'm excited to go back and listen to the other 59 episodes.

Bookish Gift Guide

tháng 12 07, 2015 bookish, gift guide, ramblings No comments

Reviews are coming, I promise! I've just been busy with job applications recently, and visiting a friend in Cambridge and family stuff - but there will be reviews. Hopefully one will be up soon, but in the mean time, I thought I would do a bookish gift guide since Christmas is coming up and lot of people will be looking for present ideas. I'm not sponsored by any of the companies/websites I'm mentioning (haha, I wish), these are just things I think would make really great gifts for book lovers! I've already talked about The Beautiful Book Company for bookish gifts in a previous blog post here so I won't mention them again, but I do recommend checking them out! And on we go (all images link to a page where you can purchase the item, and all prices are correct at the time of posting, though may change at a later date, and exclude shipping costs. Also, I know the layout of this post is horrendous, but I am not tech savvy enough to fix it).

£5 or under (click on the image to be taken to the seller's page):