Last Week's Shenanigans (24th December - 30th December)...MERRY CHRISTMAS!

It's already Christmas 2018? WHAAAT? I always feel that, aside from January which is the slowest month in the world, every year goes quickly. I can't BELIEVE that it's almost 2019, the year I'm getting married! But for now, Merry Christmas everyone! 

I'm very pleased with how lovely my Christmas was this year, after spending last week with my family I spent the Christmas Eve to Boxing Day solely with Mat (and a few friends on Christmas Eve, which was lovely). There is nothing more wonderful to me than 'a quiet Christmas'...does that mean I'm getting old? I'm pretty pleased with the stash I received this year, particularly from Mat who showered me with books.

Thanks to everyone for their wonderful gifts, even the kittens had a great time and were totally exhausted by the end of it. Mat then went to visit his family on 27th so I was left alone in that weird, timeless period between Christmas and the new year! While back at his parents, Mat got a PSVR for Christmas, so on the evening of the 30th, a friend of mine came round and we had a ton of fun playing scary games on it!

 I Read...

I Received...

- 'Useless Magic' by Florence Welch: Gift (25/12/18)
- 'Stars Above' by Marissa Meyer: Gift (25/12/18)
- 'The Song Of Achilles' by Madeline Miller: Gift (25/12/18)
- 'Pride' by Ibi Zoboi: Gift (25/12/18)
- 'Crooked Kingdom' by Leigh Bardugo: Gift (25/12/18)
- 'The Surface Breaks' by Louise O'Neill: Gift (25/12/18)
- 'Shadowsong' by S. Jae-Jones: Gift (25/12/18)
- 'The Well Of Ascension' by Brandon Sanderson: Gift (25/12/18)
- 'The Burning' by Laura Bates: Netgalley (26/12/18)
- 'Men Explain Things To Me' by Rebecca Solnit: Bought (26/12/18)
- 'The Golem & The Djinni' by Helene Wecker: Bought (26/12/18)
- 'Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell' by Susanna Clarke: Bought (26/12/18)
- 'The Silent Companions' by Laura Purcell: Bought (26/12/18)
- 'Elantris' by Brandon Sanderson: Bought (26/12/18)

Memes...

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Hope To Find Under The Tree

Top Ten Tuesday: My picks for 'Books I Hope To Find Under The Tree Today'.

It's CHRISTMAS DAY! And with that, I'm really hoping for some bookish goodness under my tree! I have a list of ten books I'd particularly love to see!

1) 'Stars Above' by Marissa Meyer.

If you've been following this blog for a while, you'll know I'm a huge fan of The Lunar Chronicles, and I was gutted when I finished the series, despite loving it so much! So when this collection came out I was really hopeful that I'd get my hands on it at some point. Fingers crossed!

2) 'Useless Magic' by Florence Welch.

I think Florence is just one of those musicians that I'll always adore. She's beautiful, free-spirited and her music makes me cry. I love her and this recent release of hers has me so excited. A chance at a glimpse of process? Yes please!

3) 'Pride' by Ibi Zoboi.

'Pride & Prejudice' is one of the few books I can remember studying and loving at school. When I heard of Zoboi's PoC retelling I knew I had to get my hands on it. I'm really intrigued to see where she goes with it.

4) 'Song Of Achilles' by Madeline Miller.

I am crying at the idea of owning this book because it's had so many good reviews, and it's an LGBT retelling of the events of the Trojan War, and that is everything. Sign. Me. Up.

5) 'The Surface Breaks' by Louise O'Neill.

That cover is stunning first off. I'm always drawn to books with gorgeous covers, no matter what the old proverbs tell me! But the premise of an Irish, feminist retelling of The Little Mermaid has me totally sold. Please, please, PLEASE Santa!

6) 'Blanca & Roja' by Anna-Marie McLemore.

This mash-up of Snow White & Rose Red and The Swan Princess looks absolutely stunning. I love a little bit of magical realism in books, I love stories about sisters, and I also like curses. So this book really would do a good job of ticking all three of those boxes!

7) 'Crooked Kingdom' by Leigh Bardugo.

I read 'Six Of Crows' earlier this year and absolutely adored it. Since then, I've been waiting desperately to be able to get hold of 'Crooked Kingdom' and finish the duology, but thus far, I haven't managed it. It went straight on my Christmas wishlist though!

8) 'The Bone Witch' by Rin Chupeco.

I have been wanting to read this series for some time actually, and it was a late addition to my list so I suspect I'll be unlucky with this one. But I think the cover is stunning and the synopsis sounds so good, so here's hoping!

9) 'All Out' by Various.

This gorgeous anthology is another late addition but it looks so good that I had to add it to the list! I love LGBT+ reads, and I am really on board with the idea of a short story compilation! There are some great authors contributing too!

10) 'Shadowsong' by S. Jae-Jones.

Another book that's been on the list for a while, and will help me to finish a series! But I really want to know what happens in the end. Also, this fantastical, dark re-imagining of Labyrinth would be a wonderful read for the winter.

Last Week's Shenanigans (3rd December - 9th December)...

Christmas is coming! It really hit me big-time this month because I love this time of year so much. Every year, Mat and I have dinner with friends and it's become something of a tradition for us! That was the main thing we did this week and it was wonderful to get fully into the Christmas spirit! Soon my time away from work begins too, which is extra exciting!

On the same day I also volunteered for Active Newham, which was so much fun! It's a big part of my new role, and as Newham is my local community, it felt like a great place to start. The Festive Fun Run that they held was a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to doing more of this in the future!

 I Read...

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I Received...

- 'The Grass People' by Kay Parley: NetGalley (03/12/18)
- 'Evermore' by Sara Holland: NetGalley (05/12/18)

Memes...

Top Ten Tuesday: Perfect Winter Reads

Last Week's Shenanigans (25th December - 31st January)...Christmas continued & New Year's Eve!

Wow! What a week! Christmas day I obviously had off and am so thankful for all of the presents I received! In particular, I got some new vinyls for my record player, a gorgeous bath bomb set, a beautiful bracelet, new slippers with foxes on them, and a brand new board game to enjoy based on fairy tales! Mat and I had a lovely time playing games and watching movies, including the new Netflix release Bright! We thoroughly enjoyed the whole day and were both very sad when it ended.

I had to go back to work on Boxing Day which was a little sad. In fact, I worked for most of that week but did have New Year's Eve off as well with Mat, which was a lot of fun. We went to a Medieval Banquet in Tower Hill and were treated to a five course feast, with ongoing entertainment and a party afterwards to bring in 2018! What made it even better was the fact that a good friend of ours was part of it, in the role of a singing Knight, which meant we got to see a lot of duelling too!

I'm hoping that all you lovely readers had fun celebrating the beginning of 2018 too, and despite the craziness of 2017, I have high, positive hopes for the new year to come!

I Read...

I Received...

- 'Warrior Witch' by Danielle L. Jensen: Bought on Amazon (25/12/17)
- 'The Worm & The Bird' by Coralie Bickford-Smith: Bought on Amazon with Gift Money (27/12/17)
- 'The Dark Days Pact' by Alison Goodman: Bought on Amazon with Gift Money (27/12/17)
- 'The Astonishing Colour Of After' by Emily X.R. Pan: Approved by Netgalley (28/12/17)
- 'Strange The Dreamer' by Laini Taylor: Bought on Amazon (28/12/17)
- 'Lost Boy' by Christina Henry: Bought on Amazon (28/12/17)
- 'Fairest' by Marissa Meyer: Bought on Amazon with Gift Money (29/12/17)
- 'Norse Mythology' by Neil Gaiman: Bought on Amazon (30/12/17)

Memes...

Top Ten Tuesday: 2018 Releases That I'm Looking Forward To Reading

I Posted...

December Wrap-Up

Last Week's Shenanigans (18th December - 24th December)...It's Christmas Time!

Well friends, it's that time of year! I can't believe that Christmas is here already! It really does feel like 2017 has flown by. I had to move my shifts around this week so that I would have the 21st onwards off, and when that time came around, Mat and I made our way home to see our families! First we went to mine, where we stayed for almost two days. It was nice, as it always is, to get some time away from London and the madness of work, and it's the reason that I love the festive period so much!

After spending time with my parents and sister, we got to then go to Mat's family's house and see them! We had a lovely time, despite a few bumps along the way and were so grateful to get to see our family. We came back on the evening of the 23rd, and spent the 24th with one of our friends in London who sadly had to work Christmas day (boo!). Ice skating in Canary Wharf was as terrifying as I expected, but a lot of fun too! We played the Game Of Thrones LCG too, and watched a few Christmas movies to round Christmas Eve off!

I Read...

I Received...

Memes...

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Wouldn't Mind Santa Bringing This Year