Daily Shenanigans, 16/07/2014: Out and about!

Today actually turned out to be pretty busy for me. Mat came round pretty early this morning and we set about packing away our duplicate consoles, games, etc. to take into town and trade in. We actually ended up selling them for a pretty decent price which I was happy about! It was only after that that we realised just how much we had to do. We quickly drove to Mat's house to grab his Mini SD Card-Reader (my Mini SD Card is pretty knackered, which made me really sad) and a battery pack for one of the controllers (the one we gave in also turned out to be faulty). Then we drove to his friend George's house to sell a game, followed by another lady to sell another game, then back to town to hand in the aforementioned battery pack. After that, we went to the Designer Outlet to grab some lunch and do a spot of shopping for Hiking Boots in preparation for Wales, and something nice for Mat's Mum (it's her birthday tomorrow)!

After finishing all that, we could finally come home and relax. I continued reading while Mat played Devil May Cry on my PS3, and we both recovered from our pretty busy day. Tomorrow I have some bits and bobs to do (mostly packing), but I'll be posting my Life Of A Blogger post, reading 'Dragon's Curse' and doing a few blog bits and bobs too. For now though, sleep time.

Daily Shenanigans, 09/07/2014: The beach again!

Today has been such a nice day off, I spent the whole of it with Mat which I don't feel like I've done properly in ages. We did quite a bit too, so it was a lot of fun! Firstly, I drove to his and we made our way to Tesco. I actually ended up buying a new camera today (as well as chocolate and doughnuts) so it was well worth the trip! After getting some fuel, we then went to mine for lunch, before heading to town to sort out some more bits and bobs. I ended up closing a really old bank account of mine and so I'm completely sorted now with my finance sorting. We had to pick up some more boxes of Mat's contact lenses and that marked the end of our town trip! This afternoon into early evening was spent at Hythe beach again. It was a little windy but really lovely. We had chips and I managed to read a little more of my book. I also tested out my new camera. It's great! After that, we then headed back to Mat's and spent the evening in playing Xbox Games and generally relaxing.

I'm pretty close to finishing 'Lord Of The Flies' so I should have a review up tomorrow, along with my Life Of A Blogger post for this week. I do also have work tomorrow, but my shift is not so long this time.

Daily Shenanigans, 02/07/2014: A day with friends.

I have been  looking forward to today for a while now because I finally got to see a couple of my friends again. I've seen them both fairly recently, but it was really nice to spend time as a group together and do the things we used to enjoy doing when we went to school together. I've been in a pretty nostalgic mood today so this was definitely called for. Mostly we played games and chatted so nothing too strenuous (which was good because I've had quite the headache). I've also finally made decent headway reading 'Divergent' and I am enjoying it so much! I can't wait to get through this book and share my thoughts! A book arrived this morning, another Goodreads win. I honestly don't know how long it's going to take for me to get round to reading R.J. Ellory's 'Carnival Of Shadows' but it looks really good! I can't wait!

Tomorrow I am seeing Mat and we'll be popping to town, as well as chilling at mine for a while. I'll also be posting my 'Life Of A Blogger' post and making more progress through 'Divergent'!

Daily Shenanigans, 17/06/2014: A long awaited reunion.

Well I won't make this too long! My morning was spent writing my 'Top Ten Tuesday' post. I found today's topic really hard actually, I'm looking forward to reading a lot of books this Summer! I persevered and managed it however,  then immediately got dressed and ready to see my friend Rosie. I haven't seen her for a really long time, we have both been so busy at Uni until now! It was really nice to finally find time to meet up again! We mostly played Horror games (which we both love) and watched films! In fact we just finished watching 'Mama' which has me scared witless, so I probably won't sleep tonight. Not my wisest move...

Tomorrow I'm back home and busy being productive because I really need to be. 

Daily Shenanigans, 16/06/2014: 'The Fault In Our Stars' Advanced Screening.

So I've had a pretty exciting and productive day today, certainly in terms of reading! To begin with, I was staying at Mat's last night and I've spent the day at his. We mostly relaxed, playing games and watching Game Of Thrones. As well as that I managed to finish that very book! I enjoyed it so much, and the review went up today as promised. I thoroughly recommend the book, it's a brilliant start to the epic saga!

But now for the main crux of my post. This evening, Mat and I made use of our Unlimited cards and watched the advanced screening of 'The Fault In Our Stars' (it actually comes out Thursday here in Britain). I will start by saying that I majorly cried and it was not a pretty sight at all! The whole cinema was in floods of tears and anyone who has read the book will know why. It was definitely worth the sobbing though, the film was fantastic! Hazel and Augustus had a wonderful onscreen chemistry that far exceeded my expectations and I enjoyed every minute of the film. They stuck pretty closely to the book as well which I was pleased about. I really appreciated seeing some of my favourite quotes in there, but I actually found a new appreciation for some parts of the film that I didn't take much notice of in the book.

The casting was fantastic. Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort were wonderful as the two leads,  as I have said. In addition, Nat Wolff played Isaac perfectly! I had such a soft spot for Isaac in the book that it was important to me that the film got him right, which they did. I was also very impressed with Willem Dafoe as the eccentric and bitter Peter van Houten. I am so glad that I enjoyed this film,  which was very funny at times, but heart breaking and emotional throughout.

Tomorrow I'm off to stay round a friend's house who I haven't seen for a very long time! I'll also be posting my Top Ten Tuesday post!

Weekly Wishlist #17

1) 'Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea'; April Genevieve Tucholke. My goodness. Just look at that cover. I saw this book a couple of weeks ago, on a fair few lists for a 'Top Ten Tuesday' topic. Instantly intrigued, I looked into further and I have to say, I really like the sound of this book. I would love to get a chance to read it and do a review because as far as I can see, this one has received pretty mixed reviews. It looks a bit creepier than some Paranormal Romance books I've read in the past, and I like it when books have a dash of horror in them. 

2) 'Assassin's Creed: Unity' Game. Okay, so who here likes games? And who watched E3? Well I actually didn't but I made sure I was keeping up with the announcements and this game really caught my attention. I haven't played an awful lot of Assassin's Creed myself, but I have watched it played and loved it to bits! I've just never had time myself! What really stood out for me with this one was the fact that it's Multi-Player! I have hoped for a decent Multi-Player game for this series for a long time and this looks great! There's no cover for the game yet and it's not due out until Christmas time but I'm still very much looking forward to it!

3) 'The Mirk & The Midnight Hour'; Jane Nickerson. So this cover and book caught my attention quite a while back, when I was going on a Fairy Tale re-telling hunt. This is unusual because it's based on a fairly unknown story, 'Tam Lin'. I am really excited by the idea of this book, it looks like a beautiful and well-penned story. I'm so intrigued to see whether it matches my expectations, which for this book, are high. Jane Nickerson has also written another fairy tale themed re-telling, 'Strands Of Bronze & Gold', which is based on the story of Bluebeard. I'd love to give that one a try too!

4) 'The Shadow Of The Window'; Carlos Ruiz Zafón. When I first joined Goodreads and started blogging, I read 'The Tale Of Raw Hide & Bloody Bones' by Jack Wolf. At the time, I really wanted to see if there was a similar book because I enjoyed it so much, and this is one of the recommendations I was given! I stumbled upon it again recently and found that I still really want to give this one a try. It has an intriguing synopsis and has received good reviews.

5) 'Porco Rosso' DVD. It's no great secret that I'm a bit of a fan of animated films. One such set of films that I love are made by Studio Ghibli, a Japanese Animation studio. If you've never watched any films of theirs, I thoroughly recommend it. I'm trying to get hold of all of their films, and one that has escaped my grasp so far is 'Porco Rosso'. The story-line looks great, and to be honest, I've never been disappointed by a film produced by Studio Ghibli. 

Weekly Wishlist #16

1) 'The Sims 3' Seasons Expansion Pack. As you know, if you've been keeping up with my daily posts, I went a bit mad a few days ago and bought some Expansion Packs for a game that I have wanted to start playing again for a while (I am actually playing it now). One of the ones that I really wanted to buy was 'The Sims 3: Seasons' just because it was my favourite in The Sims 2 and I think that it will be even better in this game! I didn't get to though so it's going on this list instead!




2) 'Dreams Of Gods & Monsters'; Laini Taylor. I read the second book in this series at the end of April and I really enjoyed it. Since then, I have really wanted to get round to reading the final one on the series and I realised while devising this list that it has never gone on any of these Wishlists. Well it most certainly is on my Wishlist and so it's in this week's selection!





3) 'Siege & Storm'; Leigh Bardugo. Now 'Shadow & Bone' was a much more recent read of mine. In fact, it was the last book that I read in May. I loved it so much, I'm so glad that I finally got round to it! After reading it, I was very desperate to get hold of the second in the series and so this week, as I seem to be running along a theme with wanting books that come next in a series. This one just instantly sprang to mind this week so it definitely deserved a place on this list.




4) 'Thief' Xbox 360 Game. I am a big fan of gaming, and I particularly love stealth-based games. Thief is one of the newest to this collection, where you play as a daring rogue and try to steal things from various places and people. Obviously there is an overriding story-arc and a lot more to the game, and it looks like a really interesting and exciting play! I haven't been able to get on my Xbox for a while, I've been far too busy. It would be nice to finally get round to doing some of this stuff!




5) 'Gingerbread'; Robert Dinsdale. So I thought I'd put another book in here because I am just so excited to finally have time to myself to crave books again. This one has been on my TBR list for so long and I really want to get hold of it. I love Fairy-Tale retellings, something that I've said many times. This looks like a really intriguing and well-written one with an interesting plot-line. 

Daily Shenanigans, 17/05/2014: Playing with my new Samsung Tablet!

Having had such a busy last few days, I haven't had time to properly check out all the lovely presents everyone got me. But as I had a real day off today, I though I'd have a proper go of my new Tablet! Firstly though, I did get a lot of other things done too. I'm a good way through 'Thereafter' which I'm pleased about, and so far I'm enjoying it more than 'Hereafter'. I really want to finish it and get a review up tomorrow, so I'll read a bit more tonight before I sleep! As well as that, I played some more of 'Town Of Salem' (I am an addict) this time with my sister, which was fun! As for the Tablet, wow! I am so grateful to Mat for getting me such a lovely present, it is awesome! It will make things a little easier too for me, particularly blogging on the move as I'll no longer need to borrow other people's laptops or computers when I'm away from home just to post or check emails. It's a great investment into this blog, and generally a fantastic thing to have handy.

Speaking of Mat, I did end up seeing him today as I picked him up from work (he asked me to, even though it's a ten minute walk from his house. I call that laziness!) and we went to his house and watched Britain's Got Talent! I only saw him for a few hours but it was nice to spend some more time with him, and he bought me a case for my Tablet as an extra little birthday add-on, which was very sweet of him! Tomorrow's plan is to post my 'Weekly Wishlist', hopefully finish and review 'Thereafter', get a good way through 'A Red Tale' and sort out my mess of a room!

Daily Shenanigans, 16/05/2014: Road trip!

So today looked like it would be a little boring but turned out to be quite fun! I had a nice lay-in, though I continually woke up thinking it was much later than it was. When I finally got up, I had a bath and did a few bits and bobs before the afternoon. The original plan was to head to Canterbury alone and do some recording for my project. In the end, I took my sister with me who had just come out from an exam and it was a lot of fun! I managed to get all the recordings that needed doing done, then we took a little trip to the shops! It was really nice to spend time with Bev, we've both been really busy lately and it feels like we don't do all that much together anymore. I am still being good and sticking to my book buying ban, but I was tempted! This evening I've been playing a game with my friend that I am thoroughly addicted to (it's called Town Of Salem and it's online if anyone is interested).

Tomorrow, some Uni work and lots of reading! Mat is working all weekend so I'm pretty free!

Daily Shenanigans, 04/04/2014: The Postman has impressed me!

So today has been one of the nicest I've had in quite a while. That feeling of not actually having anything to do that day is a rare one that I don't encounter often! I ended up having a rather nice lay-in this morning, and spent the rest of the day relaxing a lot. I replied to some comments on my blog, read a few posts, read some more of 'The Invention Of Wings' (I adore this book so far, by the way), and generally chilled out. Mat and I played quite a lot of games, and even watched a movie on TV, 'Beautiful Creatures'. I have to say I did enjoy the film, but I would love to read the book. I think I would enjoy that a whole lot more.

I returned home pretty late this evening, and found that I had two parcels waiting for me. The first was 'Good Kings, Bad Kings', which was one of my Giveaway wins that I knew would arrive soon. The second was a bit of a shock. I hadn't expected it to arrive so quickly, seeing as I only emailed my Mailing address out yesterday. It was the book that the lovely Betsy Cook Speerg had asked me to review, 'Demolition Queen: Champagne, Murder & Chaos'. In light of the fact that someone has specifically requested me to review it, I've bumped it up the TBR list accordingly, and I shall be reading it after I've finished my current read. I can't wait to get into it! It shouldn't affect my reading schedule too much, and I want to review it ASAP.

Tomorrow is my Mum's birthday, and I'm seeing Mat in the afternoon after he finishes work. It promises to be pretty relaxing again though, there is nothing planned as far as I am aware, but we'll see! Oh, I also found out today that as well as Benedict Cumberbatch playing Hamlet next year (I heard this last week), Martin Freeman will be playing Richard III fairly soon. These are both in the West End and I am desperate to go and see them, I love these actors! So there is some more exciting news from today!

Weekly Wishlist #6

So despite the fact that I'm literally about to finish my book and really should get it read and reviewed today, I need to do this as well. If I don't, I know I'll forget! So here is my sixth Weekly Wishlist!

1) 'Journey To Agartha' DVD. I have a bit of a thing about animated films. This particular one has been on my list for a while, and I have gone to buy it a lot, then put it off. It looks very good and comes highly reviewed! What could be better than the prospect of beautiful Japanese animation and an enchanting story-line involving magical lands and mythical creatures? This isn't a Studio Ghibli one either, so I thought it made a nice change!

2) 'Shadow And Bone'; Leigh Bardugo. I don't think there are many bloggers or readers that haven't heard of this book. I've literally seen it everywhere! But I'm hoping it isn't just me that hasn't read it yet, I'm pretty sure it's not! It comes so well reviewed and with such an intriguing story-line that it was a bit of a no-brainer as to whether I would include it on this list or not! In fact, while writing this list, I just found out it is only £0.99 for a Kindle copy!

3) 'Graceling'; Kristin Kashore. I heard of this book a long time ago, never read about it, and without Goodreads to organise my reading life, promptly forgot about it. Recently however, it appeared on my recommended reads and my yearning to own it instantly came back! I want this book! 

4) 'LEGO: Marvel Superheroes' Game. I am massively in a Marvel mood after yesterday's trip to watch Captain America: The Winter Soldier'. I've actually played some of this game before, with Mat. It was a lot of fun and I would consider it to be one of the better (if not the best) LEGO game out there currently! Of course I am wishing for it so I can play it again!

5) 'Heroes' Box Set. My sister and I used to watch this series a lot and really enjoyed it. For some reason we stopped, not because we weren't enjoying it, in fact I don't remember why! But I would love to re-watch and get back into the whole series, it really was very good! I'm a bit of a superpower/superhero geek as well so perfect for me!

So I've done six of these wish lists now, doesn't time fly? I really don't feel like I've been blogging all that long but it's been about three months now! Wow! Now, back to reading.