Last Week's Shenanigans (14th December - 20th December)...

This ended up being one of the busiest weeks I've blogged about in a long time, because I've ended up doing so much! The week before Christmas is always ridiculously busy for me, especially as so much falls on this week. I didn't work all that much because I had most of the week booked off! I promised you all I would have a ton more to talk about this week, and here it is!

On Monday 14th, it was Mat and I's six year anniversary, so we decided to spend the whole day out in London. Our first stop was the Coningsby Gallery to go and see a Harry Potter exhibition, which focused on the graphics used in the films. It was amazing to see these pieces close up, and take a good hard look at the huge amount of detail that went into them! We saw Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes adverts, articles from The Daily Prophet & The Quibbler, and even the Family Tree of the Noble House of Black. I bought a book that had a picture of all of them in it so that I can refer back, and all in all it was not something to be missed by an avid Harry Potter fan like me!

Next up was Regent's Park. The gallery was much smaller than we had originally thought it would be, so this was originally an unplanned destination. However, I'm so glad that we went! The gardens were probably not as lovely as they could have been as it is Winter, but there were still some stunning views and it was lovely to see so much green in London! We spent quite a long time there and the highlight of the place was probably the overly friendly squirrels (though there is something disconcerting about a small army of them bounding towards you because they think you have food). After our walk we headed to Le Pain Quotidien for a quick bite to eat. I had some lovely scones and steamed chocolate milk. Delicious!

In the evening, Mat and I headed over to the Southbank to visit a couple of Christmas markets. That area of London is probably my favourite as it is so beautiful, especially in the dark. I nabbed a couple of presents for my friends and drank a cup of yummy hot chocolate. After finishing up there, we headed off to Brick Lane for one of their famous curries. The food was so good and it was a really enjoyable night out.

The next day was Mat's birthday. We didn't do a huge amount throughout the day due to our adventures the day before, but we did go out later that evening with Mat's family. We ate at Jamie's Italian in Westfield, Stratford. The food was delicious and it was really nice to catch up with Mat's family (I hadn't seen them in a while). I worked for the next two days, though did find time to go and see the new Star Wars film! It was awesome, I thoroughly recommend that you go if you haven't seen it already!

I had booked Friday off of work too so that I could have an early Christmas with my Flat Mates and Mat! To begin with, we went to Lady Dinah's Cat Emporium as a belated Birthday present for Meg, and it was so much fun! The cats were feeling pretty sleepy (there are about six or seven living there) but a couple of them came out to play with us and one of them slept next to us for the whole time that we were there! The food was delicious too, and it was so lovely to hear each cat's individual story and see them so well looked after. I would love to go back again! We returned to the flat where Mat cooked us a lovely roast dinner and then we settled down to watch films, swap Secret Santa presents and play games.

This week has been really fun for me, though it left me with little time to do a whole lot else (Blogging, Reading etc.). Still, sometimes it's nice o relax and have a break! I've certainly enjoyed it!

Memes:

Top Ten Tuesday: The Best Books That I Read In 2015

I Posted:

The One Lovely Blog Award!

Last Week's Shenanigans (10th August - 16th August)...

This week has actually ended up being quite different to my normal week because I booked a couple of days off of work, so I only worked three days this week! I'll start with Monday though (my usual day off) because once again, Mat and I have been on a London adventure! This time we went to Covent Garden & Soho to have a look around. I've been to Covent Garden a few times before, but I've never really been able to explore it fully. If I had to describe it in one word, I'd use 'quaint'.

If you have never been I thoroughly recommend it. As well as being the home of high-end brand pop-up stores, there are long-standing toy stores (one of which had a pretty Alice In Wonderland display), ice cream shops, bakeries, etc. All of these are small and charming, with an almost old-fashioned feel about them. The cafés in the lower court always have music being played by talented artists and it creates a very special sort of atmosphere. There are plenty of markets too, which are always interesting to admire!

We then went and had a drink at a local pub, before heading off to Soho to have a look around and something to eat. We did also stop off at Forbidden Planet, which has a really fun basement floor dedicated to books, comics, graphic novels and virtually anything else you could think of. We didn't fully explore Soho, choosing only to go to 'Mildred's', a vegetarian café (Mat is a vegetarian in case I have never mentioned this before) and Carnaby Street which also contained a variety of interesting shops. I particularly loved 'Liberty' (a gift store) and 'Irregular Choice' a very unique shoe shop with some gorgeous and slightly bizarre designs. A quick stop at Selfridge's on Oxford Street bought the wonderful, fun day out to a close.

I had work for a few days before my holiday on Friday & Saturday. On Friday, I went to Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford to do a little bit of shopping and meet Mat for lunch. Apart from that, my day was fairly uneventful. Saturday Mat and I had to get up very early to travel back to our home town, so that we could go to a lovely garden party with my family, as it was my Uncle's sixtieth birthday. It was a lot of fun and very strange seeing my cousin's children looking a lot more grown up than I remember them! On Sunday, I finally got my day of rest and made a good start on Season 4 of 'Once Upon A Time'.

I Read:

Blitzes/Tours/Cover Reveals/Giveaways:

Memes:

Top Ten Tuesday: Authors I Have Read The Most Books From

Last Week's Shenanigans (27th July - 2nd August)...

This week has once again proved to be a little more interesting than usual (i.e. not just working all week). Firstly, despite plans to go out and do something fun on Monday, poor Mat was ill and so we stayed in and had a nice lazy day watching QI, reading and working on the Blog in my case. Sometimes it's nice jut to kick back and relax a little. Of course Tuesday - Saturday was reserved for work as usual but I had a pretty enjoyable week because I was chosen to help out with training some of the new and part-time members of staff. I've been working for the company for about five years, and really hope to move up the ranks so this was an important step for me!

Sunday was by far the most interesting day of the week for me, because I went to Stratford with Mat and his family for a dinner and a bit of an explore. I actually live a mere ten minutes away from the place, but have only really gone to the shopping centre there properly! Just next to that however is the famous London 2012 Olympic park, which I have never seen! We walked over to where the stadium and the swimming pool are (now open to the public) to have a look, and even saw the Commentator's tower which it seems will now be opened as a slide!

At the moment there is a Funfair/Beach event happening which we only saw briefly, but Mat and I are considering visiting today (Monday) and actually going on some of the rides and sitting at the beach. If not today, then definitely some point soon! Before heading of to Giraffe to eat, we had a quick look at a gorgeous Art gallery, where there was some really exceptional (and expensive) work on display! After dinner I came home and returned to my laptop to continue with Blog bits, but it was a nice break from my usual 'sit in my pyjamas' attitude to a day off!

I Read:

Memes:

Top Ten Tuesday: Characters Who Are Fellow Book Nerds
Six Degrees Of Separation: The Paying Guests, Sarah Waters

I Posted:

July Wrap-Up
Planned Reads For August

Last Week's Shenanigans: My first week as an official adult.

So the end of my first week living in London has come and it's been a bit of a roller coaster with lots of change. I have enjoyed it though and I can't wait to tell you all about it!

Monday 8th: My third full day in the new flat and my last day off before heading to work the next day. I had a bit of a lazy day if I'm honest, watching a fair amount of TV and not doing an awful lot else. Finishing 'Coraline', I started on my next read: 'Aristotle & Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe' and found myself really getting into it! A man came to have a look at the fridge and told us we would need a new one, and one of the girls made some lovely Victoria Sponge to eat.

Tuesday 9th: My first shift at work, and I arrived pretty early. It mostly consisted of me settling in and finding my way round. Everyone was very welcoming and nice and I got to meet a lot of my new work colleagues. After, I found myself pretty tired but happy. I also travelled on the Tube alone there, but as I finished at 9 in the evening, Mat travelled home with me. When we got home, I wrote my Top Ten Tuesday post and went to bed. 

Wednesday 10th: I had my second day at work and again, really liked it. I'm so lucky really that I do like my job as full time can be pretty wearing. I started and finished earlier though, so I had a nice evening in after work to sit back and watch 'The Great British Bake Off', a show I love!  We also watched 'Our Zoo'.

Thursday 11th: Work again (yes this is getting repetitive) and I had a mini celebration that I had reached halfway through my week's shifts. .When I got home, we decided that we would watch 'Hot Fuzz', a film I haven't watched for quite some time. I loved seeing it again! We had popcorn too! 

Friday 12th: Did I mention I'm working five days a week? All in a row? Yeah, I worked again but Fridays are my shortest shifts of the week which was nice. After work we played Monopoly and had a really lovely evening in. Sadly, I didn't win but I absolutely love that game! 

Saturday 13th: My last shift of the week! I had a really good day too and remained in an amazing mood all day. Before I had work, Mat's parents and grandparents came to see us which was nice. I also found out that I achieved top sales in my first week which made me pretty happy. All in all, a good day.

Sunday 14th: Finally! A day off! I stayed in bed for quite a while, as I was pretty tired. Then I went shopping with Mat. I bought a lot of new clothes and some new work shoes, as the ones I bought last week were terribly painful. In the evening we watch a lot of Game Of Thrones!

Last Week's Shenanigans: Catching a cold!

I was pretty productive, certainly for the first part, of this week! Unfortunately about halfway through I caught a horrendous cold which scuppered a lot of things. Still, all in all, not a bad week.

Monday 18th: Not a huge amount really happened today. I continued reading Ben Aaronovitch's 'Rivers Of London' and it was at this point that I really began to get into it. I read a lot on the train to and from Canterbury, as I had work today! Work was pretty interesting to begin with because I wrote down the wrong shift time so ended up being late. Oops! Still, it ended up being a pretty average day in the end with not a lot else going on.

Tuesday 19th: I had a very busy day (contrasting to the less interesting happenings of the day before) today. In the morning I wrote my Top Ten Tuesday post (I adore taking part in this meme every week, so much fun!) but spent the rest of the morning smartening up for my trip to London. I made my way to Charing Cross, and then Tottenham Court Road, to have a meeting with the Clarks Store Manager there. It was more of an informal chat really, and we agreed to a full-time contract with Mondays and Sundays off. It was such a weight off my mind to finally have my transfer sorted, I'm so glad! I also saw Mat in the evening and got to spend a little time with him. I did also complete 'Rivers Of London', as I had a lot of reading time on the train!

Wednesday 20th: Back to work again today! As it's the Back To School period, Clarks is ultra busy meaning that my shifts are going to increase. A lot. I found out that my references regarding the new Flat have all been received and so it's looking more and more real that I'll be moving to London incredibly soon. Eek! After my not as exciting shift at work, I went to stay at Mat's in the evening as I needed him to drop me off at work the next day. When I got to his he made me a cup of tea and I typed up a post ready for the next day. I made a very small start on 'Doll Bones' by Holly Black, my next read! Unfortunately it was here that I started feeling rough and poor Mat ended up not getting a lot of sleep and looking after me instead!

Thursday 21st: Having slept a total of two or so hours the night before, it stands to reason I woke up feeling pretty terrible. Nevertheless, I soldiered on and went into work feeling fairly dreadful. Luckily when I got there, I wasn't put on the Kids Department (it can get pretty hectic and my head was pounding) and in the end they let me go half an hour early because my health decreased as the day went on. Mum picked me up from the station and I spent the rest of my day trying (and failing) to catch up on sleep and finishing 'Doll Bones'.

Friday 22nd: Unfortunately I felt no better today. In fact, I felt a lot worse. Again, I hadn't slept all through the night so I literally spent the entire day feeling sorry for myself. Luckily I didn't have work that day so I could relax. At my perkier moments (i.e. when the medicine kicked in) I played cards and Monopoly with my sister and her friend, but I spent most of the time napping in my room and not doing a lot else. It completely ruined my reading schedule as I was far too ill to concentrate on a book.

Saturday 23rd: Now I was meant to be in work on Saturday, but I still felt pretty rough so I ended up calling in sick. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I never do that so I really felt pretty bad. Unfortunately, I still didn't get any reading done today! Mat came over in the evening for an hour or so to check up on me and we watched the new Doctor Who episode. My highlight of the day was probably watching Markiplier's Charity Livestream on Twitch (he's a gaming Youtuber for those who are interested). He raised a lot of money for the ALS Foundation with his friends Bob and Wade and I even got a retweet! It sent my Twitter mad and broke the internet for a bit, but it was totally worth it!

Sunday 24th: Today I felt so much better. I could have leapt for joy that I was finally feeling healthy again, and on a day off too so it meant I could fully recover! In terms of being productive, I truthfully wasn't all that much and probably should have read more than I ended up doing (I am so behind with this book and it is rather long). I vow to be better from now on! Instead, I watched Divergent with my Dad, borrowed from my sister. We both actually really enjoyed it and I would be interested to see where they go from there! 

Last Week's Shenanigans: Job Hunting!

I've actually ended up, all in all, having a fairly busy week this week! The first half maybe not so much, but the second half was very busy indeed for me.

Monday 4th: Today was probably one of the more boring days for me this week. I had work at 11 so I spent the morning getting ready for it, and then the rest of the day working and coming home. Work itself wasn't too bad though, we have a few new workers and I was tasked with showing one of them the ropes which made a nice change. I didn't feel all that well at first, and because Bev was ill, I worried I had caught it. It turned out okay in the end though!

Tuesday 5th: Tuesday was my day off and Bev was still ill, so we spent the morning watching various programmes (Pram Face mainly) on Netflix and generally relaxing. In the afternoon, I decided the time had come to tackle my ridiculously untidy room and I have to say I think I did a pretty good job! You can actually see the carpet and the desks now! It's a miracle! That particular job took up most of the afternoon and evening, and Bev and Mum helped me out which was nice. Obviously, I also wrote out my Top Ten Tuesday post, and I really enjoyed this week's topic!

Wednesday 6th: Well as Mat and I were both off from work, we were supposed to be going out  and doing something fun before I had dinner and a meeting in the evening. However, Mat decided he'd much rather spend the whole morning sleeping in instead. It didn't really matter though in my opinion, all of the things I had wanted to do involved being outside, and it was raining really hard! I did a couple of bits and bobs in the morning, then when Mat eventually arrived with a thousand apologies, we decided to relax at his and watch some more Game Of Thrones. In the afternoon/evening, Mat dropped me in Canterbury and I went for Nandos with some of my work friends, before we all had to attend a meeting at Clarks in preparation for the Back To School period. Overall it was pretty fun, and a work friend dropped me home. Mat quickly popped over again to get the car to me after he'd finished his training (he does Parkour).

Thursday 7th: Another boring day for me here. My family headed to Maidstone to grab some home improvements as they're redecorating the Living Room. I had work pretty early in the morning, so couldn't go with them. When I got home, we sat and watched The Great British Bake-Off together (I seriously love that show) and then after dinner, I headed to Mat's for the evening. I watched even more Game Of Thrones, I am seriously getting into this series so much!

Friday 8th: Now here is where the Job Hunting aspect of my post came in. I was originally supposed to be working on this day, but I ended up swapping with someone else. Instead, after an uneventful morning, I headed up to London in the afternoon to try and sort out my income for when I move there in less than a month. I had a pretty big stroke of luck as the very first Clarks that I stopped at to inquire about a transfer had a full time opening. It was absolutely perfect for what I needed and I'm in the process of getting it all sorted now. While I was up there, I also decided to attend an Open Evening for a Traineeship at the Royal Court Theatre. It sounds like a huge step towards something I would love to do, and a lot of fun. I returned home feeling very happy and tired.

Saturday 9th: Another work shift for me and Clarks is starting to get very, very busy! It was an absolutely knackering day and to be honest, I really wasn't feeling too good. I was glad when it finished and I could go home to relax. Other than work, my day remained pretty uneventful and I really didn't get up to all that much! Bev bought ingredients for, and made some lovely Chocolate and Almond cupcakes (the recipe for which can be found on her blog) and they were absolutely scrumptious!

Sunday 10th: No work today so I spent the morning being domestic and helping Mum with the ironing. Bev was a bit bored and wanted to bake something else so I picked her out another recipe and she made Strawberry and Cream cakes, which again, were divine. I need to learn to bake like Bev, she's amazing! After Mat finished work, I picked him up and we went to his for the evening. We watched another Game Of Thrones episode (Series 3 is almost finished at this point) and he generally looked after me because I still wasn't quite right from Saturday.

Memes:

Top Ten Tuesday (Topic: Books I Would Recommend For Those Who Haven't Read Historical Fiction)

Life Of A Blogger (Topic: Best Childhood Memory)

Books Reviewed:

Life Of Pi; Yann Martel

Daily Shenanigans, 14/07/2014: 'Richard III'.

If I could I would go to the theatre every day. I absolutely love it, and today's trip to see Trafalgar Transformed's adaption of Richard III was no exception to that rule. Mat arrived at mine about mid morning and we set about completing tasks before heading off to London. Firstly, Mat sorted out our consoles so that we could set about selling the ones we don't need anymore in preparation for our new flat. While he was doing that I decided to update my CV as it truly needed to be done. We had lunch then headed off to London. We actually spent most of our afternoon back and forth on the tube, travelling first to Stratford before returning to Central London. The intention was to spend the afternoon job hunting before having a nice evening and we were pretty productive. After getting lots done, we headed to a nearby Italian restaurant for some dinner.

After dinner we walked across the road to the Trafalgar Studios, picked up our tickets and then eagerly awaited the show. It was fantastic! I had a faint idea about the synopsis of the play though I actually had not ever seen it performed before or studied it. The first thing I noticed was the really cool set, which looked like something out of a 1970s war film. It was amazingly realistic, it even had lifts which I was so impressed by. The soundtrack was really attention grabbing, ever-present and adding plenty of atmosphere. I loved the costume designs too, it was a wonderful adaption of the play. Martin Freeman as the titular character was just phenomenal (and hilarious) I thought he did a great job at playing the villain. I was pretty impressed by the whole cast actually! 

I'm currently so tired, I'm having a lay in tomorrow before doing more jobs. 

Daily Shenanigans, 07/06/2014: A light at the end of the tunnel!

Finally, after days and days of struggling, it seems I might be making headway with this book. I'm about three quarters of the way through now, and have decided to read as much as possible before sleeping tonight so that I can have a review up for you tomorrow morning. Obviously this is already much later than expected so I am determined! Then I shall be getting straight onto 'Stolen Songbird', which I'm really looking forward to! Reading has taken up most of my day so there isn't much to tell. I arrived back in Ashford from London mid-morning, then headed to Mat's not long after. He really wanted to clear away his Uni stuff and then I sat and half-watched him play on his Xbox while working my way through my monstrous novel. I did also write my 'Six Degrees Of Separation' post which was a lot of fun! We had a lovely Chinese takeaway in the evening, then snuggled up to watch the Britain's Got Talent final. A perfect end to a lovely few days away!

Tomorrow I have nothing planned other than a hefty amount of reading, blog organising and posting, completing a few tasks for some exciting projects coming up (more on those when I have official dates) and hopefully playing The Sims 3 (the withdrawal symptoms are almost crippling now). I'm extremely excited about some upcoming events to say the least but I'll keep quiet...for now!

Daily Shenanigans, 05/06/2014: 'Let The Right One In' on stage!

Let me just start by saying I've had a really nice day today. I did manage to get a small bit of reading done, and generally relaxed in the morning. It was nice to be able to do so again and it really hit me that Uni is actually over for good. Gulp! We went to view the house in the afternoon, only to find that no Estate Agent turned up! Apparently they had rung and left a message to cancel the viewing, though Mat didn't have a missed call so I'm not so sure. Still! The trip wasn't entirely wasted! we went to the nearby Sainsburys and bought a few bits and bobs, including some Ben & Jerries! Yum!

After going out for a lovely Italian, we made our way to the Theatre to watch 'Let The Right One In'. My parents bought me the tickets for my birthday and I've been really looking forward to watching it, the Swedish Film Adaption has always been one of my favourite films. I wasn't sure what to expect. I wondered how on earth they were going to stage half of the scenes, but having seen 'The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime' at the Apollo, I have every faith that it would be an awesome show. I was not in the least bit disappointed and found myself blown away on so many levels! I'll start by saying that the seats we had gave us an amazing view, and the set looked just beautiful. I've included a picture, and I was shocked about just how realistic everything was! They even had a sky scene on the roof that you could see if you looked up.

So, the acting. Rebecca Benson as Eli was just fantastic. She gave the character a beautiful mix of vulnerability and ferocity, and she really did seem so otherworldly. Martin Quinn was also amazing, especially considering that it was his professional stage debut! When I read that in the programme, I was blown away! The two of them together were just lovely to watch and I really liked watching the relationship build, just as I did in the film. I also liked that the show as a whole really heavily drew from the film, but managed to be it's own thing as well. It had a perfectly creepy atmosphere, amazing soundtrack (so beautiful at times) and I almost cried at a few points during the show. The way that they achieved some of the effects as well were just amazing. If you enjoyed the film I really recommend this show. See it while you still can!

Tomorrow, Mat and I are in all day. He needs to pack up most of his things to move from Uni and has told me I can spend the day reading if I like. I'll probably help him a bit, but I hope to make lots of progress!

Daily Shenanigans, 04/06/2014: 'The Sims 3' spree!

I've had a pretty busy day today actually! I started it off by venturing out into the pouring rain to go and pick Mat up from his house, before heading back to mine. We went straight into town where he went to the Opticians and I booked an appointment. While I waited for him, I went shopping and bought myself a few expansion packs for The Sims 3 which I've been really craving to play recently. Then I headed home and managed a minute amount of reading/blog stuff. In the afternoon, I had a dentist appointment and then not long after Mat and I made our way to London once more. We are going to be here for a few days and have plenty to do!

I'm getting a bit worried about how far I'm falling behind my reading schedule already. I had hoped to have finished this book by today but I'm only a fifth of the way through! I will just have to get through it as best I can and then do some serious catching up this weekend. Tomorrow, Mat and I have a house viewing, maybe a bit of shopping and then the Theatre in the evening. Not too much time for reading but it still looks like it will be a fun day!

Daily Shenanigans, 12/05/2014: The 'X-Men: Days Of Future Past' premiere!

It's the day before my birthday and it has been such a good one! We got up this morning and quickly got ready for the Premiere which was due to start in the evening, but we knew it would be better to get there earlier. When we arrived (about half 12ish) there were already so many people there, most of them dressed up in some rather impressive looking costumes! They were being judged for a competition and seeing as there were no barriers in place at this point, we decided to go and get something to eat, then do a spot of shopping. I had some lovely pasta and we went to a cute shop in the London Trocadero, 'TokyoToys', where Mat bought me an Eevee and a Totoro as early birthday presents! Speaking of early birthday presents, he also presented me with a Thorntons Chocolate Egg this morning which made me very happy.

One thing we didn't know about the premiere however was that in order to get a good spot, you had to be there when they were handing out wristbands at whatever time that was. Without wristbands, we were given a space where the stage and screens could be seen well, but no chance of any stars being able to come over and sign or talk. Nevertheless, we still had a lot of fun! The stars in attendance, for those interested, were Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Patrick Stewart, Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy. It was really interesting listening to them talk to Johnathan Ross about upcoming projects and the film itself, and there was even a special appearance from Dynamo! I'm really glad I got to go and if I decide to go to another premiere in the future, I'll be sure to get a wristband next time!

I watched another couple of episodes of 'Game Of Thrones' this evening. It's getting pretty intense now and I'm just getting this awful feeling that my favourite characters will die while the ones I don't like will live on to cause more trouble. I shall have to wait and see! It's been such a good day and I look forward to seeing what my birthday has in store for me tomorrow!

Daily Shenanigans, 10/05/2014: Continuing 'Game Of Thrones'.

My day started off well because I finally got the lay-in I've been waiting for all week! Hooray! In all honesty, today in general was the first time in ages I've got to properly relax without worrying about Uni things. I still manage to keep a bit busy though. I had to do a lot of packing and a bit of tidying this morning because my room is such a state (I am terribly untidy)! After that, I went to town to go and get a few bits and bobs before Mat arrived to whisk me off to London for my four day birthday trip! I'm very excited to be here and looking forward to doing lots of relaxing and having fun for once. This evening has been filled with tea, biscuits and Game Of Thrones (I've only watched two more episodes, this show is ridiculously addictive though). Tomorrow we don't plan to do an awful lot but be slobs (and maybe a bit of shopping) so I will be able to get a lot of reading done hopefully (and post my Weekly Wishlist). Fingers crossed that this is the start of me being a bit more active again! 

Daily Shenanigans, 25/04/2014: Exciting Netgalley updates!

Okay so we'll start with my day, which has been pretty action-packed! Firstly, I spent the morning and a bit of the afternoon in London, and reviewed 'The Hunger Games'. I enjoyed the book a lot and can't wait to get onto the next ones in the series! I'm currently reading Holly Black's short stories collection 'The Poison Eaters' which are pretty good so far, I'm about a quarter of the way through! When Mat and I came back from London, I wasn't at home for long before heading out again to Canterbury to watch my friend's Multimedia performance! It went well and gave me a bit more train reading time.

Now, onto Netgalley. I have had a heck of a lot of luck with this site, I'm not entirely sure how I've been approved for so many books, being a small blog with no current feedback! However, I'll update you on my more recent approvals which are all very exciting, because I honestly didn't think I'd get approved for some of these!

• 'The Queen Of The Tearling' ('The Queen Of The Tearling' Series, Book 1) by Erika Johansen
• 'Smiler's Fair' ('The Hollow Gods' Series, Book 1) by Rebecca Levene
• 'The Three' by Sarah Lotz
• 'Deep Blue' ('The Waterfire Saga, Book 1) by Jennifer Donnelly

I've decided to alter my next few reads about a bit. Yes I know, once again I'm going off my planned track but I didn't expect approvals on Netgalley to be coming in so thick and fast and I really want to get going on them so that I can keep up! So after my current read, I will of course read 'Days Of Blood & Starlight' which I've been waiting to read for a ridiculously long time! Then will be the first in a series of a book I was approved for on Netgalley, 'Hereafter' by Terri Bruce. I was actually approved for the second book, 'Thereafter', but I really want to read the first before I get going on that one.

I've also been receiving and sending some exciting emails regarding one of my 'Read Now' downloads and I won't reveal much now but expect updates on that when I have more information! I have a day off tomorrow so I expect to be very productive!

Daily Shenanigans, 23/04/2014: London again!

That's right guys, I'm back in London with Mat for a couple of days! We are going to see McBusted tomorrow which I said yesterday and I am extremely excited! My day was pretty average, I spent most of it in Canterbury doing some work and being productive. When I got round to coming home, Mat came round and we chilled out for a bit before setting off on the train. In fact, a lot of my day has been me on the train, but I don't mind. It means more reading time! 

Other than that, nothing to report. I am about halfway through my book now and feel like I have more time over the next couple of days to get a lot of reading done! Look out for reviews soon and obviously my Life Of A Blogger post tomorrow! 

Weekly Wishlist #4

Here we are again readers! Its time for my fourth Weekly Wishlist! Has it really been a whole month that I have been doing these? Time really does fly! So without further ado, I'll get onto the goodies I've got lined up for this week!

1) 'The Marvel Encyclopedia', Daniel Wallace. Now, anyone who knows me will know that I am a huge fan of the Marvel films. To the point of almost obsession. But in all honesty, I haven't actually read any of the comics. I love reading up about all the characters and would love to have this book so that I can learn more about the Marvel Universe itself, and maybe discover a few new facts about my favourite characters that I didn't already know. I think it would help me gain more of an appreciation for the films if I understood the comics a bit better! Also, the same author has written another Encyclopedia for the DC Universe and so yes please to that one too!


2) 'A Single Shard'; Linda Sue Park. I saw this book last week on a post by Bookmark To Blog and now want it so much that I'm putting it on here! A bit of research tells me the book centres on a young orphan who admires the work of a talented local potter from afar until he accidentally breaks an important piece and must face the consequences of this. It looks like an interesting read, though aimed at younger readers than myself. The cover art looks great too!

3) 'The Night Circus'; Erin Morgenstern. Oh how I want this book. Too long has this been on my radar without me doing a single thing about it! The cover art is just beautiful and the plot-line looks so intriguing! It focuses on the apprentices of two powerful magicians, who are unwitting pawns in a powerful game against one another, while simultaneously falling in love. Sounds great right? The sooner I have this book, the better.




4) The 'Supernatural' Box Set. Everywhere I go, I hear about this series. All of my friends have watched it, it's all over the internet, Amazon are constantly emailing me about it. And yet...I have never watched it. Why? Because I have never had the time. But this Summer is going to be my chance to catch up on everything that lack of time management has made me miss out on. So I figure this box set is top of the list!



5) A Ticket To The London Expo. Last but not least: London Comic Con. This is the perfect convention for me. Comics, manga, anime, games, movies, geekery, it is all here. But I have never been because I have either been working or doing something else. I feel like I've been massively missing out! But this year, I sense a change. I don't work weekends anymore, Uni will be over, I won't have anything holding me back. I absolutely plan to make the most of it.

Ta dah! My list is complete. These are so useful, my birthday is coming up and now I know what to ask for! As always, click pictures for links to the items!

Life Of A Blogger: 'Favourite Place'

So here we are! My first 'Life Of A Blogger' participation post! This week's theme is 'Favourite Place'. Now, this one is quite a broad topic and can be taken in a variety of ways and so let's start closest to home and work my way out.

So to start with, my home town: Ashford. Now I have to say the town itself is not coming under this category, but the Cinema in it is definitely one of my favourite places! Yes, I know you can find Cinemas pretty much everywhere, but I go to the cinema here pretty much every week (or try to, I've been slacking a bit recently) with Mat and it's our favourite place to go out together. I've always been a huge fan of films and I just get so excited when I go, watching films that 9 times out of 10 I enjoy, and trailers for what's coming out soon. So yes, here in Ashford, the cinema is my favourite place.

Next: Pluckley. It's just on the outskirts of Ashford, and within this lovely little village, resides a very good friend of mine who I've known for years (and has recommended me most of my books). But the village itself is just so pretty! I have so many fond memories of this place and there's so much to it considering how small it is. It's in the country so upon visiting you'll find farms, woods, fields, orchards, the lot! When I was younger, my four friends and I used to explore absolutely everywhere and it was always so much fun! There's some real hidden gems that you had to actually look for to find: underground chambers and abandoned barns that we would spend the whole day exploring. I love Pluckley because of a stage in my late childhood/early teens that it represents. As well as this, Pluckley is rumoured to be the most haunted Village in England. As you can imagine, Halloween parties here were pretty fun as a result!

Another favourite place of mine? Canterbury! Now this is the place where I go to University and work every week, and so as you can imagine, I spend a lot of time here. It's a good thing I love the place then! Canterbury is a gorgeous City with cobbled streets, a beautiful Cathedral and plenty to keep you entertained on your visit! There are bookshops galore to start with so that instantly puts it in my good books, pretty much every kind of high street shop you could be after for shopping, some wonderful restaurants, and plenty of Tourist bits and bobs! Honestly I love this place and can't wait till it gets a bit more Summery because Canterbury is beautiful in the sunshine! The best bit of all for me though is the Marlowe Theatre. They put on such amazing shows there and I scan their up and coming performances very regularly. Also, anyone who lives in Kent will tell you that their yearly Pantomime is the best around! No question!

Last but certainly not least: London! Now, London hasn't always been my favourite place. I've always loved the idea of the countryside so the busy city, with it's never-ending traffic flow, and scary Tube was not my cup of tea at all to begin with. But as I've grown up, it has become a sort of second home to me. The amount of Theatre and Shopping opportunities there just override all of the bad. London is absolutely packed to the brim of places to go, sights to see, things to do, etc. that you can't help but have a good time! Mat goes to Uni there, and I go and stay with him often. I've grown to really love it and am actually going to move there after I have finished Uni back in Kent because it will make a lot of things easier for me! I can't wait!

So there we have it, my favourite places! I did have another one to add, my bedroom, but I didn't want to take a picture of it because it's a bit messy and I'm ashamed! I love these places though and hope you enjoyed reading about them as much as I enjoyed writing about them. Next week's topic is 'Travel' so I look forward to sharing my limited experience of faraway places that I've visited!