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, 13/07/2014: Breaking the 'Book Buying Ban'!

Oops! I appear to, after three or four months of this ridiculous necessity to keep my shelves a bit clearer, have bought a couple of new books. Mat got them for me cheap at Tesco where he works and I'm very excited to read them. I bought Neil Gaiman's 'The Ocean At The End Of The Lane' and 'The Secrets Of Life And Death' by Rebecca Alexander. They both look like fantastic books and I can't wait to get into reading them at some point! Before I saw Mat this evening, I actually had work today. I ended up staying much longer than I was supposed to, so I was knackered when I got home. Mat had the car so he picked me up from the station and came round. I've been a little grumpy today so I won't make this post too long, as I want my bed.

Tomorrow is going to be so exciting because I'm off to watch Martin Freeman in Richard III with Mat, something that I never thought I'd get tickets for! We'll be in London for most of the day which I'm looking forward to.

Daily Shenanigans, 10/07/2014: Holiday approaching!

My morning started off pretty well, even tough I had to get up early. I had work but it was a pretty short shift today and it went so quickly. Before work though, I finished 'Lord Of The Flies' and wrote my Life Of A Blogger post! I didn't have time to do the review until much later on in the day though. After work I came home, quickly got changed, then went straight back out to Mat's! We went with his family to get all the necessary food and supplies for our trip to Wales next week, which I'm so looking forward to! Last time I went to Wales, I visited a friend of mine in Cardiff and had a great time! Llangollen promises to be a little quieter but still looks so interesting and beautiful. Thank goodness for the new camera, just in time for a great holiday. After shopping, we went back to Mat's and had dinner and then I was a tad boring and fell asleep. I don't know what came over me, I just suddenly felt ridiculously tired. It was for those reasons that I ended up posting my review of 'Lord Of The Flies' much later!

Tomorrow, I have the day off. I will be doing a lot of reading, plenty of blog bits and generally catching up with myself a bit.

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, 12/06/2014: Father's Day Shopping!

I spent quite a lot of time getting things done today! Firstly, Mat came round so that we could both go into town and to the Opticians. My prescription has stayed the same (hooray!) but I decided to get myself a pair of prescription sunglasses so that I can drive better when it's ultra sunny! As well as this, I had a quick scout around town and bought some Father's Day (this Sunday for us Brits) bits and bobs! When I got home, I got straight to work in catching up with my Bloglovin' feed, sending a variety of emails, and writing my 'Life Of A Blogger' post! This week's topic was really fun! I did also read a bit more 'Game Of Thrones' so that was good. I went to Sainsburys with my sister in the evening to get some more bits and found myself splashing out on some room spray (I have a bit of a thing for scents), a Writing Magazine, and some Logic Puzzles.

Tomorrow I'm seeing a friend of mine for most of the day so I won't have much time to myself. I'll also be going to my sister's Photography Exhibition in the evening, how exciting!

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, 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, 11/05/2014: Shopping!

Day two of my four day trip in London and I am having a really nice time! We had a lovely lay-in this morning which made me particularly happy after the week I've had. Then this afternoon, after lunch, we made our way to Stratford Shopping Centre and spent the afternoon there! I did actually buy myself a few bits and bobs. Sadly, no books as I'm still on a book buying ban. But I did get myself a cute overnight bag with foxes on it (my old one is dying a terrible death) and quite a few things in Boots! Namely skincare and make-up, as I needed to re-stock on a few things! It was a really nice afternoon, and when we got back, Mat cooked us a Roast which is one of my favourite dinners! Don't worry guys, I haven't forgotten my promise! I've read a lot of 'Cuckoo Song' and am really enjoying it. I can't wait to finish it and let you know my thoughts on it.

Tomorrow I'm off to the X-Men Premiere which I am so excited about! It's unclear who will be there but I have seen various internet sources confirming Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy!I can't wait to tell you all about it!

Daily Shenanigans, 29/03/2014: 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier'

So briefly, my day was mostly spent reading and Internet browsing. What can I say? I'm a slob. I had to go collect a parcel this morning which ended up being the two DVDs I ordered ('Thor: The Dark World' and 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire') and two of the three books I've been waiting for! 'Midwinterblood' by Marcus Sedgewick and 'Fearless' by Tim Lott are now in my possession! Hooray! I am very much looking forward to getting into them (if I ever get through 'The Telling Error', why is this book taking me so long?) Mat came round mid-afternoon and we spent a nice afternoon playing some Pokémon and chilling out, before heading off to the cinema to see the latest Captain America movie!

Wow, wow, wow! What a film! I loved it so, so much. The plot was great, the humour was actually hilarious and I loved some of the characters, old and new. Scarlet Johansson, Cobie Smulders and Samuel L Jackson were great in this movie, they took a bit of a back seat in the Avengers but really came into their own here! I wish Hawkeye had been in it, they really need to do more with his character. Chris Evans was wonderful to watch and I think this is his best portrayal of Steve Rogers/Captain America yet! Next, the villian. The Winter Soldier. He was a great twist in the story, I loved his development and for me, he was easily the best Marvel has produced after Loki (who will always be the villian for me, Hiddleston is just marvelous). But I cannot wait for more! Anthony Mackie was great as Sam Wilson/Falcon and I really hope we get to see more of him. Though 'The Avengers', 'Thor: The Dark World' and 'Iron Man 3' are still, I think, my top 3 Marvel movies, this came pretty close to knocking one off the pedestal, so well done for that!

Another day of pretty much nothing tomorrow, I must finish this book and post the review, as well as another Weekly wishlist, so that will take a lot of time. Also, it's Mother's Day here in the UK tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to a relaxing day with the family!

Daily Shenanigans, 28/03/2014: More book shopping!

I ended up going to Town today, as Mother's day is coming up and I needed to get a few bits and bobs. This took up most of my morning (other than a few chores and a bit of computer browsing) and while I was there, I inevitably ended up wondering into a bookshop. I told myself it was because I wanted to find a present for my Mum, and while I did manage to (her birthday is coming up too), we all know that there was some selfish reasons creeping in there as well. Man, books are so hard to resist! I bought a couple:

• 'The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry' by Rachel Joyce.
• 'Green Rider' by Kristen Britain.

The first, Joyce's book, has been on my TBR list for a long time. And as I bought it in an offer with the book for my Mum, I figured it would be a little treat for myself. Then I saw the Fantasy section. Now I have missed books set in different Kingdoms entirely, I haven't read one in a while when they used to be my favourite kind! I was going through my Goodreads reviews of some Tamora Pierce books and I felt this pang of longing for a made up world far away. This is my answer to that need.

As well as this, I found another few Kindle reads which I have downloaded and are ready to read when I get round to them, which I'm very excited about!

• 'Entangled' (The 'Spellbound Trilogy' Series, Book 1) by Nikki Jefford.
• 'UnEnchanted: An Unfortunate Fairy Tale' by Chanda Hahn.
• 'Moon Child' & 'By Blood' (Companion Novels) by Tracy E. Banghart

The first two I found while doing a bit more sorting of my TBR list, and having a browse of the Kindle Store. They were free and rated highly, so I saw no harm in giving them a try! Banghart's two companion novels cost £0.99 in all and came to my attention when a newsletter from her website arrived in my inbox this morning. It's a limited time offer to get both books for under £1, while individually they still cost £2.05 each, so get it while you can! I can't wait to finally get stuck into some of her work!

I spent the afternoon/evening at Mat's and we played some Playstation. As well as that, I got a bit more reading done and I'm actually almost halfway through 'The Telling Error'. If I'm good, I might have a review up later tomorrow for it, which I'm really hoping happens! I have so many thoughts on this novel! Oh and to top off a good day, I won another book from Goodreads! Two days in a row, that's amazing! Today's win was 'The Birds That Never Flew' by Margot McCuaig. Exciting stuff!

This post ended up being longer than I thought! Tomorrow I'm collecting a parcel from the Sorting Office (could be a book or DVDs, either way I can't wait to have them) and going to the cinema in the evening with Mat to see 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier'. I'm very excited about this film and can't wait to share my thoughts!

Daily Shenanigans, 26/03/2014: A Kindle Haul!

Well, what a day I've had! Firstly, I actually had a good lay in for the first time in what seems like forever, which was nice. I definitely needed it. I had work this afternoon but other than that, not an awful lot to do. At first I thought I'd get a lot of reading done, but even though I did read a bit, I ended up being a very busy bee with my Planned Reads instead.

I went through every single one of my 'To Read' books that I have on Goodreads and looked them up on Amazon to see how much they would be on the Kindle. Why? Because there is no way I am ever going to have that much space or money to buy each one as a paperback or hardback, as lovely as that would be. This started because (I forgot to tell you) on Monday I found out (having mentioned it on my Weekly Wishlist post) that 'Under Fishbone Clouds' by Sam Meekings was only £0.99 on the Kindle! That's an absolute bargain, and one I couldn't ignore. It made me wonder how many other bargains I was missing out on.

As it turns out, rather a lot. I went through, deciding only to take note of the £3.00 or under books (as a starting point). There were over 150 of them! I can't believe that I have never thought of this before! Perhaps it is because I much prefer the feel of an actual book in my hands, rather than the Kindle, but I feel there are too many pros that override this minor irritation. So without further ado, here are today's buys:

• 'Bang' by Steven Allinson.
• 'Forbidden Mind' ('The Forbidden Trilogy' Series, Book 1)  by Karpov Kinrade.
• 'Perfected Sinfulness' by Michael Gilbert.
• 'Alone', 'Untouched' and 'Soulless' ('The Girl In The Box' Books 1-3) by Robert J Crane.
• 'An Uncommon Vocabulary' by Jim Boyd.
• 'This Shadow Follows Me' by Joseph McGinnis.
• 'Forsaken' ('Daughters Of The Sea' Series, Book 1) by Kristen Day.

At this point you might be wondering how much I spent. Well, not including the original Sam Meekings buy, it's a big fat nothing! All of these books were free! How amazing is that? All of these look like really good reads and I can't wait to get started. But as well as this, I read a post on Facebook by Sarah Dalton, a Dystopian Author whose books I very much want to read, and she revealed that she had banded together with some authors and they had released a collection of six Dystopian books called 'Shattered Worlds'! Naturally I looked and how much was the entire collection? £0.49! Of course I bought it! Here's a quick look at the titles included:

• 'The Blemished' ('The Blemished' Series, Book 1) by Sarah Dalton
• 'Kahayatle' ('Apocalypsis' Series, Book 1) by Elle Casey
• 'Outside' ('Outside' Series, Book 1) by Shalini Boland
• 'The Torturer's Daughter' ('The Internal Defense' Series, Book 1) by Zoe Cannon
• 'Night Of The Purple Moon' ('The Toucan Trilogy' Series, Book 1) by Scott Cramer
• 'The Breeders' ('The Breeders' Series, Book 1)

What an awesome sounding bunch! And as an added bonus, Zoe Cannon's 'The Torturer's Daughter' was already on my TBR list, so that's two of my reads ticked off in one go. For the ridiculously low amount of money the series cost, it's well worth at least checking it out! Anyone who loves Dystopian fiction, this is a dream come true!

Okay, excited rant over. I really should get some sleep, tomorrow I'll be sorting out some blog stuff, doing a bit of reading, etc. and I might get round to buying a couple more Kindle reads, I was very surprised at some of the low prices. If you're one of those people who has an ever-growing TBR list, this might be a method well worth spending an afternoon on. You'll be surprised at the results!

Daily Shenanigans, 23/03/2014: In London!

I am so proud of the tremendous amount of blog stuff that I got done today! I managed to finish 'Daughter Of Smoke And Bone' by Laini Taylor and get a review for it up this morning, which I really didn't think I'd do! I thought it would take me until at least tomorrow to finish it, but I guess I'm a faster reader than I thought I was! As soon as I'd finished the review, I then posted my Weekly Wishlist and so I'm starting to feel like blog stuff is getting a little more back on track. My next read that I have just started is 'Finding Sky' by Joss Stirling, which I included in my last Top Ten Tuesday post. I'm really excited about this one, and following that, I'll be reading 'The Telling Error' by Sophie Hannah for a Goodreads 'First Reads' review.

That really made up most of my day. I'm still recovering from this cold but I'm feeling a lot better than I did yesterday! I did do a bit of sneaky Amazon shopping actually, as there were some books I've had my eye on that were pretty cheap and I finally got round to ordering them. I don't know when I'll actually get to read them but here are today's buys:

• 'Midwinterblood' by Marcus Sedgewick
• 'Fearless' by Tim Lott
• 'Angelfall' by Susan Ee

As well as these exciting reads, I did finally get round to buying 'Thor: The Dark World' DVD and 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' DVD. Both are great films and just had to be bought. I couldn't wait any longer.

Mat came round after he finished work at six, and we headed off to the station to get to London. Currently I'm sat in his room, watching 'Dynamo: Magician Impossible' and of course writing this post. Tomorrow he has to go to a Tutorial and a Lecture so I'll be taking the opportunity to get some reading done, and maybe watching 'Wreck It Ralph'. Then of course, the moment I've been waiting for, watching Les Misérables! I'm so ridiculously excited about this show, I don't think I can quite put into words how much I'm looking forward to it. For now though, time to relax.

Weekly Wishlist #3

I've been really looking forward to this week's Wishlist post! I mentioned earlier in the week that I found something I wanted so much it was ridiculous! Finally, I get to share it, and all my other weekly picks, with you all! As usual, the pictures link to the items in question, so check them out!

1) 'The Cabinet Of Curiosities'; Guillermo Del Toro. I was going to do a big build up to this item but I couldn't even wait to do that. Guillermo Del Toro is one of my favourite Film Directors. And this? Only a book full of sketches, concept art, original ideas, etc. for all of his films. If you've not heard of him, he's the guy behind 'Pan's Labyrinth', the 'Hellboy' films, 'Mama', 'Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark', so many great films and I could go on. His take on Horror as a genre is just astonishing and he always puts a Fantasy spin on it which I love. So as soon as I heard this book existed, I wanted it. There's a Limited Edition version that is signed and includes some awesome extra memorabilia, but as much as I would love that, £500 seems a bit steep. The hardback book by itself is £25 - £30. Much better.

2) Mad Money (Colour - Sapphire), Poetic Licence. I saw these casual shoes this week online and absolutely fell in love with them. I'm a bit of a sucker for green and like it when the shoes stand out/look a bit different. Therefore, I've always been a bit of a fan of Poetic Licence designs (they're like marmite for me, I either love or hate them). I've never really been able to afford them  though. If I could however, here's the ones I'd go for to start with! Gorgeous! As the weather's starting to improve, I thought I'd add something a bit more designed for Spring!

3) 'Frozen' DVD. I'm a bit of a sucker for Disney. In fact animated films in general I really enjoy, but Disney ones just always get my attention and I always look out for up and coming releases. I watched 'Frozen', their latest hit, in the cinema and just loved it! I have the Soundtrack which I can never stop singing and even Mat (who refuses to acknowledge any Disney films post-childhood) likes this one! It's being released on March 31st and I can't wait to get the DVD! The songs are catchy, the plot's pretty good and Olaf the Snowman just makes it.

4) 'The Book Thief' Soundtrack. I'm still on a high after seeing this film. It was so beautiful, very emotional, made me bawl my eyes out and above all, the score was sensational. John Williams is a wonderful composer, I've heard his work on many films and heard him get it right so many times. 'The Book Thief' was no exception and I would love to get my hands on the score and listen to it all day long. There is a potential side effect of it reducing me to tears with every play-through though so I'd have to watch out for that.


5) 'The Chaos Of Stars'; Kiersten White. I actually discovered this book on my Bloglovin' Feed this morning, in a post by Awkwordly Emma. Intrigued by the gorgeous cover art (seriously, look at it!), I brought up Goodreads and had a look at what it was about. As it turns out, it's a romance based around Egyptian Mythology! Perfect! I'm a bit of a sucker for learning about Myths, Fairy Tales, Legends, Folktales, etc. and as a result, Fiction books that include or are based upon them are normally something that I enjoy! It looks like a great read and it's on the list now!


Ta-dah! Another Wishlist complete! Seriously, I have so many ideas for these that I already can't wait till next week! 

Daily Shenanigans, 05/03/2014: Story Writing.

Well today has felt pretty long and busy, despite the fact that really, it hasn't been. I got into Uni for my lecture at 10 o'clock, and found out that all Tech Slots have been cancelled meaning that programming will have to be done during Tech Week. This is very annoying, but nothing can be done so I guess I'll just have to cope with it. I don't think my mood has been helped by the fact that yesterday's headache never really went away. Also, we discussed our portfolios and I feel a lot better now that I understand what they involve. I was really stressed about this one because I didn't understand what I was supposed to do, but I'm feeling a lot better about it now!

The weather was absolutely beautiful today, and I'm really glad I chose to take the train. I got a lot of reading done in the process. Walking back to the station to go home, I walked through town and couldn't get over the lovely weather that has suddenly hit. It was a little nippy, but the sun was out and I had forgotten what that even looked like! I walked into a couple of charity shops and Waterstones, and I'm very proud of myself because I didn't buy anything! Go me! I wanted to though, the temptation was very great. I did buy another pancake though, the kind that you find in the UK (so Crêpes). Mine was smothered in Nutella, and needless to say, was delicious. I have been eyeing up that food stall for weeks and I finally took the opportunity today.

When I got home, I chose to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening writing. I have now completed the first draft for a Prologue/First Chapter of that idea that's been running through my head over and over. It isn't perfect but I feel like I have written what I need to, now I just need to tidy it up. I'm very excited so far about it, and I'm considering, when it has been developed a bit, putting an excerpt on here for you guys to read. I would certainly appreciate the feedback! I don't have a title for it yet, it's in really early stages of development and I really need to flesh out the concept and plot-line I'm going for here. But nonetheless, I'm pleased so far.

Not an awful lot else happened, I'm going to bed a bit earlier tonight (not much) so I can do a bit of reading and then catch up on some sleep. I need to do some Portfolio work tomorrow for Multimedia, but hopefully I can also finish and write a review for 'Wolves'. The pace of the story is really picking up now and I finally seem to be catching up with it a bit. I look forward to sharing my thoughts on the finished thing.

Daily Shenanigans, 17/02/2014: Book shopping spree!

Today has been one hell of a day. I woke up early, I had to catch the train to Uni this morning. On my way to my lecture, work rang and told me that they wanted to cancel my shift, which I happily accepted because I have a lot of work to do and I would be glad of the afternoon to get it done. I was feeling nervous about a meeting with my Tutor about my Multimedia piece and portfolio, but thankfully, all went okay and he was quite pleased with my progress so far. On my way back home, I decided to nip into a shop that I had been eyeing up (a book shop of course) to see if I could see anything decent to read. I thought that I would have enough self control just to browse and not actually buy anything, like last time. Unfortunately, I did not. I brought one book, called 'Gould's Book Of Fish' by Richard Flanagan. The blurb and cover were intriguing, and it has won an award. For £1.75? I think so.

'But your blog post title says a book shopping spree!' I hear you cry.'One book is hardly a spree!' You're right. One book is not a spree. But the six I brought online when I got home, in my eyes, could be classed as a bit of a spree. I blame my sister entirely for this one, she showed me that The Works have a '6 Books for £10' offer on at the moment and come on, who could resist peaking at an offer like that! So, here are my other 6 titles that came under the offer.

• 'Stealing Phoenix' by Joss Stirling
• 'The Next Best Thing' by Kristan Higgins
• 'The Law Of Angels (An Abbess Of Meaux Mystery) by Cassandra Clark
• 'The Camelot Code' by Sam Christer
• 'Circle Of Shadows' by Imogen Robertson
• 'Maggie May' by Lyn Andrews

I am ashamed of myself. In an excited sort of way. And this bout of buying books has spurred me on to have a good sort out of all the unwanted Uni books that I own, and no longer need! If I get rid of those, I will have so much more room.

While on the subject of books, I have just finished 'If On A Winter's Night A Traveller'. I won't write the review until morning because right now I feel excessively angry with it, and can't decide whether it's a masterpiece or should be thrown out of the window for some other poor soul to find. Let me organise my thoughts in a calm, collected manner and get back to you on that. It means I shall be making a concerted effort to get 'Pure' read and start with 'The Perks Of Being A Wallflower', in time for the end of February as predicted! Hooray, I am on track! A productive and busy day is called for tomorrow, I have another 'Top Ten Tuesday' to do, and I'm seeing the boyfriend and going to the cinema as well! 

Daily Shenanigans, 11/02/2014: Planned reads update!

It is my first 'day off' of the week, though I wouldn't really call it that because I got so many things done! Firstly, earlier today I posted my first 'Top Ten Tuesday' and this week's topic was 'Books That Will Make You Swoon'. I found this incredibly hard. Mostly because I was thinking of books as I went, as I'd only managed to think of three or four beforehand. But as well as that, this topic was definitely one I dreaded as not very many books do make me swoon. I achieved seven, not a bad score, and the term swoon definitely took on a number of definitions for the post. It was still fun to write though and I'm happy with how it turned out.

This morning, I went to get some fuel for the car and do a bit of shopping. I mostly bought a few bits and bobs for Valentines Day (I am on it this year, I normally do everything last minute) and I am so excited to give Mat his presents! I can't believe its only three days away! As well as that, I also bought myself a magazine called 'Writing Magazine'. As I want to become a writer I feel that practicing is important whenever I have the time. I haven't read it properly yet, but a quick flick through revealed some very interesting looking competitions which I thought it would be fun to enter. I like a challenge.

Most of the afternoon (after finishing my post) was filled with sorting out my blog, my Goodreads account and just generally keeping busy. After taking a look at my promised up and coming reads, compared with the challenges I have set myself for over the course of the year, I realised that I am going to have to push back reading 'A Wise Man's Fear' and 'Inheritance'. Those two books are just so big and I still need to read a Contemporary book for 'Jumble Your Genres' and a book with one of the chosen words for the 'Key Words' challenge by the end of February. But, I have a plan! Firstly, I am (as well as reading 'Pure') in the process of getting through Italo Calvino's classic 'If On A Winter's Night A Traveller'. I started reading this while staying with Mat a few weeks a go, and it was really only serving the purpose of being something to read on the tube. Mat has kindly agreed to bring it down at the weekend so that I may finish it and use it in my challenges. You can look forward to a review of that fairly soon! My chosen Contemporary book will be Stephen Chbosky's 'The Perks Of Being A Wallflower'. I have seen the movie (it's fantastic!) and I am so desperate to get cracking on this book! Also, if I can, I will try to get Jackie Kay's 'Red Dust Road' in there as an extra 'Key Words' entry (sneaky!) 

So there you have it, my next couple of planned reads!

I also had time to go to Staples with Bev (my sister) this evening after dinner and I bought some new pens and a couple of notepads. I want to get more organised with blogging and exactly what I will be posting about (not another repeat of desperately trying and failing to come up with a list of books on the spot). So now I have a notepad just for this purpose, so that any ideas I do have can be recorded on the go! Handy! I sadly didn't get as much Uni work done today as I had hoped, but then, I did achieve a lot Monday. Tomorrow looks to be a busy one, what with a lecture, previews to attend for the shows on the night I am company managing and another show which I'm both helping to set up for and watching in the evening. I'll be back late and won't have time for much blogging except my daily post. So far, I have not missed a single one! Go me!

Daily Shenanigans, 31/01/2014: The weather outside is frightful!

Let me start this blog post by telling you that as I write, the weather outside is absolutely vile! It has not stopped raining and the wind has been blowing for a number of weeks now (I think any hopes for any kind of snow this year are well and truly dashed) but tonight it is just dreadful. Right. British rant about the weather over, back to the subject of my post.

My day started early readers, I am without a car this week meaning I have to get up at ridiculous o'clock to catch a train for University. The lecture, luckily, went quickly and soon I was on my way home again. On he way back I wandered through the town, bought myself a lovely cake from the bakery and had to physically talk myself out of buying anything in the Oxfam bookshop because I already have a huge pile of books in my room and nowhere to put them. It was heartbreaking. Totally heartbreaking. I managed on both train journeys to get a bit more of 'Cloud Atlas' read (which made me feel quite productive) though in truth I probably got no more than a few pages further. I'm really enjoying this book and cannot wait to write a review of it, which should be up in the next few days (hopefully by Sunday if I can give myself a good enough kick up the arse).

After coming home, I got to spend the rest of the afternoon/evening with my partner. He currently goes to Uni in London so I only really get to see him at weekends when he comes home. We didn't do all that much to write about though I'm afraid, just relaxed at his house and played on the Xbox One (the lucky sod has one and I don't!) Assassin's Creed 4 is a great game, in case you were wondering. Tomorrow, we are off to the cinema to see 'Out Of The Furnace'. I wasn't terribly enthused at first as it's not my kind of film, but the more I hear and read about it, the more I actually can't wait. I'll give you a small review of that tomorrow!

In other news it's the 31st, marking the end of January and the beginning of the Chinese New Year. This year's animal is...drum roll please...the horse! I don't normally follow this stuff really but I've seen it everywhere today, so if you do, then I wish you a prosperous new year!