Last Week's Shenanigans: Moving To London!

So this week has been majorly busy for me and I have spent most of it thinking about or being in London! I am still settling in right now so here is a breakdown of what I have done. 

Monday 1st: As peak week hadn't quite finished I ended up working today. The shift didn't go too badly and to be honest, it took up most of my day. I was given a lift by my lovely friend Fliss again which made me smile. I made a bit of a start on 'Coraline' and it was nice to instantly recognise parts of the film.

Tuesday 2nd: So this marked my first day off in ages, except I still ended up being exceptionally busy with packing. My lovely sister gave me a hand and I'm glad she did! I managed to sort all of my books and DVDs with her help! After doing some packing, I filmed a video with my sister and I loved doing it! Bev suggested I start my own YouTube channel, but I think I should settle into London first!

Wednesday 3rd: So today marked my last day working at Canterbury Clarks and it turned out to be pretty emotional. The shift itself went so quickly and we decided to go out for drinks and a meal after closing time. As my shift ended early, I went out for a Frappe and a slice of cake with a couple of my work friends, then we returned to Clarks to pick the rest of them up. At my leaving meal, they gave me a card and some presents and after Fliss dropped me home, I had a bit of a cry.

Thursday 4th: More packing today, and I focused on clothes this time. It was a little bit sad to watch my room get barer as the day went on. My sister came home around lunch time and she brought her friend Sam with her, so I got a little distracted by their conversation. We had curry for dinner as it was my last night at home.  Overall, a good and productive day.

Friday 5th: Well today was my last day at home, and I still had more packing to do. It mainly involved wrapping up ornaments  and putting the last bits and bobs away. My Dad came home at midday and gave me a hand, and it took me the whole day to get everything done. In the evening, my parents dropped me off at the station and I took the train to Stratford where Mat met me. I arrived at my new flat and had a nice first evening in.

Saturday 6th: Today my parents came up to see the new flat and bring the rest of my things up! It was a really nice day, though I was a bit emotional! We also went out to a nearby tesco to grab some bits for the flat. We watched TV during the day and then Mat and I watched 'Hook' in the evening, a film I haven't watched for quite a while! 

Sunday 7th: Today was a pretty nice day, We woke up earlyish to wait for Tash, choosing to walk up to Mat's potential new job at a nearby Tesco with him. Tash actually didn't arrive till early afternoon and we helped her unpack a little before heading up to Westfield Shopping Centre to get some new work shoes and uniform. In the evening, we went to Chipotle for dinner before heading home and watching Game Of Thrones late into the evening. 

Last Week's Shenanigans: Peak week at work!

I've been pretty busy working a lot over the last week so I'm afraid my post this week may become a little repetitive! Still, I had a pretty nice one and it went quickly.

Monday 25th: Still recovering from my cold, I definitely felt a lot better than I had over the weekend so I felt really good about going back to work. I got to, on the train, do a bit more reading and it was here that I started getting into 'A Discovery Of Witches' a lot more. Work was really good, it was nice to see everyone again! All in all, it was a nice Bank Holiday. I did also see Mat briefly in the evening, which was nice after recovering from such a horrible cold!

Tuesday 26th: Needless to say, I had work again today and it was very busy. Before that, I wrote a majority of my Top Ten Tuesday post which was enjoyable. I had time to do a bit more reading too so despite work, I was able to get a fair amount done. In the evening, I came home to find that Bev had nominated me to do the Ice Bucket Challenge, which was extremely scary as I have a bit of a phobia of water, especially being splashed. Nevertheless, I decided would face my fears and do it the next day. Oh, and I was very sad because our beloved Fiat, Phoebe, was sold to her brand  new owner and I am going to miss that car so much!

Wednesday 27th: Yet another day at work that included some reading time on the train. I was actually more pleased with my progress than I had been previously in the week. After work, I went straight home to get changed and pack for Mat's that evening. But first, I had to do my Ice Bucket Challenge! It wasn't a particularly enjoyable experience, the water was absolutely freezing and I feel like Bev got a bit too much happiness from throwing the bucket. I'm glad I did it though! After changing again and getting dry, Dad dropped me to Mat's house and we spent the evening doing a bit of packing and watching what I can only describe as the most harrowing episode of Game Of Thrones yet. Seriously, I cried. A lot.

Thursday 28th: Finally! A day off! As I had stayed at Mat's overnight, I spent the day at his and we namely watched more Game Of Thrones (finishing Season 3) and doing more packing in preparation for him moving into the new flat. We watched some TV too together, and I caught up  on a lot of reading which I was extremely pleased about. It was nice to have a whole day off together and not worry about doing much, especially as it would be the last time before the big move. When I got home, Bev and I spent the evening playing on her fantastic new Charades app, which was a lot of fun!

Friday 29th: A much less exciting day at work again today. I got really close to finishing 'A Discovery Of Witches' but didn't quite manage it. Not a whole lot actually happened today other than work to be honest. I did play Charades with Bev again which was fun. Oh, and some Workmen came round to finish upgrading the downstairs radiators.

Saturday 30th: Guess where I was today? You guessed it! Working! It's Clarks' busiest week of the year (or peak week) as all the children are about to go back to school, meaning I have a lot of hours but no time on my hands outside of that. I had a really horrible day at work actually and it made me a bit grumpy. In the evening I got to watch The X Factor and Through The Keyhole, two shows that I've missed in my life! I also finished 'A Discovery Of Witches' and made a good start on 'If You Find Me'.

Sunday 31st: I got a lift to work from my very good friend and work colleague which was nice. This time, I had a much better day and the shift went really quickly, meaning I got to go home quicker. Before doing that, we quickly popped to Tesco and I saw Mat on his last day working at Park Farm before heading back to my house to watch Doctor Who and more of The X Factor. I also finished 'If You Find Me' and I was pretty pleased that the book only took me a day.

Last Week's Shenanigans: Making the most of Netflix and a broken boiler!

So this week has been pretty uneventful I suppose! I spent a lot of it watching TV and Films, but I'm really glad I did! They were well worth the watch. Bev got a Netflix account after the 30 Day Trial finished, so we've been really getting into some of the things on there!

Monday 28th - So this was actually a day off for me, from work. I had a bit of a lay-in (I was super tired) then when I woke, I spent the morning doing some blog bits and bobs, and reading some more of 'Poison Study'. In the afternoon, Bev and I decided to watch some things on TV, starting with 'The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas', a film we bought a while back and never watched. It was extremely heart-breaking and sad, and we loved it! Bev's 30 Day Trial was ending too, so we began watching 'American Horror Story' and 'Doctor Who' with Christopher Eccleston on Netflix, as she wasn't sure whether to start paying for an account. Unfortunately, the Boiler broke too so we were without hot water for part of the day.

Tuesday 29th - Most of Tuesday was made up of work or travelling too and from Canterbury. It was pretty busy and there was a lot to do, but it wasn't really an eventful shift as such. I took the opportunity to get a load of reading done on the train however meaning that by the time Tuesday was over, I was almost done! After work I did my Top Ten Tuesday post also, which was a lot of fun this week! 

Wednesday 30th - Once again I had work, but first Bev and I had to stay in for the Engineer to come and fix the boiler. She invited her friend Caz round and together we watched an episode of 'American Horror Story' which is a bit weird but I am starting to really get into it! Work was once again a little boring but it broke up my day and I completely finished 'Poison Study'.

Thursday 31st - Thursday marked another day off with Bev (if you haven't guessed by now, she's out of school term time). And we watched some more 'Doctor Who' and 'American Horror Story', as well as a wonderful film called 'Driving Lessons'. We had Stir Fry for lunch which was delicious, but we didn't do an awful lot else.

Friday 1st - Mat had been away to Dymchurch with a friend of his for a few days, but he came back on Friday and came round late morning. As I hadn't seen him for quite a chunk of the week, it was nice to spend some time with him again. We spent the afternoon helping Dad with some chores, attempting to watch 'Game Of Thrones' and failing because my HDMI Cable was broken, and relaxing. Then in the evening he took me out for Fajitas at Chiquitos and to go and see 'Guardians Of The Galaxy' at the Cinema, which was an amazing film! I've never laughed so hard at a Marvel film (Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon is hilarious) and I thought it tied into the bigger picture pretty well. It does mean I have to wait a long time for the next installment though!

Saturday 2nd - Mum and Dad went away to Nottingham for the weekend to attend a party, meaning my Sister and I were alone. Bev went to see her friend Caz again, and I had work in the afternoon. When I came home, I watched some 'Misfits' with Caz and Bev (Netflix again) and we waited for Mat to come round, though he didn't finish work until 8. As soon as he arrived, we ordered pizza (yes I know I don't really like it but it was a treat because Bev managed to get £10 off of the order as last time she ordered from them, they were apparently late. We played Cards Against Humanity, which is a great game though you need to have a pretty dark sense of humour. Both Caz and Mat stayed over, even though Bev started to feel unwell towards the end of the evening.

Sunday 3rd - After Mat slept over, we decided to go to his house because he had the day off from work. For the most part, we watched 'Game Of Thrones'. Season 3 so far is awesome, though I have a real feeling of impending doom. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, 'Game Of Thrones' is pretty ruthless. Generally it was a bit of a lazy day, but a nice one nonetheless. Bev still wasn't very well, both before I left and after, so I was glad that Mum and Dad came home to entertain us with their Hotel stories!

Memes:
Top Ten Tuesday (Topic: Authors Whose Books I Own The Most Of).
Life Of A Blogger (Topic: Favourite Outings)
Six Degrees Of Separation (Gone Girl; Gillian Flynn)

Books Reviewed:
Poison Study; Maria V. Snyder

Daily Shenanigans, 01/06/2014: 'Maleficent'.

So today was a lovely day off, but I did get a surprising amount done. Actually I was pretty productive! I've made a start on 'The Luminaries' and it's pretty enjoyable so far. I'm intrigued to see where this one will lead. In fact I spent a good bit of the day reading, doing blog stuff and generally relaxing. I posted two other posts today, my 'Planned Reads For June' and my 'Weekly Wishlist' which I really enjoyed writing! I did also create a review archive page, which I plan to show on my blog ASAP. It was satisfying to put all of my reviews in one place, and I can't wait to add to it! This evening, I went to pick Mat up from work and then we headed to his and watched another episode of 'Game Of Thrones'. Well, most of it anyway. We had to stop ten minutes before the end to go to the cinema.

It was worth the interruption though because this evening I watched 'Maleficent'. I think it's going to be pretty hard to put into words how excited I was for this film. It looked like it was going to take Sleeping Beauty's story down a similar path that 'Wicked' did with 'The Wizard Of Oz'. I worried that I would be disappointed, but now I realise I had nothing to worry about at all. It was a stunning film. They made a few changes to the story but that was really to be expected. The visuals, first off, were stunning. Particularly some of the scenes set in the land of the Fairies. These were among my favourite, the huge amount of imagination that went into this film was something to behold. I actually really did like the story itself too. 

Angelina Jolie did a wonderful job as the titular character. I'm not an overly big fan of hers and I worried that I wouldn't enjoy her performance, but she was perfect for the role! Cold-hearted and cruel, but with hidden depths that were a joy to discover. I also really loved Imelda Staunton as Knotgrass and Elle Fanning played Aurora wonderfully. Again, I worried that I might find her annoying, but I found instead the complete opposite! Sharlto Copley was great as the mad King Stefan but for me the star performance came from Sam Riley as Diaval the Raven. I found him to be so funny and they really made his character a memorable one.

All in all, a fantastic film with great costumes and a beautiful soundtrack to boot! Tomorrow I'm working again but I plan to squeeze in a lot of reading around my shift. I have to get the train tomorrow, so I will certainly be able to use that time to my advantage.

Weekly Wishlist #15

This week's Wishlist will be a bit varied again and I'm looking forward to sharing it with you!

1) 'From The Beast To The Blonde: On Fairy Tales and their Tellers'; Marina Warner. It isn't uncommon knowledge that I'm a huge fan of Fairy Tales, they have always fascinated me. Not just the tales themselves, but the actual theory behind them! I bought a book a while back called 'The Uses Of Enchantment: The Meaning And Importance Of Fairy Tales' by Bruno Bettleheim. I really enjoyed reading it and found it so interesting. I've heard of Warner's work, she's written many books on the subject of Fairy Tales and Folklore and I would really love to read this book. I would love to get hold of 'No Go The Bogeyman' by her too!


2) Daughter Of Smoke & Bone 'Wishbone' Necklace. So after seeing something similar at the Expo and not being able to find it on the site, I was quite keen to find a Wishbone Necklace inspired by 'Daughter Of Smoke & Bone'. This particular shop, wordsandwonders, seems to enjoy providing book-related jewellry and I found this lovely necklace that was exactly what I was looking for. They also do it in a bronze colour but I quite like the silver. Some of the pieces in this shop are lovely, I think I'll have to dedicate a few hours to scouting out more shops like this on Etsy!


3) 'Throne Of Glass'; Sarah J Maas. That's right, I haven't read this series yet! But I really want to, I've heard so much about it! It's one of those books that every time I hear about it, I feel like I have a lot of catching up to do. Many people have recommended it to me and I think it's time I thought about giving it a read, when I can. I'm a bit of a fan of badass female characters, and I've heard that this Main Character definitely fits that description! Hopefully I'll get my hands on it soon and enjoy it.

4) 'Scarlet'; A.C. Gaughen. Speaking of strong female characters, this book looks so promising. I've seen it dotted here and there around the Blogoverse, and every review I have read has been good. It's set around the time of Robin Hood too and I love that story! Seriously, this book and it's sequel, 'Lady Thief', just look fantastic and I really want to get into them. What gorgeous cover art too, I think I'm going to have a fit if I can't read this one soon.



5) The 'Once Upon A Time' Box-Set. I really love this TV series, though got too busy to get past the first few episodes of Season 2. I really want to get hold of both seasons so I can watch it all through before watching Season 3! For anyone who hasn't heard of this series, I highly recommend it if you're a fan of Fairy Tales. All your favourite characters can be found: Rumpelstiltskin, Red Riding Hood, Snow White, The Evil Queen, Pinocchio, Captain Hook, they're all here. In one form or another. It has a really intriguing story-line and some great twists on well-known tales! Well worth a watch!

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! 

Weekly Wishlist #11

I've spent quite a lot of the day out today so have only just got round to doing this, but I've got some exciting picks today!

1) 'Sparks', Imogen Heap. Now I actually only heard that this was coming out pretty recently, but now I just want it so badly, I'm a huge fan of Imogen Heap's voice. It's due to be released in June, which isn't too far away. One of the tracks, 'Me The Machine' has been created using an awesome (and slightly strange looking) glove that she invented to act as an instrument. Mat showed me a video all about it and I was instantly intrigued about the glove, but even more to the point I fell in love with the song itself and so I really look forward to hearing the rest of the album.

2) Harry Potter 'Always' Necklace. Harry Potter will never stop being one of my favourite childhood stories, and I especially appreciate it to this day. Snape is one of my favourite characters and I always found his back-story so tragic. This necklace is one of many gorgeous pieces that can be found on an awesome Etsy shop, KawaiiCandyCouture. Seriously I'm in love with so many things in that shop, but I've picked this one because it's subtle yet with an obvious Harry Potter reference for those that have read the books or seen the film. "After all this time?"..."Always."

3) 'Splintered'; A.G.Howard. I'm in such a fairy-tale retelling mood as of late, they're my favourite kind of books to read. A.G.Howard's 'Splintered' caught my eye quite a while back, but I'm getting pretty desperate to get my hands on it! It is based on Lewis Caroll's 'Alice In Wonderland' a story that I have grown up with and loved! It puts me in mind of the dark style of Tim Burton's adaption of the story, or even the dark game series 'American McGee's Alice' and 'Alice: Madness Returns'. With that in mind, it's a must read!

4) 'The Lies Of Locke Lamora'; Scott Lynch. I am a big fan of Fantasy books and Scott Lynch has somehow evaded me for years. He is such a highly recommended author, and the story-line of this series appeals to me so much that I'm not entirely sure why it isn't mine as of yet. After reading a fairly recent blog post by Patrick Rothfuss about being compared to Lynch I knew I had to have it. Rothfuss is one of my all time favourite Fantasy authors and if the two are comparable at all then it looks like I've been missing out! It's part of a series so the sooner I can get hold of them, the better!

5) The 'Game Of Thrones' Box Set. I started watching this series two days ago. I'm only two episodes into Season 1. I'm completely hooked. This box set includes the first three seasons and I would really love to get hold of it and catch up on what I've been missing out on. It also makes me want to read the books even more (I put them in my first ever Weekly Wishlist!) Let's hope I get the opportunity to watch the rest of them soon as I'm suffering from serious cravings right now!


I told you this week's picks were exciting (at least for me they were). It isn't too long until my birthday at all now, how exciting! If I get some money, I might be able to buying some of these things.

Daily Shenanigans, 02/05/2014: Winter Is Coming...

Well today has been interesting to say the least, and very busy! There were three of my friend's pieces on today and one of them I was helping out with. I had quite a stressful morning today as the piece I was helping out with encountered a lot of problems throughout. It meant that I stayed later than I originally thought I would and got nothing done in terms of blogging, reading or uni work! 

I did have a much better afternoon. Mat is home and I'm staying at his! Hooray! It has certainly been nice spending time with him, he talked me into (finally) watching the first couple of episodes of Game Of Thrones. I would just like to say that show knows no boundaries! I mean none! It has made me even more eager to read the books as well, it was really good (if a little disturbing in places)! I am too scared to get favourite characters though, I sense they won't last long. Tomorrow I'm with Mat in the morning, then have the rest of the day to be  productive! 

Daily Shenanigans, 26/04/2014: Five cups of tea in one day?!

The main event of the day, I would have to say, was finishing Holly Black's 'The Poison Eaters And Other Stories'. I thoroughly enjoyed it and all of this month's challenges are complete! Hooray! Currently I'm making my way through 'Days Of Blood & Starlight', and then 'Hereafter' by Terri Bruce is next on the list! At this point I feel like my Planned Reads for April has basically gone out of the window, but I really need to start on some of these NetGalley approvals because I really want to keep up with them! I have been ever so good and refrained from requesting too many. Hopefully I'll work out a good balance soon.

Other than reading and reviewing, I've been majorly catching up on other people's blogs (I normally like to comment on the blogs that I follow, but I feel like I've been neglecting that lately) and drinking copious amounts of tea. I answered a couple of emails which leads me onto my next exciting piece of news, which I alluded to yesterday! I will be taking part in my very first Blog Tour for a book that I downloaded from Netgalley a week or so ago, Vanessa Morton's 'Moonfall'. I really am ever so excited about this, as it stands my post will be appearing Mid-July so still quite a while away. I can't wait to read the book and I have plenty of exciting ideas for this particular post, so look forward to that!

I then spent the evening watching 'Britain's Got Talent' and relaxing! It looks to be a pretty similar agenda, and hopefully if I'm good, I might even finish my current read! Obviously I will also post my Weekly Wishlist at some point, so another busy blog day tomorrow!

Daily Shenanigans, 19/04/2014: UK YA Day!

Well, my Twitter feed was abuzz with excitement today readers. Why? Because it is UK Young Adult Day! Now I have to admit that until today, I was completely oblivious that it existed but when I saw it did, I couldn't help but get excited! YA Fiction is my absolute favourite! If you want to know a bit more, I suggest you look on the Project UKYA blog, it explains a great deal better than I can! This post is more specific about their plans for April, i.e. why UK YA Day exists! I was pleasantly surprised to see that the day got a lot of support, and actually trended briefly on Twitter! Wowee! Thanks to the day's activities as well, I managed to win another book (some authors were hosting giveaways for their novels/series and I took part in a couple). 'Red Ink' by Julie Mayhew is on it's way to me and I'm very excited.

My other activities for the day? Well my book review for 'A Certain Slant Of Light' was posted, which I really enjoyed! I replied to some blog comments, did some work and went shopping! No, not book shopping for once. Actual clothes shopping! I only bought a few things, but a bit of retail therapy did me good as I've been pretty stressed out as of late. I bought myself a lovely new dress, a jumper and a leather jacket! I got a couple more titles off of NetGalley today, firstly 'Moonfall' by Vanessa Morton, and also I was approved to read 'Thereafter' by Terri Bruce. It is the second in the series, so I'll be getting the first one on Kindle to read before I start that particular one, but I am very excited about both books!

I also saw Mat today, and we exchanged Easter eggs as we were unsure as to whether we would be seeing each other tomorrow (as it turns out, we are). We both bought each other a nice Lindt egg (his was far more impressive than mine though) and I got him some Malteaser Easter Bunnies! He spent the evening fussing over me which was nice, I was showered with cups of tea, bourbon biscuits (my favourite) and chocolate while watching Britain's Got Talent! It was a lovely end to the evening. 

Daily Shenanigans, 12/04/2014: Time for something new!

Well today was very lazy but very exciting! It started off like a normal day, and I made a start on John Green's 'The Fault In Our Stars'. But this time, I'll be doing things a bit differently! I'm currently reading it alongside the lovely Myra from I'm Loving Books and we have decided that after reading we will do some kind of joint review together for a bit of fun! I'm really excited about this, it's nice to do something different every once in a while. As for the book itself, so far I love it and I can't wait to get it finished so I can let you guys know my thoughts on it.

Such good things have happened today, my sister convinced my Dad to buy a pack of BN Biscuits, which were the most delicious biscuits of my childhood. On top of that, my Mum sat down with me and bought tickets for Mat and I to go and see 'Let The Right One In' in June, as part of my Birthday present. I am jumping up and down because I really thought I wouldn't get to see it, and it turns out I will! I saw Mat today after he finished work and I had such a lovely evening with him. We decided not to go to the Cinema this evening because the traffic was predicted to be pretty bad (some kind of motorway closure) and a night in watching the first episode from the new Britain's Got Talent series with tea and biscuits sounded much more appealing. Oh! I got a First for my Stage Management grade too, so I'm really glad I did well at that!

Tomorrow promises to be a really good day. I will be posting another 'Weekly Wishlist', hopefully finishing 'The Fault In Our Stars', and watching the Oliviers highlights later in the evening when they're on. Lots to look forward to!

Daily Shenanigans, 06/04/2014: A day with the Sister!

Well the day did not bode well for me in the beginning. I woke up with a splitting headache and feeling a bit sick. But, after taking something for it, I soon felt better. The rest of the day involved me doing a lot of blog commenting, internet browsing, writing my 'Weekly Wishlist' and reading (I'm halfway through this amazing book and I really don't want to stop)! I have really enjoyed this lovely day off, because it felt like the first day off that I've had to myself in ages despite the fact that it's the holidays now!

I actually spent quite a bit of time with my sister today which was really nice. We played a lot of games on her iPhone (including a rather hilarious rendition of Charades), watched the end of 'Hairspray' on TV and just generally chilled together quite a lot chatting and having fun. This to me was quite important, I feel like recently we haven't spent a lot of time together because we have such different schedules now! She started and finished 'The Fault In Our Stars' today, and has told me that after my next read, I need to read it. Therefore it has gone up the list and put my neatly devised schedule out of order but my impatience to read this book and talk about it with her is just too great!

Tomorrow I'm back to Uni, and then at work so a long and slightly less relaxing day ahead for me! Still, it needs to be done, and then I'll spend the rest of the time doing some bits and bobs. No car for me, so I'll be taking the train. Extra reading time, hooray!

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.

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!

Weekly Wishlist #2

Here it is, my second weekly wishlist! I must say, there's been a few things I've seen this week, more in the film than anything else. My original plan was to set myself a number of things to include each week, but I think forcing myself to find a certain quota of items each week would entirely defeat the point of it being a wishlist. Therefore I shall have no max amount of items, I'll aim for above three each week but if I really can't find that many then I won't lose sleep over it. For the same reason, I'm not going to attempt doing a 'one from each category' thing either. One week you might get three films; the next, four books and a stuffed toy. Let's just see how we get on. Again, click on pictures to get to sellers.

1) 'My Neighbour Totoro' Studio Ghibli Miniature Figurines. Now I know I jumped on the Studio Ghibli bandwagon last week, but I found these a while back and really wanted them. How cute are they? I'd love to, when I have a house, find places to put each one. I found these gorgeous little ornaments on Amazon, sold by LOTR for a reasonable £16.99. Check them out if you like these films!



2) 'Only Lovers Left Alive' DVD. Yes, I know that last week's wishlist included a movie starring Tom Hiddleston. But the reason this one gets on here is because I was going to see this film at the cinema with a friend this week. I didn't end up doing so, and now my local Cinema have stopped showing it. So the DVD is my only chance to get hold of this film and watch my favourite actor at work again. It's available for Pre-Order, but no release date yet. I don't care. I want it.



3) 'Super Effective Collection' from Shiro Cosmetics. This site is just fantastic. It combines two of my favourite things, geekery and pretty eye shadows (I'm a sucker for them). The Super Effective Collection instantly brings to mind the Pokemon world, and with individual names such as 'Vine Whip', 'Legendary' and 'Smell Ya Later' you instantly know what the collection is about if you're a fan. I've ordered from this store before and the colours are pigmented well, safe and the service is great! They have all sorts of collections, based on 'The Hobbit', 'Minecraft', 'The Hunger Games' Collection (another great one which I ordered some time ago), and their latest is based on George R.R Martin's 'A Song Of Ice And Fire' series. Well worth a look!

4) 'Cinder', 'Scarlet' and 'Cress'; Marissa Meyer. I simply had to include these books. They've been haunting my Bloglovin' feed for some time now and I have really become addicted to the idea of Fairy Tale Re-Tellings as a genre recently. Cinderella, Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel mixed with spaceships and cyborgs? I'm intrigued and want them.The picture links to 'Cinder', the first book of the three.

5) 'Sherlock' Series 3. I love this TV series. Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman have just brilliantly re-invented the famous duo, Sherlock and Dr Watson. Also, I adore Louise Brealey's character, Molly. Series 3 did not disappoint me in any way, I loved it! I have Series 1 & 2, now I want the 3rd to re-complete my collection. If you haven't already watched this series, then I thoroughly recommend it, they've done a great job of taking a classic and giving it a humorous, modern twist.



And there we have it, this week's top picks! I'm enjoying this so far, so next week's will be up next Sunday as well.

Daily Shenanigans, 20/02/2014: Spring Cleaning.

Well supposedly Spring is almost upon us (it still feels like Winter to me) and so it's the time of year to have a good sort out. My parents have been nagging on at me for a while about tidying my room (it is a mess) and so I made a start today. Currently, I have piles of books on the floor. Why? Because I have nowhere to put them. Or should I say, I had nowhere to put them. I managed today to clear away and bag up all the books I plan to sell, most of them being Uni books I simply don't need anymore. I now have lots of shelf space for the multitude of books that I buy! Yay!

After doing that job, I went to Mat's house for the day. We played games, like we usually do (both of us are a bit addicted to it) and caught up on some TV. Three cheers for 'The Big Fat Quiz Of The Year' and 'Top Gear'! I did also nap a lot today, my body clock is going stupidly out of sync. I keep going to bed late, waking up early and then sleeping some more in the afternoon. This must stop because I'm waking up in the nights too. Despite a fairly relaxed day, I found time to sort out the other book reviews to a layout that I want (finally!) and make a good start on Simon Ings' 'Wolves' which I'll read alongside Andrew Miller's 'Pure' so lookout for those two reviews in the near future!

Tomorrow I plan to do a bit more tidying in the morning before Mat comes to get me. Blog-wise I need to do a bit of planning and challenge hunting, and I need to update my Goodreads too. The lecture I would normally have is no longer happening, instead I'll have tutorials (but I won't have one tomorrow). I don't have work either, so a fairly free day for me!