Weekly Wishlist #21

I decided to do another book inspired Wishlist, as I'm in a real reading mood today and I have plenty that I want!

1) 'Boy, Snow, Bird'; Helen Oyeyemi. I've heard a fair amount about both this book and this author and I'm rather curious about this one. It has been dubbed as a re-telling of 'Snow White', though I also hear tales that the connections between the two stories are pretty loose, if existing at all. Nevertheless, I'd be keen to give this book a chance and make my own mind up. The cover is beautiful too!





2) 'The Scorpio Races'; Maggie Stiefvater. This is definitely one of those authors that I should have read by now. In fact I wrote on another Wishlist about my desire to read 'The Wolves Of Mercy Falls' series which I still haven't managed to do. What is wrong with me? Anyway, I saw this one on a fair few blog posts and it came highly recommended. I really need to read at least something by this author!




3) 'The Rabbit Back Literature Society'; Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen. This book has haunted my Amazon recommendations list for quite a while. I had never heard it before the first time I saw it on there, and now it pops up wherever I go. It certainly looks like a book well worth a read, having read the synopsis! It has sat in my Basket and not been bought for quite a while now. I think I'm going to need to get hold of it before it drives me insane!




4) 'Catching Fire'; Suzanne Collins. Heaven knows it took me long enough to read the first book of this series, and I really enjoyed it! So far, 'Catching Fire' is my favourite of the two already released films and so you would have thought that I would have picked the next one up straight away. Unfortunately, I have yet to buy it but it looks so promising that I really think I ought to get it down on my Wishlist.





5) 'The Strange And Beautiful Sorrows Of Ava Lavender'; Leslye Walton. I really fell in love with the cover of this book from the moment that I saw it. It's simplicity really drew attention to the title which piqued my interest even more. I've had a little read of the synopsis and was pleased to see it is of the Magical Realism genre, one that I really want to get into. It's received a lot of good reviews so I would love to give it a try!

Weekly Wishlist #20

So as you may know from my Daily post yesterday, I'm off to Hyde Park for 'Barclaycard presents BST' and I hope to have a really good time! I thought that this week's Wishlist could be music related in the spirit of that!

1) A McBusted Album? So this was definitely hinted at when Mat and I went to see McBusted at the O2 Arena, and I'm hoping we might learn more at the Festival today! McBusted were such a great live act, and I loved watching them revisit the classics. But if they were to make an album with brand new material, that would be awesome! They have already started writing some things and there's a single they are definitely working on called 'OMFG'. Fingers crossed!

2) 'Salute' Album by Little Mix. This is not the sort of music I would normally listen to, but I have a pretty massive soft spot for Little Mix. I loved them in The X Factor and was so pleased when they won, and I thought their album 'DNA' was amazing. I haven't got my hands on 'Salute' yet though! Frankly this needs to change ASAP, I love the track Salute and have every faith that the album will be amazing.



3) 'Pure Heroine' Album by Lorde. So I hadn't really listened to an awful lot by this artist until I listened to her cover of 'Everybody Wants To Rule The World'. I fell in love with it immediately and now I would love to get hold of Lorde's album and listen to more of her music! She's become quite big recently and I think she's very talented! I hope I find more great songs from this CD.

4) To see Florence & The Machine live. Now this is probably not going to happen anytime soon! As far as I'm aware, the Florence & The Machine music is pretty much on hold and I haven't seen any Tour Date announcements. But it has always been a dream of mine (since I fell in love with their music) to see this amazingly talented band live! Please? They've sung so many good songs and I want the buzz of listening to my favourites in a live crowd!

5) 'The Hunting Party' Album by Linkin Park. I have always been, and probably will be for a pretty long time, a huge Linkin Park fan. Most of their music just seems to tick the right boxes for me and though their style changes quite a lot, I still find that I haven't really been all that disappointed with any of their albums. This one, I haven't actually got hold of (yet)! I would really like to.

Weekly Wishlist #19

1) 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' DVD. Okay so I'm missing Marvel. I'm getting serious withdrawal symptoms. 'Guardians Of The Galaxy' is coming out in August here in the UK and I'm excited for it. Not only that, but 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' also comes out on DVD in August! Hooray! I can't stop listening to the Soundtrack, so it is clear to me that I need to have this film. I loved it so much when I watched it in the cinema all those months ago, it is definitely one of the top Marvel films for me! The more I think about it, the more I reckon it has overtaken Iron Man 3 and made it to the top three...

2) 'The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Nighttime'; Mark Haddon. I heard about this book quite a while back though never actually read it. A friend of mine went on about it for days! I didn't really know what it was about until I got to go and watch the show in the Apollo Theatre in London. I fell in love with it and have had a real hankering to read the book ever since. I realised that it hadn't actually made one of these Wishlists yet so thought that should change! It certainly looks like a touching, fun story.



3) 'High Rise'; J.G. Ballard. I've been wanting to read more Classics as of late. I feel like I don't read them enough, despite the fact that the ones I have read I've really enjoyed. A class war in an Apartment block? This sounds like a strangely intriguing read! As well as my desire to read a classic or too, my all-time favourite actor, Tom Hiddleston, has been cast to play the lead in a film interpretation of the book and that's why of all the Classics, this one stood out as a 'must read soon'. I'd love to have read the book before I watch the film!



4) 'Sugar Hall'; Tiffany Murray. Does anyone else, other than me, get a desire to read a good Ghost story now and again? One such urge recently hit me, and I remembered reading about the synopsis for this highly reviewed book quite a while back! It certainly looks very scary, with a good plot (the most important part of a ghost story, for me) and I would be really happy if I got to read it at some point!





5) Disney 'The Legacy Collection: The Lion King' Soundtrack. Okay so this is one of those discoveries you make where you go 'Why on earth have I not heard of this before?'. Disney have released another version of the Lion King Soundtrack/Score (one of my favourites. But it gets better! It not only contains the original tracks of the soundtrack, but 30 minutes of previously unreleased score! I actually feel like I might be dreaming. This, accompanied with notes from Don Hahn (Producer) and Hans Zimmer (Composer) and some lovely artwork from Lorelay Bove, a visual development artist. And there's going to be a series! I'm definitely dreaming, right?

Weekly Wishlist #18

Well guys, as you probably know if you've been following, I am moving to London with my lovely boyfriend and a couple of his Uni friends. We've found a lovely flat that we like, we've signed some paperwork and I'm really excited! Of course nothing is concrete yet, but I thought I'd take the opportunity to write a list of things I'm looking forward to having/wishing for in the new flat. I was a little upset and grumpy yesterday but I'm feeling much more positive and happy today and I wanted to share that with you guys!

1) Bookshelves. Now of course this is such an obvious one, I have a huge collection of books and it needs to go somewhere! There isn't a huge amount of room in the flat for tons of shelf space, but I'm just really looking forward to being able to choose ones I like, what books go in them, how they are ordered, everything! As we'll be renting it will have to be a unit rather than shelves fixed onto the wall, and the ceilings arch off so I won't be able to have an overly tall one. But I'm just excited to organise everything!

2) DVD/Blu-Ray Stacks & TV Stand. Yesterday, Mat rang me up and told me that he was buying a heavily discounted TV (like, over half the price it should be) and PS4. Naturally I was a little taken aback at an impulse buy when we should be saving, but it was a good deal and I did really want them. Looking around furniture stores, I've realised that I might have an inner love for interior design that I had not previously realised I possessed. I really love books, and I'm also hugely obsessed with watching films so I would be needing lots of storage space for DVDs. I love this idea, I think it would be awesome! Then all of the TV related bits and bobs could go together! It's probably a bit out of my price range, and a little too tall but a nice idea!

3) A Desk. As Mat is still at Uni and I want to be writing/blogging in my spare time, a desk is basically a necessity in our room. I would love to get a really nice one that can store everything that is needed without taking up too much space. While browsing, I saw this one and thought it was gorgeous! You might have picked up that I'm a pretty minimalistic person, I don't like lots of decoration or embellishment on things. Simplicity makes me happy. And I am a huge fan of space saving too, so the idea of a corner work-station really appealed to me!


4) Dinner Sets. I have such a strange fixation on matching crockery and am looking forward to being able to get hold of my own! I really liked the look of this one (green is my favourite colour, so naturally this set was going to leap out at me). Plates, dishes, bowls, cups, as long as they match and look nice then I'm happy! 

5) Ornaments. Okay yes, I won't have much space in the house, and ornaments won't be the priority. But I'm looking forward to putting a little stamp on the flat, seeing as it will be my first home away from home! Again, I really like minimalist, particularly as this is by no means a permanent move. But I'm looking forward to making it look pretty!




Okay so actually this Wishlist was a little unexpected. I think the fact that I'm moving out is really hitting me and I keep getting these little bursts of excitement that make me realise how excited I am for a place to call my own (well mine shared with others, but I'm really looking forward to it). These may seem like really random things to be excited about but this is just a few things of many!

Weekly Wishlist #17

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

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

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

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

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

Weekly Wishlist #16

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




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





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




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




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

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!

Weekly Wishlist #13

I got up rather late this morning, and have been doing a lot of tidying, so this is coming a bit later than usual! Here are this week's picks! I'm going for a bit of a book theme today, after shopping with Bev on Friday I realised just how many I actually want! 

1) 'One Hundred Years Of Solitude'; Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Now I have only ever heard of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, I've never read a book of his. He's become something of a legend within the Author community and when he died recently, the Book Blogosphere was filled with tribute posts and sadness. The genre of Magical Realism has always been one I'd like to explore more deeply and having looked into this author's work, they sound like the kind of books I would enjoy! Not just fantasy, but deeper and more meaningful with a touch of magic to make things interesting. I would love to give them a go, and this book looks as good a place to start as any!

2) 'The Enchanted'; Rene Denfeld. Now this one has been on my TBR list for a while. Something about this book's synopsis and it's cover art has just drawn me in. Every time I scroll past it on my Goodreads list I stop and stare at it for a bit, then check to see how much it is on Amazon. It has gone in the basket and stayed there more times than I care to count. I honestly don't know why I haven't bought it yet! It just looks like a beautiful book to read and I'm really in the mood for something a bit deeper at the moment.

3) 'The Woodcutter'; Kate Danley. I must really be in the mood for some magic at the moment! My favourite genre of all, as most people know, is Fairy-Tale Re-Tellings. I stumbled upon this one quite by accident and was instantly drawn to the cover art. It is gorgeous! Having then read the synopsis, this looks like a fairy-tale and a half! This one doesn't just focus on one specific fairy-tale, but is set in a realm where they co-exist. It sounds like an intriguing idea and I'm keen to get into this one!

4) 'The Falconer'; Elizabeth May. I have never read a Steampunk novel before. It is another genre that looks like something I would really enjoy, but has somehow always eluded me. I was initially attracted to this one when I heard from so many reviewers that the Heroine was strong. There is nothing like a good, independent, badass heroine! But when I read the synopsis, I was initially surprised because I expected it to be different, then desperate to read it because it sounds like such a good book! A feisty main character, Faeries and a new genre I have yet to explore. Yes. Of course I want this book!

5) 'Howl's Moving Castle'; Diana Wynne Jones. So I've done quite a lot of exploring the new, let's go back to something more familiar. I am a real fan of Studio Ghibli films, and their adaption of this popular book is absolutely fantastic! It makes me really desperate to read the original story and revisit Howl, Sophie, Calcifer and even the Witch Of The Waste. Characters I have loved and watched many times. In short, I really want this book.

Like I said, this week is all books. Nothing else has really come up in anything else, and since I've only just had my Birthday, I'm in a pretty good place right now! I'm always desperate for more books though.

Weekly Wishlist #12

Just got back from doing a spot of shopping so I thought I had better do this Wishlist before I forget!

1) Tickets to see Trafalgar Transformed's 'Richard III'. It is no great secret that I am a fan of Shakespeare and I also happen to think that Martin Freeman is an incredible actor. So when I heard the two were combining? Of course I wanted tickets! I have never seen Richard III performed live before, it should be really good!

2) 'Sisters Red'; Jackson Pearce. This looks like such a great series of books. Seriously, I am a sucker for Fairy-tale re-tellings and I really want to read these ones! 'Sisters Red' is the first in the series, followed by 'Sweetly', 'Fathomless' and 'Cold Spell'. They look like really interesting reads, and have been rated pretty highly. This one in particular is a re-telling of 'Little Red Riding Hood' which is one of my all time favourite fairy-tales. Pretty please?




3) 'A Monster Calls'; Patrick Ness. Okay before I say anything, how creepy is that cover art? I love it! I've heard a lot about Patrick Ness' books recently and I really would like to start getting into them. He gets so many high reviews and having read the synopsis for this one it sounds like my kind of book! I'm also intrigued by the fact that the idea was originally Siobhan Dowd (who wrote the beautiful 'A Swift, Pure Cry'). It certainly looks worth a read!



4) 'Ultraviolence', Lana Del Rey. On my 'Life Of A Blogger' post a couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I was a bit of a fan of Lana Del Rey. I think her voice is just gorgeous and I like to listen to her songs no matter what mood I'm in! I'm so excited that she has another album coming out! It won't be released until June, and the sooner that date comes, the better! The songs on this particular album are apparently a little darker than some of her previous work so I'm certainly intrigued!


5) 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' DVD. I was completely blown away by this movie when I saw it in the cinema! 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' is such a hilarious film, the acting was superb and the concept very original. I really liked it a lot and it seems that it will be released on DVD very soon. I would really love to get my hands on a copy to watch the film again, I enjoyed it so much!





This week's Wishlist is complete! My birthday is very, very soon now. I can't wait to see if I can cross a few things off of some of these lists I've been making!

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.