Last Week's Shenanigans (11th - 17th July)...

Once again, a seemingly quiet week has turned into a rather exciting one for me! To start with, on Monday I went with Mat and my flat mate's to see Romeo & Juliet at the Garrick Theatre for Tash's birthday surprise! Unfortunately Richard Madden was indisposed and unable to perform as Romeo, which was mostly the reason we had booked it, but we still really loved it and I'm proud to say I've finally seen Derek Jacobi perform live! He was outstanding! Lily James also did a really great job, and I felt that the understudy for Romeo was really good considering he had such big shoes to fill.

I also worked for four days only this week (I'd booked holiday) and during that time it's been officially confirmed: I've been promoted! I'm so happy and have waited for this for ages so I'm glad to finally be given the opportunity. On Saturday I took the day off and travelled down to my home town in preparation for a big party that evening for Tash. It was themed around the 1920s and I had a lot of fun which was a really huge deal for me because socialising, parties and drinking are big anxiety triggers for me. I was happy to be a wallflower for most of it but did make an effort to mingle more, especially with Tash's pets! We stayed with Mat's parents for the night, as Tash's actual birthday falls on the same day as Mat's Mums! We had such a nice day with his family, and it included a really nice barbecue and time spent outside in the sunshine. Britain's weather is really being nice as of late and I think that Summer is finally here! Let's see how long that lasts...

I Read:

I Received:

- 'The Witch's Kiss' by Katharine Korr & Elizabeth Korr: Approved by Netgalley (11/07/16)
- 'In Their Shoes' by Julia Nicholson et al.: Approved by Edelweiss (11/07/16)
- 'Holding Up The Universe' by Jenifer Niven: Approved by Netgalley (12/07/16)

Memes:

Top Ten Tuesday: General Facts About Me

Book Review: Angels & Demons; Dan Brown.

As much as I usually avoid books that have so much controversy like the plague, I couldn't deny that when I some of a Dan Brown 'Robert Langdon' book over my boyfriend's shoulder, I actually enjoyed it. I was intrigued to see if the book itself was all that terrible, despite the amount of criticism Dan Brown receives. Also, it fits nicely into my monthly Key Word challenge so, why not?

SOURCE: Borrowed
TYPE: Paperback

TITLE: Angels & Demons
AUTHOR: Dan Brown
SERIES: Robert Langdon (#1)
PUBLISHER: Barnes & Noble Classics
PAGES: 386
GENRE: Adult, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense

RATING: 3/5 Stars

Blurb:
When world-renowned Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is summoned to a Swiss research facility to analyse a mysterious symbol—seared into the chest of a murdered physicist—he discovers evidence of the unimaginable: the resurgence of an ancient secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati...the most powerful underground organisation ever to walk the earth. The Illuminati has now surfaced to carry out the final phase of its legendary vendetta against its most hated enemy—the Catholic Church.

Langdon’s worst fears are confirmed on the eve of the ’s holy conclave, when a messenger of the Illuminati announces they have hidden an unstoppable time bomb at the very heart of Vatican City. With the countdown under way, Langdon jets to Rome to join forces with Vittoria Vetra, a beautiful and mysterious Italian scientist, to assist the Vatican in a desperate bid for survival.

Embarking on a frantic hunt through sealed crypts, dangerous catacombs, deserted cathedrals, and even the most secretive vault on earth, Langdon and Vetra follow a 400-year-old trail of ancient symbols that snakes across Rome toward the long-forgotten Illuminati lair...a clandestine location that contains the only hope for Vatican salvation.

What I Liked:

• No one can deny that even if the end of chapter cliff-hangers are cheesy and worthy of a little bit of eye-rolling, Dan Brown does suspense and fast-paced action very well. This book was a real page-turner! I loved that feeling of time running out, and watching the character's run from place to place, trying to figure out what do next and in time before the villain had his way. When I read a thriller, this is the kind of heart-pounding action I expect to see.
• The mystery itself was also very good. I figured a fair amount of it out (including the big 'real villain' twist) about halfway through. Nevertheless, it wasn't easy to do and I liked that Brown threw in a couple of red herrings to throw people off the scent. It was difficult to know who to trust in this one and that's something I really appreciate in books like this.

What I Disliked:

• There are a lot of inconsistencies in this book. If a novel revolves around a specific area of history, I expect an author to do his or her research and I was so disappointed that upon looking some of this stuff up, most of it was just plain wrong. Especially as Brown himself is doing nothing to amend his mistakes or pass it off as made up for fictional purposes only. As he has such a huge fan-base, I feel he really has a responsibility to make any real-life historical inaccuracy clear.
• While the characters weren't terrible, they weren't overly likeable either. In fact, in some instances, they were plain annoying. Langdon is supposed to be the hero but while witty, came across as a bumbling slow fool going through a mid-life crisis most of the time. Vittoria's energy I loved to begin with, as I thought Brown was writing her as a strong, independent woman. In the end though, she still ended up being the damsel in distress and it grated on me slightly. The romance was like a nerdier version of James Bond - not in any way sexy and slightly uncomfortable to watch unfold.

Overall Conclusion:

I don't think this was a bad book. As far as thrillers go (a genre that I don't tend to enjoy so much) I actually quite liked it! There was a great deal of good pacing: thrills and twists galore, cliffhangers and fast-paced dashing around Rome. The mystery at the heart of it all was interesting, and I would have liked to see it explored more factually, but unfortunately Brown did resort to lazy untruths that he didn't even try to pass off as an alternative historic timeline. There are a lot of historical inaccuracies in this book and I'm so disappointed because everyone knows that well-researched world-building is top priority for a lot of books when I read them. Also, I would have liked some better crafted characters that weren't just 'okay' so that I could actually be invested in the situation a lot more.

Top Ten Tuesday: My picks for 'General Facts About Me'.

I'm glad to see a topic that takes a bit of a break from books. Facts about me is probably going to turn out to be a lot harder than I think but I think I'm going to enjoy thinking of them nonetheless.

1) I grew up in Kent, England.

Living in London, not everyone will know that I wasn't actually born here. Instead, I grew up in a medium-sized town called Ashford which only really boasts an 'International' train student and Designer Outlet. I remember living in two houses while being there, but the second was definitely my favourite. Places like Canterbury also played a huge part in my life and though the Secondary vs. Grammar school system isn't really found in England anymore, I did attend an all-girls Grammar School and for the most part, loved it.

2) I've been with Mat for 6 and a half years.

I've mentioned my partner in crime Mat a lot on this blog, but I haven't really talked much about how long we've been together. We met while we were both at school (he went to the all-boys grammar nearby) and we've ended up staying together ever since we started dating. A lot of people are surprised by the huge amount of time we've been together, especially as I'm only in my early twenties! It's been a wonderful ride from beginning to end though!

3) I'm scared of spiders, drowning and...hole-like patterns?

Arachnophobia is common enough when it comes to things that people are afraid of, so I don't think I need to explain myself there. Drowning is probably a more rational thing to be scared of, but what it means is that I can't swim because I'm too scared to learn. I hate watching drowning scenes in films or on TV and can't easily read them in books either. As for hole-like patterns, it's not officially a phobia but Trypophobia is a real thing and I defy most people not to look it up and instantly feel sick or uncomfortable.

4) I am very anxious.

Since a very young age I've been a worrier. More so than most people around me, and it has affected my life on so many levels that I get very angry when people try to tell me that anxiety is just a 'state of mind'. I have half-hour panic attacks before calling people, I can't easily talk to people in retail situations despite working in retail myself, I lay awake at night thinking about stupid or embarrassing situations from six years ago and feel horrible butterflies in my stomach. It knocks my confidence and self-worth. I'm glad I have such supportive friends and family around me to help me cope.

5) I adore the Theatre.

Before I really got into writing and set up this book blog, I really wanted to be an actress. I lived for singing and performance and could never quite get over the magic of the stage. I even studied it at University for three years and came out with a First! My favourite thing to do now is watch musicals or dramas on stage and I often frequent the West-End theatres that are now just minutes from my house.

6) My first car was a Fiat Punto.

I actually shared this car with Mat (we'd swap it between houses) in order to bring down the insurance cost. Despite the fact that it had it's issues (every first car does) Mat and I loved this car to bits. We named her Phoebe after the crazy, loveable 'Friends' character and I have to say that she definitely lived up to that name. At times she was my best friend, but she definitely had the odd tantrum that made us fall out (i.e. engine cutting out for NO REASON for a little while, power steering doing the same every so often, etc.). Phoebe was the best first car ever and I was so sad when we had to sell her upon moving to London.

7) Despite loving animals, I've never had many pets.

My family are all pretty big animal lovers, and find dogs and cats adorable. The problem is, my Dad is quite severely allergic to them, resulting in a childhood filled only with small rodents as pets. My sister and I had Guinea Pigs to begin with, named Amy and Emma. We really loved them and I have never felt more proud than when I became 'old enough' for my Dad to teach me to look after them. Did you know that Guinea Pigs purr? Well they do and it's awesome! Later on, my parents caved and we got Gerbils: Princess and Jasmine (the Disney pun was not intended. I loved the gerbils too, though sadly they were considerably more inclined to bite and a little less fun to look after. I still look forward to, at some point, being able to get a cat or dog of my own.

8) I have a very varied music taste.

There are songs in just about every genre that I end up enjoying immensely. I'd say folk and indie are my favourite genre, though I'm inclined to a bit of rock/metal from time to time too. It really depends what I'm in the mood for, and I have to say that most of the time it's lyricless film compositions. Seriously, I get so hooked on the accompanying scores for various films/TV shows/games and I could listen to them all day. When people ask me who my favourite artists are I can normally answer them, but in my head I think about my favourite composers too (a question no one ever asks).

9) I'm extremely interested in Fairy Tales, folklore, myths and legends.

This is often reflected in my fictional reading tastes as I love retellings, but these originals are probably my favourite stories of all time. Fairy Tales used to feed my imagination to no end when I was a child, and the same can be said when I learnt about Ancient History and their various Gods and Myths. So fascinating! History has always been a topic I enjoy and while the more recent historic events are interesting, I always love to learn about the great civilisations of the past.

10) My dream holiday destination is Japan.

I have never been to Japan, but through the influence of various media outlets, I have absolutely fallen for this country. The views there look stunning, the festivals so fun, and it's the home to Pokemon, Studio Ghibli and other such favourites of mine. I love the cultural aspect too and hope that someday I'll be able to take a long period of time out to visit it! Please?

Last Week's Shenanigans (4th July - 10th July)...

While in terms of actual activities this week hasn't been all that exciting, Monday turned out to be very fruitful for Mat and I. You may all know that we're currently on the hunt for a flat to rent together (our first 'home', just us two) and we finally found a nice one on Monday afternoon! Our offer has been accepted so we're just waiting on all of the paperwork to go through and fingers crossed, it'll be ours! I've never felt more excited for a place to call mine, and I can't stop looking up things I want to buy for the flat itself: kitchen utensils, cushions, you name it I've thought about it. I didn't realise how much I love interior design until now! Whatsmore, I have some very exciting things coming up at work which I'm super hyped about, but I won't say anything until it's all official.

Other than those exciting developments, not a lot happened. I had to swap a few shifts around meaning I actually didn't get a day off on Sunday like usual. Instead, I worked which wasn't a whole lot of fun. One of the ladies at work is leaving though so after our shift, we all went to a nearby Italian for a meal. The company was wonderful though sadly I can't say the same for the restaurant experience. Still, it was a nice night out that left me totally shattered and glad for a day off the next day. 

I Read:

I Received:

--

Memes:

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Enjoyed That Have Under 2000 Ratings On Goodreads

Book Review: The Jungle Books; Rudyard Kipling.

Amazingly, I actually managed to read two books in one and didn't realise it until I was halfway through the second. I had no idea that (a) 'The Jungle Book' is a collection of only fourteen short stories, and (b) that 'The Second Jungle Book' existed. What I actually ended up reading this month was both of those collections combined, and I'm pretty pleased about this turn of events! So here is my review of 'The Jungle Books' which is both the first and the second combined together!

SOURCE: Bought
TYPE: E-Read

TITLE: The Jungle Books
AUTHOR: Rudyard Kipling
SERIES: The Jungle Books (#1 & #2)
PUBLISHER: Barnes & Noble Classics
PAGES: 386
GENRE: Children's, Classic, Adventure, Short Stories

RATING: 3.5/5 Stars

Blurb:
Rudyard Kipling pours fuel on childhood fantasies with his tales of Mowgli, lost in the jungles of India as a child and adopted into a family of wolves. Mowgli is brought up on a diet of Jungle Law, loyalty, and fresh meat from the kill. Regular adventures with his friends and enemies among the Jungle-People--cobras, panthers, bears, and tigers--hone this man-cub's strength and cleverness and whet every reader's imagination. 

Mowgli's story is interspersed with other tales of the jungle, such as "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi," lending depth and diversity to our understanding of Kipling's India. In much the same way Mowgli is carried away by the Bandar-log monkeys, young readers will be caught up by the stories, swinging from page to page, breathless, thrilled, and terrified.

What I Liked:

• The idea behind this book is extraordinarily clever and Kipling paints a very interesting picture of both India, and his time period through the eyes of the animals he encounters. It is clear that he was interested in them and knew a lot about their behaviours, and I liked that he came up with such creative ideas as to what the animals themselves thought of humans. Favourite stories for this included 'Her Majesty's Servants' in which a young soldier who understands animal speech eavesdrops on the animals in camp, and 'How Fear Came' in which Hathi the elephant tells Mowgli how man was created and Shere Khan's ancestral history.
• Comparing the differences between film adaptations that I've seen of the story, and these books. Characters such as Baloo and Kaa change, the first being old and wise rather than comical, and the second actually being a very good friend of Mowgli's. Other characters such as King Louis are nowhere to be seen, as the monkeys are a total law unto themselves. The book is also a lot more violent than the films which is as it should be, because the Jungle is a very dangerous place. There is blood and gore and animals behaving like...well...animals.
• I enjoyed that not all of the stories focused on Mowgli's adventures my favourite being 'Rikki-Tikki-Tavi', about a mongoose who protects a human family from snakes that wish him harm and another that I liked was 'The Undertakers' which told of three hated river-dwellers: the Mugger Crocodile, the Jackal and the Adjutant Stork who have a conversation about man. In fact, not all of them even focused on the Jungle either, as 'The White Seal' is from the perspective of a Northern-furred seal and 'Quiquern' follows an Inuit family! All very interesting, well-researched and at times funny to read.

What I Disliked:

• Not all of the characters were as loveable or strong as in adaptations I've seen. Mowgli actually irritated me throughout this book quite a lot, and I didn't really root for him at all. I miss his naive, young innocence which Kipling actually wrote to be a boyish arrogance. Shere Khan is also not the great villain that used to terrify me and poses as not much more than a minor annoyance who turns out to be easily outsmarted in the end. A real shame as there were so many great things about this book otherwise!
• Kipling's writing style is a bit of a trawl to get through, and this is mostly due to it's set time period. Some conversations have to be reread more than once in order to fully understand the gist of them, and I often found myself skimming parts of this book because the text became confusing or laborious to read. This is probably the biggest reason that I didn't end up giving this book a glowing five-star review!

Overall Conclusion:

This was a really fun read with some great stories and I'm so glad I got to read both books in one rather than just one set of the stories without finishing Mowgli's journey off. Kipling researched both setting and animals well and he had clearly studied their behaviours and then wrote the laws of the jungle and various animal observations around that. Kipling was true to the nature of animals too and 'The Jungle Books' are violent and bloody at times, despite being children's books. At times the writing style was difficult and that brought down it's overall rating by quite a bit. Nevertheless, I am so pleased by this read and hope to delve into Kipling's work at some point in the future.

Top Ten Tuesday: My picks for 'Books I Enjoyed That Have Under 2000 Ratings On Goodreads.'

I have been looking forward to this category ever since I saw it on the list! I love recommending books that are underrated to people, and a good way to find out the books that truly are is by seeing how many Goodreads ratings they have!

1) 'Pantomime' by Laura Lam.

Number Of Ratings: 1754

I absolutely adore this read, which is quite recent, and if you're a fan of diversity in your characters then you should too. Because the MC is androgynous! The story focuses on Gene, who is raised to be a girl by her noble family but feels like she's neither male nor female. In an attempt to run away from those who feel like they're 'fixing' her, she becomes Micah a young trapeze artist. There's plenty of Fantasy and drama involved but I was just so impressed by Lam's writing style and originality.

2) 'Seven Ways We Lie' by Riley Redgate.

Number Of Ratings: 770

Every teen should read this book. Period. It just covers issues that teenagers face so well and did a great job of representing a high school environment that is actually relateable. In short, this book focuses on the lives of seven teens who each face challenges and problems and their individual story threads intertwine into wonderful finale. I loved the complex characters that Redgate wrote too, each representing a 'sin' but having their own distinctively positive traits to match. This is also a great book for diverse casting: there's even an openly Pansexual character!

3) 'Neverland' by Shari Arnold.

Number Of Ratings: 142

I'm shocked and appalled at how little attention this book has received. It completely blew me away: writing, story-line and the awesome Peter Pan references made it a clear winner in my eyes. It deals with the tough subject of bereavement well and I really liked what Arnold managed here. 'Neverland' tells the story of Livy Cloud, whose recent loss of her younger sister to a terminal illness has left her heartbroken. Meeting the mysterious Meyer changes all of that and she's drawn into a world that makes her curious to live again. At times it was a little dark too and delved into the realms of sinister, but this book gave me that special kind of feeling that only comes when you read something really good.

4) 'Sunbolt' by Intisar Khanani.

Number Of Ratings: 1262

Intisar Khanani is one of my favourite writers. She's blown me away with (so far) two majorly awesome books that were short, yet filled to the brim with action, adventure and incredibly strong female characters. I'm a huge fan. Hitomi, the MC of this extraordinary Fantasy novella, has magical powers that she must hide in order to survive. The political intrigue, magical system and stealthy heroine were certainly enough to draw me into a gorgeously intriguing prequel to 'Memories Of Ash' which I'm looking forward to reading soon!

5) 'The Sunken' by S.C. Green.

Number Of Ratings: 47

While Steampunk isn't my usual read, this is the book that made me wonder if it could be a genre that I need to get more of. Green takes a whole lot of crazy elements; alternate Victorian London, churches built to worship the arts and technological innovation, vampiric creatures that are created by a mad King George and dragons. Then, she just...makes them work. I'm still waiting on the sequel for this one, but I'm so blown away by how creatively everything drew together and the writing itself was really very good.

6) 'The Tale Of Raw Head & Bloody Bones' by Jack Wolf.

Number Of Ratings: 509

I will never stop rooting for this book. It was my first read for this blog and while the grammar use took a bit of getting used to, it was just so clever. Tristan Hart is a young, bright lad searching for an opportunity to heal people and learn more about the human condition. The problem is that he suffers from secret delusions and desires, that could cost him both his place in renowned scientific circles, and the lives of those he cares about. It is a very dark read, but I loved the mix of unexpected romance, fantastical gypsies and fairies and a well-researched historical fiction. Bravo!

7) 'Thin Air' by Michelle Paver.

Number Of Ratings: 22

This ghost story was a very recent read of mine and I loved it. Set in the 1930s, it tells the tale of a mountaineering expedition that plans to follow in the footsteps of one that failed thirty years prior. One in which two survived, but five died...and only four of them laid to rest. There was a great mix of atmosphere and supernatural events in this chilling book and Paver's writing blew me away. Anyone who fancies settling down with a relatively short, spooky read should consider this top of the list.

8) 'Good Kings, Bad Kings' by Susan Nussbaum.

Number Of Ratings: 1466

This book is a diamond in the rough. It has probably the most diverse character list I've ever seen in a book and tells it's story through such an array of real characters that I wanted to read it over and over when I'd finished it. It's subject is the US mental health system and residents found in nursing homes there. This book challenges the idea of disability and the stereotypes surrounding it. There's representation for the physically disabled and those suffering from mental health issues, as well as an ethnically diverse cast and great LGBT presence too. Seriously, just read this book!

9) 'Beautiful Broken Things' by Sara Barnard.

Number Of Ratings: 763

I'm fairly sure that as this book has made it into Zoella's brand new book club, it won't stay at a low rating score for long. But I'm going to rave about it anyway. Ladies and gentleman: a book that focuses on friendship. There's no romance to be found here which I really enjoyed because I feel like too many YA books tell teens that finding the love of their life is top priority. There's a lot of issues to explore in this gem of a book: toxic friendship, abuse, mental health, suicide, jealousy etc. It's a fantastic debut from a UK author that writes beautifully.

10) 'Spinning Starlight' by R.C. Lewis.

Number Of Ratings: 953

It's been a while since I read this book but it mostly makes the cut because it's a sci-fi take on an unusual Fairy Tale that doesn't receive much attention. Liddi, the female lead who goes on a mission to rescue her captured brothers from being trapped inside a portal, was very smart and not too reckless which I was glad about. I liked meeting the various alien species, the romantic sub-plot didn't get in the way too much and the planet concepts were super cool! I'm intrigued t read 'Stitching Snow' another Sci-Fi Fairy Tale retelling!

Last Week's Shenanigans (27th June - 3rd July)...

Despite the fact that the week has not been busy as a whole, it has still felt very big to me. Monday was probably the busiest day. Having stayed the night at my parents, we spent most of the morning milling about before heading to a hairdressing appointment early afternoon. Then, we spent the rest of the afternoon with Mat's family which was nice. I got so much reading done! Monday was so vital in my managing to catch up with all of my June reading! We returned home and watched the final Game Of Thrones episode which was a roller-coaster of emotions from beginning to end and I'm so sad that we now have to wait so long for Season 7!

The rest of the week was of course spent at work, but when we weren't slaving away I actually found time to watch a lot of TV as well as everything else. Tash and I majorly caught up on Once Upon A Time Season 5, so we only have a couple of episodes to go now. The flat generally have also been watching Orange Is The New Black and while they're only a few episodes in, I'm pretty impressed with the season so far. At work, I also received a pretty big shock, which led onto an amazing new opportunity that I can't really share as of yet. But I'm excited now and I can't wait for the next few week's developments. Sunday, my day off, actually ended up being pretty productive: I blogged, I cleaned, I cooked and I sorted some things that have been hanging over my head for a while out.

I Read:

I Received:

- 'A Boy Made Of Blocks' by Keith Stuart: Approved on Netgalley (27/06)
- 'The Book Of Lost Things' by John Connolly: Bought on Amazon (03/07)

Memes:

Top Ten Tuesday: Series That I STILL Need To Catch Up On
Six Degrees Of Separation: #ZoellaBookClub Choice

I Posted:

June Wrap-Up
Planned Reads For July
Story Sprites Sign-Up Post