2016 Reading Resolution Review and 2017 Reading Resolutions

I love January as there’s loads of bookish posts! So far I’ve had my Top Books of 2016, Book Riot Read Harder Reading Challenge 2016 Review, 2016 Reading Stats (lots of graphs and nerdy maths!) as well as my review for the amazing Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. I still have a few more posted planned and this post is to go through my 2016 Reading Resolutions to see how I got on and to put down some new resolutions for this year.

2016 Resolutions Review

1. Do the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge

This I successfully completed! You can read my wrap up post here where I list out all the books I read for the challenge and my overall thoughts on it.

2. Reduce the Amount of Books I Own

This one wasn’t a great success. Partly because I won some books and partly because I read so many NetGalley books.

3. Read 90 Books

This I completed, I read 129 books. But a lot of these were graphic novels and single short stories. Though even discounting those books I still managed to read 90 books, which surprised me as I thought it would be under 90 so I’m pleased with that.

4. Read more Irish Authors

Yes I did this! I did my all Irish March again (well, minus one book this year towards the end of the month), but while in 2014 I read all Irish authors I hadn’t read before, this year I read a mix of new and favourites. And I continued to read more Irish authors during the year, including reading Donal Ryan for the first time when I read the excellent All We Should Know.

 

So my goals last year were small and realistic enough. And this year they will be similiar.

2017 Reading Resolutions

1. Read 52 Books

So I lowered my goal this year to 52, a book a week. And seeing as I plan to continue reading graphic novels this will be an achievable goal. I lowered it though because I wanted to concentrate more on quality and not quantity. Not that I think I was trying to achieve that last year but I do think the higher goal made me shy away from larger books and books I’d read at a slower rate.

2. Read more non-fiction

Now this is going to be a tricky one in one sense. I already read non-fiction so it’s not much of a challenge but I read less non-fiction last year and I think it’s partly to do with the larger reading goal on Goodreads. I tend to read non-fiction at a slower rate and I think I shied away because it takes me longer to read non-fiction. But I’m not going to force myself to read non-fiction or make it a target I have to meet. I just want to be less hesitant to pick up non-fiction.

3. Lessen the amount of books I own

I need to try pick books off my shelf more often, I have loads that look interesting and need to get excited by them again. Again I’m not going to put a target on it (I want to lower it by X amount or more books out than in) but it’s something I want to be more conscious about it.

4. Read more Irish authors

I’ve seen a lot of people online committing to a British Books Challenge for 2017 and I want to continue supporting local home talent and read Irish authors. I’m going to do an All Irish March again, I think I’ll try and concentrate on new authors for then as well if I can. I have a big list from last year that I didn’t get to try all of so I have plenty of talent and books to try.

5. Book Riot Read Harder 2017 Challenge, Pop Sugar 2017 Challenge and BookTubeAThon

I’ve decided to stick with the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge as my main challenge as I liked the format last year and enjoyed it. I might try and do the Pop Sugar one as well but instead of just one book per prompt I might try and use one boo for 2 or more prompts so I can get through the list faster. I plan on doing BooTubeAThon should it be on again (and I’m sure it will be).

So nothing that do or exciting to be honest but I’m happy with these goals for the year. I want to less pressures to have a high reading count and just enjoy my reading for the year.

Do you have any reading resolutions? Let me know in the comments below!

2016 Reading Stats

Hello! The past 2 years I’ve taken a look at my reading habits for the years (here’s 2014 stats and 2015 stats). I like seeing the changes from the year before.

Fiction to Non-Fiction Breakdown

So again I read more books than the year before and read more fiction books. The percentage of non-fiction books I’ve read has gone from 35% in 2014, to 29% in 2015 to 20% in 2016. This is something I was aware of and tried to address by doing Non-Fiction November and will be something I’ll try not to shy away from in 2017.

 

Physical Books vs E-Books vs Audiobooks

So there’s some changes again this year when it comes to the way I read books. For physicals books I went from 51% in 2014 to 56% in 2015 down to 49% in 2016. E-books had seen a drop in 2015 (35% from 2014’s 45%) and in 2016 46% of the books I read were in e-book format. And while I read the same amount of audiobooks in 2015 and 2016 (7 in all), the % dropped down to 5%.

 

Female to Male Authors

2016 has seen another rise in the amount of female authors I read, even though it’s a very small amount. 60% in 2014, 65% in 2015 and 66% in 2016. It was a bit trickier to measure it this year as I read a lot of books that had more than one author, especially graphic novels. I chose the first or main author credited with the work. It’s not a perfect system, I know, but I don’t think it would have changed things that much doing it another more complicated way.

This year I also saved the Goodreads Stats that the website provided me which was fun!

Other fun facts

-My library books (physical and audio for this year, no e-boos) increased this year. 2014 it was 33, last year it was 29 and this year it was a whopping 52!

-My NetGalley books also greatly increased, I read 51 books through NetGalley (2014 it was 14 and 2015 it was 17)

-Out of my own books I read 8 of them, which is pretty bad (I only counted physical books even though I also read e-books and audiobooks that I had purchased.). This was a decrease from 2015’s 17 books and only a slight improvement from 6 books in 2014.

From this I’m going to think about my reading resolutions, I have a few ideas about what I want to concentrate for the upcoming year and I’ll have a post up in next week or so.

Top Books of 2016

This year I managed to read 129 books. This is partly because I read a lot of graphic novels and shorter texts like short stories and plays. Because of this I’ve decided to split my favourite books into four categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Graphic Novels and YA. I just want to point out that I don’t YA fiction in a different category to my fiction because I think it’s ‘lesser’ or anything. In fact it’s because I wanted to highlight it more as I love reading YA and thought it would be interesting to have it’s own category. The graphic novels are a mix of fiction and graphic memoirs (easier to just say graphic novels overall). Also the books are in no particular order when it comes to favouritism, it was hard enough to pick 5 books for each category, let alone put them in order!

Top 5 Fiction Books 2016

1. All We Shall Know by Donal Ryan. Ok, I know I just said there’s no particular order but this might be my favourite. It’s hard to call! Ryan just writes so beautifully and poetically and not to the determinent to the plot which was great too. Review

2. The Muse by Jessie Burton. Last year The Miniaturist got an honourable mention. I loved The Muse though, Burton is another effortless writer and with lots of little twists and turns you’ll be guessing all the details down to the end. Review

3. The Trespasser by Tana French. All hail Queen Tana! I met here at the Irish Book Awards and was excited to chat to her for a few minutes. The Trespasser is book 6 in the Dublin Murder Squad and follows tough cookie Antoinette Conway. I love how French gets the tone of each character right and how to book has you on tenterhooks waiting to see how everything plays out. Review

4. The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney. Winner of the 2016 Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction, McInerney shows us several characters on the grittier side of life in Cork, linking together the likes of a big career criminal and his mother, 15 year old drug seller and his abusive alcoholic father, a nosy do gooder, and a drug addicted prostitute. Grim and gritty with a side of humour. Review

5. A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. I loved this book set on a spaceship. There’s some action but in between I loved hearing about the life on board the spaceship and all the different alien species. It was heartwarming and fun and I also enjoyed A Closed and Common Orbit, set in the same world with some of the minor characters from the first book. Review

Honourable mentions to Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent, The Trouble With Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon, Sofia Khan is Not Obliged by Ayisha Malik, Poison City by Paul Crilley and the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger

 

Top 5 Non-Fiction Books 2016

1. Grunt by Mary Roach. I adore Mary Roach books and this one we get to hear the science behind the army and war. Review

2. Animal by Sara Pascoe. I read a lot of feminist non-fiction this year and this was probably my favourite. It’s not perfect and lacks intersectionality (something Sara is aware of and addresses) but it made me laugh out loud and got me thinking. Review

3. Forensics by Val McDermid. Fascinating insight to the different fields of study in forensics, without being too heavy and highlights postitives and negetives of each study. Review

4. Mandela: An Audio History by Desmond Tutu. This is short, just over an hour long but packed full of information, interviews and news clips. Almost brought me to tears on the train while listening to it. Review

5. The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell. The author moves to Denmark for a year and spends that time researching what makes the country the happiest place in the world, while trying to navigate the new culture and language. Review

 

Top YA Books 2016

1. The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson. David has a secret to tell his family: that he’s actually a girl. Leo is new in school and wants to stay hidden. Together they help each other deal with friends, family, bullies and being oneself. Review

2. When We Collided by Emery Lord. Vivi is a whirlwind that arrives in town one summer and instantly falls for Jonah and his family. Jonah and Vivi are polar opposites but he helps her with her bipolar condition and she helps him with his grief of losing his father. Review

3. Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. Another one set on a spaceship, this follows Kady and Erza, a couple who have just split up the day a big corporation attacks their planet. They end up on different escape ships and this book is a series of documents, interviews, diary entries and IMs as the two try to work out what’s happening in their lives. Review

4. One by Sarah Crossan. Told in free verse form, One is the story of conjoined twins Tippy and Grace who go to school for the first time when they turn 16. Beautiful and unique. Review

5. The Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton. Gritty and determined Amani enters a shooting competition dressed as a boy so she can win money and leave town. I loved the western vibe of this book as well as the magical realism elements. Review

 

Top Graphic Novels 2016

1. Lumberjanes by Noelle Stevenson. 5 kick ass girls at a summer camp who get into all sorts of mysteries and fun. Love the characters and their friendships together. Review

2. Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton. Part historical humour, part modern day observations, this book had me chuckling outloud several times. Review

3. Ms Marvel by G Willow Wilson. Kamala Khan, an ordinary Muslim schoolgirl in New Jersey, suddenly has superpowers and must learn to balance all aspects of her life. Cameo of a well known Marvel character in Volume 2 had me squealing! Review

4. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. 3 different stories that eventually come together (which I LOVED) and deals with racism and acceptance. Review

5. Saga by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples. Fantastic space opera that is full of violence, bad language and sex. I read the first 5 volumes back to back! Review

Honourable mentions Paper Girls by Brian K. Vaughan, Jane, the Fox and Me by Fanny Britt, Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol and Blankets by Craig Thompson.

 

And that’s my 2016 books! If you’ve read any of the books above or have any questions please leave a comment below

Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards 2016

Hello! Last week I won the chance to go to the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards and had a fantastic time. The awards were on at the DoubleTree Hilton Hotel in Dublin and I was in the green room along with Chloe from Nurse Fancy Pants and the other competition winners. The awards were hosted in one hotel room, with all nominees, agents and industry people and then the winners were interviewed in the green room by Evelyn O’Rourke. We were really well looked after, we got a lovely buffet dinner, free drinks and a goodie bag too.

 

 

I have read three of the winning books: Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent which won The Ryan Tubridy Show Listeners’ Choice Award, The Trespasser by Tana French which won the Crime Fiction Book of the Year and Making It Up As I Go Along by Marian Keyes which won Popular Non-Fiction Book of the Year (I’ve also read two other nominated books: Flawed by Cecelia Ahern and All We Shall Know by Donal Ryan). Hearing the winning authors talk about their books was fantastic, I’ve added several more to my TBR like Holding by Graham Norton and The Knights of the Borrowed Dark by Dave Rudden (which I actually own a copy of thanks to the Penguin Ireland books I won earlier this year). After all the interviews were done we had a chance to mingle with everyone. Chloe and I managed to get briefly chat to Paul O’Connell and Graham Norton before getting pictures with them (they were probably the most in demand that night and also so lovely and patient!). And I also got to talk to Tana French who was just so nice, The Trespasser has genuinely been one of my favourite books this year and it was great to meet one of my favourite authors.

 

 

I had a such a lovely evening, it was great to finally meet Chloe and we only stopped talking to each other when we were busy drinking wine! Thanks Bord Gáis Energy for the chance to go, I had a fantastic time!

Autumn Wishlist 2016

I LOVE Autumn! It’s my favourite time of the year. I love the leaves, the weather, hot drinks, knitted goods and Halloween. Last year I did a Winter Wishlist, it really put me in the mood for the season. So I just had to do an autumn one too!



1. Walk in some crunchy leaves. Is there anything better in autumn than some jumping in some beautiful coloured leaves?!

2. Take some pictures of these aformentioned pretty leaves.

3. Make some soup. Autumn is just perfect soup weather. I love French Onion Soup and Butternut Squash soup but I have a soup board on my Pinterest as I want to try some new ones.


4. Pick blackberries. I used to do this a lot with my grandmother and there’s always plenty of blackberries along the roads back home.

5. Make blackberry vodka. I’ve wanted to try this since seeing it on Rosalilium and really I don’t make as much vodka infusions as I’d like to!

6. Knit some pumpkins. I seem to have lost my knitting mojo these days so I’m hoping knitting some pumpkins be a fun way to bring it back!

7. Buy a scented candle. I don’t often buy or use scented candles but I want to buy a seasonal one, something warm and cosy! If you have any suggestions let me know below.

8. Decorate the place. I don’t ever decorate for autumn or Halloween but I might try putting something together, even if it’s just the mantle piece. Plus I need to use my knitted pumpkins somewhere!


9. Do some nail art. I did these nails Autumn Blaze nails two years ago and loved them. I want to recreate them and also do some more fun autumn themed nails. Not to mention Halloween nails! I have some already like my Sugar Skull nails, Pumpkin nails and Multi Design Halloween nails but there’s loads more I want to try out.

10. Make a chai latte. I don’t drink hot drinks all that often but autumn makes me crave them. I speficially want to try make a masala chai latte. I probably have most the ingredients already!

11. Other autumn crafting. So I mentioned knitting above but I might try busting out some paints and trying a watercolour. Failing that I’ve found some colouring pages on Everything Etsy that will be perfect to colour in using oranges, reds and yellows.

12. Make a playlist. Pinterest is awash with Halloween playlists and I’ve probably pinned some in my Halloween board so I might as well go and make one!

13. Update my wardrobe. I need new snuggly jumpers stat! I particularly want a jumper dress or at least an oversized jumper I can wear like that.

14. Watch Hocus Pocus! I love this film, my cousin and I watched it one year and then spent the rest of the Halloween playing in her grandfather’s attic pretending to be witches.



I might have more to add to this list but for now that’s it. I just need to make sure I tick some of these off! I created a Pinterest board which you can check out if you’re interested. What’s your favourite idea on this list? Is there anything else you’d add? Let me know in a comment below, I’d love to hear.

Follow Breige's board Winter Wishlist 2015 on Pinterest.

Bookish Fun in LA

I’m a bit late posting this seeing as I was in LA in June but I still wanted to share the bookish adventures I had while there. I would have loved to have visited more stores and bought more things but I’m very happy with that I did get up to and buy.

The first day in LA we went Downtown and went to The Last Bookstore. It’s a massive bookstore that sells new and used books, records and has a labyrinth upstairs as well as a gallery and shops (including a yarn shop where I treated myself to a ball of yarn). There’s so much to look at it in there and the book tunnel in the labyrinth is a must see!

       

 

 

My friend is part of an awesome all ladies bookclub. While I was over visiting they had a meet up and my friend invited me along. She had told me the book they’d be reviewing in advance so I would be able to discuss it with them. The book was Euphoria by Lily King which I read in May and you can check out my review here. I had never been to a real life book club before and it was super fun. We ate delicious food, drank wine and debated about the book. Everyone there was lovely and very inviting and I had such a fun time!

 

 

Skylight is a bookstore in the Los Feliz area of LA and was the nearest bookshop to my friend’s house where we were staying. Skylight is an independent shop that is jam packed with books and hosts loads of events. It’s partly owned by Jeffrey Tambor who you might know better as George Bluth Sr and Oscar Bluth on Arrested Development which is pretty awesome! Their website has drawings of the covers of that month’s bestsellers done by one of their employees and it’s such a unique idea. 7th June was the release date of Grunt by Mary Roach and I made a beeline that evening to the shop to pick up my copy. The following week I returned with my friend and her book club. They were interested in reading The Girls by Emma Cline so they decided to go see her do a reading and Q&A. Seeing as The Girls is one of the biggest books of the summer it was interesting to go along to the event and it was nice to see all the book club again, I felt like an honorary member!

Other places I visited included Stories and The Time Travel Mart in Echo Park and Barnes and Noble for all of 5 minutes. I would have loved to have gone to more bookstores but just had too much other stuff to pack in!

 

As for my purchases I only bought two things. One was Grunt by Mary Roach. I had mentioned it in my Most Anticipated Books of 2016 post and I started reading it while on holiday. I wrote a review for it in which you can check out here. I had found out that the day I was leaving Mary Roach was doing an event in LA but while I could find the time and place I could find no information on tickets or anything so I couldn’t go. I also got myself a small pin that looks like a bookshop store front. It was so cute that I couldn’t resist picking it up. It’ll go well with my Penguin books pin!

Overall I’m very happy with the bookish section of my trip. It was great to be part of a book club even for those two events and everyone was so welcoming! If you’d like to see more about my trip to America you can check out my post on LA by clicking here and my post on my roadtrip to Vegas and Grand Canyon by clicking here. I also did a post with the same beauty haul which you can check out here.

BookTubeAThon 2016 Results

Last week was the 4th BookTubeAThon and it seems I’ve fallen into a pattern. The first year in 2013 I completed all the challenges, as I did last year too. When I did it the 2nd year in 2014 I didn’t fully complete the challenges, which happened this year too. I was on track until the Friday, when I went visiting family and when I got home for the weekend I spent most of my reading time playing Heads Up! with my family. No regrets!

Books Read

Love Poems by Carol Ann Duffy

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson

The Burning by Jane Casey

When We Collided by Emery Lord

Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent

So I finished the first 4 books (in the order I finished them but not started) and I started reading Lying in Wait on the Sunday. I knew I wouldn’t finish it but it’s one of the Books of the Month for the Rick O’Shea bookclub so I wanted to get it started. Here are the challenges I completed

Read a book only at night- Love Poems

Read a book only than you- Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

Read a book found through BookTube- Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

Read a book with yellow on the cover- When We Collided

If I had chose my books differently I would have maybe completed most of my challenges, two of my books didn’t fit into any catagories. I was also hoping to get some of the graphic novels I have on request at the library but they didn’t come in on time. I had hoped to finish all the challenges so I’m disappointed I didn’t but I still had fun doing this readathon, I always enjoy when BookTubeAThon time comes around. Until next year!

American Roadtrip! Las Vegas, Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam

Last week I had a post showing some of the things my boyfriend and I did on holidays when we were in LA. We also went on a road trip as my boyfriend really wanted to go to Las Vegas. And so I decided if we were going to Vegas, I wanted to go to the Grand Canyon! So we rented a car and off we went for three days.

First off we left LA and headed for Vegas. It took us 4 hours to drive there. At first I was nervous about the drive, as the drivers in LA can be a bit erratic! But my boyfriend coped really well at driving on the other side of the road! The trip there was tiring so by time we checked in I really needed a nap (so rock ‘n’ roll!) so after that grabbed something to eat and walked down the Vegas Strip at night. As we were staying at the Circus Circus hotel, we walked down as far as the Bellagio to see the fountains, stopping along the way to look at the other hotels, specially the canals in the Venetian. Vegas is a whole other world! It’s great for people watching and if you’re a party person, you’ll probably love going there! I’m not, so I found it a bit overwhelming but I did enjoy the people watching aspect and all the crazy hotels. The heat though! At midnight I was still in a t-shirt because it was so so warm out. It was glorious standing by the fountains and other water features because it gave some relief!

 

Clockwise from top left: Circus Circus hotel, Bellagio Hotel, canals inside Venetian hotel, Bellagio fountain show

 

The next day we got up early to drive to Grand Canyon! We decided to go to the Southern Rim as I’d heard the views there were the best but it did mean it took us 5 hours to drive there. And 5 hours back! Was it worth it though? Yes it was! In hindsight we should have stayed the night closer to there as it was a lot of driving but I’m just so happy we went. It truely is breath taking and I really want to read up more on the history of the place. We also got to travel on parts of Route 66, including posing with some vintage cars at a gas stop.

American flag was at half mast at Grand Canyon (and most other places) because of the tragic events in Orlando, Florida at the weekend

When we arrived back in Vegas that night we ate at our hotel, had a few drinks and gambled to help us wind down after the long day. Unfortunately I didn’t win the jackpot otherwise I’d be off somewhere right now! We had a well deserved lie in before checking out, hitting up the breakfast buffet and gift shops before leaving the hotel. We visited the famous Vegas sign, the one thing I really wanted to do in Vegas. It was a good half an hour wait in the swelting sun but it’s a Vegas must do!

Before truly leaving Vegas, we visited Sin City Knit Shop so I could pick up some yarn as a present to myself! Then we headed back in the direct of the Grand Canyon but only for an hour. On the way there the previous day we past Hoover Dam but didn’t have a chance to stop. We decided we’d detour there before heading back to LA. The first thing we did was go on the Memorial Bridge, which looks down over the dam. It is THE windiest place I’ve ever been! Then we went to have a look around Hoover Dam itself. We were too late to do any of the tours but there’s still enough to look at and read without doing that. It’s actually pretty fancy looking! There’s so much beautiful Art Deco design and the doors are gold! Probably not real gold but there’s such an element of decadence. The heat that day was unreal. LA was hot too but being by the sea seemed to make it easier. Being in the desert the heat was unrelenting!

 

View from Memorial Bridge, look down on Hoover Dam; View from Hoover Dam looking up at Memorial Bridge; vintage cars at Route 66 gas stop

After Hoover Dam, we drove back to LA, stopping at a Walmart for some essentials and to stretch our legs. I never looked at the food section when I was in there and I’m kicking myself as I probably would have found some interesting Oreo flavours! I was too busy looking at the beauty bits and obsessed with finding nail polish heaven which I didn’t find. I wanted rows upon rows of shelves of nail polishes and didn’t really come close. But I did find some beauty bits which I’ll share later in the week. After returnign to LA, we had two more days there’s before our flight home. One of those days was at the Emma Cline book event in Skylight Books which I’ll also be blogging about soon!

2016 BookTubeAThon Challenges and TBR

It’s that time of read again! Summer time means the BookTubeAThon! For any of you not familiar with the BookTubeAThon, then let me explain. It’s a week long readathon, run by the lovely Ariel Bisett. It started in 2013 so this is the 4th year running. Ariel sets some reading challenges, as well as video challenges and fun Twitter challenges over at the BookTubeAThon Twitter account, with different booktubers taking the reins over the week.

It’s a bit of fun and you don’t have to be a booktuber or blogger to take part! You don’t have to do any of the challenges either you if you don’t want to. If you just to try read a bit more than you usually do and see what everyone else is up to that’s perfectly fine! I love doing the challenges and seeing what other friends are doing too. Here are the challenges:

1. Read a book with yellow on the cover
2. Read a book only after sunset (night time only!)
3. Read a book you discovered through booktube
4. Read a book by one of your favourite authors
5. Read a book older than you
6. Read a book, then watch the film adaptation
7. Read 7 books

The best thing about these challenges is that you can double or triple up on them. So if you have a book by a favourite author that also has yellow on the cover, then bam! You have two challenges down already! I have picked 7 books and some can fit into several of the categories, though I haven’t decided if I’ll double up or not yet. This month has been a bit of a slump for me so hopefully I can pick up again! Some of mine are also dependant on them coming in on time at the library so if they don’t I’ll have to figure out something else. All part of the fun!

End of Watch by Stephen King (Book by Favorite Author)

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (Book through booktube)

Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen (Book to film)

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson (book older than you)

The Burning by Jane Casey

I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson (book with yellow on the cover)

Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent

Some of the books don’t have a category yet, partly because I haven’t decided what will be my night only book. The Liz Nugent is because I want to read it for the Rick O’Shea Bookclub and I hope to get some of my Book Riot Read Harder challenges.
Here are some links if you’re interested in enjoying in! BookTubeAThon YouTube Page, BookTubeAThon Twitter Page, Ariel Bisett YouTube.

And my links for previous years
2013- TBR post. Results post
2014- TBR post. Results post
2015- TBR post. Results post

And seeing as one of my favourite things about BookTubeAThon is seeing what others are reading, I can’t wait to see my friends are planning! Sharon from Behind Green Eyes has a post up, which you can check out here. I’d love to hear if you’re taking part! Leave a comment below and let me know

LA Trip

View first morning in LA!

Last month I went to Los Angeles, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon. It was such an amazing trip! The last time I had been properly abroad before this was 2008, when I went to Prague (I say properly abroad as I have been back and forth between UK and Ireland every year and it doesn’t really count to me!). The last time I’d been properly abroad with my boyfriend was 10 years ago! Yes TEN! We went on holiday with a bunch of friends summer of 2006 to London, Rome and Paris. So I was very excited to be going to LA, a present my boyfriend got me for Christmas and to celebrate 10 years going out together. We were so lucky to visit our friends K&K in LA, who had stayed with us in 2012 and who we went to London with in 2013. K&K graciously put us up for our visit and were fantastic hosts, knowing locals really makes such a difference.

 

The first day we went to Downtown LA, went to The Last Bookstore (I’ll have another post with pictures from there), wandered around looking at the buildings and Union Station, getting a mini tour of the area. Tha evening we went to see a Dodgers game, which was super fun! And of course, we had to have a famous Dodgers Dog while there!

 

Disneyland was another big day for us! I’ve only ever been to Disneyland Paris before (on that 2006 trip actually!) so it was fun to try out another one. We had a blast, even getting soaked on Splash Mountain! I had my first Dole Whip as well, after hearing about it from friends. It was DELICIOUS! Seriously, I want another one now!

 

Clockwise from top- The ‘Y’ in the Hollywood artwork outside the Hollywood Museum of Death; Craft and Folk Art Museum; La Brea Tar Pits; Craft and Folk Art Museum

I love going to museums so I was glad we got to go to some in LA. First off we visited the Hollywood Museum of Death. It’s not for the faint of heart! I did enjoy it, I spent a long time looking at everything, it’s certainly fascinating, but I do think that one or two exhibits were there for more of a shock factor and therefore they were tacky. Another day we wandered around the La Brea Tar Pits. While there is a museum you can pay in to look around, if you don’t fancy that then there’s loads of information around the grounds. Across the road is the Craft and Folk Art Museum, a small gallery that has a cute gift shop. I really regret not buying the drinking glasses with cacti on them!

 

Of course, being in LA it’s hard not to go check out Hollywood. If you just want to see The Chinese Theatre and the handprints, as well as the Walk of Fame (like I did, I wasn’t interested in doing a tour), then it can be easily done in half an hour. It does get crowded around there, it is perfect for people watching though!

 

While we didn’t see any celebrities ‘in the wild’ we did see some! Our friends scored us tickets to a Conan O’Brien recording so we got to see Conan, Andy Richter and Will Arnett. Conan is such a pro, he only messed up once and he was very funny. I also won a t-shirt at the show! That night we went to a comedy show, Hot Tub Show, which was hosted by Kristen Schaal. We also walked past the Bernie Sander’s cafe, which isn’t really a celebrity I know, but seeing as it was around the time of the Californian primary there was loads of people milling about taking pictures!

 

No trip to LA would really be complete without a trip to the beach! The photos above were taken at Santa Monica pier, we spent a whole day there wandering around, taking pictures and just having a relaxing day. Got to dip my feet into the Pacific Ocean!

 

As our flight out of LA was at 6pm, my friends suggested we go look around Venice Beach for an hour or two. We spent most out time at the skatepark, it’s mesmirising around there! The picture on the left was taken in the evening we spent at Santa Monica. We walked up along the beach towards Venice Beach but stopped when we saw a bunch of people slacklining. I couldn’t resist trying it myself so eventually I gathered the nerve and hopped up on the smallest line!

I realised after returning that I’m a crappy blogger. Because I took zero photos of food! Even though there’s no photos, oh boy was it amazing. Trust me! Breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, after drinks snacks, we had it all! I’ll need to learn how to make my own French Dip sandwich.

I’ll have a separate post for my roadtrip to Vegas and Grand Canyon, another for the bookish delights and one for the small beauty buys. But for now thanks again K&K for helping to make our holiday amazing!

A Day in the Life #BEDM

Unlike some people, I don't have a set day or routine. At the moment, due to a family emergency, I'm back home helping out for this week. I should have really documented yesterday to write up for today but alas, you're going to see my day so far!

This morning I woke up and went to my aunt's house to help mind my cousin for a couple of hours. I played this Elton John CD on my way there and had some epic car-aoke! While at my aunt's I played with my cousin and read for a small bit when she was busy playing in her own world. After, I went to creperie with my aunt, cousins and sister and I ate my crepe before realising I didn't take a picture! I did take a picture of my yummy latte though. 

After my sister and I got home, we played with the cats for a bit. I used her Snapchat picture as it turned out the best, as you can see the cats were loving the weather. As was my sister and I so we decided to go to the beach for a bit! The sky was lovely and blue except for those fluffy white clouds.

While at the beach I read some more of my book, painted my toenails blue (Barry M shade found here in this Pantone Colour of the Year post), squealed a bit when I dipped my feet into the water, got into a splashing contest with my sister despite the fact neither of us had spare clothes with us and then got my sister to do my hair in a French plait. She says she doesn't know how to do it on other people but I think you'll find it looks pretty good!

After spending some time at the beach real life started calling again so I did some food shopping, put out washing on the line (well my sister did for me!) and put on another wash, caught up on some emails and chatted to a friend about how her week was so far. And of course I wrote this post! I was just going to write up half this post and add in what I'll do over next few hours but I have a headache (I just had to take the plait out *sadface*) and the rest of my evening won't be that interesting. Cooking, washing, finish that book, write up a NetGalley review and listening to the newest episode of No Such Thing As a Fish! That is, if I don't fall asleep before then as I'm quite drowsy. Probably due to the heat, sure we're never happy here! 

2016 Book Releases I’m Looking Forward To

My third year in a row doing a post like this! I love making a list of what’s coming out, gives me something to look forward to. And hopefully it’ll alert some of you reading of things you mightn’t have heard about!

The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch

This was featured in last year’s post (as well as my Late 2015 Book Releases post), as it was SUPPOSED to be released then but got pushed back. Wah! The next book in the Rivers of London series, which I hope carries on from the massive cliffhanger from 2 books ago (Foxglove Summer was a bit of a detour so I’m still dying to know what happened!). If you want to know a bit about the series, click here on my November 2013 book reviews post, where I read the 1st 4 books in a month! June 16th

 

 

Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans At War by Mary Roach

I love a Mary Roach book! Her last one, Gulp, came out in 2013 and I had hoped we’d get a 2015 release but alas we didn’t. So I was VERY excited to see that there is a book coming for 2016! I’ve read all of Mary’s books so far and even if you think that science of humans at war doesn’t sound interesting, I can guarantee a good read! I have yet to be disappointed by one of her books and I doubt this will be any different. June 7th

 

 

 

A Fever of the Blood by Oscar de Muriel

I read the first book of this series, The Strings of Murder, after requesting it on NetGalley and was pleasantly surprised! It was a great little mystery crime novel, set in my beloved Victorian times but this time in Scotland, which was a refreshing change of scenery. This book sees the return of Frey and McGray, detectives thrown together despite very much being opposites in character. To read my review of The Strings of Murder click here. February 11th

 

 

 

The Little Shop of Happy Ever After by Jenny Colgan

It’s my third year of doing a list like this and it’s the 3rd time a Jenny Colgan book has been on the list! All Colgan’s books are uplifting and cosy, with this one sounding like no exception! Nina leaves Birmingham after the library she works for downsizes, she heads to Scotland to own a bookshop bus! Sounds like the perfect book for me to be honest. February 11th

 

 

 

End of Watch by Stephen King

The third book in the Mr Mercedes series! Last year, book 2 (Finders Keepers) was on my 2015 list but I wasn’t overly wowed by it. I am excited for this one though, I think it will please my expectations! It’ll see a return and continuation to the story in Mr Mercedes. June 7th

 

 

 

 

Making It Up As I Go Along by Marian Keyes

I love Marian Keyes as an author. She’s witty, can be light reading but at the same time she writes so honestly about important issues. This book however is a non-fiction book, a series of essays and insights to modern life. I have no doubt this will be hilarious and if you’re a fan of Marian’s books (and Twitter account!) then I think you’ll probably enjoy this. February 11th

 

 

 

Moranifesto by Caitlin Moran

My favourite Caitlin Moran book was Moranthology, a collection of her articles and I liked reading her thoughts on lots of different issues. This I think will be something similar and I’m really looking forward to picking it up. March 10th

 

 

 

 

 

Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably seen some of Allie Brosh’s comics online before. I read her other book Hyperbole and a Half back in February and really enjoyed it, it had me laughing out loud several times (but especially the goose story). As I haven’t really read any more of her comics online, all this should be new to me and hopefully just as funny! October 25th

 

 

 

Lady Renegades by Rachel Hawkins

I loved this first book in this series, Rebel Belle, so much, it was like Buffy crossed with a Southern Belle. The second book, Miss Mayhem, was another 2015 list book (and another one that slightly disappointed like Finders Keepers) but it hasn’t put me off the third book! I’m invested in finding out what happened and I still love kick ass Harper as a character. April 5th

 

 

 

Summer Days and Summer Nights edited by Stephanie Perkins

Having just read My True Love Gave To Me, a collection of holiday themed short stories by popular YA authors, I was tickled to find out there’s a summer version of it due out this year! Summer is a great time for short stories that you can dip in and out of and I’m looking forward to being introduced to more YA authors I haven’t had a chance to get around to trying. I think books like this are perfect for sampling authors being committing to a full book! May 17th

 

 

The Mystery of the Jewelled Moth by Katherine Woodfine

I read Katherine’s first book, The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow, last year for work when it was the Children’s Book of the Month and was charmed by it. It was like Enid Blyton meets the world of Edwardian charm and it’s a lovely book for younger children. This will be the follow on book and I can’t wait to be swept away in all the grandeur of Sinclair’s Department Stores! February 25th

 

 

 

Darkmouth: Chaos Descends by Shane Hegarty

I wrote this post at the beginning of the month and under the final paragraph mentioned I’d like another Darkmouth book to come out but couldn’t find any details on it. And then lo and behold Shane Hegarty the author tweeted out the new book cover! So I had to edit it in to this post. This is book three about Legend Hunter, Finn, and his family, who are trying to stop the Legends (monsters) from coming through from their world and destroying ours. The previous two books have been funny and sweet and I’d recommend them for boys and girls from age 9 up. April 7th

 

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

I wasn’t even aware of this until I saw Kat from Katytastic talk about it! I LOVE The Lunar Chronicles series (I have yet to read Winter as I’m waiting to read it with a friend but this fairytale retelling series is fantastic) so I was excited to hear there’s going to be another series, this time based on Wonderland. Heartless follows the Queen of Hearts before she became the Queen and if it’s anything like Lunar Chronicles then Meyer will do a brilliant job on it. November 8th

 

 

That’s all the ones I have titles and covers for! Of course, I have my fingers crossed AGAIN for another Cormoran Strike novel from Robert Galbraith (and seeing as we’ve had one each year so have I’m hoping the trend will continue!). I see bits and pieces of a Danny Wallace book, but considering he now writes children’s books as well it might be for that. There’s always another #1 Ladies Detective Agency book, I never seem to hear about them until they are just coming out so who knows! The above will keep me occupied anyway, with the Mary Roach book probably being the one I’m most excited about and February 11th being the busiest day with 3 books out!

Let me know below if you’re looking forward to any of these or if there’s anything I’ve missed out!