Blog Every Day in November Wrap Up #BEDN

So today's the last day of Blog Every Day in November. I did it, I actually managed to post once every day! Now admittedly I don't think every blog post is perfect or up to scratch but I'm glad I did the challenge and managed to stick to it. It has helped me get back into blogging and get my creative juices flowing. I have a few ideas for December too, so hopefully I'll stay on track and get them done.

I've enjoyed doing this challenge a lot, I especially liked the Self Care Sunday post, which I will do every now and again to check in and see what I'm doing. I also loved the Nostalgic Beauty post, the Random Acts of Kindness post, and the Style post, it made realise that I do actually have some little bit of style! It was fun to do some of the themed posts, in fact the four listed above were themed posts and things I possibly wouldn't have tried if I didn't do the theme. And I'm delighted to be back on track with my Reading Reviews! I'll have my November one up in the next day or two.

Thanks to Elizabeth from Rosalilium for hosting this, thanks to everyone who was also doing the challenge and read and commented on my posts. I tried to read some others myself and comment too, but I'll admit I didn't do it as often as I should. Please leave a comment below if you did the challenge too and I'll be sure to check out your blog!

All Time Favourite Christmas Ads #BEDN

Even though tomorrow's Blog Every Day in November theme is Christmas, I don't want to wait until tomorrow to post this. The other week I did a spotlight on some of the new ads out this Christmas but sometimes you just can't beat a classic!

Classic Coca-Cola Holidays Are Comin' ad, need I say more?!

The young girl in the Cornflakes ad always reminds me of my sister at that age, even though she wasn't that blonde. In the ad we see her older brother and sister and we used to pretend it was me, my brother and sister in the ad!

Every Irish person will remember the Telecom Eireann ad where the little girl rings Santa, another classic.

I love everything about this ad, the music, the bookish reference, the beautiful snow scenes. And then there's the Irn Bru take on the Snowman which is hilarious.

Horsies! Just from hearing the music alone I can picture the horses going through the snow. Do they still show this ad?

I love the atmosphere in this ad, the stillness and eeriness, the snowy scenes over Dublin and the really clever 'Even at the home of the black stuff, they dream of a white one'. 

I loved the Monty the Penguin ad from John Lewis last year, it really melted my heart!

All beauty addicts probably remember this ad! I love all the women vying for space in front of mirrors or any shiny surface they can find. But the music makes this ad most memorable. 

Another Boots ad, this one doesn't have much to do with what Boots sells to be honest (though they did try and slot in a few shots) but I love the message of this, the idea of a family waiting to have Christmas with one another. 

There's a McDonald's ad too which I love, same eerieness stillness as the Guinness one where they show a McDonald's that is shut and then at the end they say something like 'the best place to be this Christmas...is at home. Merry Christmas'. Or something to that degree. 

October Reads #BEDN

The last of the catch up reading posts! And we'll be back on schedule for the year (not that there's a lot of the year left!). Let's jump right in.

October Reads

Darkmouth Worlds Explode by Shane Hegarty

 This is the second book in the Darkmouth series by Irish author Shane Hegarty. I read the first one back in May as part of the Children's Book of the Month and I loved it. Finn is a legend hunter (monster hunter to you and me), just like his father was and his father before him and so on. But Finn's a bit rubbish at training, he'd rather be a vet! This book picks up at the end of the last one, so I won't say much to spoil it, but Finn returns along with Emmie, his best friend, and they must save the day again. It's packed with those cool drawings too, just like the last book, and I loved the humour. It's a great series for 12 year old, boys and girls and I love supporting Irish authors. I'm looking forward to book three, I must find out when that is out!

More Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops by Jen Campbell

I also read the first book, Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops, in May. I really enjoyed both books, working in a bookshop has made so many of these ring true (questions like 'I'm looking for a book, it has a blue cover. Oh you know the one!' or 'The book had a girl who falls for this guy but it doesn't go that well but it does in the end. Does that sound familiar?') but I think all book lovers would enjoy these quotes and stories. The other week I was in a bookshop, just when The Girl in the Spider's Web came out, so the other books in the series were also on display. I heard a man turn to his friend and ask him 'Should I read that book? The Girl with the Magic Tattoo?'. Sounds like a delightful book to me!

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

This was the very first book I ever marked to read on Goodreads and when I saw the reading challenge that was to read the book that had been on your TBR pile the longest (or something to that degree) I decided I should really read this one. Luckily it popped up in my Audible Daily Deals and I got it for a steal. Most people would have heard of this book but it tells the story of Skeeter, a 22 year old from Jackson, Mississippi, who decides to write a book about 'the help', the women and maids who raise children in families just like the one she grew up in. She gets Aibileen (her friend Elizabeth's maid, who's raising her 17th white child) and Minny Jackson to help her. These three women take turns to narrate the story and we learn all sorts about these women, their friends, their relationships and especially the way black people were treated in the South in 1960s. I really enjoyed it, I cried in places too which isn't a surprise as I'm a big sap. If I had one really criticism I would have shortened it a tiny bit, it was just a touch too long. I know this book is not without it's faults as well but it is worth the read.

A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

This was my first Anne Tyler book, I'd requested it off NetGalley when I heard some people say good things about it in the run up to the Man Booker Prize. It's a family story that starts with this generation of siblings and tells of their life and family dynamics for over half the book. It then goes back to when the parents were young and then after that to when the grandparents first met. In the first half, the family joke that there's only 2 stories in the family, neither of them particularly interesting, and that they don't really know much family history. As we look back we see there are secrets, secrets that would make much better family stories but were hidden of the years. I did enjoy this book in one sense, I like family sagas, where nothing too exciting happens but this dragged at times and made me so reluctant to pick it up. It sped up a bit once we started going back in time but it took way too long in the book to do that. It wasn't until 60% through that we went to the second story of Red and Abby (the parents).

Mog the Forgetful Cat by Judith Kerr

The Reading Challenge had a category that was to visit an old childhood favourite and so I picked this book. I had never read it before but as a child my aunt gave me Mog in the Dark, which I loved (and still have somewhere). So when my aunt's child turned one, I present I gave was this Mog book and a Mog plush teddy. I enjoy this book, I like Mog as a children's book character and of course, now with the Sainsburys Christmas ad featuring Mog, I'm sure she's going to be very popular this Christmas!


Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith

This is the third Cormoran Strike book, by Robert Galbraith (aka. J.K. Rowling) and even though it wasn't announced to be coming out until the summer time, I still put it in my most anticipated books of 2015! The story kicks off when Cormoran's assistant, Robin, receives a package in the mail with a severed leg in it. Due to some of the clues left in the package, Cormoran narrows the list down to 3 people from his past. I really enjoyed this, I downloaded it on Audible so I could listen to it going to and from work. Cormoran and Robin investigate all 3 of these men, leading them to all sorts of stories and trouble, and it really had me guessing until right near the end, which I love in books. There is a lot more emphasis on Robin and Strike's relationship in this and I really hope they don't end up together as it's such a cliche. But I will continue reading this series, it really helped reignite my love of mysteries and thrillers that I've had since being a child. If you liked book one and two, go pick this up now!

October Stats

Number of books read- 6

Ratio fiction to non-fiction- 5:1

Male to Female authors- 1:5

Number of eBooks- 2 (A Spool of Blue Thread and More Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops) 

Number of books borrowed from library- 1 (Darkmouth Worlds Explode)
Number of Audio Books- 2 (The Help and Career of Evil)

Reading Challenge Completed

A Book at the Bottom of Your To-Read List- The Help
A Book From Your Childhood- Mog the Forgetful Cat
A Book with a Colour in the Title- A Spool of Blue Thread

And that's it! October was quiet enough but November has made up for, which you'll see in my next reading post. And there's still a few days to add to it too!

Travel Dreams #BEDN

Today's Blog Every Day in November theme is travel dreams! And it's something that's been on my mind a lot recently. It's been a while since I've had a proper holiday abroad. Last time actually was 2008! Well, technically I have been abroad since then. I've travelled to and from the UK and Ireland a lot over the years and that is abroad! But I don't think it really counts as Ireland is home and I did live in Manchester for a while.

I'd love to travel more but it's just something that hasn't happened for a number of reasons. There's so many places I'd like to go, I have a Pinterest board for that, but if I won the lotto tomorrow I'd go to America. On a big road trip!

I'd probably start with New York. It's iconic after all! And with Nurse Fancy Pants, Cherry Sue and LovelyGirlieBits all talking about the Big Apple recently, it's been on my mind a lot! I'd then head onto Chicago, Las Vegas, LA and Seattle. I have friends in LA and it's killed me that I haven't been able to go visit them yet. There are so many other places I'd like to go too though. Especially New England in the autumn, Chloe from Nurse Fancy Pants was there recently and her Instagram is just so pretty from her New England road trip!

Realistically though, the next time I go 'properly' abroad will probably be somewhere in Europe. I've already been to Spain, Italy, France and Czech Republic so I'd ideally like to go somewhere new to me. Scandinavia has always intrigued me, I did an unauthorized summer holidays project one year because I was fascinated (ya, I was one of those kids) and I do have a friend in Norway that I could go see! And I'd be able to see Northern Lights too which would be amazing! Germany, Austria and Netherlands are also high on my want to see list. If I was to go somewhere I'd already been before though it would be Prague. I've been twice and loved it! I love the vibe of the place, it's a beautiful city.

At John Lennon Wall in Prague 2008

There are so many other places I want to go and I doubt I'll ever see them all. Which is ok with me as I know I'll see enough to make me happy. And right now I'd be happy enough with a weekend away in Ireland!

Books Are My Bag Collection #BEDN

Today's Blog Every Day in November theme in Collections. The other day I showed you some of my flamingo collection. I'm pretty certain I've mentioned my nail polish on here before (last time I counted it was just over 450 but I have since bought polishes. I even bought some today!) and waaayyy back when I mentioned Beanie Babies in this post. But I wanted to show you something that has become a collection and I hope to add to it every year. It's my Books Are My Bags collection of tote bags!

This was the first BAMB bag I got, the classic orange design. I got it in 2013 from Lahinch Bookshop and I did a blog post about Books Are My Bag then too which you can find here. Last year I got given another one of these totes and a good thing I did and all, because the next day my original broke coming home from work!









The next BAMB book I got was last year's limited edition Tracey Emin bag. Even though I took photos of it in its current state (which you'll see in the group shot), I showed the original pictures here because I have used it so much it's no longer white! And there are some mysterious stains on it (though my friend thought they were part of the design). I used this almost every day, the quality of the bag is fantastic so it lasts a lot longer. I went all the way to the Urmston Bookshop to get this bag (which they kindly put aside for me) and you can see what else I bought then in this post from last year. I also won another one of these bags but gave it away to a book loving friend.

This year there's two designs to look forward to! The one of the right is a Lauren Childs' one that has Lola from Charlie and Lola with the quote 'I am going to the bookshop for one thing or maybe even perhaps a squillion' (I know that mindset!). The other one is this year's limited edition designer bag from Grayson Perry. I got both bags from O'Mahonys in Limerick but I actually won the Grayson Perry one with a colouring competition! Johanna Basford (she of the massive Secret Garden and Enchanted Forest colouring book fame) designed the competition sheets and I decided to stick with different shades of the classic BAMB orange. I love it so much that I might get it printed onto a tote bag for myself!

The one BAMB thing I'd LOVE is the mug! I love collecting mugs as much as these totes. You can order them but they're UK only, which I so would have ordered if I was still in Manchester! But while we're on the subject of orange, I was at my aunt's house a few weeks ago and took this picture of some of her classic orange Penguin books. I need to start my own collection I think!

Barry M Black Cherry #BEDN

I love when Barry M brings out new polishes, especially the Autumn one. Last year they had some limited edition Christmas ones but this year they didn't bring anything like that out. This year they had 4 'Midnight Gellies', all darkened near black versions of green, purple, blue and red. Black Cherry is the darkened red one.

I love the idea of this range. Autumn and winter is the perfect time for vampy shades and I especially love dark reds and burgundies. 

did bring out two limited edition exclusive to Superdrug Gellies this autumn, a purple and a red, both with glitter in them! I picked up the purple, I just can't seem to photograph it right though but it so pretty! Hopefully I'll get it right though so I can do a post on it. 

September Reads #BEDN

Next in the book reads catch up is what I read in September.

September Reads

Queen of Shadows by Sarah J Maas

Queen of Shadows is book 4 in the Throne of Glass series. I bought this the day it came out and started it but it took me 2 weeks to read. I don't know why, I loved it when reading it and couldn't wait to find out what happened. I think I just lost my reading mojo and was feeling down. The book is awesome though, my favourite in the series so far and I can't wait for the next one!





Popular: Vintage Wisdom for the Modern Geek by Maya Van Wagenen

After finishing Queen of Shadows, I went to library and flew through the next few books. I've wanted to read this book for a while. Maya feels like she's at the bottom of the popularity ladder in school and decides to use this 1950s popularity book by Betty Cornell to see if it can change things for her. Each month she focused on a different chapter and doing things from that chapter (so one was to do with clothes, another was exercise etc). I LOVED this book! Maya's family were so supportive and it was nice to see their dynamic, they seem like such a lovely family. Maya learns so much in this book and she's such a clued-in, smart girl. A definite feel good read.

A Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee 

Set in Victorian London, 12 year old Mary Quinn is sentenced to hang for being a thief but is rescued from the gallows. She ends up in Miss Scrimshaw's Academy for Girls and gets a good education. At ages 17, she finds out the academy is a cover for The Agency, an all female investigation unit. For her first case, she goes to the house of a rich merchant posed as his daughter's new companion. She's sent there to find out more information about cargo missing from the merchant's ships. I enjoyed this book, I love Victorian London and I enjoyed Mary as a main character. I already have the second book out of the library and will read it soon. It was a quick read and no I didn't guess who did it!

Looking for Alaska by John Green

Prior to this, the only John Green I'd read was The Fault in Our Stars. This is his first book and it's a coming of age story. Miles is a misfit and decides to leave his Florida home to go to boarding school in Alabama. Miles is given Chip as his roommate and becomes friends with him and his friends, including the wild and beautiful Alaska. The book was ok, I wasn't blown away by it. I can see why teenagers might enjoy it, Green writes convincing enough teenage characters. It hasn't put me off trying other Green books, but while I would possibly reread TFIOS, I wouldn't pick this one up again.

Broken Harbour by Tana French

It's no surprise that I love Tana French! This book follows Scorcher Kennedy, who is sent to the ghost estate in Broken Harbour with his rookie partner, Richie, to investigate the murder of 2 children and their father, with the mother in intensive care. The case seems pretty obvious, the father has snapped and killed his family due to losing his job in the recession. But there are other small details that throw this case off so Scorcher sets about trying to find out the truth. However Broken Harbour brings back lots of bad memories for him and this, along with his sister Dina going off the rails, means life is breaking down a bit of Scorcher. I love how French writes the characters and I never know exactly who's done what until close to the end. There's just one more French book to read and I've been holding off because I love reading them and don't want to have none to look forward to!

The Grownup by Gillian Flynn

When I saw this on NetGalley I requested it straight away. Gillian certainly knows how to write an opening sentence that captures your attention! The narrator of the short story is faking being a psychic (with a 'handy' male only customer service role on the side) and does a good job at what she does, mainly because she is able to read people well and tell them what they want. Until Susan Burke arrives and tells her that she has problems with her house and her stepson. The narrator, seeing a side business of 'cleansing' houses offers to go to the house and help Susan. But when she arrives she feels as if the house is watching her, especially when she meets Susan's stepson Miles waiting too.

This is a quick read, I had it read in about half an hour but I really enjoyed it. It had me guessing, even at the end when all is revealed (or not revealed, depending on who you believe is being truthful!). I've seen other reviews of people saying they didn't particularly like any of the characters but I did like the narrator. Sure, she didn't hesitate to try scam people out of people but she was resourceful. 

Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson

I made a full review post here, but Furiously Happy is Jenny Lawson's account of dealing with depression, anxiety and other mental health worries. It's funny, it's sad and it's quirky! Furiously Happy is Lawson's mantra, that while there are times when she doesn't want to do anything because her mental health is bad, there are up times too, when she not only wants to be happy but she wants to be furiously so. To grab life by the balls and enjoy it for that it's worth. Because there will always be bad times around the corner but it doesn't mean that you can't full enjoy the good times when you feel good.

September Reads

Number of books read- 7

Ratio fiction to non-fiction- 5:2

Male to Female authors- 6:1

Number of eBooks- 2 (The Grownup and Furiously Happy) 

Number of books borrowed from library- 4 (Popular, A Spy in the House, Looking for Alaska and Broken Harbour)

Reading Challenge Completed

A Book with More than 500 Pages- Queen of Shadows
A Popular's Author First Book- Looking for Alaska
A Book with Antonyms in the Title- Furiously Happy

And that's September! Slowly getting more through the reading challenge, I still have a good amount more before the year is out but I have most planned and I hope I can finish it!

Gingerbread White Hot Chocolate #BEDN

After pinning for my Winter Wishlist, I just had this idea to make a gingerbread white hot chocolate. There are definitely some recipes out there but I winged this one and it turned out to be pretty tasty! And easy to make.

Gingerbread White Hot Chocolate

Ingredients

Milk
Brown sugar
Cinnamon
Ginger
Nutmeg
White Chocolate
Whipped Cream
Marshmallows

Method

1. Using the cup you're going to drink from, measure out the milk to 2/3 full. You don't want it to be much more than that as when you add the white chocolate, the volume will increase and you also want room for whipped cream and/or marshmallows! Add to saucepan and heat (but don't bring to boil).

2. I added a teaspoon of light brown sugar. Now, a dark brown sugar or even molasses would probably be more suitable for a gingerbread flavour but I used what I had on hand. I had a sprinkle of cinnamon and ginger, I don't include measurements because for one cup, it's going to be too small to really measure. Just add to taste! You can add nutmeg too, I didn't because I didn't have it on hand. If you don't like any of these spices, leave them out! You could have it as a white hot chocolate or if you do add them in, you could also add in a spoon of coffee to make it more a gingerbread latte.

3. Break up white chocolate and add to hot milk. I got a small 100g bar from Tesco, I used it all because I like sweet things but you can use less. Or use a white hot chocolate powder if you want the taste but not the calories. Options do a white hot chocolate powder.

4. Whisk until chocolate is melted and then pour into mug. Add topping of choice (I add whipped cream) and dusted it with cinnamon and milk chocolate shavings.

5. Enjoy!

What's In My Make Up Bag #BEDN

Today's Blog Every Day in November theme is beauty. There's so much I could usually write about but I decided to share something I've never really done before. I'm going to show my current go to make up products and what they look like when put together.

Primer- Bourjois Translucent Smoothing Primer. Katie from What Katie Healy Did very kindly sent me this along with some other nail products and it's nice for smoothing out the skin.

Foundation- Catrice Nude Illusion in Nude Ivory. I have 3 different Catrice foundations at the moment so I just pick up one of those. Catrice make great foundations that aren't too expensive.

Concealer- Benefit Erase Paste. I'm almost at the end of this! I've had it for a while, probably way too long but it's great when you want something slightly heavier.

Eyeshadow- Catrice Velvet Matt Eyeshadow in Pink-up Girls and Make Up Gallery Colour Story Eye Shadow n Cappuccino. I LOVE the Velvet Matt eyeshadows from Catrice! They are buttery soft and go on so well. Vanillaty Fair is my favourite, but I smashed it. This shade is a soft pink. I put this on the lid and then in the crease I use the brown shadow, which I've been using since the summer. It's a matte brown shade which I prefer for the crease. You can get Make Up Gallery in Dealz, Sharon from Behind Green Eyes did a post about some of their products which you can check out here.

Eyeliner- Rimmel Exaggerate Eye Liner. This is my favourite liquid liner, I love the applicator on it, makes things so easy!

Mascara- Bourjois Volume 1 Second Mascara in Ultra Black. I got this because I saw Karen from Lovely Girlie Bits talk about it on Snapchat and it is pretty dramatic! With 3 for 2 on at Boots at the moment it's the perfect time to pick something up!

Blush- Bourjois Cream Blush in 01. This is the 3rd Bourjois product I'm listing, I barely even noticed it to be honest! While I like Bourjois, I didn't actually pay for any of these (Primer was a gift, mascara I bought with a Boots voucher I earned from doing surveys online and blush was on Amazon also for online surveys). I love peachy shades and I love cream blushes.

Highlighter- Benefit High Beam. I tried to get the LE Essence Merry Berry highlighter today but it was out of stock. I keep forgetting I have this though, if you can't afford Benefit there are a few dupes available from other brands,

Lips- Revolution Make Up in The One. I like this as a nude lip product, it doesn't come off too much like foundation. In the second photo of my makeup look I put on a Penneys/Primark lipstick that I showed in this post. 

I don't usually wear bright colours on my lips, they're so small that it makes me self conscious but I really like this berry colour! As you can tell from my top too! Tis the season for berry shades I guess. More of which you can find here in Sharon's post about Berry on a Budget.

Favourite New Christmas Ads #BEDN

Yes, this is a bit early! But's there's a handful of new Christmas ads that I keep seeing on TV and have been enjoying so I thought I'd share here. I'll probably do a post in the next week or two with ultimate Christmas ads.

Of course the first one to share is a bookish one! This one is for Sainsbury's and features Mog, which is one of my favourite children's book characters.

This ad is the reason I love the new Fleur East song (as I mentioned in this post) because I first heard it watcing this ad. I loved Asda's summer ad too, they just pick great songs to go with their ads. This works as it's so happy and upbeat and is just different to most of the ads around.

So I just shared adverts from supermarkets in UK but here's an Irish one from Supervalu, I love the way they've brought together scenes from all sorts of family and friends. I love the board games, the dancing at the party, weighing the turkey on the scales, the woman not knowing how to use the remotes and the friends ewwing from stuffing the turkey. It's just a lovely feel good ad.

To be honest, this Primark ad was picked mainly for the nostalgic music!

I don't think this ad is particularly memorable but Marks and Spencer's ads are always a fantastic production and I love that there's an upbeat song. And the kids are cute in the ad too!

I love the idea of a Christmas School, when the lady says to the Santas 'you need to get your hos in order' cracks me up! The blackboard of how the fairy lights should and shouldn't be and the dog dressed up!

I haven't seen the John Lewis ad yet! Ya, I know, there's always a massive deal about the John Lewis ad but it hasn't been on TV yet and I'll see it eventually. I'm sure there will be other ads out this year that I'll enjoy too. I'm not in full out Christmas mode at the moment, I enjoy seeing these ads on TV but I haven't started listening to music or watching films. But I do want to go all out festive this year!

Home Sweet Home #BEDN

Home for me is on the west coast of Ireland in Co.Clare. It's been my home for 17 years, even if I've lived other places over the years too! The scenery is just stunning and so for today's Blog Ever Day in November post I'm going to share some of my favourite photos I've taken of the area.

Day at the beach

Beautiful bluebells

Didn't find a pot of gold!

This used to be the view from my front door!

Snowfall from 2009

Sunrise

This was taken on the island seen in distance of previous picture!

What are you lookin at?!

St, Patrick's Day 2015

Beautiful October day

Another gorgeous sunset

Not the west coast but this was from landing in Shannon, I love this view welcoming me home!

Rimmel Love Glitter in Mistletoe Mischief #BEDN

Seeing as it's almost Christmas time, it's almost time for loads of glitter nail polishes! For the past few years, Rimmel have brought out some new glitter polishes, in 2012 they brought out the Precious Stones and last year it was the Glitter Bomb range. This year it's the Love Glitter range and the shade Mistletoe Mischief stood out the most to me. It's a mix of gold, rose gold and silver flakes of glitter. I've paired it over a black Essence polish.

For more black and gold nail ideas, you can check out this post here. The Love Glitter range has 5 polishes in total and should be on all Rimmel stands now. 

YouTube Pick of the Week #BEDN

It's been a while since I've done one of these but as the Blog Every Day in November theme for today is video, I thought I'd share some of the YouTube videos I've enjoyed recently.

I enjoy listening to the Stuff Mom Never Told You podcast and the videos they put up on their YouTube channel too. This video is the first in a new series from them called Stereotypology, where Cristen explores the origin and promotion of certain stereotypes by Hollywood. It's interesting and helpful as we need to stop encouraging stereotypes.

It's a well known fact that the situations in Ironic are far from Ironic. James Corden and Alanis Morissette update the lyrics for a 21st century feel.

There's so much that I love on the WOWPresents YouTube channel but the Fashion Photo Ruview is possibly my favourite! They toot or boot looks from RuPaul's Drag Race and other events. They did season 6 and 7 as it aired each week but now they've gone back and done season 4 and have started season 5. If you're a fan of RuPaul's Drag Race but didn't know about the WowPresents channel then you're in a for a treat!

Whitney Adams works in the wine industry and has some great videos about wine on her channel. She also has a series called Alco-Hauls, where she tries random things she finds in her liquor store. I love this series as there has been countless times I've seen things on shelves and wondered either A) if it's any good or B) who the HELL thought that was a good idea?! Whitney makes me laugh and it makes me want to go find some weird things to taste.

I've mentioned Caitlin Doughty and her Ask a Mortician series on here before but she's started doing other types of videos as well. This video was her take on monthly favourite videos on YouTube but with her own death themed spin. Death can be such a taboo still these days but Caitlin's videos are fun and informative. And not as morbid as you might think!

I don't watch X Factor any more and haven't for a while. I had heard of Fleur last year but I first heard her new song on an Asda ad during the week! This X Factor performance from last weekend is the only proper version of the song on YouTube so I've been listening to it and annoying my boyfriend by doing an impression of the sax part.

As a lover of The Muppets and crumpets this is just perfect!

August Reads #BEDN

August was kicked off with the BookTube-A-Thon and it was a great way to get my reading back on track.

August Reads

Carrot Cake Murder by Joanna Fluke

This book was for an author who shares the same last letter of your surname challenge (such a mouthful). It's book 9 or so in these cosy mysteries and boy am I bored of this series. Everyone is just so perfect and everything is so bloody NICE! I think I'd enjoy them more if they weren't all murders, I'm just not buying all these murders in this small town. And the fact that the same person solves them. Probably won't pick this series up again but I might try another cosy mystery series as they are quick and simple to read for when you're in a rut or just want some fluff.


Armada by Ernest Cline

I was excited for this book as I LOVED Ready Player One and I was so happy to excepted on NetGalley to read this. It's about Zack, who's plays a lot of video games and when one day he sees the spaceship from one of the games outside, he thinks he's going crazy. Just like his father did years ago before he died, who thought the government had invented certain games and films to train people for an upcoming war. If you've read Ready Player One you probably know how this all goes but there was something off for me.  I can't put my finger one it, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I did enjoy Ready Player One. It felt rushed at times and kinda sloppy. In the book Zack listens to an old mixtape his father made years ago and at the end of the book there's a listing for all the tracks which is really cool. This book was the 'a book with blue on the cover' challenge for BookTube-A-Thon.

Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour by Bryan Lee O'Malley

So I had been borrowing these books from the Manchester library and when it came to read this book, the final in the series, of course it wasn't in Manchester! So I borrowed it when back in Ireland. It wraps up the entire Scott Pilgrim series, I really enjoyed it and it's a good place to start when it comes to graphic novels as it's quite accessible. I read this for the 'read a book without putting it down' challenge.





Animal Farm by George Orwell

I read this for the 'read someone else's favourite book' challenge as it's Ariel Bisett's favourite book. I've only ever read 1984 by George Orwell and wanted to pick up more of his work. This is a classic, I barely have to explain what it's about as it's so well known. I really loved it, I'm looking forward to picking up more Orwell in the future.






Heir of Fire by Sarah J Maas

This book was for the 'read 7 books' challenge but I read it 5th in the month. The third book in the Throne of Glass series, which is a kickass fantasy series. I'm not going to talk about this much, I read the first book in March which you can check out the review here.







Criminal London by Tom Hollington

This book was picked because it was the last book I acquired, when I went to York with my friend Sarah. The book is party history, part travel guide as it shows you places in London that have criminal associations from over the years. It includes two walking tours you can do, one that involves the Kray Twins and one that's a Jack the Ripper tour. I thought it was fascinating at times and next time I'm in London I might flick through this book first to find one or two new places to visit.




Only Ever Yours by Louise O Neill

For the final BookTube-A-thon challenge, I had to read a book I wanted to read. And I had bought this book a few months previous but hadn't gotten around to reading it. Only Ever Yours is set in the future where girls go to school and learn to be either a companion for men, a concubine for men or a teacher for the schools. The girls grow up learning to be obsessed with their looks and body and how to be perfect. But when of the girls starts going off the rails, her friend can't help but worry for her. What is she doing and why is she doing it? This struck me as a sort of The Handmaid's Tale for teenagers and I'm not the first person to think so. It's not a bad thing, in fact I think it's great as it's more accessible than The Handmaid's Tale for younger girls and I think girls should be reading books like this, books that make them think and especially think about what it's like to be a woman.

The Age of Earthquakes by Douglas Copeland

I read this as part of BookTube-A-Thon too though it didn't fit into any challenge. It's hard to describe this book, it's filled with pictures and quotes, a big think piece about our future as humans and the future of the earth. I picked it up as I saw it in one of Leena Norms videos. You can flick through it, pick random pages, read it in one go, go back and reread certain parts. It's a perfect bathroom read!





Lying Out Loud by Jody Keplinger

I enjoyed The DUFF earlier this year and decided to pick up this book, a companion novel to The DUFF featuring Sonny, a compulsive liar who gets wrapped up in a big web of lies when she pretends to be her best friend talking to a guy Sonny hates but instead falls for him while talking to him. Only problem is he thinks she is Amy. I liked the book but felt it was slightly lacking compared to The DUFF. Not that I disliked this book, but I think I warmed more to Bianca than to Sonny. Speaking of which, it was nice to see Wesley and Bianca briefly in the book as well. If you enjoyed The DUFF, then you'll probably enjoy revisiting the world of Hamilton High. It's quick and fun to read and the characters are believable, which is probably because Keplinger is so young herself.

Meatspace by Nikesh Shukla

Another NetGalley request, Kitab Balasubramanyam is having a rough few months. His girlfriend has left him, he got fired from a job he hated and he following the release of his first book, he's got major writers block. So when he gets a request from someone with the same name as him on Facebook, he barely even thinks about it. Until Kitab Number 2 turns up on his door. Chaos insues. The book was interesting, Kitab 2 was just crazy, I have no idea what I'd do if someone turned up like that and tried to take over elements of my life. It was funny at parts and I enjoyed it but didn't love it. I did like how it made me think about social media and how much it's taken over our lives.

All Together Now by Gill Hornby

I read The Hive by Gill Hornby last year and enjoyed it so when I saw this on NetGalley I requested it. It follows Tracey Leckford, a single mother, who just wants to be left alone, to deal with no one but her son. She does her best to blend in at work and has never met any of her neighbours. Until one day, Lewis, not only her neighbour but member of the Bridgeford Choir, knocks on her door and asks her to join the choir. Reluctant at first, Tracey goes along and from there the story takes off. The mismatch of characters in this group made it interesting, to see them all interact with each other. I loved seeing the progression of the group, friendships being formed and how the characters gained confidence. This story sucked me in and kept me interested, a nice quick contemporary read.

August Stats

Number of books read- 11

Ratio fiction to non-fiction- 9:2

Male to Female authors- 5:6

Number of eBooks- 6 (All Together Now, Meatspace, Lying Out Loud, Heir of Fire, Armada, Carrot Cake Murder)

Number of books borrowed from library- 1 (Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour)

Reading Challenge Completed

A Book with Non-Human Character- Animal Farm

A Book Set in the Future- Only Ever Yours

A Book with Magic- Heir of Fire

A Book that takes Place in Your Hometown- Meatspace

And that's August! A nice bit of reading done. Just September and October to go and we're up to date!