Nollaig

Total aside from books - I love your avatar! So cute hehe!

I have The Nightingale waiting to be read, I've seen a few people mention it so I might get to it soon. I haven't heard great things about Finders Keepers, but I don't really read King so I don't know will I bother. All The Light We Cannot See is another on my wishlist, I don't think I actually bought it (on tablet - I lose track) but I've seen hardcopies out on display in Waterstones and have been tempted a few times to pick it up. Aaaand The Girl On The Train has gotten hugely mixed reviews, but despite its flaws (which I did acknowledge in my review of it), I LOVED it.

I have a cherry scone with raspberry jam waiting in my bag for teabreak!

Started Solitaire by Alice Oseman. So far I adore the narrator. She's basically me when I'm in a bad mood, but ALL THE TIME. She says things like she goes home from school everyday, collapses onto her bed, and opens her laptop. Her laptop is never far from her heart, it is her soulmate. Yep. I can see a LOT of people not liking her (at least initially), but I love the writing and uniqueness of the narrator so I'm really interested to see where this book is gonna go. Hello reading mojo, nice to see you back

Completely overcast, so dull and grey, but dry and not cold.

I'm abandoning A Day At The Office by Matt Dunn. I think it's an absolute load of tosh. I've barely read anything lately, so I really need to get my butt in gear (I've three reviews to write, too!) currently browsing Goodreads to try find something to catch my interest.

Wow, way to leave ABSOLUTELY NO PLOT POINT unrevealed, trailer.

I cannot wait to watch that trailer once I get out of work!

Finally getting around to finishing off my reviews. Three more to follow later, but for now here's my review for Uprooted: Uprooted by Naomi Novik Synopsis: Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life. Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood. The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose. *** Review: Wow. Honestly, wow. I'd been told this book was good, so I hoped for good. I got 'wow'. Uprooted is a fantasy story imbued with a feeling of fairytales - set in the surrounding areas of an evil wood and starting with a Dragon taking a girl away to his tower. This is essentially as much information as the reader is given on the back of the book, and I am grateful for having no clue where the story was going to go, because I loved just immersing myself in the world and going with the flow. My review might be a tad short simply because I want to retain that mystery for any potential readers - do not read anything about the plot before reading it! Novik's world is captivating and her story compelling. Just the right amount of world-building is employed to create an enchanting setting for a story that takes its time but is never dull. Although quite a chunky read, I tore through it in a couple of days, dying to find out what would happen.The prose is lyrical and light - Novik uses words like rich, vibrant colours in a painting. The descriptions of how Nieshka and the Dragon weave their magic are more metaphorical than literal, and are not just original and clever but also significantly contribute to the feeling of artistry surrounding this book. Everything about Uprooted has the feeling of an old fireside folktale being recollected for modern readers. Not just a simple tale of good and evil, there's a real heart to this one. I actually feel that this would be a great starting point for people wanting to get into the fantasy genre - I'm not an avid reader of fantasy myself but this book had just the right mix of all the best elements of fantasy to make it a wholly satisfying read. Highly recommended. Rating: 4.5 /5

It's a dystopian caricature of the world we actually live in, exaggerating the objectification of women as objects for the use of men (begun as a population control method at the end of the world), and the myriad issues that arise in terms of mental and physical health when women are schooled to meet these unrealistic ideals. I didn't think it failed at all, but Anna has a very different perspective which made it quite an affective read for her.

Interesting! Miss Barnes is in it! I'm reserving judgement! I'm going to see Jurassic Pratt this weekend. I'm not expecting much, I'm going for the CG dinos.

Thanks! And... tee hee hee. Supernatural is amazing.

Hmmm, it's borderline I think, Muggles. I removed my paragraph that was entirely about disorders because yes that was unrelated to the book, but the rest of the discussion is related to the influence of the book itself, so I *think* its okay?

Hmm, that's an interesting viewpoint and certainly not invalid, but at the same time, if people with experience don't starkly speak out in forms of media and entertainment where being beautiful and thin and having unattainable or unrealistic or damaging ideals are often celebrated, then people won't ever know those things are out there. I mean, book or no book, people with disorders are always going to find justifications, because they are unwell. I'm not sure I think that's a good enough reason not to put books like that out there, with the goal of shocking unaffected people into realization of the issues in the world around them. If that makes sense. I do think there's two sides, at the very least. [snip]

Ahh the publisher's fonts I suspect referred to when he switched from typing on a PC to typing on his typewriter at home - those fonts are different in the book and help clarify when he's on his little extended holiday from the clinic. Glad you enjoyed it, it is a great read.

So glad you enjoyed it! It's a wonderful book

Huh - no, I hadn't! Just looked it up there on Goodreads, sounds interesting! Has a good rating on there, too. Will have to check it out!

Aww I'm sorry you didn't enjoy Only Ever Yours as much as some of us did. I'm not sure about 'irresponsible', the author wrote it off the back of her experience with eating disorders and working the fashion industry. I don't think anyone is going to read it and come away with the belief that aesthetics, inequality, extreme appearance-control measures or objectification of women are good things.

Haha what a great video June! Thanks everyone who has sent messages my way since I last posted, much appreciated. Back in Cork now (took a day's leave from work today) and on Wednesday I have a verbal and numerical reasoning assessment for a place on a panel. (If I do okay in the tests, I might get an interview.) Dreading the test, I do horrendously under pressure. Tried a trial one and got 60%

I've put aside my other two reads to check out The Glass Demon by Helen Grant and so far I'm LOVING it, very unusual.

I *loved* that book, thought it was Anna's best yet. Hope you enjoy it. Looking forward to your thoughts! I have three reviews half-written which need finishing but I haven't been thinking much about books recently. Reading A Day At The Office by Matt Dunn which I randomly came across while Kindle browsing. Don't think much of it but I'm halfway through now and don't really want to give up. Will struggle on. Might start reading The Glass Demon by Helen Grant soon.

Very grey and quite cool here today.

Thanks I had a half hour or so with her today where she was sprawled on the floor and I was rubbing her belly. She's very fragile and has been very anti-social for a year or so now, so just to have her let me do that was lovely and it gave me a chance to sit and talk to her knowing it'll be the last time I do it. She's wobbling all over the place when she walks, and I think its just because shes so weak. She's sort of dazed all the time (but she does still enjoy being stroked, because she turned over on her back to get me to rub her belly). I'm just spending the rest of today taking pictures and little videos of her, I think they'll help me in the long run to remind me why this was the right thing to do, and also just so I don't forget her last days.

Why did you think you might not fit in here?

Haven't read anything by him but I've stuck his name on my wishlist!