Books of the Month May 2015

Wow, I haven't posted in a while, I'm really sorry. Life has been so busy and kind of terrible, and I'm just now coming out the other side. I'm trying to get caught up here on what I've been doing!

May has been a slow month for reading for various reasons, so I've only finished four books. June should be better!



I had this author recommended to me and found this on Kindle for 99p. I didn't like it, though, so I won't read anything else by her! It's about two young Muslims who end up together - and I understand that modesty conventions mean that they couldn't talk to each other much, but I felt that something was lacking when they did.



I'm still reading my way through the Ramona books. I think this one is my favourite one!



I found this really hard going as the subject matter is very close to home. It's a powerful novel. I won't say I liked it, but I'm glad I read it. I immediately passed it to a friend though as I won't read it again.



This was recommended when I bought Before We Met (read in April) and I guess I see why they're similar. I didn't like the narrator, Jenny, or her husband Ted, but I did like the kids. I felt the ending was massively unsatisfactory, though.

I'm currently reading a young adult novel by a UK author, and also Anne of Green Gables which I've never read before!

Films of the Month April 2015

I didn't watch many films at all in April. I'm not sure why! I've already broken the number in May, only a few days in.

Ah well, here's what I did watch.



1) X Men - Days of Future Past - I saw this in the cinema when it came out and have seen it a few times since. I love it! I'm not keen on the other X Men films but this one has James McAvoy in it so you know



2 Frozen - I have seen this before but I felt like watching it again. It's very sweet.



3) Toy Story - I watched this with Lee, they're all great aren't they?



4) Save the Last Dance - This is one of my favourite comfort films. I first saw it at university over ten years ago and I watch it fairly regularly. I love films about dancing, I love the soundtrack, I love Julia Stiles.

Like I said, I've already watched more films in May than I managed in April, so I'll be back next month to share them!

Books of the Months April 2015

Here's what I read in April. It feels like it was a good month!



My friend Leanne recommended this to me. It was interesting to see the author's life in the 50s and the utter drudgery of life, especially for women. I felt she was quite scathing of current feminism though. It is good though.



Sarah is the housemate of my friend Lucinda, and when Lucinda visited me at the end of March she brought me a signed copy. This is a Young Adult novel about a boy with motor-neurone disease. It's a very sweet story.



I bought this just after Christmas with some similar books. I really enjoyed it - there were twists and turns at the protagonist tried to work out how and why her husband was lying to her.



I picked this up in a charity shop in January and just picked it up out of the spare bedroom (so many books). I LOVED IT. I love crime novels and this, while hefty, was a really quick read with lots of great parts and a great serial killer. I have bought a few more in this series (Rizzoli and Isles) on eBay since



Filled with a rediscovered love of crime writing, I read this novella that was free on Kindle one day. It was good, I haven't read the author before



This was also free on Kindle (I use the app on my tablet) and I liked it a lot. It's a young adult novel about a girl whose sister has died tragically, and it's about how she picks up her life really. I lost my dad tragically when I was 24, so I really related to a lot of things in this novel. It was good research for my MA writing too.

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I feel like everyone in blogland has read this book. I got it at the same time that I got Before We Met, and I feel like they're quite similar novels. I did enjoy it, but I felt like parts of it were totally irrelevant, and that the ending was just terrible.

Have you read any of these? What did you think?

New Yours Clothing store in Huddersfield

On 17th April a new Yours Clothing store opened in Huddersfield. I saw it on Twitter and I was free, so I went along to the opening. I met my friend Gem there too - we've known each other online for about a year so it was nice to meet her and her daughter in person.

The first 50 people in the queue got a goodie bag with a Yours tote bag, a make up bag and some other bits in it, and one lucky person won £50 of vouchers to spend in store! There were lots of staff around on hand to answer questions and be of any help.

The store is in the Kingsgate centre next to River Island which is a prime location. It's bright and clean and spacious (much better than the Meadowhall store in that respect, although apparently that is getting a makeover this year) and I hope it does really well.

Here's some photos I quickly took. It was really busy and I'm glad!

Sometimes in Yours I feel like all they have on show is black, dark green, or purple clothes, so I was glad to see some bright colours on display here

I really like this dress and think it might have to come home with me soon!

April Photo An Hour - 19th April

Sunday 19th April was the last Photo An Hour day hosted by Louisa and Jane, and for me it was a good day because it was my grandma's 89th birthday! My aunt, uncle, one of my cousins, and his girlfriend came up to spend the weekend with us. On  the Saturday my uncle came to help me and Lee and my mum clear away our old kitchen from outside our house (more on the kitchen later - it's been a bit of a nightmare!). On the Sunday we went to my grandma's and had a big family dinner before my aunt and uncle had to leave.

I forgot it was Photo An Hour last month so I'm glad I remembered this time - I'd set a reminder! Here are my photos:

9am was much earlier than I wanted to be awake. I'm so beautiful.

10am, Lee was still asleep so I was reading on my tablet - a new book that I picked up on an Amazon deal, I'm pretty sure it was free.

11am and these are my grandma's presents. I bought her a Seaham seaglass necklace.

Noon and I was finally showered!

1pm at my grandma's house - this is her, then my cousin Rob, then Lee

2pm and dinner is served! My mum, my uncle, and Rob.

3pm and pudding - homemade apple and raspberry crumble, it was delicious!

4pm and I snapped this photo of my grandma's garden just as we were leaving

5pm and I was at my computer writing for my MA deadline. This is my plotting folder.

6pm - this crystal is new, I bought it to hang from the Velux window in my attic room.

7pm and these were the clouds from my attic window - just gorgeous

8pm and this was the part of my novel that I'm writing

9pm and I needed a glass of wine to lubricate the writing....

10pm was teeth brushing time

11pm found me in the same place that I started the day - in bed reading my book!