Bookshelf: January 2017

Happy 2017! I know it's been a while since I last posted, but I'm hoping to make things a little more regular this year. I had a lovely holiday season, traveling the UK with my Mum. After ten days in London, full of long walks and sightseeing, we drove up through some beautiful towns and cities: Frome, Bath, Castle Combe, The Mumbles, Castleton, York, Haworth, Ambleside, Keswick and Windermere. We finished the road trip in Edinburgh, where I have just started my semester abroad (classes commence Monday). I'll be sure to share some photographs soon!

I love what I have seen of the city so far, and I've spent the last couple of days decorating my room and making sure it can serve as a cozy getaway from classes and the bustling city streets. Before classes start, I have also been taking advantage of my free time to do some reading! I set a Goodreads goal of 75 books this year (including school texts), and I am off to a good start. Without further ado, here are some of the books I've read recently, as well as some that I have next on my list.

READ

According to Yes by Dawn French
I have mixed feelings about this one. I love Dawn French (Vicar of Dibley, anyone??) but somehow this story just didn't appeal to me. The novel tells the story of Rosie Kitto, a 38 year-old woman from Cornwall who moves to NYC to nanny two young boys. Chaos ensues when she develops relationships with the men of the family (yes, more than one). It's predictable and a little boring in parts, and there are also many editorial mistakes. That said, it is nicely fluffy and a good one to breeze through if you fancy something light.

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
I really enjoyed this novel. I read Fangirl last year, also by Rowell, and liked that too. This is not a monumental or life-changing read, that's for sure, but it is well written and explores some complex themes effectively. The chemistry between characters is believable, and I had a great time reading it.

Not pictured: The One Plus One by Jojo Moyes
I have mixed feelings about Moyes's Me Before You, but I categorically loved The One Plus One. The story follows Jess, a young single mother of two, and Ed, a wealthy businessman in the center of a major scandal. It's not for everyone, as it's full of family drama and very realistic problems, but so many of Jess's issues resonated with me and I really enjoyed flipping through this novel (it took me less than 24 hours!) The romance between Jess and Ed was nicely done, and I particularly liked that the narrator is constantly changing, but the story is grounded in the perspective of Tanzie, the 11 year-old math prodigy daughter of Jess. I highly recommend it!

Voyager by Diana Gabaldon (almost finished!)
How fitting, considering I've just started my studies in Scotland. I picked this up immediately after finishing Dragonfly in Amber, and this is just as gripping. Without any spoilers, Claire and Jamie's story picks up in a beautiful way, and I have loved seeing how they handle their next adventures.

TO-READ

Britt-Marie Was Here by Frederik Backman
I've had Backman's A Man Called Ove on my list since I finished The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. Something to do with the fact that I am actually a grandma inside a 20 year-old body and I like to read stories about older folks. ??? Anyways, my mum read this one and really loved it, so she passed it on to me.

The Revolving Door of Life by Alexander McCall-Smith
An Edinburgh author! A must read now that I'm here. I have actually never read any McCall-Smith but I did enjoy the TV adaptation of his No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, so here's hoping this one is just as fun.

Victoria by Daisy Goodwin
Another that Mum left for me. When she was reading this, she couldn't stop talking about how great the dialogue is, so I am excited to pick this up. I've also heard the TV show is pretty fantastic!

Not Quite Nice by Celia Imrie
Next on my list, I think I'll start it tonight! I love love love Celia Imrie's acting work, and only just found out that she is also a novelist. This seems to be about some middle aged women escaping to Southern France after a scandal/crime of some kind. Sounds like fun.

What have you enjoyed lately, and what's next on your list?

x B

A Few Favourite Things

So it's been a while since I've posted here, and I won't apologize -- I've just been happily living my life for the last month or so. My New Year's resolution this year was to spend less time documenting and planning my life, and more time living it. So just take my absence from this space as an indication that I'm succeeding in that.

It's been a big month. I've been making lots of plans, figuring things out for next semester at school, and enjoying my summer as much as possible. On top of the usual daily routine, I've fostered the most beautiful dog from the RSPCA (but their policy prohibits me from sharing photos until he's ready for adoption). However, I have found some time to slow down and enjoy the everyday, and I wanted to share some of that with you here. I thought I might share my 'favourites,' but instead of material possessions, focus instead on events/activities/recipes (although there are a couple new things I want to share!)

Lazy afternoons reading

I've been reading a lot lately, which has been lovely and much-needed. There's something delightfully comforting about reading on the couch while it rains down on the windows. I recently finished The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion and loved it just as much as the first Rosie novel. Don's narration is so refreshing and not frustrating, as I find many narrators to be. Right now I'm reading Diana Gabaldon's Dragonfly in Amber, the second in her Outlander series. I've absolutely been swept up in Claire and Jamie's story, and love DG's writing and Claire's narration. I'm up to date with the TV show so I can't wait to finish this novel and get on to the next one.

And watching some television

A couple of great shows I've been watching lately have kept me entertained in the evenings. Master of None, Aziz Ansari's show, was a seriously entertaining but light-hearted watch. Well cast and with clever humour, it was the perfect kind of show to watch over a couple of rainy days in bed. Then I started Please Like Me, created by Australian comedian Josh Thomas. It is a wonderfully optimistic show that deals with complicated issues in a tasteful way. I really liked that the main character, Josh, didn't seem to have any idea what he was doing as he entered adulthood, which I found very relatable and realistic. Finally, I've just finished the the first season of Jane the Virgin. I had watched a few episodes a while back but never got into the story, but recently I rented the season from the library and found myself totally invested in the storyline. While the premise is a little ridiculous, the characters are complex and interesting, and I love it now!

Planning for the next few months

I'm such a planner that I've been busy making lists and calendars and checklists to get ready for the next semester. Without even trying, I find myself with five jobs/roles on top of classes, so I'm in for a very busy few months on campus. I bought a new diary from Kikki.K (that has lots of little illustrations to colour in) and I've been using Apple Calendars and Google docs to make plans and lists so I'm all ready to go. It just makes me so happy to colour code and highlight things so I've really been enjoying that.

New additions to the wardrobe

While I didn't set out to shop too much this summer, I have picked up a few nice new pieces that I adore. I bought a pair of Blundestone 585 boots recently and have practically been living in them, they're so comfortable! They go with just about anything and I love love love them to bits. I also stopped in Chapel St. the other day and bought a lovely pair of cotton pants at Sussan, as well as a tunic dress and jacket in the Ishka sale (honestly I don't know of a better sale than an Ishka sale!) I love the colours of these pieces and they are all soft and made of cotton, which is just awesome.

Delicious breakfasts

I recently picked up the PB2 powdered peanut butter in chocolate flavour, and have been loving that so far! My favourite breakfast lately has been oats with chia and flax seeds, some chopped banana and the PB2 chocolate drizzled on top. So good! I'm also pretty obsessed with overnight oats- basically just oats and chia left to soak in coconut/almond milk and coconut yoghurt overnight. Top with some fresh fruit and it's a quick and delicious breakfast on the go.

x B

Life Lately: July

I had originally thought that I would use this summer break (although winter at home...) to pick up a new hobby or two, read lots of books, visit with friends, and explore Melbourne some more. While I have managed some of that, I underestimated how tired I would be when I arrived home. While I have been reading, cooking and seeing some friends, a great deal of my time is spent on the couch or in bed, either asleep or just lying awake and trying to calm down my whirring brain and thoughts. I am enjoying myself immensely, however, and thought I'd share a little of what I've been up to here. A little itty-bitty diary if you will.

This week the weather has been grey and dreary, not ideal for getting out and about, but perfect for curling up on the sofa with a good book. So today, that's exactly what I had planned to do. I got as far as wrapping myself up like a blanket burrito, and after that I was so sleepy I never got around to opening my book. The rain was tap-tapping away on the window and the whole house was filled with a sense of tranquility. I was asleep within seconds.

The book I had planned to read is Outlander by Diana Gabaldon: a 900-page feast of a novel, and I'm nearly halfway through and loving it. I had watched the first season of Outlander on Netflix before picking up the novel, so I'm enjoying the same story again with much more detail and perspective. It really is a fantastic read and I would highly recommend it. If you love watching Game of Thrones and/or reading historical fiction, it would be right up your alley. Sometimes with a novel of that length, I can get a little bit overwhelmed by all the reading to do and end up doing nothing, which is a hopeless excuse. So I'm slowly making my way through it, and loving it. Next on my shelf is The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman, but I'm also thinking about The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion (I adored the first Don Tillman novel). But really, who knows... I may well just re-read Jane Eyre for the umpteenth time.

The other day I was out walking, and looked up to see a beautiful leaf fall from an oak tree. Perhaps it was my mood on that particular day, or maybe I was just exhausted, but for whatever reason I started to tear up and I'm not really sure why. The rest of the day I kept thinking about how many leaves there are in the world, and how many people/lives/stories exist at once and how many of them go untold. Simultaneously scary and beautiful, I think. In my opinion the best stories are those that go untold, and often this thought is so overwhelming that I need to sit down and/or take a nap. I don't know if that's just me... I feel a little vulnerable if the world as it is can have that big an impact on me, but in a way I suppose that thinking all the time does have its downsides... what do you think?

x B