Showing posts with label Weekly Recap. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Weekly Recap. Show all posts

Weekly Recap: I'm Gonna Be In The Room Where It Happens!


Hello, beautiful people of the internet! It has been a little while since I last posted. What can I say, I am a terrible blogger at times. I don't even have the excuse that I have been super busy, I haven't. I've just had my usual work and then I have spent most of my time reading or taking photos for Instagram (my instagram addiction is real!). I have had a good few weeks though as I have got some amazing events coming up and finally got the news I have been waiting months to hear.

I am OBSESSED with Hamilton, have been for months. If I had an endless supply of cash then I would buy tickets and fly to New York to watch it. But I don't, so I can't. But it was finally officially announced that Hamilton is coming to London in October 2017! And I am freaking the fuck out!!! I will be getting tickets, no matter how much they cost and I will be seeing it. Probably multiple times if I can! Tickets go on sale November this year and I am already signed up for priority booking. I'm gonna be in the room where it happens!

Weekly Recap: I'm a Stressed Human This Week


thecomebackhbo  tv hbo wow lisa kudrow
In all honesty, I have had such a stressful week and I am so looking forward to this long weekend... I need it! My work week has been pretty shitty and it's hard to really pinpoint exactly why. Some of the people I work with are getting on my last nerve, to the point where I just dread having to spend the day with them. I'm also not happy there in general as it doesn't challenge me enough. I love to be busy at work, but here I am just struggling to find something to do. I know I'd be a lot happier if there was more work to do.

parks and recreation parks and rec i hate people
My spirit animal!
The other big stress for me this week is that my fiance's brother has moved in with us. He used to live here but moved out about two years ago. He quit his job, that gave him a free flat, and so had to move back in. AND I HATE IT! I absolutely hate it. It's been two days and I am already sick of it. He's fine, like it's not because of him. It's just the suddenly having to share space with another person again. Nope. It's not for me. No more running around the flat, singing Hamilton songs at the top of my lungs. Living with people is not fun. I feel like I wasn't made to interact with other human beings. Animals, sure, but not humans!

Weekly Recap: I'm Trying To Be A Good Blogger


It's been a few weeks since my last recap, so I have a few things to catch up on. I've been trying hard to get back into my blogging, as a lot of my time has gone in to my Instagram instead. It is going well so far, I have been posting more frequently and I also have plans for a lot more posts, including a bunch of discussion and tip posts that I am super excited about. I feel I have done very well in the last few weeks of balancing out everything. I have done a lot of reading, I've drafted up a bunch of reviews and posts, I've also been able to take part in four challenges on Instagram, it has been a good week for me!

kristen wiig frustrated unimpressed bridesmaids are you kidding meI don't know if you guys have heard but it was recently announced that Dan Brown is writing a YA version of The Da Vinci Code. That's right, he is rewriting one of his novels to try and make it 'easier' for YA readers to understand. 'Cause YA readers are clearly fucking invalids with zero grasp on the English language. I have never heard anything more insulting to young adults. I read The Da Vinci Code back when it first released and I was 14 years old, I was a young adult. I had zero struggles with this book, it wasn't exactly hard to read. And then he expects YA readers to act totally grateful and not insulted by his obvious attempts to make some quick cash.

Weekly Recap: Blogger Made Me Its Bitch!


Hellooo, fellow readers, how has your week been treating you? I have had a week of working, reading and being totally frustrated. My week has honestly been crap, sprinkled on top of crap, caked on top of more crap. I have all the hope that this bank holiday weekend will be relaxing and make up for it, but I doubt it.

The fiance and I are gaining a flatmate in the form of his brother - not by choice. His brother needs a place and you don't turn away family. But neither of us is looking forward to sharing our flat with another human being. We have got used to having our own place, our own space and it just isn't as comfortable when you have someone else living with you. I always stress out about everything, so this is just a nightmare for me - especially since this could end up being way more long term than either of us would like. Wish me luck, internet!

Weekly Recap: Awesome Graphic Novel Steals My Heart!


My Saga feels summed up in gif form!
Hello, peoples of the internet, how has your week been? Mine has been long and boring, as I have just been working - and work is never fun. Why I can't be paid to just sit around and read all day is beyond me. But, alas, I have yet to make that dream a reality. I have been trying to keep up with my reading, despite working a lot and being inexplicably  tired. My newest obsession has quickly become Saga, the graphic novel series. It is actually incredible and AMAZING and speaks to my very soul. The characters are becoming my favourite things in the entire universe, as they are hilarious and make me laugh so much. I read the first one and immediately went online and bought the next two in the series - I would have bought them all if I wasn't super broke! They came and I literally jumped up and down with excitement... And then proceeded to read both straight away. I NEED MORE!!!

Weekly Recap: I'm Back & I Bring Books!


Hello, bloglings, it has been rather a long time since my last recap and, I admit, I have been a terribly absent blogger. I have had good reasons though, so I can't bring myself to feel bad about it. The only good thing about being absent from the blog is that I have had plenty of time to read - which was much needed!!! So keep an eye out for reviews, I have a lot coming up. I also have a lot of discussions planned as well, I just need to find the time to get them all written up.

My Weekly Recap: Adele & Review Books


It's nice to finally say that I have had an AMAZING week! I have been on a round of antibiotics, which has helped clear up my sinusitis, meaning I am sickness free for the first time in months. I have also had a week off work with the fiancé, which has been absolutely amazing. We have both just been able to enjoy each others company, without stressing about work. We also went out with a group of friends to celebrate his 25th birthday, and had a fantastic night. The morning after was awful, hangovers just seem to get worse the older you get.

The best thing to happen all week occurred on Wednesday, when I went to see Adele live at the O2 in London. It was an amazing night and I had such a great time. I have been to a lot of concerts in my life, but I've never heard someone sing like that in real life. That's real talent.

Weekly Recap & Haul: Pierce Brown, Sickness and Being Absent


My relationship with my body right now
haha!
I have been completely absent from the blog for a few weeks now. Ooops! And I had been doing so well recently with sticking to regularly posting. It's not completely my fault, as I have been consistently sick since Christmas, first with laryngitis, then a chest infection, and the most recent was the flu. Now, I had thought I had actually had the flu before, but I was wrong. Oh my, I can't even describe how horrible that was. I literally couldn't get out of bed for about 5 days, I couldn't even sit up and read or watch telly. So there was no reading or blogging then, and once I was better I was back at work, still feeling run down and just not able to find the energy to blog.

Weekly Recap: I Have a TBR Castle


I skipped one week of hauls because I had barely any books and then suddenly I went home and had a pile of packages almost as tall as me. I am drowning in books. Some of the review books sent to me were super random too, so not sure what to make of them. Since my last recap post a lot has happened as well, so be warned.

First off, I had so many issues with my bank that just led to so much stress. I had my bank account compromised and thousands in transactions was trying to be taken out. My bank declined most of them but let about £400 worth of payments to go through. Then I had to wait over two weeks to get that money back. It was so frustrating and my bank were not helpful at all. So I gave up and am now switching banks, which actually ended up benefiting me as they offer you money to switch.


I then got crapped over all over again last Sunday, when I woke up to an email from Blogger saying they had deleted my blog. As you are currently reading this ON MY BLOG, you can probably guess that I've since got that sorted. But it was very upsetting at the time to wake up and find my blog just GONE. For no reason. Sucks. So, be warned, if you have a Blogger account. They have an automated system that takes blogs down and it accidentally deletes blogs regularly. Luckily you should be able to get it back. Does make me want to figure out how to go self hosted.

I counted my books last weekend and almost died of a heart attack when I counted up and realised I had 1,127 books physically sitting on my shelves. I didn't realise I had over 1,000. I thought I was at about 900, so I was well off. I am a little scared that this is the size of it now... how big will it be in a few years! I'm adding another 15 to that number just in this haul alone. My fiance argues I have too many books, but I don't know if such a thing actually exists. You can never have too many books. I can build myself a book fort, or an actual book house, with furniture made from books.

The other thing that has happened since my last catch up is the fact I have become obsessed with Hamilton : The Musical. IT IS INCREDIBLE! I have the album and have basically just been listening to it on repeat and nothing else. I highly recommend. It's supposed to be coming to the West End next year and I can't wait. I will be getting tickets, even if I have to sell a kidney or something to afford them. I WILL BE GOING!!! I saw there was a Hamilton Book Tag so I knew I had to do it, it was a lot of fun.

I am now much happier as my blog is back and my money is now back in my account. I've also been having a good week at work, which has really helped. My sister also just got back from Disneyland Paris and got me the most adorable Todd and Copper teddies. I was so happy, I really wanted these as you can't get them over here. And to top it all off I have had some amazing book mail. And I will also be attending an event tonight to meet Pierce Brown and get all my books signed. And... to make it even better, I also get to go to a party with him on Monday at Hodder publishing house... WOOP! I am excited, but also super nervous. I have anxiety and so events like this are my actual worst nightmare. I was relying on bringing the fiance as a plus one, but I don't think we can... so I am currently freaking out. I don't want to miss out but the anxiety right now is so bad I may actually vomit. NOT GOOD >.<






Morning Star by Pierce Brown, Riders by Veronica Rossi, Every Move by Elie Marney, The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge & The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick

I have a review copy of Morning Star but I HAD to get a hardback finished copy! Especially since I will be meeting Pierce Brown and getting him to sign them. I'll be getting the ARC signed too. I also have the first book in hardback on order, I just really hope it arrives before the party on Monday. I loved Rossi's Under the Never Sky series, so I knew I would have to read her latest YA novel. Every Move is the third in the series. I just finished book one and I loved it, I might be a little bit obsessed with Mycroft and Watts - those two are adorable! The Lie Tree and The Man in the High Castle were on special and I want to read both, so I grabbed them both.




The Winner's Kiss by Marie Rutkoski

This gets to be all by itself because I am so excited to be able to read this. I can't wait to get to this. I'm currently rereading book one, I plan to binge read all three together. And it will be glorious! I really hope Arin and Kestrel get a happy ending, otherwise I might cry. 


Whisper to Me by Nick Lake, Radio Silence by Alice Oseman, The Reaction by Helena Coggan, The Power by Jennifer L. Armentrout & Missing Pieces by Heather Gudenkauf

Whisper to Me is one that Bloomsbury sent to me and I am very excited for it, sounds like a great contemporary. Radio Silence is another review copy that I requested and am really looking forward to getting to it. The next two, The Reaction and The Power weren't ones I requested, but the publishers sent me the first two for review as well, so I guess I should get to these series as some point. I love Heather Gudenkauf, so I was super happy to accept a review copy of her new one. She writes books that are similar to Jodi Picoult, who is a favourite author of mine.


The Other Side of Silence by Linda Gask, The Last Kiss Goodbye by Tasmina Perry, Never Tear Us Apart by Monica Murphy, An Ounce of Hope by Sophie Jackson & Heartsong Cottage by Emily March

The Other Side of Silence is a psychiatrists memoir on her experience dealing with depression, I am excited for that one. As someone who suffers from depression and anxiety, I think it will be nice to read about someone else's experience and how they handle it. The other four review copies are so random. An Ounce of Hope I kind of understand as I know they sent me book one and I read and reviewed it. The other three are ones I will give to a woman at work who I know will read them.





Weekly Recap: An Awesome Week for Book Mail!


I'm actually super proud of myself right now, I am still going strong with this being back at blogging business! GO ME! This has been a struggle for me in the past as I kept getting in to huge blogging slumps, but I am really loving it right now and finding time to do it on top of everything else. This week has been a brilliant mail week, mostly because pay day happened and I bought a bunch of books for myself.

I also had the most amazing email and book mail from Hodder! They sent out a few advanced copies of Morning Star by Pierce Brown and I got one. Not only that, they also sent out invites to an exlusive party at their offices for Pierce.... AND I GOT ONE! Most of you won't even realise how much I freaked out at this. I can't even describe how bloody giddy I got. I am soooo excited. Red Rising is one of my favourite series and I am so excited to finish it. I am also excited/super nervous to meet Pierce Brown.

Weekly Recap: I'm Dying, But At Least I Have ALL The Books


I've not been up to much in the last week. I was supposed to go back to work after my two weeks off, but ended up having this whole week off sick. I came down with a cold around Christmas day, but that slowly progressed to laryngitis and a chest infection, which meant a trip to the doctors and now I am on a course of antibiotics. I have been taking the antibiotics for four days and am yet to feel better, which really sucks. No matter what, I'll be returning to work on Monday after three weeks off. I am going to struggle getting up early every morning now, but I'll have to get used to it.

The one good thing about being sick is the fact I have had more time to read and blog. That's how I have managed to get a few more posts scheduled, get 3 books ahead of my GR schedule and visit some of my favourite blogs. Hopefully this progress will continue throughout 2016, where I hope to post at least three times a week.

My haul this week is really large, and the worst part is that I had to actually cut it in half and put the others in next weeks. The reason it is so large is because I forgot to include any of my recent eARCs in my December haul. I always fail at that because I just forget them because they are all stored on my Kindle. I only seem to remember all the physical beauties that I get. So this time it is time to include all the eARCs.


Weekly Recap: An Engagement, Christmas & ALL THE BOOKS!


Now let's be honest, this isn't really a weekly recap. This is going to basically me recapping the last couple of months, as I have been the worst blogger in 2015 and barely blogged at all. It's a new year now though, so it is time for me to get back on top of blogging and try a little harder. And the best way to start seems to be recapping the last few months, which have been very eventful. And then sharing my latest book haul, which has built up very quickly.

My last recap was all the way back on Halloween, so I have two months to catch up on. This is going to be a longer post than usual as I want to go into detail on things. So feel free to skip ahead to the haul if you have absolutely zero interest in the personal! I think the most important thing to tell you all is... I'm engaged! 

Weekly Recap: This Is Halloween, This is Halloween!!! Disney Style


Hello! This is where I would usually write all the exciting things that I got up to in the last week, but literally only one thing of any interest actually happened.

HALLOWEEN!

I went to a Disney themed Halloween party and it was so much fun. We only had about two weeks to put costumes together, and I was working on a budget. So I bought a bunch of stuff really cheap on Amazon and was really impressed with how the costume came out. I decided to be human Ariel, and even convinced the boyfriend to be Eric, complete with scratchy black wig. 


My sister went as Maleficent and her costume ruled! She made the staff herself using a shower pole, fake rope, a garden light and fake moss. It was really impressive and she looked so good. 

Other than that, it has just been work, work, work and then more work. FUN!


Another giant haul this week, but I promise this is like two weeks worth of books as I split my haul. This one contains some review books, a few books I won, two books from my Owl Crate subscription, and then a whole bunch that I bought. A lot of these are New Adult, which is a genre I very rarely read. But I read The Sea of Tranquillity and loved it so much, I had to immediately go and buy any book anyone suggested was similar. I spent a small fortune on Amazon doing that, haha!



I can't celebrate my blogoversary without holding a giveaway for all of my amazing followers. One winner will win up to £30 worth of books from Book Depository. This will be open internationally, as long as Book Depository ships to your country.


a Rafflecopter giveaway







If you think this post was super short... you are right. But new COD is out and I'm off playing it! HAHA! LOVE YOU GUYS!


Weekly Recap: Where I Basically Recap A Whole Month & Haul ALL The Books


I AM BACK! Yes, finally, it is happening. I have been absent from the blog for the longest time, what feels like months. It was more like a month to two, but it felt like almost a lifetime.
In that time I have:

  •  Missed my actual blogoversary, so I celebrated it this week instead. I am doing a giveaway to celebrate as well, so be sure to enter!
  • Had two weeks off work! HALLELUJAH! It was glorious, I got to do all the reading, all the sleeping and all the Netflix binging. 
  • I devoured enough books to complete my Goodreads challenge of 100 books. I'm now at 116. Go me!
  • I went to awesome book events. I got to meet Jennifer Donnelly, who is a sweetheart; Julie Mayhew who was as wonderful as the last time, and Leigh Bardugo who is fucking hilarious! I adored her. 
  • Got my outfit together for a Disney Halloween Party. I am going as human Ariel and I am far too excited! You can probably expect lots of pictures next week, where I show off my adorably terrible, but cheaply put together costume.
  • Acquired far too many books! So many that I am splitting the haul. I am also running out of shelf space... And I have seven bookshelves.
  • I started a Book Tube channel and posted a few videos! I have actually had a lot of fun doing these, even if they take a lot of time. 
  • I got sick... SUPER SICK! And I felt like I was dying. But I am all better now! Hurray for me!

My Weekly Book Haul: 26/09/2015


Image result for can't sleep gifIt feels nice to finally be back on the blog, after I took some unplanned weeks away. I'd been struggling really badly with insomnia, caused by a medication I am currently taking. It is horrible! I thought I'd suffered from it before, but clearly I had absolutely no idea what I was talking about before. It has been really hard and I had started to feel like a bit of a zombie. But I am finally getting used to the medication, which means the insomnia is getting better. So I hope to get back to blogging now.

I've been feeling the urge more and more to do book review/discussion videos, as well as tag videos. I love discussing books and I just find it easier talking about them, rather than trying to get my thoughts typed up. But editing videos is actually hard as hell. How do people do it?!?! But it is also so fun to film them and do them. Then it is just hard to watch them. It's very cringe worthy. But it is A LOT of fun, so I will definitely be continuing doing them from now on.

In my break I managed to complete my reading goal for the year, I have now read over 100 books and I am really happy. I have also become a little bit (seriously!) addicted to this show my sister showed me, called Switched at Birth. I am now addicted. I've watched almost 40 episodes in 4 days. I can't stop. My Daphne and Wilke feels are far too real.

My haul this week is rather huge, but that is because I won an amazing giveaway that Maximum Pop Books was running on Twitter. I retweeted a picture of this massive pile of books... AND ACTUALLY WON! I couldn't believe it, especially when hundreds of people had retweeted it. I even decided to post an unboxing haul when it arrived.



Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott  The Martian by Andy Weir
Flawed by Kate Avelynn

I absolutely had to buy myself The Martian. I need to hurry up and devour that book before the movie comes out, as I am rather desperate to see it.






Flesh and Blood by Simon Cheshire | Dark Room by Tom Becker | Trial by Fire by Josephine Angelini | Firewalker by Josephine Angelini | Suicide Notes for Beautiful Girls by Lynn Weingarten | I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson | What We Left Behind by Robin Talley | Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa | Black Cairn Point by Claire McFall | Trouble is a Friend of Mine by Stephanie Tromley | Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard | Demon Road by Derek Landy | The School of Good and Evil by Soman Chainani | The Monkey's Secret by Gennifer Choldenko | The Self-Esteem Teams Guide to Sex Drugs & WTFs by The Self-Esteem Team | Wannabe by Tessa Clayton | Survivor by Tom Hoyle | Concentr8 by William Sutcliffe | Zayn: A New Direction by Sarah Oliver | Being Conchita by Conchita Wurst | Unbecoming by Jenny Downham | The Invasion of the Tearling by Erika Johanssen | Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell |

HOW AMAZING WAS THAT WIN!?!? SOOOO MANY BOOKS!!! I admit that I actually have quite a lot of these, so any I already have will probably be given away at some point. 



The Light That Gets Lost by Natasha Carthew | When I Was Me by Hilary Freeman |
Cloud 9 by Alex Campbell | A Song for Summer by Eva Ibbotson | Magic Flutes by Eva Ibbotson |
The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson | A Company of Swans by Eva Ibbotson | The Secret Countess by Eva Ibbotson |



I also want to show off the incredibly cool book necklace that Cait from Paper Fury sent me! She not only sent me this beautiful ACOTAR one, she also sent me a Half Bad/Half Wild one that you can flip. I LOVE THEM!!! She does these, as well as so many other amazing things, over on her Etsy store.



Films for Thoughts on Thursday: The Scorch Trials