Showing posts with label anne sexton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anne sexton. Show all posts

Wednesday, 3 August 2016

Olympic Book Tag

The 2016 Olympic Games begin this Friday, which is bizarre; it feels like only yesterday I was watching the 2012 opening ceremony and Rio seemed so far away. How time flies.

Despite not being sporty in the slightest I do enjoy watching bits of the Olympics and luckily, for unfit bookworms such as myself, the lovely Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight has created an Olympic Book Tag so people like me can get involved with the celebrations without breaking out into a sweat, tears or any other kind of bodily fluid.

So, without further ado, let's do the Olympic Book Tag!




I actually found this really difficult to answer, because it's very rarely that I love a book from the very first page. Some of my favourite books in the world I wasn't sure about when I first started reading them, and some books I hate I thought I was going to enjoy when I read the first page. In the end I decided to go with My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland, because it was just what I needed when I read it and, from the very first page, I was invested, interested and entertained.



Technically it's more of a space trip than a road trip, but the title says it all: Becky Chambers' gorgeous debut really is about the long way to a small, angry planet. I love this book, and I can't wait to read A Closed and Common Orbit!



I really don't like love triangles, so I can't answer this one. I'm sure there are some brilliantly written ones somewhere but they're not something I enjoy reading at all.



I enjoyed Transformations, I love poetry that's inspired by fairy tales, but I'm still learning how to understand poetry; I read fiction and non-fiction way more than I read poetry, something I'm trying to rectify, so when I do read poetry I don't always understand it the first time around...



You can't get more summery than a summer-themed anthology! Honestly this anthology is a lot gloomier than I expected it to be considering how cutesy the cover is, so I'd recommend My True Love Gave to Me over this one.



There's a lot more violence in Dark Places than I was expecting, but it suits what's essentially a violent story. I wasn't keen on Gillian Flynn's debut, Sharp Objects, but this book is brilliant.



I've said it before and I'll say it again: Fingersmith is the twistiest, turniest book I've ever read, and it's fantastic. Check out Sarah Waters if you haven't already!



I'm still not over it.



One of my favourite novels of all time, The Goblin Emperor's like a rich, delicious bar of chocolate you have to savour to enjoy. To be honest whenever I read this book I speed through it because I love it so much, but it's certainly slower than a lot of the more action-packed fantasy books out there.



I adored The Rainbow Fish when I was a little girl - it's one of the first books I can remember reading, or having read to me, along with The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and I think I actually liked this one more than The Very Hungry Caterpillar...



If you didn't know already I love guinea pigs, so what could be more perfect than A Guinea Pig Pride & Prejudice?



I know it's basically SFF blasphemy, but I really didn't enjoy Among Others and I had to force myself to finish it. Check out my review here if you'd like to know more about my thoughts on it!



Whose friendship could possibly be better than Harry, Ron and Hermione's? I love these three dorks, and this series, a hell of a lot.



All three of these books are on my TBR! Dark Mermaids is a crime thriller that features Olympic swimmers who, rather topically, were doped by their government; The Fair Fight is all about 18th century female boxers; and Eat Sweat Play is a non-fiction book about the role of sport in women's lives.

Thanks to Shannon for creating a great tag, and if you want to do it then do it! I'd love to see your answers.

Sunday, 7 February 2016

Monthly Wrap-Up | January 2016




by Neil Gaiman




by John Logan




by Ayisha Malik




by Annabel Lyon




by Celeste Ng




by Stef Penney




by G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona




by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis and Brooke Allen




by Cullen Bunn and Tyler Crook




by Neil Gaiman




by Silvia Moreno-Garcia




by Anne Sexton


Well 2016 got off to a very good reading start - somehow I managed to read 12 books! The hightlight of January for me was definitely Celeste Ng's debut Everything I Never Told You, which may very well end up being one of the best things I read this year.



With the deaths of David Bowie and Alan Rickman - I'm so sad - January was a bit of a crappy month. I know David Bowie was one of the music industry's greats, but to me he's always been the Goblin King; I always remember Labyrinth as a film that my entire family, my parents, my sisters and I, all sat and watched together, and even though it's so '80s and so cheesy, I still love it. Naturally, I had to watch it when I heard the news about Bowie.

I haven't been able to watch an Alan Rickman film yet. I'm still too sad.


by Noelle Stevenson



by Agatha Christie



by Celeste Ng



by Stef Penney



by Silvia Moreno-Garcia









I started a new job in January! (I almost typed jew nob, which I'm pretty sure is something else entirely...) I'm now a Sales and Marketing Assistant at the University of Wales Press, which are an academic publisher. After working in for a traditional publisher I'm pleased to experience a different strand of the publishing industry, and so far it's really interesting! I've been working on building up their Twitter following, and I'm currently in charge of their social media, including Twitter and Instagram - you should definitely follow us! *hintedyhinthint*



I'm getting up earlier and getting in later than I did for my previous job, so by the time Friday arrives I'm pretty tired - if I don't reply to any comments you leave on any of my posts I promise I'm not being rude, and I do read them, it just takes me a little longer to reply at the moment because all I want to do is sleep. I will reply eventually, though, I promise!


My parents and I also went to the ballet in January to see a production of The Snow Queen. I love going to the ballet, and this was such a charming production; the costumes were beautiful, and they had this really cool trick of making the room feel freezing whenever the Snow Queen came on stage. It was a really fun evening!




Beth @ The Quiet People talked about Why LGBTQ Themes in YA Sometimes Make Her Uncomfortable (read her post before you jump to conclusions!)





What did you get up to in January?