Classic Fiction Challenge

Hi All,

For those of you that don't know I work in a library this means that the majority of the conversations between staff are about books, books and more books.

Being an avid reader this does not bother me in the slightest - however the other day we were discussing Harper Lee's new book Go Set a Watchmen which is in effect the sequel to the well known classic To Kill a Mockingbird (even though it was written beforehand).

It occurred to me as this conversation was going on that I have never read To Kill a Mockingbird - I vaguely remembered watching the film once in school but have never read it cover to cover.

I then went on to think well what stories that are considered classics have I read?

I could count the number of these on one hand! Two! Pride and Prejudice and Frankenstein.

How is it that I have grown up being an avid reader and yet I've read hardly any classic literature!?

So I have set myself a challenge the next lot of books I read will only be classic books and once I have read them I will post a review of each on this blog.

My list to read is:

1. To Kill a Mockingbird (this is downloaded and waiting on my Kindle)

2. 1984

3. The Hobbit

4. Jane Eyre

5. Great Expectations

6. Tess of the D'ubervilles

7. Lolita (Not pictured need to buy this)

8. Sense and Sensibility (also need to get this one)

 

How many of the classics have you read?? Which ones would you recommend??

My Week in Photos Take Two

Word of warning beforehand the majority of these photos are pictures of food if you are hungry look away now. Please note I have done more with my week I just appear to enjoy taking pictures of my food.

Sweet little lunch my aunt packed for me with fruits and sweets.

 

One of my step-moms greyhounds, when I 'm over there she has to lie as close to me as possible. She also likes to get up at 6 in the morning and start jumping about. Greyhounds are crazy!!

Quite possibly the nicest sweet ever!!

My aunt cooked me tea and it turned out pink due to the beetroot. The picture doesn't do justice just quite how pink the sauce is!

As part of our weekly evening in watching a film me and my aunt have to have snacks and somehow muggins that I am ended up spending £10 on ice cream!! However as you can see the ice cream was very posh and thankfully turned out to be extremely nice!! Honeycomb ice cream is by far my favourite.

Went up town shopping with the bestie and ended up in an American sweet store getting a pick n mix. First one I have had in years! Love the fizzy rainbow belts!

In an effort to eat healthier I have been eating a lot more fresh food salads, fruit and some pastas.

These colouring books are amazing the pictures are so intricate and pretty!! Colouring really does help you de-stress! There are loads of different ones you can get animals, fairytale, cats etc. They're going for around £6 in the works and you can get them in Tesco's for £5.

Trying to stick back to my milk free diet (lactose intolerance not a fun thing!) however this korma sauce tastes so much nicer than a regular one. Its made with coconut milk so potentially healthier!

Finally Michael Kors sent me an email about their new collection of bucket bags. I'm so in love with this bag!! Sadly at £315 it has a very hefty price tag, but just look at it so pretty!! The dusty rose on the inside is so nice aswell!! Guess I'm just going to have to wait for the sales!

 

So those are my photos of the week I have actually done other stuff that doesn't just involve eating went out for a friends birthday on the Saturday clubbing was good fun. My aunt held a little tea party gathering type thing at her house which was ever so cute but as I wasn't using my phone no pictures were taken that day. We did have a good little music session though and eat a lot of food! The remainder of the week has been spent getting on top of the usual boring things we all have to do tidying cleaning etc and also sorting out the details for my mini break to Jersey it's fast approaching and bar it being booked we have arranged no details so far!

 

What have you all been up to this week? Any random photos of the week to share?

 

Thanks for reading! xx

Weekend Haul

 Time for a very girly post now! I went shopping at the weekend and that usually means I'm about to make my bank account cry ever so slightly.
I thought I would share with you all a few of my purchases:

 

It was my friends birthday at the weekend so I went on the hunt for a going out outfit. I don't go out clubbing very often so my outfit choices are usually very limited and consist of mostly black clothing. I decided to jazz things up abit and got the above outfit from H&M such a bargain only £12.99! Such a lovely royal blue body con dress I normally wouldn't feel overly confident in something so clingy but this dress made me feel great! I also got the above necklace to accessorise I'm not very good at matching jewellery with outfits but I am learning to be more girly and I think the above necklace goes well with the dress.

 

Until the other day I was a Lush virgin so to speak. I would always walk past or browse thinking that smells nice and never actually try anything. So while perusing this time I decided to actually give some of the products a try, I've heard good things about the face masks I did want the cupcake face mask but it was sold out (sad times! ) So I opted for Mask of Magnaminty instead which is supposed to be good for problem skin once I have tested it out I will let you know!

 

I also picked up one of the bath bombs/bubble bars this one is Creamy Candy if you like sweet things this is perfect! I used it the other day and could smell it on my skin for the whole day after.

 

 

 I also picked up this cute little jumper/top from H&M they have some really lovely summer clothes in at the moment.

 

My final purchase of the day was the Urban Decay Eyeshadow Snatch from Debenhams as I had a 5 pound reward to use up (got to love beauty club points) It's such a pretty colour and I had wanted it for a while so I caved and thought why not?! It's almost like a creamy goldy pink from different angles.

 

So that was my Saturday purchases in a nutshell let me know what you think if you happen to own or have used any of the above products.

 

Thanks for reading xx

Book Review - Her by Harriet Lane

I've had a lot of spare time on my hands recently and have been using it to catch up on the books I 've had sat on the side waiting to be read.

In this pile was Her by Harriet Lane:

I have to say I am a massive fan of thriller/mystery type books so this one was just up my street.
The book centres on two characters Emma and Nina.
Emma is a young mother of two children and her life revolves around them she gave up her career for the children and her husband goes out to work leaving her to do most things.

Nina is the same age as Emma she has a 17 year old daughter who is independent and seems to be the perfect child, she's dating a much older man and is a very successful artist.

From the beginning of the book it becomes clear that Nina remembers Emma from long ago and that something happened that Nina can not forgive.

The book is shown from both of the women's different perspectives and shows how Nina slowly works her way back into Emma's life and befriends her.

This leaves you in suspense till the very end What did Emma do that was so bad? How did they know each other? What is Nina going to do once she is back in Emma's life?

So many questions I simply couldn't put it down. The book was well laid out you got a real sense of the characters and I felt there was almost a role reversal between the two where one was confident and pretty while young the other was awkward and didn't have many friends. It was interesting to see the roles switch as the two got older.

The ending was almost a cliffhanger leaving what happens open to observation from the reader. You think you know but it isn't confirmed.

If you are interested in Thrillers this is definitely a book to add to your too read list. Interesting characters, quick paced and so many questions that you want answers to that once you start it you won't stop until you have finished.

My Current Perfume Addictions

I've never been one for expensive perfumes before I didn't really seeing the point of wasting money on such a small bottle purely for the name.

However as of late I appear to be acquiring an expensive taste on things from make up to perfume. I'd find that the cheaper perfumes I would be buying just wouldn't last the day meaning I'd have to use them over and over meaning they would run out far quicker than a perfume with staying power.

I thought I would share with you some of my favourite fragrances of the moment:

This perfume has a very hefty price tag costing £50 for 30ml but the fragrance is so sweet and one spray lasts all day. I am a sucker for sweet perfumes especially anything that includes notes of caramel. The bottle is also super cute and unique coming in the shape of a pink bow. Definitely one I would use more on special occasions purely because of the price.

Bon Bon - Viktor & Rolf

Fragrance Notes

Top Notes: Mandarin, Orange, Peach

Heart Notes: Caramel, Jasmine, Orange blossom

Base Notes: Cedarwood, Guaiac wood, Sandalwood, Amber

I first smelt this at Heathrow airport while passing through customs. It is a very sweet and refreshing scent perfect for the summer. This currently retails for £37 but I got it for £30 in the sale. I loved all of the scents in this collection but this was definitely the one that stood out the most and they all did remind me of ice cream flavours as they were so sweet.

 DKNY Delicious Delights - Dreamsicle

Frangrance Type

Fruity/Citrus

Victoria's Secret may be known more for its underwear but what I love most about it is there perfume collection! All of their fragrances smell sweet and girly which is just what I look for in a perfume. While browsing this was the one that stood out to me probably because of the notes of Paradise Apple. Their perfumes are rather expensive but the sell each fragrance in the form of a body mist which is marginally cheaper than the perfume. These smell just as nice and have a very good staying power.

 Eau So Sexy - Victoria's Secret
Fragrance type: Fresh gourmand
Notes: Bergamot, paradise apple and Chantilly cream

I got this in the form of a sample from Debenhams it's not a perfume I would usually opt for but there is something about this that you can't ignore when you're wearing it. Maybe it's the Raspberry and orange mix? Either way I am going to save my pennies to purchase a full size version I have only used the sample once and I loved it instantly!

Lady Million - Paco Rabanne

Fragrance notes:

Top Note Neroli Bitter orange Raspberry

Heart Note Orange flower Jasmine Sambac

Base Note PatchouliHone

Needless to say that at the moment I will not need to be buying anymore perfume for a while!

Thanks for reading!

My American Adventure

As you know from a few of my previous posts I have recently been on holiday to California. Going to America on holiday has always been a dream of mine and I have to say the holiday itself did not disappoint!!

We opted to do a 2 and a bit week tour around California through Titan tours and I have to say it exceeded my expectations there was so much included everyday, the hotels were fantastic and everything went to plan.

A few of the places we visited were:

- San Diego

- Palm Springs

- Las Vegas

- San Francisco

- Anaheim

- Los Angeles

- Arizona

- Scottsdale

- Flagstaff

- Calico

- Santa Barbara

- Sedona

We had a lot of trips included some examples being the Grand Canyon, Yosemite National Park and a tour of Warner Brothers Studios.

We were also very lucky that our hotel in Anaheim had a shuttle bus direct to Disneyland! The big kid inside of me was so excited by this not going was most definitely not an option!!

I'm not a big fan of theme parks but Disneyland most definitely had something for everyone rides, you could take photos with the princesses and an amazing fireworks display at the end of the evening with the characters creating a show.

This most definitely was the holiday of a lifetime and though I was exhausted I would do it all again in a heartbeat. The one thing we didn't get to do was book to visit Alcatraz (there's my excuse to go back!)

So it would appear I've added more than a few there were just too many to choose from!! It's going to be hard to beat this holiday that is for sure! I feel so blessed to have had such a fantastic experience!

Comment and let me know what your dream holiday would be.

Thanks for Reading!