Bookish Ramblings

I'm not going to lie, this challenge was a lot more difficult than I anticipated. You have probably guessed by now that I did not complete this challenge - but, that doesn't mean I am disappointed.  I started the month out relatively well reading Seige and Storm by Leigh Bardugo in two days. I love the Grisha verse and, honestly, this may have been my downfall as I wanted to badly to just jump into Ruin and Rising and know what happened next. I resisted this urge and instead picked up a contemporary thinking that this would take my mind off the fantastical world Bardugo has created.  The contemporary I picked up was Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King. I have enjoyed every A.S. King book I have read and this one was no exception. However, I was reading slower and gazing longingly at my collection of Bardugo books knowing that I wanted to jump back into that world. I didn't consider the possibility until after the challenge that I could have swapped the 'read a sequel...

  OWLs Read-a-thon! Hosted by Book Roast  this read-a-thon gives you prompts in order to create your dream career within the Wizarding World.  This reading challenge was created in 2019 and, unfortunately, I haven't seen many people continue the challenge. I have decided to pick this challenge up for the next two months and challenge myself to become a 'Healer'.  OWLs Exams - July To begin my studies as a healer I need to take 8 classes, 5 set and 3 that I can choose from.  The 5 compulsory subjects are... Herbology - Read a book with a plant on the cover Charms - Age-line: read an adult book Defense Against the Dark Arts - Reducto! Read a book with the title beginning with an 'R' Potions - Next ingredient: sequel Transfiguration - Sprayed edges or a red cover And the three I chose were... Care of Magical Creatures - Read a book with a land animal on the cover Arithmancy - Read a work written by more than one author Muggle Studies - Read a contemporary  My ...

 I have been doing a lot of work recently on my professional development and one of these pieces of work focused around communication. I learnt that it is much better to listen actively rather than trying to plan what your next reply will be. I struggle with this a lot as my brain is constantly firing with thoughts and plans and ideas but audio books have helped me learn how to focus on one audio input and really listen to what is being said.  The last audio book I listened to was King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo which is a fantasy book that moves quickly and has quite a few characters throughout the novel. I chose this book as I am enjoying the entire Grisha series and wanted to continue it but also because I knew that with a fantasy book I would really have to pay attention to follow the storyline. I couldn't zone out and then start listening again as I would be lost.  Listening to audio books has really helped me to focus on listening to what is being said and the retain...

  They Both Die at the End – Adam Silvera They Both Die at the End is a book about two boys – Rufus and Mateo – who receive a call telling them that they are going to die by the end of the day. They find each other through the ‘Last Friends’ app and spend their last day together, bonding and bringing out the best in each other. Throughout my reading of this book, I was getting progressively worried that Mateo would die in the crossfire from Rufus’s fight with Peck and his gang. Each time the perspective shifted to show another member from the gang, each time they followed Rufus, I worried about Mateo. I thought at one point how unfair it would be for Mateo to die because of the Last Friends app which he only went on due to his death cast call. This made it impossible to put the book down as it was so fast paced and so many things were happening all in one day. There were so many times that I cried at this book. One of these was when they visited Mateo’s mother’s grave. Mateo ...

 *This review contains spoilers* 'I Have Lost My Way' by Gayle Forman came out in April 2018 when I was finishing my last year of A-levels without a clue of what I wanted to do with my life after I had left sixth form. When I saw this book on the shelf, the title describing my current circumstance, I had to pick it up. Then it sat on my shelf for an embarrassingly long time - 2 years and 11 months.  When I finally picked this book up and began reading, I was grateful that I hadn't read it sooner. I don't think I would have appreciated the stories and the outcomes as much if I had read it when I was younger. The characters do not get the happy ending you are expecting and as someone who already didn't have a plan, it would have terrified me to know that you cannot possibly predict your future and that sometimes the things you want aren't the things you need or the things you truly want for the rest of your life.  The book is told in three perspectives with storie...

 Is Kindle taking over? With my ever growing book collection and ever decreasing room on my shelves, I have started to read more on my kindle. Its easier to carry around with me and means that I am never without a easy way to dip into whatever fantastical world or story I am reading. However, I still love holding a paperback book (and smelling them too). For me, hardback books are gorgeous but I have dropped them on my face one too many times to trust myself to read one in bed. I may have also dropped a few paperbacks on my nose too but they don't hurt as much!  I think if I was spotted in public sniffing a kindle I might get a few strange looks.  With the amazon monthly book deals, I have managed to pick up almost 200 novels for around 99p each which just isn't possible for a physical book unless I get really lucky in a charity shop. While they are cheap, I also find them easier to read. The backlit screen means I don't need to fight with a book light trying to clip it o...