BLOGMAS Day 12: My favourite books and why!

I have done it! That's right.. my top 5 books EVER! In no particular order at all...

The Martian by Andy Weir

FanGirl by Rainbow Rowell 

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion 

Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon 

But why these books in particular? Each of these books mean something different to me. I read them all at different times in my life. I have reread Where Rainbows End aka Love, Rosie dozens of times. I adore it, simply adore it. It was one of the first 'bigger books' I have ever read. It's set out in such a way that I had not read before. It is constructed via emails, letters and texts. It's great. We jump from conversation to conversation and follows two best friends of the same age but at very different stages in their lives. Based in Ireland, one best friend moves away to America and the other remains in Ireland. It's a lovely book and a very easy read, and for me the ending is perfect. It has been made into a film, called Love, Rosie, and honestly I love the film as much as the book. I was hesitant at first with the film, and I didn't actually watch it until about 6 months after it was out, however I can hand on heart say I loved it. I have watched it over and over again. Although some parts are different, I feel like it works for the film. Highly recommend both film and book... let's face it I am going to highly recommend all of these books haha. 

Time to move onto my most recent read which is The Martian by Andy Weir,  I watched the film before I read the book which sometimes is a mistake, but I think for me it helped, because some of th stuff is technical in this book! But OMG this book is amazing, and really well written, And as for the film they are basically the same. I loved every word of this book, and it hit me right in the feels. I felt like I was with him, stranded. Such a good book. I haven't read anything like this before and I am really glad I did.

Everything, Everything was a really, really quick read for me, and it was great. It follows a girl who is allergic to everything and hasn't been outside her house ever. She has a full time carer for when her mum is at work. She is talented and is home schooled. Everything is fine and she doesn't miss the outside world until a new family moves in next door and she befriends the son. She begins questioning everything her mum has told her... is she really allergic to everything? Read the book to find out. I love quick easy YA novels like this. I love these types of books for the summer. Got to love a romance novel.

Thank gawd for Rainbow Rowell for bringing me this book FanGirl,  I adore this book, it follows a set of twins who could not be any different on their journey to college. Cath an introvert who loses herself to fanfiction and her sister Wren who wants to experience college and all it has to offer. Cath wants everything to stay the same between her ans her sister but Wren wants some distance. It follows the journey of these two girls, does Cath get out her comfort zone and does Wren push things to far? Cath writes fanfiction of her favourite film/book series which is very poplar, but how will it all end? This book has everything for me, adventure and romance, a really cute read that I want more of.

And finally The Rosie Project, this book follows a young man who is ready to find a wife, Don is a scientist through and through and sits somewhere on the Asperger scale and takes everything literally. His brain is very much wired in a way that everything can become an experiment including his love life. Don creates a questionnaire, and when on dates uses the questionnaire to determine if the women in question is a suitable candidate. In comes Rosie, she ticks non of the boxes but yet Don is drawn towards her. She is the opposite of what Don wants, and seeks to change Rosie in every way. But does he succeed or does Rosie change him? There is a sequel to The Rosie Project called the Rosie Effect, and I didn't feel that, that book lived up to the first one, it painted both Don and Rosie in very bad ways, and took me quite some time to finish.

Well those are just some of my favourite books, I could add loads more to the list, but for now I am happy with those. If you have any suggestions for me, please comment them below as I love reading.

Love yah
IsThataRedHerring 

August 19th 2016

Currently loving...
Band: Scouting for Girls
Film: We bought a Zoo
Book: The Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling
Product: Dove, Summer Revived
Game: Pokemon (obvs)
Drink: Almond Dark Chocolate milk (Alpro)
Food: Couscous

This month I have been revisiting old loves of mine, and the biggest one is the band Scouting for Girls. I honestly forgot how much I loved them, and quickly found myself singing, if not a little out of tune (okay a lot out of tune) to the songs. It took me right back to when I was in year 10, (some 7 if not 8 years ago), Elvis isn't dead, the heartbeat song and of course She's so lovely. And yes I ended up watching Angus, Things and Perfect Snogging. I also found out that they are touring!!! So, I might have to get me some tickets.

Little update. 
As you guys know I am on a health kick. Out with the old and in with the new and all that jazz. This week I have thoroughly enjoyed trying new healthy foods and found my love for couscous, this stuff is a life saver, some boiling water is all you need and boom healthy meal, I add chicken and loads of veg to mine. I can never finish it all which is great, because when I undoubtedly get a little hungry later on I can finish off my lunch. In my first week I lost a total of 6lb which I was over the moon about, and the second week a total of 9lb. So, as you can imagine I am a very happy girlie right now.

I also purchased a new bike and I love it. It is so pretty and beautiful. (see below) I was lucky my local Halfords have a deal at the moment on bikes and accessories 20% off all bicycles and 3 for 2 on accessories. I couldn't resist, it is beautiful :).  I am of course going to get matching basket and saddle bag, I'd be silly not to.

Also, this month I got a new tattoo, by the wonderfully talented Sophie of Skin Wizard in Thatcham. I am beyond happy with the tattoo, it means a lot to me. The photo does not do this beauty justice. 

That has been my month so far, I hope you liked my little update. Until next time..

Love yah

IsThataRedHerring 

UPDATE on everything. Fitness, books, goals and more

This is a much needed update (sorry). As the title suggests it is time for a big update on well my life. I know a lot of people are going to be doing New Years resolutions but this year I only have one big goal, which is being broken down to the following:

Fitness
Back in November I pledged to get fit and with every pound I lose I will donate to charity. Since then I have lost 14 pound so yes that is £14 towards a charity. In December I joined the gym and hired a personal trainer. When I sat down and talked to her (personal trainer, thank you Carrie) she reminded me that muscle weighs more than fat, so although it's a good idea in theory I will be losing fat and gaining muscle and my routine consists of a lot of weight lifting to shift the fat. So, I have decided with every dress size I drop I will donate £50 to a chosen charity (still need to be chosen) and when I get to my target dress size of a size 12 I will donate a further £100.

This year 2016! I want to do a few charity runs, particularly Cancer Research Race for Life and a few others which I need I to research more into. If you have any suggestions for charity runs then please let me know... also any suggestions you have for the charity in which the money I raise with my weight-loss, then please let me know.

Work
I started a new job in October, quitting my job as a care assistant in a care home due to a few reasons, but the main issue is that I didn't see myself furthering my career there which at the age of 21 is very important to me. So, I got a new job at a school for autistic children, it's an amazing job, very rewarding and I am part of a great team. Unlike my old job the hours are consistent and the money is a lot better, and the best thing is there are many opportunities to further myself. At some point this year I will be starting my health and social diploma. Exciting times, this also means a pay rise!

Books
Well its 2016 so there are many amazing books being released but I already have a ton of books I need to read. So after my last Waterstones voucher is spent I am going to STOP buying new books! It's going to be so hard, but my To Be Read list is so big is frightening!
The books I am looking forward to reading most this year are :-

• Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs 
• Illuminae by Amie Kaufman 
• The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer 
• The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion 
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma 
• The Maze Runner trilogy by James Dashner 

I know a lot of these books are old (not really but so last year ;) ) but I really wanted to read them and this year I will be getting to them. I am particularly excited about the Lunar Chronicles and Illuminae. I have heard a lot of good things about these books so I am very excited to pick them up and give them a read. 

I also aim to reread a couple of my favourite books, for defiant I will be rereading Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky because it is one of my favourites and I love it. I need to reread it so badly. I think it will be my first book of 2016. Also, at some point this year I will read Life and Death by Stephanie Meyer, the reverse version of Twilight. I have heard very mixed things about this book so I need to give it a go myself. 

Blog
The main aim for my blog this year is to blog regularly, pre-write blog posts and post twice a week. It's not that hard really but I have become very lazy with my blog and well a lot of things to be honest (sorry). So, I have started a fresh notebook full of ideas for posts and I am going to start writing them as soon as I've finished this one. I want to get regular views which would be nice and hopefully make a little name for myself. But that is an ongoing goal. I hope my writing will develop.

LIFE
Just the small topic of life. But to be honest I just want to be happy and healthy and I will achieve this. I am making positive changes to my life. I am determined not to give up on anything.
A few other little things is:

• travel more
• even if it's to the next town over, or to London more. Just to discover new places... I am also going to Thailand for 10 days which is AMAZINGLY EXCITING. 
• Use my time wisely- not to waste my precious time. Because if 2015 has taught me anything it's that time does not wait around for you. 
• Appreciate the little things. 
• LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE

Sorry for such a long blog post but I felt that it was needed. 

Love yah 

IsThataRedHerring 

I'm finally doing it!

For ages now I have thought about writing a book. I have had many ideas but none of them developed into anything I wanted to actually pursue. I kept coming up with excuse after excuse why I couldn't write my book. But then something clicked. I love writing and this idea came to me just before I went to bed. I wrote a note to myself on my phone then went to sleep. I forgot I had written myself this note until 2/3 weeks after; and I still really liked the idea for a book. So, I got researching and writing bits and developing my characters.

Researching is the hardest part. I found that I got distracted way to easily when I was at home so would often venture to the library, where I was restricted by 2 hour computer slots which meant I got more done in the time. But when researching for a book you end up searching and googling the most randomist and weirdest things. For instance today I was in my local library which is small as I live in a small town. Away I was printing 10 pages worth of research on breast cancer then followed by asking if they had any baby name books (which they didn't). The librarian gave me such a weird look as she handed me my printing and unsure what to say. I laughed and said I'm doing research for a book I am hoping to write and we got talking about it and how she has written a children's book for her children which they love. It went from an awkward interactions to something quite rewarding and interesting to hear about.

I haven't been working on my book for long, an hour here and there. However I am able to concentrate on it more now that I am between jobs. I finished my job as a carer last Friday and do not start my next job until October. So I am using this time to research for my book, catch up on books I want to read and generally having some me time.

If you have any writing tips I would love to hear them. All advice is welcome.

Love Yah

IsThataRedHerring

I finally finished Paper Towns by John Green

This post will not contain any spoilers!

WARNING! This is my opinion of the book and my personal review, please do not take this as fact, make your own mind up of the book.

I have tried to write this post at least a dozen times, and each time I end up deleting what I have written, because for me this book had so much potential, I started this book with excitement as I really liked The Fault in our Stars by John Green; however as I neared the end of this book I predicted the ending and I was correct. As I read the last few pages I was so disappointed and honestly felt the last chapter was pointless,

So what is the book about?
The book is set around Quentin.
Quentin is a normal teenager and is in his last year of high school, he has normal friends Radar and Ben. Quentin loves his next door neighbour Margo and always has done since they were little. Margo is not a typical teenage girl; Margo tends to run away often, she disappears for 2 or 3 days at a time and tries to leave clues for her parents and friends to follow so they know where she is, however the clues aren't always great and often get ignored. Margo's parents do not worry about her because she does this all the time. One night Margo knocks of Quentin's video and they explore the city, causing a bit of mischief and the next day Margo is gone. Quentin doesn't think this is a normal disappearance, so he sets out to find her. 4 days pass and she is still no where to be seen, so Quentin gets his friends and Margo's closest friend involved in finding her. The book follows Quentin and the group follow clues that Margo has left all over the city. Quentin believes Margo has left this clues personally from him.

I think this is a safe place to stop and let you read what happens... But I will say is that I was so disappointed and annoyed with the ending of this book. It had so much potential to be so amazing but for me it failed at every obstacle and corner. I just don't know why it had to end so stupidly. The whole book was leading up to finding Margo and then this twist, a stupid pointless twist. That made the majority of the book pointless. it could have ended within a few chapters and have been a better ending.

I am not sure if I have given this book a bad review because I really just wanted to finish it because i wasn't gripped from the beginning. I know I have given this book a bad review, but I want you to make up your own mind, we all have different tastes in books, films, music etc. So do not let my review dishearten you. I am just given my own opinion,

The film for Paper Towns comes out sometime this year and I will be seeing it, mainly because a new upcoming actor that I like is playing Quentin, I hope the film adaptation is good, I do have high hopes because the Fault in our stars was great. I do have one more John Green book to read which is Looking for Alaska and I am hoping I will enjoy it.

Love yah

IsThataRedHerring