Saturday 9 January 2016

That usual 'New Start, New Year' post

The Intro: So after a prolonged absence, I logged back in this morning and my stats tell me people are still somehow finding my blog and reading it. Thank you to everyone who's stumbled across this page and actually stayed to read something.

The backstory: Here's the small recap with some slightly emotional sentences in it (feel free to skip if you just want to know what's coming up): The last two years have been something of a whirlwind for me, and I feel like I haven't had chance to take a step back and sort out the background stuff that piles up while you're dealing with day to day stuff. There's been cancer in my family (thankfully everything has been treated and the person affected is back to full health, though thoughts to anyone reading this who is or has gone through something similar) and a lot of fundraising last year for Girlguiding. It's an organisation that provides great opportunity, and I took stock of the fact that not every country's young women have a Guiding organisation to provide them with opportunities.

The plan: I can't promise a lot of posts, however there ae many things (book, board/card game and TV/film-related) that are bouncing round my head, and will end up being written down. The next 6 months are still going to be pretty real-life heavy, but hopefully I will find more of a balance to write for myself and explore the blogosphere rather than feeling like I should be completing a task elsewhere rather than be on blogger.

I'm looking forward to rediscovering the other blogs out there. If you have a blog, comment with the link, and when I come back on here, I'll pop over and have a read.

Thanks for reading,
Katie

Sunday 3 November 2013

Jumpers for bookworms

One thing I am trying to do, when I can divert money from buying books, is to slowly change my wardrobe to reflect my style. So I thought I would browse the internet for jumpers for a stylish bookworm.
 
The first jumper is for all the halloween tales published and read in the past week, and the lightning bolt is of course in honour of the literary juggernaut Harry Potter. It was harder to locate a stylish dragon jumper, and while I'm not overly keen on the shape, I love the drawing, so the last jumper is for readers of Anne McCaffrey's Pern series.

Jumpers for bookworms




Saturday 18 May 2013

Eurovision 2013!

It's that time of year again and 125 million people will be sitting down this evening to watch 3 hours of songs of varying quality.

As this is a blog primarily about books, I thought I would recommend a couple of books set in or written by someone from a country taking part in the contest.



The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I'll admit, I bought this book partly based on the title, and it doesn't disappoint. The book is narrated by death and set in Nazi Germany in 1939. We follow the story of Liesel, a girl living with foster parents who steals books, and the inhabitants of her street as the war begins and bombs start to fall.



Germany's entry this year, Glorious, is by Cascada who are best known for their dance hits 'Everytime We Touch' and 'Evacuate the Dancefloor' (according to Wikipedia Discography).

Complete Andersen's Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen
The classic collection of Fairy Tales. I own this particular edition and it's a really nice book to have on my shelf.










Denmark's entry, Only Teardrops by Emmelie De Forest is the favourite to win this year and I can see why; it's a memorable song with a great tune.





Sunday 28 April 2013

A brief hello

Hi and thank you for looking in on my blog,

I'm sorry it's been a while,but I have plans for blog posts. I'm in the middle of painting something which I will reveal in a few weeks (a crafty how-to post) but the major thing looming is my bedroom is getting decorated!

I will explain further when the hurry to clear my room has passed (the one downside of owning so many books is the time it takes to move them).

Meanwhile I leave you with the news that apparently the Host by Stephanie Meyer is apparently a trilogy. I somehow missed this, but it's a great announcement. While the Twilight series is a great read, for me the Host is a better story.

Thursday 24 January 2013

You know you're a book addict when....

....all your shelves are double-stacked....

....and you forget what's in the hidden layer so go and get the same book twice.

....you sit down to read your book and suddenly it's 3am.

....you go shopping for clothes but instead come back with a bag full of books.

....you own a bag that looks like a bag.

....you run a blog about books.

Just something I was thinking about while at work. I am a book addict and proud (though my purse is somewhat lighter because of it).

Monday 14 January 2013

Melodic Monday #7: To France

Mary, Queen of Scots, is a popular subject for writers, so here is a song to go with the famous Queen:

Mike Oldfield is best known for 'Tubular Bells' but I prefer his collaborations with various female singers, and this is my favourite. If you prefer a bit more guitar and drums, you can find Leave's Eyes' cover below.

Mike Oldfield & Maggie Reilly - To France


Leave's Eyes - To France

Monday 7 January 2013

Melodic Monday #6

In honour of the recently released Hobbit film (which I have yet to see) here is a Lord of the Rings collection to listen to:


I love Enya's music; this is a gorgeous track but not one to listen to if you're especially tired.

The Bridge of Khazad Dum by Howard Shore:


And finally a lighter video, made up of different clips from the film. "They're taking the Hobbits to Isenguard". Some people may find the tune annoying, but it makes me laugh and I can't watch certain parts of the film without laughing.