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).

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

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.

Sophistique Noir's January Theme: New Year's Eve

Happy New Year to everyone, and I hope you've had a good festive season.

Over the last year, I have discovered alternative fashion (I wore this skirt over Christmas), expanded my musical choices (Delain) and after finishing my life as a student in July, seriously gotten back into the habit of reading. I also finally managed to get a full-time paid job.

So, of course, my new year's resolution is book-related. I am going to, gradually, let my love of fantasy and sci-fi books, and music choices influence the rest of my life. It is time my clothes and possessions match my interests.

Unfortunately as I have no magic nor a dragon of my own, this will be limited to clothing, accessories and bedroom decoration.

My first purchase to this end is this lovely bag which looks like a book from Restyle (I purchased it from Kate's Clothing).

On Restyle, it states that it has reinforced sides which should make it a good work bag, and I love the design on the front. I will post a review when it arrives.

Melodic Monday #5

Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights

I love Kate Bush's music, it's quite unique and this is her musical take on the Emily Bronte classic.

More books and improving my blog

Hello everyone. Turns out going away and making an effort not to cough through a theatre show and spending all day Saturday on my feet even though I had a bad foot didn't do me all that good. I've been lounging and coughing on a settee all week. But now I am getting better and will make an effort to post more regularly.

I had an hour in the largest bookshop in Europe which has 250 000 tomes in it's many floors (according to my guide book) which is Waterstones Piccadilly. My only slight gripe is the assistant who, while helpful, intially just said upstairs in response to my query concerning the location of the sci-fi section. It turns out it was only one floor up (very useful as I didn't have much time) but as there's 8 floors you can see how it could confuse me.

Never have I seen so many sci-fi and fantasy books in one place. I wish I lived closer. Though this is probably a good thing as I spent £50 in there in half an hour.

I bought:

1. Doctor Who comic: The Betrothal of Sontar.
2. Helix  by  Eric Brown
3. Geist and Spectyr  by  Philippa Ballantine (These two are the same series and came from the imported section)
4. Shadow's Son  by  Jon Sprunk 

I shall let you know what I think of them as I read them. First though I am ploughing through the third Game of Thrones books, which at the moment is memorable due to typing errors that crop up quite often.

Also, on a non-book note, I got to spend a morning in Camden market! I bought a corset for £5, and a great winter coat.

I've also added a small page about me. The only thing is I am unsure how to change the colour of that bar. It's pink and should not be so.

And I'm away....in a few days

Hi everyone, I'll get round to some long posts next week. I have a couple of ideas but as I'm away this weekend, real life stuff must take precedence. I have also picked up a cold.

I fear we shall soon have to mourn the passing of the "3 for 2" offer on books. Nowadays it's buy one get one half price. If you live in the UK, head towards your nearest WHSmith outlet for the 3 for 2 offer, and also, they do books for £1! Not even second hand shops sell books that cheaply.

At the outlet, I bought three Doctor Who books for what I thought was £3, then it turned out it was £2, as the 3 for 2 offer even covers those books.

Apologies for the rambly post, my head is a bit fuzzy. Back to normal (or at least coherent posting) next week.