Goodreads: April Recently Read

Goodreads: April Recently Read

Sunday 30 April 2017

Read post

I can honestly say that I am actually SO impressed with myself and how much I managed to read over the course of the month of April. I am amazed that I managed to find the time to read SEVEN WHOLE BOOKS. And to be honest with you, there were some blooming good ones.

I started off April finishing up with a book that I started at the end of March and it got April off to a pretty good start, as far as I’m concerned. Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner. I’ve already reviewed the book on the blog (you can have a little look at it here, if you so wish!) I loved this book A LOT and it really did get me out of what could have turned into a pretty remarkable reading slump. It was a really interesting, intriguing and thought-provoking book, full of twists and turns. A fantastic read.

As well as having a VERY well-known love of psychological thrillers and crime fiction, one of the genres that I’ve been leaning towards a lot more over the last few years is war fiction. Whilst this one isn’t actually fiction- in fact it’s a letter directed at a concentration camp survivor’s father- But You Did Not Come Back by Marceline Loridan-Ivans was a beautiful and heartwrenching piece of writing, one that I enjoyed enormously. It was devastatingly sad, and addressed the feelings that she, Marceline, had after she returned from Auschwitz concentration camp to discover that her father had not survived the tragic events. It was a very poignant story and of course, I had a little sob (surprise, surprise, Hollie…).

When I was in my second year of uni, I was introduced to The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes. I enjoyed the story but I don’t think I quite appreciated it the way that I should have done. Whilst I was at the cinema a few months back, one of the trailers shown was actually the trailer for this book and I was made up that they were making it into a film. One of the things that I did remember, having read the book, was that I enjoyed the plot, even if I didn’t fully acknowledge the importance of it. I chose to re-read the book this month and I am honestly so glad that I did. I found the writing style absolutely beautiful and I devoured absolutely every word. I definitely recommend giving this one a whirl if you haven’t already.

About a year ago (almost to the day, actually), I reviewed Lisa Williamson’s debut novel The Art of Being Normal. I absolutely LOVED this book, so when I found out that Lisa had written another YA novel, All About Mia, I couldn’t help myself. I quickly bought a copy on Amazon and vowed to get stuck straight in. I went back to Lancashire for a long weekend and chose to take this book along with me. I read it over the course of a few evenings and it was an absolute delight. It really approached the teenage years in a relatable way- it’s been a long while since I was a teenager but it was really nice to read a book written by someone who really seems to understand all about the complexities of growing up. I’ll likely review this one in more detail at some point, but I will say that it was a charming read.  

C. L. Taylor is probably one of my most-read authors over the last few years, so buying her new book was inevitable. As I’d finished reading All About Mia when I was visiting my parents, I nipped over to the local Tesco to get another book for the train ride home and the book I chose was Taylor’s The Escape. My expectations, of course, were very high and I am so over the moon to reveal that I wasn’t disappointed. I was very keen to review this one, so I’ve already done my full review here. It’s probably one of the best psychological thrillers that I’ve read over the last few years and definitely my favourite of C.L. Taylor’s.

My favourite book of April came courtesy of the lovely PR team at Penguin books. Around the end of March, I was surprised with a little parcel from them; a copy of Jane Corry’s Blood Sisters and a little bottle of the good stuff- white wine! I was a kind daughter and donated the wine to my mother but the book was mine and mine to keep. I loved this book. There are no two ways about it. Every single aspect of the book was exactly what I was looking for in a book- it epitomised the genre and left me satisfied. Twist after twist after twist – it was absolutely impossible to guess the ending. I’ll be writing a full review up this week but I couldn’t resist throwing a little something into my wrap up.

The final book that I read in April, I finished this morning. It was a book that I bought after hearing nothing but amazing things about it, for weeks and weeks and weeks. I even bought an additional copy and included it in a book giveaway that I’m holding. I had a lot of faith in its quality and once again, I wasn’t disappointed. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas is a book unlike anything that I’ve ever read before. I’m sure that you, like most people, have seen and been affected in some way or another by events involving gun crime and police targeting people from minorities in the states. This book approaches issues like these in the only way possible: by telling it exactly like it is, no censorship, the full reality of the situation. This book is a must read; so, so, so very important. One of the best books I’ve read this year, by far.

What have you been reading this month? Let me know in the comments!

Life: Why voting in the Snap General Election is ACTUALLY IMPORTANT #BloggersWhoVote

Life: Why voting in the Snap General Election is ACTUALLY IMPORTANT #BloggersWhoVote

Wednesday 19 April 2017

Read post

I’ve always been told that there are a few things that you should never, ever talk about at the dinner table; sex, politics and religion. I’ve tried to keep the same attitude on my blog but I think it’s about time that I take a step back and address just how important voting in the next general election is to you, the reader, as a person and the country as a whole. I’m going to stay away from discussing my own political alliances– although I think it’s perfectly clear on social media where my loyalties lie- but instead share WHY it is important to go down to the polling station on June 8^th to make your voice and your opinion matter.

Politics is always a tricky one to discuss, particularly with all of the differing opinions – even within my own family, with people who have been brought up in the same environment and economic zone, even by the same people in some cases – there is a significant amount of difference in voting patterns and political party choices. It doesn’t matter what our opinion on BREXIT is, because at the end of the day, it’s happened and now that Article 50 has been triggered, there’s very little standing in its way. In the midst of all this political chaos, Theresa May has called for a snap General Election and as a country we should unite by going down to the polling booths and casting our votes.

There are, of course, quite a few problems. I’m going to veer my point here towards one of those problems in particular. I am 23 years old now, and consider myself part of the “young people” group. I’m especially interested in politics and have been for some time but this is not necessarily the case for everyone in my age bracket. There is a particularly large proportion of young people who, for whatever reason, have found themselves completely disengaged from politics. Perhaps it’s that they see no way out. Perhaps they believe that ‘all the politicians are the same.’ Perhaps they just generally have no interest in politics at all. However, it’s these people- these disengaged, disinterested young’uns- that have the most to say when things go wrong. People who criticise the government’s choices, people who criticise budget cuts and redistribution of funds – these are the people who are not voting.

As people, we are absolutely privileged to be allowed the opportunity to vote for the political party of our choice and have a say in what happens in our country. I hate to refer back to the old clichés, but people have actually DIED for this right on our behalf and that should not be scoffed over. We are each given a voice through our vote- in spite of what you might think, in spite of what the media tabloids might say, every vote matters and your vote is just as important as the next person. Imagine if everyone had the attitude of “well, my vote won’t make a difference!” No one would vote! We, as young people, are the voices of our generation: our vote is vitally important. We are the people who are going, in 5 years’ time, to have to deal with any repercussions of the next government. We are the people who will have to live with the choices made for us by other people. What leg do we have to stand on if we haven’t actively gone out and voted?

Don’t just vote for somebody because your parents do – perhaps what is good and right for your parents actually goes against what you believe in. Perhaps the party that your parents vote for doesn’t take the best interests of people like YOU into consideration. Read up on each party’s manifesto. Have a look into the kind of person that the MP for your constituency is. Look at their beliefs and see if they match up to your own. Don’t go into that polling booth blind – you need to know exactly what you are voting for and why. It’s so easy to get sucked into what the media is saying and be blinded by that, as well – remember that newspapers and broadcasting agencies are owned and run by people with their own political agendas. There are newspapers that are blatantly veered towards one party in particular, and this is true of both sides of the spectrum – don’t believe everything you read in the newspaper, as there’s always a bigger picture.

If you haven’t already done so, make sure that you’re registered to vote. It is SO easy to do so and only takes a few minutes. If you won’t be in the country at the time of the vote or have difficulties in getting out and about to polling booths, apply for a postal or a proxy vote. Don’t let your vote go to waste.

Register to vote today. 

Beauty: A Little Body Shop Haul

Beauty: A Little Body Shop Haul

Monday 17 April 2017

Read post

In March, I was invited to an event at the Body Shop for the launch of their Mother’s Day range. Being the bad blogger that I am, I am INCREDIBLY late on reporting on that, but I do have a pretty good excuse: I was waiting on a parcel from the Body Shop to arrive to review. Obviously, I then had to try the products out so I could give my full, unbiased and detailed opinion on them… and finally, here we have it… a beauty post from the book blogger… who would have thunk it?

The Mother’s Day event was fabulous and I feel incredibly lucky to have been invited along to the Liverpool Bold Street store to check out the new additions to their range. However, I must admit that I was a lot more interested in a different range that the Body Shop have launched: the much acclaimed Drops of Youth range. At the event, one of the beauty advisors gave the range the most glowing report – she herself argued that it was the best thing the Body Shop have ever brought out and if that’s not high praise, then I honestly don’t know what is. She showed us a trio of different Liquid Peels (and gave a demo of just how disgusting an amount of dead skin cells accumulate on your body) and I was absolutely spellbound. Slightly melodramatic, perhaps, but true.

In spite of this, I was sceptical (of course I was, I’m a complete and utter cynic). I just had to give the range a go for myself. So off I went with a sample of each of the different skin peels and I took MUCH satisfaction in rubbing all the dead skin away and completely revitalising my skin. That’s where this haul comes in – my samples ran out and I found that actually, the range IS just as good as everyone said it was and I just HAD to buy a full sized bottle of one of the peels. After much thought, I decided that the Drops of Youth peel was the one that I liked the most and it did absolute wonders for my skin. The peel works at taking the top layer of dead skin off, leaving the new skin underneath and leaves your skin feeling fresh and bright. I am SO impressed by this product and think it’ll be staple in my daily routine now.

As well as the peel, I chose to purchase the Drops of Youth Youth Essence Lotion, to revitalise my skin further. I wear this one under my moisturiser on a day to day basis and it feels absolutely incredible on the skin- my skin feels really smooth and has an almost ‘fresh’ feel about it after I’ve used it. It retails at £15 which I would argue is quite expensive for what is essentially a toner, but you only need to use a few drops and a little really does go a long way. I’m pretty sure that this bottle will last me a very long time. I also treated myself to a product from the Vitamin C range, their Vitamin C facial polish. I’ve only used this one a few times but I absolutely LOVE the citrus-y smell that it has and it seems to be a good product, from what I’ve noticed so far.

My final purchases were actually made at the event itself – the lovely team at the Bold Street store offered us % off products that evening, so I was able to get two of The Body Shop’s liquid lipsticks (liquid lipsticks being my absolute favourite EVER makeup products) for practically pennies. The colours that I chose (Crete Carnation and Nairobi Camellia) are beautifully pigmented and have good hold, exactly what I look for in a liquid lippy. A very good purchase all round.

What other Body Shop products should I be buying? Let me know in the comments!