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Saturday 18 August 2012

Listening to Daughter and reading some books


My plan was to just write an update on a couple of books that I've read recently, but I'm going to tie it all in a bow and also talk about some books that I've bought and will be reading next.  

One of the main things that I was excited about with finishing uni was having the chance to read some non-history related books without guilt. I've managed to get through some that I was really excited about so far and I'm gonna go over the last two that I've finished.


The first one of these is the night circus by Erin Morgenstern. I don't have a picture of my copy as I've leant it to a friend, but it has definitely become a favourite of mine. I was a huge Harry Potter fan growing up and I think that the main reason that I got so into the books was the realistic world full of 'muggles', alongside the magical 'wizarding world' in which the story primarily takes place. The presence of the ordinary world in the Harry Potter series allowed me to relate better to the story and feel more involved (something that was soon ruined after my eleventh birthday came and went without any acceptance letter from Hogwarts).


 In a similar way to Harry Potter, the characters in the night circus exist in both the realistic setting of the Victorian era and their world of magic and I couldn't help getting nostalgic over the feelings of excitement and mystery of a visiting circus. The mixture of the realistic and fantastical made it unputdownable for me and I would describe it as a more literary Harry Potter (long listed for the Man Booker Prize), but with less villains.  


The second of these books is paper towns by John Green and I'm sad to say that I wouldn't recommend this book too highly. I'm disappointed because I really wanted to love it. I've heard a load of good things about John Green, especially since the release of a fault in our stars, but I'm worried that I might have chosen the wrong book to start with. The plot basically follows the story of Quentin Jacobson as he attempts to understand the 'real Margo', Margo being his mysterious and elusive next door neighbour. After she surprises him into an all night road trip around their town, Margo disappears and then the rest of the story follows Quentin's attempt to find her (no spoilers, it says basically the same thing on the back). I loved the dialogue between Quentin and his parents and friends and John Green does write very well, I just couldn't find any reason to care about who Margo was or where she was and it didn't seem like anyone else in the book other than Quentin cared either. I actually really liked parts one and three, but sadly part two took up about half the book. I am still going to give looking for Alaska and a fault in our stars a read as I've heard they are the two best, but as for paper towns I was just disappointed. 



I've got a load of books that I'm really excited to read, including the perks of being a wallflower, which I need to read before the film comes out and the first book in the Fire and Ice series, a game of thrones. At the moment I'm about a third of the way through the age of miracles by Karen Thompson Walker and I'm really loving the narration. I'll probably post about this book once I'm done. If anyone has read any of the books mentioned, or took another view on either the night circus or paper towns I would love to hear what you thought. 

xx                 


P.s. I've decided that Daughter is the perfect band for me to listen to while reading-  http://www.youtube.com/user/ohdaughter                              


  

Wednesday 15 August 2012

Two or three signs that I will fail in the business world

My genius business plan 


So I have decided that to make some space in my over-crowded bedroom by banishing some of my books to faraway lands across the United Kingdom. I previously sold books a few summers ago, but since I have now completed my history degree the books I have for sale are more flashy and shiny and will hopefully make more money.


Two or three things you should know about this venture-


1. It is a definite necessity, since I really am running out of space and the books are taking over.


2. The work this venture requires isn't particularly strenuous and won't be too distracting from my larger plans. 


3. I do realise that this isn't a long term solution, or a short term one for that matter.


So far I have made a total of £28.42 from five books, definitely enough to buy a house 

xx
                                             

Saturday 11 August 2012

Two or three things I know about her and the plan to run away

The two or three things that I know about her:

1. I will never have a separate drawer for tops and bottoms. They begin that way, but eventually a skirt and a top once worn as an outfit will sit together in a drawer and will never be worn together again.


2. I will never not finish a book. With a brand new pile of five recently purchased and recently pressed books from Waterstones, I will always persist and finish the unconvincing dusty paperback I found at the Bridgend book market. Mainly because I will feel bad for it if I don't. It was recently purchased and newly pressed once after all. 


3. I will never be content here, not ever. As far-fetched and over-romantic my family and the nice people at the Job Centre may regard it, I want nothing more than to move far far away to a bigger city, so the things I want have a better chance of becoming realised.


So for now I will be using this blog as a documentation of the progress of my plan to run away. I'm sure I can expect some big hurdles and days where I will want to run away less and days where I want to run away more. We'll see 

xx