Moving...

Hello!

I haven't posted on here in over a year. Between then and now I have been a co-blogger (before giving up my duties to focus on my University studies) and I have now started up another blog which you can go to here. I am posting there twice a week and I am loving it. I kind of love Wordpress more than blogger. I love the easiness of it and the drafting system is just nicer. So yeah, just in case there's anyone still out there following this or checking up on it. That's where I am now..

P.s. I've been posting on instagram for over 2 years now, so if you feel like having a look back at what I've been reading the past year, feel free :)

Flights of Fantasy 2016

Flights of Fantasy 2016 is hosted by Alexa and Rachel and I'm so happy to participate again this year. I participated last year and I'm participating again this year (this post was written in January, but never posted hence why it's so late). 

Number of Fantasies:
I'm going for a total of 22 fantasy books this year. I've listed below all the books/series I would like to read but we'll see how that goes! As long as I can read at least 20 fantasy books, I'll be happy!

Fantasy Standalones/First book in series:

• Soundless
• Truthwitch 
• Seraphina 
• Uprooted
• Frostfire
• The Queen of the Tearling
• Ruin and Rising (I've read the first two in this series already)
• Glass Sword (adding this here as I've read Red Queen already!)

Fantasy Series to Read:

• A Darker Shade of Magic
• A Court of Thorns and Roses
• Snow Like Ashes 
• The Winner's Curse
• Six of Crows
• The Kiss of Deception

How many I've read so far:

• Shadow and Bone
• Siege and Storm

For some reason, I feel like I've read more than I thought but that could be because I have The Kiss of Deception and Ruin and Rising that I'm reading at the moment!

Kindle vs Books: The Great Debate

About two years ago, I wrote a post on e-readers vs physical books. I looked at the pros and cons of both but didn't actually own an e-reader myself (we have a family one, but I wasn't allowed to buy things on it at the time!). I received a Kindle Paperwhite for Christmas 2015, and safe to say, I'm very happy with it. Although I haven't used it much since receiving it (I'm trying to half my physical TBR), it really is so handy. 

So what do I think of e-readers now that I have one myself? 
Well, I've found mine to be extremely handy. They're small, compact, can fit hundreds of books on them (although my Kindle library is at roughly 10-15 so far) and with mine, I can read well into the night with it. One thing I really like is how much shelf space I save as although I love having my pretty books on my shelves, I recently ran out of space and my books started stacking up on the floor until I thankfully bought a new shelf, but that's almost full and although I do have extra space on my old shelves, I know I'll fill that up in no time, so therefore, my Kindle is ideal.

What I've found out when I read my Kindle books, is that I read them at a much faster rate than physical books. I'm not entirely sure why, I wonder if it's because I can see how long it would take me to read a book at the bottom and that spurs me on, but I've definitely found that I read books a lot quicker on my Kindle!

Having a Kindle, for me, is a perfect solution to my almost overflowing shelves. I'm actually planning to take it to America with me in the Summer as 1) many books for the flight and 2) more luggage space to bring those nice US edition books back with me! I best get looking for some extra shelf space in my room!


Do I prefer to read one over the other?
Not at all. I love physical books in my hand more than my Kindle, but I love how my Kindle tells me exactly how long it would take me to complete a book, which a physical book can't do. There are pro's and con's to each of them, but ultimately as long as I'm reading something, I don't mind the format. Although, I do love the pretty covers on physical books!


Would I recommend getting an e-reader?
I most definitely would. Although I don't use mine a massive amount as I'm trying to whittle down my physical TBR, an e-reader is just so convenient and takes up so much less bag and shelf space. Like I said, there are pro's and con's to each, but I feel like a Kindle is definitely worth the investment. I know that just because I have a Kindle, it doesn't mean I will stop buying physical books. In fact, I buy a lot of my books from Amazon anyway, and a lot of them are from Independent Sellers on there, and if a physical book is cheaper from an independent seller in comparison to Kindle, then you can betcha I'll be buying the physical copy!


So there you have it, that's my opinion on the great e-reader vs physical books debate now that I finally have my own!

Hello, it's me..

You would be very correct if you're thinking that I am the worst blogger ever because I totally am. I haven't blogged anything since the very beginning of July last year, and we are now in March, closer to July 2016 than July 2015 so let's just hold up here a sec. 

So where have I been and what have I been up to, I hear you ask?

WELL, let me do a little bit of a recap for you, but please bear in mind I may miss a few things out! (I'm really sorry this is such a text heavy post!)

JULY

In July I spent a week away in Portugal with my family and boyfriend and had the best time! It was so nice to go on holiday with my family again and to have my boyfriend there was even better! Although, I got extremely sunburnt the day before we went to the waterpark (bad idea) in my effort to get a tan, except I'm stupid and forgot to put suncream on after I got out of the sea. Perk to this was that I still have a tan line from July and it is now March! I also celebrated my birthday the day after we got back, so wahoo for that. Other than that I just worked and worked and that was it!

AUGUST

I literally did nothing this month apart from worked. I was working two jobs over the Summer which is good money wise but also sucked because I had 4 months off and I basically spent like 3 weeks of it not working and the rest working so there's that!

SEPTEMBER

I finished my temporary summer job but was still working quite a bit except more time off in the week, yay! It was also freshers week (where me and my boyfriend broke up, which sucked a ton) and then I started second year of uni, how fun. So yeah, this month sorta sucked tbh.

OCTOBER

I went out(nights outs) a ton in October. There was a paint party which was so fun, and a few other things like a friends birthday, but other than that it was just uni and work. My life is so boring.

NOVEMBER

Once again, uni and work, uni and work. I had a few nights out but not loads, and I went up some hills that are close to where I live but it was absolutely freezing and I only went up the top of the one that I parked by. If it was warmer and less windy, I would've gone up much further. I started a temporary job this month for over Christmas so again I was working two jobs but I also had uni work (silly me) but it was ok..

DECEMBER

CHRISTMAS! Oh I love Christmas and this year we spent it with my whole family so that was fabby. I also had a Kindle for Christmas(!!!!) and read The Awakened and blasted through it and finished it that day (bit anti-social as I was sat in the chair in the corner of my grandparents living room just reading, but my cousins are all 8 and below and I am 20, so no thank you). Also this month was obvs New Years and I spent it with my one friend and it was such a hilarious night! Other than that I just worked two jobs still, finished Uni for Christmas, and then Boxing Day I finished my one job and just carried on with my temp one!

JANUARY 2016

Wow, I missed a lot of months on here.. So January I started back at uni to finish Semester 1 but was at Uni for two weeks before we broke up for January exams and marking week which is totally pointless because two weeks of uni and then two weeks off, but I'm not complaining. I didn't really do much other than work and uni again(I am seriously so boring) but I did celebrate one of my friends birthdays, yay! Also, we booked to go away to New York this Summer, so America, I'm coming for ya! I've also applied to be a co-blogger over at another blog so if I'm accepted, I'll be moving!

FEBRUARY

We are almost there! This month I celebrated two of my friends 21st birthday, started semester 2 at uni, had an interview for another job that is opposite the one I'm working in (it's a department store and I'm moving from one concession to another..) and also, me and my ex-boyfriend got back together at the end of this month, yay! We also went on a trip to a forest and he helped me take some bookish pictures so that was good! So this month again, was uni and work but also a lot more fun with good things happening!

MARCH

We are up to date, FINALLY! So it's day 3 of this month but I can tell you what is coming up. I finish my job on one department and move to another on the 14th, I have a date night with my boyfriend coming up, I need to start working on my Uni project that I'm doing. Other than that, not a lot is happening. I have an assignment due for the 17th, but that's not so bad although I want to get started early so that I can have plenty of time on it as I had an essay due on the 29th Feb and I literally finished it at 11:30am that day so yeah, not a good move! This month, I've been thinking of moving over to wordpress (I'm waiting to see if I'm a co-blogger but if not, I'll make the move). Do any of you use wordpress?

I hope you guys have had a good couple of months since we last spoke! I'm sorry for being so absent but since July I have been so busy with work and uni and uni work and everything else that's been happening! But finally I have time to breathe and write and read and all that sort of good stuff. I actually post pretty regularly over on my instagram (@gingerbreadbooks) so you should definitely check that out! 

Hope to be writing again soon!

Vick :)

7/12

June has been a pretty hectic month for me, or at least it feels that way. The last week of June was probably my busiest week of the year so far. Right at the end of May, I started two new jobs – one permanent, one temporary for over the summer, so this month has involved a lot of learning about new things which I don’t mind particularly. My temporary job is actually at the University I attend and worked at during my gap year, but in mid-June, my department was holding a conference which I basically took over organisation for. It was extremely stressful for me the day before it, like I don’t think I’ve been so stressed in my life but it all turned out to be ok, thank god!

1.     I saw Taylor Swift (pic above) in June for the 3^rd time. I’ve seen Taylor play on 3 tours (Speak Now, Red and 1989) and I swear she gets better every time. She even spotted me and my sister as we just so happened to be one of the only people in our block with lights, and actually the only people in our block with the lights wrapped round us! We’re pretty sure her mum spotted us too as we were dancing crazy and her mum saw us so that was fun! I just wish I could see her again. My love for T-Sweezy knows no bounds.

2.     My boyfriend and I hit 3 years on the 23^rd! We celebrated by going out for a meal in the evening which was Thai food and it was sooo so good. We didn’t do presents as it’s only 3 years, but at the same time, 3 years! It feels like longer than that, but then it’s such a short time in comparison to how long some people have been together. Still, I think it’s an achievement seeing as I’m not even 20 yet!

3.     My little sister’s prom. My little sister had her prom in the last week of June, and she looked so cute! It’s so weird to think she’s leaving school already especially as I only left 4 years ago. It makes me feel so old!

4.     THE HEAT. Oh my gosh, so this post is like a day late, because I was going to put it up yesterday but holy crap, the heat last Wednesday (1^st July) was insane. I try not to complain when it’s sunny because we don’t get it all that much in rainy England, but it was just so hot and humid yesterday. I was sat outside for probably 2-3 hours and I don’t think I even got that much of a tan!

5.     My modules for the second year of my History degree have been confirmed and I’m so excited! I’m taking 6 modules in total, two last the whole year, and then the rest are either taught in the first semester or the second!

I read a total of 6 books this month which isn’t so bad! I realised that although my reading goal this year is 52, I have over 50 books on my tbr list, which I want to get through this year, and about 4 of the 6 I read this month weren’t included on my TBR so panic mode struck which led me to write a list of books I would like to read for each month. I probably won’t, I’ve already gone against the list, but ah well! 

This month I read..

I’m aiming to read 7-8 books this month! I’m going on holiday so hopefully a lot of beach/pool reading shall be done. I was only going to take one book but honestly, what bookworm takes only one book when going on holiday? I swiftly realised that the book I was intending to take (The Fill-In Boyfriend) would probably be read within about a day which has now led me to question which other books to take. I’m thinking of taking maybe 3 or 4,, two in hand luggage and maybe 1 or 2 in my suitcase. I think I’m going to ask the brains of Instagram to help me out with this one. If you want to chip in your suggestion, follow me at @alittlesomethingbookish !

I’m going on holiday on the 11^th so don’t expect any updates from me, although it’s not like I update my blog all that much anyway recently, oops.. I get back on the 18^th, but then it’s my birthday on the 19^th! After that, I’m coming back and going straight into work again, both at my temporary job and my permanent role! In my temporary job, I’ll be taking on the role of editorial assistant for a journal made up of journals! Sounds funny! I’m a bit nervous as I’m not entirely sure about type facing and all that, but we’ll see how it goes!

The Great Gatsby

Title: The Great Gatsby

Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Pages: 180

Publisher: Scribner 

Source: Bought

Rating: 3/5

Good Reads // Amazon

Summary (from Good Reads): 

A portrait of the Jazz Age in all of its decadence and excess, The Great Gatsby captured the spirit of the author's generation and earned itself a permanent place in American mythology. Self-made, self-invented millionaire Jay Gatsby embodies some of Fitzgerald's--and his country's--most abiding obsessions: money, ambition, greed, and the promise of new beginnings. "Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.... And one fine morning--"Gatsby's rise to glory and eventual fall from grace becomes a kind of cautionary tale about the American Dream.

The Great Gatsby is one of those classic books that is on every ‘books you must read’ list. I’ve personally had it on my shelf since the movie came out, but knew about it before I bought it. I’ll admit I’m not a big classic reader, but I decided I’d try this one out. The problem is, I have mixed feelings towards this book.

I won’t lie I did struggle with this book a bit. It took me about a month to read it, but I was not giving up on it. I was so determined to finish it that no matter how much I struggled, I carried on with it anyway just so I could finally say I’ve read it. I have to say, I think I struggled with how formal it was, but I did also struggle slightly with the story. It wasn’t as interesting to me as I thought it would be. I felt that it lacked something, and I found that the narrator, Nick, seemed to have confused feelings towards Gatsby. I was also expecting there to be more of a glitz and glam lifestyle in the book, but I felt that this was emphasised a bit too much as I didn’t find that there was much. I felt that this book mainly just focused on the rich characters.

The parts I most enjoyed of The Great Gatsby were the dialogue. I felt that all the wording in between was a bit waffly at times. My liking of the dialogue in this book was probably why I significantly enjoyed the second part of this book as there was a lot more speech. The fact that the first part of the book was full of hardly any dialogue is more than likely why I struggled with the book as it demotivated me to continue reading it, hence why it took me a month to get through it. 

I did think the book was interesting, and I do see why it is a classic but personally I don’t think it’s for me, or at least the first read wasn’t. I’m not sure if I’ll ever re-read it again, although I do think I will have to revisit the ending soon as I am not entirely sure what really happened to Gatsby, other than the obvious (if you’ve read it, you’ll know what I mean). I won’t deny, this book is a classic but personally for me, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. I’m not sure if that’s because there’s such a big hype surrounding the book that it didn’t live up to expectations for me or just because me and classic books have a complicated relationship. This doesn't mean I wouldn't recommend it if someone asked me for a classic book to read though!

Fangirl

Title: Fangirl
Author: Rainbow Rowell

Pages: 461

Publisher: Macmillan

Source: Bought

Rating: 4/5

Good Reads // Amazon

Summary (from Good Reads): 
Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan...

But for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to. Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words... And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? Writing her own stories? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

I have been putting off reading Fangirl for such a long time, despite the glowing reviews for this book. Fangirl is the second book I have read by Rainbow Rowell with the first being Eleanor and Park, which I enjoyed. I've found that I thought I do enjoy Rowell's book, I have the same kind of relationship with her books that I do with John Green's, and I know that a lot of people compare the two, but both of their books feel kind of the same to me, although I can't quite put my finger on why.

I felt that Cath was an interesting character and I enjoyed getting to know her and the way she thought and I loved her determination for what she wanted to do. For me, it was interesting to see how Cath was without her sister. Cath and I are kind of different in the way that I think for Cath, being out of her comfort zone was difficult and a bit scary, whereas for me I don't mind it so much, but I think it was good with the way that she dealt with things. 

Something that I thought was cool was the relationship that Cath had with her Dad. I haven't really read many books where the only parental figure in the characters life is the Dad, and to see that Cath had such a positive relationship with her father was really nice to read. The relationship between Cath and her sister Wren wasn't too overdone as Wren wasn't in the book all the time, but it was interesting to read how both of them coped with moving to University and not always being together. 

To me, Fangirl was quite a light read with a topic that wasn't too heavy. I didn't love it like a lot of people have but I did enjoy it and like it, plus I thought it was a good read. 

Would you Recommend?
If someone asked me for a light read, something that involved being at University, new experiences or family relationships then I would definitely recommend this.