October Wrap-up

Happy Halloween! Today I bring you something that isn't really related to Halloween but we'll live. It is time to tell you about all the books I read in October, I probably won't go into too much detail as I'm planning to write up a few reviews of these:

• The Epic Adventures of Lydia Bennet, Rachel Kiley & Kate Rorick- I have been waiting for this for ages, I loved the Lizzie Bennet Diaries (check it out on youtube if you don't know what it is) to bits so any continuation is brilliant. This follows Lydia right after the videos ended and it is a tough read, I got very, very emotional but I loved it! 
• Jane Eyre (play), devised by the company- The National Theatre are doing Jane Eyre at the mo and after seeing it with school I got the script and tore it apart (figuratively of course) I scribbled all over it which is something I love to do sometimes. 
• Persuasion, Jane Austen- I finally got my hands on this and it didn't quite beat Pride and Prejudice but it was flippin' close. I adore the witty mocking of society but also the romance between Anne and Wentworth. Jane Austen was a wonder at writing.

Currently Reading:

• Dracula, Bram Stoker- I thought I should read something gothic this month and so fair I'm really enjoying it.
• Carry On, Rainbow Rowell- I've waited for this book for ages too as Rainbow Rowell is one of my favourite authors and it is good but I'm yet to be entirely grip which makes me extremely sad but there is still plenty of pages for that to change.
• Grimm Tales, Philip Pullman- I adore the simplicity and charm of fairy tales so I am slowly making my way through this collection.

I hardly read anything from my TBR but I read more that last month which is great, I've also been doing a ton for school also!

Speak soon, 

Jade xx

Finding Time to Read.

Hello lovelies! Today I wanted to talk to you about finding time to read. If you look at my August wrap-up and my September wrap-up you will see a pretty big difference in the number of things read; purely down to school starting. Nowadays I find that from 8:30-5:30 or later I don't stop and then I just crash, go on the internet and sleep. If I pick up a book I will enjoy it and be captivated but it is getting myself to pick up a book! It's very frustrating because I love reading and want to read but right now it isn't happening and I had the same problem last year.

I've decided to combat this and if you have any ways that you deal with this I would love to know but some of the things I'm going to try are:

1. Carrying a book with me everywhere- I used to this and I stopped especially for school which means at work when I could read I can't because I don't have a book. (sidenote, I go straight from school to work)
2. Challenging myself to read everyday in October even if it is just 2 pages!
3. Making sure I'm picking books that I really, really want to read, otherwise I won't be motivated.
4. Listening to audiobooks when I'm walking places and doing jobs round the house as this is a really easy way to get through a book!

Hopefully this month I can get back into reading because I miss it plus as an literature student I really should reading a ton!
Speak soon,
Jade xx

September Wrap-up

Hello! So September flew by and I only got a little reading done but I'm not surprised because school was a bit of a shock to the system!

• The World's Wife, Carol Ann Duffy. This is a collection of poetry based around famous men's wives and their point of views on it. There are women from myths and legends like Penelope and Mrs Sisyphus and then real people like Mrs Darwin and Myra Hindley who is painted as the Devil's wife. It's witty and brilliant! 4.5 stars.
• The Night is Darkening Round Me, Emily Bronte. This is yet again more poetry, I don't know why but in the past month I've really enjoyed read and picking apart poetry whereas in the past it has been my least favourite part of studying english. I love Emily Bronte's poetry; obviously I like some better than others but that is how it works. Pretty much all her poems are occupied with death but the writing was beautiful.
• I wanted to briefly talk of all the books I've started to read at school because both English lit. and Classical Civilisation are full of reading! In english I'm currently studying Mean Time by Carol Ann Duffy and Room With a View by E.M.Forster. Then I am re-reading The Odyssey by Homer and Aeschylus' Agamemnon in Classics. It feels so good to be back in school and pulling these texts apart after 6 months away!
• I'm also currently reading and loving Persuasion by Jane Austen! 

Let me know what you read in September!

Speak soon,

Jade xx

My Summer TBR!

It is officially summer! (even though I've been off school for months but that's  besides the point) Because I'm going  into the dreaded land of English lit. A-level once again where I have no time to read, I am taking this free time to read a ton! I've compiled a list of mainly classics to read during the summer for when I'm not taking part in readathons. And I thought I'd share them with you! (especially since it will make me go through with it) I'm not going to put blurbs or anything because there are quite a few and I don't want this post to be super long. :)

• Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte (re-read for school)
• A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams (school) 
• Mean Times, Carol Ann Duffy (school)
• A Room with a View, E.M.Forster (school)
• All The Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr
• Emma, Jane Austen
• Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
• Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
• Villette, Charlotte Bronte
• The Tenant at Wildfell Hall, Anne Bronte
• Dracula, Bram Stoker
• Far from the Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
• Mansfield Park, Jane Austen
• Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen
• Little Dorrit, Charles Dickens (this is my challenge read this year!)

So only a couple as you can see ;) I want to get as much reading done as possible this summer before school and I am excited about all of these so hopefully I can enjoy them all. I will also have other TBRs up for the readathons left this summer that won't include these so I am being very ambitious. What are plans this summer?
Speak soon

Jade xx 

24in48 Readathon TBR

I'm sorry if you're getting overloaded a little by readathons on this blog at the mo but apparently summer is readathon season and I find them very difficult to pass up :) 

11th-12th July is the 24in48 Readathon. The idea is that you read for 24hrs during a 48hr period- you know allowing sleeping and eating :) Go to 24in48.com to find out everything you need to know and to sign up. It is a pretty relaxed readathon starting Saturday morning and ending Sunday night so I've got 2 books I would like to read. 

1. A Slip under the Microscope by H.G.Wells. This is only 55 pages so I figured it was perfect. I've been meaning to read H.G.Wells for so long too!
2. Dream a Little Dream by Giovanna Fletcher this is a bit longer than the other but I'm super excited about it so I'm sure I can get it finished.

If you are going to take part make sure you sign up via the 24in48 HQ and let me know what you plan on reading!

speak soon,

Jade xx 

The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage, Sydney Padua- review

A graphic novel debut that transforms one of the most compelling scientific collaborations into an unexpected, and hilarious, series of adventures.

A unique take on the unrealized invention of the computer in the 1830s by the eccentric polymath Charles Babbage and his accomplice, the daughter of Lord Byron, Ada, Countess of Lovelace. When Ada translated her friend Babbage's plans for the "Difference Engine," her lengthy footnotes contained the first appearance of the general computing theory—one hundred years before an actual computer was built. Sadly, Lovelace died of cancer a few years after publishing the paper, and Babbage never built any of his machines. But now Sydney Padua gives us an alternate reality in which Lovelace and Babbage do build the Difference Engine, and then use it to do battle with the American banking system, the publishing industry, their own fears that their project will lose funding, and a villainous street musician who will force the two friends to reevaluate their priorities—"for the sake of both London and science."

When I heard about this I was super excited, I love anything Victorian and these two people seem to have such character. When I got it the excitement continued, this book is so gorgeous! Its a naked hardback with a cloth bound spine and the illustrations are awesome! I read this during round 5 of #RYBSAT and it was a nice quick read for that kind of thing. For me there were basically two parts to this book- the graphic novel part and then the informative, math part. Sometimes they mixed but those were the aspects.

I really enjoyed the graphic novel part, it was very amusing, the art as I said was really good. Lovelace and Babbage as well as the other characters were so alive and vivid. I really enjoyed the little "guest stars" in this- Queen Victoria, the Duke of Wellington, Dickens, Florence Nightingale, Marian Evans (George Eliot), Elizabeth Gaskell even Jane Austen. It was full of these big figures with their quirks :) I really like how though I learnt a lot but when it came to the story it was all fun it was a good balance.

The "informative" aspect was mainly through gigantic footnotes, endnotes and then the Appendix at the end of the book. I found it all interesting but I have to admit that a lot of maths and science went over my head, i think I grasp a fair amount but far from all of it. Another thing that I struggled with when it came to this part was the layout. A couple of times the pictures went into the writing but then main problem I had was that the footnotes weren't a normal two or three lines it could be an entire page in this tiny, tiny font making it very hard to read. Also at first I got very confused how to read it there were numbers and references to the appendix but I didn't know where they were but in the end I just went page by page and ignored that the footnotes have footnotes themselves.

Overall it was enjoyable and I found it very interesting even though it was more complex than I expected  in places. I loved the graphic novel side and in then it was a fun read that I gave 3 stars.
Speak soon,
Jade

Shakespeare Summer Challenge!

Hello! So I have decided to to set myself a challenge this summer and that challenge is to read 3 of Shakespeare's plays. The reasons this is that 1 I'm an English student and need to read widely and 2, I say I love Shakespeare but I've only actually read 1 of his plays all the way through, which is Much Ado About Nothing. The 3 plays that I am planning to read this summer are:

• Love's Labour's Lost- which I saw at the RSC last year but want to read.
• Romeo and Juliet- obviously I know the story, I've read bits in class and even performed the prologue but never read it.
• Macbeth- Again the same as R&J, I even used a scene of this in my GCSE coursework!

So they are all plays I am familiar with so I'm hoping to understand them! If you want to join in and pick 3  plays yourself or read some of his poetry that would be awesome and we could fall in love with Shakespeare together!

Speak soon,

Jade xx

June TBR

Hello! So we are basically half way through the year which is crazy but the days are getting warmer so that's a plus! (most of the time that is). Today I'm going to share with  you my reading plans for June as tentative as they are. I don't know if I'll stick to it or read this many but we'll see :)

• Emma by Jane Austen. (I have started this)
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (I've also read a tiny bit of this)
• The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J Maas (again half way through this 1)
• The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide (guess what? half way through as well!)
• Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Allbertalli
• Lord Arthur Savile's Crime by Oscar Wilde
  
  
  
  

Very much a finish stuff month since I have too many books I have started and not finished! Let me know if you have read any of these and your thoughts.

Speak soon,

Jade xx

Big March-May Wrap-up!

Hello! Hope you're well :) Today I am bringing you all the books I read in March, April and May since I didn't do a wrap-up for them I figured I'd mash it all together. I didn't much reading in January or February but in March I read 3 books,  5 in April and _ in May

March: The Secret Countess by Eva Ibbotson. This was a re-read and it is one of my favourite books ever! Anna is a refugee from Russia in England, 1918, she has to work as a maid and keep her identity hidden from her employer the Earl of Westerholme but it is so much more!. It was just as good as I remember, 5 (billion) stars :)

Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame. This was a blast to the past for me and I picked it up due to Classic Alice and it was just really fun and I liked the writing style too. 3 stars

Northanger Abbey, Val McDermid. This is a retelling of Jane Austen's story and overall I really enjoyed it, if you want to know my thoughts I posted a review a few days ago. 3 stars.

April: Elizabeth is Missing, this is a mystery novel about a lady, Maud, who has dementia, a review will be up soon so look out for that as I have many mixed feelings on it. 2.5 stars.

The Tinder Box, Hans Christian Andersen. This was a small collection of his work and I really enjoyed it, again I have a review up. 4 stars

Cress & Fairest, Marissa Meyer. These are the 3rd and the 3.5 (maybe) installment to 1 of my favourite series, The Lunar Chronicles. Cress carries the story and was really good but fro me not as good as the first two. 4 stars. Fairest is the backstory of the villain Queen Levana which was interesting but again not amazing. 3.5 stars.

The Beautifull Cassandra, Jane Austen. This is another short collection of just little stories and it was classic Austen but you can tell that she was just having fun and it was so spectacularly ridiculous! 5 stars.

May: I took part in two readathons this month so instead of repeating myself and taking up room here are the wrap-aps from them: Bout of Books 13 & #RYBSAT.

Then in the last week of May I read a smidge of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.

And that  is what I have been reading these past three months :)
Speak soon,
Jade xx