Page Turners: The Emerald Atlas #1

Apologise for the late update, I was out all day buying a lovely new camera so that I can add some of my own photos to future posts!

I am currently reading:

The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens

From Amazon:

They were taken from their beds one frozen night, when the world was covered in snow. The silhouette of a tall, thin man has haunted Kate ever since.
Ten years on, Kate, Michael and Emma have grown up in a string of miserable orphanages, and all memories of their parents have faded to a blur. Arriving at Cambridge Falls, the children quickly realise there is something different about this place - and Kate feels sure she has seen the dark, crooked house before.
As they explore, they discover an old, empty leather book. The moment they touch it, an ancient magical prophecy is set irrevocably in motion, and the children are thrown into a dangerous alternate reality of dark enchantments and terrifying monsters. Only they can prevent the terrible event that will ruin Cambridge Falls - and stop the world from falling into complete devastation.

Listen To This: Taylor Swift/The Civil Wars

Taylor Swift ft. The Civil Wars - Safe & Sound

From The Hunger Games

Sunday Catch Up

I went to my parents' house for the weekend because it was my Mum's 60th birthday party. So here's what I did this weekend:

One sunny weekend the sun came up and POP! Out of bed came a small and very cuddly Molly. She started to look for some fun. She cuddled one cat, two dogs, two gerbils, two mice, two guinea pigs, three small children and a chicken. But she still wanted more fun. On Saturday she ate through one three bags of crisps, several pickled onions and gherkins, one spoonful of coleslaw, one handful of carrot sticks, one handful of celery sticks and a handful of chips. Then she came home, ate through half a pizza cuddled three rats and four gerbils. She sat in her house and stayed inside for more than two weeks and then came out as a beautiful butterfly...wait...scratch that last bit.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

My fiancé and I got the train up to my mum's (she's a few hours away) on Friday morning. We bought lots of food for the party then all went out for Thai food. Saturday we set up the dining room for the party and filled up the pinata's for the kids to smash later on, they were in the shape of 60. At the party was my Mum and Dad, me and my fiancé, my niece and two nephews, my sister and her partner, his parents, then later on my other sister arrived to collect her sons. So there was quite a few of us! Then today we drove back, went out for Italian and my parents went home.

My fiancé's highlight of the weekend was when I went down the garden and came back in with one of my mum's Bantam hens for him to cuddle on the sofa.

So yes, now I'm home! My parents sent us back with leftover cake, wine and plants for the garden. Lovely!

Something For The Weekend

Something to read:

We might be a fair way into 2012 now but that doesn't mean it's too late to set goals! So, are you doing what you love in 2012? Also, if you need a little help then start making lists and dreaming big.

Something to drink:



I adore bubble tea, it's one of the best drinks ever but I know a lot of people have never even seen it let alone tried it! So, here's some easy ways of making it at home!


Something to do:

Many of my readers may be living in shared home with friends, or be at university and living with room mates, and it can be hard to decorate communal rooms, so here's some tips for creative alternatives to common dorm room items,

Or for those of use living in our own pads, possibly for the first time, here's a great list  of ten things you need when you go from college living to adult life.

Feature Friday: Dogs Are Not Public Property

A friend brought this article to my attention and I thought I'd share because few thing irritate me as much as people touching my pets without permission. Dog's Are Not Public Property. It's a pretty simple concept but one that so many people seem to not understand. Yes dogs are adorable and of course they're lovely to stroke and cuddle but not all dogs want you to bother them. If they're out for a walk then they're probably quite happy being left alone. Many dogs do not like strangers and find the experience of a stranger petting them to be unwelcome. So just ask first and don't take it personally if the owner says no.

Personally I extend this view beyond dogs, and I'm sure I'm not alone in that. I hate when someone comes into my house and starts fussing around my rats and gerbils. Their only little and you're HUGE and they don't know you. I don't like the idea of my pets being made to feel unhappy in their home. It's supposed to be a safe, comfortable place for them and some stranger poking their fingers through the bars is just asking to be nipped if you ask me. Luckily that's never happened. 

One of my friends is banned from touching the rats or gerbils because he nearly dropped a gerbil, grabbed it by it's tail and let it hang there. Seriously. I wasn't there to witness it but my fiancé was. I'm not sure how I'd have reacted to that. He then found it funny when one of the rats nicked his (unlit) cigarette while he was looking at them through the bars of their cage...so he did it again. So yes, now he's banned from touching them. Other that those two incidents he's a great guy, I'm just unsure whether I'd leave him alone with any of my future kids.

I'm not strict about much but I am very, very tough when it comes to my pets. Don't mess with me and my furbabies!

Thursday Thought: Writing Dystopian Fiction

What Moira Young and Lauren DeStefano have to say about it.

Moira Young is author of the Dust Lands trilogy.

Blood Red Road by Moira Young

In a lawless future land, where life is cheap and survival is hard, Saba has been brought up in isolated Silverlake. She never sees the dangers of the destructive society outside. When her twin brother is snatched by mysterious black-robed riders, she sets outon an epic quest to rescue him. The story's searing pace, its spare style, the excitement of its fabulously damaged world, its unforgettably vivid characters, its violent action and glorious lovestory make this a truly sensational YA debut novel.

Lauren DeStefano is author of The Chemical Garden trilogy.

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out. When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home. But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant she trusts, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limted time she has left.

World Book Day

Happy World Book Day!

What will you be reading today?