My top 5 favourite book covers.

You know that saying 'you should never judge a book by its cover'? Pure tosh. I mean, I agree with the sentiment of not judging people by the way they look but books? People don't spend their entire careers designing book covers so that we won't judge the books by them!

Maybe the phrase made more sense back when all books had those leather covers with the gold embossing, but there are whole teams behind a cover now and although they don't always get it right (my copy of I Capture the Castle, possibly my favourite book ever, has a shockingly bad cover) I thought I'd share with you five covers that definitely did get it very right.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell - St. Martin's Griffin

I love the colours and the typefaces used here and I think, given the subject of the book, the decision to use an illustration by Noelle Stevenson (aka tumblr artist fave gingerhaze) was just perfect. This is really just one of those occasions when I think the cover perfectly reflects the story inside.

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess - Penguin Essentials

I'm not entirely sure what the skeleton is about (I assume it's some symbolism I'm missing) but it certainly is the right kind of twisted and creepy for A Clockwork Orange. Again, I love the colours on this and the way that the black background makes it look a little bit like a drawing on a chalkboard.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple - Phoenix

The colours! Again! I love the way that the yellow, teal, and red all work together on this cover but really I just love that stylised drawing of Bernadette. The title sitting in those massive sunglasses is great and having her biting her bottom lip is a gorgeous little detail. Beautiful!

A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle - Penguin Books

Penguin have released all of the Sherlock Holmes books in covers similar to this and although I only have the first two right now, I'm definitely on the look out for the others! The covers on these editions are reminiscent of the covers from old pulp magazines and as well as looking fantastic I think the style suits the stories within wonderfully.

Every Day by David Levithan - Electric Monkey

When I first got Every Day I was a little unsure about the bright orange cover but I actually really like the way that it draws your eye on the shelf and I think it makes the already lovely front cover design stand out and look even better. And, again, I love the typeface used for the title and the author's name on the front.

So, that's it! Those are my top five favourite book covers. What are your favourite book covers? Let me know in the comments.

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Paddling in Padstow!

Today I went for a walk around Padstow with my parents and Jess, who I've known since we were 2 and who I lived with for the three years of university and who is essentially my soul mate. Jess and I went paddling in the ocean and I threw seaweed at her and we saw the cutest pug I've ever seen (and that cool knight some kid had drawn in the sand) and it was just a really nice day. Now I'm tired so I'm going to lounge around on the sofa and watch the BAFTAs with mum.

I hope you've had a nice Sunday!

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Easy peasy lemonade!

Whenever the sun starts shining and summer finally begins to peek around the corner the first thing I always want is lemonade. Not that clear, sparkling stuff you buy in plastic bottles (although I do love that kind of lemonade too) but proper still, sweet, sour lemonade. As you can see I even have a special glass bottle for my homemade lemonade. Oh yeah, it's serious.

I found this recipe on the BBC Good Food website last year and I've used it a couple of times since, always with great results. It's so ridiculously easy, the hardest part is always digging the blender out from the back of the cupboard.

What you'll need:

140g caster sugar, 3 unwaxed lemons, 1l cold water, and a blender or food processor to mix it all up in.

You can, of course, use more lemons or sugar if you want it to be sweeter or more lemony.

First you'll need to chop off the ends of each lemon and discard those, then just roughly chop up the lemons, skins and all.

Dump the lemons, sugar, and half* of the water into your blender/food processor and blend until the lemons are finely chopped.

*As per usual I did not read the instructions properly and I actually put all of the water into the blender, which probably attributed to the leaking in the next gif. Don't make my mistakes, friends.

(I tried to make a fancy gif like Top With Cinnamon sometimes does but as you can see the second I took my hand off the lid of the blender the lemonade started to leak out from the top. Oops. Tip: do not let go of the blender lid while the blender is running. Especially if you put too much water in it.)

Now I don't actually have any pictures from the next step because it's just not that pretty of a step, but what you have to do after you've finished blending the lemonade is to pour it through a sieve into a large bowl or jug and press as much juice through the sieve as you can. Pour in the remaining water and serve chilled or over ice!

Ta da! Easy peasy lemonade!

Let me know if you try this recipe out and leave me a comment if you have any suggestions for recipes you'd like to see on the blog. 

Now that the weather is starting to get warmer I'm more inclined to actually make things so hopefully there'll be a few more recipes on the blog in the next few months, especially now that I've discovered Pinterest, which I am basically using as a recipe binder.

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The small things.

As I write this I'm sitting in my garden, enjoying the first truly hot day of 2014, listening to Paolo Nutini's new album and the sound of my neighbours laughing, and drinking a cheeky cherry sourz and coke. I know this isn't the sort of post I usually write but I'm enjoying today so much that I really just want to share it.

I really wanted to make a post yesterday but I was in the baddest of bad moods. I was fine for most of the day, I watched some really good movies (Kill Your Darlings and High Fidelity) and I spent far too much time on Pinterest, but I couldn't think of anything to write about. When I finally sat down in the evening to try and write something I just snapped and I knew I couldn't write anything while I was feeling like that.

But this morning I woke up early to the sun peeking in underneath my blinds. I took my time doing my makeup and getting dressed, enjoying the fact that I could actually wear a dress and no coat for the first time this year, and when I finally made it down to our tiny little high street I found that my current favourite moisturiser was on sale in Boots and Dorothy Perkins had 20% off all jewellery. I almost left Dorothy Perkins empty handed but then I spotted this gorgeous necklace from the corner of my eye.

Now I'm listening to music I love and sunning my bare legs and my mood could not be more different to how I felt yesterday.

When I was in school I would regularly get upset about deadlines or exams late at night and my mum's advice was always to go to bed early because everything would feel better in the morning. I never quite believed her (how could I possibly feel better about an upcoming deadline in the morning, when the deadline was eight whole hours closer with no more work to show for it?) but now that I'm older I'm starting to understand. Things always look worse at night but invariably the next day is always a little bit better, either because of the weather, good music, deals on essentials and not-so-essentials, or just because there's a lot to be said for looking at a problem again when you've had more rest.

We all know we should appreciate the small things and concentrate more on what makes us happy but I think we all also know that it's easy to forget sometimes. I'm going to try a lot harder to remember because it's amazing how much a few small things can lift your mood.

So, what are some small things that made you happy today? I'd love for you to tell me a few in the comments.

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Eurovision Song Contest 2014

I love the Eurovision Song Contest. The glitter, the dancers, the weird songs, France absolutely refusing to speak in English while not giving the UK any points, it's everything I love and more. And this year the UK actually had a pretty good song! We got 40 whole points! That's a lot for us. You can't go into Eurovision blindly thinking your act is the best though, that's no fun, so today, riding off the back of my favourite act winning last night (yay Austria!) I thought I'd give you my five favourite acts from last night's show.

5. Something Better performed by Softengine for Finland

I watched the final with my dad last night and while Softengine were performing he turned to me and said 'some of the songs are a bit too good for Eurovision this year, aren't they?'. I definitely agree. Eurovision is about disco! Glitter! Trapeze artists! But this year a few genuinely good bands seem to have snuck in and I really just genuinely like this song a lot.

4. My Słowianie - We Are Slavic performed by Donatan & Cleo for Poland

Poland went full Eurovision for this act and I love it. I'm not sure any other act matched this for pure camp factor this year and I for one am powerless when it comes to girls stomping around in cute skirts while their mates seductively complete household chores. It's just so Eurovision. Also the song is catchy as heck in my opinion. I'll definitely be singing it next time I'm washing my clothes in a wooden bucket.

3. No Prejudice performed by Pollapönk for Iceland

All week I have been affectionately referring to Pollapönk as 'The Icelandic Wiggles' because I mean, just look at those amazing costumes. I've also had the chorus of this song stuck in my head all week, not that I'm complaining. It's just a fun song with a really great message. It's another act that I think is just perfectly Eurovision and I am a BIG fan.

2. Calm After the Storm performed by The Common Linnets for The Netherlands

This is another song that was 'too good for Eurovision', in fact in my opinion this is THE song that was too good for Eurovision. I'm a country music fan anyway but when I watched their semi-final performance I could tell that The Netherlands were going to give Austria a run for their money with this one. I wanted Austria to win with all of my heart but if The Netherlands had won with this gorgeous song then I wouldn't have been able to argue. I'll be downloading their album asap.

1. Rise Like a Phoenix performed by Conchita Wurst for Austria

Anyone who is following me on Twitter already knows how much I wanted Austria to win last night. I think I actually stopped breathing a little bit when it was announced that they had already won before the last few countries had even given their points. The song is beautiful, Conchita's voice is beautiful, and the message that Europe has sent by choosing her as their winner is even more beautiful. I'm listening to the song again right now and tearing up a little just remembering the speech Conchita gave last night. I can't wait to see her perform Rise Like a Phoenix again at next year's competition in Austria!

Are you a Eurovision fan? If you are then who were your favourite acts? Let me know in the comments!

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My first Instax prints.

I've loved shooting with film ever since I first got to use the darkroom during photography classes at school. There's something uniquely magical about actually putting an image together that way and watching it appear before your eyes and it's that which has always fascinated me about instant cameras too.

I finally got my first instant camera, a fujifilm Instax 210, as a present from my parents for Christmas last year (having grown up with film cameras they are both incredibly thankful for digital cameras and don't understand my love of film at all, but they indulge me at least) and I wanted to share with you all my first pack of instant prints.

New Year's Eve 2013-2014

Bodmin Jail

My new favourite shoes in the garden

Jess's surprise birthday tea party

Spring at last

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TV shows I've been watching lately.

I'm one of those people who will spend twenty minutes trying to decide if I really have the concentration today to sit down and watch a movie for two and a half hours but I will readily watch an entire series of a TV show in one day, no questions asked. Seriously, the amount of times I have thought to myself 'I don't want to watch a whole movie right now so I'll watch six episodes of Merlin instead' is not even funny. I also never seem to get the urge to watch the cool new shows until they're at least on their second season, which means I'm always a little behind when things first start out. Except for Breaking Bad. I watched the first three episodes of that when they first aired, decided I didn't like it, and then spent the next five years wondering what the heck I had missed. It turns out I am not always right when it comes to television shows.

Anyway, I've been getting caught up with some good shows recently and re-watching one of my all time favourites and I thought I'd share my thoughts about them and maybe encourage you to watch them too!

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

I'd seen enough gif sets of Brooklyn Nine-Nine on tumblr that I knew it would be funny but I honestly was not prepared for just how funny it really is. There are a lot of shows that make me laugh, but not many that make me laugh like this. I'm talking full on snorting laughter here, people. Another thing I love about it is that all of the main characters are likeable. That's one thing that really makes me love a show - the characters all being relatable - and Brooklyn Nine-Nine totally has that going for it. If you're looking for a new comedy show then you should definitely give this a try.

The Mindy Project

Okay, can I just take a break here to question the people that make these posters? Why is everyone so airbrushed all the time? Everyone on this poster looks like they have a face made out of plastic. It's creeping me out.

Anyway, I wasn't sure at first that I would like The Mindy Project but basically I was a total fool. The humour in this show is really spot on, and one of my favourite things about it is the confidence that Mindy has. It's kind of unusual for a comedy show to have a central female character who is so confident and self assured and I really wish it weren't because there are women like Mindy in the real world and I think it would be good for us all to see more of them represented on TV! Plus the show is absolutely hilarious and all the characters are just a little bit weird. I think if you like New Girl (another show whose posters suffer from plastic face. What are you doing over there FOX?) then you will definitely like The Mindy Project.

Orphan Black

I honestly don't know why it took me so long to watch Orphan Black. I think it was just laziness. I knew I was going to love it but for some reason it took season two starting to finally prompt me to watch season one. Orphan Black is one of the best sci-fi shows I've seen in a long time. The whole story is so interesting and unique, and Tatiana Maslany is amazing. She plays all of the clones with different voices, different mannerisms, and it's always natural. It's easy to forget at times that these characters are all being played by one actress. There is a small cast of supporting characters (and when I say 'supporting' I really mean 'not played by Tatiana') the star of which is Felix, adopted brother to one of the clones. And if you're at all familiar with the work of William Gibson then you'll definitely enjoy the Neolutionists.

Although the show definitely sits nicely in the science-fiction genre, I know a few people who have really enjoyed it even though they don't usually like sci-fi, so I would definitely recommend giving it a try even if you don't usually like that sort of thing. Even if only to see Tatiana Maslany manage to make a whole group of clones somehow look like different people.

Ugly Betty

Now this one I've seen before. I watched Ugly Betty back when it used to be on Channel 4 every week, but it was a few years ago now that it finished and when I saw that Netflix had the first two seasons I immediately started a re-watch. Then I downloaded the second two seasons so I could finish it. Ugly Betty has always been one of my favourite shows. I even dressed as Betty for my 16th birthday party (unfortunately there are no pictures). Betty is an important character to me for a lot of reasons but that's a story for another time. It was really fun to watch this show again years after it originally finished because there were a lot of story lines I had forgotten, so I got to have that nice feeling of nostalgia from watching something you've seen and loved before, but also a few shocks as I remembered things I had forgotten. One thing I had not forgotten was how great Marc and Amanda are and I think I actually liked them even more now that I'm older. If you haven't seen Ugly Betty then you should definitely go and watch it right now!

What have you been watching lately? Let me know in the comments!

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