Lanhydrock House

Back in March (the day after I went to The Eden Project, in fact) Jess and I took advantage of a free locals day at Lanhydrock House to go for a little mooch around the place. I've visited the gardens a few times over the years but it's been a very, very long time since I saw the inside of the house. 

Of course, things don't look very different from when I was last there, but I didn't have such a nice camera when I was traipsing around the place as a ten year old, meaning I also didn't take over 200 photographs that needed editing down for a blog post... I didn't even have a blog as a ten year old, just an old PowerBook and the Barbie website (did anyone else used to love the game where you could do Barbie's makeup and put together a little magazine with her on the cover? I even printed some of the magazines out on our old black and white printer. There's a good chance I still have them somewhere tbh.) Anyway, that's why it's taken me nearly two months to edit these pictures together. 

I hope it's at least a little worth it.

While I was taking this picture there was a man with a little girl in his arms beside me and the girl kept pointing at the pans and asking, 'That one? That one?' and he kept saying, 'No. No.' until he finally told her, 'I don't think any of these are for making pancakes.'

My bobble hat has a penguin face on it because I'm a serious adult.

There was a girl watching me the whole time I was taking this picture of the desk and when I put the camera down she asked, 'Why do you have a camera?' I told her, 'For taking pictures,' but from the look on her face, I don't think she was very satisfied with that answer.

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My Eurovision 2017 Favourites

Can you believe it's time for my annual Eurovision post already? Honestly, on the whole, I'm a little unimpressed with the songs this year. Usually I struggle to whittle my favourites down but this year it was easy peasy because there are just far too many ballads being allowed! Anyway, ahead of tomorrow's final, here are my five favourite acts from this year's competition.

Time by O. Torvald for Ukraine

First up is the host country itself, Ukraine, with the standard rock song that we have come to expect and love from at least one country every year.

I Feel Alive by IMRI for Israel

Another year, another solid entry from Israel. They just never let me down at Eurovision.

Lights and Shadows by OG3NE for The Netherlands

The Netherlands have gone a little bit country again this year. I loved it when they did it in 2014 and I love it now.

Occidentali's Karma by Francesco Gabbani for Italy

Look, truthfully I have absolutely no idea what is going on here but it's upbeat and I can't resist a dancing gorilla. I just can't.

Yodel It! by Ilinca ft. Alex Florea for Romania

And my number one favourite act this year is easily this offering from Romania. If you're not doing a yodel/rap genre mash up at Eurovision then what exactly are you doing at Eurovision??

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Read Women Month 2017

Every June, since 2014, I dedicate the entire month exclusively to female writers, and every May I ask you all to join me, and this year is no different. There is only one rule - for the whole of June leave the male authors behind and for one month read, share, and celebrate female writers. That's it!

Why do I do this every year? Because a lot of people still look down on women's writing as some sort of niche, as though books written by women can only be enjoyed by women, whereas books written by men can be enjoyed by everyone. Because websites still publish articles of books everyone should read with not a single female author to be seen. Because male authors are still far more likely to win writing awards, be reviewed in the media, and be studied in schools and universities than female authors. Because people still use the phrase 'chicklit' and never to refer to books written by men.

And because women are great, and women who write are especially great (biased though I may be) and they deserve to be celebrated! So this year I'm getting in nice and early to try and encourage you to join me in reading women all throughout June.

I have a few fun things planned already and you can see all my Read Women Month posts from previous years right here. Let me know if you'll be taking part and feel free to post liberally with the hashtag on Twitter and Instagram throughout the month if you are so I can see what great women writers you're all reading!

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Podcasts I Love

I've fallen hard for podcasts. Me and everyone else, I know, but until last year the only podcasts I ever regularly listened to were a couple of Australian radio shows (one day I might explain this niche interest but that is a conversation for a different blog post) and now I have officially branched out into the wonderful wide world of podcasts and found some that I love so much I just need to talk about them.

Dear Hank & John

In Dear Hank & John Hank and John Green, aka the Vlogbrothers, take questions from listeners and do their best to answer with dubious advice, and, at the end of each episode, share the weekly news from Mars and AFC Wimbledon. I've been a fan of the Vlogbrothers and of John's books for a very long time and, although I haven't watched their videos as regularly as I used to over the past couple of years, my favourite videos were always the ones where both brothers were together, so for me this podcast is an excellent development and a joy to listen to each week.

The Bestseller Experiment

In The Bestseller Experiment Mark Stay and Mark Desvaux attempt to write and publish a bestselling novel in just one year, interviewing a plethora of publishing industry professionals, from writers to editors to copyright lawyers and everyone in between, along the way. The two Marks have spoken with professionals from almost every aspect of the publishing industry to try and figure out how to make a book into a bestseller and, although my favourites are usually the episodes where they talk to authors, there has yet to be a single interview that I haven't found fascinating to listen to.

Buffering the Vampire Slayer

In Buffering the Vampire Slayer (the newest addition to my subscription feed) married couple Kristin Russo and Jenny Owen Youngs discuss each episode of the wonderful Joss Whedon show we all know and love, one by one, closing each episode of the podcast with a song written and performed by the duo recapping that week's Buffy episode. It's adorable. I love when other people geek out over things I enjoy and Kristin and Jenny are a delight to listen to. Even though I am not yet caught up with all of the episodes so far I still feel pretty confident in declaring this one a new favourite. Even if it is desperately making me want to abandon all else and just spend my days re-watching the entirety of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Witch, Please

In Witch, Please self-described lady scholars Hannah McGregor and Marcelle Kosman (sometimes joined by guy with a film degree, Neale Barnholden) discuss the Harry Potter books, movies, and everything else related to J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World through an academic and decidedly feminist lens. Again, this is a great one for listening to people geek out about something I love. Although Hannah and Marcelle are quite critical of J.K. Rowling's work, it all comes from a place of genuine love and appreciation of the Harry Potter world and as an English Literature graduate and life-long Harry Potter obsessor, this podcast was kind of made for me.

My Dad Wrote a Porno

In My Dad Wrote a Porno, Jamie Morton reads aloud a chapter each week of his dad's self-published erotic novel series, Belinda Blinked, while his friends Alice Levine and James Cooper listen and react, generally with delight and dismay in equal measure. My Dad Wrote a Porno is, without doubt, the funniest podcast I have ever listened to and I think I've yet to make it through a single episode without laughing out loud. I mean, I really don't know what else to say about it. It is just belly-laughingly funny. Please, if you've heard of it and been on the fence, just listen to the first episode. You won't regret it.

S-Town

In S-Town, Brian Reed embarks on an investigation into a murder that is rumoured to have occurred and been covered up, at the behest of a man called John B who describes his home in Alabama as a corrupted 'Shit-Town'. I think this podcast is best listened to without really knowing any other information so I'm going to leave my description right there and just beg you to go and download every episode right now, then come back and talk to me about it when you've finished because I am desperate to talk about it! It's the first time I've experienced a podcast being used to tell a narrative in this way and to me it just felt so immersive and innovative. I haven't listened to Serial yet but after becoming so thoroughly hooked by S-Town, it is absolutely next on my list.

If you have any suggestions of other podcasts you think I might like based on this list then please let me know in the comments! I am well and truly on the podcast bandwagon now and always on the lookout for more.

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April Reading Wrap Up

I have kind of an odd mix of books to talk about this month. Sorry about that.

Being a Girl by Hayley Long

The first of two books that I read on the first day of this month, Being a Girl was a very quick read that I would highly recommend for any teenage girls. As I said on Instagram, it's 'a really kind and funny look at the ups and downs of puberty for the female sex that most importantly avoids being mega cringey. Like a cool big sister in book form.' Yes I did just quote myself.

★★★★☆

Happiness by Jack Underwood

I don't really read poetry. It's just not for me. But for some reason I woke up on the first of April with a desire to read some poetry, so I downloaded this from my local library and read the whole thing before I even had breakfast. If I knew anything about poetry at all I might have more to say about it but as it stands all I can really say is that I liked it and I think if I was a poetry person I would probably have loved it.

★★★☆☆

The Wandering by Saruuh Kelsey

This is the second book in The Lux Guardians series, which I re-read this year in preparation for the release of the third book. I re-read the first one last month and all I can really say about this one is that things get ramped up and I love it.

★★★★★

The Revelation by Saruuh Kelsey

And the third in The Lux Guardians series! Look at these new covers, aren't they beautiful? This one is out next week (!) and just like the second one things are escalating! I am so excited for more people to read this book.

★★★★★

The Mighty Book of Boosh by Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding

I was really into The Mighty Boosh in sixth form (with the exception of Old Gregg and the Crack Fox who are both unacceptably terrifying) and I've had this book since then but for some reason this is my first time reading it. I'm not sure if it's because it's been so long since I watched the show or if the humour just doesn't translate so well to the written form (I suspect a little of both) but I just didn't love this as much as I might have. There were a few jokes in there that I was uncomfortable with now that I'm a bit older and wiser and in general I just sort of wish this had been more of the behind the scenes photographs and illustrations, which I really did love, and less of the short stories/sketches, which, with a few exceptions, fell a little flat for me.

★★★☆☆

One Italian Summer by Keris Stainton

One Italian Summer is equal parts a cute, summer romance story and a devastating look at grief, and it made me both happy and sad in equal measure. I reviewed it in full for Blogger's Bookshelf, if you want to know more.

★★★☆☆

Dramarama by E. Lockhart

Dramarama is set at a summer theatre camp and although I never did anything like that it did make me so incredibly nostalgic for my teenage years doing school plays and for that reason alone I adored it. The only reason I didn't give it the full five stars is because I did not feel 100% satisfied by the ending, but if you were also a little bit of a theatre geek in school (or maybe still are!) then please do not let that put you off!

★★★★☆

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Lemon Drizzle Cake

I woke up on Wednesday to a sunny spring day, a house to myself, and absolutely no desire to sit in a dark bedroom and stare at a computer screen all day. So, since life is not prone to throwing lemons at me, I walked to the shop, bought some for myself, and made my first ever lemon drizzle cake!

I took this picture with my phone and I'm really annoyed about how good it is. It needed like no editing and it's so sharp. Why do I even bother with my D-SLR???

I used this recipe from the BBC GoodFood website. It makes a delicious, soft, and very lemony cake. Like, so lemony. Like, if you're using quite large lemons I might suggest only using one for the drizzle rather than the one and a half the recipe recommends, unless Sharp is your favourite flavour. It is truly delicious though and, as you can see, by the time I got around to taking some pictures with my proper camera on Thursday, half of the cake was already gone. Good cake just does not stick around in this house.

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March Reading Wrap Up

Why, yes, I did forget to take a picture of all the books together this month, but in my defence it's pretty obvious that one of those covers has been photoshopped on and I spent at least some time painting those backgrounds. So, you know, work has gone into this post... a little anyway...

First up in March I read Wing Jones, which was beautiful and wondrous and made me feel wholly inadequate as a writer. It was one of those books that I was always thinking about, even when I wasn't reading it. I loved it so much I even reviewed it properly on Blogger's Bookshelf and you can read that here if you want some more coherent thoughts on this amazing book.

★★★★★

The Forgotten was a re-read and I'm currently re-reading the next book in the series too, both in preparation for the release of the third book next month. Saruuh is a very good friend of mine so I won't pretend I'm not a little bit biased but these really are great YA dystopian science fiction with a twist and I'm currently very excited because the third book is sitting in my inbox waiting for me to read it! #friendperks

★★★★★

Okay so let's just ignore the shoddy photoshop work here. I borrowed City of Glass as an ebook from my local library so I didn't actually have a physical copy to photograph and I thought this was the next best thing? Anyway I have a very complicated relationship with these books but I actually enjoyed this one SO MUCH that I am dying to read the rest of the series and then all the spin-offs and prequels and probably just everything else Cassandra Clare ever writes even though I spend most of my time complaining about her books even as I'm reading them. C'est la vie.

★★★☆☆

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