End of Year Book Tag 2018

This is something that I probably should have done a month or two ago, not four days before the end of 2018 but oh well. I guess one of my characteristics is never being on time! Books are a huge part of my life so I thought I would do the end of year book tag! Hope you enjoy!

1. Are there any books you started this year you need to finish?

Yes! I started reading The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw since I got it for Christmas and I am almost done! My reading target was 25 and I'm on 23 at the moment, so I may try to squeeze in one more book to ensure I successfully reach my goal.

2. Do you have an autumn book to transition to the end of the year?

That awkward moment when it's already winter.....but I did read A Twisted Tale: Once Upon a Dream in October so I guess that kind of transitioned into the spooky season.

3. Is there a new release you’re still waiting for?

There's nothing at the moment that I have a burning desire to read, but I am interested in what the next ACOTAR (A Court of Thorns and Roses) book will bring, especially after a certain cameo in another book....

4. What are the three books you want to read before the end of the year?

This is another awkward one to answer right now...I don't think I'll be able to fit in three more books this year, but I am currently reading The Wicked Deep as previously mentioned, and I'm thinking of ending the year with Animal Farm or Playing a Part. I haven't decided yet though

5. Is there a book that you think could still shock you and become your FAVORITE???

I'm not 100% sure of that to be quite honest, I feel like this is a difficult question to answer at this time.

6. Have you already made reading plans for 2019?

I would like to up my reading goals to 30 books next year. Another thing, I would like to read more graphic novels and more books about lgtb characters because there are not enough! I could count the knee of lgtb books I have read on one had which means that there is not enough and I need to find more!

I guess the moral of this blog post is to do this tag a month or so before the end of the year! I hope you have enjoyed reading this post and do let me know your thoughts and opinions on tour reading habits of 2018!

Mid-year Book Freak Out Tag

Well it's June, so I guess it is time for this infamous tag! I've read ten books so far so I don't really have much to go on, but we'll see how this goes!

1. Best Book You've Read So Far in 2018?

They both die at the end by Adam Silvera. I was so emotionally invested in this story which literally took place over 24hours, it was beautifully tragic.

2. Best Sequel You've Read So Far in 2018?

I've only read one sequel this year so far, so it's gonna have to be A Gathering of Shadows by V E Schwab.

3. New Release You Haven't Read Yet, But Want To?

A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J Maas. I bought this and really wanted to read it but it's been so long since I have read the rest of this series that I may have to go back to reading it before I read this book.

4. Most Anticipated Release For Second Half of 2018?

Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J Maas. This is the last installment (as far as we know) in the Throne of Glass series and oh my god I am so ready to find out what's gonna happen to these characters!

5. Biggest Disappointment?

All about Mia by Lisa Williamson. Not that this was a bad book, just her last book The art of being normal was so amazing and eye opening. I expected a similar experience with this one but it didn't really love up to expectations.

6. Biggest Surprise?

Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst.  Finally an LGBT romance in a fantasy book! It was so refreshing and I am highly anticipating the sequel.

7. Favourite New Author?

I really loved Laura Steven's writing style, and I would love to read anything else she has written!

8. Newest Fictional Crush?

Lila from the Shades of Magic series.

9. Newest Favourite Character?

Izzy O'Neill from The Exact Opposite of Okay.

10. Book That Made You Cry?

I don't really cry at books, but They Both Die at the End was quite close.

11. Book That Made You Happy?

Simon versus the homosapiens agenda by Becky Albertalli.

12. Favourite Book To Movie Adaptation You Saw This Year?

I haven't seen a book to movie adaptation yet this year.

13. Favourite Review You've Written This Year?

I don't really wrote book reviews

14. Most Beautiful Book You Bought So Far This Year?

The Usborne Complete Shakespeare by Anna Milbourne

15. What Books Do You Need To Read By The End of The Year?

I have a lot of things to read in the rest of this year, so I'm just going to put my top five books on my to read list. These are in no particular order.
- A Conjuring of light by V E Schwab
- Leah of Beat by Becky Albertalli
- Scarlet by Marrissa Myers
- The House at Baker Street by Michelle Burkby

- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Books I read in 2017

So I set myself a challenge to read 25 books last year, I actually only read 20 books but hey, I can try again this year! I thought I would just list the books I read and put a few of my thoughts about each book. Here we go! Please bear in mind that everything I've written is my personal opinion and if I didn't like a book, it doesn't mean that you won't like it!

Light by Michael Grant

Light is the sixth and last book in the Gone series - which is what I was reading towards the end of 2016. It was a truly amazing book and a great end to the series. I can't really say much without spoiling everything, but it has a diverse cast of characters (white people, black people, Asian people, gays, lesbians, you name it! We're all there) and there is so much character development throughout the six books. They are full of violence though, so they are not for the faint of hearted.

The Art of being Normal by Lisa Williamson 

Wow, this book was  amazing. The message it gives is so important and it is not one to be missed off your too read list!

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

This was such an interesting read. It it a retelling of Cinderella, but she is part cyborg and lives in this corrupt town. I thoroughly enjoyed it and cannot wait to read the rest of this series, I haven't managed to get round to it yet though.

The Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas

(Including books:- The Assassins Blade, Throne of Glass, Crown of Midnight, Heir of Fire, Queen of Shadows, Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn)
My new favourite book series, I'm shocked that I only picked it up last February. Celena Sardothien (I've totally mis-spelt that I'm sorry!) what a brutal character! I really enjoyed this series, it has so many badass female characters in it I don't even know who to pick as my favourite. Although what does slightly annoy me is that there is the typical "which boy do I pick" plot point which is a trope in YA which I find super annoying, but overall that didn't ruin the story too much for me. It is an excellent series that I do not want to end in October!

Vivian versus the Apocalypse by Katie Coyle

This is another book that has a really interesting concept. Vivian suddenly wakes up to find that her parents have gone in the prophesied rapture and now the people who are left run riots. It's full of twists and turns and things are not what they seem.

Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard

(Including books:- Red Queen and Glass Sword)
These two books disappointed me. They were very generic and you could tell where the story was going. It's not that they were terrible books, they just followed plot points that have all been done before and there wasn't really anything original that it brought  to the genre.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

I really don't remember much of this book other than it was split between a lot of characters POV and that the ending was really badass. It was exam season when I last read it so I will probably have to go back and re-read it at some point to fully enjoy it.

A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J Maas

(Including books:- A Court of Thorns and Roses, A Court of Mist and Fury and A Court of Wings and Ruin)
I feel so conflicted with this series because I absolutely love the world and most of the characters,  but the main character is such a wimp. There is so much world building and imagination and thought put into them and the story really goes in a different direction than you think it does. It is a beauty and the beast retelling but in a way that hasn't really been done before. Despite my hatred of Feyre, it is still a better Beauty and the Beast story than the 2017 live action remake.

Lies we tell Ourselves by Robin Talley

This was a really interesting read because it focuses on a girl struggling with racism and being one of a few black students to bravely attend a white school in the name of civil rights. However it also focuses on two girls falling in love. Something I do not really like though is that the book sort of follows the "I don't like that I'm gay so I'm going to be really mean to my love interest" trope which I find doesn't make a stable relationship in books, but I guess a black white relationship at that time was bad enough, never mind two women in a relationship.

One of us is Lying by Karen M McManus

The Breakfast club meets Cluedo, that is the way that I would describe this book. Five students go to detention but only four come out alive. They were the only people in the room so one of them must have committed the murder. The story of this book was very cliche, however I loved the characters in this book, and although they are going through the extreme, they go through a lot of troubles that a lot of young people go through, which was nice to read through.

I, Eliza Hamilton by Susan Holloway Scott

I really enjoyed this book. A lot of people know Alexander Hamilton's story from his point of view due to the musical, however it was very interesting looking at what Elizabeth Schuyler had to go through at the time too. It was such an enjoyable read, whether you are a fan of Hamilton or not, and I think the cover of this book is stunning!

The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken

This was a refreshing read from the typical dystopia book that we all read. It's one that doesn't really follow the hunger games formula and was a truly enjoyable book. I am looking forward to potentially completing the series this year.

The New Years Resolution Book Tag - 2018

A new years resolution of mine is to post on here  more often, which I think I have said in almost  every post but hey,  it's 2018! Anything can happen. Anyway I hope you find this post interesting and if not, oh well, no harm done!

1) An author you’d like to read (that you’ve never read before)

Christina Henry. I have her book Alice, which has been casually collecting dust on my bookshelf for a year now, and I always see the sequels to that series in my local bookshop. Its a concept that intrigues me, so I'm hoping to start reading some of her books this year.

2) A book you’d like to read

Fun home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel. I adore the 2014 musical soundtrack, and as soon as I found out it was a book I put it on my Amazon wishlist.

3) A classic you’d like to read

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. I'm thinking I'll save it for the autumn season when things start getting a little spooky!

4) A book you’d like to re-read

The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson. I can't even begin to describe how important this book is.

5) A book you’ve had for ages and want to read

The Women of Baker Street by Michelle Birkby. The only reason I haven't read it yet is because I didn't realise it was a sequel and I do not have the first book in the series.

6) A big book you’d like to read

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. I mean, this book is literally a brick and I will probably never read through all of it, but I can dream.

7) An author you’ve previously read and want to read more of

Sarah J Maas. I really enjoyed reading the Throne of Glass series and the A Court of Thorns and Roses series last year, I'm eagerly awaiting the final installment in Throne of Glass and am looking forward to her new future projects, like her Catwoman book.

8) A book you got for Christmas and would like to read

They both die in the end by Adam Silvera.

9) A series you want to read (start and finish)

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E Schab. This one has been on my to read list for so long and this may be the year that I finally get round to reading it. I've put it in a blog post now so that means I'll have to put in some effort into reading it.

10) A series you want to finish (that you’ve already started)

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. I read the first book in the series last year, but was never able to find the sequel in my local bookshop, and I felt too lazy to order it online. I really want to finish reading this series by next year!

11) Do you set reading goals? If so, how many books do you want to read in 2018?

I set my target to be 25 books on Good reads - the same as last year, where I only managed to make 20...My optimistic goal is 30 books by December, but time will tell.

12) Any other reading goals?

I want to spend more time reading in coffee shops and before bed like I used too.

25 Book Challenge

So over the past few years I have neglected my reading habits since the past four years have been the most important years for my education. I have been focused on revising for exams and completing coursework and just didn't have much time to pick up books. When I did read something, I usually picked up something I had already read before due to it being quicker to read since I pretty much already understood the world. This was usually the Harry Potter series or the Hunger Games trilogy. When I did pick up something new, it would take me months at a time to read since I couldn't find the time to dedicate to reading.

However, during December of 2016, I realised that I had been focused so much on studying that I hadn't really been living my life. I was constantly trying to remember all this information, making notes, locking myself up in my room, not talking to anyone for days on end because I was so focused on passing my exams. There was a moment when I just stopped and though, "What am I doing?". Yes, exams are important, and I am not trying to say that you shouldn't revise on them because grades do matter. I just don't think the extent I was going to to revise was healthy, and I was actually doing more damage to myself than good. I had stopped myself from doing something I enjoyed so much in my younger years, and a lot of things suffered for that. I noticed my writing style had decreased in quality and I had no original ideas anymore, which worried me a lot since I would love to write my own books someday in the future. I also realised I had just stopped talking to people because I had nothing interesting to talk to them about. Whenever they asked me how my weekend was or what I would be up to in the evening, I would always say, "Revising" and I decided that that just wasn't good enough for me. I wanted to be able to discuss stories again, to read new books and force them upon my friends because I loved them so much. So that is what I intend to do this year.

I know normally the challenge is to read 50 books in a year, but since I haven't read books in such a long time, and that I am a much slower reader than I used to be, I would just set myself a bit of a smaller target. 2 books a month would make 24 books a year and I though to myself that I might as well make it 25 since its already half of the 50 book target. I started this challenge in January 2017, and as I am currently writing this, I have already read six books (so I guess you could say I'm pretty on track with my 2 books a month target). I would love to review these books at some point, but my revision schedule - although less intense than before - won't allow me to do that. I may do a 6 month checkpoint review type thing when I've finished my exams and will begin my gap year plans, but we'll see. Here are the books that I have read in 2017:

January

1) Light by Michael Grant (Gone Book 6)

2) The Art of being Normal by Lisa Williamson

3) Cinder by Marissa Meyer ( The Lunar Chronicles Book 1)

February

4) Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Mass (Throne of Glass Book 1)

5) Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Mass (Throne of Glass Book 2)

6) Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Mass (Throne of Glass Book 3)

Currently Reading - Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Mass (Throne of Glass Book 4)

Here are the books I plan to read in the rest of the year. I may or may not stick to this too read list, but we shall see. 

8) Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Mass (Throne of Glass Book 5)

9) The Assassins Blade by Sarah J. Mass (Throne of Glass Prequel)

10) Scarlet by Marissa Meyer ( The Lunar Chronicles Book 2)

11) Cress by Marissa Meyer ( The Lunar Chronicles Book 3)

12) Fairest by Marissa Meyer ( The Lunar Chronicles Book 3.5)

13) Winter by Marissa Meyer ( The Lunar Chronicles Book 4)

14) Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard (Red Queen Book 1)

15) Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard (Red Queen Book 2)

16) Vivian versus the Apocalypse by Katie Coyle

17) Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

18) Margot and Me by Juno Dawson

19) The Women of Baker Street by Michelle Birkby

20) Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

21)The Darkest Minds by Alexander Bracken

22) Pretties by Scott Westerfeld (Uglies Book 2)

23) Specials by Scott Westerfeld (Uglies Book 3)

24) Extras by Scott Westerfeld (Uglies Book 4)

25)Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

It's unlikely that I will stick to that order and I may not stick to that set list, but these are the books I'm hoping to have read by 31st December 2017.

10 roles I'd like to play

So I'm procrastinating from doing my college work again by thinking back to the production of Les Mis we did back in December 2015. Les Mis is a musical that I always wanted to do, and I am willing to take part in again. This made me think about my role in Les Mis - would I audition for the same characters? Would I audition for different characters? (I could probably only audition for different characters if the company I was auditioning for was willing to gender-bend some of the roles, but still). This made me think of roles in general, and characters that I'd like to play. So, in no particular order, here are 10 characters that I would like to play at some point in my life time.

10 - Christine Daee in "The Phantom of the Opera"

The first musical I remember watching was The Phantom of the Opera when I was 8 years old. I know that I had seen musicals before that (Oliver, West Side Story, The Wizard of Oz) but I didn't watch them very often and I couldn't really remember what they were about. I only saw the stage version of this show in 2015 at the West End (Harriet Jones played Christine), but I had watched the 25th Anniversary when it streamed in cinemas (with Sierra Boggess as Christine) across the world and fell in love with the movie as a kid. 

So, if I could have picked a character to play when I was 8, it would have been Christine and to this day I would love to play her (my vocal range may disagree, but you never know). Plus, HAVE YOU SEEN THE COSTUMES THAT SHE WEARS THROUGHOUT THE SHOW? THEY ARE SO BEAUTIFUL! Maybe I could join the cast and when no one was looking I could run around in the Christine costumes? 

 9 - Nancy in "Oliver"

I remember watching Oliver as a kid and thinking that it was the most boring musical ever. However, I fully appreciated it when I was involved in a school production of it in 2012 - when I was 13. Before auditioning I looked up the female leads in this show and read up on Nancy ad immediatly fell in love with her as a character. Unfortunately I messed up my audition and didn't get cast, but I don't think that that was my time to be Nancy anyway - I had braces, really bad acne and I just couldn't sing very well at that age. Not to mention that my cockney accent was terrible. I wasn't really Nancy material at that age. Now however, I feel like I could be better at playing this role - especially since I've had accent classes and can do a slightly better cockney accent.

8 - Wendla in "Spring Awakening"

I only discovered Spring Awakening in 2014 because it was the musical that my College were doing before I attended and they invited me to go and watch the performance. I did not go to see it - which I really do regret - but I have listened to the sound track and watched a recording of it online and I fell in love with it. 

I would love to play Wendla one day - from watching the musical and reading more into the character we are both quite similar (whether that would be good for me playing her or not idk) and I love the songs that she gets to sing (which are in my vocal range).

7 - Heather Chandler in "Heathers: The Musical"

To be perfectly honest, I would be quite happy playing anyone in Heathers, but there's something about Heather Chandler that intrigues me. I think I would just like to play a bitchy character at some point in my life and she is that character, and besides, who wouldn't want to say my personal favourite line in the musical - "Well fuck me gently with a chainsaw". I also love how much power she has in the High School. Sure, she isn't the nicest person in the world, but what leader is actually nice? I love how she can basically get anyone in the school to do what she wants, and I would like to play a character with that sort of power.

6 - Enjolras in "Les Miserables"

This one is probably more of a fantasy than something that will actually happen (unless gender blind casting is a thing that becomes more mainstream in the next few years) even though it almost did.

One thing that I really loved about our production of Les Miserables was being a barricade boy and doing the barricade sequence - even though it was an extremely intense scene to do (being on stage for 30 minuets was challenging, and I though that the emotions felt during this sequence was so powerful and could be overwhelming for some people). I found it extremely fun and loved every minuet of it, but I still wish I had a bigger part. So, what part could  be believably played by a female, who has a vocal range that could be sung by a female and who is involved in the barricade sequence - Enjolras of course. And he is such an amazing character any way - I'd like to play a strong leader at some point, okay? And a female Enjolras would be so bad-ass (I've seen it happen, believe me, it was so good). Like, it would be a female character who for once isn't there just to be a love interest (unless you are a Enjolras/Grantaire shipper) and who isn't a villain or a soprano (I've noticed a pattern that if a female character isn't a soprano they tend to be a villain - not in all cases, but I have noted it to be quite common).

5 - The Wicked Witch of the West in "The Wizard of Oz"

Although I've kind of done this role before (I've stepped in when I needed to), I would love to be officially cast as the wicked witch. I don't really know why, I just think that she is such an amazing character to play and it would be fun to be the evil person for once. I'd also love to play Elphaba once in my life time in "Wicked", but I prefer this side to the character more than her character in Wicked (even though Wicked is a great musical and I love it, I just couldn't imagine myself as that role right now). And since they are both technically the same character, I decided to put this version of the character on the list rather than her Wicked counter part.

4 - Lucy Harris in "Jekyll and Hyde"

Lucy isn't a very glamorous role in my opinion, which is what made me quite interested in playing her. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with this musical, Lucy Harris is the main attraction as a rather "seedy" drinking establishment in Camden called "The Red Rat". She sees her self as an actress who men come to watch as part of the floor show, but she works as a prostitute to gain money for her room and rent. Knowing that there is little better life for her, she takes things as the come - although she does dream of a better life. 

I really really love the song "Bring on the Men", which has been replaced with "Good vs Evil" in some adaptions of the show, but I would hope that if I was ever given the opportunity to play Lucy that our version of the show would include this song.

3 - The Witch in "Into the Woods"

Into the Woods is just a fantastic show and I would love to be involved in a production of this in anyway possible (hell, I would be happy even if I was paid to make the cast a coffee!) I feel like this character is what a traditional witch would be like, but as the same time she isn't. She starts of the musical as old and ugly - which is what people would expect of a witch - but she gives the Baker and his wife an opportunity to get a child (even though she was only doing it to reverse the curse on her, but still, that's a nice thing to do!) and is actually beautiful in act 2 (which isn't what everyone would expect a witch to look like). But yea, I really love her and it would be fun to play her at some point. She also seems to be the type of character that an older person could play, so I don't even have to rush to play this role, I have plenty of time.

2 - Lola in "Kinky Boots"

I think that this definitely wouldn't happen - due to the whole point of Lola's characterization is that he is a Drag Queen - but I just love how flamboyant he is as a character. If I was a man, this would definitely be on my top ten dream roles list. He is such an interesting character - not to mention the COSTUMES ARE BEAUTIFUL! (I'm sorry, I love costumes). I feel like gender bending this character wouldn't really work the same way as gender bending Enjolras though; I think people could be offended by a girl portraying a Drag Queen, but people are offended by everything these days.

1 - Carrie White in "Carrie"

I feel like this role is something that I would probably only be able to play if we ever did a production of it in college - since it wasn't extremely successful on broadway - but I love the music and the characters in this musical. I also fit some characteristics of Carrie - I was a bit of an outsider in school and didn't have an awful lot of friends and had religion forced upon me - and I feel like I can connect with her as a character. I think it would be a fun role to play - it certainly isn't a glamorous role to play, but acting isn't a glamorous career really.

So, that's ten roles that I would like to play. There are tons of other roles that I'd like to play, so I may make another post like this in the future, but here are the roles for now.

Allow me to introduce myself...

Hey Guys,

My name is Natalie, I am 18 years old and I am a second year student at college. I am currently studying Performing Arts, History and Textiles. But enough of the boring stuff, you probably all cam here to see why I am failing at life, right?

Well, its not that I'm failing at life, its more that I can't keep up with life and as a newly turned adult I am struggling with all the responsibilities that life is throwing at me. Like... damn I can actually buy alcohol legally now! Wow!

But yea, I have no idea what the hell is going on with my life, so I thought I'd just make a blog and post what ever I feel like posting on it! I hope you enjoy joining me on this crisis and seeing if I end up with a happy end!