2015 READING CHALLENGE: NOVEMBER ROUND-UP

I was so excited for all the books on my TBR in November, I had a brand new release to read (Carry On) that I ordered roughly a week after it came out, I had the final Harry Potter book and I had my favourite ever book to re-read (Anne of Green Gables). In November I read 6 books and I have read a grand total of 62 books so far in 2015; only one month left to go... I am also around 300 pages through 'Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods' by Rick Riordan, which I will finish either today or tomorrow.

I also read 'The Maze Runner' files by James Dashner, a sort of novella to the Maze Runner series, but it's so short I didn't count it towards my Goodreads total. I enjoyed this novella, if you can even call it that? It's about 50 pages long and I read it in about half hour, but I did enjoy that short amount of time. I liked getting an insight into the releasing of the Flare virus, it's not explained all that much in the books themselves and this made it much clearer; I also enjoyed reading from other points of view aside from Thomas's. I especially liked how the telepathy thing was actually explained and made sense, it was the one thing in the book that never seemed right until now. I'd recommend this for any fan of the Maze Runner series.

Books Read:

1. 'Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian'- Rick Riordan
This was such a good end to the series, I was so satisfied with the ending, I didn't feel like I needed anything else, it was just all-round fantastic. What I liked most about this book was that, in most books the big epic fight scene only lasts about two or three chapters, whereas here it was the entire book. I loved that. I also liked the twist on the 'last Olympian', I liked how it isn't what you think it's going to be and how ambiguous that was. I am so excited to read the spin-off series next.

2. 'Carry On'- Rainbow Rowell
'Carry On' is everywhere at the moment, and I was so desperate to read it that I bought it the week after it came out in hardback (I never do that). This book is related to 'Fangirl' by Rainbow Rowell, but you don't need to read 'Fangirl' first to read this. Rainbow Rowell stated that this is a kind of spoof (without being a stupid spoof) of Harry Potter, and you can definitely see the similarities. However, after Part 2 it started becoming more of it's own story and I got really invested in it. One thing I would say is that it's very confusing, their magic literally makes no sense to me and I don't think it ever will. As it's written like the 8th book in the series, the mentioning of past events is quite confusing and you really feel as if you've missed out on something by there not being the previous 7 books. Apart from this, I really, really enjoyed it. I ship Simon and Baz so much it hurts and the romance scenes were beyond perfect (I wouldn't consider that a spoiler, everyone knows what the romance is before even reading the book). It definitely picks up after Part 2 (or Part 3, I can't quite remember) when Baz arrives, Simon is rather annoying with his obsession with Baz before then. I'd recommend this, it was fab, fab, fab. Love it.

3. 'Anne of Green Gables'- L.M. Montgomery 
I won't say all that much about this one. It's no secret that 'Anne of Green Gables' is my absolute favourite book of all time and it was definitely due a re-read. I love this book so much, it's just a lovely, lovely, mostly happy story and it's just such a perfect read. I can't put my love for it into words.

4. 'Fangirl'- Rainbow Rowell
After reading 'Carry On', I became a bit obsessed with Rainbow Rowell's writing and I wanted to read everything she's written (I'd actually never had any interest in any of her books before). I thought 'Fangirl' was a really enjoyable read, I flew through it really quickly and I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I'd highly recommend and I'm excited to read more of Rainbow Rowell's books.

5. 'Henry V'- William Shakespeare
I watched the RSC's Henry V at the Barbican a couple of weeks ago and it was absolutely fantastic. After watching Shakespeare, I like to read the play afterwards; I find that watching it first helps me get a better understanding of what's going on. I love Shakespeare and his histories are by far my favourites of his works.

6. 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'- J.K. Rowling
And now I have finished re-reading the Harry Potter series. And now I am emotionally fraught.

18 LIFE LESSONS

Obviously, I'm not qualified to advise anyone on how to live their lives, but I thought I'd share 18 important things that I have learnt in 18 years of life.

1. Don't be afraid to cut people out of your life if you don't want them in it anymore, especially if you were previously good friends

2. Hiking boots are your friends

3. Re-read your favourite book often

4. Invest in a nice, wearable waterproof

5. Don't be afraid to leave school if it's not right for you

6. Be friends with your parents

7. Ugly laugh until you cry

8. Don't feel guilty about what you eat

9. You don't have to go out every time someone asks you

10. Publicly obsess about the things you truly love

11. Don't feel pressured to do what everyone else is doing

12. Stop comparing yourself to other people

13. It's okay to be scared of unscary things, a little fear is good for you, but not too much

14. Take chances

15. Make an effort with your grandparents

16. Have in-jokes with your siblings and use them in front of other people to confuse them, very fun

17. Quote movies and books in conversation, especially with your family, do it always. (See what I did there?)

Shall I end with something cheesy like 'be yourself' or 'live your own life' or 'you do you and I'll do me' or 'take pictures of the good moments'? NO I SHALL NOT.

18. Stroke your cat constantly

Rosie

A DELVE INTO FEMALE NON-FICTION

I struggled for so long over what to call this post, what it essentially is, is a list of my favourite non-fiction books by famous female journalists, comedians and others. But that was too long. We went through a whole list of names including 'Famous Women and Their Books', 'Rosie Discovers Non-Fiction', 'Not All Memoirs are Boring', 'Girl Power' and many more. So yes, here is my list, my favourite non-fiction books by famous females.

1. 'How to be a Woman'- Caitlin Moran
We'll start with my favourite. I love Caitlin Moran, I think she's hilarious and I think she's a genius; I love her column in the Times magazine, where I first discovered her. This book actually blew my mind. It was incredible, I don't even have the words to express how I felt after reading it. This book inspired me, it entertained me and it was the first time I ever considered myself a feminist. This is a book that everyone needs to read, men and women alike, I'm still awestruck by it. (Caitlin Moran has also written a fantastic fictional novel, 'How to Build a Girl'. which I absolutely loved).

2. 'Bedsit Disco Queen'- Tracey Thorn
I didn't know who Tracey Thorn was before I read this book, but that didn't matter. For some context, she's half of the 80's electronic duo, Everything But The Girl. My mum bought me this, and it was just so good. It's an autobiography of Thorn talking about her life and her music career, and I just loved it so, so much. Often music autobiographies can be quite boring and all very similar to each other, but this is one of the best I have read. Go read it. (I've also just discovered that Tracey Thorn has written another book, 'Naked at the Albert Hall', so I'm definitely going to be reading that).

3. 'Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?'- Mindy Kaling
I love Mindy Kaling, I think she's hilarious and she's a great script writer. This is her first book, which I've read twice now, and it gets better each time I read it. I just loved this book, I find Mindy really relatable and I flew through in a couple of days, highly recommend.

4. 'Yes Please'- Amy Poehler
First up, how great is this title? Everyone knows Amy Poehler is fab. She's so funny, her films and shows are all genius, her friendship with Tina Fey is ultimate goals; in short, Amy is the queen. One of the things I loved most about Amy's book was how real it was, she didn't shy away from or gloss over the bad moments in her life, she admits her mistakes and takes full responsibility for them and she's just very down to earth. I though this book was so, so, so good. I loved Amy's writing style, I loved everything about this book and I think it's one of the best autobiographies out there. I can fully see why it got so much press when it first came out.

5. 'Is it Just Me?'- Miranda Hart
I love Miranda Hart, I think she's hilarious, I love her show and I saw her live and she was just great. Her book almost didn't make the list, purely because it's not as profound as things like Caitlin Moran or Amy Poehler, but saying that, Mindy Kaling is not all that profound either, so Miranda stayed on the list. I love this book, purely because it makes me laugh. I'm not sure how much is real and how much is fiction or enhanced for comedic effect, but we're celebrating famous females and their books, and I love this.

6. 'Moranthology'- Caitlin Moran
This is basically just a collection of some of Caitlin Moran's columns over the years, but it's also great and it's the genius that is Caitlin Moran.

7. 'Why Not Me?'- Mindy Kaling
What I like about Mindy's second book is that you can see how much she's changed and grown up since her previous book, but without losing what makes her, her. This book is fab, I love Mindy and I will read anything she writes.

I wanted to do a quick 'honourable mentions' paragraph here at the end for books that didn't quite make it to the final cut. Firstly, 'Bossy Pants' by Tina Fey, I've heard nothing but good things about this but I am yet to read it, though I am planning on it soon. Next, 'A Tiny Bit Marvelous' by Dawn French, this was a great book, I'm absolutely in love with the title, but it's fiction, and so was not allowed on my non-fiction list. Back to the non-fiction, we have 'Neon Angel' by Cherie Currie, this is a fascinating insight into the band The Runaways and the music industry as a young girl in the 70s/80s, but my god it is harrowing, this is not a light-hearted read, I was definitely too young when I read this. And finally, to end on a nice note, 'It' by Alexa Chung'. This is more like looking at a Tumblr dashboard of Alexa Chung's brain in book-form, but it's just a really lovely book, beautiful pictures, beautiful artwork, I really love Alexa Chung.