2015 READING CHALLENGE: JUNE ROUND-UP

In June I completed my reading challenge of 30 books in 2015, so I have upped my goal and I am now aiming to read 50 books in 2015. I read 5 books in June, meaning that I have read 31 books so far in 2015, and am 62% of the way through my (new) reading challenge.

I got into a bit of a reading slump in April and May, though I do believe that I am now over this slump and I'm excited about what is to come. I'm also 206 pages out of 309 through 'Magonia', which I'm very excited about.

Books Read:

1. 'The Raven Boys' - Maggie Stiefvater
Holy hell did I love this book. This book is a few years old, but its suddenly had loads of hype, everyone is reading it, and everyone is loving it, and I really wanted to love this book. I most definitely did. Just an added note here, I mentioned in my May Round-Up that I'd started this book but hadn't finished it, I actually finished it late at night on May 31st, but the Round-Up had already been uploaded, so I'm talking about it here. To my memory, I can't think that I've ever actually read a supernatural book. This book is definitely supernatural, and I never though I'd like it as much as I did. It's going to be a four book series, the fourth and final book is coming out in 2016, and I'm desperate to read the second and third books now, but I'm trying so hard to save them for my summer holiday. I absolutely loved this book and I'm beyond excited to see what happens in the rest of the series.

2. 'Crown of Midnight'- Sarah J. Maas
This is the second book in the immensely popular 'Throne of Glass' series, which I am trying to complete before the fourth book comes out in September/October (I think). I always start Sarah J. Maas's books thinking that I'm not in the mood for them, but I always really am and I always really enjoy them. This book was no exception, I thought it was a really good continuation of the story and some parts were so tense I couldn't put it down. I'm looking forward to reading book three to see where the story goes as it ended on such a cliff-hanger (that I am super proud of myself for guessing correctly in advance).

3. 'The Assassin's Blade'- Sarah J. Maas
This is a collection of five novellas, so I'll give a quick overview of the whole thing, and then talk about each story individually. I'd never read a novella before this, and I really liked the way that each story in the book followed on from each other, so that it was like a book but in the form of different stories.
'The Assassin and the Pirate Lord'- I really enjoyed this story, it's put me right in the mood for a pirate book. I like that we got to see Sam in this book in general and find out more about him, as he's mentioned quite a lot in the main books.
'The Assassin and the Healer'- This is the shortest of all the stories, and while I enjoyed it, I don't know that it's entirely necessary to the rest of the story.
'The Assassin and the Desert'- Basically I'm going to say that I enjoyed all these stories, because I did. I liked this one, it wasn't my favourite (I think the pirate one was my favourite), but I liked seeing a different part of their world, as so far all the books I have read of this series have been set in the capital.
'The Assassin and the Underworld'- What I liked most about this one is seeing Celeana's life in Rifthold and in the Assassin's Keep for the first time and seeing her lifestyle. I liked seeing the development of Celeana and Sam's relationship in this story and seeing why it has such a big impact on her in the other books.
'The Assassin and the Empire'- Good Lord this story was sad. It explains so much of what Celeana thinks and feels in the main story, I think it's important to read this book early on in the series, as I feel that it helps the rest of the books to make clearer sense, especially in regard to Sam and Celeana.

4. 'Me and Earl and the Dying Girl'- Jesse Andrews
I saw the trailer for the film of this book, and I was immediately desperate to read it. So desperate, in fact, that I bumped it right up to the top of my TBR pile. I read this book in one day in the space of about five hours, partially because it's a super quick and easy read, and partially because I fell absolutely in love with it. I fully understand and support the hype. Unpopular opinion here, but this is the cancer book that 'The Fault in Our Stars' never was, and TFIOS is no where near as good. I liked the casual and chatty manner of the book, and I liked how it was open about the fact that it's not deep and romancy and everyone just needs to read it right now.

5. 'A Feast for Crows'- George R.R. Martin
This is the fifth physical book and fourth volume (volume three is split into two separate books) of the Game of Thrones series. I started this last month (or the month before- I can't remember), but being 800 pages long it's taken me a while to read. I enjoyed this book, not as much as the others, but mostly because the majority of my favourite characters weren't in this one. I'm excited to see where the series is going.

SUPPOSEDLY RED VELVET CUPCAKES

Disclaimer: this is not my own personal recipe, this is an adaption of a couple of different recipes from cook books and the internet. I have predominantly used Nigella Lawson's 'Kitchen' book, though I have made some moderation's to the quantity of some ingredients, chiefly I have used less food colouring and less vanilla extract. 

These were supposed to be red velvet cakes, but they've turned out orange for reasons that cannot be explained. They still taste great though. The recipe states that it makes 24 cupcakes, though I have managed to make 12 massive (overfilled) muffins and 15 cupcakes. 

Red velvet is one of my all-time favourite cakes, so I decided to make some. Simple as. I am not going to decorate them this time, though if I was I would use either cream cheese, sour cream or buttercream icing, and I would decorate them with those little silver balls.

You Will Need:
(-Cupcake cases (I'm using muffin cases and cupcake cases))
(-2 mixing bowls)
-250g plain flour
-2 tablespoons cocoa powder
-2 teaspoons baking powder
-Half teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
-100g unsalted butter
-200g caster sugar
-1.5 teaspoon red food colouring (add more for a more intense colour)
-1.5 teaspoon vanilla extract
-2 eggs
-175ml buttermilk (see below)
-1 teaspoon cider vinegar (or another type of vinegar- I used white wine vinegar)

Buttermilk
All recipes for red velvet call for buttermilk, which is not something that normal people tend to have in their houses. Buttermilk can be made by mixing a tablespoon of white wine vinegar or a tablespoon of lemon juice with milk and leaving for a few minutes. I have done this here, using a glass of semi-skimmed milk mixed with a tablespoon of white wine vinegar.

To Make:
-Preheat the over to 170 degrees Celsius.
-Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into the first bowl and mix together.
-In the second bowl, add the butter and sugar, cream and beat well.
-Beat the food colouring and vanilla extract into the butter and sugar mixture.
-Add some of the mixture from the first bowl into the second bowl, and beat.
-Add the first egg to the second bowl and beat.
-Add some more of the mixture from the first bowl into the second bowl and beat.
-Add the second egg to the second bowl and beat.
-Add the remaining mixture from the first bowl into the second bowl and beat.
-Add the buttermilk and vinegar and beat, don't be alarmed at how liquidy it is, it thickens up with stirring.
-Add the mixture to the cupcake cases, don't fill all the way to the top as they will rise.
-Cook for 20 minutes, or until done. To check that the cakes are done, stick a knife through one. If the knife comes out clean with no mixture on it, the cakes are cooked through.
-Leave to cool.

OUTFIT OF THE DAY - 20/06/15

First things first I have a couple of guilt points to mention. Firstly, I meant to photograph and upload this way back in May/early June and I'm majorly annoyed with myself that it's only getting uploaded now. Secondly, I've been neglecting my blog for so long, it's not a good feeling, but I've had loads of deadlines and I don't know where the time has got to. As of next week I'm officially on my summer holidays, and that is all.

This is basically to show off my new favourite trousers, the most beautiful pair I have ever owned.

Trousers- Topshop (£40)
Necklace- Accessorize (price unknown)

2015 READING CHALLENGE: MAY ROUND-UP

In May, I read 3 in total, meaning that I have read 26 books so far in 2015, and am 87% of the way through my reading challenge.

In May, I started reading the fourth volume of Game of Thrones, 'A Feast for Crows' (by George R.R. Martin), and I am currently 254 pages out of 852 pages through it. I've been very busy this month with five upcoming deadlines, so I haven't had much time to read. In May, I also started 'The Raven Boys' by Maggie Stiefvater (which I am really loving), and I am currently 394 pages through it, out of 454.

In my April Round-Up, I mentioned that I had started and not yet finished 'A Darker Shade of Magic' by V.E.Schwab. In the end I decided that it just isn't the book for me, it's far to slow-paced and I wasn't engaged with the story that much, so I decided not to carry on reading it.

Books Read

1. 'The Elite'- Kiera Cass
I read the first book in this series, 'The Selection', in April and I fell in love. It was basically 'Miss Congeniality' in a book, with princesses and slushy romance and ahhhh. I enjoyed the 'The Elite', though no where near as much as 'The Selection'. America annoyed me far too much with her indecisiveness in this book, but apart from that I enjoyed this book a lot. I am so glad that I didn't discover this series until all three of the original books were out (more on that later), as there's no way I would've been able to wait for the third...

2. 'The One'- Kiera Cass
I won't say much about this as it's the final book in the original 'Selection' series (don't worry, I'm getting to the explanation, see below). I really enjoyed this book, I think the first will remain my favourite of the series, but this was a really great ending and I would highly recommend this series, I absolutely loved it.

3. 'The Hier'- Kiera Cass
In my defence here, I did not intend to read 'The Hier' quite so soon. It just so happened that the library decided to stock it as soon as it came out (which I didn't think would happen), but I couldn't not pause reading Game of Thrones to read this instead. I enjoyed this book, I flew through it in about four days, but another 'Selection' series really was not needed. The book is good, and I would recommend it to fans of the original series, but it just does not live up to the previous three books. I really enjoyed the scenes though where you got to see the four siblings just being siblings together and not royalty, those were really lovely and heartwarming.

FUJI GREEN TEA (DO NOT DRINK)

It's been far too long since I shopped in The Body Shop, it's a well-known fact that it is one of my all-time favourite brands, but it's been a while since I heard the calling to browse their lip balm selection (I would recommend Body Shop lip balms over nearly all others). Today, however, we can all rejoice over the return of the first Body Shop post since December.

The Body Shop appear to have a Japanese theme going on at the moment, including a new, limited edition range of products (that are still available, I have checked), in the new 'Fuji Green Tea' scent. (My friend got me this box set of a few for my birthday, and can we just take a moment to appreciate how beautiful the box itself is, I'm excited to use the products purely to use the box for things). This set contains a full-sized shower gel, full-sized body butter, and mini body scrub, other (super cool) products in the range include bath tea (and a bath tea diffuser), soap, Eau de Cologne and a couple of other body products.

I am so awful at describing smells, and this particular one is so difficult to place. Right now I'm sitting here with the mini body scrub, and I can't get over how good it smells. The only way I could describe this is that it smells like summer in a tub. The website describes it pretty accurately, it has the most clean and refreshing scent ever, it's one of those scents where you feel so good after using it, just because of how good it smells. As many of you know, I'm not a fan of overly strong and powerful scents, and I'm big on my cleaner, lighter and more fresh scents (see my candles blog post for more!), and this range ticks all the boxes for me. There's no accurate way for me to describe this scent, it's unlike anything I've smelled before, while at the same time smelling really familiar and comforting, and I'd recommend going down to the Body Shop purely to check it out.

One of the things I secretly love most about this range, is the absolutely beautiful mint green packaging, which I can't deny looks great in my bathroom. As with all Body Shop products, the products themselves are amazing, and I can never fault the high quality the Body Shop delivers.

Rosie

IN THE MOOD FOR A CHAT

This is a post that I'd never considered doing before, but I love watching chatty Youtube videos and I was wondering if it would work in the form of a blog post. (It probably won't). Basically I'm in the mood for a chat and the radio silence on my blog for the past (over) two weeks needs to be addressed.

So yes, I've been neglecting my blog awfully at the moment, but it's that time of the year where any blogger in full-time education becomes non-existent in the bloggersphere. As we speak, I currently have one college deadline due in today (which I have done all the work for, don't worry), four more college deadlines looming in the first week of June, and then my English Lit. A2 exam coming up on June 11th. It's safe to say I'm busy. And stressed.

It's taken me a while to get back into my blogging groove after Christmas, I found that this happened last year, and it's not being helped by the lack of time and (secretly) forgetting to blog in the first couple of weeks of every month. I am also failing at posting a monthly favourites post, if we go way back to January, I had such ideas for this, but I have literally no favourites, I'm not changing up any of the things I'm using, I'm not using anything new, it's boring. So we will most likely hold on that until the summer (I always find I use new things in the summer). I do have a few ideas for posts for the rest of May, but it's getting late in the month and all these things involve effort and energy that I do not have. I'm planning an outfit of the day post to showcase my most favourite new item of clothing, but I always find myself comparing my ootd posts to other people's, and mine just never look as good. I'm also planning a post about concealers, but that means researching good high street concealers, and then actually having to leave my house to go and buy one. Sigh. The laziness is real. (I've also been wanting to redesign my blog for ages, but I am not at all good with technology and so that is a time consuming activity, and it will still never look as good as any other blog).

In other, immensely exciting news, my great aunt and uncle were on TV last Wednesday. BBC2 did a programme called the 'Great British Garden Watch', and they were picked to be on it, which is so unbelievably cool and exciting and I did go overboard with the tweeting. On the topic of tweeting, I can't remember if I mentioned the fact that I've set up a blog twitter @rozoid97 which you should check out. In other TV watching, I've been really enjoying Peter Kay's 'Car Share', which is hilarious, and I love Peter Kay a lot.

I'm currently waiting for my library books to arrive, I've got 'The Heir' by Kiera Cass, 'The Raven Boys' by Maggie Stiefvater, and 'Crown of Midnight' by Sarah J. Maas on their way, which is exciting (I'm especially excited for 'The Heir' after marathoning the rest of the series). I had an incredible reading month back in March, though since then I've had this mini slump lurking over me, and I can sense its return coming... I am worried. In other, more random news, I've been feeling really motivated fitness-wise these past couple of weeks, I'm searching for a yoga class, aiming to eat my five-a-day, and I'm tempted to buy a fitness DVD. What is happening to the world.

And there you have it. A spontaneous ramble about a few irrelevant things, I hope you enjoyed.

Rosie 

(I'm think about starting to sign off when I blog).

2015 READING CHALLENGE: APRIL ROUND-UP

April was a very slow month for me, I enjoyed everything I read, but I read them all very slowly (which is not normal for me). I was very busy during April with college work, and I found some of the books I read to actually be very slow reads regardless.

In April I read a total of 3 books. I have read 23 books so far in 2015, and I'm 77% of the way through my reading challenge. I also started reading 'A Darker Shade of Magic' by V.E. Schwab' for LittleBookOwl (on Youtube) 'Little Book Club', which I am 31% of the way through- I'm finding it a very slow read.

After reading 'Doon' right at the end of March, I was in a massive reading slump. There was nothing I wanted to read, what I was really in the mood for was basically another book exactly like 'Doon' (I'm holding off reading the second book, 'Destined for Doon', until it's out in paperback, and then it'll be closer to the date of the third book coming out). I ended up taking a four day break from reading, which is not at all like me, and annoyed me to no end; the reading slump also meant that I read 'Throne of Glass' fairly slowly (it took me about a week, but it felt much slower).

At the moment I'm big on historical fiction, books set in royal courts (one of my all-time favourite settings for a book), and fantasy, which I had never properly read much of before, and never thought was my kind of thing until recently.

Books Read:

1. 'Throne of Glass'- Sarah J. Maas
Throne of Glass. Oh, Throne of Glass. The following in America behind this book is incredible, I have never heard so many people rave about one book like this (bare in mind all the raving comes from America, this book is basically unheard of in the UK). Many people have said that this is quite a slow read, and I completely agreed, I've also heard it's the least popular book of the series, though I haven't read any others so I can't compare. I like Celaena as a character, I liked how she's a realistic female character, such as by getting period pains, which never normally happens in other books like 'Throne of Glass'. A main problem I had with this book is that I found the descriptions containing magical events quite confusing, which I find to be a problem in quite a few books, but I wasn't entirely sure what was happening and the writing of these sections felt confused and slightly rushed. I didn't think I'd like this book, but I actually really enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to finishing the rest of the books that have been released so far (it's going to be a six book series, the fourth book is coming out later this year).

2. 'The Queen of the Tearling'- Erika Johansen 
I read this for the 'Bookspolsion Book of the Month' for April and, yet again, I found it to be a very slow read, despite enjoying it a lot. I read a hardback version of this book that was so tall, it was bigger than my head, which I found quite entertaining. Unlike some books (looking at you 'Throne of Glass' and 'Doon'), I didn't find the descriptions of the magical elements of this book confusing at all, and the magic did actually seem to make sense here. I really enjoyed this book, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy when it's released.

3. 'The Selection'- Kiera Cass
The selection was everything I was looking for in a book at this moment in time. It's fun, slightly trashy, has princesses, a castle, a beauty pageant theme, princesses dresses, romance, everything I was in the mood for right now. It wasn't a literary masterpiece, and I wasn't expecting it to be, but I just really loved this book, it's like 'Miss Congeniality' in a book. I'm currently marathoning the other two, and there's another coming out in May.