Review: The Sky is Everywhere

Author: Jandy Nelson Rating: 4.3/5 Synopsis: Lennie’s sister, Bailey, dies suddenly, and she is launched suddenly into the limelight. With no older sister to hide behind, she finds herself caught in situations she could never have anticipated. As she struggles to cope with her sister’s absence, Lennie must figure out who she is alone, but with a crazy family and two gorgeous boys interfering,…

Mad World, Tears for Fears

Don’t You (Forget About Me), Simple Minds

Love Will Tear Us Apart, Joy Division

Feel Good Inc., Gorillaz

Sick of Losing Soulmates, Dodie

Generation Why, Weyes Blood

Dancing Queen, ABBA

Indigo Puff, Sundara Karma

Heart Hope, Oh Wonder

In other news, I actually have two playlists for you this week. This post will include my main October playlist, but if you scroll along to the bottom you will also find a link to my 19th birthday playlist! Hope you enjoy, and sorry for being such a bad blogger.

Dancing On My Own, Robyn

Long Hair, Drowners

Talk Show Host, Radiohead

Fuckabout, Drenge

When You Were Young, The Killers

Human Remains, Drowners

Threat of Joy, The Strokes

Teddy Picker, Arctic Monkeys

Take Me Out, Franz Ferdinand

Fell In Love With a Girl, The White Stripes

Review: We Were Liars

Author: E. Lockhart Rating: 3.8/5 Synopsis: Cadence Sinclair. Young, rich, beautiful, Liar. Each summer, she travels to her family’s private island and whiles away her days in the sun with Mirren, Johnny and Gat- the Liars. That is until summer fifteen, the summer when everything changes. Love and lies intertwine as Cady struggles to find the truth in a family obsessed with normal. We Were Liars…

Review: You Know Me Well

Author: Nina LaCour and David Levithan Rating: 4.7/5 Synopsis: Mark is in love with his best friend. Kate is in love with a girl that she has never met. They become friends over the course of one incredible night, a night that sees them each running from their own problems, and possibly running into even more. But this is Pride Week, and anything can happen. You Know Me Well follows two…

Review: The Shepherd’s Crown

Author: Terry Pratchett Rating: 4.0/5 Synopsis: When Granny Weatherwax, the most terrifying witch in all the Discworld dies, a hidden enemy stirs. Tiffany Aching, a young witch from the Chalk, is named as her heir and with that falls to her the responsibility of protecting the Discworld, but will Granny’s boots prove too big to fill? The Shepherd’s Crown is the final Discworld novel, published…

Afterlife, Arcade Fire

Nikes, Frank Ocean

Toothpaste Kisses, The Maccabees

Into You, Ariana Grande

Cry Baby, Melanie Martinez

Closer, The Chainsmokers and Halsey

Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High, Arctic Monkeys

Don’t Stop Me Now, Queen

Whiteout, Warpaint

Review: The End of the World Running Club

Author: Adrian J Walker Rating: 2.5/5 Synopsis:  Edgar Hill is 35, overweight and a father to two. He is also stuck in Edinburgh, 550 miles away from his family, whilst the world falls apart around him. With the country blown to smithereens, there’s only one way to find his family and that’s to run. There’s no better time than the end of the world to start up a running club. In one word, I would…

Best book you’ve read so far in 2016.

This is such a difficult question! I’ve read so many wonderful books, but if I had to choose I think I would say Radio Silence by Alice Oseman (mostly because my other biggest favourites are answers to later questions #copout). It’s one of only a small number of books that I gave 5 stars to (5 stars on goodreads aren’t necessarily real 5 stars because I round my real ratings) and I would recommend it to everyone. You can read my review here.

The best sequel you’ve read so far in 2016.

What’s a Girl gotta Do? by Holly Bourne, although How Hard Can Love Be? (also by Holly Bourne) comes close. Such a brilliant companion series! My reviews for these are here and here.

New release you haven’t read yet, but want to.

This is really difficult mostly because I can never remember book release dates. Off the top of my head, I want to read The Square Root of Summer by Harriet Reuter Hapgood. I keep hearing about it online but just haven’t picked it up for myself just yet.

Most anticipated release for the second half of the year.

The Last Beginning by Lauren James! I have been waiting for this book since before The Next Together was even released and I am so desperate to read it! I need answers. I need Clove and Ella. I just need to read this book.

Biggest disappointment.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. I gave it four stars in my original review, but the more I think about it the more disappointing it is. I spent the week ahead of the release reading the last few Harry Potter books I had left- casting other books I desperately wanted to read aside because I had such high hopes- and I was just so disappointed.

Read my spoiler-filled review here.

Biggest surprise.

You Know Me Well by Nina LaCour and David Levithan. I picked it up because I’d heard good things, but I didn’t expect to love it anywhere near as much as I did. I adored it, and it came very close to getting a full five stars. My review for this will be up soon.

Favourite new author (debut or new to you).

Louise Gornall! I read Under-Rose Tainted Skies not long after it was released and absolutely adored it. It was part of a wonderful week in which I read two 5 star books one after the other (the other was What’s a Girl Gotta Do?), and I can’t wait to see what Louise comes out with next. You can read my review for URTS here.

Newest fictional crush.

I don’t know. I had a weird hate crush on Will in What’s a Girl Gotta Do? (that fucking facial hair though, I hated it).Thinking back I’m pretty sure I was crushing on Kyle in How Hard Can Love Be? as well- who wouldn’t though?

Newest favourite character.

Tiffany in The Shepherd’s Crown by Terry Pratchett. Although The Shepherd’s Crown itself wasn’t a favourite, I loved Tiffany Aching. My review will be up soon.

I’m also going to cheat and say basically everyone in Radio Silence.

Book that made you cry.

I cried a few times whilst reading the Harry Potter series. I also cried when reading Under Rose-Tainted Skies.

Books that made you happy.

You Know Me Well left me happy, but sad happy I guess? I haven’t read many super happy books this year to be honest.

Most beautiful book you’ve bought this year.

Night Owls by Jenn Bennett is probably my favourite cover of this year. The gold on the dark blue is just so gorgeous.

You can check out my review for it here.

What books do you need to read before the end of the year?

Of the books I have, I definitely want to read One by Sarah Crossan. Once they are released, I need to read The Last Beginning and A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers.

New blog post: Am I Feminist Enough? @TheGirlGangHQ @UKBlog_RT

Today I want to talk a bit about a topic I think every feminist grapples with once in a while: am I feminist enough? The problem with becoming a feminist is that it causes you to question everything- the media, your friends and family, and most importantly of all: yourself. There is no such thing as a perfect feminist. We are raised in a patriarchal society, a society in which sexism is deeply…

Staying Safe at Uni: Self-Defence

Hi guys! I am back with the final part of my Staying Safe at Uni series, and this time we are talking self-defense. Particularly in your first year of university, you are vulnerable. You may be living on your own for the first time, in an area you aren’t familiar with, with people you may not know. People are quick to take advantage of that, which is why I believe it is essential that everyone…

Music:

This month I have been big on female artists including Warpaint, Savages and Grimes although a couple of male artists have made their way into my August playlist as well. Two of my favourite songs this month have been Hayley Kiyoko’s ‘Gravel to Tempo’ and Hamilton Leithauser and Rostam’s ‘A 1000 Times’.

Fashion and Beauty:

Shopping haul featuring all of my fashion and beauty favourites (plus extras).

I didn’t have any fashion and beauty favourites until the last week of August and yet here we are with five.

  First, my new Adidas Originals Gazelle’s in black! I’ve been after these trainers for years, and my mom bought them for me as a gift for getting into university (also just because I really need some new trainers). They’re gorgeous although currently slightly squeaky, but I just need to break them in.

Second up, my ASOS Summer Floral Print 50’s Longline Bikini. I’ve been looking for swimwear that can actually hold my boobs for far too long (it’s very difficult when you wear a 32F) so when I spotted this in the ‘fuller bust’ section, it was a miracle. Absolutely gorgeous, and in the sale I got it for only £10! The top is sized according to bra sizes so if you’re having a similar struggle I’d recommend checking ASOS out.

Third, Bronze Dazzle Dust. I have a lovely Soap and Glory limited edition eyeshadow palette with a gorgeous bronze shade but I’m starting to make a real dent in that so I picked this up so that I wouldn’t have to worry about using it up. It is a lovely colour although the glitter does get everywhere. It also goes really well with my Maybelline Pink Gold Colour Tattoo eyeshadow.

Finally, I picked up a Topshop Colour Block Tee. I love striped t-shirts, and I love this style of Topshop t-shirt so I couldn’t resist. I find that they normally look better on me one size smaller than I would generally buy at Topshop. I normally buy a size 8 but got this in a size 6 as my all time favourite Topshop t-shirt was a size 6 petite, and it fits perfectly. At only £14 it also wasn’t too expensive.

  Books:

I’ve had a really good reading month this month, in fact this month I completed my Goodreads reading challenge by reading 30 books!

Amongst the books I read are two five star reads, and a couple more nearly 5 star reads. My two five star reads were Holly Bourne’s ‘What’s a Girl Gotta Do?’ and Louise Gornall’s ‘Under Rose-Tainted Skies‘, whilst Nina LaCour and David Levithan’s ‘You Know Me Well’ just missed out on the rating.

I have written reviews for all three books where I discuss why I love them, and they will be linked. At the time of posting, my review for ‘You Know Me Well’ has not been posted but it will be coming soon.

Other Stuff:

Other favourites of mine this month have included my exam results, which I discussed already in my life update. To recap, I got AABC in EPQ, Maths, Physics and French. I also got into my first choice university, the University of Sheffield!

To celebrate my exam results, I went to TGI Friday’s twice this month. Once with my friends, and once with my mom. I had a Summer Peach cocktail whilst out with my friends, and a Woo Woo whilst out with my mom and Summer Peach has cemented itself as one of my favourite drinks. I also tried the Bruce Lee burger which was simply amazing.

My final final favourites are my photos. I went along to Boots and printed off a selection of photos from the past year (yes, I need to print photos more often). I also bought a few photo frames and albums to keep them in. It was lovely sorting through them and putting them away and I’m so glad I finally got around to doing it.

  So guys, those are my August favourites. What have you been loving this month?

See you soon,

Beth.

Staying Safe at Uni: Getting Home

Back again with part 2 of my staying safe at uni series, and this time we’re talking how to get home safely. If you’re going out at night- whether you’re going to have fun at a pub or club, or you’re going to work- one of the most important things is to make sure you know how you are getting home. A lot of universities have schemes to ensure that you are able to get home safe at night, including…

Gravel to Tempo, Hayley Kiyoko

City’s Full, Savages

Go, The Maccabees

New Song, Warpaint

Husbands, Savages

Flesh Without Blood, Grimes

A 1000 Times, Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam

Toothpaste Kisses, The Maccabees

Gravity Don’t Pull Me, Rostam

Nikes, Frank Ocean