August reading round up...

Because of working so much overtime this month I haven't had the chance to read many books, but thought I'd still go ahead with my round up...

Me & Mr J by Rachel McIntyre
A YA about Lara, a sixteen year old girl who is bullied at school, has family problems and finds herself falling for her new English teacher. Written in the style of a diary this was an enjoyable enough read. Full review coming soon! 3/5

Chew Vol.1 by John Layman & Rob Guillory
A tongue in cheek comic about Tony Chu, a detective who has a weird secret: he is Cibopathic, which means he gets psychic impressions from whatever he eats. So if he nibbles a piece of a murder victim he can find out who did it and why! Add into the equation chicken is prohibited due to an outbreak of bird flu, and some very bizarre murders and you have a funny and strange series that I can't wait to read more of! 4/5

Alex + Ada Vol.3 by Jonathan Luna & Sarah Vaughn
Alex and now sentient android Ada are trying to live their life in a world where sentient robots are illegal, will they make it? I read volume three in single issue form as I was too impatient to wait for the tpb to be released. Sadly these five issues are the last of the series, and were brilliant. The story was completely heartbreaking, but finished on the perfect note and highly recommend you check out this thought provoking, and emotional story. 5/5

Single issues...
Again I didn't get to read many but my favourite singles of the month were Convergence: Catwoman, and Alex + Ada.

Shabby Geek Box...

Shabby Geek Box are one of the many geeky subscription boxes out there, the difference being they mix licensed goods with items they make themselves. Some of their monthly themed boxes have looked really good, and due to popularity they have started doing personalised boxes where for £15 (small), £25 (medium) or £50 (large) they will put together a box of goodies with a selection of themes of your choice promising you get double the value of what you paid.

I did try a medium box when they first started and wasn't particularly impressed so didn't feature it. They I received a large personalised box from my sister for my Birthday and had to share as the contents is brilliant!

The themes she picked were Doctor Who, Adventure Time, Catwoman, Buffy, Ghost World, Arrested Development and The Munsters (my sister knows me too well!)There was a delay in it arriving so it ended up getting here a bit after my Birthday but the contents made up for it!

Inside I got a Buffy bag, Catwoman desk clock, Arrested Development mug, a Ghost World mug, a Doctor Who bottle opener magnet, a Doctor Who comic, an Adventure Time puzzle coaster set, a Munsters cushion cover and a Catwoman Vinyl Vixen (which unbeknown to them I already have.) Overall I think there's a good mix of stuff,  and all the themes were covered.

Also, the printing quality and design of the handmade items had improved A LOT since the first box I ordered. On their Facebook page they often share pictures of different boxes they have put together and on the whole they are really impressive. I definitely recommend giving them a try!

Notebook appreciation...

Am I the only one who has an obsession with notebooks? Whenever I go into Paperchase or WH Smiths I am powerless to the urges of brand new, pretty notebooks. As an obsessive list writer, and note writer in general they are always useful though. Seeing as I am about to start uni I took this as a definite sign I should go to paperchase and buy some fancy new notebooks ;)

I got the triangles large exercise book for £6, the indigo and glitter aztec notebook for £7, and the watermelon exercise book for £2. I am genuinely excited about using these baby's... (I like to live life on the edge!)

So that is my post dedicated to the appreciation of notebooks!

Book review: You by Caroline Kepnes...

You is a dark thriller about Joe a guy who works in a New York book shop and falls in love with Beck, a girl he meets when she comes in to buy one of his favourite books. From there we soon discover Joe is not what he seems, and so begins his obsessive stalking whilst he tries to woo her- and kills off any competition!

Written in first person from Joe's point of view we get to hear his deepest darkest thoughts as he systematically tries to take full control of Beck's life. He reads her emails, watches her house, and stalks her social media- so we get to know her the same way Joe does. The interesting thing about this book is that the more you get to know Beck and her friends, the harder it is to have any sympathy for her. I know that sounds stupid, as obviously she is the victim of a stalker- but she is really not the nicest person!

I never thought I'd read a book where I'd start to sympathise with a psychopath,  but I almost did, and at some points I was *almost* rooting for him! The trouble is Joe is a charismatic and often really funny character and sometimes found myself laughing along with him. Because it was written in first person we got to delve inside his head, and really get to know him. This is what made You so enjoyable- it was constantly making you question where you're loyalties lay (and was everything Normal should have been.) I've heard it be compared to American Psycho and I can certainly understand the link.

It didn't hold back with how dark it got, and the darker it got the more compelling and humorous it was. I really enjoyed you, and would thoroughly recommend!

"What a shame to be so angered by what you don't have that you treat what you do have like it's nothing."

I gave this book 4/5 on Goodreads.
Find my other book reviews here.

Pop In A Box August...

I really can't believe how quick these months are going! Here's my August Pop In A Box... 

It's Scully! I had a feeling I was going to get an X-Files pop this month, now I all I need is Mulder :)

And while we are on the subject of Pop's here's an update on my collection...

I was ridiculously lucky to get one of my most wanted pops- a Vampire Spike Chase from a friend (thank you Leanne ♥), other new additions are the oversized Tardis, and Black Widow.

Look how cute the tenth Doctor looks with his Tardis!

[If you collect or want to collect Pop! Vinyls then PIAB is a great subscription service that allows you to choose which pops you want and don't want meaning your monthly mystery sub will always be a pop that you actually want! For my other PIAB posts go here.]

Recently watched...

Jurassic World

I think I may be in the minority here when I say I really didn't enjoy this. Jurassic Park was one of my childhood favourites, and I feel like Jurassic World has copied it but took all the good bits out. So instead we get annoying, clichéd characters that I didn't care what happened too (how stupid where those kids?!), no storyline, not enough tongue in cheek humour and just lots of noisy action. (bring back Dr. Ian Malcolm and his chaos theory!)  

Ant-Man

Marvel's Ant-Man on the other hand was lots more fun. A decent enough storyline, great visual effects and plenty of humour. It played up the fact that the powers of Ant-Man do sound a bit rubbish and had fun with it. Looking forward to seeing Paul Rudd make an appearance in Civil War. My only moan is that we didn't get to see The Wasp in action- hopefully we will in the future.

Parks and Recreation

I've only just discovered the amazingness of this show and so have spent most of my free time marothoning it. It really is hilarious and I love Ron Swanson! 

Japanese Candy: Sweet Candy Apple DIY Candy Kit...

I haven't tried a new Japanese Candy Kit in AGES, so thought it was about time I bought a couple. I've had my eye on the Sweet Candy Apple DIY Kit from Coris for a while as I'm a huge fan of anything apple flavoured. This is a super easy kit to do so is perfect if you haven't tried DIY kits before.

Inside the cute packaging you get everything you need, including you candy apples, sweet candy apple dip, sprinkles, tray and stick. 

Once you empty everything out it will look like this. Now it's time to get dipping!

This kit was really tasty- it's probably one of my favourite kits out of the ones I've tried. The apple is exactly like an apple Hi-Chew, the dipping sauce is sweet and sticky and the sprinkles give a nice crunch. I'd definitely recommend this one.

You can buy the Sweet Candy Apple DIY Kit* for £1.91 from Oyatsu Cafe 

(*affiliate link)

A trip to Birmingham...

  To celebrate my Birthday me and my sister spent the day in Birmingham for a combination      of shopping and food (is there a better combination?!) I thought I'd share some pictures                                                                    from the day...

I love looking in the food section of Selfridges, especially at all the crazily priced US candy

For our dinner we decided to try Five Guys as I'd seen so many blog posts about it and it looked so good!

As far as I'm concerned when it comes to burgers- the greasier and more dripping with cheese they are the better! I can confirm that was one tasty burger. It was massive though so I think if I go again I'd get the small one as I think I briefly slipped into a burger coma. Also their shakes are heavenly! You can choose all sorts of crazy combo's- I went for peanut butter, salted caramel, chocolate and whipped cream. If you want you can even add bacon... I decided against that! 

And here's my little haul from the day...

From Nostalgia & Comics I got a purple Batman Funko and from Forbidden Planet I got the Tokidoki Donutella figure. I've had my eye on her for a long time, and she is beyond cute. The Tenth Doctor pop was a belated Birthday present but I though I would sneak it in! 

As soon as I saw this beautiful hardback copy of The Death-ray by Daniel Clowes in Forbidden Planet I knew I had to buy it. I love Daniel Clowes work and this book is stunning. I also bought the third volume of Lazarus, and volume one of The New 52 Catwoman series.  

Overall I had a lovely day, and me and my sister have already agreed that next pay day we are going to Ed's Diner, let the burger tournament begin!

Birthday haul...

Yesterday was my Birthday and I had a lovely relaxed day that included M&S salted caramel cheesecake (yum) and being totally spoilt with a super cool selection of presents. Personally I love haul/ present posts and do them every year so here is this years...

Of course books! Including a load of the Penguin Little Black Classics to add to my growing collection, and some DVDs. 

The Harley Quinn Vinyl Vixen! I now have all of them until Batgirl is released :) The egg shaped panda is a toothbrush UV sanitiser (and I'm the kind of person that thinks this is a really cool gadget!) Also some Quentin Tarantino merchandise (which I collect.) 

Some random bits and pieces here including Adventure Time top trumps (another thing I collect...) Breaking Bad pins (yep, collect pin badges too...) and a pretty candle holder. 

A Furiousa top from TeeFury which was a present to myself and a donut money box (also collect donut stuff!!) 

 More books... these DK books are so well put together- packed full of interesting stuff and lovely artwork (and I know this is getting silly, but I collect the DK books!) 

Finally some colouring books- as somone with anxiety disorder I can thoroughly recommend colouring books as a great way to de-stress. 

So the lesson learnt from this post is that I collect an insane amount of things! On the plus side I think it makes me easy to buy presents for as everyone got me amazing stuff :)

July reading round up...

The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe
One of the Penguin Little Black Classics, it features three short stories from the master of the macabre. All three were creepy, and full of suspense but my favourite was the title story about an unnamed character desperately trying to convince the reader of their sanity whilst inadvertently convincing us otherwise as he tells his murderous tale. 4/5

Psychology a Graphic Guide by  Nigel C. Benson
This was great little book that gave a broad introduction to Psychology. It was jam packed full of interesting information that didn't waste time with filler and was written in an easy to understand way. It was constantly throwing facts at you so the pictures on each page added a bit of humour to help break it up and be more easily digestible. 4/5 

You by Caroline Kepnes
A dark thriller about New Yorker Joe, a stalker who becomes obsessed with Beck and will stop at nothing to make her his, even if it means killing anyone that gets in his way. Told from his own perspective, this is dark, funny and sinister and you will start to question who's side you are on! Full review soon. 4/5

The Lemon Grove by Helen Walsh
I wanted to try and broaden my reading horizons a little, and try reading some books from genres I usually tend to avoid which led me to The Lemon Grove. About Jenn a middle aged woman on holiday in Mallorca with her husband, step daughter and her boyfriend Nathan, she finds herself attracted and increasingly obsessed with Nathan and they begin a risqué affair. I felt like it was trying too hard to be sexy and shocking and in my opinion was neither. In conclusion this is not the genre for me! 2/5

The First Bad Man by Miranda July
Typically strange and full of eccentric characters this is July's debut novel about Cheryl a neurotic and lonely middle aged woman whose life gets turned upside down when she agrees to have her bosses daughter to stay. As usual With July this is beautifully written and very weird yet relateable and I really enjoyed it. Full review here. 4/5

Lazarus Vol. 2 by Greg Rucka & Michael Lark
I actually preferred this volume a little more to the first one as the story became much more interesting, and new characters where introduced- which I hope we see much more of. We also got to learn more about Lazurus herself and her childhood. Although not mind blowing (or in the same league as the likes of Saga, and Rat Queens etc...) I will definitely continue with this series. 3/5

The Wicked + the Devine Vol.2 by Gillen McKelvie & Wilson Cowles
Yet again the artwork in this is STUNNING- the colours especially blew me away. This is definitely one of my top comics of the year, lot's of interesting characters, great story and I love the concept...also it was left on a major cliffhanger leaving me desperate to know what happens next. 4/5

A God Somewhere by John Arcudi & Peter Snejbjerg
A graphic novel which asks the question how does an ordinary man cope when he inadvertently ends up with superhero god-like powers, and what is it like for the people around him. Told from the perspective of his best friend this could have been a really thoughtful and interesting book, but it ended up being a gore fest that forgot to bother with character progression and just opted to change whole personalities in the space of a panel with no explanation. 2/5

My favourite single issues this month are all Marvel! Giant Size Little Marvel: Avengers Vs X Men, X-Men '92 (reliving my childhood with this beautiful new series!), and Inhumans: Attilan Rising.

Lately... July

My very yellow planned July tbr, which I didn't stick to!

Reading Marvel's Inhumans Atilan Rising. I love Medusa!

I've been into curly hair lately- the lazy way. I just twist and roll sections after washing then pin it and go to bed, then in the morning take it out to get crazy curly hair!

On my Instagram lately: cats and food *instagram cliché alert!* the food is a recent Oyatsu Cafe order- look out for reviews of all of it soon! 

Also...

♥ Celebrating starting a new job, enrolling at uni, and going over the stone threshold of weight loss!

♥ Hinting without subtlety that I would love the Doctor Who Funko Pops for my Birthday at the beginning of August.

♥ Feeling nostalgic and looking up old kids TV shows I used to love on YouTube like She-Ra,  Rude Dog & the Deebs, The Queen's Nose, and The Animals of Farthing Wood.