The Book People haul...

A while back I made my first order with the online discounted book shop The Book People. Not only do they have a big range of highly discounted books but they also do book bundles based on author or genre. So here's what I bought....

I'm ashamed to say I've never read anything by civil rights activist Maya Angelou. The bundle includes her first two memoirs and a poetry collection (£4.99 here) 

Patricia Highsmith, most known for her psychological thrillers is an author I've wanted to read for a long time. This bundle includes four of her novels and a short story collection- I love these covers too! (£5.99 here)

 I also bought this bundle of three short story collections by women writers. I enjoy short stories a lot and thought this would be a great way to find new writers I like. There are a huge range of writers here from modern to classic and various nationalities. (£3.99 here)

Finally I bought a book called Why Does My Cat Do That, predominantly to bump my order up to free shipping but it is actually very interesting if you have a cat! (£2.99 here)

Pink Parcel September 2016...

 Pink Parcel is a 'luxury period subscription box' that sends you a monthly supply of tampons and/or pads and a selection of treats including tea, something sweet and other goodies.

  This is what it looks like when you open the box, I opted for pads (you choose your brand as well) and got a pouch with 5 pads and 5 pant liners, as well as the 'for later' box which contained another 10 and the 'for night' box containing 5 night time pads. So now lets look at this months treats... 

1. Cuppanut, Coconut and Cranberry tea. I'm not a tea drinker so I always pass these on.

2. Schwarzkopf Bonacura Colour Freeze Shampoo. This is a great size for travelling so I will probably put it by for when I go somewhere.

3. AA Skincare Seaweed & Aloe Eye Gel. This is a full sized product and I'm looking forward to giving this a try.

4. Cotswold Lavender Slumber Spray. I HATE the smell of lavender so this will get passed on!

5. New CID Cosmetics I Glow Mini. This is a very cute baked marbleised glow powder- although when swatched it comes out more of a bronzer on me.

6. Pink Parcel Relax Tea Light set. a box of 4 LAVENDER scented tea lights -_-

7. Nairn's Oat Crackers. A strange inclusion, and they arrived in crumbs but I'll still eat them!

8. Ombar Coconut & Vanilla Raw Chocolate. Yay! chocolate! oh, raw chocolate. WTF. Stop trying to make chocolate healthy. Needless to say raw chocolate is not for me!

All in all I found this selection a bit disapointing. The last 3 boxes have been so brilliant that this one was just MEH. Of course it doesn't help that I don't like lavender but the stand out items for me are the eye gel and the glow powder (which I'll prob use as an eyeshadow as it's too dark for me). Hopefully next month will be a lot better!

August reading round up...

August was such a busy month for me I barely read anything, but here are my thoughts on the small selection I did read....

The Missing by C.L. Taylor (audiobook narrated by Clare Corbett)
Although I wasn't blown away by the previous book by this author I was on the hunt for a new audiobook to listen to whilst travelling and this one was read by my favourite narrator so I went for it. As usual Corbetts narration was brilliant but unfortunately the story was slow and boring. About a family who's teenage son has gone missing 6 months prior this thriller had no suspense or shocks- I guessed the ending very early on. There's so many better thrillers out there this just doesn't cut it! 2/5 

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
Ware's debut In a Dark Dark Wood (review here) is already one of my favourites of this year and her second offering does not disappoint. Set aboard a claustrophobic cruise ship it follows journalist Lo as she tries to get to the bottom of what she believes to be a murder after hearing something on the first night. Well written, I was kept in suspense to the very end as like her first book Ware creates a group of interesting and suspicious characters, and puts them in an intense situation. All in all I really enjoyed it (I think even a little more than then first book) and recommend if you love a high quality thriller. 4.5/5

Giant Days Vol.1 by John Allison & Lissa Treiman
About Three very different girls who become friends when they start at the same university this is just brilliant! Funny, witty, relateable and warm it's everything I want from a comic, and it took me back to my awkward teenage years! 4.5/5

Favourite single issues...

 

So that was it for this month, let me know if you have any recommendations :)

Typo stationery haul...

  The other day I discovered an online stationery store called Typo, and as a self confessed stationery addict I immediately made an order! The order was delivered by courier 2 days after, which is great as I am very impatient when waiting for online orders to arrive! Here's what I bought...

The main thing that compelled me to make an order was the drinks bottle (currently half price at £3), it says 'All natural cerebral juice'... how could I resist?! I like things that are a bit weird and there were so many designs to choose from. I also got an A4 spiral notebook in this very cool regions of the mind design (£3.50), and a human anatomy pencil case (£6). When I saw their range of procrastination journals I couldn't resist adding the Zombies Creeping it Real one to my order (currently half price at £5). 

Inside the procrastination journal is a fun selection of activities and colouring in pages centred around the undead. My favourite page is a picture of 'overly wholesome, overly enthusiastic family' that you have to turn into zombies! 

Finally I ordered three of the A4 campus notebooks. These things are HUGE and contain four sections with dividers, lined paper and pockets. 

The amount of notebooks I have bought the past few months is ridiculous, I just can't resist them! My only excuse is that I'm a student so I will use them (eventually...) but truth be told I think I have enough notebooks to last me a lifetime! That won't stop me buying more though... ;)

If you are into stationery with quirky designs I'd definitely recommend checking Typo out, and I also got a 20% code for my first order so it's worth signing up to their newsletter first if you are planning on make an order.

Recently watched...

Tallulah (2016)

A Netflix film starring Ellen Page and Allison Janney this is about a young woman who kind of accidentally abducts a child thinking she's doing the right thing. Page and Janney were brilliant in this and althought it posed a few interesting questions I felt there was something missing, still worth watching though. 3/5

The Lobster (2015)

This is a strangely brilliant film set in a future whereby if you are single you are transported to a hotel where you must find a partner within 45 days or get turned into an animal of your choice! Just to make it weirder you get to earn bonus days if you manage to shoot a wild loner on hunting expeditions. I really enjoyed this, everything about it was quirky right down to the purposely awkward acting, and Colin Farrell really suited this style. So many interesting questions were posed about love, relationships, and being single. I am definitely going to look up more of the directors work. 4.5/5

Brooklyn (2016)

Set in the 1950s this follows an Irish immigrant who falls in love with a plumber in Brooklyn but is torn when she goes back home and meets another man. This was a bit of a meh film for me, although the film looked beautiful it was obvious where it was going. I personally found the sisters story the most interesting (and heartbreaking) but this was a nice enough film to spend a Sunday afternoon watching. 3/5 

Suicide Squad (2016)

To be honest I was in no rush to see this but there has been nothing at the cinema lately! I've never been a fan of the Suicide Squad in the comics so didn't expect tor really be blown away and I wasn't! There was nothing by way of story- just villain wants to take over world (for some unexplained reasons) and the (non) heroes have to stop them. Don't get me wrong I do enjoy a good superhero film but I feel they could have really gone down the Deadpool route with this and made it so much more entertaining. As it stands it was very choppy (where they'd clearly edited it) and it bored me, and a lot of the characters barely said or did anything (mainly thinking of Katana). On the plus Viola Davis as Amanda Waller was perfect! Please DC make sure Wonder Woman is amazing! 2/5

Threads box August...

Threads Box is a monthly subscription box from Zavvi that sends you an exclusively designed tee and a book every month for just £9.99. 

This month it wasn't as late as the last one (post here) but when I opened it I realised they'd sent me the same book as last time- fortunately their customer service has improved since the last time I dealt with them and after messaging them through facebook they sent me the right book which I received the following week :)

The teaser picture for this month was Mad Max Fury Road, which got me excited as that was one of my favourite films of last year. The t shirt is a pretty cool Mad Max design which I'm really happy with, but the book was the star this month for me as it was one on my 'to buy' list!

Fitting in with the dsytopian theme Nod by Adrian Barnes is set in a time when only the select few can sleep whilst others slowly deteriorate and die, it follows Paul one of the few who can sleep.

Here's a closer look at the tee. Next months teaser is Lord of the Rings, so I have cancelled as I am the opposite of a fan but I'm sure I will resubscribe again at some point as I really enjoy this subscription box :)

15 Random questions tag...

I was looking for some blog post ideas and thought I'd do some tag questions *just because* so I found the 15 random questions tag...

Random picture for a random tag...

1. What's a nickname only your family calls you? 
Erm... most people just call me Shell although me and my sister have nicknames for each other which I won't share because there's too much explaining!
2. What's a weird habit of yours?
I chew gum most of the time, which isn't particularly weird but it's the best I've got!
3. Do you have any weird phobias?
Not weird but I have a huge phobia of needles
4. What's a song you secretly LOVE to blast & belt out when you're alone?
Britney Spears- Toxic, although it's no secret!
5. What's one of your biggest pet peeves?
I hate rudeness, and it annoys me when people are late. To be fair I could go on forever with this one!
6. What's one of your nervous habits?
I have anxiety so I have a fair few but mainly I fiddle about with stuff when people are talking to me and then worry if I've given too much eye contact (or not enough??!) and then don't hear what they say!
7. What side of the bed do you sleep on?
The middle like a BOSS
8. What was your first stuffed animal & it's name?
It was a huge bear that wore a dark blue pinafore dress with a boat on it and I called it Thomas.
9. What's the drink you ALWAYS order at Starbucks?
I rarely go to Starbucks but whenever I get coffee out it's usually a caramel latte.
10. What's the beauty rule you preach.. but never ACTUALLY practice?
I don't preach to anyone!
11. Which way do you face in the shower?
ok... this has got to be the weirdest and most random question ever! 
12. Do you have any 'weird' body 'skills'?
Not that I'm aware of sadly... other than the x-ray eyes.
13. What's your favourite 'comfort food'/food that's 'bad' but you love to eat it anyways?
Pizza, mac'n'cheese, toasties (basically anything containing large amounts of cheese!)
14. What's a phrase or exclamation you always say?
Mostly swear words...
15. Time to sleep- what are you ACTUALLY wearing? 
Pj's- probably Adventure Time ones ;D

If anyone has the urge to do this tag please let me know- I'd love to read your answers!