Book Review: The Girls by Emma Cline

This book speaks of a world I found so horrifying and dangerous yet because it was told from the conscience and justifications of a 14 year old girl, I could almost find myself relating. For a debut novelist, Emma Cline has certainly demonstrated a fantastic grasp on verbalising the inner workings of the young female mind, so this was such an exciting find!

Fourteen-year-old Evie Boyd’s attention is caught by a gang of girls that live in her northern Californian town. With the “endless, formless summer” stretching ahead of her, Evie is seduced by a life spent amongst the girls in the out-of-town commune in which they inhabit. Cline’s story is based somewhat on the Manson cult, which I actually hadn’t heard of, but from a bit of Googling seems like a very big deal back in the 1960s. With Charles Manson at the centre, a large group of girls carried out gruesome murders with a pure kind of loyalty to their leader. Russell is the ‘Charles Manson’ in this tale, but Russell is consciously cast aside in order to focus on ‘the girls’.

Some criticism has been given to Emma Cline’s style of writing as there is a tendency to over-dramatise the insignificant; dresses “stuttering with loose stitching”, the “domestic rot of the kitchen sponge”. I found that this allowed me to more vividly and sharply imagine Evie’s world, with rich senses of colour and smell. Often these details were described when Evie was at home and feeling listless; the rush and roar of excitement for her new life had not yet come and she seemed to express disdain and boredom of the everyday.

I keep saying on this blog that I don’t really enjoy books that flick back and forth in time but once again, this one’s blown that out of the water. We experience older, grown up Evie’s life, as she narrates the tale. Her story as an adult is told with the same rich intensity. Sadly this Evie doesn’t seem to have made much of her life since the commune, and the very last passage in the book where she is walking on the beach almost willing the male passer-by to cause her harm suggests she is still an outsider desperate to be noticed. 

4/5

Book Review: Maya's Notebook by Isabel Allende

First of all, I LOVED this book!

The book tells the story of Maya, a teenager 'in hiding', who has been sent to live with a family friend in Chiloé, an island on the archipelago off Chile. While Maya settles into this community, we learn about the series of events back in her Californian hometown that lead to her to escape. The story masterfully undulates between the present and the past, in a way that is somehow not nearly as annoying as I have found in other books that do the same!

Maya had been virtually abandoned by her parents at a young age, leaving her Chilean grandmother and her warm and loving grandfather to bring her up. Upon the death of her grandpa, Maya spirals down a path of self-destruction, stealing and using drugs. Concerned, her grandparents send her away for rehabilitation in Oregon, but Maya runs away, and is picked up by a truck driver who drugs and rapes her at a motel. Fearing for her life, and left penniless in Las Vegas, Maya falls into a gang of criminals operating around the city, dealing in counterfeit money.

The harrowing account of the depths of Maya’s addiction to drugs during this time was the thing that shocked me the most. Maya is headstrong and determined, and I was willing for her to pull herself out her circumstances, but her addiction traps and I was reading the pages very rapidly hoping she survives.

Allende tells the story in short little chunks; there are no chapters as such, although the seasons are marked. I liked this way of storytelling – it allowed for small anecdotes to be relayed, without dwelling on one thing for too long.

From a bit of research, I have heard that Allende gives genius depth to her characters. I think the depth to Maya was captured so well due to all the stories of all the other characters that she meets, especially on the island of Chiloé. From the circle of witches to the oldest lady on the island, the community and its history and politics are woven into the story so that by the end we have a wonderfully rich image of Maya’s home.

There is just so much packed into this book that it would be impossible to talk about everything, so I’m simply going to say I loved it (again) and I’m glad that I’m back to my positive book reviews after my last one (sorry Elizabeth Heathcote). Giving it a solid 4/5.

#IBW2016 Tag

I'll be honest, 2016 hasn't been a good year so far for reading. However, having just watched some of the Independent Bookshop Week Tag videos though (including the original, here, by Vintage Books), I feel very inspired by lots of new titles. I thought I would have a go myself because who doesn't love a good tag.

IBW 2016 is happening from 18th-25th June, so get involved and do the tag if you wish!

1. What book(s) are currently in your bag?

Before We Met by Lucie Whitehouse has been my bag now for longer than I care to admit. I've just got the part where the main character, Hannah finds a thread of possible truth about her husband which might explain why he didn't return home from his business trip to New York. This was my 'post-interview' book a few months back, and it even featured when one of the interviewees asked me what I was currently reading. Despite all this, I'm still only about half way through it. As I said... not a good book year. 

2. What’s the last great book you read?

As already stated a few times in this blogpost (if this were a CV or a cover letter, it would have been thrown in the dustbin by now for careless repetition), I haven't been reading much in 2016, so I just found my 'Notes' App on my iPhone where I have listed all the books I read in 2015. There were some corkers, but it's a toss up between Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding (because it's impossible to deny that it isn't a great book) and The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman by Denis Therialt. 

 


3. What book have you gifted the most?

As Will from the original Vintage Books video said, I don't think there's one book that I tend to give as a gift. It very much differs from person to person. In my family we tend to put book wishlist on Amazon so that we get the ones that we're really after, so it really depends. Saying that, I've had some great ones bought for me which weren't on there. (Side note: I still haven't quite gotten used to this whole 'using the word 'gifted' as a verb' thing!). 

4. What’s your favourite independent bookshop?

I'm going to cheat and pick two...

The first is the Minster Gate Bookshop in York. It's all about the setting for me; picture an old creaky building living in the shadow of York Minster with stairs that somehow keep producing rooms upon rooms of books. This bookshop is a wonderful escape from the busy streets of York. They sell new and old books on everything and even prints, pictures and old maps. 

The second is Shakespeare and Company in Paris. I first visited here on a school art trip to Paris years ago and fell a little bit in love. Every square inch of this place has a book crammed into it, I'd never seen anything quite like it! It feels like a little, intimate den of possibilities. With a piano on the second floor, the occasional Parisian (or tourist) will play to you while you float through the shop with delight. When I saw this shop in the film Before Sunset, I was so excited! Ask for any books that you buy to be stamped whilst you're at the till. It's just what you have to do! 

Shakespeare and Company featured in Before Sunset

Yep, I got mine stamped!

5. What’s been your favourite book recommended by a bookseller (or fellow Booktuber)?

I had to think about this one for a minute, but I think my favourite book recommended by a Booktuber was Caitlin Moran's How to be a Woman, recommended by Just Kiss My Frog. The way Leena talks so passionately about all the books she's read just makes me want to rush out and buy every single one. I have chosen this one because for me, it was a gateway drug to everything else Caitlin Moran ever wrote. Upon finishing this book I went into a sort of mad frenzy. I was addicted; watching every interview on YouTube, reading every column in The Times and buying everything she had previously and subsequently written. Thanks Leena, thanks Caitlin Moran, I can now say with confidence that I am a feminist!

6. What’s your favourite bookshop memory?

Meeting the YA Book Prize winners in 2015 at Foyles bookshop in Charing Cross. This was one of the events I attended when I worked in publicity, and I was so lucky to spend the evening with some wonderful and insightful authors including Louise O'Neill and Sally Green! I met some fabulous people that evening, some of whom I am still in touch with now. I even wrote a blog post about it, which is available here. 

YA Bookprize Shortlistees

7. What do bookshops mean to you? What do you love about them?

Bookshops are a place for wonder and discovery. I love meandering around the tables at the front of Waterstones, looking at all the books that I've caught discussions on or seen in the Bookseller list. This excitement was heightened when I used to work in publicity and a number of them were ones I was working on! I love gazing in awe at the beautiful cloth-bound Penguin Classics. I love letting my eyes be drawn in by interesting covers (everyone knows that books really are judged by their cover, at least initially!). I love the feeling that you might find something that can speak to you in a way that nothing ever has before.  

8. What are the books that made you? Which books have most affected or influenced you?

I know I just talked about this one but I've been thinking long and hard and I have to choose How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran. She has single-handedly identified everything that is unfair/unequal/annoying about being a woman today and even laid it out very kindly in handy chapters! 

9. What book do you recommend readers gift for Father’s Day?

If I knew the answer to this, I'd be a very happy lady!

10. What book is currently at the top of your TBR pile?

Brooklyn, by Colm Toibin. 

6 Great Podcasts

Is it me or are podcasts 'back'? Everyone seems to be starting a podcast or talking about new podcasts, which is great because I love them! Fashionable or not, I thought I would share a few of my favourites with you. Equally if you have any recommendations, I'd love to hear them in the comments! 

Answer Me This! 

I had to start with Answer Me This! because I've been listening to it every week (and subsequently fortnightly when host, Olly Man got busy) since before, what feels like, the dawn of time. Since January 2006, Helen Zalzman and Olly Mann have been wittily and hilariously answering questions submitted by their listeners. The format is simple, but the outcome is brilliant. Complete with great banter, catchy jingles and an educative element, I would recommend this to anybody!

Podcast Length: Newer ones are 40 mins, older ones were 30 mins
Frequency: Bi-monthly, though they are on a break at the moment because Olly Mann has just had a baby
Hosts: Helen Zalzman, Olly Mann and Martin the Soundman (appears on the podcast in an echoey voice!)
Audience: Everyone!

Graham Norton 

Once again throwing caution to what may or may not be cool, I can honestly say that I am unashamedly very much in love with Graham Norton and his Saturday morning 'Mumsy' BBC Radio 2 programme. This podcast, or 'podload' as he mysteriously calls it, is a condensed version of this morning show. He chats to celebrity guests (with admittedly a lesser general popularity that those on his Friday night BBC1 chatshow) but my all time favourite feature of the podcast is 'Grill Graham'. Alongside Maria McErlane, Graham does his best to play 'agony aunt' with his usual dose of irrepressible caustic humour. In fact sometimes I scroll past the interviews and just listen to this!

Podcast Length: Around an hour
Frequency: Every Saturdays
Hosts: Graham Norton with Maria McErlane
Audience: If you like the BBC1 chatshow and appreciate his sense of humour, you would most likely get on with this

Women of the Hour with Lena Dunham

I discovered this podcast recently by accident and couldn't believe my eyes. I thought I'd sought out everything on the internet with even a passing reference to Lena Dunham, but I was wrong! Lena explores and examines everyday life topics such as work, love & sex and the body with a diverse range of guests. If like me, you could make a career of sitting on Youtube watching her speak, then you will know what to expect: plenty of very frank, raw and sensitive discussion, often relating to feminism.

Podcast Length: About an hour
Frequency: There are currently 5 podcasts which were made last year
Host: Lena Dunham
Audience: I would say that this would most likely appeal to teen girls to women in their thirties, but if you enjoy this and you're outside those brackets then that's great!

Oxford Brookes University Publishing Podcasts

This one is a bit niche but if you're interested in pursuing a career in the publishing industry then I would definitely recommend it. Oxford Brookes University run a prestigious Masters course in Publishing. The department broadcasts talks with well-established professionals in the publishing industry on topical issues such as 'eBooks in Schools', 'Becoming the New Publisher' and 'Managing Change in Publishing'. It also tackles relevant topics for students or graduates hoping to get their foot in the door, including 'Building a Career in Publishing' and 'Career Options in Publishing'.

Podcast Length: Usually under an hour
Frequency: A wealth of podcasts exist from 2006-2015, however there haven't been any posted this year
Hosts: Various
Audience: Anybody seeking advice about entering the publishing industry

Woman's Hour Daily Podcast

Broadcast on BBC Radio 4, Woman's Hour presents reports, interviews and debates on health, education, cultural and political topics aimed at women. Woman’s Hour claims to be a 'powerful advocate for women’s empowerment'.  I like to pick and choose which podcasts I listen to based on which guests they have and what issue they are discussing, but because they are daily, there is regularly something of interest.


Podcast Length: 45 - 55 mins
Frequency: Monday - Saturday
Hosts: Jane Garvey and Jenni Murray
Audience: Women (and Men!)

The Listening Project

The Listening Project seeks to capture the nation in conversation to build a unique picture of our lives today to preserve it for future generations. I find listening to the thoughts, opinions and worries of others strangely cathartic and very insightful and I like the fact that they're short.




Podcast Length: 13 - 14 mins (yes, it's very specific and I applaud the production team!)
Frequency: Weekly
Host: Fi Glover
Audience: Anybody

Part I: Half Bad Trilogy Review - Half Bad

***Spoiler Alert***

SYNOPSIS

If you're into gripping beginnings, Half Bad does not disappoint. We find Nathan locked up in a cage being treated like an animal by Celia, a white witch. With years of abuse, Nathan manages to escape, but the world outside his cage is an unpleasant one. His mother is a white witch whilst his father, Marcus, is a nefarious black witch and is known for heartless murdering. Nathan is a 'half code', half-white and half-black. The white witch Council make their hatred known for half codes, and with Nathan's father notorious for the brutal murder of white witches, he is top of the hit list. Nathan is constantly on the run from the militant force sent out by the Council, the hunters, meanwhile desperate to receive his three gifts from his father before his seventeenth birthday in order to become a proper witch. He is forced to run from white witch, Annalise, the girl he loves as their love is condemned by her horrible white witch brothers. Marcus arrives just in time to give Nathan his gifts, but disappears again, leaving Nathan alone and still on the run from the hunters. 

REVIEW

I never would normally have picked out Half Bad as 'Witchy YA' is not usually my thing at all. However, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Half Bad is fast paced and exciting. I was totally caught up in Nathan's struggle, being trapped in a world that doesn't accept him. This was definitely helped along by the strong first-person narrative, almost stream of consciousness style in parts. 

Having watched all the videos reviewing the Half Bad series, one thing that lots of people are saying is that the romance between Annalise and Nathan is improbable and one that seems to 'stem from nowhere'. I disagree. She doesn't judge Nathan regardless of his situation and offers him a place of comfort and escape in their weekly meet-ups. I think naturally he would fall for her. Plus there's the whole 'forbidden romance' thing. It's classic! Comparatively we don't spend much time on Annalise in the novel, and perhaps her character isn't developed too much, and that's why people find it's quite hard to warm to her character (it doesn't help that her brothers torture Nathan!). 

The chapters are very short and the prose is very easy to follow. The narrative is interspersed with lists and bullet points and symbols. I really like that this is feature of Sally Green's writing, as it just creates a little extra point of intrigue when you read the story. 

Something I take from this book (and indeed its sequel, Half Wild) is Nathan's ability to be positive in any given awful situation. Through being captured and beaten in the beginning, he trains his mind to get through it. The book starts with a quote from Shakespeare's finest, Hamlet: "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so". I think that's a fantastic life lesson!

I'm rating this one 4/5. A great read, available on Amazon here. 

Watch this space for Part II of this review, for Half Wild, which will be along shortly. 

   

Dear Stranger: Letters on the Subject of Happiness

I first came across Dear Stranger through an extract published in The Times. Published by Penguin in partnership with the mental health charity, Mind, Dear Stranger is comprised of 'letters' written by various authors, journalists and bloggers on the subject of happiness (including Marian Keyes, Rachel Joyce, Alain de Botton, Caitlin Moran). The extract was Caitlin Moran's letter. That was enough for me to decide to put this book on my birthday list, because I have a full-blown obsession! Observe the brilliance of the below quote from Caitlin Moran's letter.

"...you must not treat yourself any less courteously than you would a loved one, or a team-mate. You cannot spend days bitching at yourself, saying 'You are worthless', 'You said a stupid thing', 'You always make these same mistakes, and your knees are fat. Indeed the mistake you keep making is to have fat knees. You are a terminally fat-kneed clown.'

You would not stay silent if you saw someone being so repeatedly vile to someone else - if someone spoke to your brother, or sister, like this. You would find them. You would ride into battle on a horse against them. And yet, look at all the things you are saying to you."

Most of the letters are just two to three pages of thoughtful snippets about mental illness, depression, recovery and happiness, each providing food for thought on the subject. I love reading something that I know will stay with me long into the future, and this book certainly provides many sentiments that will do that.

Also contributing to the book is the illustrator of Alfie childrens' story books, Shirley Hughes, childrens' illustrator, Nicholas Allan and Private Eye cartoonist Tony Husband, with thoughtful insights given in picture-form.

The letters in the book are set out like chapters, one for each contributor, which makes it easy to flick through and read them in any order that takes your fancy. It's not necessary to read them consecutively as they appear in the book, though of course you could if you wanted to. This would be a great book to read alongside a novel (I know some people hate this idea), because reading a few pages really isn't at all taxing.

The last thing I will say about Dear Stranger is that I was rather disappointed that Stephen Fry didn't appear in the list of contributors. As the President of the Mind charity, I would have thought this would be a no-brainer for him, and I think he could have done something really interesting, but no such luck. His autobiographies serve much the same purpose, I suppose.

All profits from the sale of Dear Stanger (at least £3 per copy sold) will be donated to Mind (a registered charity, number 219830), available on Amazon here and through Waterstones here.

Book Review: Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding

I hope you're all having a lovely Easter weekend!

I thought I'd stop by with another book review. I bought Bridget Jones's Diary a few years ago whilst I was at university, and somehow it took this long to make its way into my hands again. Most of my reading time occurs on the train to and from London for work. If like me, you read in public spaces, let me warn you now, you will laugh out loud and you won't be able to control it!

Bridget writes to us in diary entries for a year, detailing her hysterical exploits in love, work and friendship (I'm sure you've seen the film...who hasn't!). Despite knowing all the words to the film backwards, it was nice to read the book, as there were some differences in plot! In the book, Bridget's mother gets into quite shocking situation with a criminal who relieves the family and friends of all their money, leaving Mark Darcy to save the day!

I loved this book, and although some of the references now are rather outdated (confusion over how to use the TV recording set and lack of mobile phones), it doesn't affect the story at all! In fact, I think I really read this book at the right time as I am about to move to London, and I have just got a job in Publishing, like Bridget! So from that perspective it was fun to read!

I recommend this book if you have done a lot of 'heavy' reading recently and want something lighter for a change!

I am rating this book 5 stars because Bridget Jones is the ultimate chick-lit novel! It doesn't really come better!

A Month In Book-World

So much has happened in my first month of work in PR, it's madness! I thought I'd share some of it here, in case it helps anybody who is thinking of working in books, publishing or PR to find out what goes on. My first month was quite events-heavy (no complaints, I met some amazing people!).

The first thing on the schedule was the YA Book Prize, an event to celebrate and recognise the growing success of young-adult fiction. This was the first year that it has run, and I think all will agree, it's a fantastic idea. 

The event, hosted by The Bookseller, was held at Foyles in Charing Cross and was a fantastic evening. Most of the authors including Sally Green (Half Bad), Non Pratt (Trouble) and YA Book Prize winner Louise O'Neill (Only Ever Yours) were there to celebrate. 

Highlights for me were spending the evening amongst such a talented bunch and meeting some really lovely people, including Rosianna from YouTube (I fangirled a little bit), who was on the judges' panel and was there to announce the award! 

Rosianna Halse Rojas announcing the winner

Louise O'Neill accepting her award

 The shortlisted books on display in Foyles, Charing Cross

The Shortlistees

A few days later the British Library held The Folio Prize Fiction Festival. Panels of shortlisted authors (a favourite of mine was Jeanette Winterson) were given a topic to discuss (conflict, desire, betrayal etc.). Watching these was fantastic, as they all had thought-provoking, insightful things to say on their topics, and it was interesting to watch the small panels of authors bounce off each other. The floor was then opened for the audience to ask questions, which was a nice idea.

From a work perspective, the main job was to look after the authors and running the book signings after each lecture. Having this responsibility was a first for me, and the experience of meeting authors I love was incredible! A couple of the authors really stood out to me during their lectures, and I definitely want to check them out based on how they came across; Colm Toibin (Nora Webster), Ali Smith (How to be Both) and Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor (Dust).

I took lots of photos of the weekend, but here are a few of my favourites...

Book signing with Yvonne, A M Homes and Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor and Jeanette Winterson 

 Press photos 

 Colm Toibin 

 Ali Smith

 Lecture: On Inheritance with A M Homes, Jeanette Winterson and Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor in conversation with Mark Lawson

 Lecutre: On Endings with Jon Dunthorne, Jon McGregor, Justine Picardie and Suzi Feay in conversation

On Betrayal: Ben Lerner 

The Monday after the Folio Prize Fiction Festival weekend, was prizegiving event. This was held at St Pancras Rennaisance Hotel, and was a very fancy affair with frocks and cocktails! The main job here was to welcome guests through the doors, helping the authors sign the books and being on hand when they went up on the stage. Congratulations goes to Akhil Sharma for winning the Folio Prize on the night, for his book Family Life! I will leave you with this picture of the team (I am on the right!).   

xx

Book Review: The Insect Farm by Stuart Prebble

I have never really dabbled in crime or thriller fiction before. I started The Shining by Stephen King, and freaky though it was, for some reason or another, I never got to the end (nothing against Stephen King, if anything, it might just have been 1) the fact that it's a HUGE book and 2) it gave me nightmares). I certainly didn't have that problem with The Insect Farm. The plot is so brilliantly strange, that it kept me eagerly reading as fast as possible so I could find out what happens. 

Two brothers, Jonathan and Roger each have an obsession; for Jonathan it is his talented and beautiful girlfriend, Harriet. For Roger, it is the ecosystem of butterflies, beetles and creepy crawlies that he has collected which inhabit the shed at the bottom of the garden. Tragedy strikes in the family, leaving Jonathan to look after Roger on his own. However the circumstances of the tragedy are curious, and Jonathan is left to try and understand what really went on. The story tells the tale of how far we go to protect those we love. 

I was gripped from the very beginning of this novel. It starts: "If you have been lucky enough to be able to tell the truth for most of your life, you probably cannot imagine how exhausting it is to spend forever living a lie". I love this line as an opening sentence because right away it forces you to reflect and look inwards. In some ways I think the way it does this to start with, then allows us to almost understand how the strange and horrifying events which subsequently occur could actually really happen. 

For me, as the plot unfolded, I was more and more horrified at the uncovered truth, but it is like looking at something really foul but being too intrigued and mystified to look away. I had to carry on reading! 

Buy The Insect Farm by Stuart Prebble from Amazon 

Published by Alma Books

This was 5/5 for me!! Let me know what you think!

What I'm Wearing

I'm about to start work in London tomorrow, at the PR company I previously had an internship with. As I was sorting out what I was going to wear (trying to be organised and do it the night before as my brain barely functions when I get up at 6.30am!), I thought I'd share it.

Laying out my outfit on my bed is a thing I've done forever - does anyone else do this? I even tuck things in on the bed so I can see how it'll look. After I photographed this outfit I even put tights underneath the skirt to make sure they'd go! To clarify, the top is a mustard colour but I don't think it came out very well in the photos - I don't want to start another 'blue/black or gold/white dress' situation!

I haven't decided what's going to go over the top of this yet, because if the weather is anything like it has been today, I'll need about six layers!!

---

Top - Warehouse, bought in the sale
Skirt - Monsoon
Necklace - Vintage

xx

Mother's Day

I hope you all had lovely Mother's Days!

I love to make Mum breakfast on her birthday or on Mother's day, as it's a simple way of doing something nice! I made poached eggs with salmon and hollandaise sauce on brioche toast this morning for Mum, of course with a cup of tea!

We then went for a lovely walk in the town of Buckden, where Mum grew up, not too far from us. We went to the church where she and Dad got married and had a little look round.

For lunch we took Mum out to East Restaurant in Peterborough, which is actually on a boat, which I find really cool! They do wonderful pan-Asian food; things like crispy noodles, Singapore curry, tempura vegetables, all so delicious!

 Mandarin Toast (above) 

After this delightful lunch, we came home to our dessert (after a rest!). I made orange and almond cake with passionfruit icing. This seemed to go down a treat, especially with a cup of tea (again, essential!). The recipe for the cake came from This Morning on ITV, the details of which can be found here. I definitely recommend this one, it was easy, and that's coming from me!!

I sprinkled some freeze-dried raspberries on the top, which wasn't in the recipe but I went a bit crazy down the cake aisle of Waitrose! I had no idea which petals they were on about in the video (linked), but I couldn't find them, so I went for some delicate little iced rosebuds.

The cake seemed to be generally appreciated by the whole family, evidenced by the above picture!

I hope you all had a lovely time and managed to celebrate in some way! Let me know in the comments or link your blog if you posted anything, as I'd love to read about it!


xx

Graduate Work Tip

Here I am, being good and finally getting round to doing this post, which has been in my brain for a really long time now.

As I have said here before, being a graduate and looking for a job is seriously no easy thing. Along with the difficult application forms, getting your CV right and knowing what it is you even want to do (argh!), there's the stress of it all! I found that after weeks of solidly filling out applications to jobs, I was losing motivation and getting, if I'm honest, kinda depressed. Speaking to various friends, I know I wasn't alone in this.

One simple, yet amazing little tip I wanted to share is document what you apply for. It sounds like an obvious thing, but imagine if you spend a month applying for jobs, you'd definitely start losing track of what you'd already applied for. My method was using an Excel spreadsheet.

Surprisingly, I found this a really motivating thing to do. I found huge satisfaction out of watching the list grow as I put the effort in. It's something that you can always come back to. Now I'm coming to the end of the work experience I'm currently doing, I can come back to this list and add to it as I start applying again. As a fan of lists, I just love the organisation of this, and it actually encourages me to apply for more.  

More to come, 

Good luck guys!

x

Errrrm...Change of Plan!

Oh how the tides have turned and the seas have changed! In my last post, I was set to go to Oxford to do a Masters degree. I am not in Oxford. I am not doing a Masters degree. I am about to finish my last week at a local high street drug/beauty shop whose name rhymes with 'hoots', and start some work experience at a literary PR/Marketing firm in London. About a week before I was meant to go to Oxford, I had a very 'un-me' panicky and emotional outburst, where I realised I actually didn't want to go at all. I realised I don't want to do more education, I just want a job I'm happy with. Even if that means I'm at the bottom, working my way up.

Life is a big question mark in all departments currently, and although this is stressful, anxiety-inducing and unsettling for someone who needs some kind of control, I'm grateful for the opportunity.

Songs listened during this blogpost: Hozier - Take Me To Church, Paramore - Still into You, Interpol - All the Rage Back Home, Royal Blood - Little Monster

Summer Progress

I'd be so intrigued to read other peoples' blog posts about the summer directly after they've finished university. If you're not lucky enough to have a job lined up ready and waiting (we all know those annoying people!) then the summer can be a stressful and pressuring slog.

Having left university, I had 100% ruled out all possibility of doing a Masters degree. For me it seemed like too much of an academic direction to go in, when I knew I wanted to get into the publishing industry. It also just seemed like A LOT of hard work when I'd just finished my BA (Hons) degree, complete with dissertation! After a bit of searching around into the world of publishing, I noticed first that a Publishing degree was a thing, and second that lots of people seemed to have one, or were talking about it. I am told that it is not necessary to have an MA in publishing to get into the industry, but my attempts were clearly not working (many rejections - most likely on the grounds of not enough experience). I applied for the MA at Oxford Brookes, not really thinking too much of it (as I was still hoping a job might come my way!), but after the personal statement was written and telephone interview was held, I got in! As of now - the MA is the official plan! Mental!

I'm very much looking forward to living in Oxford for the year, as I've heard good things about the city!

I'd love to hear about anybody else's plans for the future, or how your post-uni summer is going?

Who Got Me Through

That's it. My final essay has been submitted today, and it's all done. There's a frenzied sense of finality in the air, but my mind is taking this in many different directions. I feel happy that the late-night, dreary-eyed essay slogs have finished, proud that I've managed to complete my dissertation and all my assignments and achieve the grades I have. But also I feel sad that the routine of work and lectures and deadlines has been snatched away. I feel odd that soon the living space I have called home for the past two years will soon belong to somebody else. Finally I will feel sad that the city I have loved will no longer be "mine".

That is my necessary 'homage' to uni, but that is not what this post is about. I wanted to say thank you, in my own little way, to the music that has got me through my degree. Mainly this was through the medium of albums uploaded to YouTube, which I would listen to through my headphones on my laptop or on the library computers.

First, and possibly most frequently listened to is the Ellie Goulding album 'Halcyon Days'. Only now, writing this post I have looked up the meaning of the term 'halcyon days', and it means 'denoting a period of time in the past that was idyllically happy and peaceful' (according to Oxford Dictionary). Ironic seeing as I was not feeling peaceful tapping out those essays! 

Next is a completely different genre, of the classical variety. The serenity of this music (although, it's not all serene) really got me through the hard times. Sometimes I just can't be bothered with the poppy-ness of mainstream stuff and so I found this! 

Finally (there are many, but I want to keep some brevity in the hope that my dear readers do not drop off to sleep), is the album by Lorde, who I have come to adore. What a wonderful voice that girl has. Track favourites include 'Buzzcut Season' and 'Tennis Court'! 

Best wishes to those of you who have finished your degrees and also to those of you who still have this wonderful journey to look forward to! 


x

Finishing University

The inspiration for this blogpost has come from my general fear and anxiety of finishing uni and being booted out into the big wide world of uncertain ends and questionable job prospects. 


I, like thousands upon thousands of other people, am having to come to terms with the fact that unless I get my arse in gear, I'm going to be sitting round watching Jeremy Kyle all day, every day (this is what I tell people now when they ask what I'm doing after university, because this question, as I'm sure you all know, is very wearing when you don't know the answer). 


I vainly hope that perhaps in a year's time, I can come back here and be pleased and reassured of the progress I have made! So, future self: congrats if you're not a homeless, jobless, Jezza K watcher (although if you are homeless, how are you watching JK?). 


Getting back into the blogging scene (not that it ever fully kicked off), led me to remember a quote by Plato that one of my friends told me the other day; "the unexamined life is not worth living". In my blogging endeavors, I intend to do some kind of self-reflection, and I suppose in that sense, you could argue it is an 'examination' of my life. Plato, are you happy with this - lemme know in the comments ;) 

x