Currently Watching - 21/06/2016

I'm not good at binge watching tv shows, so I often end up watching a lot of different TV shows at the same time. With Pretty Little Liars returning to Netflix for it's final season tomorrow, I though I'd have a little run down of everything else that I'm currently watching and loving.

American Horror Story: Season 3

The Big Bang Theory: Season 9

 Dexter: Season 2

 Game Of Thrones: Season 6

 Jane The Virgin: Season 2

 Merlin: Season 2

 Orange Is The New Black: Season 2

 Archer: Season 4

Writing

Anyone who knew me in high school knows that I love to write. I'm not exactly amazing (actually, I don't really know whether I'm good or not) but I enjoy doing it. It has always been a sort of escape for me, something to distract me from all the crap in my life. When I started university, I decided to take a module in creative writing just to give me something a little more fun to do, but it sort did the opposite. I ended up critiquing all that I wrote, to the point that I stopped writing for a while. I just sort of realised that I wasn't what they wanted writers to be, and I put myself down for it. So it took me a year and a half to actually go back to my writing without looking at all the faults and over-thinking it all. Finally, I'm getting back to it and I'm so, so happy. I just thought I would write a little bit about it, because I've starting publishing it on Wattpad and it would be great if people could just have a look and let me know what they thought. So here is a link to my profile, if you would like to take a look.

https://www.wattpad.com/user/KayleighDiane

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl Review

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

My Rating: 3/5 Stars
Goodreads Average Rating: 3.59/5 Stars

There was so much hype surrounding this book, and I have to admit that this is what made me buy it. So many people on YouTube were saying how good this was, how funny and refreshing and new. So after all the hype, I was just disappointed. It's not a bad book, it really isn't, but it's really not as good as so many people made out.

I like the writing style. It is a very self aware novel, which I enjoy, and it is experimental in its use of scripts and lists and similar things. The title were often humorous, even though they weren't laugh out loud funny. I shared Rachel's appreciation of Hugh Jackman, because who wouldn't? And the part about making a film of the book was sort of funny now that there is one. But so many people were saying this book was hilarious and they couldn't stop laughing, but all I got was the occasional "huh, that's funny".

Why wouldn't you have posters of this guy all over your room?

The biggest downside of this book is that the characters are just so unlikable. Yeah, I get that they were mean to seem real in how they act, but damn they were horrible people. Rachel was a flat character, and we had no attachment to her, Earl was a racial stereotype gone wild, and Greg was just a dick.

Maybe the film of this will be worth a watch, but I wouldn't recommend the book because it was so underwhelming. I can't say that there are any really stand out points about this novel.

Have you read this book? What did you think?

Jan/Feb/Mar Book Overview

Here are all the books that I read in January, February and March (and the ones I didn't quite finish).

Persuasion - Jane Austen
My Rating - 2/5 Stars
I didn't actually finish this because I just cannot get on with Austen's writing. I know how popular and celebrated she is as a writer, but I found most of what she said completely unnecessary and so I gave up.

Dracula - Bram Stoker
My Rating - 3/5 Stars
Again, I didn't finish this, I had to read it for university and got about half way through before I had a lecture on it. I skimmed through the rest just so I know what I was talking about, but I don't think its as amazing as its reputation makes you believe.

Slaughterhouse Five - Kurt Vonnegut
My Rating - 4/5 Stars
I loved this book. It was so wacky and unexpected, making something as devastating as the firebombing of Dresden into a much more light hearted novel that involves aliens and time travel. It probably wont be for everyone, but I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone.

Hogwarts House Dilemma

Like so many people my ages, I have a deep rooted love for all things Harry Potter. I will never forget the waiting for the new book, begging my parents to take me to see the latest film and the many (its sort of embarrassing how many) hours I spent reading and writing Harry Potter fanfiction. So of course, when Pottermore was founded in 2009, I couldn't wait to get stuck in.

The main thing I wanted to do was find out my Hogwarts house, and back then you had to go through all this other stuff first so I just sped through it all, completed the quiz and quickly as possible, and got sorted into Gryffindor. I'll be honest, I was a little bit disappointed. I'd always thought of myself as a Ravenclaw and because of this, I ended up staying away from Pottermore for a while. A few years later I went back, created a new account, and got sorted into Ravenclaw! I was so happy, and felt like this was the house I belonged in. I've always seen myself as being a Ravenclaw, and that is what I've always said is my house (not that many people ask or even care, but whatever).

2016 TBR

This is my TBR for the rest of the year. I've set myself a Goodreads Reading Challenge of 40 books, and I have already read 10 of these, so here is everything else that I want to read this year.

1. Me And Earl And The Dying Girl - Jesse Andrews
2. The Hours - Michael Cunningham
3. The City and the City - China Mieville
4. We Were Liars - E Lockhart
5. Warm Bodies - Isaac Marion
6. The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern
7. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August - Claire North
8. If On A Winter's Night A Traveler - Italo Calvino
9. All The Bright Places - Jennifer Niven
10. The Final Empire - Brandon Sanderson
11. A Gathering of Shadows - V. E. Schwab
12. The Assassin's Blade - Sarah J. Maas
13. Throne of Glass - Sarah J. Maas (reread)
14. Crown of Midnight - Sarah J Maas (reread)
15. Heir of Fire - Sarah J. Maas
16. Queen of Shadows - Sarah J. Maas
17. Fairest - Marissa Meyer (reread)
18. Cinder - Marissa Meyer (reread)
19. Scarlet - Marissa Meyer (reread)
20. Cress - Marissa Meyer (reread)
21. Winter - Marissa Meyer
22. Trumpet - Jackie Kay
23. There But For The - Ali Smith
24. Blonde Roots - Bernadine Evaristo
25. Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood
26. A Court of Mist and Fury - Sarah J. Maas
27. Heartless - Marissa Meyer
28. The Girl With All The Gifts - M. R. Carey

A Little Something

It's Easter Sunday, and I'm sat at home listening to the rain his the conservatory roof, so I thought I would start to write.

As a first post, I would just like to say that this blog is going to be me. I won't stick to just one thing, but will talk about anything that I find interesting. There wont be a set schedule, as least not for now, other than at least one post per week. As I said, these posts could be about anything, but please do let me know if there are certain things that you want to see and I will be happy to oblige.

For now, that's it. I just wanted to get this going. I may end up deleting this when I have some content, but I may also make it my aim to keep everything that I write on here so that this is a true reflection of me, and not something filtered for viewing.

Bye for now