Book Reviews feat. Gillian Flynn

Sup planet dwellers! I'm having a little bit of a strop right now because I planned, wrote and formatted this entire post and then it suddenly disappeared completely. Pesky technology! I've subsequently had to re-write this entire post for your eyes.  In future, I might just send my book reviews via carrier pigeon to all of your homes. That'd be fun, right?! I read a nice little selection of books this month, some surprisingly good and some surprisingly disappointing. I feel like I've been a bit controversial this month which is rather liberating, indeed! You know the drill, leave some book recommendations in the comments and let me know what you thought of the following books!

Things That Make Me Happy 56

             

the meadow 

sweet pastries 

this must be the place by the talking heads

thorough documentaries

mounds of cupcake frosting

(photo credit)

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I have been sharing things that make me happy lists for years. If you'd like to read some more, you can scroll through the archive.

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How To Create Blackout Poetry

Oh hai, fellow humans and other creatures that have a penchant for lifestyle blogs! I'm back with another creative post for you all. This time I've tried my hand at blackout poetry, albeit a little unsuccessfully! Blackout poetry first caught my eye when I read a piece on Austin Kleon and his 'newspaper blackout' work. I thought it looked interesting and like something I could at least give a good go. To create blackout poetry, you basically take a body of work, have a play around with the words, black some out and turn it into something poetic. I'm remarkably shit at explaining  things, aren't I?! Whilst it's a little difficult to grasp at first, it's a creative activity that you can do both in the comfort of your own home and out and about. You could do it just for fun or you could even turn it into an educational game to keep your brain ticking over! It's a creative all rounder. Let me know if you give it a go in the comments! Here are some of my top tips for creating your very own...




BEE'S TOP TIPS FOR BLACKOUT POETRY BEGINNERS

1. gather a range of subjects and forms
If you're out and about, you might just want to pick up the nearest article to you and create from there. However, if you're at home, you may want to keep a handy little box full of creative snippets that you can turn to whenever creativity strikes. You could either keep a physical box of cuttings or you could utilize your pinterest / tumblr account and create an online board. You don't have to limit yourself to newspaper and magazine cuttings though: shopping lists, pages from old books, little notes, appointment slips, menus, blog posts and travel leaflets will do the job just as well! By using a varied range of forms, you're coming into contact with a variety of different tones, vocabularies and subject matters.

A Week In Zante, Greece

After enduring The World's Worst Summer last year, Luke and I decided to do something awesome this year to counterbalance it. Luke, however, managed to outdo himself and for our fourth anniversary back in February he surprised me with tickets for a holiday to Zante. What a gem. We had a lovely week relaxing by the pool, reading a multitude of books and eating good food. I took a few photographs along the way so, instead of writing a coherent post, I thought I'd sort of dump them here for your own perusal. The format is reminiscent of 'week in photos' posts circa 2010. Non?! in case you're wondering, we stayed at the Roseland Hotel in Kalamaki. I'd recommend it to those of you that just want a chilled low-key break. Make sure you're sitting comfortably because there's quite a few snaps....

// i love that british passports have unicorns on

// up in the air

// wearing flowers in my hair and my new babin' lipstick {kate moss rimmel}

// seriously good seabass and red snapper for dinner one evening



// pretty poolside view 

// being mega babes, as ever

// cocktails at our favourite bar - shirley temples & virgin mojitos, for me :: brightly coloured rum concoctions, for him



// luke's album cover...

// our pretty little hotel 



// creating my own meme - do you love it?

// sea bream with greek potatoes aka heaven

// luke on the beach :: t-shirt, Primark. shorts, Asos.

// swimming pool fun 

// prawns with butter, lemon and parsley. i may have had these on three occasions...



// outfit of the evening: all clothes,  primark, necklace, accessorize. hair thing, claires.



// beach feet



// sandy coloured stray cat that i so wanted to bring home



// taverna decor - the owner is a carpenter and he made everything himself!



// these flowers were everywhere 



// pizza



// poolside mullet glamour, bby. dat forehead doe...



// tanned tootsies :: sandals, primark. skirt, primark.

// a holiday isn't a holiday without lemon & exotic fanta



// sunkissed dinners


// beef stifado



// cloudy beach scenes - we had one stormy morning



// beautiful little bar 



// summer reads - reviews at the end of the month

Phew! I'm now super sad that I'm no longer in Greece. Boo. I also took two disposable cameras worth of photographs so I may update you and share those once I get them back! Drag the holiday out a little longer! Are you going anywhere this Summer? Where would you go if you could go anywhere in the world right now, whether it's near home or on the other side of the world? 

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If you'd like to scroll through all of my adventures then you can do so. 

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On My Shelf 2

It would seem you guys really enjoyed my last On My Shelf post so I'm here today with the second installment. Thanks for the handy reading tips that you left on my last post, by the way. I'm going to save Rebecca for a rainy autumnal day, as a result. Oh, and yes, as many of you pointed out, I own a lot of books. I may have picked up a couple of second hand books since my last post too...Can't say no to a ridiculously good deal. Play along and let me know what's on your shelf in the comments below, if you fancy it! 

@vivatramp 175
— laura (@Lauracandc) May 9, 2014

siddhartha by hermann hesse 
I was actually sent Siddhartha by the super inspiring Nina over at the little nomad as part of a #bloggerbookswap not too long ago.  You should definitely check out her video on self harm recovery, by the way. She's seriously inspiring. Siddhartha follows 'a young man, (who) leaves his family for a contemplative life, then, restless, discards it for one of the flesh'. It goes on to explore 'the true beginning of his life - the beginning of suffering, rejection, peace, and, finally, wisdom'.  This sounds like a hugely enlightening read so I think it's something that I'm going to save for next summer when my education comes to an end and I'm spending my days thinking about existential matters. I also own Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse that I also need to read. 

Book Reviews feat. Robin Black

May was a terrible month for me reading wise because I was so focused on other things.  As a result, I only managed to finish one book last month. I did, however, get half way through Brave New World by Aldous Huxley so keep your eyes peeled for that review next month. June should be a pretty good month of reading for me because, as you already know, I'm currently away in Greece and I've been known to read a few books a day when sunshine is involved! Here's my one and only book review for the month of May...