September Wrap Up and October To Be Read

September has gone and we're now officailly in October, which to me always feels like the start of autumn, when the nights are longer, and you start going to work in the dark and come home in the dark!

Even though September has been a really busy month work wise for me, I've not done too bad with my reading!

September- Wrap Up

My original September list only had 4 books on it as I wasn't sure what i would get chance to read. 

My list was as follows:

❤ Meraki by Naomi Kelly

❤ No Offence by Meg Cabot

❤ The Kissing Booth by Beth Reekles

❤ No Big Deal by Bethany Rutter

What Did I Actually Read?

Throughout September I managed to read 5 books, 3 of which were on my list. 

📚 Meraki by Naoimi Kelly (27.08.2020) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I really enjoyed this story and the different themesnit incorporated. But I do have a full review on the blog, as I was apart of the bookstagram tour.

📚 No Offence by Meg Cabot (02.09.2020-08.09.2020) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I have no words, other than I loved this book. Meg Cabot is my favourite author and I dont think I've ever read a book by her I've not enjoyed, but it was brilliant. 

The romance build up and the miscommunication between the two main characters, was well written and just a lovely feel good contemporary read.

📚 The Kissing Booth by Beth Reekles (09.09.2020-15.09.2020) ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

I watched both films that Netflix produced for this series when they were both released last year and this year, and I enjoyed both, so when I saw both books in a shop I had to get them.

But I'm so glad I did, as I loved both of them, I tried reading a different book between but really wanted to read book 2 so I put the other book dow  and read the second book.

I loved the writing style and how easy the story was to follow, and it has made me want to read a lot more contemporary novels.

📚 One Night on the Virgins Terms by Melanie Milburne (09.09.2020-11.09.2020)⭐⭐⭐

📚 The Kissing Booth 2 by Beth Reekles (21.09.2020-24.09.2020

October - To Be Read

My October TBR is pretty much the same as last month, but with one less book, as I have a feeling that  work is going to be just as busy through October as it was in September.

Bar 1 book, they're all fantasy books, with 2 sequels and a contemporary thrown in for good measure to get me motivated!

The books I want to read this month are:

❤ Furyborn

❤ American Royals 2: Majesty 

❤ Bright Raven Skies

❤ Blood and Honey

What did you read through September? 

What are you hoping to read in Octoebr?

I hope you're all staying safe.

Vanessa 😊

Book Review - Meraki by Naomi Kelly

Today I have a book review for you!

Meraki: A Syren Story by Naomi Kelly

As a note before I begin, I was sent a copy of this book by Naomi, as I applied to read and review the book through Bibliophile Tours.

Do you like enemies to lovers, Greek and sea mythology? If so this is the book for you.

What Does the Bit on the Back Say:

Seventeen year old Wren thinks she has just swum away from the greatest threat in the sea. That’s until she finds herself being hauled upon a warlord’s boat. With her life at the mercy pf a young temperamental king, Wren must decide who her ultimate enemy is.

 The Story

The story instantly starts with Wren being captured after leaving her home. Wren isn't best impressed with this development, but she uses all of her wiles to escape, unfortunately it doesn’t work.

King Kellan is out for revenge, and will do anything, including kidnap a Syren to get them back.

As the voyage to land and to the rescue progresses, you can see the relationship between Wren and the humans change, they slowly open up to each other and slowly trust each other and make sacrifice’s for each other.

By the mid-way point Wrens past is calling her back and along the way she discovers some secrets about her life and her family which may change many things. Its at this part of the book where there is a change, the action and the romance side both grew and I really enjoyed theway the  ending of the story.

 My Thoughts

There are times, when Wren acts like a child that doesn’t get her own way, which was a bit frustrating at times, but given the circumstances, I can allow it!

I really enjoyed the interaction between Wren and Kellan, they’re a bit like magnets, both strong and independent, but when facing toward each other in the wrong way, they repel each other, but as soon as they finally take the time to see each other, they attract. 

This book isn't huge and it's a stand alone novel, so the fact that you get so much action and a completed story I'd brilliant.

As much as I enjoy long stories, sometimes those stories take a while to get to the point, whereas Naomi Kelly takes you straight to the action  and ends the story on a high!

**Spoiler**

This may be classed as spoil-ery, but some people may take issue with it, but I loved it and think that its noteworthy.

And that is to do with Wren choosing not to have children. As I said, I liked that this was included, as it is very rare to see in, especially in YA stories, and something refreshing to see.

Recommendations

When I first received this book, I read the blurb to my mum, and she was like 'that sounds good' and since I finished the book a few weeks ago, she has slowly been making her way through it (shes a slow reader and hasn't got far) but she said shes enjoying it so far!

Item to Note

I believe that this is a self published novel, so I did notice some grammatical errors and words where they shouldn't be, but for me it didn't really affect the story.

Rating All ratings will be out of 5.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

August Wrap Up and September To Be Read

August seems to have flown past, I keep feeling like we should only be in May or June, not in September.

August - Wrap Up

My August wrap up was quite ambitious, I had 6 books on my list. 

My list was as follows:

❤ Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier

❤ The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh

❤ The Damned by Renee Ahdieh

❤ The Night Country by Melissa Albert

❤ Remembrance (A Mediator Novel)

❤ Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

What Did I Actually Read?

Throughout August I managed to read 5 books, 3 of which were on my list. I went through a slight reading slump and it took me quite a while to finish the books I started, even though I really enjoyed all the books I read. 

📚 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (29.07.2020-04.08.2020) ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

📚 The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh (05.08.2020-18.08.2020) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I loved this book, I loved the way the book was written, but I have a full review about my thoughts on the book, which was uploaded on 31.08.2020.

📚 The Damned by Renee Ahdieh (18.08.2020-27.08.2020) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I loved this book as much as I loved the first one!

📚 Expecting His Billion Dollar Scandal by Cathy Williams (19.08.2020-19.08.2020) ⭐⭐.5

📚 The Sicilians Banished Bride by  Maya Blake (20.08.2020-22.08.2020) ⭐⭐⭐

September - To Be Read

My September TBR isn't as ambitious as last month. I know that I'm going to be very busy at work throughout the month of September, so I've only put 4 books on my list.

Bar 1 book, they're all contemporary books, which Im hoping I'll be able to read quicker!

The books I want to read this month are:

❤ Meraki by Naomi Kelly

❤ No Offense by Meg Cabot

❤ The Kissing Booth by Beth Reekles

❤ No Big Deal by Beth Rutter

What did you read through August? 

What are you hoping to read in September?

I hope you're all staying safe.

Vanessa 😊

The Beautiful and The Damned by Renee Ahdieh - Book Review

Today’s review is going to be centred all on Renee Ahdieh’s latest series; The Beautiful and The Damned.

Do you like the TV show The Originals?

If you said yes, you will love this series, all the way through this series, I got serious Klaus and family vibes from these books!

The Beautiful 

 The story starts in The Beautiful in the early 1800s, with our main character Celine, having travelled across the Atlantic Ocean from Paris to New Orleans in search of a new life, with secrets in tow.

 During her first few days in New Orleans, she is introduced by Odette to a hedonistic side of the city, where she meets our second main character Bastien, who is the nephew of a prominent business man, who has fingers in all sorts of pies.

 Whilst being introduced to the Court of the Lions, a serial killer in roaming New Orleans, with the intent to bring down Bastien and his Uncle for the sins of Nicodemus’ past. Our killer has seen the impact Celine has on Bastien and has taken an interest, and has her in their sights.

 

I loved how this world was written and the way the story flowed was wonderful, nothing felt rushed or hurried along. I'm usually very good at figuring out who a mystery villain in a story is, but in this story, the villain, was someone, who I never thought it would be!

The story ends with a huge cliff-hanger, and I am so glad that I had The Damned to read straightaway afterwards, otherwise I would not have been a happy bunny!

 I also really liked that the budding romance between Celine and Bastien wasn’t in the forefront of the story, it complimented the murder mystery aspect without making either feel redundant.

 The Damned

I’m not going to go into too much detail regarding the story of The Damned, as it’ll be quite spoilery for the ending of The Beautiful, and its still quite a new release.

The only criticism I had about the Beautiful, is that I would have liked a heading over the chapters when It changed point of view, as there some moments where I got a little confused, but The Damned fixed that issue, by adding whose point of view we were in at the start of each chapter.

Some people may dislike multiple points of view, I personally felt like it added so much more to the story and helped to give the story more life.

The Damned jumps straight in where The Beautiful left off.

The Damned explores more about the relationship between Bastien and his family and looks at how they became a family and explores their past.

We also get a look into some of the secrets from Celine's past and the after effects on her after what happened in The Beautiful.

The Damned grips you from the first page, and you want to continue reading to find out more.

I really hope that there's going to be at least another book in this series, as this book was left on a cliff hanger and I have more questions about where the story's going.

Favourite Quote

Love is looking at someone as if the stars shine in their eyes The Beautiful 

She was not a damsel in distress, waiting to be rescued by a knight on a shining horse The Damned

Rating

The Beautiful ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Damned ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

If you've read this book, what did you think?

I hope you're all keeping well and safe :)

Vanessa

20 and 21 Weeks of Lockdown!

20 Weeks, 4.6 Months, 140 Days, 3360 Hours, 201600 Minutes...How do you measure the life of Lockdown...through a new weekly blog!

Saturday 8th August

After the awful day that was Friday, I decided to continue on with my decision to walk up the Cloud.

I can say this now, but walking up there, it was one of the best things I've done during Lockdown.

I did the walk on my own, and whilst it might have been nice having company, I think going up there on my own for a first go was what I needed, even though I had to stop every so often for a breather, as I was very much out of breath, and kept trying to talk myself out of it!

I'll pop some pictures below.

This is the start with the staircase up the trail.

This was when I was on one of the trails, this was the view looking down the way.

This was the view up the way of the trail!

This is going through the heather woodland area.

I finally made it to the top!

With some pretty epic views!

When I was finished, I headed down a different route, which was a bit more rocky and it didnt take half as long walking back as it did going up!

When I got back to the car, I drove to nanas to pick her up on the way home, as my parents were having a little gathering for their anniversary.

When I got home I went and got myself ready. 

It was a lovely evening, there was good food, a good quiz and good people.

Sunday 9th August 

Last night was one of the worst night sleeps I've had in a good long while!

I always think, that if I've done a lot of walking, been more active than usual, I'll sleep better, needless to say last night I didnt, I dont know if because it was a bit warm it had an issue, as I thought I'll sleep on top of my covers with a blanket, but I tossed and turned and kept waking up every 30-45 minutes. 

Finally i made the decision  to get under my covers, and I think I fell back to sleep in 5 minutes, and didnt wake up till around 7.30.

So I know now, to sleep under my covers, even when its warm!

After Friday's incident with losing my week 19 blog post, I spent till about 10.30 writing up that blog.

I then got myself ready, as I wanted to nip to the co-op to get some pop, as my friend Lauren was coming over for a late lunch catch up as Mum and Dad are away for their Anniversary from today until Tuesday and I'm on Barlow duty.

I said to Lauren, that I would make some pancakes for her, after we had a previous discussion about American pancakes and, as it's my usual day of making them, it would be wrong not to!

Whilst I was waiting for Lauren, I got the pancake batter ready and read some more of The Beautiful and filmed some bookish questions for a future blog post.

So Barlow, who is the most cat like dog and doesn't always give his love freely, loved Lauren, he was soon to sit on her knee and make sure he was sitting next to her for most of the afternoon!

It was lovely having Lauren over, we had good old catch up and natter, and I also introduced her to one of my favourite TV shows, Rookie Blue 

After Lauren went home, I did the washing up from lunch and then took Barlow for a walk, as he hadn't been out.

It was a lovely walk, with the sun setting and the sky all pinky orange.

After we got back from our walk, I decided to continue watching Rookie Blue, and managed to watch another episode before going to bed.

Monday 10th August

Today was my first full day of looking after Barlow, as the parents were away.

I got up early, about 7ish to let Barlow out. I hadn't slept well last night, so whilst he was outside, I laid down on the sofa, and had a small nap, about 5 minutes in, Barlow came to sit with me.

We stayed like this till about 10, when we got up and had some breakfast.

After that i watched a few more episodes of Rookie Blue.

After this, we had some lunch and started watching Sweet Magnolias and ended up watching the whole series by the end of the day. It was actually pretty good.

About 5.30ish I took Barlow for a walk, then we had tea.

Tuesday 11th August

I woke up about 6, and then couldn't get back to sleep so I got up and came to sit with Barlow. I got the blanket and curled up on the sofa with him.

I think we dozed for a couple of hours, so by 10, I was getting changed to head up to Hanley to my hairdressers to get a colour test before my appointment on saturday. 

I got home an hour later and sat with Barlow and read a bit more of The Beautiful.

After 2, the parents came home from their trip away.

In the afternoon I read quite a lot more of The Beautiful, the more it progresses, the more I'm intrigued by this story.

Just before tea, I took Barlow out for a quick walk, even at 7 o'clock it's still too warm to take him for his usual trek in the fields.

I spent a lot of the evening continuing my read of The Beautiful.

Wednesday 12th August

I had an awful nights sleep, I think because it was quite muggy it just felt to warm to get comfortable. 

Even though we had thunderstorms last night the noise from the thunder and the rain, was soothing and helped to make me feel tired.

Due to my disjointed nights sleep, I slept in till about half 9.

I got up and went to have some breakfast, as I was planning on spending the afternoon completing my 5th assignment for my course.

Just as I was washing up, my dad wanted some help with some pictures he needed putting into an electronic collage. 

Then he wanted help setting up his internet banking.

Then he wanted help creating a Moonpig card for their friends Anniversary.

All of this took up until about 3ish, and I had done none of my assignment.

He then wanted some more technical help.

After this I started off making a roast dinner for tea, and chopped up some potatoes and got some frozen veg ready.

After tea I sat in the garden for a bit with mum before going to bed.

Whilst in bed I watched the latest episode of FBI before trying to get some sleep.

Thursday 13th August 

Last night was another disjointed sleep because of the mugginess. So far this week I've kept waking up at 3.30 without fail and then it takes another half an hour to get back to sleep, and its rather annoying.

As I didnt get chance to do any of my assignment yesterday, I spent a lot of the day reading some more of my course material and starting the first couple of questions.

At lunch time mum asked me to do tea. So after lunch I continued doing some of my questions.

Whilst progressing with my assignment I continued watching Rookie Blue.

It doesnt matter how many times I watch this show, i still really enjoy it.

Once 5 hit, I went down to the kitchen and started on making a chicken and bacon pasta bake.

I dont want to sound smug, but it was very very good if I do say so myself! 

The secret to my recipe is that I brown the chicken with the bacon on the bacon frying pan and used a mixture of 3 cheeses, mild and mature cheddar and a bit of grated mozzarella.

After tea i read some more of The Beautiful.

Friday 14th August

Friday was very much in the same vein as Thursday I spent a lot of the day finishing off the questions section of my assignment.

Again whilst doing my assignment I continued watching Rookie Blue, today I managed to get on to Season 2.

After tea, I took Barlow for a quick walk, as it wasnt as warm as it has been, and he will less likely feel too warm.

When I got back from walking Barlow, I just didnt feel like finishing my assignment, so I decided in would finish that tomorrow after I've been to the hairdresser.

So instead I continued watching Rookie Blue.

So that was my 20th week of Lockdown, hopefully it'll end soon!

Because I forgot to post last week, I've joined week 20, with week 21!

So you get 2 weeks for the price of 1!

WEEK 21 OF LOCKDOWN 

21 weeks of lockdown, and also my FINAL week of lockdown!

Saturday 15th August 

Saturday is my hairdressing day! Which I am so looking forward to, as my hair is a complete and utter mess.

Whilst I was waiting for the colour to develop, I'd brought along my kindle, and started reading The Night Country.

Here is the before

and here is the after

By the time I got home, my sister was there, which was nice as I hadn't seen or spoken to her in a few days.

Whilst she was there, she did my eyebrows and my mums.

Her doing my mums was hilarious, as Barlow got jealous that mum was sitting next to someone that wasn't him!

After Nat went home, I went upstairs and finished the last section of my assignment and sent it off.

When I came down I spent the evening watching the BBCs The Nations Tribute for the 75th Anniversary of VJ day with the parents.

Sunday 16th August

Sunday was another quiet Sunday. 

Obviously as it was a Sunday it was pancake day!

After I had pancake I spent most of the day either reading The Beautiful or continuing my Rookie Blue rewatch. I didnt really do much else!

Monday 17th August

Monday was a busy day, I was up early as I took my Nan to the Drs for one of her check ups.

Whilst she was in the Drs, I nipped to Chatwins, to get me and Nana a sausage roll and a steak pie.

When I got home, I did some reading for my course and in the evening I watched some more Rookie Blue and managed to finish season 4 and read a few more pages of The Beautiful.

Tuesday 18th August

Today has been a very quiet and uneventful day, I haven't done much. 

I've been reading my course material.

At tea time, we did have a visit from natalie and the kids,  which was nice, as I hadn't seen them over the weekend and they stayed for tea.

After the went home I continued my read of The Beautiful and managed to finish it, and also started its sequel The Damned.

The Beautiful was brilliant, one of my favourites of the year.

Wednesday 19th August

As I had to take Nana to the opticians today, we had previously decided that I would do her shopping today. 

So i got up a bit early and went to Tesco to do Nanas shopping. When I finished I went to nanas. After nana had put her shopping away, we went down to congleton so that she could go into specsavers.

Whilst nana was in the opticians, I went and got her a steak pasty for her tea, and then went to sit back in the car before going to go and get her to help her back to the car.

When I got home, I then I had to take my mum to her optician appointment as she was having drops in her eyes, and wouldn't be able to drive herself home. So whilst mum was in the drs, I read some more of The Damned.

When i got home, i read some more for an hour, before making spaghetti bolognese for tea for us all.

When I went to bed, I couldnt concentrate on The Damned, so I decided to read a quick Mills and Boon book, which I managed to finish.

Thursday 20th August

Spent the day doing my 6th assignment.

As I was completing my assignment, I had a call from my manager at work, to ask if I was happy to go back to work next week.

As you all know from my past weekly blogs, I've been wanting to go back to work since I was furloughed! So I happily said yes!

I go back on monday 24th August, so that means that tomorrow is going to be my final blog post regarding lockdown!

About 5ish I had a good 20 minute conversation with my friend Lauren, which was nice.

Whilst I was having tea, I read a bit more of The Damned.

When I went upstairs, I finished the last bits of my painting for my mums birthday, which is next week.

Friday 21st August

As I'm back at work on Monday, I decided to set my alarm for 6am, even though I've been waking at 7/8ish, I'll need to be at work before 8.

When I woke up, i read some more of my Mills and Boon.

At about 10ish I went to Matalan and Asda so that I could get some new shoes for work and a new works lunch box and water bottle.

When I got home, I started doing my washing before I made some lunch for myself and mum.

Whilst waiting for the washing to finish, I flicked through the tv.

At about 3ish I got a call from wayne, asking if I could sit with the kids for a little bit, as he wanted to check something on my dads car. 

So the kids came over to our house, and I watched baking videos on youtube with Lola.

The parents went out for a meal with one of their friends, so i ordered myself a takeaway and sat and watched the new season of Lucifer on Netflix with Barlow until we started to fall asleep.

Its surprisingly fitting that the end of the 21st week of lockdown is the 21st of August!

Whilst this may be the end of the weekly lockdown posts, I am currently working on some other posts.

Once they are all written, I will obviously let you all know. 

I would like to continue doing a weekly post that has a theme to it, so any suggestions would be lovely!

I hope you're all keeping safe and well.

Vanessa 😊

Week 19 of Lockdown

Here are some details from my 19th week of lockdown!

Just as a pre-warning, there might be less detail in this weeks post, as I was updating some bits on Friday, and accidentally deleted the post with all of my daily updates. So this is me trying to remember from any photos I've taken or any social media posts I've made!

Saturday 1st August.

Saturday was probably my busiest day of the week, with the amount of activities I managed to squeeze in!

To start the day off with, I went to see my friend Lauren, who had an invite for me for the baby shower that her Mum is doing for her, so I went to collect that. It was lovely seeing Lauren, because we work together, I'm used to seeing her everyday, so its always nice having a catch up, no matter how long we're together, as we only had a small catch up, as we both had other plans in the afternoon, we arranged for another slightly longer catch up, next week.

After I left Laurens, I headed home as I needed to get ready to go out, as I was going for a walk around Kynpersley Reservoir with my friend Nay. 

I've never been to Kynpersley, its only about 10 minutes away and it was a lovely place, there is so much to walk around, and I imagine that if you went again, you'd find something you hadn't seen before.

Even though it was raining and drizzly, it was still quite muggy, but that didn't us, we managed to do quite a lot of walking, and I've also found a new place to take some outdoor Bookstagram pictures!

After we had finished walking, we went back to my house, so that Nay could say hi to my parents and to have a cool drink before she went home.

After Nay went home, I spent some time with my mum making some cake, as she wanted to make another black forest cake, but we didn't have any cherry liquor. Instead we made a chocolate cake and a sprinkles cake.

Once I had done that, I needed to take some Bookstagram photos for this month, so I spent the majority of the evening, till about 12am doing that, before going to bed.

Whilst I was doing my photos I watched the remainder of Warrior Nun before going onto Titans.

Sunday 2nd August

Sunday was a lovely family day. In the morning, Mum wanted to start decorating the cake, but she didn't have enough jam, so I said I'd nip to Asda and get her some, as I wanted to go into Matalan to get some bits and pieces.

By the time I had come home, Mum had already decorated the cake, she advised that there was just enough, and she had used some frosting and cream as well.

We had Nana over for lunch today, and as we were eating, Natalie, Wayne and the kids came over, so they had some lunch and some cake.

As it was a reasonably nice day, we were able to sit outside so the kids wanted to play games, Cooper wanted to play with his remote control car and Lola wanted a family game of inflatable Snakes and Ladders.

Which as soon as she lost, she wanted the game to be put away, so she could play with Cooper, it was hilarious!

At bed time, I continued watching Titans and read some more of Prisoner of Azkaban before falling asleep.

Monday 3rd August

Monday was again a day spent doing my 4th unit assignment. Rather than spread out my assignments over a couple of days, I like to get mine done in one day, otherwise I'll find distractions and it will not help!

Whilst I was doing my assignment, I continued watching Titans on Netflix. Its ok, I wouldn't say I'm overly enamoured with it, but I'll persevere!

By about 6ish, I had finished my assignment and got that sent off.

At bed time, I continued on with my read of Prisoner of Azkaban.

Tuesday 4th August

As you will all probably guess by now, Tuesday is a Nana shopping day! Tuesday was going to be slightly different, as I also needed to take Nana to the opticians to get her eyes checked and she needed to go to the bank, so I got up earlier and went to Tesco to do the shopping at about 9/9.30 so that I could be at Nanas for about 10.30/11 so we could head into town.

When I got to Nanas, she advised me that her opticians appointment had been rearranged, for 2 weeks time, but she still needed to go to the bank, so off to the bank we went.

When we came out of the bank, we had a quick nip into WHSmith, and I picked up a AA Peak District Walking guide, as I'm going to try and do some more walking trails before I go back to work.

I managed to get back home by dinner time, so I had some lunch with Mum before helping dad, as he needed some help with Excel for work, and that took up most of the afternoon.

At bed time I finally finished Prisoner of Azkaban!

Wednesday 5th August

Wednesday was a pretty boring day, I didn't really do a lot! I watched some films and did some painting.

I won't show the painting on here at the moment, as its a present for my Mum for her birthday, and whilst she's seen an outline, I haven't finished it yet, so once her birthday is over and done with I'll show you all then!

The films that I watched whilst painting was the new Charlies Angels film with Kristen Stewart, it wasn't too bad actually, it was pretty enjoyable!

I also started to watch season 2 of The Umbrella Academy, which is so far, pretty good!

At bed time, I couldn't decide which book from my TBR pile that I wanted to read, so I used the app on my phone, that makes a list and randomly selects one from the list and it landed on The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh.

Thursday 6th August

Thursday was a another quiet day, I finished off watching The Umbrealla Academy.

I then took Barlow for a walk, which was nice.

Honestly I can't remember a whole lot what I did on Thursday, even though it is closer to me writing this, than any of the other days! Obviously it was the most boring of the bunch!

Friday 7th August

Friday was a hell of a day. It all just seemed to go down hill. 

I had originally wanted to go for a walk up to the Cloud in Congleton in the morning, as I'd been wanting to do it since early on in lockdown, but just haven't plucked up the courage to do it!

I was just getting up, when my Mum asked if I would do my washing in the morning, I said I'll do it on Saturday, she said she wanted it done today as it was sunny and the clothes could be hung on the washing line.

 So that put paid to my walk up to The Cloud. As I had to wait for the washing to finish, so I could put it on the line, and because the parents had gone out, I couldn't leave it on its own, and I don't like other people doing my washing, I much prefer to do it myself.

By the time the washing was dry, I though I may have been able to still go, but I couldn't leave our road, as some lorries had blocked up the road, and by the time they had finished, it was too hot to go walking up hills!

I don't know what it was, but I just felt like all I wanted to do was cry and I was quite happy sitting in my room colouring, to try and clear that feeling away, but of course this is my house, sitting upstairs on your own, is frowned upon.

Turns out, Natalie, Wayne and the kids had come over, I didn't hear them, as I was wearing headphones to drone out some of the drilling from the neighbours who are having their garden done.

I don't really want to go into any more specifics, as I just felt like crap by the end of the day.

So there you have it, my Week 19 of Lockdown...I'm still counting down the days and literally praying, until I can go back to work.

I hope you're all keeping well and keeping safe!

Vanessa 😊

Week 18 of Lockdown

18 weeks of lockdown which is only going to get longer!

Saturday 25th July

I started my Saturday off with a Mills and Boon book, and whilst doing that I was arranging with some of my friends from work to go out later.

When I got up, I decided to make my sunday pancakes, but after I finished them, I started to get a headache and just didnt feel 100%. So I decided to put myself to bed, to see if that would get me better. It didnt so I told my friends that I wasnt going out.

One of the ways I know I'm Ill, is that I nap throughout the day, but still sleep at night, so after my nap, I decided to have a netflix evening and ended up watching Jack Whitehalls special, and then The Kissing Booth 2, both of which were quite enjoyable.

At bedtime I finished the book I was reading this morning, and then started on a new Mills and Boon book.

Sunday 26th July

So last night I went to bed about 11,  but for some reason  I was awake at 2.30 and couldnt get back to sleep. So I decided to continue reading the Mills and Boon book i started yesterday and managed to finish the book and start another one!

I think I finally fell asleep about 5.30 and then woke up at 8.30.

When I woke up, I decided to go and get some breakfast and because we were having nana over for lunch, I decided to try and have a nap before she came over. It didnt work! So I read some more.

As I mentioned, we had nana come over for lunch. After we had taken nana home, we had a visit from nat, wayne and the kids.

After last nights interrupted sleep, I had an early night.

Monday 27th July

As i had a pretty hectic few days, today was a day of reading some of my course material.

Whilst reading I finished the last few episodes of Chasing Life and started watching Absentia in the background.

When it was bedtime I started a new Mills and Boon book.

Tuesday 28th July

I had another weird sleeping night. I managed to fall asleep about 11, but was awake at about 2, and didnt fall back asleep till 5.30.

I did manage to finish the Mills and Boon book I started yesterday.

So I woke up about 8.30, and decided that I would go and see Nannie P, as I haven't seen her in a while. I took Barlow with me, to give him a bit of a walk and a chance for Nannie to see him.

When I got home, I watched the most recent episode of Roswell and did some drafts for some new blog posts and made some lists for upcoming bookstagram photos.

Whilst I was doing my writing, I had Absentia on in the background.

At tea time, I didnt really want proper tea, so I made pancakes.

After tea, I continued writing up my blog posts.

Wednesday 29th July

Wednesday was a shopping day. Mum wanted some new bedding so she asked me if I would go out to the local Home Bargains. Whilst I was out, I went to the a bigger Tesco as dad also wanted some milk, and I wanted to look at potentially buying an Amazon Fire tablet, they were out of stock so will wait and see what happens after my next payday and if I want to buy one then.

When I got home, I continued writing up some more blog posts and continued watching Absentia in the background.

At bedtime I decide to start Prisoner of Azkaban.

Thursday 30th July

Thursday saw me finishing my watch of Absentia and starting a new show on Netflix, Warrior Nun.

At lunch dad asked me if I would take Barlow for a walk later in the afternoon.

I needed to take some photos for my blog, and decided that I would do that before I would took Barlow out.

I got all of the books and props out, but by the time I was ready to take photos, it was time to take Barlow out!

When I take Barlow out, I set it for an hour. Due to some issues on my walk where I got a bit lost, our hour long walk turned into an hour and 45 minutes and 5k in distance.

By the time I got home, both me and Barlow were both shattered!

Because I was so shattered, I ended up popping all of my books and props to one side, and would do them tomorrow or Saturday.

Before bed, I continued on with my read of Prisoner of Azkaban.

After the issue of not sleeping through at least twice this week, I've downloaded a sleep sounds app onto my phone and have been listening to some the sound of rain relax me, and I managed to fall asleep within half an hour.

Friday 31st July

Today I was looking after Cooper and Lola. Looking after and spending time with the kids, is one of my favourite parts of the week. 

Myself and Lola decided to do some drawing to start the day off.

Lola's beautiful version of Piglet, Pooh Bear and Tigger.

My version with our reference picture.

We then had some lunch after which we played Knowledge is Power.

We then played some driving games on the Playstation 4, which I'm very bad at, but the kids really enjoyed it.

When I came home i continued watching Warrior Nun,  which seems a bit cheesy, but quite addictive to watch!

So that was my 18th week in lockdown. 

I hope you're all keeping safe.

Vanessa 😊

July Wrap Up and August To Be Read

So July has passed us by and August is taking its place quite quickly. Before we know it summer will be over and autumn will be popping its orange hued head up!

July - Wrap Up 

My original list for July was only 4 books, as I was very over ambitious in June and needed to set realistic expectations!

My list was as follows:

❤ Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. 

❤ Izzy and Tristan by Sharon Dunlop. 

❤ Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. 

❤ How Do You Like Me Now? By Holly Bourne. 

What did I actually read?

Well through the month of July I managed to read 9 books, and none of them were from my TBR list! I started 2, put one down and decided 2 days before the end of the month that I should try another one, but didn't finish it!

So the list of books, that I did actually finish, is as follows:

📚 Her Wedding Night Negotiation by Chantelle Shaw (03.07.2020-03.07.2020) ⭐⭐⭐

After finishing Harry Potter at the end of June, I was really busy, and just couldn't concentrate on reading, so I decided that I wanted to read a nice quick read, which for me is a Mills and Boon book.

📚 The Italian in Need of an Heir by Lynne Graham (04.07.2020-04.07.2020) ⭐⭐⭐

As these books are so easy to read, I decided  another one was on the cards!

📚 Well Met by Jen DeLuca (05.07.2020-07.07.2020) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was lucky enough to get this book for my birthday from my friend Joe, but I absolutely adored this book. 

I loved it so much I read it in 2 days!

I loved the way the 2 main characters disliked each other to start with, but through working and playing roles at the renaissance faire, it brought out the characters different sides, which made them see another side to each other, and ultimately, fall in love with each other.
I look forward to reading more in this series.

 📚 The Boundless by Anna Bright (10.07.2020-23.07.2020) ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

The Boundless is the sequel to The Beholder, one of my 5 star reads of 2019.

I really enjoyed this book, not as much as The Beholder, but it was still enjoyable.
What I really enjoyed was the way in which the world was built and the way in which Selah grew as a character throughout both books. I also liked that, whilst there was a romance element, it wasn't the centre of the book the journey that Selah takes was.

📚 Italy's Most Scandalous Virgin by Carol Marinelli (24.07.2020-24.07.2020) ⭐⭐⭐

As it took me so long to read The Boundless, I really wanted something light and easy, so shock horror, I read 5 Mills and Boon books within 6 days.

Some of it was because I had a couple of insomnia nights, and the other they were nice happy reads!

📚The Maid's Best Kept Secret by Abby Green (25.07.2020-26.07.2020) ⭐⭐⭐.5

📚 Claiming His Out of Bounds Bride by Annie West (26.07.2020 - 27.07.2020) ⭐⭐⭐

📚 Promoted to His Princess by Jackie Anderson (27.07.2020 - 28.07.2020) ⭐⭐⭐

📚 The Sheikh's Royal Announcement by Sharon Kendrick (28.07.2020-29.07.2020) ⭐⭐

August - To Be Read

I've decided to do something a little different this month for my TBR.

On Bookstagram I follow Steph (@bookslovereader) and Bethany (@talesofaliteraryaddict) and they have started a hashtag to try and get through some our very large TBR lists!

So the list is as follows:

📚 On Your TBR For Over A Year

I have decided to go for Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier.

📚 A Book Box Book

The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh was in one of the Fairyloot subscription boxes last year.

📚 A New Release

The Damned by Renee Ahdieh is the sequel to The Beautiful and I though it could be a good idea to finish both!

📚 ARC (Advanced Reader Copy)

The Night Country by Melissa Albert I was sent an ARC of this to my Kindle at the end of last year from NetGalley and I read a few chapters, but couldn't get into it, so I'm determined to try and finish it this month.

📚 Series I Need To Finish

Remembrance (A Mediator Novel) by Meg Cabot, I dont know how I've left this book till now, as I should have really read it years ago, but I want to see how the series finishes.

This next one isn't apart of the Hashtag TBR, but as i'm doing a Harry Potter book a month 

📚Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. As I didnt finish it last month, I'm going to finish it this month.

So there you have my disappointing July Wrap Up and another ambitious August TBR!

I hope you've had a good reading month, please feel free to tell me what you read.

I hope you're all keeping well and safe!

Vanessa 😊

Week 17 of Lockdown

Here's to my 17th week of lockdown!

Saturday 18th July

When I got up, I decided to catch up on the latest 2 episodes of Roswell, I love this show, I thought I loved the original, but this revival is blowing that version out of the water, it is brilliant.

After I finished watching Roswell, I came downstairs to sit with Barlow for a bit as mum and dad had gone shopping, and as I was waiting for them to come back i read a bit more of The Boundless.

It's taking me a while to read this, not because I'm not enjoying it, I am its soo good, but because reading in general isnt holding my attention.

I mentioned yesterday that I was supposed to be going to my sisters for tea, but as Cooper wasn't behaving, my sister and brother in law didnt want to reward him, by me going over, which I understand, as I always tell both kids, if they dont behave, I wont go and see them.

So I decided to start a new show on Netflix; Cursed. It's based around Arthurian legend, and although I'm only half an episode in, I'm really enjoying it!

When it was nearly tea time, I came down to set up a new printer for mum, as the other one was having issues with the ink.

After that I decided to have tea, some left over pizza and made a chicken and bacon salad.

It was really nice!

i then refereed a game of Scrabble between mum and dad. When they finished that game, I played a few games of Scrabble with mum and dad.

When I went to bed, I read a lot more of The Boundless.

Sunday 19th July

I had a reasonable lie in this morning till about 9, but didnt get up till about half 11 as I got distracted by watching Cursed, it is a really good show!

As the parents went to the shops, I sat in the conservatory with Barlow and spent an hour or so writing up last weeks, weekly lockdown blog post.

Bu the time I'd gotten that uploaded I decided to get some lunch, just as I was about to start eating, my sister and the kids turned up.

Whilst Natalie was helping mum and dad with some of the gardening, I played a game of Monopoly with Cooper and Lola.

It was a really fun game, and Cooper won this game!

After wed played that game we decided to play Ludo.

But Cooper decided that after he started losing, he didnt want to play anymore! So it was just me and Lola playing, and I did win this game!

After Nat and the kids went home, it was tea time! So I read some of The Boundless whilst I was eating.

At bed time I watched some more of Cursed.

Monday 20th July

Today has been a studying day and completing my assignment day. I'm 3 assignments in, and I really wanted it finished by today as I've got a busy week coming up. 

Whilst I've been writing, I watched the final few episodes of Cursed and started a new series, Chasing Life, which is very emotional, but well written and acted, and I'm really enjoying it.

Unfortunately I didnt get my assignment finished, so I'll have to get it done tomorrow afternoon.

Tuesday 21st July

As it's a Tuesday, you know by now that it's the day I do my Nanas shopping! 

I am beginning to hate shopping though, as all social distancing measures have gone out the window, and it doesn't make me want to go out at all!

When I got home, I knuckled down with my assignment, and managed to get a lot done.

At tea time I read a bit more of The Boundless, before I finished my assignment ans also got it sent off, so that I dont have to worry about it. I wont be starting assignment no. 4 until next week, as I'm spending some time with my sister and the kids over the next couple of days.

Wednesday 22nd July

At the weekend, I arranged with my sister to take a walk with her and the kids, whilst shes on annual leave up to Congleton Edge, as shes never been.

It was a beautiful day, and the walk was just as challenging as the last time, but the views at the top made up for it!

We all really enjoyed it. After the walk we nipped to my nanas to have the picnic we had made, and had it on her lounge floor!

When we got home we were shattered and I continued watching Chasing Life.

I also got an email from work to advise that I won't be going back to work until the end of September at the earliest, which is incredibly frustrating.

Thursday 23rd July

After looking after Coope and Lola last week, I offered to look after them again, so that my brother in law could get some work done.

Whilst there, we decided to have a bit of a film day.

Firstly we watched Nativity 2, a Christmas film, as you do in July!

I then played a game of Monopoly Jr with Lola, which I won!

After this, we put on another film, Monsters University which the kids loved.

After that, they watched some of their own TV programs whilst i read some more of The Boundless.

When Natalie and Wayne came home, I stayed for tea, which Nat made, a chicken carbonara, which was very good.

After tea, we played a game of Knowledge is Power on their PS4, which I won.

After that, we played a game of Monopoly Empire, which Lola won.

When I got home, I went to bed and finished The Boundless.

Friday 24th July 

In the morning I popped to tesco to do a little bit of shopping for my mum. When I got back i caught up on some of this weeks Roswell, as i hadn't watched any of the episodes.

Had we not been in lockdown, I would have been down in London going to YALC and LFCC.

Here's a collage of previous years.

In the afternoon I looked after Lola and Cooper whilst dad and wayne built his shed and mum worked.

Cooper watched some cartoons and Lola watched some baking videos.

Then we did a picnic for tea when Nat came over, we had pizza, chips, and more stuff. It was very nice!

After Nat, Wayne and the kids went home, i finished off the last few episodes of this weeks Roswell.

So that is the end if 17 weeks in lockdown. I'm fed up, and I'm starting to feel more anxious about going out in public now, than when lockdown first started, I like my walks more than going to places like shops.

I'm hoping that's a phase, and it'll pass.

I hope you're all well and keeping safe.

Vanessa 😊