September Wrap Up…

Welcome to my September Wrap Up. I had a great reading month, finishing 8 books (6 books off my TBR). I also received 3 ARC’s this month, and I continued my new goal of reading 1 Shakespeare play, as well as The Voyage Of The Beagle by Charles Darwin.

I have reviews up or coming up for these books so as usual this is just going to be a brief run down on each book I read.

Without further ado, let’s get into my September Wrap Up..

The Treehouse Joke Book by Andy Griffiths: This books was great. I will admit that I knew quite a few of the jokes in it, but as it is aimed at Middle Grade readers I doubt they will know as many of them as I did. The illustrations by Terry Denton added and extra layer to this book making it a must have for all Middle Grade readers.

Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne: I loved this book. I have loved the Winnie-the-Pooh stories since I was a kid, so reading this book as an adult was such a wonderful experience. I am so excited to make my way through the remainder of the series.

Ian McKellen by Garry O’Connor: I didn’t love this book. I am a huge fan of Ian McKellen so I was very excited to read it, unfortunately it just did nothing for me. As it was a biography and not an autobiography, I felt a really detachment from Ian McKellen. I also had trouble liking the author and his writing. I learnt some interesting things, but overall I was underwhelmed by this book.

The House At Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne: This book was wonderful. I loved that we got to see more of Eeyore in this book. I am a big fan of Winnie-the-Pooh so I am not surprised that I am loving these books. Now I cant wait to read the rest of the series.

Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad: This is one of my required reading books for University, so I probably wouldn’t have read it otherwise. I am so glad I was made to read it though. It really got under my skin and made me think about what I was reading. I think this is a book that everyone should read at least once.

When We Were Very Young by A.A Milne: I really enjoyed this book. This book is a collection of poetry, written before the creation of Winnie-the-Pooh. It was a nice, sweet collection with fun little poems and verses. If you pay attention you can see hints of the stories and characters to come.

Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne: I loved this book. Unlike its predecessor, this collection of poetry features Winnie-the-Pooh. The addition of Winnie-the-Pooh really elevated this collection. I loved all of the poems and the illustrations were fantastic. This book was a winner for me.

Cross My Heart by Pamela Cook: I absolutely adored this book. I was hooked from the first page and I couldn’t put it down. The story was compelling, the characters were amazing and the writing was beautiful. I don’t have a bad word to say about this book. A must read for everyone.

Shakespeare: I read 1 Shakespeare play in September. I read the following Shakespeare Play This Month:

Measure For Measure

The Voyage Of The Beagle by Charles Darwin: I read the following chapters of The Voyage Of The Beagle this month:

Chapter 9: Santa Cruz, Patagonia, And The Falkland Islands

Chapter 10: Tierra Del Fuego

Chapter 11: Strait Of Magellan. – Climate Of The Southern Coasts

That’s it for my September Wrap Up. I hope you all had a great reading month. Let me know what you guys read this month in the comments section.

Until my October Wrap Up…

Happy Reading…

❤ Gem

No More TV!

I know I wrote a post about being unhappy with the US Television season being over and not having anything to watch.

You would think that now that the new TV Season is starting I would be over the moon.

You would be wrong!

I have gotten use to having less TV to watch and with University work and Blog work, the extra free time has been a blessing.

I have also loved watching mini series’ and TV specials and even some Documentaries. Now that all of my shows are back on, that is all going to have to stop.

I have a couple of shows that I watch that are having their final seasons this year, so even though I am sad to say goodbye to them, I am happy to be freeing up some time.

I am also going to try and stick with my decision to not start any new shows; or at least not any shows with full episode seasons. So I guess we will see if I actually stick to that.

I love my TV but I am finding it hard to keep up with it all. The shows are running for so long, they are creating spin off or companion shows and for some unknown reason they air on the same night; meaning my IQ3 is always packed full of shows I have to catch up on.

Don’t even get me started on Streaming. I can fall in to a binge watching hole and not do anything for an entire week thanks to Streaming.

I really just want there to be less TV. I honestly don’t thing I can handle taking on anymore TV shows.

So that is my motto for this TV Season:

NO MORE TV!

I will stick with the shows I am already invested in and try my very hardest to not start any new shows.

On that note; I am off to watch some TV.

~>GEM<~

Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

‘Heart of Darkness, a novel by Joseph Conrad, was originally a three-part series in Blackwood’s Magazine in 1899. It is a story within a story, following a character named Charlie Marlow, who recounts his adventure to a group of men onboard an anchored ship. The story told is of his early life as a ferry boat captain. Although his job was to transport ivory downriver, Charlie develops an interest in investing an ivory procurement agent, Kurtz, who is employed by the government. Preceded by his reputation as a brilliant emissary of progress, Kurtz has now established himself as a god among the natives in “one of the darkest places on earth.” Marlow suspects something else of Kurtz: he has gone mad.’

This book was crazy.

I will be honest, I don’t think I would ever had read this book if it hadn’t been on my require reading list for University. That being said, I am very glad that I read it.

There is a reason this book is a classic.

The story was strange and at times quite uncomfortable to read. With some really disturbing language and scenes, that I found really jarring as a modern reader.

I found myself completely absorbed in this story from the first page. It was a compelling read from start to finish. As uncomfortable as I was at times throughout this book, I was so engrossed in the story I never once considered putting it down.

While I can easily see why this book is a classic, I can also see it being a book that will incite mixed feeling from modern readers. Regardless of how uncomfortable or confronting this book may be, I truly believe that everyone who reads it will be able to take something away from it.

Heart Of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is a book that everyone should read once in their lifetime.

Greek Mythology Tag

Welcome one and all to another Wacky Wednesday post. Today I am partaking in the Greek Mythology Tag. I hope you all enjoy this quick little tag.

So without further ado, lets jump straight in:

Zeus, The King Sky God – Favorite book:

A Little Princess by Fances Hodgson Burnett

Poseidon- God of the Ocean – A book that drowned you in feels:

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

Hades- God of the Underworld – Favorite dark book:

The Stand by Stephen King

Hera- The Queen Goddess of Family and Marriage – Cutest couple:

Jemma and Braxton – Nineteen Letters by Jodi Perry

Athena- Goddess of Wisdom and Battle Strategy – Favorite intelligent heroine:

Audrey-Rose Wadsworth – Stalking Jack The Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

Gaea- The Great Mother – Favorite world building book:

Miss Peregrines’s Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Aphrodite- Goddess of Love and Beauty – Most gorgeous cover:

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

Aries- God of War and Battle – Most violent book you’ve read:

Anything War related. I’m going to go with The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah off the top of my head.

Hephaestus – God of Blacksmiths and Flame – Hottest book you’ve ever read:

50 Shades of Grey by E.L. James

Artemis- The Virgin Goddess of the Hunt – A heroine who doesn’t need a man to save her:

Olivia Wolfe – Devour by L.A. Larkin

Apollo- God of Music, Light, and Healing – A book that is the exception to a genre you don’t like:

The Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kirstoff

Hermes, God of Messages, Travelers, and Thieves – A book that stole your heart:

Secrets Between Friends by Fiona Palmer

Hestia- Goddess of Hearth and Home – A book you go back to for comfort:

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

Demeter- Goddess of Agriculture and Fertility – Favorite book setting:

Anything set in Australia. The Crossroads by Pamela Cook.

Hecate, Goddess of Crossroads and Magic – Favorite magical read:

As I have already used Harry Potter today, I am going to go with Nevermoor by Jessica Townsend.

Nemesis, God of Revenge – Favorite revenge story:

The Other Sister by Elle Croft

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Well that’s it for me. I hope you guys enjoyed this tag. As usual, hit me up with your answers in the comment section.

Until next time…

Happy Reading…

❤ Gem

The Treehouse Joke Book by Andy Griffiths

‘Andy and Terry live in the world’s craziest treehouse. They like making books and telling jokes. And now they’ve made the world’s funniest jokebook!

From bears to birds, penguins to pirates and skeletons to space, there are gags galore. Perfect for fans of the Treehouse series!

Q: What’s grey and powdery?
A: Instant elephant mix.’

This book was great.

I really enjoyed this book. As i have never read any of the Treehouse books, I was concerned that it was going to be filled with inside jokes that I wouldn’t understand, but I needn’t have worried.

The book was divided into different categories for different kinds of jokes, which I really liked. This chapter formation really added to the easy at which the jokes flowed.

Another great element to this book was the wonderful and topical illustrations by Terry Denton. I had a great time reading some of the sketches in the illustrations. It really heightened my overall enjoyment of this book.

I will admit that as an adult reading this book I knew a lot of these jokes. It didn’t really bother me though as it cause me to have a quite nostalgic reading experience.

As this book is aimed at middle grade reader I doubt they will know as many of the jokes as I did. I am fairly sure that middle grade readers will be both surprised and thoroughly entertained by this book.

I love a good joke book, and this is one of the best I have read in a long time. It was funny, sweet, and age appropriate. I can easily see this becoming a fast favourite with young readers.

The Treehouse Joke Book by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton is a must have for all Middle Grade readers.

Uni Update!

This first month of University has been crazy.

On my first week I was so overwhelmed by the amount of work, I honestly didn’t think I would be able to finish the course.

As it turned out, I had made a bit of an error with the readings. Given how nervous I was about being able to handle to course work, I got stuck in straight away. What I didn’t do, was read the bottom of the notes where it stated which chapters or pages of the provided texts I had to read.

So I read two entire books and five academic article in week one, when I only need to read two chapters and maybe fifteen to twenty pages of articles.

Idiot!

Now that I no to read read the notes page to find out what I am required to red, things are going much more smoothly.

I am really enjoy the set texts. I was introduced to a Greek tragedy that I never would have read on my own but which I really enjoyed. I have also read some really wonderful short stories.

I have now made a start on two of my four assessments. I am hoping to finish and submit one of them in the next couple of weeks.

I am still nervous about writing the final two essays, but as they are at the end of the course, I am hoping I will be more confident when it comes time to write them.

For now, I am looking forward to reading some more new stories, books, and texts and I am excited to see how the next month goes now that I am more settled in the course.

I may even write another Uni Update next mouth and see what a difference a month makes.

~>GEM<~

The House At Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne

‘The title comes from a story in which Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet build a house for Eeyore. In another story the game of Poohsticks is invented. As with the first book, the chapters are mostly in episodic format and can be read independently of each other. The only exception to this is with Chapters 8 and 9 – Chapter 9 carries directly on from the end of Chapter 8, as the characters search for a new house for Owl, his house having been blown down in the previous chapter.

Hints that Christopher Robin is growing up, scattered throughout the book, come to a head in the final chapter, in which the inhabitants of the Hundred Acre Wood throw him a farewell party after learning that he must leave them soon. It is made obvious, though not stated explicitly, that he is starting school. In the end, they say good-bye to Christopher Robin. Pooh and Christopher Robin say a long, private farewell, in which Pooh promises not to forget him.’

I absolutely loved this book.

I was so excited to get into this book after finishing the first book. My excitement paid off as I throughout enjoyed this book.

I loved getting to catch up with my favourite characters, and we had the added bonus in this book of getting to meet Tigger.

As expected, I was very excited to read about Eeyore. I was over the moon to see so many stories about or including Eeyore in this collection. As Eeyore I my absolute favourite, the more stories with Eeyore the better in my opinion.

This book, like its predecessor has the original illustrations by E.H. Sheppard. These illustrations perfectly compliment A.A. Milne’s stories and really brings these characters to life.

If you haven’t read The House At Pooh Corner, then you need to do yourself a favour and read it now. Winnie-the-Pooh maybe a children’s series but I am almost positive everyone who reads them will enjoy them.

The House At Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne is a must read for all young readers and those readers who are young at heart.

Never Have I Ever: Book Edition Tag

Welcome one and all to another Wacky Wednesday post. Today I am partaking in Never Have I Ever: Book Edition Tag. I hope you all enjoy this quick little tag.

So without further ado, lets jump straight in:

NEVER HAVE I EVER

…Lost my cool when meeting an author…

I HAVE

…told someone I read the book when I only saw the movie…

NEVER

…forgotten (or refused) to return a library book…

I HAVE

…completely fallen in love with a fictional character…

I HAVE

...left a book behind while traveling (…accidentally)…

NEVER

…stayed up all night reading…

I HAVE

…started a book but didn’t finish…

NEVER

…owned several copies of the same book…

I HAVE

 

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Well that’s it for me. I hope you guys enjoyed this tag. As usual, hit me up with your answers in the comment section.

Until next time…

Happy Reading…

❤ Gem

Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne

‘Winnie-the-Pooh is the first volume of stories about Winnie-the-Pooh, written by A. A. Milne and illustrated by E. H. Shepard. The book focuses on the adventures of a teddy bear called Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends Piglet, a small toy pig; Eeyore, a toy donkey; Owl, a live owl; and Rabbit, a live rabbit. The characters of Kanga, a toy kangaroo, and her son Roo are introduced later in the book, in the chapter entitled “In Which Kanga and Baby Roo Come to the Forest and Piglet has a Bath”.’

I adored this book.

I was so excited to get my hands on this book. I have fond memories of Winnie-the-Pooh from my childhood and I was looking forward to revising an old favourite.

I had such a wonderful time reading this book. I honestly think I may have enjoyed it more as an adult than I did as a child.

I have always loved Eeyore, so I was over the moon when he started appearing regularly in the later chapters of this book. I had some genuine laugh out loud moments while reading Eeyore’s dialog and conversations with the other characters.

One of the greatest things about this book for me was the nostalgia. I started and finished this book with the warm and fuzzies.

It is easy to see why Winnie-the-Pooh is such a loved character and why these stories are still hugely popular today.

The edition of this book that I read had the original illustrations by E.H. Shepard and these illustrations really added to the magic and joy of the stories being told.

I honestly don’t have a bad word to say about this book. I loved the stories, the characters and the wonderful illustrations. I will definitely be re reading this book many times in the future.

After this wonderful reading experience I am very excited to dive into the rest of the Winnie-the-Pooh collection. I cant wait to journey back to the Hundred Acre Wood and catch up with my old friends.

Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne definitely a book that everyone should read at least once in their lifetime.

YouTube Obsession!

I have been on a bit of a YouTube kick lately. So I thought I would share that with you today.

I have been watching a Booktube channel Hailey In Bookland for a couple of years now, but other than that I didn’t really have an interest and any other Vloggers.

Well that all changed recently when I came across MenTry. I watch one of their videos and I was hooked.

After watching more than a few videos I wanted to see them all and learn more about the MenTry guys (Austin and Cam).

So I was very excited to see that they both had other channels.

Austin and his wife Jess had a channel; Austin and Jess, and Cam and his family have a channel; Life’s A Burch.

Well after I had gone back and watched every MenTry Video, I decided I needed to do the same with the other channels.

I started with Cam and his families channel; Life’s A Burch. Life’s A Burch is a relatively channel so there was only around fifty videos’ that i needed to catch up on, so I powered through those.

After catching up with all of the Life’s A Burch Vlogs, I was getting ready to watch the Austin and Jess Vlogs when I saw that Jess and her best friend Holly also have a channel; Ladies & Lattes, so I decide to start on that one first as it is also a newer channel with less videos for me to catch up on.

I then got a little distracted by Instagram. I decided to follow all of my new favourite Vlogger’s on Instagram and went a little bit crazy. I went back to the start of their Instagram accounts and liked every single photo and video.

This is what that looked like:

MenTry = Austin and Cam = 2 Instagram accounts

Life’s A Burch = Cam, Shaylee, Kaylee and Scarlet = 4 Instagram accounts

Ladies & Lattes = Jess and Holly = 2 Instagram accounts

Austin and Jess = 2 Instagram accounts.

Now some of the Vlogger’s feature on multiple YouTube pages so I only followed them once. But that was still 7 new Instagram accounts that I not only started following but that I went back and liked all the photos and videos of like a stalker.

I liked so many photos that Instagram thought I was a bot or and app and blocked me from liking anymore photos until I confirmed with them that I was indeed a person. I mean I didn’t even know that they did that.

Now that I have gotten my Instagram craziness out of the way, I am going to continue making my way through the Austin and Jess Vlogs, but as they have been Vlogging for four years, it is going to take me a while to get through all of the videos.

I have never really gotten this addicted to Vlog’s before so it is new and exciting at the moment. I am excited whenever I see a notification telling me that a new video is up, and I watch it straight away.

I just love the joy that these amazing, funny, normal people bring into my life.

I can’t recommend these channels enough. If you are looking for some awesome channels, with great content and wonderful people then you need to check them out:

MenTry

Ladies & Lattes

Life’s A Burch

Austin and Jess

On that note, I am off to watch some YouTube videos. Maybe you should do that same.

~>Gem<~