June wrap - what I read in June!

So June was a awesome month for reading!!! I got WAY more reading done than I thought I would have.

So without further ado let's get into what I read this month!

I finished the following:

1. The view on the way down - Rebecca Wait
2. Stay with me - Maureen McCarthy
3. Paper Towns - John Green
4. A court of thorns and roses - Sarah J Maas
5. The Infernal Devices #1: Clockwork Angel - Cassandra Clare (audio book)
6. This is where I leave you - Jonathan Tropper (audio book)
7. Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone - JK Rowling
8. The Memory of Eva Ryker - Donald A. Stanwood
9. The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton

The only book from my original TBR that I didn't read was 'All fall down' by Jennifer Weiner. I still have that book out from loan from the library so I may read it in July - if I feel like it!!!

I have done separate book reviews for most of these books so check out my good reads link for more info!

If I had to pick a favourite from the bunch I read this month I would have to say The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. I really enjoyed this one! I have only read one other of her books and I really enjoyed that too!

Here's to another great reading month!

~ Katie

Book chat - Paper Towns by John Green

I read Paper Towns by John Green because it was picked as my book clubs book for the month of July. Namely because the movie is due for release then and we thought it might be nice to go to the movies as our next book club meeting!

I have to take responsibility for suggesting this book, I had never read any John Green and I had seen a preview for the movie and thought it looked like a nice easy book to read!

Then I found out about the #rainbowthon read-a-thon and wanted to participate and seeing as this book as a lovely yellow spine I thought I would give it a go first up!

This book is narrated by Quentin Jacobson, or 'Q' to his friends. Q is eighteen and about to finish college/junior high (I am pretty unfamiliar with the American schooling system! Excuse my ignorance!). He is pretty caught up on his next door neightbour, Margo Roth Spiegelman (I am unsure if Roth is part of her surname, first name or is actually her middle name - Q always refers to her using all three names in the book, it's a little weird!). Margo is a popular girl at school, whereas Q isn't!

Pretty much, without giving any of the plot away, Margo is a free spirited girl who loves adventure and doesn't feel like she belongs. Q is a teenager who has always been slightly infatuated with Margo and is constantly wanting to regain their friendship as children.

This book is a mystery, so I can't say much without giving away much of the plot, although I will say not too much of it was really 'mysterious' to me.

While this book was certainly easy to read, and I can see how this would really appeal to many readers (particularly young people - surprise surprise given it's a YA book!), I couldn't say it was my favourite read of the year. The characters were like-able enough, although Margo was a little frustrating for me personally, and the plot line was pretty good, it lacked something for me.

I will still go and see the movie though, and it's possible that this might be one of those rare occasions where I may actually prefer the movie over the book! Call me crazy!

If you're after a light read, that doesn't require any thinking, then this one would be perfect.

3/5 stars

~ Katie

#rainbowthon TBR

Hi All


So I have decided to participate in the #Rainbowthon being hosted by the girls from the Carpe Librum book club. 

Basically the goal of this readathon is to pick 6 books whose spines match the colours of the rainbown (Red, Yellow, Orange, Blue, Purple and Green). Then you have a week starting from today to read as many as you can!!!

Officially the readathon runs from June 15 - June 22! 

I have never participated in a readathon before and I am pretty excited!! Unfortunately I have an assignment due (my last one for the semester!) on Thursday so that will slow down my reading a fair bit but I am still going to give it a read hot go! 

Go and check out Riley Marie Reads for all the rules and more info!!! You can also follow the girls over on twitter @carpelibrum and use the hashtag #Rainbowthon to follow all the conversations over there! I know I will be :)

So my pick for the week are as follows:
Yellow: Paper Towns, John Green
Orange: The Help, Katheryn Stockett (sort of more yellow than orange but it was as close as I could get!)
Red: Seraphina, Rachel Hartman
Green: The Forgotten Garden, Kate Morton
Purple: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling (yep a re-read!)
Blue: The Memory of Eva Ryker, Donald A. Stanwood. 

I plan to try and update my process everyday, or every few days depending on how much actual reading I have done! If I can knock over my assignment today that will certainly help with my reading plans. 

Happy reading everyone!! Let me know if you are going to be participating!!!

~ Katie 

April 2015 Project life layouts

This year, as you may know, I have really gotten into project life. I thought I would bite the bullet and share some of my pages from April! I am still working out what kind of page protectors I like using - I love a few of the designs (and hate some others!), but I certainly haven't settled on just one design! I have chosen to scrapbook monthly, instead of weekly. I just think this approach will work better for me!

I had a very busy April (in contrast I think my May photos will only take up 1 double spread!). So I hope you enjoy my pages. Please feel free to link your own blog posts/instagram photos/youtube videos as I am always looking for new inspiration!

~ Katie

Book chat - The view on the way down by Rebecca Wait (Book Review)

So I have finished my first book of June and it's only day two! So proud of myself. I was browsing in my local library last week and I picked up a couple of books on the shelf that looked new and barely read. I hadn't heard of them so I thought I'd give them a go!

The View on the Way Down was in the adult fiction section of the library, but I think it's somewhere between a YA book and adult fiction. It follows the story of Emma, who is a 14 year old being bullied at school, engaging in a pattern of emotion eating, and is living in a dysfunctional family. Early on in the book we learn that Emma's eldest brother Kit has died, and her other brother, Jamie, left home when Kit died and hasn't been back since. Not wanting to give too much away but this book needs to have a serious trigger warning - the book deals with suicide, mental illness and the impact of suicide on the grieving family. I thought it was extremely well written and an excellent insight into what living with a mental illness might be like, and on how families, and individuals within those families, grieve in different ways.

I am not ashamed to say I cried a number of times in this book - particularly in the last chapter! I still have tears on my cheeks as I write this! I thought the characters were well written, well defined and that the story was wonderfully told. It's a short book (308 pages), and I whipped through this in just two nights (would have finished it sooner if I didn't have to work!).

This was Rebecca Wait's first novel, and I believe she has released her second novel this year. I think I will be checking this out very soon!!! Do yourself a favour and go and check her out - you can find her here.

I would highly recommend this book, if you can handle the trigger warning.

4.5/5 stars!

~ Katie

1 book from my June TBR read... that's a good start right!!! :)

June To Be Read (TBR) List

Well June is now upon us - I cannot believe we are in June already!!! June is my birthday month so I always get pretty excited, even though it is winter here in Australia.

So I have a pretty adventurous TBR list this month, but I will write them all down anyway!

So my June TBR looks like this...
1. The view on the way down - Rebecca Wait
2. All fall down - Jennifer Weiner
3. Stay with me - Maureen McCarthy (one of my favourite authors during high school!)
4. Paper Towns - John Green (never read any of his books and the movie looks good so thought I should start with this one!)
5. A court of thorns and roses - Sarah J Maas (read Throne of Glass last month, really enjoyed it, have been hearing all the hype about this so thought I'd give it a shot!)
6. The Infernal Devices #1: Clockwork Angel - Cassandra Clare (audio book) (again haven't read any of Cassandra Clare's books and this was available on audio book at my local library so thought I would give it a try!)
7. This is where I leave you - Jonathan Tropper (in fairness I have basically finished this - and it's my book clubs book this month so I don't really have a choice about finishing it!)

Anyway that is my highly ambitious list! I have almost finished This is where I leave you, and The view on the way down, so I am off to a good start!

I look forward to checking back in on my progress throughout the month. Also have a few new scrapbooking layouts coming on the blog in the next few days so keep an eye out for those!

Happy reading and scrapping my friends.

~ Katie

What did I read in May??? (May wrap-up)

I have really been embracing reading again this month!! And I can honestly say I have been loving it. I have found a real passion for my books again, have discovered lots of old favourites that I want to reread, and have enjoyed exploring lots of the new books on offer! 

One other thing that I have really discovered this month is the joy of visiting the local library! I have been a member of my local library for years, I joined when I first got an ereader and realised my local library offered LOTS of ebooks for borrowing. I am sad to say that I have never utilised the library for ebooks - even though that was my whole purpose for signing up! However this month I have borrowed heaps of books and have been really really enjoying the convenience (and money saver!) of the library. 

So more to the point what did I actually get read this month... well I am sorry to say... not as much as I would have liked!

So below is the list I said I would read... 

1. Rhiannon's Ride 3: The heart of starts by Kate Forsyth 
2. This is where I leave you by Jonathan Tropper (this is my current book club book)
3. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
4. Throne of Glass by Sarah J Mass
5. The Book of the Dead by Patricia Cornwell (audio book)
6. Stolen by Rebecca Muddiman (audio book)

And what I actually finished was:

1. Rhiannon's Ride 3: The heart of starts by Kate Forsyth 
2. Throne of Glass by Sarah J Mass
3. The Book of the Dead by Patricia Cornwell (audio book)
4. Stolen by Rebecca Muddiman (audio book)

Now while I will admit that this not a very impressive read I do also have to say that I have read 291 pages of The Goldfinch, but at that point I had to stop as I am really not enjoying it! Instead I picked up Throne of Glass and finished that in three days. It took me three weeks just to get up to page 291 in The Goldfinch. Hopefully I will push on and finish it, but I feel like life is to short to read books I am not enjoying! I have a HUGE pile of unread books so I feel like I am better off just going with something else. 

I am also almost finished This is where I leave you (audio book), I am on the last CD! I probably could have pushed through and finished it in May but I'm really in no rush. I love listening to my audio books too and from work and I have been getting through almost three a month. 

I really enjoyed Throne of Glass, as well as Rhiannon's Ride (although that one is a reread so I knew I loved it already!). 

Bring on June!! Going to get lots of reading done (as well as my last uni assignment for the semester!). 

Would love to hear how your reading went this month. 

~Katie 

Book Chat - Stolen by Rebecca Muddiman

Hi all!!

Hope you are all doing well on this Wednesday. It's rainy and cold here in Melbourne at the moment - winter has well and truly kicked in (it's not even winter yet!!!). I literally just finished my second audio book for the month and while it was fresh in my mind I wanted to write a review for you all. 

The book was Stolen, by Rebecca Muddiman. This book was set in Redcar in England and follows the story of Abby Henshaw, who is brutally attacked and raped, and her 8 month old daughter Beth is stolen. This book deals with the very confronting issue of child kidnapping, and I have to say that Rebecca Muddiman does it well. 

I have said this before but listened to audio books does influence my opinion of the book. A good narrator can make or break the story for me. This particular audio book was read by Tim Bruce and I really loved his reading style and his representation of the characters. 

This book kept me guessing the whole way through! Usually I only listen to audio books to and from work in the car (around 30 minutes per day), with this book I was actually so caught up in the plot that I listened to it on my computer for an hour or so, and then sat in my car in the driveway for 30 minutes tonight after getting home from work while the book finished! 

I highly recommend this book. Just when I thought I had figured out what had happened, it turned out I was wrong! I don't want to give anything away... that will ruin your reading experience! Excellent murder mystery - highly recommend.

5/5 stars 

~ Katie 

Check out my Good Reads profile... feel free to make friends! I love to see what everyone else is reading and get some good recommendations! 

Book Chat - The Book of the Dead by Patricia Cornwell

I have finished my first book in May and this was 'The Book of the Dead' by Patricia Cornwell. 

I listened to this as an audio book, which has definitely influenced my opinion of this book. I haven't read many Patricia Cornwell books, or really murder mystery books in general, but I would have to say that I am starting to enjoy them. 

As a non-Patricia Cornwell reader I really went into this book with not too many preconceived ideas about the main characters. I know that she has written LOTS of books with Kay Scarpetta, Merino, Benton and Lucy - but I am not familiar enough with these characters to have any idea about their past histories. 

I have to say I liked the murder mystery component of this book, however I am easy to please in this department. What I found a little confusing was the portrayal of the characters. All the main characters seemed a little weak in this book, by that I mean that they were all sad and depressed and didn't seem to have much depth or substance to them. Again I'm not sure if this is similar to PC's other books, perhaps it is, and also in fairness to PC this may well be part of an ongoing storyline weaving through all her Scarpetta books. I can only hope that all these characters come out of this slump in the coming books though!!

All in all, as far as the murder mystery part of the storyline, I really l enjoyed that, and it was a great book to listen to in the car while I was driving too and from work! If the characters had slightly more substance to them, I would have perhaps rated this book slightly higher, however I would still say that is was an enjoyable easy read. 

3/5 stars 

Happy reading! 

~ Katie 

Celebrating a wonderful life

A wonderful man passed away last week, Mr A. This man was one of those people who has touched SO many lives, in so many different ways. 

We knew his memorial service was going to be big when the venue was the local arts centre - so we arrived with 30 minutes to spare and we were seated in the second row from the back. I would estimate over 700 people were there! Imagine that... 700 people turning up to your funeral. I'm not even sure I know 700 people. Listening to the eulogies, and the various people who spoke about my friends life I was just overwhelmed with how good this man was. 

Mr A was heavily into music, which is how I knew him, in particular brass bands. As you can see from the photo below - this is how many musicians were on stage today to play for his memorial service. There would have been probably between 80-100 musicians on stage. 

I wanted to write about this today as a way to help me process, grieve and celebrate a truly wonderful man. Mr A you will be missed. I know you will continue to be making music and inspiring others wherever you now are. RIP  

Relaxing weekend :)

While dinner is cooking in the oven, and I am doing everything I can to put off cleaning the house (argh hate housework!), I thought I would put up a very quick blog post. I am trying to do my best to post something most days, so I figure I should start off my blog (well re-start!) the way I want to continue!

We are moving very quickly into winter here in Australia and the weather is getting colder, and more miserable! I have been setting myself a challenge of walking 10,000 steps each day (the recommended amount!), and I had been doing really well all of April, then I got sick! Last week I was sick for a few days and I only hit my step goal twice! Not good. So today I jumped back on the horse and took the dogs out for a walk to our local off the leash park - twice! It's only 7pm and I have already hit 15,000 steps! Woo hoo!!

Oh and the other piece of good news is that I have finished one book on my reading list for May! Yay!!! Hopefully I can knock over another one tomorrow - although I really should do some house cleaning...

I will leave you all with a cute pic of one of our puppies, and our cat taking a nap together...reluctantly (but they both wanted some blanket and my knee!). Happy Saturday everyone :)

May To Be Read (TBR) List

So May is the month I have decided to also get back into my reading. Even though I have also recently taken up Project Life and traditional scrapbooking, I really only do this about once a month when I print my photos out. So I have decided to get back into another hobby that I really love...reading! I used to be such an avid reader, and I own 100s of books. I am also currently in a book club that meets monthly, and have been really enjoying the chance to read books of a slightly different genre that I usually gravitate towards. 

So I have decided to set myself a goal to read most days, and also to pick out key books that I would like to read each month! I have recently been really excited to discover the online 'booktube' community - and this has really revved me up to start listing my book reading goals in a public forum so I can be held accountable to them!!! 

So without further ado here is my TBR for May:

1. Rhiannon's Ride 3: The heart of starts by Kate Forsyth 
2. This is where I leave you by Jonathan Tropper (this is my current book club book)
3. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
4. Throne of Glass by Sarah J Mass
5. The Book of the Dead by Patricia Cornwell (audio book)
6. Stolen by Rebecca Muddiman (audio book)

OK so there is a fair chance, looking back at this list, that I may have bitten off more than I can chew for my first reading challenge this month, but hey... gotta start somewhere!!!!

I will post some reviews of some of the books and let you know how I went at the end of the month. 

~ Katie 

Scrapbooking 12x12 Layouts... WAY harder than it looks!

So as I mentioned a few days ago I have really been enjoying getting into Project Life! I personally think it's a fantastic system that is really working for me. I love being able to document my life in printed photos and pretty filler cards. I am not a super creative soul... I only wish I was! I think my sister got all those genes. While I enjoy pretty things and have enjoyed experimenting with Project Life I have always been a bit hesitant to dive into the full-on scrapbooking world! I am in awe of those people who can scrap 12x12 layouts. I have joined quite a few facebook groups and pages around scrapbooking, particularly Australia groups. And I have been truly inspired by one awesome lady! Her name is Adele and she has a blog/YouTube channel called Inkie Quill - check her out here. Both her Project Life and 12x12 layouts are stunning! She is also hilarious to watch/listen to, which makes her videos super easy and engaging. 

So I decided to tackle 12x12 layouts.. my first was nice.. but a bit of a fail! However I am really happy with how my second one turned out...(excuse the glare!)

This was from a recent holiday I took to Hawaii, and I am pleased with how it turned out. Still lots to learn about my scrapbooking ability and what style I like, but I think I am improving. 

The best thing I have learnt about this whole experience is how valuable it is for me to have a hobby, and something I really enjoy doing! So thanks Adele for inspiring me, and now all the many many other channels I follow on YouTube... I can see I will be needing to increase my stash of enamel dots, as well as getting my hands on some other mixed media! The obsession is real people!!!! 

~ Katie 

Book Chat - The Light Between Oceans (April book club) *no spoilers*

In the middle of last year some friends and I decided that we wanted to start a book club! We all love reading, well most of us love reading, wine, cheese and good company so we decided why not! A book club seems like a brilliant idea!!!

We have read a few books so far:
2014
- A Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
- The Tournament by Matthew Reilly
- the secret keeper by Kate Morton
- Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
2015
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
- The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman
- This is where I leave You by Jonathan Tropper (current book!)

So I used to oscillate between buying the 'real' hard copy of the book (if I can find it cheap enough) or buying the eBook and reading it on my Kobo. I do love my Kobo and it's SO great to travel with, but there is just something about reading a real book that you can't beat! In my opinion anyway! 

For The Light Between Ocean's however I went with the eBook as I had the pleasure of enjoying a relaxing holiday in Hawaii in March and I knew it would be the perfect time to get some quality reading done (in fact I finished 3 books while I was there!). The Kobo is just SO easy to travel with and I knew I would read more than one book so it was far more convenient to get the eBook! 

It took me a while to get into The Light Between Ocean's, and to be honest I have mixed feelings about this book. While I think it's very well written, well done to Stedman for that! It just wasn't really my kind of read. It probably took me at least half of the book to really get into it. 

The book follows the journey of Tom, after four years away at war, who signs up for the solitary life of a lighthouse keeper. Tom meets Isabel, they fall in love, marry and she accompanies him to the lighthouse. This book follows their journey as husband and wife and moral and ethical decisions are rife in this book. It does really make you think about your own values and morals. Did they make the right decision? What would you have done in their shoes? 

To me, Isabel is not a likeable character, and I wasn't a massive fan. Tom however I really liked. 

I will say once I got half way through the book I did have to finish it - It really made me want to know how the book ended. And not to give anything away but I did spend pretty much the whole last chapter or so crying. 

It was a short read, and I finished it in a few days. It was a good choice for our book club too as we have quite a wide variety of readers in the good who all like different genres (I'm a fantasy/magic girl usually!). 

I would recommend reading it, even though it won't make my top 10 this year!!!

3.5/5 stars :)

- Check out my current reading list on Good Reads https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/42784263

Project Life, 2015

So about a two months ago I was downloading all my photos from my phone and backing them up on my hard drive when I thought... I really want to print some of these out and make a 'real' album! So I went onto my beloved friend Pintrest and did some searching. I also follow a beauty vlogger on YouTube called Lily Pebbles and way back in January she posted about a scrapbooking project she had done in 2014 called Project Life - find her here. The video she posted really got me hooked and I loved the idea of Project Life. So after some more research and searching around I had decided that this was the way for me to get back into printing photos, and also let me be creative! 

Cue sale from Spotlight (our biggest craft store chain in Australia)... of course Spotlight had to have a 40% off all Project Life sale. So of course, I spent up... big (shush... don't tell the fella!). 

So I have decided to start a PL album for 2015. I won't be doing weekly layouts, as lots of people do, I just don't have enough interesting things that happen to me every week! If I did that there would be LOTS of photos of my animals... and me sitting on the couch drinking tea and reading! Not the most exciting memories to look back on. Instead I will be doing monthly spreads - I am not restricting myself to a specific number of pages per month or anything, I am just going to go with the flow! 

I was pretty excited to do my title page layout, so with lots of inspiration from pinterest and a few facebook groups I have joined - I jumped right in the deep end and this is what I created...

As you can see I still have lots of work to do on my style! But for my first try I am really happy!!! I have just ordered some photos online and as soon as they arrive I am really looking forward to sharing more of my creations!!!

I would love to see some of your creations - I am always looking for new ideas and inspiration. Let me know in the comments your blog/YouTube and I will come and check you out!!!

~ Katie

Getting back on track!

Well clearly I have been absent from this blog for quite some time... in fact... over a year! But really whose counting!!??!! 

So I am getting back on the horse. I do love writing on here, and I feel like I have things to say. Even if there are not many people here who are reading it! This blog isn't about everyone else, it's about me! So expect to see posts about my latest hobbies, reading, craft (scrapbooking in particular) and hopefully some cooking thrown in there for good measure too! 

Firstly though, I have to finish an assignment (remind me again why I thought going back to do my masters, while working full time and also trying to have a life, was a good idea!!!). So I hope to have a few posts up this week, including some scrapbooking posts and possibly a book recommendation! 

Keep your eyes peeled folks! Enjoy your Tuesday :) 

~ Katie