Folded Paper Foxes

I bought books! Since having started my English Literature course at university last year I've really found my reading slowing down. I know that might sound counter-intuitive, but the downside of a literature course for book lovers is that instead of reading books for enjoyment at your own pace, you have to read them in a limited time frame and read them with a critical eye which often takes from the enjoyment. In addition you begin to associate reading and books with deadlines and essays which is just the worst.

But in 2014 I want to begin to take up reading as a past time again, and get through some really good works of literature. No YA or 'holiday reads' for me at the moment, I'm going to keep it all high brow for the time being until I get burned out and have to delve into something a bit more relaxed. All but one of these was picked up in my local charity shop so I've made quite the saving as well.

The Books I Bought -

Slaughterhouse 5 ~ Kurt Vonnegut
Metamorphosis and Other Stories ~ Franz Kafka
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius ~ Dave Eggers
The Hobbit ~ JRR Tolkein
The Monk: A Romance ~ Matthew Gregory Lewis
Oryx and Crake ~ Margaret Atwood

So quite the selection. I'll definitely be doing reviews of these and some other books I've accumulated recently, maybe in threes as I get through them. I'm really looking forward to punctuating the masses of renaissance literature (that, don't get me wrong, I really love) by dipping into the fantasy lands created by Tolkein, revelling in the bleak lucid writing style of Kafka and navigating the twisted, unhinged creations of Lewis and Atwood.

Let me know if you've read any of these books and what you thought! I'm really excited to get some personal reading under my belt this year. What are you looking forward to reading in 2014?

New Books | 2014's Reading List So Far

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Hello all! It's been a little while since I've shown myself round these parts but part of my routine, compulsory News Year's resolutions is to be a little more regular with blogging. I've really missed being part of this community and I hate leaving my little blog neglected. So to make some time for blogging I'll need to start keeping myself organised, and what better way to do it than in style with the coveted Frankie Diary 2014 edition! I wanted one of these last year but they had sold out by the time I got round to it. I wasn't having any of that this year, I bought it myself at the beginning of December and had Mama pay me back for it and put it in my Christmas box for when I came home from Uni.

It is absolutely gorgeous, all floral prints and soft watercolour palettes and it's really well put together. It begins with a 'calendar' style layout page for each month and then a few pages giving a little space dedicated to every day, with each month getting an individual design. Then there are pages for birthdays, budgeting, extra notes and a few pages of stickers and lists and other fun bits and pieces so I'm really really happy with it. It retails at about £20 including shipping from it's native Australia.

I've already started to fill mine in, too impatient to wait for the New Year to kick in! I'm hoping to use it as a planner and organiser, as opposed to filling it in retrospectively, diary style. I could use my phone, but there's something so satisfying about having plans and deadlines written down by hand, I'm far more likely to remember them too! So if part of your New Years resolutions include being more organised definitely consider nabbing one of these for yourself.

You can buy them here at the Frankie Press website. They were still in stock but selling fast when I last checked so get yourself one if you don't want to miss out!

I'm hopefully going to be much more organised with my time in 2014 which will mean better blogging! Though of course a return for me means a return for Cat photo-bombing my pictures while she ~~whines~~ meows for food/cuddles/food. The joys of pet ownership eh?

Thankyou for reading and I will hopefully talk to you again soon.