Here goes!

Someone asked me to do this - so here goes! Look forward to hearing from you :)

Lana Del Rey

Discovered Lana at my friend's house, she's absolutely fricking amazing - finally an artist that is cool, talented and I am able to listen to her while I'm doing my work 'cos she's not intrusive and is nice and quiet and just beautiful!

Party Rocking

Wow, well this has been a few chaotic days.... christmas eve, christmas day, boxing day, reel practise, Oban Ball!!

Wowzar... I am officially exhausted, like signed off by the magistrate as truthfully 'tired' and stamped with wax!

Christmas was great... very hectic (there was 30 of us for Christmas lunch!) and involved a lot of wrapping paper strewn across the house - I got to open double presents this year as my gran couldn't handle the sellotape and so I was very helpful and helped her open them!

Reeling is a Scottish phenomena. As my dad says, it is a ancient sport where reelers attempt to incapacitate fellow dancers in a bid to be the last standing when the music stops. The respect that you earn at this difficult feat is incredible - you are praised as a god of dancing for five minutes of respite until the next reel starts and the previous god finds that his/her previous worshipers now view him as competition and he/she finds themself spinning headfirst into the very hard wall within the first few beats of the next reel.

We are fast, furious and deadly - any opportunity to spin a partner into another solid fellow is seized and exploited - we battle fierce motion sickness as we spin spin spin down the line, the girls flirting innocently before, seemingly accidentally,  kneeing the man in his sporran area before skipping away to rejoin their partner where the battle of arm strength continues..... the man struggling under the Scottish women grasp as their arms are squeezed and their blood begins to boil before luckily the said women skips away to flirt with the next man before, if she is talented enough, performing a sly kick in the groin. These few minutes of freedom should be wonderful for the man but unfortunately traditional reeling rules require him to dance with a free female leaving him open to attacks from said woman in his private parts..... who ever said Scotland wasn't a feminist country....

If you ever see a reeler, especially female, they will be bedecked in kilts for the men and full ballgowns for the ladies but DO NOT be fooled. The women attach pins and knives to their thighs... the men hide daggers in their socks, these people are armed to their sparkling teeth ready to attack any unfortunate man who feels that these 'posh poncy' people are ripe for the mugging.

To me Scottish reeling is an art but to others, I suppose, it is a deadly sport where you are unlikely to leave the hall not sporting an injury of kind, the number of people I saw nursing a bruised arm, or limping slowly out the door was incredible!

Love
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Merry Christmas!!!! Hope Santa is good to you!

St Trinian's

Ahhh nothing like St Trinian's to get you dancing! I love the whole idea of these rebellious school girls not doing much but having the best time of their life. I actually also love Russell Brand in it, smitten for the head girl.... acting as a gay count at one point - tehe it's hilarious!

I wish my school was more like that.... everyone ganging together having their own cliques that they belong to... you have to wonder where you'd be if you were there......

But it's like that anywhere - you never know where you'd be.... I don't think I'd be a popular.... I don't think I'd be a nerd... though I do like work! .... I'd probably be one of the in-betweeners the girls who in the film always get the amazing guy BUT it never works like that in real life!

Hah! On the note of Inbetweeners - that film is so funny! I love how Jay ends up with the chubby girl after being so horrible about her all the way through! Also it is class when he falls on the ant's nest unconscious.....hehehehe! On the note of class.... anyone seen Despicable me? The minions are brilliant you must must must watch it!

Anyways I seem to be casually listing films with no real reason so I'll sign off..... need to go to a nativity service rehearsal...... Yay! What fun!

Anyways these films are amazing and I feel well happy now thinking off them!
Wee Scottish lass out!
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Defiance

Defiance by C.J. Redwine is a (I think post-apocalyptic) novel that follows Rachel Adams on her quest to find her 'declared dead' father before the Commander does. Living inside the protective walls of the city she feels confined and controlled, (basically because all the citizens are) but outside the walls lie violent wanderers and a beast straight out a legend The Cursed One (which from the various descriptions I gather is like a dragon!). To begin with I found Defiance quite hard to get into. It is a novel you have to focus all your attention on - it's not a fluffy romance like other YA novels but still has more than it's fair share of romance, betrayal and action.  I quite enjoyed this as it's good to have a book that does require more than half of your attention to read it! However one of the faults of the book is that Redwine does not set the period or really the place of the book - to help understand the unique setting of the cities with the situation of the Cursed One the
book needed to go into more detail about how the cities, their commanders and the Cursed One came about.


Rachel is an interesting character - she's really headstrong and independent yet when it comes to Logan she's like putty. I enjoyed these two different sides but I did find it a little unrealistic... Logan is her father's apprentice and very technologically orientated though he can use his knives when he wants to! They both hate the Commander and refuse to believe Jared, Rachel's dad is dead. Half the book follows Logan and Rachel attempting to find a way out of the city in order to resume the search for Jared. The actual search and the showdown with the Commander is a little brief and rushed for my liking and this detracts from the book's otherwise detailed plot. There are various other characters in the book like Oliver who all contribute to the plot by reinforcing Rachel's hatred of the Commander and giving an incentive for the book to keep going - rather than Rachel and Logan just finding Jared and running instead they begin to realise that this is bigger than just them and they must do all they can to bring down the Commander.

Defiance is going to be a trilogy and I think it will be one worth reading - Defiance reminds me a little of the Inkheart trilogy. It is printed by Atom an imprint of Little Brown and you can get it from Amazon for £4.54. It is a good buy if you're looking for a YA novel with a little more to it! For me Defiance would get a 4 out of 5 as I would have liked more work on the setting but don't listen to some of the negative reviews is got... I really really don't agree with them!

Buy! Buy! Buy!

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Giggle

This made me giggle so I just had to share it! Sorry Bieber-man if you see this!

So cold

Brrrrrrrrrrrrr. It is so cold here in Scotland.... we have a horrible two days of wet ahead of us - no fluffy snow or nice dry crisp frost for us just more and more puddles...... So many puddles.....

I can't take my dog out without us both getting soaked..... and today soaked would have been an understatement.... I had to go looking for 2 of our horses who had apparently got out of their field so off I went..

Venturing across vast mud bogged fields, the sandy plains of our beach, the steep mountainous hill of the next field, the treacherous road with streams of water forging their way down the hilly road........

Only to find the horses hadn't escaped, hadn't made their way across these various places, had not left their field but had instead hidden behind the wall keeping nice and warm and dry...... the farmer had seen two of my aunts pet calves through the misty sheets of rain and assumed they were horses. For 2 hours I had patrolled all the possible fields religiously checking any nooks and crannies for some hide away horses!

I was drenched, sodden to the skin, exhausted, starving and came home....

To find Mum standing at the door, handing me the bird feeders.... 'Fill these up won't you?' And back into the pouring rain I had to go.

What a lovely start to the CHRISTMAS holidays!
Hope you guys are luckier than me and get snow,
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Witch Crag

Witch Crag by Kate Cann is a dystopian novel - rather different to her usual here and now novels. Having read some other dystopian novels (the post-apocalyptic Ann Aguirre Razorland trilogy and the Hunger Games trilogy) Witch Crag is a welcome addition to this YA genre. I find Cann's descriptions far softer and subtle than the harshness and ferocity of Razorland and the Hunger Games. Although hundreds of horrible things happen in Cann's book it is dealt with a more sympathetic humane way by the lead character Kita. Kita's whole character is based around her unique (in her community) desire to lead a better life, join people, escape the strict discipline of the SheepMen. Although through her journey with her two friends she hardens and becomes less shocked by the horrors in her world she still strives to create a world that will be better for them all and join the various communities together.

Witch Crag has various great aspects - a well-developed thought out romantic relationship for Kita, a thrilling journey to safety, a monumental change in the societies of the various tribes, and a exciting war between the tribes and the city (as long as the tribes unite in time).

Kita
Kita is strong, pretty (but not pretty enough to be chosen for a horsemen bride), determined and passionate. When she realises her best friend Quainy is being effectively sold to the horsemen as a bride to guarantee the tribes pact she decides they need to leave.... and summon all their courage and flee to the Witch Crag where the feared witches are supposed to live. Kita might have decided there was possibly little to fear from the witches but persuading Quainy and their other friend Raff to leave for there will be more difficult. Over the book Kita faces several challenges with her friends that lead to them becoming a little seperated from each other (Quainy and Raff falling in love and Kita being left out) as Kita begins to discover her 'witch powers' her friends become a little nervous around her and Kita slowly becomes paranoid and hardens.

Quainy and Raff
Both important minor characters they flee with Kita from Sheep Men Fort and slowly develop a relationship out from under the arranged marriages of the Sheep Fort. They prove to be useful for the journey both each contributing to saving the group when they are in the city.

Arc
Arc is one of the sheepmen's footsoldiers and he falls for Kita. Kita doesn't realise this thinking Arc is just out for another conquest, another notch under his belt, but when he attempts to scale Witch Crag the place all the men fear and is captured by the witches she realises that maybe, just maybe, he means more to her than she thought.  He also shows to be made of the same cloth as Kita - protective, passionate and open minded.

This is one of the best books I've read in a while. Kate Cann weaves a beautiful story which explores a young girl's efforts to save the life she knows and all her friends. The paranormal aspect of this novel is not very big or loud and I think this really does contribute to the novel's overall effect as it is not smothering and intrusive.

This book is published by Scholastic and can be bought from Amazon for £3.84. At this small price you really won't regret it!

A Definite 4 out of 5!
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Christmassy

Despite my brilliant time yesterday in church, associated with 'Its Christmas!' Calls. I now feel surprisingly unchristmassy so I have resorted to using Spotify for Christmas songs.... so far I have listened to Last Christmas by Wham! Oh dear Tabby! Now it's 'It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas' by Michael Buble..... And I have started to feel far more Christmassy especially with the line 'Mum and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again!) that feels so close to the truth that is already being disclosed in my house.... that I must conclude, according to the sexy voiced Buble, It is Christmas!

I have only been off school for one day - but I don't really like counting Saturdays as holiday days so I've not even been off school for one day - and Mum and Dad are already complaining about me, how I haven't got up yet even though it's 11 (she doesn't believe me that some people stay in bed until 3!), how I've upset my gran by being upset myself about her refusal to allow me to put the fairy lights round the door like I wanted (don't judge me I was tired)! OMG this holiday will be a very long one for my lovely parents if it's already started!

Now we've got Christmas Day by Dido! It's a rather horrible song...... meh! Anyone want any more evidence for my tiredness and why I should be allowed to stay in bed past 11? I wrote onions instead of Saturday in this post because my mum asked me whether I'd rather have caramelised onion pork sausages or pork and apple sausages... I said onion! and my brain obviously decided to try and tell the world! Lucky I checked over huh?

AND if my tiredness didn't need any more added to it I was woken up at half 5 this morning (5.34 to be exact) by a text from one of my friends complaining about having to go to work at this ridiculous hour in the morning, You can imagine I didn't reply but instead fell seething back to sleep to when I woke up examine how amazingly stupid my friend is to think I want to know about the time their getting up - especially if THEY THINK IT'S A RIDICULOUS HOUR - I'm not the one with the incentive to get up - money - or the idiocy to get a job that early! I love them really but c'mon!!!!!!!!!


Anyways I better go eat some breakfast before I snap some-one else's head up.... I'm not always a morning person...... Also we seem to have hit some sort of jazzy number on Spotify 'Julen Varer Laenge' By Peter Bali which I'm convinced isn't even in English!

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Run Little Man Run

Listeners!

Now, if you've read any of my original posts you'd know that I refer to anyone reading/following my post as listeners..... 'cos really following sounds a tad creepy and makes me worried the creepy old man is back on the computer staring at me through this virtual screen!

Now, after having a little look at my audience it looks like a lot of y'all are American, How about that?! Love you! But c'mon Brits support a fellow country lass!

How about a little +1 if you're American  - it'll also let me know whose tuning in regularly (see what I did tuning - like in radio - which you use your ears for - so you're listening - get it? No? why do I even bother!! :P)
Don't worry it doesn't let me or anyone else see who you are, just gives me an idea of numbers so Mr Creepy Old Man - who should be fudging off - can't 'follow' you..... wow! does anyone else get an ominous sounding tone in their head when they read 'follow'.... I swear the lights sort of dimmed and my head read follow in a dark booming voice..... anyways tabby stop getting distracted.... so yeah basically any American's  please +1!!
Love y'all (like my Miley Cyrus impression?)
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The End Of the World

So the world is supposed to be ending today huh? That's bad. I never have found out who let the dogs out, the way to get to Sesame Street, why Dora doesn't just use Google maps, why we don't ever see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery", why women can't put on mascara with their mouth closed, why "abbreviated" is such a long word, why lemon juice is made with artificial flavor yet dish-washing liquid is made with real lemons, why they sterilize the needle for lethal injections, why do you have to "put your two cents in" but it's only a "penny for your thoughts"? Where's that extra penny going to? Why did Joanie love Chachi? Why business is so difficult to spell, why men don't ever come straight out with things, or if they do - to straight out! How blind people can watch films? If a deaf person has to go to court is it still called a hearing? Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane? Why football holds such a strange hold over people's (men's particularly) lifes? Where the 101st Dalmation was because I'm pretty sure I only ever see around 20 on one screen? Does the alphabet song and twinkle twinkle little star have the same tune? Why did you just try to sing those two previous songs? And just what is Victoria's secret? And why, why, why is it acceptable to wear a bikini but not a bra????

You see, the world just has to keep going. I have far too many questions...

Inspired by a group on Facebook!

It's Christmas!

Woooohoooo! So school is done! Yeehaw!

We have this compulsory church service we have to go to at the end of the last school day and so we did.... Praise be to The Powers Above etc.

And the minister had us shouting 'its Christmas' whenever he said Christmas. Which was HILARIOUS as one of my teachers has a really deep gruff voice and he was sitting behind me so all I could hear was his voice.

AND HE KEPT SAYING IT AT THE WRONG TIME!

So all you'd have is this lone deep voice saying 'It's Chris----- oops sorry guys!'.. It was enough to get me and the boy next to me in hysterics. So everytime the poor minister said Christmas - which was a lot considering it was A christmas service - this one loud voice would drown out the others and he'd hear loud peals of laughter coming from me and the boy.

Needless to say he started avoiding the word Christmas which was equally funny because he had to search for words like festivity, happy time of year, time when Christ was born, middle of winter.... you name it he tried to use it!

To top it off the last carol was called 'It's Christmas Time' and me and the boy just could not even look at the word without bursting out laughing! All in All a pretty good end to the school term!

Merry Christmas everyone or Happy festivities!
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Silver

Oh my dear god, so, I got my best friend's present from the woman I'd commissioned to make it and it is beautiful - glass with silver. However I was sitting in my French listening test when I suddenly started to panic that she was allergic to silver (my friend's definitely allergic to some metal in jewelry and usually uses titanium)....
So there I was, Christmas round the corner, attempting to listen to some gawd-awful man on the CD drone on about smoking IN FRENCH, while I panicked about what I could get my friend for Christmas on such short notice if she was indeed allergic to silver.
(authors note: I did manage to pass my French listening though it was very close).

I then had to endure 2 hours more of school and the delightful Christmas lunch which no longer includes cool little snowman/santa/rudolf icecream faces but instead foul blackforest cakes whose sponges all taste of cherry - talk about a infringement on the Article All Cake should taste good 808 Law - shht tabby shht back on track - yupp so where was I - ah yes enduring..... so I got through all this and managed to get home after a very long bus journey which consisted of a 7 year old boy telling the one other boy on my bus that I loved him..... I managed to shut him up when I turned round and told him Rudolph had broken his leg and Santa wasn't coming anymore.... Tehe All's fair in love and war and shutting little brats up.

I FINALLY got home to phone my friend and got her brother - luckily I suppose it would be quite disconcerting for my friend to have me phone up and say 'Are you allergic to silver?' and depending on the answer either hear jubilant indian war cries or several choice swear words! But I got her brother and he said he didn't think so before proceeding to yell down the stairs asking my friend whether she was allergic to silver earrings....

THANKFULLY the answer was No and I could relax in the good knowledge that my present was ok - until I discover she hates green!

So there my dear friends is the story of silver in my life today. (if you notice my consistent use of friend instead of naming her that is because of you creepy old man who I can not entrust the name of my dear friends with *she blows a loud raspberry*)

Cheerio :) Pip pip ta ta

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Clarity

Clarity by Kim Harrington is a mystery paranormal thriller featuring a psychic girl Clare (or Clarity) who becomes involved in a murder investigation with a very hot but rather skeptic boy detective.


Harrington's debut novel is a good fluffy read - literally unchallenging but very close to spinning a close-knit good story that doesn't have those loose threads that are quite common with this genre.

What I liked most about Clarity is how Harrington does not put too much emphasis on the fact Clare and her family are psychic  - it becomes a sort of accepted part of them - like perhaps how in your family it might be normal to   read books all together and discuss them in the evening. Yeah, they're a bit  odd but it's more of a uniqueness rather than a total removal from normal life - you won't find yourself yearning to be a psychic(or vampire/werewolf) like in other books just because the main character is.

Clare
There is lots to praise about Clare - she's pretty down to earth and there are tonnes of typical teenage traits which means you can relate to her more easily. However she's quite hardy, sarcastic and has a tendency to blunder into things. You will like her but there are times you curse her as well!

Gabriel
(Even his name sounds good!). He's the son of the detective and very skeptic of Clare and her powers, yet also deeply attracted to her fieriness. You'll love him as he has his own little sob story, so acts all tough, he's really caring and prepared to put himself in front of a bullet meant for someone else. My heart broke when he decided to trust Clare's instincts despite everything that had happened to him previously involving psychics.

Justin
Justin is Clare's ex-boyfriend and the relationship between them is rather tense, him also having been her only real friend. However he's really sweet and still cares for her so much that he is prepared to sacrifice everything for her alone.

Peri
Clare's brother who is accused of the murders. Peri was a great character for me because he brought a smile to my face just because he did for Clare!

Kim has a real talent with creating characters and I really enjoyed how credible this story was - you were able to believe that psychics were real because Clare was OK with it and not totally reminding everyone of it every minute!

Clarity is worth reading, and although is quite fluffy, has a good story line (a perfect debut novel for Harrington) and I definitely look forward to reading the next book in the trilogy. I'd give Clarity a 3 out of 5 because although I really enjoyed it it wasn't as good as some books I've read. However that's a lot of books and it definitely has potential if Harrington chooses to exploit it in her next book Perception.

Clarity is published by Scholastic and can be bought from Amazon for £4.89.

En Bon Lu.
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Unremembered

Unremembered by Jessica Brody is another sci-fi, action YA novel with a dash of romance thrown in. It follows Seraphina (or Violet as she is known as first) who is found at the site of an aeroplane crash in the middle of the sea, unharmed while everyone else is dead, with no memories at all. The book follows her struggle to regain her memories while trying to figure out who to trust (should she trust the alluring strange boy who tells her not to believe anyone but expects her to trust him?) before its too late.

Brody manages to create a strong girl whose plight you are excited to follow. Although her explanations over Sera's origins are rather vague and a little confusing Brody does spend a good part of the novel setting the scene and introducing Sera to us which personally I enjoy. However I feel the action becomes quite rushed towards the ends and you can be quite overloaded with information towards the end - I had to re-read certain pages to make sure I'd got it right.

Seraphina
Sera is strong, dead smart, and drop-dead gorgeous. She seems to be the epitome of every characteristic  ever desired by any girl or man - i.e. the perfect human. Understandably she is really suspicious of people because she can not place anyone, she doesn't even know what her favourite food is - let alone what sort of people she likes/trusts due to her memory loss. When she meets Zen although her initial reaction is distrust and fear she quickly falls for him and Brody creates a good relationship between the two of them.

Lyzender (Zen)
Zen, to begin with, is a bit weird to be honest. He is really intense and although later on in the book he improves, he isn't the perfect guy, well for me anyway! I wasn't really attracted to him that much but really enjoyed the interactions between him and Sera.

Cody
In my opinion, Cody was one of the best minor characters. He was really sarcastic and cutely shy around Sera, who he nicknames the supermodel. He plays a major role in Sera's escape from the bad guys and is, under his uncaring facade, actually quite caring!

This is part of a trilogy....gawd aren't they all! But with the unexpected twist at the end of the book you'll want to keep reading and I'm pretty sure a trilogy will seem to short once you really get into it!! I'm definitely keeping my eyes peeled for the second book.

Now this book isn't out until 14th March 2013 but pre-order it from Amazon at £5.59 and you won't regret it. It, similar to 'Eve and Adam' by Michael Grant and a little like 'Host' by Stephanie Meyer, is a refreshing breath to the generic YA novels and most of you should enjoy it - who doesn't like a little bit of hot romance hidden inside an action thriller! Unremembered is published by MacMillan books and I'd give it a 4 out of 5, good but eh, Zen wasn't lovable enough for me.

Put it down on your Pre-order List now while you remember!

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Jaffa Cakes

Jaffa Cakes

I love jaffa cakes (had them for my lunch today) but have you ever noticed that after the 6th one your lips start to go numb, taste of orange and you begin to feel queasy? This might just be because Jaffa Cake packets are not designed to be consumed by one person very quickly but could there be another reason?

Could the Jaffa Cake Company be slowly mutating all Jaffa Cake Consumers into living Jaffa Cakes? I doubt it to but I was reading the Doctor Who feature in the Radio Times for Christmas and am feeling very alien orientated.....

Imagine though living Jaffa Cake people..... they'd be like a Jaffa Cake with little orange arms and legs... Orange eyes..... Can't see them having a mouth though!

While looking for this Jaffa Cake photo (see above) I have discovered the Jaffa Cake Challenge - how many jaffa cakes one person can eat in one minute... I am determined to attempt this over Christmas (as long as I get Jaffa Cakes in my stocking.... mother?)

Ach well nothing else really happened today - though I forgot to tell you guys about this timelapse (lots of photos taken over a period of time to make a sort of video but which covers a longer period of time in a short period of time.... get it? me neither!) my friend made of us decorating his Christmas Tree! It's really quite funny as we are speeded up really fast putting decorations on the tree - and then he brought in this bowl of crisps so every so often you see hands dart in to steal a crisp from the bowl on the side of the picture! It's pretty funny.....

Anyways, 2 reviews coming up I think! And OMG!!! one week till Christmas 7 sleeps!! eeek!!
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Tehehehe

Halo NUMBER TWO

Hey to all who liked my Halo Review,
I've acquired the second book :D yeehaw!
+1 if you want the review sooner rather than later - might influence your late Christmas list! Otherwise it'll be a while till it's up 'cos I'll read a different book first.
Love you'se
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Computers! Argh!

Right, don't get me wrong - I love my laptop but they can be so darn annoying! I'm sitting right now trying to get my 'Windows Security Service Center' (whatever that is - but it sounds dead important and necessary) to work as for the past few months it has been TURNED OFF..... the HORROR! I have no idea how to turn it on, as I keep getting a stupid error button and the little Postman Pat Windows Fix It man is NOT fixing it!

I want my laptop to run dead smoothly but alas I am really a technophobe and have no idea how to work anything on it - I don't see why it can't be straight forward and why things can't actually work like they're supposed to! Damn technology that is so needed in our life to connect us to the outer world!

And it annoys me to think of all those people making tonnes of money at Microsoft when their ruddy stuff doesn't work and is not 'simple' or easy to walk through. Hah! Gawd I've just noticed I have real difficulty putting the right there, their or they're in at the right place! I've had to change half of the there's to their and vice versa! Ahh! No Tabby water spray DO NOT get distracted!

Anyway yes computer technology has really annoyed me today and I feel really on edge as I'm typing this whilst knowing my computer is still messed up - so ANNOYING!!!

However I have admitted defeat and am going to phone The Flying Pigs Lady who is a computer whiz in these parts.... By the way here in Scotland flying pigs are the way to travel, whilst wearing kilts with no undies!

Scottie out X

Nightshade

Nightshade by Andrea Cremer is a thrilling novel based around Calla Tor who has always known her destiny; but when a human boy, Shay, challenges her beliefs and she defies her master's law her whole world changes.

Cremer manages to create a seductive yet twisted world where humans are little more than pawns to a pack of werewolves and the werewolves are really just knights for the cunning and manipulative Keepers. Cremer's imagery is amazing and she portrays the change from human to werewolf well - making the two part of a person - the form being chosen for what suits the person at the time. The whole werewolf thing seems real and her carefully crafted characters and their close ties become progressively more intricate as the novel progresses.

Calla
I can see how for some people Nightshade would be a fantastic novel and they would love Calla but honestly I found it quite hard to connect with her - she was always at war with herself and felt overly dramatic - there was the whole episode of the heroine not trusting her friends with what's going on and so it backfires on her leaving her alone in a mess. I think I just found Calla a little fake and because the rest of the story was so good around her that Cremer could have done a bit more to make her more real.

However Cremer's secondary characters are really good and they support the main characters, Calla, Shay and Ren extremely well. She manages to capture a different personality for each individual making the interactions between them entertaining and realistic.

Shay
Shay, along with Ren, is the main love interest but he really wasn't that great - It was great that he believed Calla should be able to decide her own future but that was only because she wanted him to choose her.. In that sense he was quite selfish in the fact he was always looking for ways for Calla to be with him - taking little note of the inward pain it was causing her having to choose between Ren and Shay.

Ren
Ren seems to pull the short straw in this book - yeah he's a bit of a egoistical eejit sometime but he also really does care for Calla. It seems a shame that because Calla doesn't want to be forced into a relationship with him she doesn't get into a relationship with him. The whole pre-matched thing puts a damper on any real relationship forming between them since Calla rebels against it.

Cremer does annoy me a little with the theme of true love (Bryn and Ansel (two of the werewolves) for example). It just gets a little fake and sappy. But that's probably just because I'm in a cynical mood! Cremer's plot is original though which is really good for a YA novel seeing as they can so often be generic.

Nightshade is part of a trilogy so I will try and get hold of the other two somehow as I would like to know how the story progresses (Calla might be a little irritating sometimes but you still get attached to her). Cremer also seems to have written a prequel which will be interesting as the whole Guardian/Keeper relationship is quite confusing so that should be good for clearing up any misconceptions.

All in All it is a good book and I would give Nightshade 4 out of 5. It didn't quite have that lasting 'pow' that some books have but I still want to read about what happens to Calla.

Nightshade is published by Atom an imprint of Little Brown and can be bought from Amazon at around £4.89, and is worth reading - especially if you have read Maggie Stiefvater's Wolves of Mercy Falls series.

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Mornings

Mornings at the Weekends

Grrrr..... you set your alarm for quite early (so unfair on a weekend morning) and you subconsciously wake up halfway through the night and turn it off resulting in a 3 hour lie in over when you were meant to get up:

Result: Smug body, angry parents, grumpy person who has extra work to catch up, excited dog that thinks greeting you equals a punch in the stomach!

However one way to resurrect this disaster is PANCAKES......... mmmmm yummy pancakes slathered in lemon juice and sugar :D yummm! though I must say pancakes have a annoying way of making you feel really really full so you can't eat anymore!!! probably a good thing though otherwise I would be eating them all day!

So my Christmas tree is up - caused a lot of hassle this year - we were missing a set of fairy lights so dad refused to let us put tinsel or anything on until we had got the rest of the lights so for like 3 days the poor tree stood there all naked with only some DEAD ANNOYING flashy blue lights! However now its all finished and I've even put some presents under the tree! I love wrapping presents, I even managed to put string on these ones, but I have this annoying habit of pointing out to my respective family and friends which one is theirs because I want them to be excited and to be as desperate as I am for them to open them! I am very impatient, so impatient that I spend days trawling the internet for some custom that would allow me to give presents to people before Christmas to open them so I don't have to wait long to see their delight (hopefully delight!) The closest I've got is Sweden who open their presents on Christmas Eve but that's not really that much closer.....


Oh yeah and guess what - I have been enrolled to direct the village nativity play - this consists of little 5 year old kids bringing parts of the nativity set up while I tell the story of Jesus's birth.. joys! Hark the Herald Angels Sing and all that stuff. However I'm feeling more optimistic about the whole Church thing after reading Halo (see below review) and I'm feeling closer to God already! But humph I still harbor a dream to become Buddhist - they are so cool and calm and collected and believe in believing the best in everyone which I try to do


BUT ITS SO DIFFICULT WHEN THEY'RE HORRIBLE *cough* populars *cough*

Now i gotta jet, have a shower which (from my father's jubilant cries) has been fixed, and do some of my work before this evening when Merlin's on...... Merlin is the best! Problem?! Oh and creepy old man my shower room has blinds.... fudge you.....

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Riddle

Hey guys, 
in my school i'm making quiz questions for our end-of-term quiz
Here's a riddle, see if you can get it? Comment with your suggestions!

What fastens two people yet touches only one?

Answer: A Wedding Ring

Tabs :)
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SNOW!

Snow Snow Snow..... we had actual snow today :D yeeehah! it didn't set or anything dead exciting but it still fell! It was like blizzardy and horribly slushy but really awesome!!

My bag got absolutely soaked and all my stuff in it though walking to school!

I also got my hair cut today - ahh the expensive life of girls - and it was actually dead cheap - £6 so I used the remaining £4 to buy a smoked sausage and chips for lunch (a girl's gotta indulge herself!)

now,

People Who Your (loving) Elder Relatives Introduce you to
Who hasn't been introduced to some elderly woman by your gran, or great-aunt. You have to stand there awkwardly trying to look earnest and good (someone your relative would be proud of) while the friend peers at you as if trying to see you properly........ you feel scrutinized and then the inevitable happens...
THEY COMPARE YOU TO THEIR NIECES/NEPHEWS, GRANDCHILDREN, or any person your age they have a claim over.

You have to listen to the latest adventures of their respective child, their amazing achievements on piano, their amazing boyfriend (just rub salt in the wound why don't you) and you have to pretend you don't know that really they're just showing off their person while you stand there dumb cos if you said anything about yourself you'd sound big-headed.....

The worst is when you see the same person AGAIN, they don't usually ask you about you, they just tell you the exact same story about their person and you just want to die of boredom and you can't get away!!!

Aaaah I loved old people and all but do they have to be so DARN proud of their people! I wouldn't mind just talking about some mundane thing like the news instead of about their fudging grandkid for the seventh time in a row!!!


Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

Tabs
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Teacher Tabby

Ah so today I had a sore eye so I had to wear my glasses - geeky I know but controversially I was not suffering in the name of beauty. I also chose to put my hair down and (yes it had to be the time the glasses were marring my face) it chose to be straight...... this is like a once in a blue cheese moon occasion. So I was walking around the school and all the kids were looking at me and I was getting dead embarrassed thinking I must have something stuck to my shoe (I will never live down the toilet paper incident in my head ever!) until one of the little kids came up to me - he was a couple of years below me - and asked me if I was lost.

I laughed and said no why? The little kid replied that he thought I was the new biology teacher!!! Eeeek I must look dead scarily old! So not venturing out with hair down and glasses on again in a while...... I don't even like fudging Biology! However one of the boys in my class came up to me and told me my hair looked nice down so that wasn't so bad.... I guess putting my hair back in a ponytail ain't always the most flattering ;)

Its Pukka Pie for dinner tonight.... YUM! (for those who do not know Pukka Pie is a delicous machine-churned out pie with stuff in it - ours is chicken gravy tonight!) YUM! again! It is very fake and reconstitued but just makes my day especially when the wind is howling outside and your feet are cold and so with a Pukka Pie you can sit dipping chips in the gravy while you catch up on Grimm! I love Grimm - I love fairy tales so putting that on T.V. with some good action, fit men and catchy storylines what more could you want!

Also did anyone watch the Young Doctors Notebook? (I think that's what it's called) It was rather good - Daniel Radcliffe makes a yummy doctor and there are some pretty funny bits in it!! Yummy...... watch it!

Anyways I'm off to read, (do some homework - just in case you're reading mum) and eat some chocolate...... cos that's what it's all about :)

Tabs :)
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Halo

Halo by Alexandra Adornetto has to be one of my favourite books of this year. Adornetto is only 18 yet she writes with so much passion and care that you wouldn't believe it! Also another great positive Halo is over 400 pages long - no more paying £7 for a book that takes you a couple of hours to read instead Halo, both in quantity and quality, takes a good time to read. Adornetto develops each of the characters so well that over the course of the book you have grown attached to them and can understand why they're saying or doing something.

Yeah okay, the storyline isn't too original - angels coming to earth to battle darkness- but it's been a while since I've read a YA novel where I've come to really care for the characters and have wanted to read the next book in the series to find out what they get up to - not just what the rest of the story is - It's hard to explain but Adornetto's novel is not just a good story, it creates a real place where you can really see the people and can feel like you really know them.
*TAD bit of SPOILER*
The first half of the book concentrates on Bethany, an angel, her two (angel) siblings, Gabriel and Ivy, as they integrate themselves into Venus Cove beginning to re-establish belief and trust in the community. Through school Bethany meets Xavier, a sweet slightly messed up boy, who has lost interest in girls until he meets Beth. I would identify these 4 as the main characters in the first half of the book but Molly, Bethany's friend, is also well developed though I didn't pay too much attention to her as I was too hung up on Beth and Xav. The story then introduces Jake Thorn to the mix, obviously a baddie, and from then on the speed picks up. I felt a little disorientated by the quick pace of the story from then on - having enjoyed the slow establishment of the storyline in the first half the second half felt a little rushed and action-packed... However this could just be because I enjoy lots of detail and love the part when the characters are just leading relatively normal lifes with minor funny interruptions but then I suppose it wouldn't be a story just more of a depiction of a celestial beings life on Earth!
*SPOILER over*

Bethany
Bethany is sweet, good and kind (also very naive - the sex discussion with Molly is rather hilarious) It might sound sickly but she really is an angel.... I'm not an extremely religous person but the way Adornetto writes the book presents God and religion in a brilliant way which makes you realise it's not all about church etc. The angel/religion aspect also does not intrude on the book at all so if you're adverse to religion don't worry it wouldn't upset/annoy you. You can't help resenting her for her luck with Xav and her beauty etc but she is a really good person! Darn her! Adornetto develops her well and you can relate to her feelings, things that would sound cheesy from a different character sound right from Beth and the reader really begins to care what happens to her.

Gabriel
The warrior - Gabriel is one of the archangels and is extremely dedicated to his task set to him as God. He loves humans in a condescending kind of way - he is there to protect them but not associate with them, however as the book goes on he relaxes a little and goes on to warm (a little) to Xav. Gabriel is the epitome of an angel and provides the needed bit of a adult presence to make the book seem authentic. (He's not going to let Beth party all night or forget her 'divine' task ....... like she would!)

Ivy
Ivy is a healer  - and one of the seraphim (those closest to God)  - she spends her time defusing any tensions which arise (often between Gabriel and Bethany!) Ivy is amazingly elegant, eloquent and empathetic. She spends her time trying to restore trust and belief in the community - being a bit of an eco-warrior! She can't begin to understand Bethany's feelings for Xavier but she does her best to support Beth even though she thinks she's gone a bit mad!

Xavier
When Xav lost his best friend/girl friend in a fire he distanced himself from girls  - sure he's friendly and all but he wouldn't go there. Of course not till Bethany comes along. Possibly my favourite part of the book is when Xavier starts to fall for Beth and tries to get her to talk to him but she avoids him for fear of breaking the rules of God. Xavier is a true hero - kind, smart and funny - although he seems to good to be true you can imagine him standing in front of you! He is a great character to follow and Adornetto gives him some small quirks and flaws - his insistence to protect Bethany - her and me both find it a little annoying but understand his reasons and secretly love him for it! One of my favourite quotes from the book is when Xavier replies to Bethany who has said there's nothing interesting about her (LIAR!) " I disagree. Even your reaction to being called interesting is interesting". I mean, c'mon girls, who wouldn't want a boy to believe in you that much!

All in all Halo is a brilliant book, it's definitely one that I'd go back to on a cold day, and I need to get the other two in the trilogy. I think Alexandra Adornetto has done a brilliant job on this book and I have really enjoyed reading a fantasy book that wasn't too fantasy (I mean I know angels are imaginative but the way the book is written you can quite believe they are real).

So Halo gets a strong 4 out of 5.

It's published by Little Brown under the imprint of Atom and you can get it from Amazon for £5.27

Good Reading (I suggest you put it on your Christmas list fast!)

Tabs
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Everneath

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Nikki Beckett vanished from the face of the Earth six months ago, and now she's back. Nikki has been in an underworld known as the Everneath and she has Returned to the Surface to her old life for six more months to try and reconnect with people she left behind - her dad, friends and most importantly Jack.. her boyfriend the boy she loves more than anything.......

However the immortal who seduced her and took her to the Everneath, Cole, has followed her back to the Surface and intent on taking Nikki back to the Everneath for ever this time.

The book follows Nikki's journey back into her old life, her struggle to say goodbye to her family, to reconnect with her friends and most importantly work things out with Jack.

With her deadline growing ever closer Everneath beckons and Nikki is faced with the hardest decision of her life. Ashton has created a intricate world based on Greek myths and Nikki is a brilliant heroine which the reader follows with enthusiasm. The book is cleverly written and the reader is stuck from the first page, it is an easy read but when you look back on the characters they are surprisingly complex.

Nikki
Nikki, thank god, isn't the typical god awful pout in the corner that many YA female characters end up being. She has some real issues and she knows what happened in Everneath is her fault and she is searching for redemption, not for someone to blame. You want things to work out for Nikki because you can see her reasons behind her decisions and understand them but agree with her that they were wrong and be happy for her that she wants to change them.. You will definitely will her along and things to go her way!

Jack
Jack didn't give up on Nikki for the six months she was gone but now she's back he's wary, hurt and cautious. Jack is one of my favourite male characters in a long time he is extremely believable (you can see him being a real person and gawd you better hope there are Jacks out there 'cos you'll need them to battle the Coles!) He's also real sweet, understanding and funny!

Cole
Cole is the typical bad boy - he's immortal (sort of like a vampire who feeds on emotion!) and Nikki gave him the biggest feast of his life yet survived. So he's darn curious about this girl who is refusing his tempting offers and is attempting to reconnect with all her friends and family despite her impending deadline. However girls, you can't help falling a little for Cole, who, at least in the case of Nikki, does care for her and can be sweet and funny but also dark and dangerous.

Ashton creates a  love triangle with Nikki, Cole and Jack but Nikki is a strong female lead character who ignores advances from Cole and is stuck on Jack. Jack and Nikki's relationship is realistic with the good times sometimes shadowed with doubt and misunderstandings.

Now I warn you it is a trilogy so if you don't want to get dragged into a series stay away because the ending will leave you desperate for the second book which is out in January 2013..

I'd give Everneath 4 out of 5 it was extremely good, and I loved the interpretation on the Persephone myth but it wasn't quite there for me - I would have like a greater play on the love triangle perhaps with Nikki being more attracted towards Cole (I'd find that bad boy charm alluring even if I knew it was bad for me!) and a bigger play on their relationship.

It's published by Simon and Schuster and from Amazon you can get it for £6.29 or cheaper if it's been sold from a different seller new or used!

I really do recommend it!
Tabs
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Christmas Tree

TIME TO PUT UP MY CHRISTMAS TREE!!
Wish me luck..... its fake - but I'm pretty sure I'll end up stuck in it somehow being slowly prodded to death by spiky fir needles!

Missed Me?

Missed me bloggers?

Ahhhh London was amaaazing, the lights are just incredible and I went to Hamleys (Dad insisted!) and I must say... that is too many floors! You got a fudging map to navigate a TOY SHOP! A MAP!

wowzar!

My interview went okayish, its a good thing I have the gift of the gab and talk a lot when I'm nervous otherwise there would have been a dead awkward silence! But I don't know really how it went so I'll have to wait and see......

You know what's dead sad about London? People just don't smile (apart from the many numerous individuals who try and get you to sign up to monthly donations for Shelter... don't ask just smile!) it's such a shame they all look so stressed and bored with life.... sweeping statement i know but it's a shame! I smile all the time, I'm like the Chesire Cat in Alice in Wonderland, cheesy huge smile and they just don't smile back EVER! What's the point in being in such a beautiful city when they don't seem to enjoy it - - - - - I love London, the tube, the lights, (the shops), the food, the people (but only if you get them in a corner and tied down)....
I went ice-skating and fell - a lot..... My bum is blue still and that isn't from the cold..... It was beautiful though and some people were just great at it..... but well I'm not.... But I loved it and will definetly go again but perhaps with a more willing volunteer/partner next time!

I saw The Rise of the Guardians in the cinema when I was there too, yes I like animated films, now Jack Frost is a cutie.... I sure do believe in him! And the Easter Bunny was a bit more of a badass than I'd expected but loved him...... and if you do watch it look out for the Sandman  - he is ridicously cute!

Another review coming up guys - Everneath by Brodi Ashton - My plane book so look out for it!
Tabby
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Off to London

eeeep, this time tomorrow I'll be in London! I've persuaded my cousin to take me ice-skating sometime while I'm there...... this Scottish girl might live in Scotland where the temperature doesn't seem to EVER get above 0 degrees but she's never done any form of winter sports... So me wonders how many times she's going to fall on her butt..... better keep it padded.....I know just what will do the deed...

can you guess?

That's right - deathly delicious doughnuts - now how many do I need to eat to get a good amount of padding...... good thing the co-ops doing 2 packs of 5 doughnuts for £1.20 ;)

Wish me luck, this country girls off to the city, (poor London won't know what's hit her)

Tabby Power!

X

P.S. I'll miss you all while I'm gone...... maybe when I get back there'll be more 'listeners (followers)' don't want my one follower getting lonely and scared off.....

Otherwise I'm blaming you creepy old man!

Eve And Adam

Eve and Adam is a mystery (with a little science) romantic thriller written by Michael Grant and Katherine Appleton. The book follows Evening Spiker, daughter of the multi-billionaire Terra Spiker owner of Spiker Bio-tech (basically a scientific institution), after she is hit in a car and brought to her mother’s workplace to recover. Eve recovers way faster than humanly possible and this forms a basis for the scary evolving plot that chops and changes meaning the reader can’t guess what’s going to happen. I really enjoyed this as so many of these YA books are generic and you can guess what’s going to happen by page 54! Eve is coaxed by her mum to occupy her time by creating her ‘perfect boy’ on a software program……. of course this is completely stimulated……right??

Another major character is Solo who has been looked after by Terra after his parent’s died (Solo’s parents were part-owners of Spiker Bio-tech…. hmmm suspicious huh?!). Solo and Eve are both lacking in the romantic department and the chances for them getting together, which the reader is obviously convinced they will (you know, us readers thinking we have the whole novel sussed out), becomes slimmer and slimmer as the book goes on….. much to my disappointment I must say! My other two characters that I loved was the delightful Aislin, (the slut as Terra calls her) Eve’s friend who is just so down to earth, she might be unable to make good decisions all the time but she is there for Eve no matter what,  and the beautiful Adam…. Eve’s perfect man.

With the usual delectable supply of foul baddies, that as much as the plot this book really keeps you on your toes and interested. I finished the book in a day for fudge’s sake! It was just so good - it’s the sort of novel you can read again and pick up bits that you missed as well as getting to drink in the whole story again. The book incorporated biology and romance and thrills something I wouldn’t have thought humanly possible… mind you this book does stretch the boundaries on what you did think was possible…. it makes you wonder what’s going on behind closed doors.

Because this book got me interested in things I hadn’t been before, a little bit of genetics, a bit of scientific thriller, as well as a huge dollop of Romance….. Ice-cream sundae with banana chunks and chocolate shavings…. yum yum!

I would give this book a 5 out of 5, congratulations to the authors and Electric Monkey for getting this book out there! I love it and can’t wait to get it back off my friend!

Tabs

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Amazon.co.uk sells this brilliant book for £4.54, another one for your Christmas list!

Packing

You know how hard packing is?! Really..... I have to try on every single piece of clothing that I want to take to make sure it looks okay and that I want to take it! Makes it dead tough to choose! Any girls out there will know that a shirt or trousers can look good one minute than try it on when your away and you hate it! Grrr the teenage girl brain!

And when I'm going through my clothes I start having memories of what I've done in them.... For instance today I picked up a pair of my trousers and remembered this cringey time when I'd been walking around the co-op and had toilet paper stuck to my shoe! Arghhh! And who says those sorts of things only happens in books!

well me, and fudge look what happened!

Oh dear, I'm so mega excited tonight, The Doctor's Notebook is on tonight on Sky Arts with Daniel Radcliffe...... (I can never decided if he's droolworthy but he is HARRY POTTER so I have to place my loyalties with him and decide he is!)

Can't wait this time tomorrow I'll be in London! Woop Woop Woop Wooping Gangham Style.... aaaah never gets old ;)

noo i'm off to eat some porridge and haggis... porris ;) off doing scottish things for all your stereotypical readers :P

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Finding This Blog

Hey guys,

Just wondering how you're finding this blog - just passing through with that tempting next blog button or are you being recommended this blog.. I'd love it if you'd forward me on to your friends if you enjoyed my writing..... In fact I'd love you to let me know what you think of my blog and my posts?

So,
What do you think??? Again not you creepy old man.... why are you still here!!

X

People & The Return of the Dastardly Doughnut

Oh my gawd.... some people.....

Scrooges
WHO do they think they are??? Christmas is absolutely amazing.... like incredible...like give presents and get  presents... whats not to like.... Christmas should, A mon avis, start in October after the school holidays because you are depressed after holidays so Christmas should be advertised to make you happy again (it's the small things in life)

People Who are REALLY Nice
Eeeek I love them too bits..... one boy brought jam doughnuts on the bus today (if you've read my other post you'll understand my dilemma....perhaps you can give me a heads up on whether you've read my post by giving this a +1..... love ya ) and I had one.... and it was so nice!! my throats cleared up a lot so it was just that little bit better..... and today one of the dinner ladies gave me an extra large cookie (i'm sure they think I'm anorexic cos i've taking to just having soup and cake at lunch) at lunch.... BONUS! It was fudging fantastic... (hey and you guys know I'm not anorexic cos of my addiction/love-hate relationship with delectable dastardly Doughnuts!)

Queen Bees - the populars - The Stereotypical American Popular (Rare Breed - only seen from afar amongst huge crowds of worshipping followers)
Those who think they are the top of the school well, like all mums, books, films, statistics, good willing neighbours will tell you, they won't last..... their school days are their best days..... I (nastily I suppose) hope that's true.... it'd be good to see them get a little bit of poop shoved back in their faces after shoving it in other peoples for so darn long! But to be honest they'll probably go on to become chief managers of everywhere..... drat! (this is my lovely green streak showing through, my green monster named Liam (I just think Liam is a real envious seeming name don't you)

Anyway there's a brief rundown of people I encountered today, so a bit about my day..... :D
Review coming soon about Eve and Adam by Michael Grant - twas amazing!

Keep listening
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Elementary

Oh Wow, elementary on sky living is just amazing..... Sherlock Holmes is fit!!! Everyone should watch it, I'm not one for crime programs but this one is good :) Anyways my blog seems to think that I live in America and says its like 2 in the afternoon.... fudge that... Its 10 in the evening here and I'm off to bed to read Eve and Adam by Michael Grant (some casual hints for a good book to read and a review that'll be coming soon ;) ) and then some Ancient History textbook.... yuppp learning never ceases in my household.... joy :P :D
Mad Scottish Blogger Off
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How Drunk to Try This...... Very!

This is ridiculously funny.... Promise he doesn't get hurt..... maybe ;)

My dogs :) <3

Think I got this

Okay I totally think I might have cracked this...... yay yay yay..... gawd now I'm reminding myself of London Tipton out of Suite Life.... used to love that show..
P.S. Guys - I'm going through an elipses stage gotta love the little dudes! ..... sadly so cool!
Anyway if any of you are enjoying this please 'follow' me (I like the term 'listening in' more) just so I'm not writing this in vain..... though knowing me, my lovely chirpy self, I'll probably keep prattling on till the Apocalypse comes (which I don't believe is on the 21st December or whatever date everyones worrying about)...
Ciao X

Rants and Tirades (My Day!)

Now we just can't have this more little sub section not having an entry..... I'm a bit apprehensive over changing the title so it's going to have to stay as Rants and Tirades until I figure out if it is a post or whether I'm just changing like the information of it... eek

My day today...... was pretty poor. I have the cold..... don't worry guys you can't catch it over the internet there's no such thing as a cyber cold.... virus yes but not a cold ;) maybe in like 20 years you'll be able to catch one over electronics.... gawd that'd be terrible if you were ill you'd have to be liked locked in a room to stop some poor individual catching your cold just for looking at a message from you..... it wouldn't work though would it...... If it did I wouldn't be able to turn on the telly (google was flashing red lines at me cos id wrote tele due to French ingrained in my lesson so just switched it!) for fear of catching something.... oops i'm drifting again.... I need someone with a spray gun like you get for cats when their doing naughty stuff to spray me when I go off topic.........
Anyways back to my day yeahhh so I was feeling pretty shabby so came home at lunch after glorious double French..... it wasn't too bad actually though je suis terrible at listening!!
Had to abandon this post just now, in case anyone's interested cos my dad had reversed the van into a dead tight place to do gawd know's what ..... guess it must be to do with loading something.... and I had to go move a metal bucket.... that is the most riveting thing that's happened so far....

But now as I glance at my title I do feel a little rant coming on..... about doughnuts.. with gooey jam and lots of sugar....
man their horrible (my dad loves them so he'd bought some) they saunter in (not literally they can't walk but imagine if they could I bet they'd take over the world.... Only Homer Simpson could come to the rescue and save us all by eating them) tehe super Homer .... aaaanyways *cat spray Tabby cat spray* all yummy and FATTENING! I'm a girl you can't help thinking about these things though as you'll realise at the end of this I can't resist them...... My throat is sore!!! They have scratchy yummy sugar!!! They hurt to eat!!! But gawd their good........ I ate one..... only one! But it hurt and it still tasted good.... surely if something hurts it shouldn't taste good... and that only made me resent it more cos I wanted another one but I knew it'd hurt....... Grrrr evil delicous doughy doughnuts..... that reminds me I want to try an American made doughnut surely they'll be amazing..... i think America's the land of the doughnuts.... I think....


Anyways I'm really writing this to see about this information thing but maybe you'll get a kick out of it if you read it!

Ta Ta for Now

x

Skin Deep

Skin Deep by Laura Jarratt is a very enthralling teenage romance novel. However the novel also deals with the incredible difficulties faced by teenagers when they have problems at home or suffer a lack of confidence over their appearance (as all teenage girls do). Jenna was in a car crash in the summer and her best friend was killed. She suffered some terrible burns and is left with terrible scars. Jenna withdraws into herself and refuses to go out with any of her old friends; leaving the house only when her family begs her to. Ryan, a traveller, has a mum who suffers from bipolar disorder. When his mum is on her lows she becomes hateful and Ryan is forced to cope with her accusations.

When Ryan moves to Jenna’s village the two meet only for Jenna to flee sobbing as Ryan noticed her scars. Jenna’s insecurity confuses Ryan who sees past her physical appearance and doesn’t judge her for it. Ryan later sees Jenna again and apologises, mentioning her scars which both appalls and fascinates Jenna who is used to her kindly neighbours avoiding mentioning them.

The book swaps narration between the two characters and Jarratt develops the two personalities vividly - they both have their flaws and you can relate to them as authentic teenagers.

The only problem I had with the book was the fact Jenna was only 14 (Ryan was 16). I just found it hard to relate to such a young character as at her age I was not as interested in boys as she is!! However once you accept she is extremely lucky to have bagged such a catch (Ryan is completely drool worthy!)…… she is a likeable friendly character.

Jarratt manages to catch the characters emotions very well - it does not feel like a 40 year old writing.

I think the most striking part of the book is the fact the main heroine is (physical attributes) not perfect. So many YA novels have girls with perfect hair and great clothes etc.

“Ugly people don’t have feelings. They’re not like everyone else. They don’t notice if you stare at them in the street and then turn your face away. And if they did notice, it wouldn’t hurt them. They’re not like real people. Or that’s what I used to think. When I was younger. Before I learned.”

Skin Deep is an extremely good novel with a heart warming romance and meaningful points (one is that people should not be judged by their appearance) and is really worth a read!!

I would give it 3 stars out of 5.  It can be bought from Amazon.co.uk for £5.24, and is really worth it!

Tabby X  

+1

Now what the giddy aunt is that.... Apparently I've just publicly recommended my first post..... everyones going to think I'm dead full of myself..... That is like liking your own status on Facebook...... My page is doomed now... from the beginning...... Dear Powers That Be please save it.... Gawd I feel such a doosh.... It just is not done!
I'm going to make some tea now to calm down.... Yupp that's right Stereotype God. The British chick is going to drink tea in an emotional moment..... score 1 to the God, 0 to Sheep Tabby...... Grrr ach well!

First Review

OMG, I got it up, it works, it's on....... :D yassss

Only thing is I'm worried it'll disappear.... my blog archive doesn't seem to like it!!! Ach well.
My first review is up, go me, go me, go me :D
Tehe that has just lifted my spirits up!
Woop Woop Woop Wooping Gangham style..
aaaah, okay Tabby enough jubilation you weirdo!
See yaaa :)

Hey :)

I'm kinda new to this.... That much will become obvious very quickly! I've decided to start a blog cos hey.. someone suggested to me that if life gets too down the best way to cope is to chuck out all the poop, or find someway to occupy yourself.... So here we go... I'm going to write down some of my stuff, write a few reviews... (why? that's another story to do with the school newspaper, another failed blog and some very nice publishers)... Hell and you'll find this out anyway if you keep following this, I relate a lot of my life to what I've read in books..... who doesn't if it's a good book!... (a LOT of people probably ;) )  and one of the books I loved the girl wrote a blog, had a good time, hooked up with a Greek boy (though she was in Greece) and it all worked out well.... so might as well fulfil that jealous fantasy, not expecting to get a gorgeous Greek hunk out of this but hope to have a good time!


Yeah well I'm no too sure how to work this thing so I'll copy this into my 'About Me' Page as well.....

So About Me:

I'm a Teenager (I'd have hoped you'd guess that by the title)
Being a Teenager you feel like you're up against the world...... hence the 'Just This' (also the 'Just One' and the 'This' Teenager titles had all been stolen.... drat you similarly thinking teenagers.... but let's not dwell on that cos I feel like I'm being quite deep imagining myself up against the world)
I'm 16 nearing 17.... (P.S. any weird people hoping to 'groom me' please fudge off I'm, although a teenager, not easily led!)
I'm Scottish (och, haggis, porridge, red hair, Brave, kilts); all those connotations that spring to mind really don't apply to me..... I have brown hair, I detest porridge unless its Ready Brek darn that stuff is good, and only occasionally say 'ach' when there's no true Scotsman around cos otherwise I feel like a pretender, haggis is good just don't think about what its made of, haven't yet seen Brave though have asked for it for Christmas (sad but animations rock) kilts aren't my thing to be honest except when a fit guy wears them than you have to hope he's following the Scottish tradition......
I'm a bit of a nerd..... though have to put it out there for any American (through my knowledge, from books (so properly completely misguided but I think you guys seem to love it) have never watched Star Wars or Lord of the Rings..... I love Harry Potter though... hope it makes up for it :)
I have a horse who I adore though she doesn't like me much.... mind you she doesn't really like anyone!
I have a German Short Haired Pointer X (a dog) who is mental but is always pleased to see me and nearly always kills me when I get home...... she is like a large black bundle of Flubber and bounces around the house.

Ermmmmm I'm getting bored of myself now.... hope I haven't put anyone of following me (gawd following sounds weird ermm I shall call it 'listening' as I can hear myself saying this in my head so to me you are listeners.... if there's anyone there.. otherwise there is just an empty space..... hmmm then I suppose I'm 'recording' in case someone comes later)...... anyways so I hope you'll keep listening in.... (except you bald old creepy man who was looking for a victim..... fudge off .... AGAIN!)

Ooops I'm drifting....

Hope to see you guys again, or hear from you guys I dunno what it would be.... Perhaps you can leave a comment if you're listening in but only if your not the creepy people cos you guys are SICK.....

Anyways again g'bye :)

Or
Och goodbye for noo

Tabs :) x