Book A Day | #19 and #20

Day 19 - Travelling Home Reading This

Although this picture was clearly not taking whilst travelling, I did read this as I came home from uni a couple of weeks ago, ready for the festivities to kick in. Check out my review of the book here

Day 20 - Set Where I live

I don't have a picture for this one, but I do have a poem for you guys:

Come friendly bombs and fall on Slough!

It isn't fit for humans now, 

There isn't grass to graze a cow. 

Swarm over, Death!

Come, bombs and blow to smithereens

Those air -conditioned, bright canteens, 

Tinned fruit, tinned meat, tinned milk, tinned beans, 

Tinned minds, tinned breath.

Mess up the mess they call a town-

A house for ninety-seven down

And once a week a half a crown 

For twenty years.

And get that man with double chin

Who'll always cheat and always win, 

Who washes his repulsive skin 

In women's tears:

And smash his desk of polished oak

And smash his hands so used to stroke

And stop his boring dirty joke

And make him yell.

But spare the bald young clerks who add

The profits of the stinking cad;

It's not their fault that they are mad, 

They've tasted Hell.

It's not their fault they do not know 

The birdsong from the radio, 

It's not their fault they often go 

To Maidenhead

And talk of sport and makes of cars

In various bogus-Tudor bars 

And daren't look up and see the stars

But belch instead.

In labour-saving homes, with care

Their wives frizz out peroxide hair

And dry it in synthetic air

And paint their nails.

Come, friendly bombs and fall on Slough

To get it ready for the plough.

The cabbages are coming now;

The earth exhales.

Pleasant, I know. But let's be realistic, this little town on the edge of London still isn't the nicest of places, though Betjeman may have been a tad extreme here.

What were your choices?

Steph

Book a Day | Day 18 Massive Tome

Let's be real, I haven't read this. BUT it is sat on my bookshelf every day, glaring at me and has been doing so for years. I will get to it, one day. 

The massive tome I really wanted to use was Bleak House, but I seem to have left my copy of it at uni. Check out my brief look into crime in Bleak House here

What's your choice?

Steph

Book A Day catch Up Pt 2 | Days 13-17

Day 13 | Stocking Filler

So, once again I've fallen behind - this time for a better reason though. I've been up to my neck in hectic essay writing!

This is one of my favourite copies of a text - it's a second hand Twelfth Night I picked up in The Paperback Exchange in Bognor Regis. As my smallest book, this would be a brilliant stocking filler (you'd have to be seriously in my good books though!).

Day 14 | Read at School

This is probably the only school text that I actually own! But it is also one of my faves. Despite my housemate and fellow English Lit student abhorring its existence, I love Fitzgerald's writing.

Day 15 | Favourite Colour Cover

Okay, you might not be able to see a great deal of the colour of this cover, BUT it is my favourite. 

Day 16 | For Someone I Love

Cue a tonne of n'awwws, but I'd give this to my nan. Despite my best efforts, neither my boyfriend, nor my immediate family particularly enjoy reading, or at least see the point in it in a similar way to me. Apart from nan who loves historical fiction. As this is my nicest copy of a Philippa Gregory book, I think I'd give this to her.

Day 17 | Something Funny

Let's be real, is anyone surprised that I chose this? Check out my review of this hilarious novel here. It's got pretty much everything you need for a witty tale of love and loss.

What were your choices?

Steph

Book-A-Day Catch Up | Days 1-8

(picture taken from google)

As it's December, and I really like getting nostalgic over my books as Christmas comes along, I'm going to be blogging a bit about my book-a-day choices. Obviously I'm a tad behind, but as I;m sure you can tell from my absence, I've been a little busy over the past week (aka I haven't really read anything, so don't have a great deal to tell you guys about!). So, until Christmas I'm going to do my best to keep up with this everyday, as well as posting reviews as often as possible!

Day 1: Iconic First Line

How could I not pick this?! Dickens is definitely up there in my top faves (if you haven't already noticed from my blog in general, you'll probably get to grips with the fact that I'm quite a fan of 19th C fiction in this post!)

Day 2: Last Read

It's my most recent review! Check it out here. This is my second time reading it, and although it's not one of my favourites, it's definitely a valuable read.

Day 3: On my Christmas List

Social media has gone crazy about this and I really feel like I'm missing out not having it .... maybe if I keep my fingers crossed (or get the book lover's dream of a Christmas gift - a Waterstones voucher!)

Day 4: For Chilly Nights

So cliche, I know, but hey - I'm an English Lit student - I'm allowed to love it. I've probably read this four .... maybe five times now and it probably gets into my top ten all time favourites. The setting really makes it perfect for a winter read in my opinion - I definitely feel thankful for central heating when reading it!

Day 5: Quintessentially British

Admittedly, my first thought when I saw this day was "Sherlock Holmes". However, I haven't actually read any, and don't even own any Conan Doyle, so Hardy was my next choice. He's effectively my favourite author - if anyone's interested in male 19th Century feminism I'd suggest going for Hardy. He actually makes an effort to create female characters that have their own personality (something, much to the chagrin of some of my fellow lit students, that I find certain female authors *cough* Austen fail to do *cough* Fanny Price)

Day 6: Something Everyone Should Read

(picture taken from google)

Sadly, I no longer have my copy of this book, BUT that does not mean it is not an incredibly valuable work of fiction. This holds so many questions for a modern audience: should all women have to be mothers? Can someone be born evil? Is a mother responsible for her child's actions? It also has the most surprising twist I've ever found in a book. Check out my post on it here

Day 7: Childhood Favourite

I was a bit manic on Enid Blyton as a kid - still own at least fifty of her works! This was my absolute favourite as a child - it was one of the first books I ever remember reading. and I must've read it dozens of times. It even made me want to own a farm when I was younger (a long forgotten dream). 

Day 8: It's a Mystery!

Despite my love for TV cop dramas like Castle and Hawaii Five-0, I'm really not much of a mystery fan at all. This is probably the only definitive mystery novel I've read in a number of years, if ever. It was short and punchy, and that was effectively why I enjoyed it.

What are some of your responses to the days?

Steph