Last week I announced that I was going to participate in the 2015 Booktube-A-Thon. Well, it went both better and worse than I expected. I managed to read a grand total of two and a half books in the week. Considering I've been in a reading slump this year, I'm pretty proud of myself, especially since one of those books was read in less than a day and was around the 350-page mark. I think my mistake was starting with The Waves by Virginia Woolf. As much as I love Woolf's writing, it is quite heavy and for somebody who hasn't been reading a lot lately, it was a big ask. I'm still about halfway through it.
As for what I did finish...
The Sleeper And The Spindle - Neil Gaiman
Otherworld Nights - Kelley Armstrong
With those two books, I managed to fulfill four challenges out of seven: a book with blue on the cover, the last book I acquired, finish a book without letting go of it and read a book you've really wanted to read. Not bad considering I only finished two books.
It's been a while since I did a media flash five - the last one was back in May - so I thought it was about time I shared what I've been enjoying lately.
TELEVISION - SKINS (UK).
I watched the first two seasons of Skins with my brother when it first aired back in 2007 and enjoyed it a lot - but I was the same age as the characters. When I saw that it was available on Netflix, I was eager to rewatch and share it with my husband. We made it through season one on a lazy Sunday and are both loving it. It really is deserving of the praise it receives and it's strange seeing actors like Nicholas Holt, Hannah Murray and Joe Dempsie who are now reasonably well-known. I stopped watching the show after the first generation moved on so I'm looking forward to giving the rest of the seasons a chance.
Netflix AU
BOOKS - OTHERWORLD NIGHTS.
This was one of my booktube-a-thon reads and a book that I was so excited to stumble upon earlier this year. When the series ended I was disappointed because it was over and because it just wasn't the ending that I wanted. Otherworld Nights is a collection of old and new short stories about some of the characters from Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series. Hidden, Stalked, Demonology and From Russia, With Love are all spectacular, with Hidden being what I wish the series end had been. You can read my full review on Goodreads. If you're a fan of the series, it really is a must-read and such a nice return to beloved characters.
Goodreads | Booktopia | Book Depository
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| I know not everybody is loving Bitten. Deal with it. |
Life is Strange is a five-part episodic game that follows a teen girl attending a prestigious art school to pursue her dream of becoming a photographer. Okay, that's a really boring way of telling it. Protagonist Max is sitting in class when she falls asleep and dreams of a hurricane heading towards her hometown. When she awakes, she finds she can control time. The story is heavily based on your choices - which you can obviously manipulate but will have more and less obvious short- and long-term consequences - so there's not a lot else you can say without getting spoiler-y. At the end of each chapter you can see what the rest of the world chose, which can be a little horrifying. Despite some of the painful teen dialogue, it's definitely worth a playthrough or two.
Website | Steam Store
PODCAST - SHE DOES.
I love when a recommendation from an app pans out! She Does is a fortnightly, hour-long podcast interviewing creative women working in media. Each podcast goes through the interviewers story of how they got where they are today and what their job entails. Episode 13 featured Maggie Steber, a prolific documentary photographer, who talked about her personal and professional experiences in Haiti. In episode 12, Senior Development Executive at Pixar, Mary Coleman who talks about her work on recent Pixar film Inside Out and the influence of her grandmother on her life and work. The stories are both touching and inspirational and there's a small segment at the end of each episode devoted to the band/artist who provided the soundtrack for the episode.
Website | iTunes | Stitcher
YOUTUBE - THE FLOG.
If you aren't already aware, Felicia Day's The Flog has finally returned to Geek and Sundry. If you were never aware of The Flog, it's a weekly vlog of sorts by Felicia where she discusses things she's enjoying like games, books and the oddities you find online, and does crazy activities like room escapes, pole dancing and neon-sign making. You can find a playlist of every episode here. The relaunch of The Flog coincides with the release of Felicia's book, You're Never Weird On The Internet (Almost) for which she is currently touring and shamelessly plugging everywhere but it's only mildly annoying at the beginning and end of every episode. Watch the latest episode below...
