Azalea - a collection of Haikus

Stop trying to die please
I am giving you my love
Stop losing your leaves.

Why are you dying
I am trying to save you
But it's freaking hard

I am stressed about maths
But my new azelia
Is ten times more stressful

Please please stay alive
I don't want to kill a plant
Please please save yourself

I keep you in sun
I water you all the time
Why are you dying?

Sometimes I wonder
Why I didn't do English
Then I read my blog.

My Impending Doom

Oh, maybe not.

It's exam season and if you read my blog wayyyy back in the early days you'll have noticed that most posts were about insomnia.

When I get stressed I get insomnia. Which gets me more stressed. That gives me insomnia.  Which gets me stressed. Which gives me migraine. Which rockets stress through the roof. It's a cycle.

I mean, should I really be stressed? I have exams but I go to a good school who have inevitably over prepared me. I have an azalea that will not stop trying to die on me. That's a bigger source of stress. Plus prefects have just been announced and I didn't want to be one but eugh everyones just being really competitive.

I don't know.

I have good things coming up. I am getting an iphone tomorrow (so so excited. Gold). I'm going to Amsterdam for the tulip festival. I'm going to London. I have amazing friends (Nithya reads my blog. Say hi to Nithya).

Wait who's going to water my azelia when I'm away? I don't think you quite get how much this means to me.

Apparently finishing my 3000 word deadline on whether TENS can be used as an effective pain relief for phantom limb syndrome (spoilers: TENS is awful) had made me stop being able to write.

Could be the hysteria kicking in.

Night

Why am I not on here as much?

I know I'm not posting as frequently and I'm really sorry about that.

Truth is, in one week I break up for easter. After easter I have 12 different really important these grades will get me into med school exams. I also have a 3000 word deadline for my dissertation due in Thursday.

So I'm sorry and I will write about books, but right now, sorry.

S

Stacking the Shelves #2

Stacking the shelves is a blogging meme from Tynga's Reviews which I stole from Lauren Hannah. 

Waterstones Piccadilly

No and Me by Dephine De Vigan

Hokey Pokey by Jerry Spinelli

The Bone Dragon by Alexia Casale

The Carbon Diaries by Saci Lloyd (not pictured)

Local Waterstones

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut

Matched by Ally Condie

Passed my Test Presents

Around the World with Ant and Bee 

Blood on my Hands by Todd Strasser

Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell

The Muppets Character Index

EHMEGHERD THRONE OF GLASS CAME OUT

The Assassins Blade by Sarah J Maas

This is What Happy Looks Like

Happy looks like getting a seat on the train

Happy looks like going to London

Happy looks like getting a lie-in

Happy looks like early morning walks in London

Happy looks like finishing The Assassins Blade

Happy looks like your teacher buying you an apple juice and a caramel waffle

Happy looks like going to the museum you've wanted to go to for a year

Happy looks like Food for Thought

Happy looks like spending 3 hours in London with some of your closest friends

Happy looks like looking in the map bookshop

Happy looks like Urban Outfitters

Happy looks like Paddington Station

Happy looks like getting a seat on the tube

Happy looks like getting home early

Happy looks like driving home for the first time by myself

Happy looks like knowing you made the right choice

A Brief Post on the East

On Sunday I went to Columbia Road Flower Market. I am normally a west London girl, as it's where my mum grew up and I get the train to Paddington.

My only real two experiences of East London are going to Brick Lane on a Wednesday (not a good plan it's pretty darn empty) and Stratford Westfield. I had been underwhelmed compared with these glorious sunny days of Kew and the Maids of Honour and Portobello Road and curry in Chiswick and the rocky road ice cream in the basement of the Science Museum and going to Richmond.

Columbia Road made me fall in love with East London.

It had this atmosphere which was just so natural to me. Even just walking around made me feel so utterly at home and I realised this was a very real post-uni option for me. I want to live in London more than I can say and being a GP in East London would just be glorious.

Home is this very odd concept. I swore when I was 13 and didn't quite fit at school without changing who I was to conform that I felt like I truly belonged at my first ever concert (Paramore, NIA). I won't deny that those were real feelings because I still love Birmingham and Brindlyplace and the lift in Waterstones that makes you feel like you're going to die and I loved Paramore.

Now though? Home is where ever I can be myself and not feel self conscious. It's where ever my surroundings make it.

East London felt like home. Far more than the countryside because I know people like knowing the names of your neighbours but I found everyone was friendly and like me. I talked to an old lady about the sun and loos for about 10 mins (don't ask me). I felt more at home than I usually do in London because there weren't workers and it felt like a community.

So you can tell me that the North of the uk is friendlier and maybe it is, but London is where I belong and always will belong.

Home.

Review #19 - No and Me by Delphine de Vigan

No and Me is a book about a girl with a messed up family living in France. She has to do a presentation on the homeless in school and makes friends with a homeless girl called No. She invites No to stay.

I didn't love the writing style, it just felt very odd. This could be to do with the fact it's a French book and translated literature often has a slightly disjointed writing style.

I didn't like the portrayal of what goes on inside a person with an iq of 160's head. It felt innacurate and made me feel like the author thought that bright people were a different species. I really couldn't stand it. 

The family dynamic was done excellently. I loved the ways they all interacted, however De Vigan could have made the commentary on it slightly more subtle. It felt like "this girl is so bright that she can't connect to her classmates but she understands her parents innermost disturbances." It didn't add up.

I felt like it was a PSA on homelessness. The more you know.

I gave this three stars. It was good but not captivating

Review #18 - The Bone Dragon by Alexia Casale

The Bone Dragon is my favourite book of the year hands down so far. It's scary and wonderful and intriguing and a must read.

Evie has a rib removed and carves it into a little dragon. The dragon soon becomes an influence in her life that becomes more powerful and angry.

The Bone Dragon is fantastically intriguing. It gripped me from the start as it drops hints about the plot in the future. I just haven't read a book like that in a very long time. As the book reaches the end I wanted to know what was about to happen and why can't more books be like this.

The Dragon was a fantastic character. I loved the fact it came from a part of her and her past and even the way it talks is wonderful. It was my favourite character because it was so complex and it's relationship with Evie was different because he is part of her.

The plot unravelled beautifully. It had just the right pace with just the right amount of reveals and this book is so perfect. The plit was complex yet simple.

It created these situations you could empathise to because you recognised them, that feeling of third wheeling and hating your bully and when people don't get your personal life. It's absolutely fantastic.

The best bit undoubtedly is the fact you can't work out if the book is fantasy or a psychological thriller and as a result the ending is phenomenal.

You HAVE to read this book.

Bookshelf tour part 2 - pink to black

*unread

120. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

121. Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

122. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

123. Handmade Type Workshop

124. My Treasury of Fairytales

125. The Complete Watercolour Artist by Jenny Rodwell

126. Women's Weekly Cupcakes and Fairycakes

127. The Care and Keeping of You by American Girl

128. The Bear by Raymond Briggs

129. Teenage Beauty by Bobbi Brown

130. DK Children's Quick and Easy Cookbook

131. Body by Robert Winston

132. London Sketchbook

133. New York Sketchbook

134. Singapore Sketchbook

135. Paris Aquarelles (Paris Sketchbook)

136. The Teddy Bear Say-A-Picture-Storybook

137. The Naturerail Book of Trees and Leaves

138. I want to be a Cat by Tony Ross

139. My Nails Inc Nail Polish diary (yes it's not a book)

140. David Gentleman's London

141. The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien

142. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller*

143. More Than This by Patrick Ness

144. The Little Black Book of Style by Nina Garcia

145. The Storytelling Animal by Jonathon Gottschall - best non-fiction I've ever read

146. The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee

147. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

148. The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

149. Blood on my Hands by Todd Strasser

150. Wish you were Dead by Todd Strasser

151. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

152. Guitar Chords

153. New Decor Design

154. OCR AS Biology

155. OCR AS Chemistry

156. Beacon Street Girls - Bad News/Good News by Abbie Bryant

157. Juliet Dove Queen of Love by Bruce Coville

158. Independent London Store Guide

159. Tear Up This Book by American Girl

160. Hot Guys and Baby Animals

161. Human Body

162. Be Beautiful by Alice Hart-Davis and Molly Hindhaugh

163. Torchlight Inside the Body

164. The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart*

165. The Book Thief by Markus Suzak

166. The Homework Survival Guide by American Girl

167. Tree of Codes by Jonathon Safran Foer

168. The Feelings Book by American Girl

169. A Thousand Cuts by Simon Lelic*

170. Coconuts Cookbook by American Girl

171. Paris Vs New York

172. Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas

173. Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde

174. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

175. The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach*

176. Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell*

177. The Outsider by Albert Camus*

178. The Periodic Table by Primo Levi

179. Meine Ersten Kinderlieder

180. 1000 Years of World Architecture

181. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

182. The London Map Guide

183. Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce

184. Percy Jackson and the Titans Curse by Rick Riordan

185. Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

186. Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

187. Looking for Alaska by John Green

188. The Geek's Guide to Dating by Eric Smith

189. The Digital Photography Handbook

190. Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

191. The Red House by Mark Haddon

192. The World of Van Gogh 

193. DK Revealed Rainforest

194. AS-Level Psychology - this isn't actually mine

195. Twilight - The Complete Illustrated Movie Guide

196. David Nash at Kew Gardens

197. New York at Night

198. The Encylopedia of Early Earth by Isabel Greenberg

199. Great Wonders of the World

200. Time Out 2012 Things to Do in London
201. Six Steps to a Girl by Sophie Mckenzie
202. Everyday Baking
203. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
204. Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus by John Gray*
205. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
206. Lonely Planet The Travel Book
207. Oranges are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
208. Rookie Year Book One edited by Tavi Gevinson
209. The Christmas Book
210. The Cat in the Hat Beginner Book Dictionary
211. GCSE RS OCR B
212. Bar Balto by Faiza Guene
213. Bakuman 1 by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata
214. Bakuman 2 by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata
215. Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell
216. The Muppets Character Encyclopedia
217. DK Amsterdam
218. Little Miss Wise
219. Human Body 1000 Facts
220. Clutter Control by American Girl
221. Comic and Curious Cats
222. Colour Me Beautiful by Carole Jackson
223. The Homebuilding and Renovating Book of Contemporary Homes
224. DK Kids First Cook Book

Bookshelf tour part 1 - red to purple

*unread

1. DK Childrens Cookbook
2. Paris - Ile de France 
3. MEI M1 Textbook
4. DK Pick Me Up - really good children's visual encyclopaedia. 
5. Squids will by Squids by John Scieszka and Lane Smith
6. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teenagers by Sean Covey
7. 1001 Books you must Read Before You Die
8. Nil Nil by Don Paterson*
9. The Bad Girl by Mario Vargas Llosa*
10. The Flame Alphabet by Ben Marcus
11. Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin*
12. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F Scott Fitzgerald
13. How the Light Gets In by M.J. Hyland
14. Loteria by Mario Alberto Zambrano
15. The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
16. Nosh for Students
17. Anatomy and Physiology for Dummies*
18. Composition No. 1 by Mark Saporta
19. H20 Architecture
20. 50 Architects You Should Know
21. Biology - A Functional Approach - this is actually my mums a level bio textbook and it's so good
22. Edexcel IGCSE Biology
23. Edexcel IGCSE Biology Revision Guide
24. Amazing Facts About Australia by Pat Slater
25. Scrap Simple
26. Composition by Ramsey Wherrett - this is my Grandma's old book on composition and it's really good
27. Scratch Hangman #3
28. Felicity Wishes Dancing Dreams and Other Stories by Emma Thomson and Helen Bailey - this is my prize from year 1 for English.
29. Get Into Medicine - 400 BMAT Practice Questions
30. Get Into Medicine - 600 UKCAT Practice Questions
31. How To Get into Medical School
32. Hokey Pokey by Jerri Spinelli
33. An Uncommon Education by Elizabeth Percer*
34. Moby Dick by Herman Melville*
35. Architect's Pocket Book
36. Looking for Alaska by John Green
37. African People of the Americas
38. The Oxford First Atlas
39. The Secret Garden by F. Hodgeson Burnett (abridged)
40. My Multicultural Atlas
41. The Story of London
42. The Silly Book by Babbett Cole
43. Ali and the Camel Book - this is actually from Dubai so it's back to front
44. Let's Go Home, Little Bear
45. The Usborne Illustrated Dictionary of Science - I got this age 9 and it's still super relevant
46. Sophie and the New Baby
47. The Official Highway Code
48. 1001 Buildings You Must See Before You Die
49. No and Me by Delphine de Vigan
50. Animals in the Wild
51. Roadcraft the Police Drivers Handbook
52. Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
53. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
54. The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
55. Drawing Faces
56. Sweet Treats by Williams-Sonoma
57. Tintin in Tibet by Hergé
58. A Walk in the Rainforest

59. The Simpsons Handbook

60. Busiest People Ever by Richard Scarry

61. Kids in the Kitchen

62. Revise IGCSE Biology

63. Brooklyn Girls by Gemma Burgess

64. Inferno by Eileen Myles*

65. The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. by Adelle Waldman*

66. The Newlyweds by Neil Freudenberger*

67. Jeremy Thatcher - Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville

68. 1984 by George Orwell

69. Mammals of Australia

70. Great Little Encyclopaedia

71. The Circle by Dave Eggers

72. How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

73. The Good Fairies of New York by Martin Millar

74. It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

75. The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

76. Manga for Beginners - Chibis

77. Cakes and Cookies for Beginners

78. Geography for IGCSE

79. The Mix It Up Cookbook by American Girl

80. The Castafiore Emerald by Hergé

81. The Shooting Star by Hergé

82. Animals Everywhere - another hand-me-down

83. The Red Sharks by Hergé

84. Amazing Facts about Australia's Heritage

85. Pearson IGCSE Physics Revision Guide

86. Edexcel IGCSE Chemistry Revision Guide

87. MEI C1 C2 Textbook

88. Flags of the World

89. GCSE French - The Revision Guide

90. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde*

91. The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket

92. Apartment Therapy

93. I am Legend by Richard Matheson

94. Best Loved Poems - this was my year 4 prize for English.

95. Torchlight - Fish Underwater

96. Walt Disney World Autograph Book

97. The Hive by Gill Hornby

98. Rough Guide - Girl Stuff

99. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

100. Favourite Feelings by American Girl

101. Holiday Stories by American Girl

102. Rice's Architectural Primer 

103. Confessions of a Former Only Child by American Girl

104. French Picture Dictionary

105. Walt Disney Imagineering

106. A Map of the World According to Illustrators and Storytellers

107. AQA Physics A Textbook

108. The Seventy Architectural Wonders of the World  

109. About a Girl by Lindsey Kelk

110. Hacker by Malory Blackman

111. Beacon Street Girls - Lake Rescue by Abbie Bryant

112. The Dinner by Herman Koch

113. Boy 2 Girl by Terence Blacker

114. Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield

115. Across the Universe by Beth Revis

116. Beacon Street Girls - Worst Enemies/Best Friends by Abbie Bryant

117. We Need New Names by Noviolet Bulawayo

118. The Wave by Todd Strasser

119. Jungle World

February 2014 Wrap Up

Reread - Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone by J K Rowling
1. The Encyclopedia of Early Earth by Isabel Greenberg (★★★★★)
Reread - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J K Rowling
2. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews (★☆☆☆☆)
3. Richard III by William Shakespeare (★★★★☆)
4. Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins (★★★★☆)
5. Hokey Pokey by Jerry Spinelli  (★★★★★)
6. The Bone Dragon by Alexia Casale (★★★★★)
7. No and Me by Delphine de Vigan (★★★☆☆)
8. Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell (★★★★☆)
9. Blood on My Hands by Todd Strasser (★★★★☆)

*quick announcement* if you are going to read one book this year please read The Bone Dragon. It is fantastic. It is wonderful because you don't know whether it is fantasy or a psychological thriller and I loved every second. It is not pictured as I gave it to Miranda to read because it's just so good.

London Count: 4

1. I want to do well academically Still on track for my predictions.
2. I want to get interviews for medicine  (n/a)
3. I want to start writing a novel  Not happening
4. I want to get well enough to go to South Africa with Biology.  Hopefully hopefully hopefully.
5. I want to write more. Less so
6. I want to write more reviews. Less so again
7. I want to blog more consistently. Not happening
8. I want to do more for my future.  Organising more
9. I want to take more photos.  We need to do more
10. I want to keep my room tidy. Just about
11. I want to be more productive.  Yes I'm doing so much more
12. I want to stop being terrified of growing up. Better :)

Review #17 - Hokey Pokey by Jerry Spinelli

Hokey Pokey is a novel by the same author that wrote Stargirl all those years ago. You remember Stargirl don't you? Hokey Pokey was in the "teen" section of Waterstones Picadilly and is about a boy growing up in "Hokey Pokey," the land of children.

As I approach my 18th birthday at an alarmingly quick rate (less than seven months now *panics*) I am having a couple of crisis' about growing up. This was not the book for me. It's very dark about growing up. The main character is hanging onto childhood and badly and the main message of this book is growing up is inevitable. It's odd because it's quite childlike but there are these very dark themes running through about childhood ending. In a way I find it quite accurate though because we try to become a big kid and suddenly we're adults and that's terrifying.

The visual element was great but not universal which I found sad. It was a very old kind of childhood with playing outdoors and there was no indoor play with crafting which was my childhood. It was clearly written by an adult and that didn't immerse me in the story as much. It was a very descriptive book and that was absolutely great. I didn't like the map at the front and I normally love maps. It was a bit disjointed and I couldn't make my own images of the scenery.

It was split perspective (and I hate hate hate split perspective) but I didn't mind this. It weaved many stories together and that was done beautifully. Four for you Jerry Spinelli, you go Jerry Spinelli.

My edition is gorgeous. It has those pages you know the ones the American ones that vary in length and feel rough under your fingertips.

This is hard to judge if this is 9-12 or teens. It felt like a dark children's book. I loved it though.

Five stars.

On loving things.

As part of my school's induction to sixth form they have an annual quiz for the new people. On every table there are two current year 11s, new people, a teacher and a sixth former. It's your first introduction really to your year and your life at the school and I enjoyed it last year.

This year I was a sixth form helper and I adored it. Even more than last year. Maybe it was because I got the in-jokes, or just the flattery of being picked for the job or the bantaaaaaaarrrrr with my head of year (I got a question I should have known wrong. I mean she taught it to me.)

It just reminded me of how much and why I love my school. I was reminded of how much they've truly done for me and I can never stop being grateful to them for all the help they've given me.

I am still ecstatic three hours later just because of how lucky I am to attend and for my teachers to care so much for my wellfare. I just hope I conveyed it in the very best light.

Good night, bloggerverse.

Sophie

Review #16 - Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Lola and the Boy Next Door is the sequel to the super-mega-foxy-awesome-hot-bestseller sold in every Waterstones in the country, Anna and the French Kiss (which I reviewed in January). I adored Anna and the French Kiss and I really liked Lola and the Boy Next Door.

I won't lie, Lola and the Boy Next Door isn't quite as good as Anna and the French Kiss for a number of reasons (which I will go into extensively as per usual) but it is still very good. It has a new set of characters in it but it is linked to Anna and the French Kiss character wise so I would read Anna and the French Kiss first.

Lola and the Boy Next Door is about a girl, Lola, her boyfriend, and the boy who's moved back in next door who she has "a past" with. Lola is very exhibitionist, up to the point where I couldn't quite relate to her because I am an introvert (however I do own a bright yellow raincoat because Urban Outfitters). That was my real criticism of Lola, however is this just because I'm shy?

I didn't like the suburban setting as much as Paris. Paris was far more romantic but also I've been to Paris and never lived in suburbia so is this again just a personal thing? It just felt like a huge anticlimax after Paris with the rivers and Notre Dame.

I didn't like the hero (see no spoilers at all here) as much as I liked the hero from Anna and the French Kiss. I couldn't quite put my finger on why I didn't. He was just a little less charming and a little less charismatic. However it did make me feel in love and I loved that about both Anna and the French Kiss and this book.

I loved all the imagery to do with the moon. It was just so super gorgeous. I loved her talking to the moon.

The plot was fantastic and I cared so much about the characters. I struggle to empathise with characters out of YA. I cared what happened to Lola and I was involved at every point of the story. Stephanie Perkins narratives are just always so strong. You will get emotionally wrapped up and that is what makes these books so darn good (I am really into italics today).

So yes, you have to read this. Four stars.

Where HAVE you been?

That is a Mrs Weasley quote right?

I was ill and then I came back to school and had so much work to catch up that I've just been too busy to blog.

A February wrap up should come up soon.