Wednesday 31 December 2014

What are YOU reading? #250




What are you reading on Monday? is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys where you post books completed last week and plans for upcoming books. Jump over to her blog and see who else is participating.



Read


The Time Hunters by Carl Ashmore
Children's, 9 years +
10E/10E
(Stupendously exciting brother and sister time travel adventure!)





Stormy Night by Salina Yoon
Children's, Picture book
10E/10E
(Another awww filled book by Salina...)





The Case of the Cursed Dodo by Jake G. Panda
Children's, 9 years +
8/10E
(An entertaining read about a panda detective.)






Eliza Bluebell by A. J. York
Children's, 9 years +
9/10E
(A tale about a girl with special abilities who makes the lives of others happier...)





The Origami Nun by Lori Olding
Children's, 9 years +
9/10E
(A sweet tale of courage...)





Who Wants My Broccoli by Salvatore Rotella and Andrea Strarosti
Children's, Picture book
10E/10E
(A charm tale about eating vegetables...)



Molly Miranda: Thief For Hire by Jilianne Hamilton
Urban Fantasy (I think)
9/10E
(A hilarious tale about a thief's complicated life...)





The Glory by Lauren St John
Young Adult
10E/10E
(Another awesome horse read from the talented Lauren...)










LISTENED


Changing Lanes by Kathleen Long
Fiction
8/10E
(A read about turning your life around when everything goes crazy...)









Watched


Hanging Up
Film, English version
9/10E
(A story of 3 sisters with an ailing father suffering with dementia...)





A Turtle's Tale
Animated film, English version
8/10E
(A sweet tale, not dark but not super positive either. It probably doesn't help I'm a little bit afraid of ocean movies, even animated ones...)





Holby City
Medical drama, English version
9/10E
(I was proud of Arthur for yelling at Guy & getting both him and Zosia to do a jigsaw puzzle and figure their father/daughter relationship out.)





Gnomeo and Juliet
REWATCH! - Animated film, English version
9/10E
(Minus all the romance associated with this take on Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet this is a hilarious watch.)





Aikatsu
REWATCH! - Music idol anime, Japanese version
10E/10E
(Ki made her idol debut as the Pom Pom Crepe Girl!)





PriPara
REWATCH! (+ first time watch) - Music idol anime, Japanese version
10E/10E
(Squee! Rewatching is awesome, just as seeing episodes for the first time is - I was horrified then thrilled by the direction the anime takes. Eager to see what happens next!)






My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: Season 3
REWATCH! - Anime, English version
10E/10E
(These fillies continue to prove that friendship truly is magic!)






Avatar The Last Air Bender: Season 2
REWATCH! - Anime
10E/10E
(I'm having to watch less of this series each week as it is a lot more doomy & gloom, but the humour shines through and makes me smile...)





Winx: Season 2
Magical girl anime, French version
10E/10E
(I adore falling back in love with these fairies-roll on their Charmix power!)











Craft, games and more 
I've been very productive this week. I've started this heart and rose bookmark duo ...



...as well as this bee hive magnet kit...



I've done cross stitch for enough years that counting where I need to sew is second nature, making it easy to do even when super tired. It's in the realm of being able to watch French when I'm tired too.


Crochet wise I'm working on this bright and cheery blanket for a good friend...



I will be making a duplicate for Nayu's Crochet Dreams (new website coming soon!) as the colours are perfect for Starlight Academy's dance uniform in the second and 3rd season of Aikatsu.


I've started making a set of coasters as a thank you gift for someone, which remind me of cherry blossom.




With help stirring from my family I made rice crispy marshmallow squares!!! 




I haven't had them for best part of 18 years, as vegetarian marshmallows are crazy prices. These are from the fish based marshmallows, which don't taste of fish at all. They do make the mixture harder than with other gelatin,  but it still tastes totally delicious. I will be trying some with a bit of chocolate on top, like a few Hershey's Kisses or Reeces cups,with marshmallows on top! Ah, marshmallows are great!




Game has been from my usual 10E/10E games by Gameloft.




I'm super excited by the winter snow scenes in My Little Pony for android, I've got the canary and now saving for the ladybug in Littlest Pet Shop, and waiting for a cute baby T-rex to hatch in my Ice Age Village. It's all go here! 


That's all for this week, since its the holidays I'm hoping to do much more next week!



Sunday 28 December 2014

Nayu's News #161 Specsavers National Book of the Year 2014 update

I've got some book news for you!
 Nayu here! Do you remember that at the beginning of December I told you about the Specsavers Book of the Year 2014, which included the chance for you to vote for a top book? Well, the publicly voted winner has been decided! Is it someone you voted for? Here are the official details. 




Jessie Burton's The Miniaturist wins Specsavers Book of the Year 2014 Award


The Miniaturist dominates public vote and earns debut author prestigious prize

Jessie Burton has been named the author of Britain’s favourite book today, as her atmospheric literary thriller The Miniaturist was voted the Specsavers Book of the Year for 2014. Ending a remarkable year on a high, Jessie was crowned overall winner by the public in a vote comprising the winners of all ten categories from this year’s Specsavers National Book Awards.

Burton’s critically acclaimed novel won by a significant margin ahead of outstanding competition in the shape of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler, Us by David Nicholls and Nathan Filer’s The Shock of the Fall.

Set in seventeenth century Amsterdam, The Miniaturist swiftly rose to fame this year as a favourite amongst readers and booksellers alike. In a year of exceptionally strong debut titles, it quickly became the best-selling literary debut hardback of the decade. Fittingly, Jesse Burton won the New Writer of the Year prize at the Specsavers National Book Awards 2014 qualifying for the Specsavers Book of the Year public vote.

Jessie Burton said: “I am indebted forever to the voting public for this incredible honour. It is no exaggeration to say this has been a life-transforming year for me, and this award is a very big cherry on the cake. There are always stories to write, and people who want to read them, and as the year closes, I find this very heartening news indeed. This wonderful acknowledgement will propel me into 2015, and I am deeply thankful to everyone who took the time to vote.”

Dame Mary Perkins, Specsavers founder, said: “Congratulations to Jessie Burton. It’s wonderful to see the Specsavers Book of the Year go to a new talent and we look forward to see what’s next from this very talented author.”

Amanda Ross Joint MD of Cactus TV, added: “The National Book Awards reflect the tastes of the nation, and the nominees are some of the biggest titles of the year across all genres, so it’s an amazing achievement for a debut author to triumph over such a prestigious field.”

The only book award chosen by readers themselves, the Book of the Year is a true test of popularity. Previous winners include The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (2013), Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James (2012), Caitlin Moran’s How To Be A Woman (2011) and One Day by David Nicholls (2010).

The Specsavers National Book Awards were hosted by ITV’s Susanna Reid at the Foreign Office on Wednesday 26 November. One of the most prestigious events in the publishing calendar, the awards are unique in acknowledging critical and commercial success.

Please see full details of category award winners below, from which the winner of the Specsavers Book of the Year title was chosen.

the Specsavers National Book Awards 2014 winners

Outstanding Achievement
Mary Berry CBE
 
Crime/Thriller Book of the Year
I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes (Transworld)
 
Magic FM Autobiography/Biography of the Year
Please, Mister Postman by Alan Johnson (Transworld)
 
Food & Drink Book of the Year
Plenty More by Yotam Ottolenghi (Ebury Publishing)
 
Children's Book of the Year:
Awful Auntie by David Walliams (HarperCollins)
 
Audible.co.uk Audiobook of the Year:
Awful Auntie by David Walliams (HarperCollins)
 
International Author of the Year:
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler (Profile Books)
 
Books Are My Bag New Writer of the Year
The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton (Pan Macmillan)
 
Specsavers Popular Fiction Book of the Year:
The Shock of the Fall by Nathan Filer (HarperCollins)
 
Non-fiction Book of the Year:
Love, Nina by Nina Stibbe (Penguin Books)
 
UK Author of the Year:
Us by David Nicholls (Hodder & Stoughton)

Further details of the awards and previous winners are available at the official website: www.nationalbookawards.co.uk

Saturday 27 December 2014

Winner of the KeeKee's Big Adventure competition!

This little cat goes exploring the world!

Want to know who has won the fun KeeKee pack for this competition? Well, wonder no more as it is....

Gina! 

Many congratulations Gina, I've been in touch and I'm sure once the holiday season is over the prize will be winging its way to you. 

There is a craft competition coming up in 2015, so stay tuned & keep checking back here for details! I hope you all have a good weekend. 
May it be filled with books!

Thursday 25 December 2014

Pretty Patterns: Creative Colouring for Grown-Ups (Non-Fiction, Activity book, 9/10E, short 'n' sweet review)


April 2014, Michael O'Mara Books, 128 pages, Paperback, Review copy 

Content: Ooodles of patterns to colour! 

Summary from Michael O'Mara Books
The Pretty Patterns Colouring Book for Grown-ups gives all creative types the opportunity to personalize over one hundred pages of the most beautiful illustrations imaginable. With a hugely diverse range of styles and scenes, there is something here for all tastes.

Nayu's thoughts
Who doesn't enjoy colouring? I have no qualms about colouring cute children's books (regular readers know how much I love anime & all things cute!), but I understand that older readers might want something more sophisticated, which is where this book comes in! It's fun just flipping through the pages, letting my imagination wonder about where the patterns might be found (clothes, wallpaper, etc). 

Some of the patterns are repetitive. Not all of them are, but there is something about repeat patterns which is pleasing on the eye. You can colour them all in all the same, or differently. Check out what I coloured! 

Tada!!!
I like wanted a warm, bright colour. I used pastels, since they were pretty much all I could lay my hands on, and being thicker at the tip as well as to hold they are easier for me to use than pens/pencils. I went for a bright, warm colour scheme. I think I'd go over the black lines in black, to make them more prominent after I've coloured it all in, as I often went over the lines (I am a newbie to pastels.) It's easy to do a bit at a time - colouring in increases my pain & discomfort so I can't do a lot in one go).

Go on, you know you want to have this book! Unless you use a large paint brush and only a few colours, you've got hours of creative fun ahead of you! Plus, especially important for those needing a break, colouring is a good way to practice mindfulness; focusing on the here and now as you colour away stress and worries. The grade is more that not all the patterns were to my taste. 

Suggested read
Here's a cuter colouring book, which has the advantage of lots of stickers: The Delicious Chocolate Sticker Book (Children's, Activity book, 7 years +, 10E/10E)

Wednesday 24 December 2014

Winner of C J Dougherty's Night School Series Announcement!

These will soon belong to someone!
Time has flown by since this competition first started, and it is great pleasure to announce who has one all four books in the Night School series! The winner is....

Rosie B! 

Many congratulations - you'll receive an email by midnight tonight from me to arrange sending the wonderful prize over to you. 

Thank you to all who entered. For anyone living in the US you can win a cute cat book themed giveaway pack here. And, hopefully by the new year there will be a craft based competition! Stay tuned for details!
Bye for now ^o^

Monday 22 December 2014

What are YOU reading? #249





What are you reading on Monday? is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys where you post books completed last week and plans for upcoming books. Jump over to her blog and see who else is participating.




READ


Er none.









LISTENED


The No-Kids Club by Talli Roland
Fiction
10E/10E
(An ace listen from a wonderful & friendly author who I know on Twitter. It's a genuinely engaging read about various reasons why women can't have children, and just how much they want/don't want them...)





When the Heart Cries by Cindy Woodsmall
Fiction
10E/10E
(An ace Amish themed first book in a trilogy...)










WATCHED


Casualty
Medical drama, English version
8/10E
(Dylan featured a smidge!)





Holby City
Medical drama, English version
9/10E
(Neither me nor a friend likes Zosia in crazy mode – but now she is being sectioned under the mental health act [at least I think that's what happened at the end, it wasn't said verbally] and hopefully get the help she needs. I was sad that Amy and her baby were leaving!)





Pretty Rhythm Aurora Dream
REWATCH! - Anime, Japanese version
10E/10E
(I love how clumsy Aira is as she reminds me of myself!)





My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
REWATCH! - Anime, English version
10E/10E
(Finished season 2, which was fill of laughter & life lessons. )





Aikatsu
Anime, Japanese version
10E/10E
(Getting close to seeing Sora debut as a designer!)





Avatar: The Last Airbender, book 2 Earth
Anime, English version
10E/10E
(I love Katara!)





Avatar: The Legend of Korra, book 1
Anime, English version
10E/10E
(I watched the first episode to see if I liked it – I do! Korra is a bit different to what I expected but she's cool despite being over confident.)





Pripara
REWATCH! - Anime, Japanese version
10E/10E
(Post migraine when I felt bleugh watching Sophie slowly grow closer to Lala & Mireille raised my spirits...)










Games, craft and more!
I've been playing the usual 10E/10E Gameloft games...


...of My Little Pony – currently saving up to get Sunset Shimmer...



...in Ice Age Village I unlocked dino world...



...and in Littlest Pet Shop I got a cute koala!


I've started this cute baby blanket in white with splashes of yellow...



I've started this anime theme blanket (both Aikatsu and My Little Pony inspired) – I'm making individual granny squares and sewing them up as I go along...



I've started a 3rd NCD project with this cute creamy/grey and bluey/green blanket...




I've started a blanket for a competition for when I relaunch NCD on it's own website, making tiny-ish granny squares and sewing them together...




...and, I promise this is the last one, I've started a triangle shawl for myself!




Winding wool takes time, which is why I haven't done as much crochet wise as I'd like this week – don't look at me like that, honestly all of the above isn't a lot in my world!!