Saturday, 28 January 2017

The Viewing Files: 2016 A Year Of All The Watching

My reading may of bit hit and miss this year but my viewing was on the whole spot on. There were old favourites and new shows and old shows that I finally caught up on.  Which of course meant all the marathons.

 It's no wonder I need new glasses.

Crimey, thrillery shows featured strongly as always.  Shows with plot twists galore where bad guys were good guys and good guys were bad guys and sometimes you had no idea which was which. 

Then there were the Sci-Fi shows which this year were a lot more darker than usual and a lot more twistyer.  Some of which totally did my head in they were so complicated.  They were also totally gripping and totally me.  Because apparently I'm weird like that.

Add a historical drama or two and that pretty much sums up my viewing year. 

It was also the year I finally gave up on a handful of shows.  Shows I use to like, others I wanted to like but didn't and shows that lost the plot and ruined amazing characters completely.  No more Arrow or Teen Wolf  and a smattering of others for me.  Ahh the freedom.

Favs of 2016 












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Sunday, 15 January 2017

Book Talk: 2016 A Year In Books

My reading has been a bit hit and miss this year.  It's been a year of reading madly and then a complete drought for several weeks and some books I thought I would really enjoy I didn't and those which I had few expectations about really grabbed me.  

My taste pretty much stayed the same, lots of crime, chick lit, contemporary romance and YA with a handful of nonfiction and science fiction thrown in.  Only once or twice did I venture into something a little different.

Science fiction actually let me down this year.  Just about every Sci-Fi I tried (except YA ones) turned out disappointing in the end.  And yet I love a good Sci-Fi.  Maybe it was just the choices I made or that my expectations for some books were a little too high.  Crime on the other hand saved the day in most cases as did YA.

Nonfiction wise my reading ran into lots of practical choices instead of my usual weird and quirky reads, so was mostly taken up with books on knitting, cooking, travel and decluttering.  Which, other than the cooking, probably sums up my life for the year.

I read 120 books of which...

33 were YA
22 Chick Lit 
16 Contemporary Romances
15 nonfiction
10 Science Fiction 
8 Crime
6 Supernatural/Horror
6 Audio books
3 General
and 1 Fantasy.

I also seriously got back into magazines this year;  Empire, Sci-Now, SFX, and The Knitter became part of my regular reading pile.

Favs of 2016






 




The Year Of Living Danishly by Helen Russell

And Those That Disappointed

Sequels and follow up books were the failures for me this year.  I really like The Girl With All The Gifts but couldn't get into M R Carey follow up book Fellside.  Same with Chris Beckett's Daughter of Eden the third and final book in his Eden series.

Audio Books Rule... as always

I have a major weakness for audio books and those by Big Finish are my jam.  This year most of listening was taken up with the latest 8th Doctor Who adventures Dark Eyes and the Doom Coalition starring Paul McGann.  Also on my listening radar was Ghost Town by BBC4 which was an excellent but totally creepy Sci-Fi.

So all in all a good year I think. 
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Tuesday, 3 January 2017

All The Spending...

Christmas sales, Boxing Day sales, New Year's sales.  Everywhere you go there are sales, sales, sales.  What's a girl to do except pull out the credit card and start spending.  

Of course List Girl that I am have to plan my spending first.  Which requires research and browsing and more research and more browsing.  And my list, not surprisingly, ends up being a tad long.  Pray for my credit card.

1.    The Passion Planner
       I love the idea of this.  It sounds so awesome.  Even better it looks pretty awesome 
       inside too.  And would you believe that the idea for this was mostly funded by
       Kickstarter.
2.    Shaun The Sheep Compact Tangle Teezer
       Everyone should have a Shaun The Sheep Tangle Teezer, although it was a hard 
       decision between this and the Hello Kitty one.  I've heard really good things about 
       these Tangle Teezer's  so I am really keen to give one a go. 
3.    Knitting Project Bag
        A knitting project bag with sheep on it.  How cute is that.  And it even has a metal 
        sheep zipper tag.  I'm just loving the little details like this.  This would be so perfect to 
        keep all my knitting needles and other bits and bobs in.
4.    Knitting Yarn Thingy
       I came across this completely by accident.  I have no idea if I would use it but it really 
       doesn't it matter.  Because cuteness will always wins out.
5.    Knitting Themed T-shirt
       As an avid knitter it will come as no surprise that I love this T-shirt and want it.  Like 
       now.
6.   Gilmore Girls Themed Print
      Is this just too perfect for words.  I feel like I should have a whole series of these prints
      on my walls.
7.   Gold sandals
      Gold sandals.  There a thing.  A thing I think I may want.
8.    Which means gold nail polish
       Because of course it does.  I'm currently tossing up between this one and an OPI one. 
       Maybe I will just buy both.  Problem solved.
9.   Pineapple String Lights
       How cool are these?  Like seriously?  They are just so cute and perfect and exactly 
       what every girl needs next Christmas. 
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Sunday, 1 January 2017

January's Plans and 2016's outcomes

A brand New Year and a blog post to start it with.  Seems fitting somehow.

 Looking back over the past year I've actually done a little better than I originally thought.  Despite my hit and miss approach with posting I still managed to do 32 blog posts since I started back in May so I'm kind of pleased with that.

As for my other writing... well the less said about that the better.  The head as always is filled with ideas it's just finding the time to it.  Cross fingers (and maybe toes too) that I can manage to actually get some writing done this year.

 My other plans have on the whole worked out pretty well.  

I've got the knitting bug back after a very lengthy time of not knitting and managed to finish 3 scarves and 2 pet blankets in the last few months.  Go me.  

As for my reading and watching well that's pretty much been a constant flow as it always is. 

I managed to go on a overseas trip - to Canada no less.  Which was amazing and which I will - finally - write a little bit about in some future posts.  Had a 'big birthday', also amazing.  Dedicated time to getting fitter, something I want to continue in the coming year and generally worked on being healthier overall, despite a few setbacks.

 So how is 2017 shaping up so far...

 My reading list is still looking kind of large.  Every time I think I've finally gotten it under control I manage to find a huge pile of books I want to read.  I've come to the conclusion that my TBR list is never going to be small.  On the other hand I'm not stressing about it anymore and will just read when I feel like it and do other things when I feel like something different.  Hopefully I'll manage to strike a healthier balance all round.

 Christmas books are still currently my jam.  What can I say except that I have a major weakness for them.  There's something about snow and romance and Christmas that makes me go all warm and gooey.
  
1.   Mistletoe on 34th Street / Lisa Dickenson
      I just love the sound of this one about a girl who has never had a 'proper' Christmas and 
      ends up being stranded in New York City during the holiday season.  Totally romantic.
2.   Christmas under a starlit sky / Holly Martin
     Another romantic sounding book and one that happens to be part of a series.  You just
      know already that I'm going to have to read the others.
      There's snow on the cover.  What more could you want?
      Wacky families.  We've all been there.  So I'm pretty sure we can totally relate to Emily 
      who ends up bringing 'a fake' date to her family's Christmas.
Of course my reading list wouldn't be complete without some thrillers, sci-fi and weird non-fiction.
      I love the premise of this.  Very sci-fi but thrillery too.  Just my sort of thing
      I've been wanting to read this for absolutely ages. Finally it's arrived.
      This also sounds awesome and very me.
      Time travel and serial killers.  Oh yeah I am so there.      
 9.  Art of Hygge: how to bring Danish cosiness into your life / Jonny Jackson 
      Apparently living like a Dane is all the range.  Personally I just liked the cover and the 
      socks.
10. A year in Palm Beach / Pamela Acheson 
      I haven't read a travel book in awhile but this sounds just the sort of thing I like
11. Cut the clutter
      Once again I am always looking for inspiration
      Another inspirational book. This one on knitting.  I'm hoping something will say "knit me"
As for the rest of my plans

13.  Write more.
       This one is never going to go away
14.  Declutter 
       This one is still going well.  So far during my holiday break I've managed to clean out 
       the bathroom cabinets and our main wardrobe. Still there's plenty of other wardrobes 
       and drawers still to sort out
15.  Gilmore Girls rewatch
       I haven't got any other viewing plans at the moment other than rewatch Gilmore Girls 
       from the very beginning.  Because yes I am one of the few people on the planet who 
       hasn't yet watched the Year in a Life episodes.
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