Category Archives: other

10 things to do before 30

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Hi guys, I hope you are well. I know it’s normally 30 things to do before 30 but I’m being more realistic and talk about ten things instead. So it’s my 24th birthday tomorrow so I thought it would be a nice idea to share some things I want to do before turning 30. Let’s get started.

 

  1. Travel to Japan
  2. Learn a second language
  3. Go on a road trip
  4. Improve my cooking skill
  5. Do yoga regularly and improve my flexibility
  6. Value myself more
  7. Read all the books on my bookshelf 🙂
  8. Exercise regularly/ be fitter
  9. See the Northern Lights
  10. If feasible have my own dog

 

I have more travelling goals but I figured I’m not going to be able to visit all of them in the next 6 years. I’ll quickly mention some place I want to visit now: South Korea, China, Scotland, Croatia, the Amalfi Coast and Germany. I would also love to revisit Prague and Hong Kong. These goals are pretty flexible and may change over time but at this point in my life these are things I want to do. Have you got any goals like these? Any places you want to visit? I hope you are all having a wonderful day and I will see you next time.

 

Pippa

 

 

 

Favourite Book Covers

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Hi guys, I hope you are all well. So last month I did a UK vs US cover post focusing on 2018 releases and it give me the idea to share some of my favourite covers of this years releases too. There are a lot of exciting releases this year and there are also a lot of fantastic book covers, but I’ve decided to share 8 of m favourites out of 2018 releases that I am waiting for. Two of the books mentioned I have already read and loved so I’ve put in my star rating for those ones. Let’s get started.

 

US cover – released 25/01/18
Release date: 08/03/18
Release date: 19/04/18
The Girl in the Tower / Winternight trilogy book 2 / Katherine Arden / ★★★★★
The Bitter Twins / Winnowing Flame trilogy book 2 / Jen Williams / ★★★★ / 08/03/18
The Hyena and the Hawk / Echoes of the Fall trilogy book 3 / Adrian Tchaikovsky / 05/04/18
Circe / Madeleine Miller / 19/04/18

 

 

Release date: 03/07/18
The Poppy War / R. F. Kuang / 03/05/18
The Queens of Innis Lear / Tessa Gratton / 17/05/18
Wrath of Empire / Gods of Blood and Power series book 2 / Brian McClellan / 17/05/18
Age Of War / the Legends of the First Empire book 3 / Michael J. Sullivan / 03/07/18

 

I was going to try to pick a favourite right now, but I really like them all and I’m rubbish at picking favourites :). I love doings these posts so I hope you guys like them too. I don’t the names of the illustrators of these covers but these covers are all amazing. Which cover do like the most? I hope you are all having a wonderful day and I will see you next time.

 

Pippa

 

 

T5W: Auto-buy Sci-fi and Fantasy Authors

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Top 5 Wednesday was originally created and run by Lainey aka gingerreadslainey (Youtube channel) but it is now being run by Sam aka Thoughts on tomes (Youtube channel). Each week there is a different topic. You can check out the groups Goodreads page here for any more information and the future topics. This week’s topic is your auto buy science-fiction or fantasy authors. Now I don’t really have many auto-buy authors because although I love all the authors I’m going to mention, if the books synopsis doesn’t interest me then I’m not going to get it. All of the authors I am going to mention are ones that I would definitely be interested in checking out any new books though.
  1. Robin Hobb
  2. Alison Croggon
  3. Adrian Tchaikovsky
  4. Ken Liu
  5. Kij Johnson
Honourable mention to Guy Gavriel Kay. I’ve only read two books by him so far but I loved both so I want to read all of his books. I will definitely be keeping an eye out for any new releases from him.

 

These five authors have written some of my favourite fantasy books, so of course I would be interested in any new releases from any of them. There are more authors I could mention but I think these are my top five at the moment. Have you read any books by these authors? Who are your auto-buy authors? I hope you are all having a wonderful day and I will see you next time.

 

Pippa

 

 

It’s Monday… What are you reading?

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Hi guys, I hope you are all well. As the title of the post suggests, I am going to be sharing what I am currently reading and mention some books I want to get to soon. I have to admit that I haven’t been in the best reading mood at the moment; basically I don’t have a lot of motivation to read but I’m hoping it will pass soon. Anyway let’s talk about some books.
I’ve just started Moonstone by Wilkie Collins and I am planning on starting Fool’s Quest by Robin Hobb. I really enjoyed The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins so I’m excited to read another of his books. Moonstone is known by many to be the first detective novel, which makes me even more excited to pick it up. As I said, I’ve only just started it so I’m not very far in and so I can’t comment on the book yet. I haven’t started Fool’s Quest yet but I plan to start it. Of course I fully expect to love it as it’s written by Robin Hobb. It is the second book in the Fitz and the Fool trilogy; I loved the first book so I’m looking forward to seeing how things progress in this sequel. I can only really read two books at a time so that’s all that I’m reading right now. Other books I’d quite like to get to soon include Jade City by Fonda Lee, Gather the Daughters by Jennie Melamed and Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore.

 

 

What are you guys currently reading? Have you read any of these books? There are also a few new releases (e.g. Circe by Madeleine Miller) I’m interested in so I might get distracted by them. I hope you are all having a wonderful day and I will see you next time.

 

Pippa

 

 

Waiting on Wednesday…

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Hi guys, I hope you are all well. Today I thought I would share some books that are coming out this month. There are 3 books that I am excited for that come out in the month of April, so I wanted to share them with you guys. I have to admit that I sometimes fall behind on new releases – I get excited for there release and then when the books out I end up not reading it for a while. Other times I read them straight away. Anyway let’s get started.

 

 

These are three books that I am definitely planning on checking out. I may have missed some releases but these are the ones I am aware of. Are there any releases you’re excited for this month? The new Avengers film comes out this month too, which I’m excited for. I hope you are all having a wonderful day and I will see you next time.

 

Pippa

 

 

 

T5W: Favourite Teachers/Mentors

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Top 5 Wednesday was originally created and run by Lainey aka gingerreadslainey (Youtube channel) but it is now being run by Sam aka Thoughts on tomes (Youtube channel). Each week there is a different topic. You can check out the groups Goodreads page here for any more information and the future topics. This week’s topic is your favourite teachers/mentors. To be honest, two of my choices are probably not the best teachers/mentors for various reasons but I still love their characters. I think this is such a great topic, although it took me some time to come up with answers :). Let’s get started.

 

  1. Cadvan from the Pellinor series by Alison Croggon
  2. Remus Lupin from the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling
  3. Nacoya from the Empire trilogy by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts
  4. Rothen from the Black Magicians trilogy by Trudi Canavan
  5. Chade from the Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb

 

Some of these are definitely more in a mentor role, then a teacher but each of them play quite an important role in helping the main characters of each book. All of these characters are fantastic in my opinion. Who are your favourite fictional teachers/mentors? I hope you are all having a wonderful day and I will see you next time.

 

Pippa

 

 

T5W: Favourite Sci-fi & Fantasy in Other Media

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Top 5 Wednesday was originally created and run by Lainey aka gingerreadslainey (Youtube channel) but it is now being run by Sam aka Thoughts on tomes (Youtube channel). Each week there is a different topic. You can check out the groups Goodreads page here for any more information and the future topics. This week’s topic is favourite sci-fi and fantasy in other media, such as films, TV and video games. I couldn’t just choose five things so I’ve split it into four categories and listed some of my favourites for each of them.

 

  1. Video games – Witcher 3: the Wild Hunt, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Horizon: Zero Dawn and Okami.
  2. TV –  Orphan Black, Stranger Things, Eternal Love aka Ten Miles of Peach Blossom and Person of Interest.
  3. Films – Avatar, Stardust, Arrival, Star Trek films and the Batman trilogy
  4. Animated film/tv – Howl’s Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke, Nausicaä of the valley of the wind, Mulan and Avatar: the Last Airbender (TV)

 

That’s all I can think of for now, so I’m going to leave it at that. I love sci-fi and fantasy in all forms but I realise that I haven’t actually seen a lot of it in TV form. Did you spot any favourites in my list? Or do you have any recommendations for me? I hope you are all having a wonderful day and I will see you next time.

 

Pippa