Lazy Sunny Sunday

Here’s what you should do on a lazy sunny Sunday… or any other sunny day, for that matter:

- Get yourself a big jug of whatever refreshing drink takes your fancy. I settled for Pomegreat juice mixed with soda water, but I was very tempted to throw a slosh of vodka, gin or Pimms in there. If you don’t have to work or drive, I advise you do this.

- Select some reading material. I managed to power through the last half of Never Let Me Go.

- Cook something light, delicious and not too hot for your tea, and eat it outside. I went for teryaki cod with peas and a cold noodle salad. Perfect.

- Get your legs out. I don’t care how white, bruised, hairy, flabby or generally unpleasant they are, you will feel better if you reveal them to the world.

There you have it. A perfect sunny afternoon. How have you Brits/people who live in parts of the world where warm weather is commonplace been enjoying it? I’m very excited by the idea of going for a run outdoors but I have yet to put on my running shoes and head out.

May 21, 2012
by Emily 5 Comments

Book Q&A

So, the rules of this Q&A:

1. Post these rules

2. Post a photo of your favourite book cover

3. Answer the questions below

4. Tag a few people to answer them too

5. Go to their blog/twitter and tell them you’ve tagged them

6. Make sure you tell the person who tagged you that you’ve taken part!

I love the whole set of these Haruki Murakami book covers. They’re very clean and sleek and very eye-catching when you’re browsing in a bookshop.

I was tagged by Louise (the book) and Claire (That In Black Ink) – thank you both! I tag Sophie (Love, Live & Learn), Allie (Forgotten Beast), Mara Eccentric Owl) and Mackenzie (whatever, gatsby). I would tag Danielle (The Oxford Comma) but I think Claire tagged her so that would be redundant. (Just as redundant as me pointing that out. Hm.) And everyone else reading this right now. (That means you.)

What are you reading right now?

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, along with a non-fiction book about the August riots and two short story collections.

Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that?

I might read Chocky by John Wyndham. Or I might not. Once I choose a book to read next my brain sometimes goes ‘No! That is the last thing I want to read!’

What 5 books have you always wanted to read but haven’t got round to?

Almost every classic novel falls under this heading – despite always being a bookworm and spending years studying English, my interest for contemporary fiction has always trumped my interest for classics. But I feel like I ought to read them all. I won’t bother listing them, so here are five contemporary novels I have wanted to read for a long time.

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell, The Secret History by Donna Tartt, The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale, If Nobody Spoke of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor and The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga.

What magazines do you have in your bathroom/lounge right now?

None. I’ve pretty much given up reading all magazines except the ones that come with the paper. When I imagine my dream house, I must admit that I picture a huge stack of glossy mags on the coffee table. Magazines might just have to stop being so shit before this happens, though.

What’s the worst book you’ve ever read?

I don’t know about the worst, but I only got through about one chapter of Beauty Story by Luke Jennings before I had to throw it at the wall and leave it there.

What book seems really popular but you actually hated?

We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver. Hate might be too strong a word, but I definitely did not love it as much as everybody else seemed to. So much of it seemed to me like irrelevant rambling, and it just never quite made me feel how I thought it was supposed to make me feel. The idea of it is great (well, not great, you know what I mean) and some parts were fascinating and moving, but in the end I just felt completely let down.

What’s the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?

I recommend Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell to pretty much everybody I know, and nobody has managed to read it yet. This won’t stop me.

What are your 3 favourite poems?

Poetry tends to leave me quite cold. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to admit that, as an English graduate, but most of it just passes me by.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

I decided that if I was ever going to get through this so-called poem without going insane, I would have to learn to enjoy it. So I did, and thankfully avoided insanity.

Strange Meeting by Wilfred Owen

I fell head over heels in love with war poetry and literature when I studied it for an A-Level module, and this one poem stuck with me. I really enjoy the half rhyme – it looks a bit stilted when you read it in your head, but try reading it out loud and you might appreciate it more. Also, ‘The pity of war, the pity war distilled.’

The Tyger by William Blake

Sentimental childhood memories.

Where do you usually get your books?

Charity shops, Amazon, Waterstones or Tesco when they’re on offer, Kindle.

Where do you usually read your books?

Absolutely anywhere. I’m that sort of rude person who has been known to sit with a group of friends and announce ‘I’m sorry but I just have to finish this chapter’ and whip a book out from my bag. I rarely take public transport anymore but it’s the perfect place to read. Mostly I read at work while it’s quiet and in bed before I go to sleep. In my dream house (let’s see how many times I can mention my hypothetical abode in a post that has nothing to do with living quarters) I would like to have some sort of reading room, or at least a specific area in which I can read.

When you were little, did you have any particular reading habits?

I read everything. I would read the manual for the microwave if I couldn’t find anything else.

What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?

This happens more often than it should. The last one was What Was Lost by Catherine O’Flynn. In fact, 8 out of the 14 books I’ve read this year have had this effect on me. (Unfortunately Never Let Me Go is not keeping me up at night. I’m enjoying it, but it’s a slow burn, which is disappointing as I’ve heard other people say that they devoured it in one sitting.)

Have you ever “faked” reading a book?

I studied English – of course I faked reading books. I only skim-read Cold Mountain during my A-Levels and I got 98/100 on the exam. Because I’m just that good. I tried my best to read The Heavenly Twins by Sarah Grand but I ended up not having enough time to read that beast of a novel. (I really enjoyed the parts of it that I did read!)

Have you ever bought a book just because you liked the cover?

Not for the cover alone, but obviously a snazzy cover will draw me to the book in the first place. I think this is actually one of the good things about the Kindle – I can no longer judge a book by its cover.

What was your favourite book when you were a child?

The best book series I read when I was younger was certainly not Harry Potter, it was the Whitby Witches trilogy. I sometimes wonder what the world would be like if they had become hugely famous instead. (I genuinely do.)

What book changed your life?

Maybe I’m not old enough yet, or haven’t read enough books, but I do not think a book has yet changed my life in any significant measurable way. Because I’m a bit of a drama queen I think almost every half decent book I read has blown my mind but really, no life-changing has occurred. Sorry, crap answer!

What is your favourite passage from a book?

I can’t think of an all time favourite. I’ve mentioned on the blog before that I found Cool Hand Luke surprisingly poignant and touching, so here’s my favourite passage from it.

“And I knew that it wasn’t over yet, for any of us. There was still more hope and disappointment way out there in the Free World, where the traffic still swished and roared along restless highways. There was more battle to be given and lost, rewards to be sought and forsaken, more loves to be wooed and unrequited.”

Who are your top five favourite authors?

David Mitchell, Margaret Atwood, Haruki Murakami. I can’t think of another two that I would call favourites.

What book has no one heard about but should read?

Ark Baby by Liz Jensen. It’s been years since I’ve read it but I remember that it was hilarious and bizarre. I don’t think I’ve met anyone else who has read it!

What 3 books are you an “evangelist” for?

The Wrong Boy by Willy Russell, the Regeneration trilogy by Pat Barker, and South Riding by Winifred Holtby.

What are your favourite books by a first-time author?

It might not be my favourite but I loved The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey and thought it was seriously impressive for a debut novel.

What is your favourite classic book?

I’ve been using my Goodreads shelves as reference during this survey and it just occurred to me that there are no classics on my ‘favourites’ shelf. Unless South Riding counts? I also loved The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

5 other notable mentions?

I don’t know if this means classics, or what. But I’ll just list 5 of my favourite books.

White Oleander by Janet Fitch, The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway, The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano, All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque and The Flood by David Maine.

If you want to buy any of the books I mentioned in this post, have a look at my Amazon store! Any books you buy through my store may earn me a little bit of commission, but will cost you no more than if you bought them straight from amazon. Any commission I earn I will use to buy books which I will then review on the blog – it’s a win/win situation!

May 17, 2012
by Emily 4 Comments

Capsule Wardrobe

It just occurred to me – I’ve accidentally curated a capsule wardrobe. I was never really sure how this capsule wardrobe malarkey worked, and couldn’t imagine rotating a few of the same items without getting incredibly bored and wearing the same outfit over and over again.

Well, what I’ve been doing lately is wearing the same outfit all the time, with a few small changes, and not getting too bored. This is a capsule wardrobe that has come into being because of laziness and a lack of creativity.

If you want to force yourself into whittling down your clothes and figuring out which are the essentials, imagine having to pack a very small bag with only 15 minutes notice. You’re going away for about a week, so you’ll need a few different outfits. What would you pack? Here’s what I would pack.

I found a plain white woollen jumper in an Oxfam shop. When I parted with a fiver for it, I never dreamed quite how much wear I’d get out of it. It goes with everything and it’s easy to throw on top of an outfit for an extra layer.

These green jeans adorn my limbs numerous times a week. I’ve just bought an indigo blue pair which I feel will be just as ubiquitous in my daily wear.

I don’t know where this jacket came from. I know I didn’t buy it from a shop. I have a feeling that I just discovered it in the house. I don’t know whose it was before it was mine. But now it’s mine and I wear it with everything. (I really mean everything.)

Everyone needs a decent selection of tshirts, vests, cardigans, leggings, tights and so on. I’m of the opinion that there is no need to spend extortionate amounts of money, and I recommend H&M, Dorothy Perkins, and Primark – in that order. I do not recommend Topshop.

I’m not the kind of person who can wear a jumper and jeans and call that an outfit. I’m insanely jealous of the people that can. Some women throw on some well fitting jeans and a plain tshirt and they look drop dead gorgeous. I do not. I need some accessorising. Scarves and jewellery galore!

One thing I haven’t got right yet is the footwear. Shoes are always an afterthought, and they’re usually scuffed and stained and inappropriate for the weather. Show me your capsule wardrobe/tell me about it!

May 13, 2012
by Emily Leave a comment

Lazy Sunday Links

Who wouldn’t want a lip balm that tastes like dill pickle, french toast or banana and peanut butter? Lookie.
I urge you to take this highly scientific quiz that will tell you what kind of blogger you are. It seems that I am a Second Hand Sally.
Murder or suicide? I have no idea if this is in any way true but it’s fascinating and a little bit hilarious in a very morbid way.
I have begun the great wardrobe clear-out and here are the eBay listings to prove it. I plan on adding many more things before the end of the week so keep an eye on my listings if you are between a size 8 and a size 14, and a shoe size 7 or 8. A lot of it is nice stuff like Topshop or ASOS. (Yes, I am that shameless that I’m including this in my Sunday links. Sorry I’m not sorry.)
Here’s a handy chart to help you decide whether you should work for free.

Here is a beautiful rainbow from… the other day? One of those days that it rained. (In Yorkshire, that does not narrow it down very much.)

May 10, 2012
by Emily 9 Comments

The Tale of the Breakfast Muffins

I’m not one of those people who doesn’t eat breakfast. Not because ‘it’s the most important meal of the day’ or because I’m better than you, but because I’m greedy. At university I learnt that eating a decent breakfast was essential if I didn’t want to waste money on crappy food on campus. I love breakfast and I love not being hungry and I love not having to spend money on bad food. A conversation a couple of months ago led me to think about making healthy muffins for busy mornings.

I eventually decided on courgette and cheese muffins. I added carrot and used half the amount of cheese in the recipe, and added some mustard powder. They turned out a little too eggy, but they’ll do for a handy breakfast with a bit of chilli jam. (Smoky chilli jam, buy it. Eat it on everything. Be merry.) If you make these, my advice is to not put the tomatoes on top if you’re planning on keeping them in the fridge for a few days. I still have a few left and had to perform an emergency tomato-ectomy today because they do not fare well in the fridge.

Then, a bunch of overripe bananas in the kitchen inspired me to make a sweet breakfast muffin. That’s basically like eating cake for breakfast. And in my eyes, eating cake for breakfast is the very essence of winning at life. I went with this recipe and changed a few things, as usual. I used applesauce instead of oil, left out the sugar, added more vanilla and some cinnamon and chopped walnuts. Oh and I used wholemeal flour. (Can you tell I’m trying to lose a bit of chub?) I really like the way these turned out. They’re not very sweet so if you make them and you have a sweet tooth, make sure to add in the sugar or use a sweetener.

The verdict: I like them both, but making muffins really isn’t my forte. The texture is never quite right. Neither of these are going to be my signature dish, but they’re both useful to have in the repertoire.

May 9, 2012
by Emily 8 Comments

What Emily Read Next

WWW Wednesday #3: idea from Should Be Reading

What did you recently finish reading?

I did not finish but temporarily abandoned The London Train by Tessa Hadley. It was just going too slowly for me. Then I read I’m Starved For You by Margaret Atwood, which is a ‘Kindle single’, whatever that’s meant to mean. Then I read The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. Oh, and I finally finished Cosmopolis by Don DeLillo. It was not fantastic.

What are you reading at the moment?

I am reading all the books: One More Year by Sana Krasikov, The Eaten Heart: Unlikely Tales of Love by Giovanni Boccaccio, Mad Mobs and Englishmen? Myths and realities of the 2011 riots by Steve Reicher and Cliff Stott and Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro.

What do you think you’ll read next?

I have a stack of John Wyndham books on my shelf tempting me, so I might have a go at one of those. I’m thinking Chocky. (I still haven’t read The White Tiger. I don’t know why.)

May 5, 2012
by Emily 13 Comments

May Goals

It’s been May for five days already and I’m only just getting round to making some goals for the month. Because that’s just how organised I am.

Write ~creatively~ every day. I got an amazing notebook for Christmas from my sister, and the intention was to create great works of fiction inside said notebook. So far I’ve filled about three pages, proving just how useless I can be. I have drafted up a list of all the writing competitions I would like to enter so I guess that in order to enter them, I will have to write things. My goal is to write 2 short stories every week. (They don’t have to be any good, of course, they just have to exist.)
Read 3 books. Reading may not be something I have to work very hard at, but it’s nice to set myself little goals just so I can bask in a completely undeserved sense of achievement every now and again.
Get some business cards. Earlier on this week I made an attempt at real-life networking, and failed miserably. Rather than declaring that networking sucks and I never want to do it again (which is exactly like something I would do) I’ve decided to get some swanky business cards so that next time I can thrust them under people’s noses. I’m making this a goal for the month because I’m likely to procrastinate until I find the card that strikes the right balance of professional and pretty and doesn’t cost the earth.
Sort out my unwanted clothes. Am I going to keep saying I’ll get round to this until the year 2050, when clothes are old-fashioned and we’ve all started wearing polymer bodysuits? No. I am not. I’m going to get donating, throwing out and selling this bloody month. Who wants some pretty miniskirts and high heels, things that a woman of 5’11” should know better than to keep buying?
Bake something extravagant. The mission to find my signature dish is still on. This month I want to bake something a little trickier than scones, cake and cookies. I probably won’t bother faffing around with profiteroles or anything like that, but I just want to tackle something a little more taxing. Any ideas?

Here you can see photographic evidence of all the procrastinating. One of my May goals should be ‘stop procrastinating’, but that has been a life goal for at least 6 years so it’s not likely that this month will be the one.

What are you goals for May?

May 4, 2012
by Emily 4 Comments

What Emily Wore Next

One of the reasons that I am not a fashion blogger – and trust me, there are many – is that I tend to wear the same things over and over and over again. I think I dress pretty well*, but I generally find clothes that I love and then wear them until they fall apart or I get sick of the sight of them. I have been wearing this denim shirt almost constantly since I bought it a couple of months ago. When I put it in the wash, I get separation anxiety. I think I’m getting similarly attached to these yellow trousers. So if I were to post pictures of my outfits every day, that would get pretty boring eventually.

‘Yes, here’s the same outfit I wore two days ago, with different shoes and a different scarf.’ ‘Today my denim shirt is in the wash so I feel bereft and have swaddled myself in blankets instead.’ ‘Look, here I am with the yellow trousers again.’

Then there’s the fact that some days I barely get changed out of my pyjamas. Nobody needs to see a picture of that.

* While this is up for debate, I don’t actually care if you don’t think I dress well.

What Emily Did Next

country living, city dreaming

Monthly Archives: May 2012