Featured blog posts
I’ll see you at the bookshop!
12 Cosy Craft Ideas for Your Serious Readers Light
It’s November. The clocks have gone back, the days are getting shorter and the weather is getting colder. It’s time to retreat into our homes, cosy on down with our books and crafts, and wait out the winter in the comfort of our own homes.
A Serious Light is the perfect accompaniment for anyone who enjoys crafting. Its specialist Daylight Wavelength Technology maximises your ability to see detail and colours, minimising the risk of damage to your eyes that can be caused by standard LED lights. The light is also fully adjustable, which makes it easier to maintain good posture
App Review: TooFar Media
If you’re looking for something new to read, then I have the app for you.
Author Rich Shapero has created an immersive storytelling experience within the TooFar Media app. Combining fiction with a unique blend of art, video, animation and music to bring readers into the story, there really is nothing else quite like it.
Each of the eleven stories is written by Rich, who aims to write novels that ‘dare readers with giant metaphors, magnificent obsessions and potent ideas’. The app feels like a very natural extension of this philosophy. When I opened the app for the first time, I was presented with all eleven of Shapero’s novels. Each is available to download free of charge and is accompanied by art, animation and sound that you will never find in a physical book. Here’s a closer look at three of the stories.
Willoughby Book Club Subscription Review
Book delivery boxes are all the rage nowadays - available in any way imaginable, for big budgets and small, it can be difficult to decide which ones to spend your money on.
Today I want to introduce the wonderful Willoughby Book Club, a book subscription service owned by Marianne Chala that specialises in individually curated book deliveries. The process is simple. When choosing a subscription for yourself or a loved one, take a browse through their menu of personal book subscriptions. Here you can choose from a wide variety of genres, from the broader ‘fiction’ subscription to more specialised crime, non-fiction, young adult, food and drink, wellbeing, natural history, or home and garden subscription. They even have categories for different demographics of readers: whether you’re shopping for a baby, toddler, child, couple or mum and baby, there really is something for everyone. They even have a bespoke subscription available if your reading tastes don’t fit into any these categories.
Why are Serious Readers’ Lights so expensive?
I understand why you might be skeptical. In a world where you can order a £30 floor lamp from IKEA, why would you spend £300 on a reading light? It seems expensive, and I get it - we work hard for our money, and want to spend it wisely. It doesn’t seem sensible to spend hundreds of our hard earned pounds on, well, a lamp.
That’s normally what I’d think too, but soon after my brand new Serious Readers’ reading lamp landed on my doorstep, I was convinced. As part of our collaboration, the Serious Readers team sent me two of their lamps to try out, before I agreed to promote their product. The first was the showstopper: the High Definition Floor Light and the second, the High Definition Compact Light, which complimented it perfectly.
Dinner at Tamarind Kitchen, Soho
It’s been a while since I’ve visited Soho, an eclectic neighbourhood in central London that I often frequented in my early twenties. So much has changed since I moved away during the pandemic, and new shops, bars and restaurants line the streets as I walk towards tonight’s destination.
Tamarind Kitchen is an upmarket Indian restaurant based on Wardour Street - just a short walk away from Tottenham Court Road station. Inside, the restaurant’s dark wooden interiors are reminiscent of a branch of Dishoom, and lit with ambient lighting. The staff are attentive, and the scent of fragrant spices fills the room. It all has a luxurious feel about it, I thought, as I settled into my chair and peered at the menu.
Review: Brunch at The Ivy, Chichester Brasserie
Having just opened their doors in June 2022, The Ivy is a much welcome addition to Chichester’s city centre. I initially popped in during their launch party on opening week, so I was keen to return and give their boozy brunch menu a proper try.
Stepping through the door, I was taken aback by the restaurant’s gorgeous interiors, which were decked out in The Ivy’s iconic 1920s Great Gatsby-esque theme. With luxurious seating, dramatic foliage and a stunning bar, there’s a great atmosphere in the space. The service was also impeccable. The front of house staff were suited and booted, and I loved the white blazers that were donned by the bartenders. They were very friendly and added the cherry on top of the whole experience.
Second Hand Book Haul With Rumage.com
I love buying second hand. Not only is it great for the environment, but it’s also brilliant for your wallet, and I’ve saved so much money over the last few years by buying used instead of new.
Any of you who follow my Instagram will know that I love buying new books and I adore bookshops, but I also love the website Rumage (my kind sponsors of this post!). Rumage is a search engine that scours the internet for second hand goods, whether that’s clothing, toys, homeware, books, or anything else.
10 Books for Fans of Adam Kay’s This is Going to Hurt
First published in 2017, Adam Kay’s legendary memoir, This is Going to Hurt, captured hearts and tickled feathers of those around the nation. Now something of a national treasure, Kay’s first book has sold more than 1 million copies and spent many weeks at the top of the Sunday Times bestseller chart. His Christmas themed follow up, aptly titled T’was the Nightshift Before Christmas, went down similarly well, and his new memoir is set to be released in Autumn of 2022
A Stay at Beneath the Branches - Review
Nestled in the south of West Sussex, just a stone’s throw away from the South Downs National Park, you’ll find a luxury holiday home up in the trees. Adorned with twinkling lights and furnished with not one, but two enormous bathtubs, Beyond the Branches is a unique romantic getaway that will leave you dreaming of your next visit. Just take a peek at their guest book - nearly all of the previous visitors describe the treehouse as ‘magical’ and proclaim that they ‘will be back’. In fact, I wrote the same thing just before we left after an exquisite one night stay after a busy week of work.
12 Heart Melting Quotes from The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
When did you first read The Fault in Our Stars?
I remember when I did - I was 17, the same age as the protagonist Hazel Grace Lancaster - and it was the first John Green book that I’d ever read. The beautiful language has stayed with me all of these years, and Green’s masterful writing makes it a modern classic in the young adult genre.
8 Recipe Book Holders for Your Kitchen
Calling all foodies: here’s an affordable kitchen gadget that you need for your home, and will make trying out new recipes SO much easier. No longer will you be losing your place or splashing your latest meal on the pages of your most beloved cookbook. With these stylish stands you’ll easily be able to prop up your desired recipes, making them much easier to follow, and keeping your countertops more hygienic too.
A Visit to the Chestnut Bakery in Covent Garden, London
Welcome to the Chestnut Bakery! I recently had the pleasure of visiting this gorgeous bakery and cafe that opened on Floral Street in Covent Garden this spring.
Their first branch was established in Belgravia in 2021, and I was really excited when I heard that they were due to open a second branch in a more central location. I visited early afternoon on a Sunday, and was pleasantly surprised that we were able to grab a table right away. Often these pretty, instagrammable spots can get super busy, and while it definitely was busy, we didn’t have to queue to get in or wait for a table.
Review of Aldi’s Hanging Egg Chair (2022)
Is it worth the hype?
I’ve had my eyes on Aldi’s popular hanging egg chair since they were all the rage last summer, and for good reason too. Not only is it the cheapest hanging egg chair out there (garden furniture is expensive!) but it’s also good quality and looks fab too.
13 Chilling Quotes from One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus - Now on Netflix!
Recently adapted into a hugely popular Netflix series, One of Us is Lying sucks viewers into an addictive murder mystery story featuring four high school aged suspects, after one of their classmates mysteriously dies in detention at the beginning of the semester. Based on a book that published in 2018, the series hurtles through the twists and turns of a murder investigation as we try to figure out who killed Simon, and consequently, who is lying.
Here are 13 of the best quotes from Karen M. McManus’ bestselling young adult novel, One of Us is Lying.
7 Bedtime Reading Lights for your Bedroom (2022)
In the market for a new book light? This is the post for you.
From stylish bedside lamps that emit a soft, warm glow to small clip on lights that are perfect for travelling, there’s a huge range of options out there to make your bedtime reading as comfortable as possible. Read on to find the perfect nightlight for your bedtime reading setup.
Review: Should I Buy From Patch Plants?
So you’re thinking about buying some new plants, and you’ve seen a few people mentioning Patch Plants online. Should you purchase your new blooms from them?
Patch was launched by their founder, Freddie in 2015, shortly after he began his own journey into the world of gardening. Freddie’s desire to make plant keeping an accessible activity for all really propelled Patch, and they were the first plant company that I ordered from when beginning my own journey in 2020.
Inside Krem Karamel: an Edinburgh Based Bookshop & Cafe
Here’s a sneak peek inside Edinburgh’s newest bookshop & cafe!
Book Review: Here’s to Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
Here it is, the long awaited sequel to Adam Silvera and Becky Albertalli’s wonderful YA novel What If It’s Us! Let’s start with a synopsis:
‘Ben has spent his first year of college working on his fantasy manuscript with his writing partner Mario, who is a great Spanish tutor, and an even better kisser. So why can’t he stop thinking about the fact that Arthur’s back in town two years after they called it quits?
Arthur is in New York for a dream internship on Broadway, with a boyfriend back at home that he couldn't be happier with. But when he comes upon Ben cuddled up with a mystery boy, he starts to wonder if his feelings for Ben ever truly went away.
How to Get More Views on Your Blog
You don’t need a huge social following or a super fancy website, you just need a decent site, good, well written content, and to follow a few simple tricks that I will explain to you in this blog post. Unfortunately, this isn’t a scheme where I can promise you how to get lots of views really quickly, but what I can share is how I’ve increased my yearly views to 18,000 in just two years since launching.
12 Bookish Quotes from The Cat Who Saved Books
Here’s a title that combines three of a book lover’s favourite things - a ramshackle bookshop, a cute feline companion, and a bucketload of books. A short and quirky novel translated from the Japanese by Sosuke Natsukawa, The Cat Who Saved Books is a wonderful celebration of the written word, and I highly recommend reading it if you haven’t already.
Here are 12 of the best quotes that book lovers will adore. Happy reading!
Welcome to the Viking Skaga - one of Viking Cruises’ noble river ships. She takes her name from an ancient Norse myth, where the Valkyrie Skaga rode into battle and escorted the dead to Valhalla, before preparing them to fight in the epic battle of Ragnarok.
A relatively new ship, the Viking Skaga only entered the fleet in 2020. At just 410 feet and carrying 168 guests and 48 crew, she was built specifically to sail down the Seine in France, although the specific itinerary will vary depending on the time of year. I was fortunate enough to join the ship for her week long Christmas on the Seine cruise, which starts and ends in Paris, calling at Vernon, Caudebec-en-Caux, Rouen, Honflour (via an excursion) and Les Andelys along the way.