Tag Archives: reading

Currently… November Edition

currently july

Currently Knitting… Marie Curie Quest Socks
Sherlock Knits is undertaking an epic quest to knit a pair of socks for every patient in the 9 hospices that she works in. A total of 229 pairs! Over the last two months, I have been knitting a few pairs for this worthwhile quest. Sherlock Knits is still a few pairs short to complete the challenge, check out her Instagram for more details.

Currently Reading… Geekerella by Ashley Poston
I am extremely behind in my Goodreads Challenge for 2017, I think yet again I am going to fail. However, as I got some amazon vouchers for my birthday. I bought a lot of the books from my to read list, including Geekerella and am attempting to catch up before the end of the year.

Currently Loving… Avengers: Infinity War Trailer
I have spent the last few days watching and re-watching the new Avengers trailer. I did think about writing a reaction post, but to be honest it probably would just say. “Spidey-senses, Bearded Cap. The Battle of Wakanda, more Bearded Cap. Mantis’s cute little wave!”

Currently Watching… Netflix has really spoilt me this month. Due to my birthday at the end of October, I didn’t get, around to watching Stranger Things until the start of the month. then in the middle of the month, we watched The Punisher. On top of that were weekly episodes of The Good Place, Once Upon a Time, and Star Trek: Discovery.

Currently Playing… Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp
I tried to convince myself, that I wasn’t going to play Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, as I didn’t have much free time. However, several hours of after the game was released and after seeing all the cute screenshots on Instagram. I downloaded the game and have been addicted ever since.

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Monday Musing: Agatha Christie

Monday MusingAfter the Murder on the Orient Express trailer appeared online last week, I discovered a group of fellow Agatha Christie fans on Twitter, all excited about the movie.  I’m not going to focus on the trailer too much.  Just to say, the setting looks amazing, the cast is epic. Personally, I am just not sure I can accept anyone other than David Suchet in the role of Hercule Poirot, but we will see. Inspired by a conversation I had with Cuteek, I thought I would, tell you why you should become an Agatha Christie fan!

Geeks Guide to Agatha Christie

You might think Agatha Christie are old boring novels and period dramas. Not really a thing for geeks, well I am here convince you otherwise! Several of Christie’s novels have computer game versions. There is even an anime series based on some of the characters. Christie’s own life also included a mystery, her disappearance in 1926. Which featured in the Doctor Who episode “The Unicorn and The Wasp.”

Agatha Christie Statue

Most people will know the TV adaptations of Christie’s work. The most famous adaptations are the BBC version of Miss Marple with Joan Hickson, which serialised all 12 Miss Marple stories. Next is the ITV version Poirot, with David Suchet in the lead role. They adapted all 70 of books and short stories featuring the detective over the 13 season.  As both these adaptation series stay true to the source material, I would highly recommend them.

It is worth noting with all the adaptations Christie’s work is often altered. The classic Murder at the Gallop is a re-telling of Death after the Funeral. Changing the protagonist from Marple for Poirot. The ITV remakes of Marple, updates a lot of the story for modern audiences. These adaptations also take other classic Christie novels and insert Marple into the storyline. The Murder is Easy or The Sittaford Mystery episodes do this. Other times, a Christie story is reworked into a new story. Noteworthy is the 2003 film Identity,  this psychological thriller is a re-telling of And Then There Were None.

In these TV series many “geeky” actors appear. Three episodes that are worth watching are the Marple version of Murder is Easy, featuring Benedict Cumberbatch. The Poirot episodes to look out for are, Wasp Nest, which stars a very young Peter Capaldi and Death after the Funeral featuring Micheal Fassbender.

Do you like Agatha Christie? What is you favourite book? Are you looking forward to the movie? I’d love to hear your comments.

Recommending Reading

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I will earn a commission. You will not pay more when buying a product through my link.

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Favourite Bookstagrammers

Between the Pages Last month, I noticed several of my favourite geeky bloggers were all writing about Disney. I discovered it wasn’t a coincidence, these bloggers were all taking part in the Geek Blogs Unite theme. Which for March was the Happiest Place on Earth.

This months theme is “Between The Pages”. You can read more about Geek Blogs Unite on their blog or via the Facebook Group. With quite a wide scope to talk about, rather than write about my favourite book, or what I am now reading. Instead I thought I would focus once again on Bookstagram.

Bookstagram is a sub-community on social media, mainly on Instagram, to showcase, books and reading. The instagrammers, use props like candles, flowers or memorabilia, together with a books. Combining photography and books, bookstagram has blow up on social media. People use props or  interesting locations and to show off books on Instagram. Since I wrote about it last year, a new social media app, Litsy has started which combines bookstagrams and book reviews.

My Five Favourite Bookstagrammers
  1. Reading a books whilst enjoying a cup of coffee is the perfect combination. Bookbaristas is one of the most popular bookstagrammers, she highlights amazing coffee shops and cafe in New York City, with a mini book review included.


  2. dropandgivemenerdy creates beautiful themed flatlays, most noteworthy are the recent coloured flatlays. She is also a Brand Rep for LitJoy Crate and Charm with Me, so is a great account to follow to see unboxing photos for these subscription boxes.


  3. depepi is the queen of Funko Friday. She fills her instagram feed with cute photos Funko figures. However, she has recently started a #booksandpops series, every photos pairs a book with a figure.

    A post shared by Pepi Valderrama (@depepi) on


    A post shared by Pepi Valderrama (@depepi) on


    A post shared by Pepi Valderrama (@depepi) on

  4. I love a_bookish_shelf‘s photos as she used classic bookstagram shots of some of my favourite compositions types, like #bookandcandle, #socksunday and #bookishrainbow which can all be seen on her feed.

    A post shared by Danielle (@a_bookish_shelf) on


    A post shared by Danielle (@a_bookish_shelf) on


    A post shared by Danielle (@a_bookish_shelf) on

  5. jordandenenyc is best known for original geek chic clothing, and she used her instagram to highlight her range. But she also is taking part in the 100 cups of coffee challenge on Instagram, only she posts her coffees with books.

    A post shared by jordandené (@jordandenenyc) on


    A post shared by jordandené (@jordandenenyc) on


    A post shared by jordandené (@jordandenenyc) on

    Are you a bookstagrammer? Do you have a favourite bookstragram account that I should follow let me know.
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Review: The Good Immigrant

My Rating:★★★★★

I brought The Good Immigrant after reading an article published by Riz Ahmed in The Guardian newspaper. His article is one of 21 essays by Black, Asian or Ethnic Minority (BAME) immigrants about their experiences in living in Britain. Of the books I have read in recent years this collection has become one of my favourites.

In a time of post-Brexit, immigration is such a hot topic at the moment and everyone has their opinion. It is nice to have read an honest, and intelligent discourse on the subject of immigration and race. Shukla mentions in the blur, the some immigrants like Mo Farah or Nadiya Hussain, the popular culture classes as good.  But the media seems to see most immigrants as bad.

I am the daughter of immigrants and my parents where children of immigrants. (Both sets of my grandparents moved from India to South Africa before my parents were born). I was born in London it is my home, my parents would refer to South Africa as their home.

Growing up, I embraced the britpop music scene of the 90’s, I love American comics and Japanese cartoons. My favourite foods are burritos, FroYo and pizza (deep crust – sorry). I consider myself multicultural. I see myself as a Londoner – not British as I’ve never been to Wales or Scotland. But I do support England in the football. When I fill out a form I have to tick the British-Indian box. Yet I am still asked “where are you from?” I will always be seen as a child of immigration.

Themes

Whilst all these stories are different, they feature a lot of similar themes. The lack of decent roles of non-white actors is a reoccurring subject. Riz Ahmed talks about the promise land of non-white actors. A time where actors are given roles based on their talent and not their skin tone. There is a great episode of Master on None, that talks about Indians on TV. Similarly in Wei Ming Kam’s essay she talks about the stereotyping of East Asian characters on British TV. Watching TV you would think all East Asian women are weak and need saving and Asian men members of the triad.

Language is another reoccurring theme Vera Chok discussed what is the collective term for people from East Asian is in the UK. They discuss what countries actually makes up East Asia? And should this classification include South East Asian countries. Whereas Nikesh Shukla talks about the miss-use of Indian words in the English language. For example, “chai” means tea, when you order a chai tea you are in fact ordering a tea tea!

My Fandoms

I consider myself opinionated about the race in the media. Like most I was disgusted about the white washing of the Oscars this year. Creating a list of which films I thought should have been nominated. When Scarlett Johnahson was cast as the lead in Ghost in the Shell, I posted an angry rant on Facebook I rave about the multicultural cast of Rogue One. Generally speaking I had not really thought about my geeky loves as letting down the BAME communities.

It was interesting to read about these fandoms from another point of view. Harry Potter is a children’s book about a boy hero bringing down a fascist villian. Yet where are the BAME teachers at Hogwarts? Harry’s classmates are “token” representations of the immigrant communities living in the UK in the 1990’s. Even Sherlock is guilty of prepetuating the myth of a submissive East Asian woman. That John and Sherlock (the white men) need to save from the triad!

I loved the personal nature of this book. Each of the authors provided an honest insight. Talking so openly and frankly, I would love to talk more about each essay with it’s author. The collection is thought provoking, funny and informative about an important topic. I strongly recommend this book for anyone interested in modern-day Britain, regardless of race or nationality.

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Currently… September Edition

currently september

Currently Feeling… Lonely! Jason is working abroad for the next few weeks and I am not used to him being away from home. It does mean I got to spend the weekend in Gibraltar – hence why this post was late.

Currently Loving…  This month I seems to be a little obsessed with Riz Ahmed, we have loved his TV programme, I’m reading his book and we even re-watched Four Lions. Let’s not forget he is also going to be in Rogue One. He really is the breakout star of this year.

Currently Reading… The Good Immigrant edited Nikesh Shukla. This book is a collection of short stories by immigrants talking about their experiencing living in Great Britain. You can read an extract of Riz Ahmed’s story here.

Currently Watching… After watching the first episode of The Night Of on Sky. We then watched the entire box set in a weekend.

Currently Drinking… PSL! September means just one thing, Pumpkin Spice Lattes!

DISCLAIMER
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I will earn a commission. You will not pay more when buying a product through my link.

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Pokemon Go Book Tag

pokemon-go-book-tag
Read at Midnight’s Pokémon Go Book Tag was all the rage over the summer. Combining bloggers love of the game and reading. As I am so behind on my blogging, I am fashionable late at completing this tag.

pokemon-tag-01starters
For my starter Pokémon in Pokémon Go I picked a Charmander as I loved his character in the TV show. Especially when he went through his moody teenage Charmeleon phase.
As for the book that started my love of reading, I adored the Meg & Mog or Amelia Bedelia when I was extremely young, but the series I adored reading were either the Judy Blume books or those by S.E. Hinton, especially The Outsiders.

pokemon-tag02pikachu
I still don’t have a Pikachu! I keep hoping to find one in a 2KM egg but even those are getting harder to find. I think I spotted on the radar last week, when we were in Hyde Park but have no luck finding him in the vast area.
The classic book I love to re-read is The Great Gatsby, this book is both a love story and insight into New York during prohibition.

pokemon-tag-03-zubatAs a Londoner, I was tempted to change this from Zubats to Drowzees, they are everywhere in the city!
Years ago it seemed every single woman was reading The Bridget Jones Diary. They were all claiming they are just like Bridget Jones. I tried to read the book and found the character was rather annoying. In the following years I had to put up with a sequel and the movies. Now yet again Bridget Jones is everywhere and still annoying me!

pokemon-tag-04-dittoHas anyone caught I Ditto yet? I have read several possible theories on how to catch one online. But it looks like these Pokémon have not yet been released in the game.
I do love the I Heart… series, I know they are just are cheesy, and a little predictable. But I love the mixed to comedy and name dropping of places in different cities.

pokemon-tag-05-snorlaxIf I had the space I would love to buy this Snorlax Bean Bag, it would be prefer to use when I read.
I guess the series I would love to read if I had the time would be the Discworld books. I read one book from the series a few years ago, but they are so many more to read. Plus I would have no idea what order to read them in!

pokemon-tag06-gengarWhen I started playing this game I seemed to find several Gastly each day. Since then they have disappeared so I am yet to evolved my Haunter to a Gengar.
I tend not to read scary books, horror is my least favourite genre. However, several books have kept me up all night reading, the most recent one being Harry Potter and The Cursed Child.

pokemon-tag07-nidokingqueenNidoran♀ was the first Pokémon I went hunting for after spotting the outline on the radar. Since then I have yet to find another one. So my poor Nidorino is missing his mate.
The obvious answer for me to this question is Babs & Dick, but they are in comics. Do graphic novels count towards this book tag? I am assuming they do!

pokemon-tag08-rapidashImage if they allowed you to ride your Pokemon in the game if you selected it as your buddy. I would love to ride my Ponyta.
One book I love for several reasons is Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Breakfast at Tiffany’s is also one of my favourite movies, although the ending to the movie is completely different.

pokemon-tag09-eeveeEevee is still one of my favourite Pokémon and I am still hoping to catch a few more so I can have a Jolteon to complete my Eevee set.
I love that J.K. Rowling et al wrote another Harry Potter book, but I am not sure where else this series can go. For a long time the Star Wars Expanded Universe books were my only hope of seeing the further adventures of the Skywalker family, so I will always love seeing a Star Wars spin-off series.

pokemon-tag14-magikarp

We are lucky to live within walking distance of the River Thames and so our Pokewalks involve catching several Magikarp a day – perfect for trying to get those 400 candies.
The series that I found awesome also centres around the River Thames. I originally started reading Rivers of London as it was an urban fantasy set it London. But quickly, began to adore the characters and I love that I recognise so many places from the books.

pokemon-tag12-legendary

I am hoping they don’t rush introducing the legendary Pokemon as this will mark the end of the game, plus my Pokedex is far from being complete.
Social media seems to overhype several book series at the moment, the ones I am looking forward to reading at The Red Queen books.

pokemon-tag15mew-mewtwo

Of course the legendary Pokemon I would love to own is a Mewtoo. Like this Pokemon the collector’s edition I am coveting is the Harry Potter Illustrated Edition. I wish they would hurry up and publish the complete set.

pokemon-tag10-eggAll I seem to be getting at the moment is 5KM eggs and they contain duds – if I hatch one more Meowth or Slowpoke!
I never seem to be in loop about new novels, I always discover books months after everyone else. So I have no idea about this question.

pokemon-tag11-lure-module
One great thing about London is the go to Pokemon Go hangouts – which always have several lures going. It’s amazing to see dozens of people playing the game all getting excited when an interesting Pokemon appears in the game.
I used to have several auto-buy authors but in recent years this list as slimmed down, now I guess I auto-buy series like Star Wars or any graphic novel that features Batgirl.

pokemon-tag13-server-down
Do you remember the early days of Pokemon Go when we would always see the server down screen. Now I have to put up with pidgey running away.
Obviously, the book I am eagerly waiting for is The Winds of Winter!

The Pokemon Go Book Tag was the brainchild of Read at Midnight, and the images included in the post at her’s.

DISCLAIMER
Pokemon Go belongs to Niantic and Nintendo.
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I will earn a commission. You will not pay more when buying a product through my link.

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Currently… August Edition

Currently August

Currently Knitting…  It’s was too hot to knit in August, so instead I have been planning which patterns I want to knit during the my autumn/winter seasons. (This really translations to me spending time on Ravelry looking at new patterns or buying yarn online).

Currently Watching… During most of August, I watched the Olympics. I stayed up early to watch the Opening Ceremony and continued setting my alarms to catch-all the “big” moments during the fortnight. For the rest of the month we have played catch up and trying to clear all the shows we DVRed during the Olympics.

Currently Listening to… We became obsessed with Stranger Things this summer (didn’t everyone). I discovered this playlist on Spotify which included all the songs featured in the TV show.

Currently Playing… I am still playing Pokémon Go, trying desperately to “catch ’em all” and fill my Pokédex. I still don’t have a Pikachu but I did catch this little guy last week.

Currently Loving… This warmer weather has been amazing. It has encouraged us to get out and walk (normally Pokemon Hunting). So far we have been walking along the Thames or exploring one of the amazing parks in the city. It has also given me an excuse to bring along my camera and take some photos of my favourite places.

Richmond Bridge

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100cupsofcoffee 41-45

100 Cups of Coffee

Once again, I am behind at writing my coffee drinking adventures, as part of my 100 cups of coffee project. Most of these coffees are from the spring.

Monmouth Coffee
On a rare occasion in early May, Jason and I had a weekend meeting in near London Bridge. This was the perfect chance to visit Borough Market and do a little shopping. No trip to the market is complete without a visit to Monmouth Coffee!

Another attempt of Spring
I have mentioned before that I love the @breakfastlondon instagram account, and use it for recommendations for new brunch spots. As Ling and I hadn’t met up of a while we thought we would try one of these places and have a fabulous spring brunch on the terrace of Urban Pantry.

Coffee & Cake
May (along with November) is Birthday month in our family. As much as I love buying presents for my family, I also find it stressful, so I tend to treat myself during a successful shop, to a break and cake!

Rebellious Coffee

When I was reading Rebel in the Sands, I was looking at photos of the book on Instagram, and I noticed a lot to mentions of Artisan Coffee Shop. This is one of my favourite coffee spots, so I was pleasantly surprised to discover the book was part written in the shop.
Coffee & Champagne

Finally, at the end of May to celebrate my sister’s birthday (and my successful present buying skills). We went for lunch at Valentina’s. Our favourite Italian restaurant have a bottomless lunch on Sundays, after drinking several glasses of prosecco I needed a coffee!

What is #100cupsofcoffee? You can read about the project here.
You can see all the photos from the #100cupsofcoffee project on Instagram.

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Currently… July Edition

currently july

Currently Knitting… This month I finished my Denim Sky Cowl and loaned the completed cowl to Ling. So she could to display it on the Whimzy stall at Yarningham Wool Festival in Birmingham.

Currently Reading… I am still re-reading the Harry Potter books. I paused from the original series briefly this weekend to read Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.


Currently Watching… I have re-discovered my love of the Gilmore Girls. When Netflix began streaming the show at the start of the month I immediately started to binge watch it. It had been a few years since I watched this programme and it was lovely to re-visit Star Hallow and my old friends The Gilmore’s.
Currently Playing… Like the rest of the world, this month I became obsessed with Pokémon Go! I also joined in the Pokémon Q&A on Epicfied blog, me and other geeky bloggers talk about our experiences as Pokémon fans.
Currently Loving… Trailers!
San Diego Comic Con was last weekend, after all the big announcements the internet for flooded with trailers for upcoming movies. One of my favourites was the trailer for the new Wonder Woman movie.

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Currently… June Edition

currently june

Currently Knitting… At the start of the month, I finished my Boomerang Shawl. Shortly afterwards I cast on my version of Denim Sky Cowl in shades of amber and dark brown.

Ombre Blue Boomerang Shawl
Ombre Blue Boomerang Shawl

Currently Loving…  My obsession with bookstagram has been taken up a notch recently, as I discovered Litsy. This app combines instagram and goodread to produce a platform to review books, share you favourite quotes and beautiful photos. Litsy is currently only available on iOS.
Currently Reading… As the new Harry Potter book, The Cursed Child is being published at the end of July, This summer I thought I would re-reading the original novels, finishing the first two in June.


Currently Watching…  My television viewing this month has been all about Game of Thrones. As well as watching the amazing season six, I began to re-watched season one to five.

WARNING SPOILERS

Currently Feeling… Nostalgic!
Re-reading am amazing book series and re-watching one of my favourite television shows. Has made me reminiscing about the first time I read about Harry Potter going to Diagon Alley or the first time I watched the Battle of Blackwater. Now I want to re-read the Game of Thrones books and re-watch all the Harry Potter films.

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I will earn a commission. You will not pay more when buying a product through my link.

 

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