Death of a Gossip ★★

Death of a Gossip is a crime novel by the author of the Agatha Raisin books, M. C. Beaton. The series of novels follows Hamish Macbeth, a countryside constable based in the Scottish Highlands as he bumbles through the solving of murders in his area.

The story of Death of a Gossip starts with an introduction to all of the individual characters, we meet them as they travel to Scotland to partake in fishing lessons from a fishing school local to Lochdubh, the town where the story is set. The many characters, as with most whodunnit's have different motives for being there, and they are gradually revealed throughout the story. The gossip of the title is Lady Jane Winters, a bolshy woman who on joining the fishing school begins to drop hints about knowing more than she should about the other students.

This is the first in the series, and as I love Beaton's other books I really hoped I would enjoy this one, but unfortunately I didn't. The story lacked connection between the main character and the rest of the characters as Hamish is painted as an outsider, a bit too weird to be of interest to the visitors to the town. Because of this he comes across as a secondary character, we don't really know him very well and Beaton doesn't make many efforts to make us want to get to know him.

The solution to the mystery was also a weakness for this mystery, it felt rushed and sudden and came out of nowhere, with hardly any set up. This made the proportions of the story feel terribly imbalanced, there was too much plot before the murder for the actual murder to feel intriguing, the real mystery lay with the different characters and their motives for visiting Scotland.

Although I didn't enjoy this story, I will definitely give the Hamish Macbeth stories another go just to be sure, they have potential, this one just wasn't quite there!

★★

Go Kobo

I wanted to make sure I had written my Reading On The Go blog post before I wrote this one, mainly because I feel that this is a supplement to that post and my opinions on the whole about reading on the go haven't changed since I have recieved this gadget.

In May I had my twenty-fourth birthday, and I was very lucky that my other half wanted to treat me to an e-reader. Having been against the Kindle for such a long time I was a bit nervous when he first said he wanted to get an e-reader, but relieved that he had paid attention and knew that if I did get a reader I would want a Kobo.

Why a Kobo you may ask, well as you probably know I am a Librarian, Amazon quite famously restricts which file formats can be placed on a Kindle, and library books from my library are some of those affected. If you are lucky enough to have a library service which uses Overdrive you probably don't have that problem, but it isn't a widespread service here in the UK. Any restriction to eBooks is a huge no-no for me!

I had been admiring the Kobo for about a year since it came to my attention during my dissertation. Firstly I was attracted to the freedom it allows you, then the features available for a low price point, and then the fact that they are a darn sight prettier than the kindle. I recieved the black touch version which costs around £80, much cheaper than a touch screen Kindle, and the features have really impressed me. It was incredibly easy to set up, I already had a Kobo account (which was also easy to set up) and it synced all of my books quickly using Kobo desktop after inputting a couple of details into the reader to register it.
I also use Calibre to sync books which I haven't purchased from Kobo (for when I'm being a bit sneaky) and Adobe Digital Editions to add library books to my reader, all of which recognise the device quickly without prompting and are easy to transfer either specific files or groups of files to.

I find I generally use my reader when out and about, especially during breaks at work, but also when I am just sitting at home. It enables me to read really long books without carrying the weight of one with me, I doubt I would have read Game of Thrones quite so quickly if I hadn't had this! The light weight also means that if I am really tired, too tired to properly hold a large book open, but just want to read one more chapter, the weight doesn't stop me reading before I am ready.

I shall be updating you as I go with more posts on my Kobo, but for the time I have had it I have fallen in love with it!

The only problem is it does prompt a few case purchases :)

2013 / 100

Hello!

It is months since I posted, I know. I just logged into blogger and realised I have 3 book reviews already written that I forgot to schedule too, quite frustrating!

I am going to update you today on my reading challenge progress, in case you don't follow me on Goodreads, 

I stomped all over it last year! 

OH YEAHH!!

I read 70 books last year, SEVENTY! My target was 52, a book per week, and I surpassed it several months before the end of the year.

I am so proud of myself, considering 2011 was such a fail year for reading I really feel that I have accomplished something by managing to read so many great books.

Obviously I didn't come anywhere close to reviewing all of those books and some of them were really great and deserve some attention, so I might do mini reviews with my quick thoughts on them, maybe 5 at a time just so you are up to date. My GoodReads account though is up to date, and all the books I read in 2012 are on the 52 of 2012 bookshelf.

I also expanded my horizons last year and ventured into eBooks. 22 of the books I read in 2012 were eBooks, pretty good considering I didn't get my ereader until my birthday in May. It really helped me to change my reading habits, and I have a post about it in draft too which I will post for you soon.

I didn't read many of the books currently on my TBR shelves in 2012, mainly because I actually started to use the library again properly. Working there more means that I am constantly finding new books I want to read, at one point I had my limit of 30 books on loan, and a couple on my Mum's card too, and I read 29 library books last year (and still have 20-odd on my shelves that I haven't got around to yet), yay for libraries!

So for 2013 I have set myself a new challenge, I am going to try to read 100 books this year, this amounts to about 2 per week, which is very doable (I often finished 3 books a week last year, obviously depending on the length) while still remaining a challenge.

Although I have found it a lot easier to read this year, to find time and space to read, the reason blogging fas fallen to the wayside is because reading has taken over quite a lot of my spare time, I am working a lot more than I was this time last year, and have a lot less spare time so I am spending it wisely. Reading is now something I choose over television and often YouTube which is how I want things to be.

I have signed up to several yearly challenges as part of the GoodReads 2013 Reading Challenge group and I am trying to read as many books from my TBR shelves as possible to fulfil those challenges. I would love to read at least one quarter of the books on my TBR list (which currently stands at 150 books, yep, thats a lot!) and I really want to tick off some classic novels this year, I own several that I haven't read yet and I really, really want to.

So for the forthcoming year, I hope to read 100 books, a good proportion of which are currently sitting unloved on my shelves, and I hope to review them in batches, maybe a weekly, fortnightly or monthly round up would be best.

Have you set yourself any reading challenges for 2013?

Believe six impossible things before breakfast ★★★★

 


Obviously, this isn't about that White Queen, but is about the York Queen in the War of the Roses.

The White Queen follows Elizabeth Woodville, a commoner and a widow who charms the new king Edward IV into marrying her with her astounding beauty and a bit of her mothers witchcraft. The story tracks her struggles through the Wars of the Roses over the space of thirty years in which the House of York and the House of Lancaster fought over the English throne in the mid-1400's. The novel is the first in the Cousins War series by Philippa Gregory which covers both houses, with sequels featuring Margaret Beaufort, the Lancaster Queen, Elizabeth's mother Jacquetta and future titles will go on to cover her daughter Elizabeth of York and her contemporaries.

The novel is at its core a historical romance with a bit of mystery and plotting thrown in for good measure. Throughout the story there is a constant reminder of Elizabeth and Edwards love for each other and their relationship always appears strong even when they are separated.

Obviously a good chunk of content is about the actual wars that were occurring during the time period, and for me this was a particularly confusing time. Many of the characters involved have similar names, and as I said in my review of The Constant Princess I am slowly trying to read some historical fiction in order to improve my knowledge of British history (for more about why I started reading them, click here!) In case you too have issues with keeping history straight in your head or you simply aren't aware, to summarise a very long period of time, initially we had Lancasters on the throne, the Yorks took the throne, and then the Lancasters took it back, and that was the start of the Tudor period where both the Lancasters and Yorks were joined by marriage. We follow a good amount of this political shuffling through Elizabeth, even though she is a woman and away from the actual action, Gregory shows us that women often had ways of finding out what was going on around them even though they themselves were not always directly privy to that information.

During all of the hoo-ha with the swapping of the throne between houses, there was a lot of sneaky behaviour and deception going on and it is this which lead me to be so interested in this book in particular. The mysteries in this woman's life are many, she managed to rise up the ranks very suddenly and charmed both king and court completely, her mother was accused of witchcraft as she herself was, and her sons were the Princes in the Tower, one of the great unsolved mysteries of the Tower of London. Philippa Gregory isn't afraid of taking mysteries like these and turning them into a strong, gripping plot and I can honestly say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.

As with the Constant Princess the book was a little hard going at the beginning because you are grappling with so many characters, but I found this story in particular much easier to grip onto than the others. There are several references to magic within the novel as Elizabeth believes herself to be descended from the water goddess Melusina. Although initially this felt like a tacked on plot device that wouldn't necessarily add to the story and instead detract from the factual parts of the tale, Gregory uses it as a tool to overcome some of the mysteries surrounding Elizabeth's life and they are relied upon fairly heavily to tell her version of the story.
The magic is portrayed as a natural born skill that is innate to the women in this line of the family and integral to the characters themselves. It isn't explained in an unnecessary way, it is simply a skill that the women of the family use when they come into hardship. The very frank use of the magic in the story actually lends itself to being more believable, and almost innocent, it doesn't actually feel like cheating at any point in the story when Elizabeth comes across a hardship and her mothers guidance helps her to embrace her ancestry and take on the waters, a metaphor for using her magical influence to sway events. Gregory has managed to use this rumour in history to develop the queen into an empowered woman who will not allow the time that she has been born into to dictate how her life should be affected.

Gregory still manages however to keep the story grounded. Her reputation for research allows her to seamlessly join together the fantastical elements and the facts, and although she has to take a stance on the mysteries surrounding the wars which could or could not be correct Gregory manages to keep the reader believing that this could have been what happened. The story sucks you in because it is so convincing. The time period was full of drama and ups and downs that lend themselves fabulously to the plot allowing for a pace that keeps you reading. In particular I loved her stance on the Prince's in the Tower, as it creates presence of mind for Elizabeths character, showing she isn't just bowing to the stronger, superior men, but is taking steps to control events.

The book had me interested in continuing to read the series with The Red Queen, The Lady of the Rivers, and The Kingmakers Daughter which is released this year. I am especially excited for The White Princess, about her daughter which is rumoured to be due for release in 2013 after a plot point is revealed towards the end of this book. It should prove interesting indeed!
★★★★

Purple

I believe I have issues with the colour purple, not the book, but yarn dyed the colour purple. See that there? that is a ball of Malabrigo Sock in Abril, it is beautiful (if you ignore the ball winder injury sustained on the right) but I cannot knit it.

There is something about purple that is making me shy from patterns, nothing is quite right, nothing quite fits how I want my finished project to look, nothing suits the colour variegation in the skein, nothing is darn good enough.

I have so far tried to knit 2 patterns from this skein, Travelling Woman and Kleio, both beautiful patterns in themselves, but thank god this yarn is great at keeping its tension when it has been frogged because otherwise I would have wasted £12. I want to knit a scarfy/shawly thing that I can wear to work, I want it to have a considerable amount of lace with a minimal amount of block stockinette or garter stitch because I really am not fond of variegated yarns in blocks of standard knitting, the pooling never seems to look nice to me.

I have trawled the Ravelry project pages for this particular shade of Malabrigo Sock, a favourite past time of mine when I haven't a clue what to knit a lovely yarn into, and nothing is jumping out at me. Despite my rules I am tempted to try a 'holey' wingspan shawl as project number 3, or buy another skein in a complimentary colour and knit either Colour Affection or Stripe Study Shawl (I could always use that periwinkle yarn I couldn't knit before I suppose) all of which could result in more pooling vomit and frogging.

I could of course simply give in and make some socks.

One can never have too many socks.

Just Call Me Pandy

I have recently discovered something about myself, I hate waterproof mascara!

I had been wondering lately why I didn't wear waterproof mascara, with the weather getting hotter, and hayfever making my eyes itchy and watery, it seemed like the logical thing to do. Wear waterproof and it solves my problems!

I bought the L'Oreal Telescopic waterproof mascara after Anna of Vivianna Does Makeup had raved about it so much thinking that it would surely be the one to try, but alas I am afraid I have to disagree with her. Now don't get me wrong, I like the telescopic range, I love the brush for its separating capabilities, I just hate how much effort it takes for me to get the damn stuff off. Even using my Micellar Solution following Lisa Eldridge's instructions and then following with my Hot Cloth Cleanser I struggle and end up losing at least one lash. 

After making my eyes even more sore using this for a few weeks, I caved and went and bought a different, plain old lets the water make it run mascara and I am now much happier. Waterproof simply isn't for me it seems, I'd choose panda eyes any day over red sore ones! 

And which lesson has this taught me? If I don't use something and haven't for a good long while, there is probably a reason for it, and just because I can't remember that reason 

doesn't mean I should question it!!

Now, what to do with the second one I bought as part of the offer.

Do you wear waterproof mascara?

xo

Review Avene Cleanance Line

Recently I have decided to have a little overhaul of my skincare routine. I have stuck with Cetaphil as my morning cleanser, Sanctuary Hot Cloth Cleanser as my evening one, and Micellar solution to remove my makeup, but there are a few steps surrounding those that needed a little change.

I mentioned in an empties post a while back that I wasn't enjoying the Cetaphil Moisturising Lotion as my facial moisturiser anymore, and since finishing my Roaccutane treatment I have tried several other day moisturisers, all of which haven't really felt right. They were either too dry or too slick, they left me oily or clogged my pores, some even gave me an allergic reaction. I was getting a bit frustrated by it all when I walked into boots and decided to have a look at some French pharmaceutical brands, ones which were more into treating sensitivity as well as other complaints, and I settled on Avene.

I picked up a mattifying cleanser, the Cleanance Anti-Shine Regulating Lotion, and a chemical exfoliant the Cleanance K, both of which are highly recommended by various YouTubers and Bloggers. The moisturiser is described as a lotion, but is more of a gel formulation, as is the exfoliator. This means that they both feel incredibly light and don't leave my skin feeling tacky, a big no no for me. Both products are specifically targeted to reduce oil by drawing it away from the skin and trapping it in special microcapsules within the formula, and the exfoliant uses both glycolic and salicylic acids to get rid of dead skin cells that cause clogged pores in the first place. 

I have been using both for a few weeks now, and I have noticed a big difference in the amount of oiliness I get during the day, especially on my forehead which is a real problem area. I haven't noticed a huge difference using the exfoliator, but I have to admit I haven't been religious about applying it, it does recommend you use it every evening, but I have used it on average once a week. I will be more strict with myself from now on and see if I can spot any noticeable changes. I don't think I would completely swap from a physical exfoliant to a chemical one, but careful combination of the two within a set routine would be ideal I believe, and is something I hope to achieve.

Both of these products cost £10.50 for 40ml, not cheap when you consider they are to be used every day, but as they are available from Boots there is always the chance to say a bit of money with an offer.

Have you tried Avene before?

xo

June Empties

I am trying to get back on track with posting these Empties, but I always feel like they don't need to be as prompt as say favourites posts, probably a completely whacked out way of thinking, but then it is me!

Anyway, a few items last month, a couple of long time workers too!

Original Source Vanilla Milk and Raspberry Shower Cream
£2.30  from Boots

I grabbed this when I was taking advantage of a buy one get one free offer and had been drawn towards a pineapple scented shower gel (definitely in next months favourites!) I wouldn't say this is as nice as the pineapple one, though being a shower cream it is more moisturising. It is a nice scent, but probably more for winter than summer, and as always it is nice to see Original Source using plenty of natural ingredients. If I was stuck for other scents, and I was getting one free I would grab this again, but my top choice would be Pineapple!

The Body Shop Seaweed Ionic Clay Mask
£12  from The Body Shop

The first of the long time workers, I have been trying to finish this pot of mask for about a year, I believe I wanted to finish it when I first started my project 20 pan. I have nothing against this mask, it is just messy. The tub it comes in allows it to dry out over time, so you have to rehydrate it to get it to spread evenly over your face, and it is harder to get off your skin than other clay masks I have used, especially if you have any opened pores, I always seem to end up with seaweedy bits stuck inside them.  I think this si a great mask for drawing out impurities, though it takes a day or two before they all come to the surface, but I would only repurchase if the packaging improved.

OPI Start to Finish Base and Top Coat
£13 from Sally's

I've had this a while and really didn't like it, there's a bit left in the bottom but it is too gloopy to get out. It didn't help keep my polish on or prevent chipping, which I find odd as the OPI Natural Nail Base Coat is fab, I definitely wouldn't buy this particular one again.

MAC Studio Moisture Tint SPF 15 in Light
£20 from MAC

The second of the long time coming products, I have been trying to use this tinted moisturiser up forever, and now I wish I hadn't! After using my Laura Mercier I have decided this one was a little bit better, being slightly stronger pigmented and thicker. I wouldn't repurchase however as I am trying to move away from MAC products as much as possible (I want to try other brands a bit more) but I am glad this is finished as I can now get a free lipstick!

The Sanctuary Polishing Hot Cloth Cleanser
£10.50 from Boots

This is the second of my holy grail skincare items, and I absolutely love it. I had the old formulation in one of my past empties posts and I really wasn't that keen on it, it did the job but I am so happy to be back to using the new formula, it leaves my skin beautifully smooth and soft every time I use it.

Have you tried any of these products before?
xo

Review: Essie Nail Polishes Old and New

As I am sure you all know, recently Essie released a difusion line of their most popular nail polish shades in selected Boots and Superdrug stores across the UK. When i heard about this I got very excited, as I have ordered a couple of shades from eBay before and in general I quite liked them, and wanted to try more. I already had Mint Candy Apple and Marshmallow, which can be seen above, and I love the shades. However the application has a little bit to be desired, they could be a bit hit and miss and often took three or four coats rather than two to be opaque.

However my hopes rose a little bit when lots of bloggers began talking about them and how great the new brush is which supposedly improved application no end, great I thought, problem solved! But when I saw that brush, my heart began to thud with dispair. It looked exactly the same as the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure nail polish brushes, which I am not a fan of!

A couple of weeks ago while in Lincoln I decided to bit the bullet and try a couple of shades I had been admiring anyway, Splash of Grenadine and Lilacism, and risk hating the brush. However I am really pleased with these! The previously thought of as awful brush actually works wonderfully with the quite thin formula of the polishes, a combination which Sally Hansen didn't achieve, and application is really quick and easy because of it. The brush is a standard length and density bristle brush, but the bristles are arranged flat, with ever so slightly curved ends, which generally just means less streaks!

I will definitely be picking up a few more of these next time I am in Lincoln, top of my list are Tea and Crumpets, Merino Cool, and Angora Cardi.

Have you picked up any of the Essie Diffusion Line polishes yet?
xo

Speccy-four-eyes

Just a quick post to show off my new glasses as I haven't got around to filming a video wearing them yet. What do you think? 

I absolutely positively LOVE them!

I had been needing new glasses for a while, so much so that the screws on my old ones had almost worn out the threads! After completing my librarianship degree I knew I wanted something undeniably librarian like. Tortoiseshell was a must, I had to have those warm brown hues. I tried on several pairs, most geek like in shape or cat eyed, and ranging from Dior to Ray Ban to Karen Millen, and it took me about 3 months to find this pair of Chanel ones amongst all the others. 

I mainly chose this pair because the frames are relatively thin and light, most plastic frames currently are incredibly large and chunky, which is fine if you have strong features, or you only wear them occasionally to accent the rest of your style, but I needed something lighter. Chanel do make a more delicate frame in the tortoiseshell, but the shapes didn't suit me, and all the other brands were far too chunky for my face, so I went for this pair which have a relatively lightweight plastic frame, with the classic Chanel chain strap sides, which also helps to keep them delicate. 

Now the one thing to remember if you like these is they are far from cheap! They set me back £300 including lenses, they would have been cheaper if I had wanted a lesser set of anti scratch and glare coatings, but I need the best stuff for my night vision problems, so I sucked it up and went full whack. If however you only need a basic set of coatings on your lenses and are happy to take the risk of them not fitting right (or pay extra for fitting) they are much much cheaper online. The model in case you want to do your own search is the 3221Q and I have them in shade 714 Dark Havana.

I think going for a pricer choice of specs this time around instead of plumping for a pair from Specsavers that I could make do with was definitely the right choice for me. I need to wear these all the time now unless I get contact lenses, and they feel very very me, almost as if by embracing slightly geeky glasses I am embracing my inner geek too. I hope they will last me a good few years, and I actually aim to simply have the lenses and screws replaced when I need to, rather then buying new frames as I love them so much.

If you live in the Lincoln area and are looking for a Chanel Opticals Stockist, I bought mine from Dixons Opticians on Lincoln High Street, and I would recommend them highly, they were lovely with me and considering I had been treated quite rudely at a store closer to my home, I think it says a lot that I was willing to travel to get these.

How do you choose your glasses if you wear them?

xo

P.S. Major points to anyone who knows where the quote in the picture is from, it is quite possibly my favourite action film!