2016 Blogging Goals: Completed?

Wednesday 28 December 2016

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I do love a goals post... My blog has grown a lot in the past year and that’s all down to my lovely readers!


1. Hit 20,000 views


Completed? Certainly!


My blog now has over 27,000 views. Incredible!

2. Do something with my header


Completed? Yes


I used Canva to create my new header, which fits the theme better and I think looks more professional. I am much happier with it but may make another change next year for the fun of it.

3. Do another collab


Completed? Kind of…


I haven’t done any specific collabs, but I have worked with a company for the first time, my friend Anna and I have done guest posts on each other’s blogs and I have been a part of the group blog, Through Our Eyes ever since July.

4. Reach 54 Bloglovin’ followers


Completed? Smashed it!


That was double the number of followers I had this time last year and I reached it within a few weeks. As I am writing, Another Ranting Reader has 337 Bloglovin’ followers. That’s pretty cool!

5. Improve my photography and editing


Completed? Meh



I don’t really know on this one. I sure hope it has. I’ve done my best, anyhow.




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Did I Complete My 2016 Goals?

Monday 26 December 2016

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At the beginning of the year, I made a post setting out the all of the things I would try to complete by the end of this year. Doing so made me more determined to complete them, as I’d announced them to my readers and set them permanently. So, how did I do?



1. Get out of bed on time


Completed? I’d say so.


Overall, I think I’ve done quite well (bar the long summer I had). This has been more difficult since starting college, as I have to get up at 6 am every morning, but I haven’t missed the bus yet, so I’d say that was an achievement.

2. Finish my novel


Completed? Hell yeah!


On 25 November, I finished my first novel. It’s not very long (about 46,000 words), but it feels like the right length for the story and I knew it had to end there. I’m so proud of having finally completed this after having worked on it for about a year and a half and I am now at the beginning of the editing process. Hopefully, I can have a complete draft by this time next year.



3. Have at least 30 screen-free minutes before going to bed


Completed? Errr…


Nope. This hasn’t gone well. There have been odd days that I’ve done this, but I have to say those have been rare.

4. Experiment with more makeup looks


Completed? Yep


I bought the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette during my visit to Nice in February and have had a much wider range of eyeshadows to work with. I am now much more accomplished in that area and love creating different eyeshadow looks, especially with the added freedom I have being in college. I’ve also been using highlighter and trying my best at contour, although I haven’t quite mastered it yet.

5. Visit at least 2 museums


Completed? Definitely


This one I completed in the first 2 months of the year when I visited Nice. There, my friends and I went to 4 museums. When I was in Croatia with my family, we visited a war photography museum that focused on the conflict in Syria and the breakup of Yugoslavia. Then, I stayed in London with my nan for 4 days. I’m not sure how many of the places we visited you would call museums, but we went to Hampton Court Palace, Westminster Abbey, Shakespeare’s Globe and the Royal Albert Hall, where, for the majority of the time, we were taken on tours and given a hell of a lot of information.



6. Write every day


Completed? Mostly


I have written so much this year. From poetry, blog posts and a novel. This year has been a great year for writing and I’ve been taking more steps to become a more recognised writer, like entering my first poetry competition! I haven’t been able to write every day, but it’s nearly there.


7. Complete my GoodReads book challenge


Completed? Yes


I set my self the target of reading 20 books this year. That was a lot less than my 2015 target of 55 books, but I didn’t want to make myself stressed about a hobby when I had exams o worry about. As I’m writing, I have read 23 books and plan to read more over the Christmas holidays.


I have to say, I think I’ve done pretty well this year. Have you completed your goals?




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My Year in Books

Wednesday 21 December 2016

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At the beginning of this year, I set my yearly reading goal at 20 books. This was a lot lower to my 55 2015 target. That’s over half! There was a reason for this, though: exams. I knew I’d be spending a lot of time studying in 2016 as I was taking my GCSEs in the early summer and starting my A Levels in September. I’m glad I set this low target as I felt really relaxed about the number of books I was reading and wasn’t feeling pressured to read loads during my exams. In fact, I had nothing to worry about as I completed my challenge near the end of October and ended up reading books.

January


1. Every Day by David Levithan


I read this book very quickly, I think it was only a day or two. I picked it up one evening after school and sat in Costa reading it for about an hour. It’s a good, easy to read YA. The concept isn’t very complicated but I think I found the main character slightly annoying at certain parts. This was nearly a year ago now so I can’t quite remember everything I thought about it!

2. The Empire Striketh Back by Ian Doescher


This book is hilarious. I have Verily, A New Hope, which I haven’t read yet but will probably read next year. This series retells the Star Wars franchise in the form of Shakespearian scripts. I recommend these highly!


February


3. Emma by Alexander McCall Smith


Emma is my second favourite Austen novel. I love the characters and the storyline, which never fail to make me laugh! I picked this book up expecting to react similarly, and I did, however, the original is still superior for me. Always will be!

March


Oops! I didn’t read anything in March. I did start reading one of Caitlin Moran’s books which I’ll mention later on, though.

April


4. Not Quite Nice by Celia Imrie


I visited Nice with my secondary school in February. It was one of the best trips I’ve ever been on and I honestly believe that the days I spent in Nice and Monaco were some of the best of my entire life. It captured my mind and heart. I love Nice to pieces and so needed to read this book when I saw it in my local library. The language was a bit too simple for my liking sometimes and some of the plot twists just kind of irritated me, but I can see how this would be a great holiday read, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about places I had been to just weeks prior to reading this.

May


5. Rapture by Carol Ann Duffy


This year has been the year that I’ve properly gotten into poetry, and this was the first poetry book I think I ever bought. My favourite poem studied at GCSE was one of Carol Ann Duffy’s and I couldn’t wait to find some more of her work. I love this so much! I’m a sucker for a good love poem.

6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck


I had been reading many times over in preparation for my English exam in May and previously some of my coursework for GCSE. I got bored of it just because of the number of times I read it. I do remember really enjoying it when I read it the first time - just, not the 15th.

7. An Inspector Calls by J. B. Priestley


This was also included in my English exam. I didn’t read this as many times, so didn’t get so irritated with it. I would love to see this in the theatre as it’s meant to be viewed.

8. Darcy’s Story by Jane Aylmer


This book was great for me. I picked it up in one of my local charity shops and really enjoyed it. As an adaption of my favourite book, I could follow it easily and quickly. I helped relax my mind during the exam period. Lovely to get a different sort of Pride and Prejudice dose.

June


9. Always With Love by Giovanna Fletcher


I actually met Gi Fletcher the day after I bought her book. I read a few chapters in preparation for her book event that I planned to go to with a friend of mine. I am a huge fan of Gi’s books and her in general, so it was absolutely amazing to meet her face to face. She was lovely to me and could probably tell how nervous I was! Always With Love isn’t my favourite book of hers (I think that’ll always be Billy and Me) but it was quite relaxing, which is what I needed then.

10. Moranthology by Caitlin Moran


I started reading this book in March, so you can probably tell that this is not one you can really read in one sitting. I found that incredibly difficult anyway. The book is essentially a collection of Caitlin Moran’s columns for The Times, and as someone who often picks up the paper specifically for that, it was a great read. It was useful as I was taking exams, as each column only lasted a page and I could read one or two here and there.

11. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews


I didn’t really get the point of this book. I could understand how others enjoyed it and thought it amazing, but I just didn’t really get it myself. I can see how bits were funny but the protagonist just appeared as quite irritating to me and ‘the Dying Girl’ (or Rachel, as is her actual name) felt really two dimensional. Just was just the ‘dying girl’ most of the time, and I would have loved to have gotten to know her better.


July


12. The Time of My Life by Cecelia Ahern


I’m normally a massive fan of Cecelia Ahern’s books, but this one dragged for me until nearly the end of the book when I felt the story actually got good and the whole concept came together.

August


13. On the Other Side by Carrie Hope Fletcher


I love Carrie Fletcher. She’s one of my favourite humans and is the YouTuber I’ve watched faithfully for the longest (the first video I saw of hers was three years ago). I’ve watched her grow creatively and absolutely loved her first book, All I Know Now, so of course I had to read her debut novel! I lve this so much. I read it quickly and the story was sweet and the characters loveable. Something to go back to if I don’t want to concentrate too hard but still have a great storyline.

14. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, and Jack Thorne


I know I’m not the first and definitely won’t be the last to say that I was a bit disappointed with this. The plot seemed quite weak to me, and frankly a bit ridiculous at points. Before reading it, I had built it up in my head as this amazing follow up to my favourite book series. Now, I actually don’t like to consider this as canon Potter. Don’t get me wrong, I still want to see it on stage, as I’m really intrigued by some of the stage directions and how some elements would be carried out.

15. The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler


Short and sweet. Some bits were kind of pretentious and irritating, but I loved reading the section at the end all about V-Day and I have to say that that section was very inspiring.

16. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote


This book. This damn BOOK. So good, I can’t. I wrote a review on it earlier this year, go and have a look for more coherent thoughts of mine.


17. What Matters in Jane Austen? by John Mullan


Absolutely perfect for any Janeite.

18. This Modern Love by Will Darbyshire


I fell in love with this book completely (pun most certainly intended). I read it within a few hours, so incredibly light reading. However, during those few hours, I laughed, I cried, I shouted ‘OH DAMN’ at its sass. It is so poignant, I would recommend it to anyone no matter of relationship status (as someone who is one of the most single out of all my friends I can tell you that it’s incredible).


September


19. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire


This is another one that took me a while to read. The language was quite complicated at times and is not something you can read very quickly. Having watched the musical a year and but earlier, I have to say that I prefer the musical’s story. The narratives are very different, though, so if you’ve seen the musical still read it. Also, can I just add that I’m seeing Wicked again in December!! AAHH!!


October


20. Ariel by Sylvia Plath


I’d read some of Plath’s poetry on Pinterest (my poetry goldmine) and had wanted to get my hands on some more of it. My parents kindly gave me this book for my birthday and it wasn’t long before I had devoured all of the poems in it!

21. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood


This is one of the books I have to read for my current English Language & Literature A Level and I had to get it completed before November, so that was one of my main jobs for half term. I don’t particularly like it that much as I don’t feel that it has much plot, but I have to stick with it for another two years anyway.

November


22. Winters’ Snow by Carrie Hope Fletcher


I loved this novella from Carrie, I thought it was so cute. A lovely follow-up to On the Other Side.

December


23. The Odyssey by Homer


I’ve been reading this from October for my Classics A Level and finished it in early December. It would have been less time but when you have to write summaries for a book, it takes so much longer! We’re now studying it in class and I am actually enjoying it.

That is all I have read so far, but there is still little over a week to finish more books and I’ll make sure to update this post!

Since publication I have read: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Screenplay by J.K. Rowling and And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou.





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5 Books I'll Be Reading This Holidays

Friday 16 December 2016

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Since I’ve been in college, I haven’t been reading as much as I would like. So, the Christmas holidays are the perfect opportunity to binge read and catch up on loads of books on my ever-growing TBR pile.


1. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Screenplay by J.K. Rowling


Okay, I’m already half way through this, but I want to finish it before the end of the year. I loved the film so much and am really enjoying finding little extras in the screenplay that I didn’t notice the first time I watched it. I’m also using this as research into other types of writing so that I can expand what I create in the future.

2. Emotions of a Book by Guido Parisi


I received this in the post about 2 weeks ago and I have to say it looks SO interesting. Once I've finished it I'll probably publish a review, so keep your eyes open!

3. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn


I have been borrowing this book for nearly a year and I haven’t got around to reading it yet. I’ve been wanting to read it for ages, as I know loads of people have raved about it. Hopefully, it’s as good as it sounds!

4. The Victoria Letters by Helen Rappaport


If you’ve read some of my recent Monthly Wrap Ups, then you’ll know that I was slightly obsessed with the TV show, Victoria. The only thing I didn’t like about it, was its many historical inaccuracies. When I saw there was a book released all about the actual history of Victoria, written by a historian I had liked from seeing in various documentaries, I was very excited. Honestly, can’t wait to read this!

5. On Writing by Stephen King


I spotted this in Foyles during my visit to London in July, however, I didn’t buy it then as I managed to restrain myself from spending too much money. After my birthday, though, I was able to buy it from Waterstones as I had some vouchers that were desperate to be spent! As a writer wanting to better the art she creates, I hope this will be both entertaining and helpful.

What are you reading over the holidays?


Jemima x



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