I have a bed with no Mattrex

Haló peeps, so I've spent the pass two days building a bed. Yes, I finally got one. A few issues building it, so I couldn't recommend it. It's a lift bed from Argos. Certain screws just wouldn't go where they were meant to be go. There is literally two sticking out because we could not get them to go any further so we had to give up. Something is mainly attached to the bed by cellotype. Its not important part of bed so it should be fine. There also not a bottom in it because it impossible to build it with it in and it shit as it will take no weight.

The corner where went/desk briefly was.

I also moved a armchair upstairs into my bedroom. There is literally no floor space in my room at the moment. There should be some more once I've to sort out some the boxes and other stuff. That's a job for another a week because I'm not sure how to tackle it.

There is basically not going to be a lot of floor space in my room. It is something I have come to accept. Books and bed mean its not a thing I can have. Its the attic roof fault. I could have taller bookcases otherwise. I actually have a tall bookcase I've had since I was child but it was cut in half when we move. The chair was unnecessary but I wanted a chair in my room. I was expecting this fantasy to only happen once I go to uni and get a apartment. Maybe if we do ever do move. It getting up there was quite the challenge. My mum had to move stuff downstairs so we could fit it through. I also trapped in the corner and had to climb over it. We knocked several monster high dolls off my wardrobe.

What behind my bookcase looks like.

My desk was meant to be in the corner that the chair ended up. It has done a circle around my room and has ended up where it's started. It spent a few days right next to the window. I still need a computer chair though.

That all I've been really doing this past week. I know I lead a life of excitement.

There are pests behind my bookcases.

The chair that just fits.

Mandy inspecting the backs of my books.

Book Review: The Dead Wife's Handbook by Hannah Beckerman

Why is when I share my name with a character they’re  always dead?

'Today is my death anniversary. A year ago today I was still alive.'

Rachel, Max and their daughter Ellie had the perfect life - until the night Rachel's heart stopped beating. Now Max and Ellie are doing their best to adapt to life without Rachel, and just as her family can't forget her, Rachel can't quite let go of them either. Caught in a place between worlds, Rachel watches helplessly as she begins to fade from their lives. And when Max is persuaded by family and friends to start dating again, Rachel starts to understand that dying was just the beginning of her problems. As Rachel grieves for the life she's lost and the life she'll never lead, she learns that sometimes the thing that breaks your heart might be the very thing you hope for.

I really like the premise of this book and it done well. Rachel has glimpses of her husband and daughter’s lives. I guess you would say she in purgatory, well that the feel I got from it. She spends most of her time in bland white room so another spin on the afterlife.

The characters are very distinct from each other and all add a different spill to Rachel's death. The main characters are sympathetic and can relate to them which is obviously important with this type of book.

The book is separated into the 7 stages of grief and it really works with the premise and doesn't feel forced. It goes over the impacted someone life has on other people's lives. Especially deals with the loss of a parent and all that goes with that.

Overall, I gave it 5 out of 5 stars for hurt feelings. It good read that will have you on the verge of tears throughout the book so maybe not read it in public (I almost started crying in a dentist waiting room). The book ends at the right point.

Book Review: Bird by Crystal Chan

I admit that I have been tempered to jump off my roof.

'Grandpa stopped speaking the day he killed my brother, John. His name was John until Grandpa said he looked more like a Bird with the way he kept jumping off things, and the name stuck. Bird’s thick, black hair poked out in every direction, just like the head feathers of the blackbirds, Grandpa said, and he bet that one day Bird would fly like one too. Grandpa kept talking like that, and no one paid him much notice until Bird jumped off a cliff, the cliff at the edge of the tallgrass prairie, the cliff that dropped a good couple hundred feet to a dried-up riverbed below. From that day on, Grandpa never spoke another word. Not one.

The day that Bird tried to fly, the grown-ups were out looking for him – all of them except Mom and Granny. That’s because that very day, I was born.'

Twelve-year-old Jewel never knew her brother, but all her life she has lived in his shadow. Then one night, on her birthday, she finds a mysterious boy sitting in her oak tree. His name is John. And he changes everything.

This book is very tearfully. I cried a lot because there is some sad parts. I mean it deal with family and different forms of abandonment. It done very well and it is a good read. I could probably write essay on the themes in this book (but won't because this is a review after all). 

This is a character driven book. It centres on the family's relationships with each other. Bird's death overshadows everything and has messed up their relationships. There very much still in a state of extreme grieving. Jewel is very lonely and doesn't feel like she can actually talk honestly to anyone in her family. I don't want to say much about John (the boy in the tree) as it bit spoiler, but I really like the contrast his family background brings in comparison to Jewel's.

There also interesting stuff about duppies and generally spirits, like how to ward them off. 

Overall, I gave it 5 out of 5 stars for erratic rocks. It book that you will make you feel things and it very relatable.

Valentine's and Loving things.

So it was Saint Valentine's Day and I bet you all dying to know how it went with my imagery boyfriend. Well, Batman and Sherlock Holmes were both busy being gay with Superman and John Watson (can you believe that they all went on a Double date without me. I was the one who introduced them to each other).  Great, I've just gave myself another fict idea that I will never get around to writing but now I have a fun idea to think about. Is it weird that my imagery boyfriends have my boyfriends of their own in my mind?

Seriously, I don't really see Valentine's as a big deal. Even if I did have a special someone, whose was real, I doult I would want to do something special especially since every other couple seems to be out at the same time.  Wouldn't any gift you gave them be cheaped? Also Valentine's is meant to be when you confess your love? The person you're in a relationship hopefully already knows that love them. That said, I would totally accept any chocolate they want to give me. Especially if they brought it today cause it's probably on sale.

I spent most of the day in bed with my usual lover. Yes, my laptop who has a escaped a name unlike Gerard Arthur (my middle-aged typewriter remember). I think I might have once named it. Have no clue what it name was. Been playing Facebook games whilst listening to CreepyPasta. I even started writing one. Not sure if it will work out well. But it there.

I have also been visiting my mistress again. It mistress right now as I'm not meant to be buying books. I recently brought books off Waterstones not thinking they would be coming till April. Well, some of them came this week. So now I have packages awkwardly lying in a pile on bookcase waiting to be dealt with. It shouldn't be so hard to avoid buying books. Maybe if I get into my head that I actually have no money in my bank as I really have to save for Flordia especially since I got the weirdest letter off Income Support where my money randomly lowers for a week and then rises tiny bit the next.

 I've been feeling rather tired lately. I've been having issues with the course thing I'm on. Life is diffcult.

I'm hopefully going to be building my bed next week as I'm off offically and also getting armchair in my room which is something I thought would never happen. I have to get my room ready though. I'm also a bit panicked about my reviews as I need two up this Wed and I haven't read them yet. But hear I did finish a book series this week so that is something.

That's enough about my love life. I shall write to you next week (which will hopefully have two book reviews). Now I'm off to read like the wind.

I took photos of that fallen tree today.

Book Review: The Girl With A Clock For A Heart by Peter Swanson

No, this book does not actually feature a girl who literally has a clock for her heart. It’s metaphor.

George Foss never thought he'd see her again, but on a late-August night in Boston, there she is, in his local bar, Jack's Tavern. 

When George first met her, she was an eighteen-year-old college freshman from Sweetgum, Florida. She and George became inseparable in their first fall semester, so George was devastated when he got the news that she had committed suicide over Christmas break. But, as he stood in the living room of the girl's grieving parents, he realized the girl in the photo on their mantelpiece - the one who had committed suicide - was not his girlfriend. Later, he discovered the true identity of the girl he had loved - and of the things she may have done to escape her past. 

Now, twenty years later, she's back, and she's telling George that he's the only one who can help her . . . 

I like the writing style of this book, it sort of poetic. The book does switch between the now and when George first met Liana. The format works for the suspense. 

George is not very likable character. Certain parts of the novel you do feel sort of sorry for him but I don’t think I would actually be best buds with him. He’s in his 40s, he single and works for a slowly failing business: so not a lot to lose when Liana shows back up. The other characters are alright. The motives are bit mystery; there are meant to be that way. George is surrounded by strongish woman; his life is mostly influenced by woman during the book. Females do sort of play big part of the story. However, there something about the portrayal of the woman that bugs me. It not like I can define the thing that’s on the tip of my tongue. Maybe it the fact that none of the woman actually talk to each other in the book. 

Overall, I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars for descriptive nipples. I enjoyed reading it. I’m finding it hard to find hings to say that wouldn’t be a spoiler. There lot of things this book for people to enjoy. The ending does leave with some questions, not clear answer to what went down fully.

Book Review: The Vintage Girl by Hester Browne

Reeling is a traumatic experience for every Scottish child.

When Evie Nicholson is asked to visit Kettlesheer Castle in Scotland to archive the family heirlooms, she jumps at the chance. Evie's passion for antiques means that, for her, the castle is a treasure trove of mysteries just waiting to be uncovered.

But in each heirloom lies a story, and in the course of her investigations Evie stumbles upon some long-buried family secrets. Add handsome, gloomy heir Robert McAndrew and a traditional candlelit gala to the mix, and Evie's heart is sent reeling with an enthusiasm that may just extend beyond the Kettlesheer silver...

To be honest I requested this book because it was meant to be set in Scotland, but sadly it turned out to be the bad side of Scotland. That’s right; once again its in the Borders. Besides having a bias against this part of my home country, there other issues about it being  set in Scotland.

For one thing a Full Scottish Breakfast is said to be Porridge, Black Pudding, Haggis and whatever the hell kippers are. I guess it could be have been in jest. But then there have a full English. Scots do not have full English. We have Full Scottish which is eggs, bacon, Tatty Scones, square sausages, normal sausages and sometimes Black Pudding and haggis. Sure, the big difference is the squareness of sausages and the tatty scones but tatty scones are the best thing in the world.

This is romance is bit er. Evie was rather annoying. I didn't really like her. None of the characters were that likable. Being obsessed with the past is bit old. It was enjoyable at parts and there were some nice scenes. I just think my issues with the settings overshadowed anything. There is some interesting family issues with both the main characters.

Overall, I gave this book 3 out of 5 stars for rooms of furniture. It was alright. I just don't think it was the right book for me. It more the sort of book if you know nothing about Scotland and just looking for a romance that features Castle-like-house and family scandals.

Young Adults Swearing

Something I love whenever I come across it in Young Adult books is swearing. The main reason is that for some reason proper adult like people seem to think that teenagers don't know swear words. Oh, trust me they know swears and in fact they probably know far ruder things than you. Also this knowledge doesn't magically appear in their head when they turn 13 either. I've probably known swears since I was able to keep secrets. I've also known that I wasn't meant to say them in front of adults.

Most YA novels tend to have what I call a School Vocabulary. The sort of language you would use when in fear of being overheard by a teacher/adult that would give you in trouble for swearing; or stuff that you just don't want adult to hear because you know "ADULTS".

There is a want to keep kids innocent long as after they've been exposed. If anything this is going have negative effects more than good ones. Books are safe places where difficult subjects can be attacked. But to be honest this post isn't about how its important that your kids learn about issues that will most likely come across in the real world. No, this is frankly just my want for there to be swear words in YA because it would be far more realistic than a character who uses alternative swears.

I'm not saying all YA books should have swear words in them because people don't just go spurting swears everywhere you go. Swear words have their places in real life and they should have that place in the fictional place as well. Young teens probably swear more than adults do. Fuck is one of my favourite words and I will admit that at the age of thirteen I over-used that word. Yes, I could use 'really' or 'very' instead of 'fucking' but it wouldn't be as strong. 'I really love that' is not the same as 'I fucking love that’. It is the extreme and sometimes the extreme is called for. Say for perhaps when you running from a demon.

I know even with adult books swear words are sometimes frown upon. I have the same argument. The extreme is sometimes needed. People swear. Everyone swears. I'm not saying all books should have swear words in them, but when the situation the character has found themselves in calls for it.

Frankly, if your biggest concern is that your kid reads a cruse word then you should probably reassess your priorities. Hell, maybe your thirteen year old might even stop swearing so much if weren't such a big deal. Maybe YA books are way to teach them when it's appropriate to swear.

I'm not campaigning for the C word here. Just the F,Ss, As and Bs (not so much that last one). I could actually argue that shit or shite is not even a real swear world. Is Crap considered a swear word? There is also no real non-swear word alternative ('Darn' totally does not count. It is a swear word but it is an annoying one). If you drop something on your foot, you either swear or grunt in pain. Its swear or say nothing, when something goes wrong. Someone would say that you should just say nothing but that's unhealthy. You need to let your emotions out.

My point is that I swore when I was eight and I swear when I'm Eighty. I wouldn't have a strange love for YA books with swear words in them if it was the norm. You'll accept death, heart-ache, life in endangerment of a favourite character but not the vocabulary that goes with them. Don't you think that's rather odd?

I think the reason that swear words are generally frown upon is that they have usually have sexual contention or are sometimes to describe sexual things. Sex is another taboo in YA and society in general. Human beings for some reason to do not like to be remind that we are actually animals, which is also why other bodily function are consider bad things to bring up in a way as well. We're accept fictional violence a lot easier for some reason.

The one reason I decided to write this post because there has been some controversy to do with a book called "When the Dogs Bites" by Brian Conaghan, which is about a boy with Tourettes. If any situation called for swearing, it would be that one. People with Tourettes cannot always decide what they say and do. This could also lead us into should YA novels have warnings on them. Bitch, they already do. Lots of them will say on the back not for Young Readers. Others explain more why. It already thing and proper ratings would lead to censorship.

You will be able to find reviews that will tell how "mature" a book is. The summary will give you good idea as well.

Got sort off topic. Should YA have Swearing or "Profanity" in them? Sometimes. More often than they actually do at the moment.

Good Days Sirs and Madames. Good Day. See you next week.