New year, new decade, first month, lots of rain. Ah back to winter.
At the beginning of January I’d just come back from a three week holiday to Australia where I was visiting my older brother and mums family. Although it was an incredible trip it did ensure a frosty return to the UK, stepping off the plane in just shorts and a t shirt into a single digit degree of cold.
January saw me polish off four books, one of which I’d carted all the way to Australia only to ignore for three weeks.
- Nocturna
- City of Brass
- One of Us is Next
- I am the Messenger
I also managed to buy two new ones, dragging my friend to Waterstones when we went shopping one Saturday because One of Us is Next was released earlier that week. Both new books, I’m pleased to report, had lovely stained pages and an annoying half price sticker tacked to the front which I had to scrape off before a little Bookstagram photoshoot. Props if you can spot the debris on One of Us is Next in my latest Insta post.
The blog felt busy. Putting up my first proper personal post of the year, one of possibly three ever published, I was pleased with the reception it received. I’m trying to be more brave with my writing on my blog this year, hence the non bullet pointed wrap up. I started a new interview feature and I’m pleased how much people are enjoying it. There’s been a lot of enthusiasm and the answers have been really interesting to read. I planned to be a bit better at posting reviews but only managed one all month. I’ve written up drafts for the other three but am still failing to post them regularly. New year, not quite new me.
Jumping back into the new year I discovered I’d massively overly committed myself at work. As I type this, bleary eyed at 5am on a Monday morning, crammed on a full coach I’ve just downloaded my boarding pass for a crazy one day trip to Paris I admit I’m dead tired for. One week into January started with a trip up to Manchester for work, followed by a trip to Bristol the following week for volunteering and finally this. It’s been a month of early mornings, stressful packing and never having the right things, the epitome of which is leaving my suitcase on the train to Bristol and it being sent back to London. And then it five pounds to get it back.
I welcomed in the new year half falling asleep on my dad’s sofa after beating them all at Scrabble. All that reading really does pay off. A few days later I was travelling up to my friends flat for a little going away party. A friend from school has ventured to South Africa so we all ate honey glazed gammon and watched rubbish films for a weekend, which may not be the wild party one would expect for early twenty year olds but it’s definitely up our street.
Then my boyfriend and I had a well deserved date after all the separation from Australia. Being us this meant a blustery trip to a castle, standing on the hill of old Sarum while the wind knotted my hair watching the spire of Salisbury cathedral rise above the wispy clouds. It would have been poetic if I hadn’t been freezing from the aforementioned climate change I was undertaking as I left the forty degree heat of Australia.
From one destroyed old castle to the glamorous halls of Hogwarts. A couple of uni friends visited so we dragged them to a Harry Potter filming location. And also some old priory and Tudor mansion that probably has more claims to fame than just holding the mirror of Everest in The Philosopher’s Stone. You can see an excellent picture of me in the halls of Hogwarts attached to this post.
Final excitement of the month was a mid week dinner with a couple of friends I hadn’t seen since their wedding back in November where I was an usher. This meant a tour of their new house together, some tofu dish that I actually liked, homemade doughnuts, and a very late running game of Ticket to Ride. You can see why I’m so tired now. Also I was totally robbed, I was winning and then someone did that massive tunnel track up in Russia for 20 odd points. Grrr.
So yeah, there you have it. My tiring month of January. What have you all been up to this January? What are your February plans? How is 2020 going for you? Let me know in the comments!
Also, if you’re looking for a location update I made it through an empty ish airport security, barely kept my eyes open reading Children of Virtue and Vengeance in departures and now I’m failing to understand the French safety instructions squashed into my window seat on the plane. Bonnée Voyage mes amis!
Books, Life and Other Oddities 