So I've totally just made this tag up. (If it's been done before and I've nicked it off someone, sorry!) And I'm tagging everyone. But the weather's getting more rubbish and I have a rotten cold/cough/am at death's door, so I've been daydreaming a little. And now I'm inviting everyone to share in the daydreaming. Put it in the comments! Write your own post! Anything!
So if you could be anywhere right now, where would you be?
I'd be here.
That, for those of you who have never had the joy of being there, is a gorgeous hotel in Goa. My parents used to take my brother and me there every year when we were little and I haven't been in years and am longing to be back there.
If I were there, it would be hot and sunny and it would smell like salt and holidays. I'd be sticking my feet in the ocean you see there, and then I'd be lying on a lounger on that beach with my weight's worth in colourful cocktails, and then I'd be swimming in the pool, and then I'd be walking back to the hotel for one of their amazing buffet breakfasts, and then I'd be dozing in an air conditioned room with the balcony doors wide open.
I don't know what it is about this season, but every year, like clockwork, this seems to be the time for blogfests, blog events, launches, blog hops, generally all manner of bloggy fun. Here's just a taster of some of the cool stuff around: Rachael Harrie is hosting her Third Writers' Platform-Building Campaign. It sounds like it's a fantastic way to meet new bloggers - and you can join groups based on your own interests and genres! Next month marks the release of Talli Roland's second book Watching Willow Watts and she's celebrating by hosting a blog-wide launch party! And it sounds so fun. We've all seen our fair share of truly horrendous movies, right? So if you're in the mood to rant, Alex J. Cavanaugh has set up a Worst Movies Blogfest. There's tons more out there but these are just the ones I've signed up to recently. As if I wasn't busy enough! But these sounded too much fun to resist. Have you discovered anything fun online this week?
With September around the corner, the inevitable end of summer is nigh. I can measure my summer in a growing baby bump, a fabulous - if all too brief - holiday in Bangalore... and books. As busy as I've been, I've read tons of great stuff. So here are a few of my favourites. Get 'em if you can, they're worth it!
Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey This book is so much fun! It's a YA Victorian romp with fraudulent mediums, ghosts and romance - what's not to like?
Confessions of a GP by Dr Benjamin Daniels This is non-fiction, hilarious and incredibly illuminating - especially if you live in the UK and are all too familiar with the NHS. I had fits of giggles reading it. Highlight: 'Dr Daniels's' list of the weirdest complaints he's ever heard from patients. I think this one is my absolute favourite summer read. And right now it's only 99p on Kindle too!
The Donor by Helen FitzGerald Will has teenage twin daughters and two perfect kidneys. His daughters' kidneys are failing. He has to choose which one to save... unless he can find a way to save both. I'll admit there were moments all the characters annoyed me, but that's a small gripe compared to how good this was.
Fallen by Lauren Kate I'd been hearing about this one for ages before finally picking it up; it seems to be something of a YA paranormal classic in the US. The story of a doomed love story between a girl and a fallen angel, it does have its fair share of cliches: slightly unconvincing love triangle, the sassy best friend, the distant-yet-sexy love interest. But in spite of all this I found myself reading it compulsively until I'd finished the book so it gets points for that!
I think I'll leave it there for now. What have you read this summer? Anything amazing?
