New Year, Better at Posting Blogs?

Happy New Year to all those reading and may the year present you with all you wish for!

The end of October was my last blog here and if I'm honest, I have just been a bit busy due to my personal life and basically university taking over my life! Due to this time off in this blog I will be talking about the end of last year, my reading challenges and my resolutions for 2019.

So from October onwards, life changed as the university work managed to pile up and still to this day I have got notes from November which have not been written up. There was a sad passing of a family friend in October which has affected all of my family and is still hard for my mother in particular especially throughout the past Christmas period. My reading halted for a while during this time and I have only recently managed to get back into a schedule where I read till my hearts content. I also have had work to deal with where I have been covering shifts for folk who are ungrateful which takes time away from my family, friends and what I would like to do in life. The Christmas period was great! I wasn't feeling too festive if I'm honest but have enjoyed the time off where I got to spend time with those who mean the most and also get some presents which I will use and treasure for the years to come. I also seem to have strengthened some friendships that I had been worrying about but I am now ready for 2019. 

As mentioned, my reading had halted for a long period of time but I am glad to say I am back on track and reading many wonderful texts. I had to change my 2018 reading challenge from 50 books to 25 books due to the above circumstances but I am glad to say I managed to complete this on the 31st of December. Yes, I did cut it close! So I have decided that for 2019, I will be reading 30 books. I hope this is manageable because I don't want to disappoint myself! Let me know your reading challenges below!

Now for my 2019 Resolutions. This year I have a few but I am determined to stick to them!

Firstly, I will be trying to be more organised with my university life. As mentioned I am still behind in my workload from November time and I am determined to stick to the schedule which I have planned for myself. Secondly, I want to have more confidence and self-belief and not rely on the opinions of others. This is a big one for me as I have struggled with this for many years. Will 2019 be my year? Finally, I want to lose weight and do some more fitness activities. This is the one I have every year but this year I seem more determined than usual? Hopefully I can make this happen!

Thanks for Reading Today!

Ross

A Dedication to Holly Bourne

It's not often that I get attached to an authors work and manage to read most or all of their collection!

Holly Bourne is an author of both YA and Adult fiction who is one of the reasons that I am an avid reader these days. With exciting plots and well expressed characters, she really put me into a reading mood. She writes about important and sensitive topics and express' her true feelings in a smart and sophisticated way. I adore her.

Let's go into a bit of depth about some of her novels that I have really enjoyed.

The Spinster Club Series

The Spinster Club books changed my life. These made me want to continue reading and explore all the YA Fiction I could find. This series has relatable characters who individually have their own storylines and each explores a different issue... problem... plot! 

You begin with Am I Normal Yet where we focus on Evie who is my favourite character in all the books and she has OCD. 

It was written perfectly and really let you see how mental health can affect young adults lives! 

This book explores her relationships and health, it is fantastic.

You then have the second book How Hard Can Love Be? based on Amber who is an angry character, she goes to camp in America and he summer is turned around when she meets some friends and creates new relationships. This book definitely has a focus on separated families and again was written perfectly.

Her third book in the series, What's a Girl Gotta Do? focus's on the life of Lottie who starts a project surrounding feminism. This book gives a great view of equality but also educates readers into the world of feminism. Another great book!

There is also the spin off at the end of the series surrounding a new year party called ...And A Happy New Year. This is our final glance at the 3 girls lives and it makes me really sad that we might never hear from these characters again! Holly if you read this... write more on this trio please!

The Manifesto On How To Be Interesting

This book surrounds the struggles of teenagers who believe that they are not interesting and it was actually a great read to see how the younger generation feel. The main character Bree showcases the struggles as she goes through.a process on becoming someone who isn't. This was so interesting to read and see how people really do change due to the pressure of society. Bree encounters some problems along the way and I really recommend this book for anyone. So So So Good!

How Do You Like Me Now?

Bourne's first Adult fiction book was the perfect adult debut. Our main character Tori is completely relatable and showcases what adult life is really like. This book surrounds difficult relationships and how being an adult can really suck at times. I have to commend Bourne on her comedy... I laughed the entire book but my favourite moment surrounds a caterpillar cake... you'll understand when you find it!

Are We All Lemming And Snowflakes?

I debated writing about this book as one of my last blogs is a full review but it is one of my favourites so I cannot resist. This is an important novel. Bourne looks at mental health and the stigma surrounding it. She proves that Kindness is Contagious and that mental health doesn't define a person.

This book takes place in a summer camp which is set up for those who need to have a break from their situations at home and try to learn how to cope with their individual issues. We meet Olive who is undiagnosed and thinks she can work out how to get away from her mental health as she doesn't want to be labeled. This book is amazing and incredibly important for the young.

Other Books

Bourne has many other books and collaborations which are also equally enjoyable.

These are Soulmates, It Only Happens In The Movies, Floored and I'll Be Home For Christmas.

I love Holly Bournes novels and I cannot wait to see what she will produce next!

I already know that I will love it!

Thanks for Reading Today!

Ross

Back to Where It All Began!

In September 2015, I created a little blog where I went as Rossie J... how cringe! This was in the same caravan park that I am staying in this weekend! Now back in 2015 when I was here, I was still in school and talked a lot of crap! I had blogs about my obsession with Jessie J (still am ahah) and my top tens. There was blogs about games, youtube and lots and lots of tags. I also loved a good bit of drama back in the day... if you couldn't tell, these have all been drafted and you can no longer see them... thank god. These were terrible and each had an edited photo I had created which we so dramatic. 

I guess I am just writing this blog as it has developed so much over time! It feels so weird being back here knowing that this is where my life changed slightly and where I created my platform to speak openly about topics that I would never be able to tell face to face. Never had I imagined that I would speak openly about my anxiety and life difficulties.. I certainly didn't know how stressed I would feel! It so deja vu... I accidentally drove to the wrong caravan last night and ended up parked outside that caravan in 2015. So weird!

I Just would like to thank those who still read my blogs to this day as I appreciate it greatly! I know I am not a big blogger and that I don't have many followers, however, I am proud of the content I have created and will continue talking about my life, books and other fun things in the future.

Thanks for Reading Today! or should I say "This is Rossie J signing out"... nah I'll stick with the current sign off...

Thanks for Reading Today!

Ross

Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes Review

For the YA Bookclub of the Wilde Readers group on facebook run by Louise Pentland, It was decided that we were reading Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes by Holly Bourne. This books looks at the stigma of mental health and lets us explore characters of different mentak disorders. 

The book focuses around the very likeable character of Olive. She is an undiagnosed teenager who has worried parents with her mood swings and emotions. She is given the opportunity to go to a centre which will help her find solutions to her problems and talk about her health for a period of 4 weeks. Within this centre we meet friends, lovers and frenemies who also are all very likeable characters... well sort of? (Read and Find Out!)

Now, I am quite funny with books surrounding this topic as they make me quite anxious as its a topic I sometimes feel uncomfortable reading about especially because of recent anxiety and panic attacks etc. Bourne talked about this subject perfectly and I admire her passion. 

My one thing that I was unsure about however was the bittersweet ending... (again, read it as I am not spoiling) I feel like I needed more and I am hoping for a sequel! Holly if you ever read this... please do a sequel. I loved her spinster club series so I would love to see a continuation of this. 

Final Thoughts.... so many final thoughts. I love the characters, the story but most importantly the message that this book presents to the wider audience that read it. I felt almost comforted by this novel as it allows you to feel not singled out and that others face problems too. This could possibly be my favourite book by Bourne ( It's tied with the second spinster club book!) and I cannot wait to continue the great work she produces.

This book has earned 5 Stars from me and I totally recommend it.

★★★★★

Thanks for Reading Today! 

Ross

Anxiety Updates: September 2018

Anxiety is a topic, I like to openly discuss here on the blog as its one of the ways that I cope with the issues that it brings me. This month, my anxiety has been quite high! I started uni, met new friends, changed hours at work and also there has been a lot of arguments at home. 

Lets start with Uni and New Friends. My anxiety the first week of Uni was horrible and resulted in a panic attack on the Thursday. I was so upset and angry at myself for not making any new friends because I was too nervous to talk to anyone. This made me want to quit uni and not return as I could not face 4 years of this feeling, however, the Friday was a godsend. I have a mentoring family and its where I have met one of my best friends Chloe. She is super nice and thankfully accepted me into her group. They are all really lovely and I can't wait to see our friendships grow over the next 4 years! After that week, I have attended classes and lectures and its genuinely not been as bad! Everyone seems really nice, except one group who I caught searching people on facebook and laughing at their profiles, and I cannot wait to make even more friends.

My work hours are making me an emotional wreck. I am currently covering 5am shifts as one member of the team has had some personal problems. It really is messing with my head. Its causing me not to sleep as I know that some people who work in the mornings do not like to work with my team. How awful is that! I genuinely love talk so I try to seem friendly at all times, however, some members of this morning shift just don't seem like nice characters. I had to do my old shift as well one of the days and that was even worse. The team I work with are hard to take on especially after escaping for 2 months. I also really don't enjoy the managers who are on this shift. Career change? I think so.

Home... It's just been horrible. Everyone keeps fighting over the dog who I love so much! Apparently I don't like him? I don't know but they keep targeting me. My sister is also getting more and more cheeky as the days go on and I am finding it difficult to tackle. I am also the target of weight comments constantly and It makes me so upset. Home is a place I am meant to escape my anxiety but I just can't! Im coming home and sitting in a room not talking to anyone and crying. Its not helping. I love them all so much but I don't know how much longer I can take.

There was also another 2 situations that I am not comfortable talking about... I was so stressed about these 2 situations that I ended up getting so drunk and being sick up the street. Lets just say past experiences still haunt you and new experiences make you think that you'll be single for eternity? Please get better!

So this month was okay... not the best or the worst.

Thanks for Reading Today!

Ross

Room by Emma Donoghue Review

For the literacy module of my university course, I had been told to read Room by Emma Donoghue as I will be assessing the language of the main character. I realise this book has been around for a while but I would still like to share its story.

Lets start with our main characters. Jack is 5 years old and lives with Ma in "Room". This is all he has ever known and he has been born and raised in this confinement. He thinks that this is the whole world and the people he sees on TV are fake and make believe when really, outside of room is a whole new world for him to explore. Ma was taken when she was younger and hasn't left. This is the story of their lives and how it drastically changes. I won't say no more as this will ruin it for you all.

 The novel is told in the perspective of Jack who obviously doesn't know a lot and the only knowledge that he knows is from his Ma and TV. He talks about objects as if they are people such as 'lamp', 'chair' and 'rug' and also explains everything that he sees including when he does the toilet and wakes up in the morning. This truly let you feel like you were inside a child's mind. 

This book helped me understand a child's mind more and will be helpful for the next few years of my life as I embark on my journey of teaching. This allowed me to see how children can really be vulnerable and how I could help to change their life by being a role model.

Old Nick is another character who was brilliantly written and honestly creeped me out. He is so weird and scary and I'll let you read on to find out why. This book really opened my mind into the world of those who have been abducted or taken. It freaks me out that their could be people right now (there probably is!!!) who have been taken from their homes and are kept away for someones pleasure. This is such a big social issue and is something that we must look out for.

The full book was engaging and I had to keep reading on and I would totally recommend it.

My final score was 5 Stars! 

★★★★★

I hope you all enjoy this book if you ever choose to read it and also keep safe in all situations in our scary world!

Thanks for Reading Today!

Ross

Starting University

So today, I embark on my next adventure!

I am starting University!!!

Lucky for me, I managed to gain my conditions in my English Exam and also my HNC Overall Grade which allows me to go to uni and become a primary teacher!

My excitement is overpowering all other emotions as I am just so happy that after 2 years of hard work, I am finally reaching one of my goals which I have since I was back in primary school!

I am going to be attending the University of the West of Scotland which has been one of my top choices over the years. With high student satisfaction rates for my course, I knew this was the perfect choice. I don't know anyone who is going this year so I'm getting a wee restart to my life. I cannot wait to meet new friends and to work my hardest to make my family proud but more importantly myself proud! I cannot wait to bring you all along in this journey!

Book blogs will recommence soon, as-well as some album reviews and more chit chat blogs.

Thank you for reading today!

Ross.