Audrey Hepburn by Chris Rice

I don't tend to rate audio books, mostly because it doesn't occur to me to buy them or loan them from the library, but also because I get irritated by their borrrrrinng voices and the pace they read at. Though whilst perusing the quick reads section of the library on Saturday, the beautiful cover of Audrey Hepburn caught my eye. When I took it home and chucked it on my bed, a matching CD fell out. To my horror, I had taken out an audio book..

Debating whether to just read the book or play the CD at the same time, I decided on the latter. In all honesty, they did read a bit slow for my liking but it's something you can get used to. I'm not sure if I shall take out any more audio books in the future but I think that they would be great for people who are often busy and don't have the time to pick up a paper book. Or maybe it could be a good replacement for the radio during long car journeys. The book itself was very interesting though worded a tad simply. The narration tells us about Audrey's life and her journey into the Hollywood world. What I found the most interesting was the story line of her part as Eliza Doolittle in the production, Breakfast at Tiffany's and how they 'had' to use a different vocalist as her voice wasn't 'strong' enough . There are only 20 (ish) pages to the whole book which is a bit of a letdown considering the fact that the text is large and there are plenty of images. These images however, were so beautiful that I shall let Penguin off.

All in all, I would recommend only to lower level readers or as an audio book for background noise. It's such a shame as I find that Audrey is such an interesting character and I hope that I find better books about her in the future.

Heath and happiness,

Marti xx

Summer Favourites with Lou Loves

Harry Potter:

The harry potter books and films are nothing new to me. They'd scatter my brother's bedroom floor and he'd always, always make me sit through them all. It's until now though, after years of my brother moving out that I've revisited this wicked and marvelous school of witchcraft and wizardry and introduced myself to the likes of Snape and Dumbledore yet again. This involved watching seven films in a matter of days but do you know what? It was, it was totally worth it.

 The Book Thief:

I have no idea how to express my love for this film through words..It's so captivating and deeply touching that I cannot express how much you must watch it. Without giving too much away, I can tell you that the film follows the life of Liesel Meminger, a nine-year-old German girl who was given up by her mother to live with foster parents in the small town of Molching in 1939, shortly before World War II and is narrated by death which is a big aspect of the story. I can't wait to read the book and see how it compares.

Sand:

Sand will never be a thing that I take for granted because quite frankly, it's hard to come across where I live. Whilst staying in a beach cottage in Cornwall a couple of weeks ago, surrounded by miles of sand and beach, I was really able to appreciate the splendour of such a simple thing. Glistening and sun kissed, as delicate as a feather.

Lauren Child:

I'm positively certain that I have talked about Lauren Child at length over my blog before but I'm truly obsessed with the way she illustrates. It's all so unique, so simple and so beautiful. I've recently been interested in her books too which showcase her trademark style.

Wishing you heath and happiness,

Marti xx

(Make sure to check out my lovely friend Lou's post)

When life gives you lemons...

This week has been so hectic and therefore I apologise for the last minute blog post but hopefully it shall be a bit of a change from the usual.

So Ti, what have you been up to that has consumed so much time? I'll answer that one: revision, revision and guess what, more revision! Over the last few weeks I've spent most of my time after school with my French teacher, trying to pass a bloody speaking exam. The actual exam wasn't until Wednesday at 12 pm and to be perfectly honest with you, I spent all day worrying about it haha. Once I started going it wasn't too bad though, and sir was hopeful I wouldn't have to resit. We got our new timetables for school on Monday which marks the start of year 10 work, whoop, whoop! On Friday (while you are reading this) I'm going to Robin Hoods Bay as part of my geography coursework. After we've finished our work (honk if you love bin counts and environmental surveys as much as me haha) we are allowed to do what we please. I was determined to download Pokemon Go and see if we could find any Pokemon around the beach but unfortunately you need IOS 8 or later. I'm sure other people will have theirs though haha. I have nothing planned for this weekend but I know that my brother and one of my sisters are coming home for the weekend. We break up for summer next Friday which I cannot wait for! It means I have so much more time to do fabulous things like writing.

Wishing you all health and happiness,

Marti xxx

Little Giveaway + Celebrating Books

I love getting to know you lot better. 

Honestly, however cheesy it sounds, I have met so many incredible people through this little space on the internet (and hopefully many, many more to come) that giving something back to you guys just seems compulsory. That's why I've decided that another giveaway is overdue. It's going to be very different to my January Giveaway though because of the way both my readers and I have changed. Firstly I must mention that I didn't specifically go out and buy the 'prize' that I am giving away. It's the original paper back version of 'Dizzy' by Cathy Cassidy and was the first teen fiction book I ever read. Cathy Cassidy, along with Roald Dahl, Jacqueline Wilson, Michael Morpurgo ect, inspired me to start reading and pick up book after book after book. The words on each page have been brought to life so many times that I would apologise that it's not in perfect condition, but why should I? Books are supposed to be read, not cased in glass cabinets. Unless that is, you have a very unique way of storing you books haha!

It seems like these days nobody reads anymore. So few people can recall the satisfaction of picking up a book and getting lots among all the words and feeling like you are part of the story. If this generation won't read- what hope do we have for future generations with rapidly improving technology? If this book is not for you, consider a sibling/friend or younger family member that could be interested. Reading is for everyone, and is honestly something that sticks with you for a while. 

The way you enter is also going to be rather different and hopefully more straight forward than last time. All you need to do is drop a comment telling me why you read (don't fret none Google+ users, just pop me an email instead) :) The giveaway is open internationally and will be picked from a hat at a later date. You will receive your book with a handwritten note through the post which is why I must ensure that you are comfortable directly messaging me your address should your name be chosen.

On the topic of reading and celebrating books, I was in the library yesterday and decided to do something I've been meaning to do for months. I read a blog post a while back (I think it could have been written by El) about random acts of kindness and one of the things she suggested was to leave little notes in library books. I thought this was such a thoughtful idea and if it actually gets to the reader (what I mean by this is, if it doesn't get dismissed as rubbish) it would make their day. I decided to leave it in a copy of  An Abundance of Cathrines by John Green becuase it's a book that I'd really like to read but I've got so many other books to read before then. Hopefully the reader will enjoy the note almost as much as the book!

Good luck!
Wishing you all health and happiness,
Marti xx

Zoella Body Mist Review

Hi everyone, some of you may not know me, so let me introduce myself. I'm Lou from Lou Loves and I have been blogging for nearly a year now. Marti and I made the decision to do a guest post on each others blogs as we thought it would be a fun idea and help let both audiences get to know about us better. Anyway, today I am going to be doing a review which is a favourite over on my blog so I thought I would do one for you all.  I hope you enjoy this post and I will (hopefully) see you soon. xx

Today, I am going to be reviewing the Zoella Beauty Body Spritz's. I have all 3 and love when new collections come out. The bottles themselves, are okay quality but the scent inside makes up for it. On 2 out of 3 of my bottles, the product leaks out the top when you press it down which cane be a little annoying but it's not too big of an issue.

Blissful Mistful is the original collection scent so it is floral and really fresh. For me, it's the perfect Spring/Summer scent (it would also be a pretty good holiday scent - which it was for me last year). The scent lasts nearly all day without completely going but I find it's nice just to top up the scent about half way through the day.

The next to be released was Lets Spritz'. This was in the Tutti Fruity Range which is getting discontinued right now and shops are selling it out so get it whilst you can. As the range name suggests, it has a fruity scent that I think works best in late summer and early autumn - kind of like the last breath of summer.

The final spritz was Sweet Inspirations (I was really disappointed this didn't have a product name :( ) However, the scent makes up for it - it has a macaroon and toasted almond scent. I think this is that perfect all year scent which can actually be really hard to find.

All of Zoe's spritz's are £8 and available at superdrug and online at feelunique and superdrug.

Thank you so much for reading and don't forget to check out Marti's post

Love Lou

xx

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