How reading has ruined reality for me

“People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading.” – Logan Pearsall Smith

What’s up guys?

I love reading. Anyone who knows me at all will know this. I have been known to finish a book the same day that I bought it. Most recently this was Me before You, which I had finished reading within 8 hours of buying it. Bear in mind that in this 8 hours, I also coached an hour of gymnastics and ate dinner, so I hope you’re slightly impressed. However, during a conversation with a friend, I’ve realised that the thing I love to do probably most in the world has actually ruined my life.

Let me explain. I read a wide range of books, but I particularly enjoy Young Adult Fantasy fiction. I read (and not so secretly loved) Twilight, all  The Sookie Stackhouse novels, The House of Night series and so many more vampire novels. I devoured all of Cassandra Clare’s Shadowhunter series, and have read quite a few fallen angel series like Hush Hush and Fallen. And whilst I absolutely loved all of these books, there’s just one problem. Normal human boys/men pale in comparison to the male protagonists of these stories. I don’t want to offend all the boys that I know, but they just cannot compare to Will Herondale, Patch, James Stark and so many other characters that I could name. Don’t get me wrong, I know that these characters are works of fiction. They don’t exist, CAN’T exist, as many of them are mystical or supernatural characters. (Although, I do still have a wild enough imagination to hope that there is a supernatural world hiding just out of sight. After all, if Donald Trump can become the president of the US, surely anything is possible right?) But, after reading about a multitude of mysterious and tortured beautiful men, who are mean to everyone except the female protagonist, real boys just aren’t exciting. I know this might seem anti-feminist, but doesn’t every girl dream of meeting a bad boy, that loves her enough to let down his protective walls and change her ways? I know I do, even though half of the time I like to tell myself that I’m a strong independent woman who don’t need no man. Seriously, who doesn’t see Damon Salvatore’s love for Elena and secretly (or not so secretly) wish they had their very own slightly psychotic but totally romantic vampire boyfriend?

And it’s not just about these imperfect but perfect boys. I am an ex-SHSG girl after all – we had feminism, and sometimes a hint of misandry, shoved down our throats every assembly. (I am so grateful for this, as it means that its never even crossed my mind that I can’t do certain things just because I’m a girl. Of course I can do anything a man can do, and I can probably do it better.) But reading has conditioned me to expect more from life than what it offers. I know that some people will say that life can be hard, and it can be boring but you just have to accept it. But I can’t. Fiction has allowed me to live multiple lives, experience a whole range of things that I would never get to in reality. And whilst I appreciate that I got to share these experiences not only with these characters but also everyone else who read the same stories, I can’t help but wish my life was a bit more like the lives that I’ve read about in books. I see Clary Fairchild saving the world, whilst I’m sat at home in my pyjamas reading about her. I read about Daenerys Targaryen being a total badass, and whilst I don’t wish I was in Westeros (I enjoy actually being alive too much), I wish that I had at least a bit more excitement in my life.

The thing is though, even whilst I say that reading has ruined reality for me, I know deep down that it’s done the opposite. Reading has taught me that I don’t have to settle, that I can expect more from life than what I’ve been given. It’s shown me that it’s not enough to sit around reading books and wishing my life was more exciting. I have to go out into the world and change my own life. And while this may seem daunting I know that fiction has to follow certain rules, whereas in real life there are no limits to what I can achieve.

So in a way reading has both ruined my life and improved it. I dread to think about how boring my life would be if I hadn’t read all those books that are driving me to make something of myself. One day I hope that I find the happy ending that I’ve read about so many times. And it wouldn’t hurt if I could find my very own dark and mysterious boyfriend along the way.

Until next time,

Aimee

19 Things that Harry Potter taught me.

“After all this time? Always.” – J.K Rowling

*CLICHE HARRY POTTER POST ALERT* (I don’t even care, I’m Harry Potter obsessed and proud)

It goes without saying that the Harry Potter series defined a generation. Actually, that doesn’t even do it justice, because it defined more than one. Being born in 1994, Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone is the first ‘big’ book I remember reading, the first book without pictures that managed to enthral me enough to struggle through it at 5 years old.  I grew up with Harry, because I don’t even remember a time before he existed, and by the time the final film came out I was nearly as old as he was. But he didn’t only define my generation. My grandma loves Harry Potter just as much as I do, and I know that a lot of people a few years older than me, who were 11 when Harry first got his letter, feel a deep connection to the series.

But the series isn’t just an incredible fantasy story about wizards and magical creatures and an evil being that is eventually defeated. There are some important lessons that Harry taught me and plenty of other children, some of which are obvious and some which are much more subtle. This post discusses just a few of the multitude of lessons that J.K. Rowling taught an entire generation of people.

1.The Government is not always to be trusted.

The Ministry of Magic is a prime example of the ways in which the people in power can fail the people they are supposed to protect. The MOM imprisons people with no cause, pardons people if they can offer money or information, and seems to know everything about each and every witches/wizards medical history (i.e whether they are pure-blood, half-blood or muggle born). Whilst a made up government in a made up world, there are some scary parallels between the Ministry of Magic and some real life governments.

2. Whilst you’re at it, don’t believe everything you read.

Rita Skeeter – need I say more?

3. There is more than one way to be brave.

As Dumbledore very wisely says to Neville –

“It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.”

4. People who are different are always ostracised, whether this is right or not.

Hagrid, Firenze, Remus Lupin and all of the Squibs in the world of Harry Potter are just a few examples of people who are ostracised purely because they are different. Harry and his friends taught us that there is no reason to subscribe to this way of thinking, and some of the most important people in Harry’s life are those who are exiled by society.

5. Morality is never black and white …

and its important to understand that it’s  the side you choose to act on that really defines you.

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(crying emoji face because Sirius Black)

6. Stereotypes can be wrong.

Peter Pettigrew was a Gryffindor, but I’m sure that nobody would ever call him brave. Regulus Black may have been a Slytherin but he was brave enough to defy the Dark Lord right under his nose (so to speak) just as Severus Snape did.

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7. Love is one of the most powerful things in the world.

This is one of the most obvious and powerful messages from the series, J.K repeats it constantly.

8. It doesn’t matter where we come from – we are all equal.

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A very apt lesson, I believe, given the world’s current situation.

9. Just because something is happening inside your head, doesn’t mean that it isn’t real.

For people who struggle with mental illness, who are often told ‘it’s just in your head’, Dumbledore reminds them that just because nobody else can see it, doesn’t make it any less real.

10. “Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic.”

Sometimes we need to remember how powerful words can be – and make sure we use them wisely.

11. Always be yourself.

Luna Lovegood showed everyone that it’s ok to be a little weird sometimes. Who cares what everyone else thinks of you as long as you’re happy.

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12. Never go to the toilet alone.

From Mountain Trolls to giant Basilisks, it’s no wonder girls always go to the toilets in pairs.

13. Money can’t buy happiness.

The Weasleys are proof that it’s not what you have but what you do with it that matters. Whilst they don’t have a lot of money, they are a very happy family that love each other and welcome Harry into their home without a second thought. Compare them to the Malfoys who have all the money they could need, but lack happiness.

14. Good friends keep you out of trouble, best friends get into it with you.

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15. Sometimes you have to face your battles alone…

When it comes to Harry’s final battle, he knows that nobody else can help him. Sometimes you can only rely on yourself, and whilst this is terrifying it’s also empowering.

16. … Although you wont really ever be alone.

“You think the dead we loved ever truly leave us? You think that we don’t recall them more clearly than ever in times of great trouble?” – Albus Dumbledore

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17. Family is more than just blood.

Although the Dursleys are Harry’s blood relatives, the deeper connections he makes with characters like Sirius and Lupin, as well as the Weasleys and Dumbledore, prove that sometimes blood really isn’t thicker than water.

18. Sometimes laughter really is the best medicine.

The success of Fred and George’s joke shop in the times of turmoil proves that a bad situation can be made slightly better just by simply trying to have some fun.

19. And the most important lesson of all – always have hope.

No matter how bad it seems, things will always get better. Props to Steve Kloves who wrote the screenplays for the films for creating one of the most iconic lines in the Harry Potter Universe.

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Peace out,

Aimee.

My 5 Favourite Fictional Boyfriends

“Meeting your soulmate is like walking into a house you’ve been in before.” —Jandy Nelson

What’s up guys?

It’s Friday Favourites time again! This week I’ve gone for a very cliché post, which is basically just an excuse for me to gush about some of my (sadly, fictional) boyfriends. All of these characters come from Young Adult Fantasy books, as I’ve discovered that that’s basically all I read, apart from the hundreds of books I had to read for my degree. (You think I’m joking, I counted my uni books the other day and there is over 100 of them, and that doesn’t include all of the ones I downloaded onto my kindle  – I wasn’t going to spend money on the classics when you can just download them for free!)

*SPOLIER ALERT*

I’m going to try to not give too much away, but if you’re planning on reading the book then maybe skip over the description!

  1. Will Herondale – The Infernal Devices

There is no way that I could write a post about fictional boyfriends and not include Will! The Infernal Devices is a series written by Cassandra Clare, the author of The Mortal Instruments series (made both into a film and a TV series). I don’t know whether this is a popular opinion or not, but I think TID is so much better! It’s set in the same universe, but in Victorian England rather than modern day America. Will is a young and very troubled Shadowhunter, who believes he was cursed by a demon and that everyone who loves him will die. Because of this he tries to push away the multitude of people that love him, including the heroine of the series Tessa Gray. This doesn’t work, and they all love him anyway. His troubled nature only adds to his charm and  he is funny, intelligent, witty, brave and would do absolutely anything for the people he loves. When he dies at the end of the series, I full on ugly cried!

“Will smiled the way Lucifer might have smiled, moments before he fell from Heaven.”

2. Adrian Ivashkov – Bloodlines

Another troubled character (you will see that there is definitely a theme going on here), Adrian is one of the main characters in Richelle Mead’s Bloodlines series, a spin-off of the Vampire Academy series (the first book of which was made into a film). Adrian is a vampire who has an affinity for one of the more difficult elemental magics, Spirit. Most vampires who have this affinity go insane. Adrian tries to control his madness through drugs and alcohol, which naturally only makes it worse. In spite of this he’s an engaging and intelligent character, that tugs on the heartstrings of the reader. The heroine of the series Sydney, is an Alchemist by birth, which means she is brought up from birth to despise and hate vampires. However even she falls in love with Adrian, and their story is absolutely beautiful.

“I don’t care if you say we can’t be together. I don’t care if you think I’m the most evil, unnatural creature walking on earth. You can think whatever you want, go whatever you want. I’m going to just go on loving you, even if it’s hopeless.”

3. Percy Jackson – Percy Jackson and The Olympians 

Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson is a demi-god, son of a human woman and the Greek God Poseidon. Throughout a number of novels, Percy is tasked with saving the world from a whole load of monsters and deities from both Greek and Roman Mythology. He is incredibly brave, but most importantly (although he is a demi-god) he is very human. He makes mistakes, he struggles with his decisions and basically reminds the reader that a hero is not always the strongest and most powerful person but the one who is brave enough to fight even though it may seem as though they have no chance of winning. His love for his girlfriend Annabeth only makes him more attractive to the reader, as he risks his life for her and she does the same for him (because in the world of demi-gods women definitely aren’t always the ones that need saving!)

“It’s okay,” he said. “We’re together.” He didn’t say you’re okay, or we’re alive. After all they’d been through over the last year, he knew that the most important thing was that they were together.”

4. Damon Salvatore – The Vampire Diaries

Damon Salvatore is the definition of a bad boy. He wears leather jackets, is moody and mysterious and being a vampire, naturally is a cold blooded murderer. However in both the books and the TV series (which although have the main characters in common follow VERY different storylines) you can’t help but fall in love with him. You discover that he didn’t originally want to be a vampire, and although he embraces it after a while, he does have a very strong streak of humanity inside him that means that you can’t help but love him. Damon goes through a lot of pain in both stories but always comes out fighting, and while he would never admit it, he loves both Elena and his brother more than anything. Oh and don’t forget that he’s played by the gorgeous Ian Somerholder  (heart eyes emoji).

“I just have to say it once. You just need to hear it. I love you, Elena. And it is because I love you that I can’t be selfish with you, why you can’t know this. I don’t deserve you. But my brother does”

(Yes I know this isn’t from the book, but the series is definitely better even though I hate to say that!)

5. Heath Luck – House of Night

For once, in a Vampire book, the human boyfriend is my favourite! Don’t get me wrong, there a plenty of ‘vampyre’ boys in this series that I would date, but Heath comes out top in terms of romance. Despite the fact that he’s a very fragile human, he loves the heroine Zoey so much that he’s happy to fight a multitude of scary and powerful vamps to protect her. When he’s killed, Zoey’s soul actually shatters because she loves him so much, and he is happy to give up his time in paradise/heaven whatever you want to call it in order to go back to earth in a different mystical body to help her defeat evil. Swoon.

“I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember, and I’m going to love you for the rest of my life.”

And BONUS, just because Matthew Daddario – here’s Alec Lightwood from the Shadowhunters Netflix series.

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(Alec didn’t make the list because he couldn’t be my boyfriend because he’s gay, and also his character isn’t as nice in the books. But I couldn’t not include this picture!)

Peace out,

Aimee

The truth about love.

Then she realised something. She wasn’t in love with him. She was in love with the idea of him.

This realisation should have shocked her, but it was almost as if she had known the entire time but had just been hiding it from herself. Why shouldn’t she be in love with him? On paper he was the perfect guy. But that was just it. He was almost too perfect. Being with him felt safe, and comforting. The only word she could think of to describe it was ‘nice’. But that was the problem you see. She didn’t want just nice. She craved the type of love you read about in stories, the type of love that was so wild and confusing that it hurt, but in a good way. People would always say to her, ‘but why would you want to feel pain? Love isn’t supposed to hurt’. But she knew they were wrong. The best type of love, true love, did hurt. It hurts almost too much to bear. But that’s exactly why you bear it. After all, if something is worth having then it shouldn’t be easy. How could you appreciate just how good something is, if it isn’t excruciatingly painful when you don’t have it?

What to read when … you’re still experiencing teenage angst in your twenties.

“We lose ourselves, so we can find out who we truly are. And when by fate we do, we discover the best version of ourselves.” – Joanne Crisner

Whats up guys?

Welcome to the first post in my new series – What to Read Wednesday’s. This series basically involves me picking a theme/emotion and choosing books which, in my opinion, fit with it. They might not necessarily be the obvious choices, or equally they may be the most cliche choice, it will all just be down to my personal choice.

This week is a little bit of a cheat, because I’ve picked a theme that was one of the bigger chapters of my dissertation – teenage angst and the search for identity.

I know that I’m not alone when I say that sometimes I just feel a little bit lost. At some time in their life everyone feels this way, whether it’s when they’ve finished school or university, or  maybe they just have a general feeling of being lost all the time. The books I’ve chosen, I believe, show that this feeling of directionlessness (yes I’m aware that this isn’t a word, but it definitely sums up how I feel sometimes) is normal, and that it’s ok to not really know who you are or what you’re doing with your life. I can safely say that these books have had a big impact on my life, and have shown me that becoming an adult doesn’t necessarily mean that you suddenly have all the answers.

  1. The Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger

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This is probably the most obvious choice for this theme! When I read this book whilst I was in sixth form, I was amazed at how much I identified with the protagonist, who at face value couldn’t be more different from me. Holden Caulfield is a teenage boy, living in post World War II America, coming from a reasonably well off family. The novel follows a few days in his life, during which he basically becomes the literal definition of teenage angst, as we see his struggle to accept himself and find a place where he belongs. I honestly think that everyone can relate to this feeling of not knowing who you are or where you belong. As well as showing teenage (and older) readers that they are not alone in their struggles, the novel is very well written and the unreliable and hypocritical narrator is iconic enough to read it purely for that. This book is probably one of my favourite books of all time, so much so that I actually planned my whole dissertation around it. My favourite quote:

“It’s not too bad when the sun’s out, but the sun only comes out when it feels like coming out.”

2. This Side of Paradise – F. Scott Fitzgerald

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This book is another favourite of mine. Fitzgerald is one of my favourite authors, and it really annoys me that people only think of The Great Gatsby when you say his name, because (unpopular opinion coming up) I actually think that it’s one of his worst books. (Please read The Beautiful and Damned, I couldn’t recommend it enough.) This Side of Paradise follows the story of Amory Blaine, as he struggles to make the transition into adult life. Most people believe that Fitzgerald based Amory on himself, and if you read it you will definitely see the similarities. Whilst a slightly more difficult and long-winded read, this novel is perfect if you need reassuring that you’re not the only person who has absolutely no idea what they’re doing. My favourite quote:

“Don’t let yourself feel worthless: often through life you will really be at your worst when you seem to think best of yourself; and don’t worry about losing your “personality,” as you persist in calling it: at fifteen you had the radiance of early morning, at twenty you will begin to have the melancholy brilliance of the moon, and when you are my age you will give out, as I do, the genial golden warmth of 4 p.m.”

3. Other Voices, Other Rooms – Truman Capote

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Written by the author of Breakfast at Tiffany’s,  this novel was a major player in the Beats Movement, and one of the first novels to write about homosexuality in a positive way. This novel follows the story of Joel Knox, a young boy who gradually realises and accepts his homosexuality. The author admits that Joel is at least loosely based on himself, and that the novel was ‘an unconscious, intuitive to exorcise his demons’ (quote taken from the introduction of the Penguin edition). An example of Southern Gothic Fiction, this novel is beautifully written, and whilst absurd at times, really shows the reader how confusing adolescence can be when you’re not even sure of your sexuality. I would recommend this to everyone, as the theme of acceptance is universal and doesn’t have to be confined to homosexuality. I would even recommend reading it purely for the elegant and dreamy writing. My favourite quote:

“Any love is natural and beautiful that lies within a person’s nature; only hypocrites would hold a man responsible for what he loves, emotional illiterates and those of righteous envy, who, in their agitated concern, mistake so frequently the arrow pointing to heaven for the one that leads to hell.”

4. The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Stephen Chbosky

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Again an obvious choice! This coming of age novel follows the story of Charlie as he struggles to adapt to society. It also deals with issues of mental health and abuse. A perfect novel for anyone who has ever felt like a bit of an outsider, as it reassures you that you will always find somewhere you belong, and that you will always have people that will care about you. The film is also a very good watch, and Logan Lerman plays Charlie perfectly IMO. My favourite quote:

“So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I’m still trying to figure out how that could be.”

These four books have had a major impact on my life and have helped me realise that all of the feelings that sometimes confuse me and make me feel lonely  are perfectly normal. They’ve also shown me that it’s ok not to have all the answers, and that the way you feel as a teenager doesn’t magically go away when you hit your twenties. I know that all of these novels follow male protagonists, which does annoy me slightly, but I believe that the real success of these stories is that you can relate to them no matter how different your situation may be.

If anyone has any other novels that they think might help my ongoing identity crisis, please let me know in the comments!

Peace out,

Aimee x

My 5 Favourite Female Protagonists

“For most of history Anonymous was a woman.” – Virginia Woolf

Hi guys!

I’m going to attempt to start a couple of blog post series, the first of which is going to be Friday Favourites. I’m not going to commit to doing this every week, as I’m also planning on starting a What to Read Wednesday series, so the plan is to attempt to alternate these series per week. (i.e this week is Friday Favourites, next week is What to Read Wednesdays, the week after is Friday Favourites and so on.)

I was going to start with the obvious ‘5 favourite books’, but then I realised that there was no way I would be able to only pick 5! Even specifying by genre felt like a big task for the first week. Eventually I decided that I would listen to my (not so) inner feminist and start of by choosing my 5 Favourite Female Protagonists. My only stipulation to myself was that these characters had to be major characters if not the main character in the story. If you want to know my top 5 then please keep reading!

  1. Hermione Granger

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As a major Harry Potter fan this choice was probably the easiest and most obvious decision. Hermione showed every young girl (including myself) that there is nothing wrong with being a bit of a nerd, and that you should never dumb yourself down for anyone. She managed to brew Polyjuice Potion, which is described as a ‘complex and time-consuming potion … best left to highly skilled witches and wizards’, whilst she was only in her second (?!!) year at Hogwarts. Can we also talk about how much of a bad-ass she was when duelling in the later books?

2. Daenerys Targaryen – A Song of Ice and Fire

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Mother of Dragons – need I say more? No but I will. Another strong female character,
except this time you really get to see her character grow from someone who is controlled by the men in her life, including her brother and initially her husband, to a woman who quite literally takes no prisoners. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who screamed ‘YES GIRL’ when she commanded Drogon to burn the Slaver in Astapor whether it was when reading the books or watching the series (which in my case was both – it just gets better every time you read/watch).

3. Molly Bloom – Ulysses

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I promise this isn’t just a humble brag about reading (most of) Ulysses. I firmly believe that Molly is one of the most important characters in terms of feminism in the Modernist era. Although she isn’t involved in most of the (reasonably small amount of) action, she is constantly there in her husbands thoughts, meaning her presence permeates the entire novel. This is quite impressive when you think about the fact that the novel is over 700 pages long . Yes you read that correctly, 700 pages! In a time where the female voice was largely silent, Molly expresses herself loudly. She has no problem with doing what she wants, and taking pleasure however she pleases. The novel even ends with her voice, meaning that hers is the voice that the reader is inclined to remember, despite the fact that the novel follows her husbands story (amongst a few others).

4. Matilda – Matilda 

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Similarly to Hermione, Matilda is proof that intelligence and a love of reading are in no way detrimental qualities. Seeing Matilda overcome adversity and survive her encounters with some very scary adult  figures was  inspirational and reassuring to young girls when it was first published and I’m sure she  will continue to inspire girls in future generations.

5. Viola – Twelfth Night

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Viola is definitely an example of a strong female character. When she finds herself shipwrecked on an island where she knows absolutely nobody, she refuses to panic even though in the time in which this play is both written and set, a young women stranded alone would almost certainly be raped or killed. Instead she dresses as a man (well technically a eunuch but still) and manages to navigate her way to a coveted position serving the Duke of Orsino. I know she eventually reveals herself and marries the Duke, which kind of ruins my feminist reading but I still think she deserves a place on this list. (Not least because in She’s the Man, which is based on Twelfth Night, Viola is probably one of the most bad-ass female characters ever! Go Amanda Bynes!)

There are so many more amazing female characters that I could write about, but I had to whittle it down to 5! If you think there’s one that I’ve seriously overlooked then please comment and let me know.

Love and kisses,

Aimee

The Curse of the English Degree

“The real purpose of books is to trap the mind into doing its own thinking.” – Christopher Morely 

 

Before I went to university (even though I had obviously studied English for both GCSE and A Level) there was a clear difference in the way I read books that I was studying, and books that I read for pleasure. Everyone knows that if you have to write an essay about a book, or any piece of writing for that matter, you have to think about more than just the plot. Does the colour of the curtains really symbolise the speakers depression or are they just blue because it’s a nice colour? Is the name Severus Snape supposed to sound snake-like? Is the narrator supposed to be unreliable, and just how much of their account do we believe? I could go on and on, but I’m sure you get the idea. I’ve discovered that after studying English for three years at degree level, I can’t switch this part of my brain off anymore. I could be reading what seems to be the most simple story, and still my brain goes into overdrive, wondering if there’s a reason why the author chose to use that particular word, or if there’s a deeper meaning to the story. Was Peter Pettigrew’s animagus form a rat because he ‘rats out’ the Potters location to Voldemort? Did Stephanie Mayer name her character Bella Swan because the transformation that Bella goes through from fragile human to powerful vampire is reminiscent of the way in which the ugly duckling transforms into a beautiful swan? What if The Very Hungry Caterpillar isn’t actually a lovely story about a caterpillar that grows into something beautiful, but rather a comment on consumerism? When you look closely, could The Tiger Who Came to Tea actually be an allegory of life in Nazi Germany, with the tiger symbolising the Gestapo who would ransack peoples houses for no apparent reason, and leave people in fear of their return visit? (Apparently this is a very real interpretation of the story – see here for an article about the author Judith Kerr).

How creepy is this re-imagining?!

In any case, the ability to read a book without searching for hidden meaning has now been lost to me. However I’m not sure that this is actually a bad thing. Reading becomes so much more interesting when you don’t take the story (or poem/novel/etc) at face value. I’d actually like to say thank you to my lecturers for showing me that there is never only one way to read a story, and that it’s ok to interpret something in a different way. Whilst it can sometimes be annoying that you are always searching for hidden meanings and taking notes of metaphors and other literary features, discussing something you’ve read is far more exciting when you have more to talk about than just the plot or whether or not you liked a certain character.

I’m sure there’s loads of stories that seem simple on the surface but that you could easily write an essay about. If anyone has any good ones I’d love to hear about them.

Love and kisses,

Aimee

The Very First Blog Post

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit at a typewriter and bleed.” – Ernest Hemingway 

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to my new blog! Before I start, here are a few things you might want to know about me:

  1. My name is Aimee Garnett, I am 21 years old and I am from Southend-on-Sea in Essex.
  2. I’ve just finished studying English at St Mary’s University in Twickenham (home to Mo Farah and Pete Poselthwaite among others).
  3. I’m currently saving to go travelling next year, which I will hopefully blog about!

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Now, the title of this post is a bit misleading, as although it is the first post on this particular site, I have actually blogged before. Whilst I was in my last year of uni, I decided it would be a good idea to enter the London Marathon, the date of which was only about 3 weeks before my dissertation deadline and about 5 weeks before all my other final deadlines. Needless to say this term was a bit hectic, but I actually managed to find solace in blogging about my experience of trying to juggle quite possibly the two biggest and most difficult things I have ever done in my life. Fast forward a few months and I finished the marathon in a time of 3 hours and 41 minutes, and got a First in my dissertation meaning that I graduated from St Mary’s with a First Class Honours Degree in English. However I realised that after finishing my blog because my ‘journey’ that I had been writing about had finished, I actually began to really miss it. So I decided to start a new blog which, being a stereotypical English graduate, is going to be about writing!

For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved reading any kinds of books and also writing some of my own stuff. When I was younger my mum worked at my primary school, so when school finished at 3 I would sit in the library and read until she had finished work. In my time there I went through every single book that my school owned. This blog is going to reflect this love of all things literary, with book reviews, discussions and (hopefully at some point) some of my own writing. There will also be some random posts about different topics, as this blog is going to be my creative outlet, a space where I feel comfortable putting my thoughts into writing.

Thank you for reading this quite rambling first post, and I hope to see you again soon!

Much love,

Aimee x