tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8926241458652398402024-03-05T10:02:10.278+00:00Jessica GraceBeauty, Travel & LifestyleJessica Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16990257917286059591noreply@blogger.comBlogger110125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892624145865239840.post-70924401544226038682019-03-17T16:01:00.001+00:002019-03-17T16:01:17.293+00:00L'oreal Sugar Scrubs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFBWsqrxUQQCEFcPPxedrLrjI4W4fkjQlYewS1RCDpPnL44WGf9b_a2SdgYP5Wn7wVXideKfk0nZoP3XpUDiNnIAotyGzyuGTdeQRhxHQegsLYIxLnZO_HbbOGyYS8Ky4AqhqiHGpZ7ZV8/s1600/Lo%2527realSugarScrubClearScrubSkinCareSuperdrug.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFBWsqrxUQQCEFcPPxedrLrjI4W4fkjQlYewS1RCDpPnL44WGf9b_a2SdgYP5Wn7wVXideKfk0nZoP3XpUDiNnIAotyGzyuGTdeQRhxHQegsLYIxLnZO_HbbOGyYS8Ky4AqhqiHGpZ7ZV8/s640/Lo%2527realSugarScrubClearScrubSkinCareSuperdrug.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I <i>love</i> L'oreal's skin care range at the moment. I have tried every face wash/face scrub/face mask under the sun and I have never loved any of them like I love L'oreal's products. Last year I started using their <a href="https://www.superdrug.com/Skin/Face-Skin-Care/Cleansers/Cleansing-Mousse-%26-Foams/L%27Oreal-Paris-Pure-Clay-Glow-Scrub-150ml/p/724960">Pure Clay Face Scrub</a> and <a href="https://www.loreal-paris.co.uk/products/skin-care/face-masks/pure-clay-glow-mask">Face Mask</a> and and haven't looked back since - the scrub is perfect for exfoliating dry skin and the mask is great for a mid-week pick-me-up for your skin.</div>
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When I saw the sugar scrubs in the shop I was really intrigued and, as always, really indecisive about which to try. In the end I went for the <a href="https://www.superdrug.com/Skin/Face-Skin-Care/Cleansers/Face-Scrubs/L%27Oreal-Paris-Smooth-Sugar-Clear-Kiwi-Face-%26-Lip-Scrub-50ml/p/750152">Clear Scrub</a> (above) and the Nourish Scrub. I decided to try the Clear Scrub first and I've enjoyed using it that much that I haven't even dipped into the other one yet! It smells lovely - sweet and fruity - and is quite gel-like in consistency. It also says that you can use it as a lip scrub and as someone that suffers from <i>very </i> dry lips, I was sold almost instantly. </div>
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<b>Ingredients: </b>three types of sugar: white sugar, blonde sugar and brown sugar to buff, moisturise and strengthen. It also contains lemongrass and peppermint essential oils to tackle blackheads. </div>
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<b>Application: </b>it's best to apply this scrub to clean, dry skin. I usually smooth it over my cheeks, nose and forehead. on initial application. You'll notice it starts to heat up as soon as you start handling it so I tend to leave it for 30 seconds or so whilst the heat cools down. Then I run my fingers under the warm water and massage the scrub into my face. It feels quite coarse when you begin but the water helps the sugars dissolve and once you can't feel the sugar anymore, rinse the residue away with some warm water.</div>
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<b>Result:</b> I adore this product. It advises using it three times a week and I don't really want to exceed their recommended usage but I would use this every day if I could. My skin feels really fresh and clean and moisturised afterwards; the result is visible straight away. I can't say I've noticed it make much difference to my blackheads but the way it makes my skin look and feel makes up for it anyway.</div>
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You can buy this for 6.65 from <a href="https://www.superdrug.com/Skin/Face-Skin-Care/Cleansers/Face-Scrubs/L%27Oreal-Paris-Smooth-Sugar-Clear-Kiwi-Face-%26-Lip-Scrub-50ml/p/750152">Superdrug</a> and it's currently 1/3 off!</div>
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I can't wait to try the other scrubs to see if they live up to this one!</div>
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Have you tried any of the L'oreal Sugar Scrubs yet?</div>
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xo</div>
Jessica Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16990257917286059591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892624145865239840.post-61664798485754409802019-03-04T20:53:00.000+00:002019-03-04T20:53:03.739+00:00Books in February <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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February seems to have passed by in a blur, don't you think? It's been a busy one and with work and deadlines and adventures, I haven't done an awful lot of reading! But the books I have read have been great and are definitely ones I'd recommend. So here they are: </div>
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<b>Romesh Ranganathan<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Karla, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> <span style="font-family: karla, sans-serif;">|</span></span> Straight Outta Crawley</b></div>
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I love a good biography by a comedian. Romesh is one of my favourites at the moment and I knew his book would be a good read. It is funny and honest and really interesting. I always wonder how comedians can be so funny on paper but I found myself laughing out loud on a few occasions reading this one! It's perfect if you're looking for something easy and entertaining to read. </div>
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<b>Karen Thompson Walker<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Karla, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> <span style="font-family: karla, sans-serif;">|</span></span> The Dreamers</b></div>
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I had seen this book <i>everywhere</i> online before I bought it. There was a huge fuss around it and I couldn't resist indulging in the hype. In a town in California, residents begin to fall prey to a mysterious sickness that causes them to fall asleep for days, weeks, months. Nobody understands what is happening, nobody can explain it, nobody can cure it. People drop one by one and those still awake try desperately to avoid the inevitable. I <i>loved</i> this book. When I got to the end, I wanted to keep going. I wanted to know how and why. I wanted to know more about the dreams. I wanted to know the fate of some of the characters. It's my <i>must-read</i> of the year so far.</div>
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At the moment I'm reading <b>Turtles All the Way Down </b>by <b>John Green</b>. I'm also hoping to get through <b>Conversations with Friends </b>by <b>Sally Rooney </b>because I recently read <b>Normal People</b> and absolutely loved it. I've also just bought <b>The Familiars</b> by <b>Stacey Halls </b>which I'm excited to read!</div>
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What are you reading at the moment?</div>
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xo</div>
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Jessica Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16990257917286059591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892624145865239840.post-56799229803127420242019-02-24T16:11:00.001+00:002019-02-24T16:14:41.833+00:00L'oreal Infallible Unlimited Mascara: Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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If I could only keep one item from my makeup bag it would have to be mascara. Even with all the makeup in the world I never feel like my look is complete without a splash of a good mascara. My go-to has the <a href="https://jessicagracemcguire.blogspot.com/2015/03/review-rimmel-wonderfull-mascara.html">Rimmel Wonder'full Mascara</a> but I like to try something new every now and then, just in case it's <i>the next best thing</i>. </div>
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So I went for the L'oreal Infallible Unlimited Mascara, on the recommendation of a friend. The main feature of this mascara that is different to the rest of those on the high street is the bendable brush. It's said to make it easier to coat all of your lashes as you can coat them from more than one angle. I'll be honest, I never really use the brush whilst bent, I don't think it really makes the process any easier. I do think the shape of the wand helps though - the way it narrows at the end makes it really easy to catch those lashes in the corner of your eye as well as those small, fiddly bottom lashes. </div>
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I love the formula - it's quite wet but I think that adds to the ease of the application. A couple of quick brushes along the lashes and they look effortlessly <i>sleek </i>and <i>long</i>. The colour is also <i>so</i> dark that it makes your lashes <i>pop</i> straight away. I always think there's a bit of a wearing-in process with a mascara; I tend to keep Mark. Lash Styler Tool nearby to comb out any lashes that have clumped together. This problem tends to lesson as I use the mascara more and the formula becomes a bit drier. Then I can use it solo!</div>
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I'm not sure yet whether I like this more than the Rimmel Wonder'full Mascara but I am enjoying using it. My lashes look as good at the end of the day as they do after the initial application. It <i>sticks </i>and eliminates the problem of the product flaking off throughout the day. </div>
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Have you tried the L'oreal Infallible Unlimited Mascara? What did you think?</div>
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xo</div>
Jessica Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16990257917286059591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892624145865239840.post-45874128547534359462019-02-03T08:56:00.001+00:002019-02-05T20:37:57.010+00:00Books in January<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Christmas period is always a great time to get loads of reading done. The days and nights always seem really long and I always find myself staying up until the early hours of the morning working my way through my latest book. And of course there's the fact that with Christmas comes a ton of new books too! So here are the books I read over Christmas and into January:</div>
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<b>Jodi Picoult <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "karla" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">| </span>A Spark of Light</b></div>
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This wasn't my favourite Jodi Picoult book. I was lured in by the idea of the timeline being set backwards but I found that took away from the impact of the book. If the events have been written in chronological order then the 'ending' might have been more shocking. Instead there was no time to get to know the characters and love them before we found out their fate so the blow had much less of an emotional impact than it could have. That being said, it did raise some interesting stories and viewpoints surrounding abortion and I think it's quite an important read in that aspect.</div>
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<b>Lily Allen<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "karla" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> | </span>My Thoughts Exactly</b></div>
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I <i>loved </i>this. I devoured the whole thing in two days and would happily read it again. I've always liked Lily Allen - her songs are fun and I've always found her funny when she's been on panel shows. I think it's her laugh that does it, it's weirdly infectious. Her book is the story of her journey through the music industry, how it impacted her family life and her ongoing battle with the media. She tells some brutally honest stories but they are <i>so</i> interesting and she shows herself to be this really strong, courageous person - an inspiration and a real cry for all women to be those things too. </div>
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<b>Haruki Murakami<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "karla" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> | </span>The Strange Library</b></div>
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I have tried to read a Murakami book before and never quite made it to the end. <i>The Strange Library</i> is a quick read and has a lot of graphic novel features to it. It's dark and weird and nonsensical and probably completely out of my depths. I didn't love it. It might be one I need to hide away on my book shelf for a few years down the line. </div>
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<b>Nicholas Sparks<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "karla" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> | </span>Every Breath</b></div>
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The last Nicholas Sparks book I read (<i>Two by Two</i>) was one of my favourites and believe me, I have read them <i>all</i>. This one fell short. The opening of the book promises this spectacular, unbelievable story but not much really happened. As far as Sparks' books go, and if you've read any of his books before then you'll know what I mean by this, it lacked the drama and tragedy that trademark his stories. It left me feeling flat. </div>
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Aside from Lily Allen's book, it has been quite a disappointing month for reading. Not that I regret reading any of these books but hopefully February will bring me something I <i>love</i>. My first pick for this month is Romesh Ranganathan's autobiography. It's great so far!</div>
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What have you been reading lately?</div>
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xo</div>
Jessica Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16990257917286059591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892624145865239840.post-51584930780048610212019-01-29T21:10:00.000+00:002019-01-29T22:15:08.813+00:00Bilou Shower Foam (Review)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9bn8bCopiEeTRfEhZRTZlkQPSX0Az5su6qECTQmc1sCRUv08Gmk-wY2wia5PvLepy7aEoi4mvUjmmBMUIX567ZpEsssoCE8Siptfg2mveeCqynl9IrQyJvwF6Y5yu4XwoaUin7FNlSEvT/s1600/Image-3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9bn8bCopiEeTRfEhZRTZlkQPSX0Az5su6qECTQmc1sCRUv08Gmk-wY2wia5PvLepy7aEoi4mvUjmmBMUIX567ZpEsssoCE8Siptfg2mveeCqynl9IrQyJvwF6Y5yu4XwoaUin7FNlSEvT/s640/Image-3.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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The Body Shop has always been my go-to place for shower gel. Their scents are so strong and beautiful and it always lingers in the bathroom for ages after you've used it. Satsuma has always been my favourite and has been the only shower gel I've regularly re-purchased. That hasn't ever stopped my trying others though!</div>
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I had seen Bilou shower foams online before (they are <i>all over</i> instagram) and had been intrigued for ages. As soon as I knew they were in superdrug stores I checked every single time I went into town to see if they had any in stock (they never did...). When I wasn't looking for them, as is usually the case, I came across them in a fancy new Superdrug and bought one straight away. They had a few different scents, not a massive choice, but I settled for Tasty Donut. How can anything that claims to smell like a tasty donut be bad? It can't, right? </div>
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It smells <i>incredible; </i>sweet and fruity, like strawberry icing. It's obviously a foam but not like a <i>Foamburst </i>foam - it's really light and creamy and soft. It's hard to describe quite how luxurious it feels when you use it. The best thing about it is that the smell lingers on your skin for <i>ages</i> after you've used it. I can use it in the shower at 5.30am and still smell it on my skin when it gets to lunchtime. So you can smell like a tasty donut <i>all day long</i>. </div>
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The whole Bilou brand is super cute and completely vegan, so if you're an ethical shopper, they are worth keeping in mind. They cost 3.99 a can from <a href="https://www.superdrug.com/Bilou/Bilou-Shower-Foam-Tasty-Donut-200-ml/p/744129">Superdrug</a> and come in a few different fragrances: pink melon, tasty donut, cotton candy and fizzy berry.</div>
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I can't wait to try more! Have you tried anything from<a href="https://www.mybilou.com/#home"> Bilou</a>?</div>
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xo</div>
Jessica Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16990257917286059591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892624145865239840.post-59866174680211362592018-11-02T23:26:00.002+00:002018-11-02T23:26:24.499+00:00October Reads<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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October is my favourite month of the year. It's the time when autumn really starts settling in. The leaves start turning and creating beautiful orange and yellow landscapes before falling and creating that familiar crunch under our feet. The air is crisp and it has that fresh bite that warns us the seasons are changing. It's the time when all my boots come out of hiding and I get to dig out my favourite scarf. </div>
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Oh and it's also the month of my birthday <i>and</i> Halloween so what's not to love about this time of year?</div>
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As it was my birthday mid-way through the month, I asked for a few books to be knocked off my amazon wish list - it was growing at an exponential rate as I am a sucker for seeing a review online or in a magazine at the hairdressers and instantly feeling like <i>I have to read that book!! </i>So here are a few of the books I have acquired this month and am really excited to read!</div>
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<b>Kate Atkinson <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Karla, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">| </span>One Good Turn</b> - I have heard so many <i>great</i> things about Kate Atkinson's books. I've bought a couple of her books before on recommendations from friends so I have quite a collection growing but I especially can't wait to dig into this one. The <i>One Good Turn</i> synopsis promises a deep, touching detective story, beginning at Edinburgh Festival when a bunch of people witness a road-rage incident and become involved in the drama. Their stories and lives unfurl through this mystery and I can't wait to find out what happens (the reviews promise a great ending!)</div>
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<b>Nora Ephron <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Karla, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">|</span> Crazy Salad and Scribble Scribble</b> - In an attempt to improve my writing I have been reading lots of Nora Ephron lately, apart from the books that amazon and goodreads reviews have warned me won't be appreciated unless I'm a middle-aged woman with concerns about getting old (not yet, not yet). This particular book is a collection of her essays about women and about the media. I've delved into a few of the essays about women and I just love the tone and wit of her writing. I can't wait to read more of this one.</div>
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<b>Joanna Cannon <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Karla, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">|</span> Three Things About Elsie</b> - When I went back to work in September I spoke to a lovely lady about our mutual love of <i>Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine</i>. After we gushed about how sweet a book it was, she then asked if I'd read <i>Three Things About Elsie</i>. I hadn't but I went out and bought it even after being told it was a bit of tear-jerker. It's about an elderly lady, Florence, who becomes obsessed with a man who appears in her life again after apparently dying over sixty years ago. Who is he? What does he want? I don't know but I want to find out!</div>
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<b>Jodi Picoult <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Karla, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">|</span> A Spark of Light</b> - I can't help but love a Jodi Picoult book and I was going to wait a while to read this one but I ummed and ahhhed and in the end just decided <i>why not?</i> It's about a gunman who takes people hostage at a women's reproductive health centre and the big questions surrounding the idea of the right to chose. It touches on so many hot topics and relevant issues that have been in the media lately so I'm really hopeful that this will deliver.</div>
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Also on my birthday book binge this month I bought <i>Feminists Don't Wear Pink (and other Lies) </i>by Scarlett Curtis, <i>Turtles All the Way Down </i>by John Green, <i>Lock In</i> by John Scalzi and <i>Crazy Rich Asians </i>by Kevin Kwan. I don't know how many of these I'll be able to get through during November but I am going to give it a good go! </div>
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What are you reading at the moment? Have you read any of these books?</div>
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xo</div>
Jessica Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16990257917286059591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892624145865239840.post-26964814061529688382018-10-07T16:57:00.001+01:002018-10-07T16:57:08.080+01:00September Reads <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2blR1IH3dYckglp0fgMbS-6T4sCKz0wUMgvWxI1bu2n0Qxi9jYRNAVUifImQGyYBwYUo0Ivn27pJSftBCnERgFrBQOqOMSe-ZQE2p9xussf6uaRZf18NAdeWZ7ulQiP1NrOeto_1C_jUj/s1600/Matt+Haig+Notes+on+a+Nervous+Planet+Sally+Rooney+Normal+People+Books+Book+Review.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2blR1IH3dYckglp0fgMbS-6T4sCKz0wUMgvWxI1bu2n0Qxi9jYRNAVUifImQGyYBwYUo0Ivn27pJSftBCnERgFrBQOqOMSe-ZQE2p9xussf6uaRZf18NAdeWZ7ulQiP1NrOeto_1C_jUj/s640/Matt+Haig+Notes+on+a+Nervous+Planet+Sally+Rooney+Normal+People+Books+Book+Review.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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To say that September saw me back at work and beginning my next module of university work, it has been a good month for reading! It seems to have been the month of books-I-can't-put-down. It has been a long time since I've stayed up until the early hours of the morning reading books because I wanted to read <i>just one more chapter</i> but I've been doing that almost every weekend since the start of the month. Here's what I've been reading:</div>
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<b>Notes on a Nervous Planet</b> <b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Karla, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">| </b><b> Matt Haig</b></div>
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The first of this self-help/self-care duo is called Reasons to Stay Alive; a book I read in one sitting a couple of summers ago. They are both full of little pieces of advice, anecdotes, wisdom and stories that help pick you up when you're not feeling so strong. Notes on a Nervous Planet is particularly relevant if you're mega invested in social media and the online world as it has lots of advice and information about taking the internet with a pinch of salt. Something we all need to do every now and then! </div>
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<b>Normal People </b><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Karla, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">|</b><b> Sally Rooney</b></div>
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I <i>loved loved loved loved loved </i>this book. As soon as I had finished it I wanted to go straight back to the beginning and start all over again. The story follows two main characters - Marianne and Connell - as they move from a small Irish town to a university in Dublin. I loved them both and was invested in both of their stories and I so badly wanted things to work out for both of them. Every day I was desperate to get home to find out where the story was going to take them next. This book deserves every bit of praise it has had and I cannot recommend it highly enough. </div>
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<b>Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda</b><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Karla, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;"> |</b><b> Becky Albertalli</b></div>
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Super cheesy YA fiction is my guilty pleasure. I had seen the trailer for this film and liked the idea of it so picked up the book in WHSmiths. Simon, who is gay but has not yet found the courage to tell anyone about it, begins an anonymous email relationship with a boy from his school. At some point someone finds out about the emails and threatens to spread them around before Simon has even had a chance to tell anyone his secret. Disaster. I loved Simon, I thought he was such a loveable character and bits of the story made me laugh out loud. Plus, I think I smiled through the whole of the last quarter of the book so if you need something to make you smile, this is the one. </div>
Jessica Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16990257917286059591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892624145865239840.post-62191181303878751122018-08-29T20:52:00.004+01:002018-08-29T20:52:49.913+01:00Summer Reads <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjII36SbcWsI8iQb0_hEt6pAPo2Vjk4Cx7bipVoYiuZol9QSIH9eFP5-8cCJ3hnzfoiJz-cnyk2w9Wgzd7IJeWo0oNPJPBzKyneOG-VQFsGnlmDQfu1IWCklqoJ3H0jBzQm8T6ssKS9WCs_/s1600/How+Did+You+Get++This+Number+Sloane+Crosley+Anything+is+Possible+Elizabeth+Strout+Jessica+Grace.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjII36SbcWsI8iQb0_hEt6pAPo2Vjk4Cx7bipVoYiuZol9QSIH9eFP5-8cCJ3hnzfoiJz-cnyk2w9Wgzd7IJeWo0oNPJPBzKyneOG-VQFsGnlmDQfu1IWCklqoJ3H0jBzQm8T6ssKS9WCs_/s640/How+Did+You+Get++This+Number+Sloane+Crosley+Anything+is+Possible+Elizabeth+Strout+Jessica+Grace.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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It feels like it has been a really long summer. The weather was so beautiful for so long and as I finished my university work in June, I've had so much time to read. And believe me, I have ploughed through so many of my books. Here are a few I've read over the past months!</div>
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<b>This History of Bees | Maja Lunde</b></div>
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I have moments where I obsess over certain things. For a minute or two this year that obsession was bees. I researched everything I could about bees and their potential extinction, I obsessed over the idea of bee-keeping and added bee book after bee book to my wish list. The History of Bees tells three different stories in three different eras, each revolving around bees in someway. Although not all of the three stories were <i>that </i>relatable (I'm looking at you, 1852), the most interesting was the story told in the future, when the bees had died out and the world was trying to adapt to the plight.</div>
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<b>Leaving Time | Jodi Picoult</b></div>
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I've read a few Jodi Picoult books now but this one has to be my favourite, purely because I did not see the end coming. I love a book that I can get absorbed in and keeps me guessing. It tells the story of Jenna, a thirteen year old whose mother is missing (presumed dead) after an accident at an elephant sanctuary when she was only really young. She makes it her mission to find out what really happened and along the way we get to meet a whole host of interesting characters. It had so many twists and turns and revelations that I could not put it down!</div>
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<b>How Did You Get This Number | Sloane Crosley</b></div>
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It was reading Crosley's <i>I Was Told There'd Be Cake </i>years ago that really made me fall in love with reading and writing personal essays. Her stories are so engaging to read and even though I didn't love this one as much as the first, the Paris story made the purchase of this book worthwhile. It was funny, cringey and relatable in some obscure way. She is my writing idol. </div>
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<b>Nineteen Letters | Jodi Perry</b></div>
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This is definitely one to fill in the Nicholas Sparks shaped whole in your reading life. It's a story about a girl who loses her memory in a car crash meaning that she barely remembers her mum and dad, doesn't recall the beach house she loves so much as being her home and has no recollection of her husband. It's a sweet story and a perfect distraction from turbulent plane journeys from Tenerife!!</div>
Jessica Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16990257917286059591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892624145865239840.post-48048050579506594832018-06-10T10:06:00.001+01:002018-06-10T10:06:16.023+01:00May Reads<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrwCn3ImMxw9PHqC27gyTnwgO9ovXAe7JldXkZHFBiw80E1u7asJu_pHPWE14OnuH_kcv5rIV0U0nKgYAJmx0YAnkL7-B9AxFxT7-NdpiUQ2heGFrt1exr8ZJ9GrEXxB65POlF-ZC69VQ5/s1600/The+Keeper+of+Lost+Things+Review%252C+Pigeon+English+Review.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrwCn3ImMxw9PHqC27gyTnwgO9ovXAe7JldXkZHFBiw80E1u7asJu_pHPWE14OnuH_kcv5rIV0U0nKgYAJmx0YAnkL7-B9AxFxT7-NdpiUQ2heGFrt1exr8ZJ9GrEXxB65POlF-ZC69VQ5/s640/The+Keeper+of+Lost+Things+Review%252C+Pigeon+English+Review.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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It does not matter how many times I tell myself that I am not going to buy any new books until I've read all the books on my shelf, it just doesn't happen. So here is mix of all the new and old books I ready in May!</div>
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<b>The Keeper of Lost Things: </b>This was a quick, easy read. The story centres around a man who collects all of the lost things he comes across day-to-day. Then, when he dies, he leaves the collection to his housekeeper, who then has to figure out what on earth to do with a room of lost and unclaimed artifacts. There are nice elements to the story and characters that are likeable but the back stories that are linked to the belongings are tedious to read and don't add much to the overall story. It was okay but it's not one that I'll be passing along.</div>
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<b>No Dream is Too High: </b>I've been on a bit of an all-space book diet over the past year or so. If an astronaut has written a book, chances are I've read it recently. But I didn't enjoy this book so much. I think that because it was more focused on giving life advice rather than the ins and outs of being an astronaut, it just read like an obnoxious cover letter. Some of the stories that are told just seem to be in the book for the sake of it, to add an element of Buzz Worship where it didn't belong. </div>
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<b>Pigeon English: </b>I don't know why I left it so long to read Pigeon English. It's one of those books where nothing really significant happens so you find yourself half way through the book with no idea where the story is heading (but in a good way). The story is about a family who move to London from Ghana and live on an estate rife with drugs and gang culture. It is told through eleven year old Harri who gets caught up in the whirlwind of a recent murder. It's a slow build-up but worth it for the ending!</div>
Jessica Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16990257917286059591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892624145865239840.post-31478921894922778672018-04-08T10:00:00.000+01:002018-04-08T10:00:15.652+01:00March Reads<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcFnGPSAQnxWc2GGRHmRwsTxvB0ZcskhRg0MA3Deikt4gUhGL-Znbs19YpDkQW5BnkDo48-fz8QQIwcfHkvop4dmzTvjaUspAjTgOuu4GzC8VX-hlJIBn5mSwbtOYSMfUEUSm3PxF_ibmc/s1600/IMG_0185+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="970" data-original-width="1600" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcFnGPSAQnxWc2GGRHmRwsTxvB0ZcskhRg0MA3Deikt4gUhGL-Znbs19YpDkQW5BnkDo48-fz8QQIwcfHkvop4dmzTvjaUspAjTgOuu4GzC8VX-hlJIBn5mSwbtOYSMfUEUSm3PxF_ibmc/s640/IMG_0185+%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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This year is going so fast that I just can't keep up. Without trying to sound like a Game of Thrones character, it has felt like <i>such</i> a long winter. A couple of days into April and it was still snowing. I went out today in three layers and a pair of boots. I think I'm ready for a change in the seasons now. Here are a few books that helped my days feel a bit brighter last month:</div>
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<b style="font-weight: bold;">Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine - </b>As someone who loves Sheldon Cooper for being a bit of an oddball, I love that Eleanor Oliphant is just the same. She has her quirks, her differences and the little things that make everyone else think she's a bit weird. But it goes so much deeper than that and she becomes a loveable character for so many reasons. It's not often I finish reading a book knowing I'll return to it one day but I definitely will with this one. </div>
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<b>James Acaster's Classic Scrapes - </b>Advertisers really have me pegged - I heard a 30 second snippet of this book on an audible advert whilst waiting for a youtube video to load. So I bought it. Almost immediately. Until recently I'd never paid much attention to James Acaster's comedy but he has quickly become one of my favourite comedians. Read this for some laughs (and you will be in complete disbelief that all of these terrible things can happen to one person) and then watch his new stand-up series on youtube - amazing!</div>
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<b>Everything I know About Love - </b>I saw this book floating around online for a while and bought it not knowing really what it was. All I knew was that people were loving it. And it is worth a read - it made me laugh all the way through and made me incredibly sad at some points too. It's heartwarming and personal and incredibly easy to indulge in. One of the best memoirs I've read (and believe me I have read a few!)<br />
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What is everyone else reading at the moment?!</div>
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Jessica Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16990257917286059591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892624145865239840.post-51269648101957955522017-04-30T14:12:00.000+01:002017-04-30T14:12:03.033+01:00Review: L'oreal Detox Clay Mask<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXJE2PN4jx1sji3FQ18eGlX_2hEV1K1ZoPyVUhmdkrmNAMPwDGKNlNjnRThyh1qtyERxzWtFuj12Rw38CW4qWgHQclCALTmdDQXSdxVaRzXWEpM8OV_LwD4_uDMfqnhw-xlm4sXkQhXpub/s1600/IMG_9268+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXJE2PN4jx1sji3FQ18eGlX_2hEV1K1ZoPyVUhmdkrmNAMPwDGKNlNjnRThyh1qtyERxzWtFuj12Rw38CW4qWgHQclCALTmdDQXSdxVaRzXWEpM8OV_LwD4_uDMfqnhw-xlm4sXkQhXpub/s640/IMG_9268+%25282%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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I don't know about you but I <i>hate</i> Sundays. I always have. There's just no way to beat that back to school/back to work feeling. Thankfully the sun is shining today which already makes everything feel a little bit better. But I always welcome anything that can make Sunday a little bit brighter. </div>
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I've never tried a face mask that I've really <i>loved</i> until I found L'oreals Pure Clay Detox Mask. I've never really been taken with L'oreal's skin care in the past but I'd heard really good things about these masks. Of course it took me a solid 20 minutes in the shop to decide which mask I wanted but in the end I though the detox mask would probably be the best fit.<br />
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It's easy to use - layer up the mask and wait about 10 minutes for it to dry. I use a mask brush from Avon which is much less messy and fiddly than using your fingers. The mask lightens in colour as it dries so you can easily tell when it's ready to be washed off.<br />
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The first time I used this mask my skin looked <i>so</i> much better afterwards. It looked and felt smoother, cleaner and clearer too. The instructions recommend using this a couple of times a week but I just use it as and when I need to give my skin a boost. It really makes a noticeable difference to my skin and believe me does my skin need some extra TLC.<br />
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You can find all three of the L'oreal clay masks <a href="http://www.superdrug.com/L%27Oreal-Paris/L%27Oreal-Paris-Pure-Clay-Detox-Face-Mask-50ml/p/714243">here</a>. I'd love the try the brightening mask next!</div>
Jessica Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16990257917286059591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892624145865239840.post-77189708321965503852017-04-18T10:06:00.001+01:002017-04-18T10:06:33.667+01:00What I've Been Reading Lately | April<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I set myself a Goodreads challenge to read thirty books this year. So far I've only read 6 so I don't think I'm <i>exactly </i>on track but the good news is that I have a mammoth pile of unread books to sink into over the Easter holidays! Here are a few I've been reading in April:</div>
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<b>The Tobacconist </b>by <b>Robert Seethaler | </b>This one I haven't read yet but I can't wait to delve into this book. The story centres around 17 year old apprentice Franz and his boss, Otto, a tobacconist. It is set in Austria and tells the story of how Hitler's Third Reich affected the lives of so many across Europe. This one definitely spoke to the historian within me and sounds like a touching read. This one is next on my list.</div>
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<b>Shtum </b>by <b>Jem Lester | </b>I'm in two minds about this book. I liked the idea of it - two parents battling to get their autistic, mute son into a school that would allow him to explore and learn in a way that best suits him. But for the most part of this book I just couldn't get past how much I disliked the father. And the mother for that matter. They were both selfish and unlikable and it kind of tainted the story for me.<br />
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<b>Bridget Jones's Diary </b>by <b>Helen Fielding | </b>Need I say more?<br />
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<b>March</b> by <b>John Lewis</b> & <b>Andrew Aydin</b> | I've been wanting to read a graphic novel for the longest time now but I couldn't seem to find one that I thought might be worth it. I can't remember how I stumbled across March but it jumped out at me immediately. It's about Congressman John Lewis and his involvement with the Civil Rights Movement (which one one of the most interesting topics I studied at A-level History). I bought the first one and read it all in one sitting so now I'm waiting for book 2 to find out what he did next!<br />
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Now that this blog post has been written I'm going to make a cup of tea and finish the last couple of chapters of Bridget Jones.<br />
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What have you been reading lately? What's been your favourite so far in 2017?</div>
Jessica Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16990257917286059591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892624145865239840.post-53089292558397372652016-10-09T11:30:00.000+01:002016-10-09T11:30:07.441+01:00Books to Love: Graduates in Wonderland<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There's a huge part of me that loves writing and receiving letters. When I was younger, whenever I met a new friend on holiday, as we said goodbye on the last day we always exchanged addresses so we could send each other a letter. It's not something that often happens anymore. Now when we meet someone new, we exchange numbers and spend the next 10 years of friendship texting each other our favourite quotes from <i>Harry Potter</i> and memes about having to wait so long for the next series of <i>Pretty Little Liars</i>.</div>
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So, of course, the inner letter-writing, 19th century lady within me loves to read letters by other people too. I spend a bit of time every year reading <a href="http://www.lettersofnote.com/">Letters of Note</a> and watching the video clips of Letters Live. I read and reread <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/love-letters-of-the-great-war/mandy-kirkby/helen-dunmore/9780230772830">Love Letters of the Great War</a> and bookmarked all of my favourite letters. There's just something so beautiful and honest and warm about writing a letter.</div>
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When I first heard about <i>Graduates in Wonderland </i>I knew it would be a book I would enjoy. Best friends Jessica and Rachel have just graduated from Brown university and are headed off on separate adventures around the globe. They keep in touch by email, sending each other lengthy commentary on their day-to-day lives, including all their mistakes and mishaps, as well as the beautiful moments that happen during their travels. </div>
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This book was so easy to read, it just felt like I was catching up with old friends. The stories were laugh out loud funny on occasion and their friendship was truly lovely to read about. It also made me feel better knowing that at some point they were both half-way across the world also worrying about the same things I worry about and they were out there making the same mistakes I've made since leaving university. </div>
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I'd recommend this book to anyone that is just about to leave university or has just left. But just so you're warned: side effects include a huge dose of wanderlust and a desire to write letters to absolutely everyone. </div>
Jessica Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16990257917286059591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892624145865239840.post-55376293571464953842016-08-29T08:15:00.001+01:002019-02-05T20:38:56.584+00:00Books to Love: After You<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz74QHn1ahpy_7Q_j__e3FuJpROgoOMsSvQugBm7e_JPhI24QvhkJxzckNyJ4ogtbL2i_iylJANI-7dLBlCfruxupSnjWaxTtl0AzDcH_h4MKlifyntp94zKn-7n8beuz11S8LrZkVYsjF/s1600/IMG_9253+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz74QHn1ahpy_7Q_j__e3FuJpROgoOMsSvQugBm7e_JPhI24QvhkJxzckNyJ4ogtbL2i_iylJANI-7dLBlCfruxupSnjWaxTtl0AzDcH_h4MKlifyntp94zKn-7n8beuz11S8LrZkVYsjF/s640/IMG_9253+%25283%2529.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Earlier this year when all the hype surrounding <i>Me Before You </i>kicked up, I decided I'd read the book. (it wasn't really a hard decision, books are hard to say no to... don't you think?) I'd been hearing about it for a while and everyone kept saying how good it was. Okay, so I caved!! Like always. Anyway, I really enjoyed it. It was fun and heartwarming and I didn't want it to end. </div>
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For those of you that don't know, <i>Me Before You</i> is the story of Louisa Clarke (Lou), a charming, quirky cafe-worker. When she loses her job and is forced to find another one pronto, she takes a job looking after Will, a paraplegic, who is not very happy about having her company. Considering it touches on such a difficult subject, it balances Will's problems with light-heartedness of Lou's character <i>so well</i>. It's a story to make you laugh and cry and feel everything in between.</div>
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I knew there was a sequel and I picked it up a couple of times walking around Waterstones but always put it back, Would it be a half-hearted follow-up to the story? Where could the author really go with a storyline like that one? But I'm glad I talked myself into it because I ended up finishing it in just a couple of days.</div>
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In <i>After You, </i>Lou is living in her own little flat, working a job that pays the bills but means she has to wear a hideous costume every day, and doesn't speak to her family. Then, one day, she gets a knock on her door and it changes <i>everything</i>. </div>
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Once I'd read the blurb I already had an idea about what might happen but I was completely wrong! I didn't expect the story to go in the direction it did but I quite enjoyed the storyline. And it made me laugh out loud on a few occasions: cue strange looks from Callum from the other side of the sofa. Plus, I just love Lou. She's such a relatable character - quirky, clumsy and a bit dopey. But lovely nonetheless. When I got to the end of the book I found myself wanting to know what happened to her next!</div>
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So, Jojo Moyes, if you're reading this (on the off chance that you like to read random, obscure blogs over your morning coffee) we'd love some more Lou!</div>
Jessica Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16990257917286059591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892624145865239840.post-30545170880613733602016-08-08T09:47:00.000+01:002016-08-08T09:47:56.161+01:00Favourite Few: Beauty<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm2O_LEE_vAAIcy1xMv8ygzIeY3kBbqILomMmx4xlUuSUKCd_tH6aAFGJSvjj6hsq7zrwDQauZrqwRymtTJeFYoth586UNWp4PvbfwRO3Ih8v63on05ZSWNOOqJsjHEqtUitziw2T_Ll1H/s1600/FullSizeRender+%25284%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm2O_LEE_vAAIcy1xMv8ygzIeY3kBbqILomMmx4xlUuSUKCd_tH6aAFGJSvjj6hsq7zrwDQauZrqwRymtTJeFYoth586UNWp4PvbfwRO3Ih8v63on05ZSWNOOqJsjHEqtUitziw2T_Ll1H/s640/FullSizeRender+%25284%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I am a creature of habit. Once I find a makeup routine that I'm happy with, I tend to stick with it for a long while. But every now and then I try a new product that has been the focus of every beautiful Instagram photo on every beauty guru's social media account, and it ends up being a permanent addition to my makeup bag. So here are some of the tried and tested products I've been loving lately! </div>
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<b>Younique, Glorious Primer</b> | I have a love/hate relationship with this primer. It's brilliant in so many ways - it provides a really smooth base to apply foundation, it <i>genuinely</i> keeps your makeup on all day and helps it look the best it can. On days that I wear the primer there's a visible difference in the state of my makeup and I wonder why I've gone so long without it. That being said, you need to use <i>so much</i> of it for it to work well and it's expensive too. Whilst the product is good, it doesn't really seem worth spending the money on when you have to replace it so frequently.</div>
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<b>Rimmel, Wonder'Full Mascara </b>| This might just be one of my favourite mascaras <i>ever</i>. I did a review of it last March which you can read <a href="http://jessicagracemcguire.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/review-rimmel-wonderfull-mascara.html">here</a>. I still stand by what I said then - it's creamy and nourishing and holds well through the day. The only difference between the mascara I reviewed last year and this one is the colour. I bought it in extreme black this time but sometimes a simple black just won't do.</div>
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<b>Rimmel, Kate Sculpting Palette</b> | One of the only things I enjoy about wearing makeup in summer is a good highlighter. Although I'm not massively into the sculpting/contouring trend, I do like to use a highlighter or illuminator on my cheekbones because it adds something a bit more summery to your average, everyday makeup. I love this little palette because it provides the perfect compliment between the blush and the shimmer. It's subtle and understated and perfect for daytime wear. </div>
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What products have you been enjoying using lately? Have you discovered anything new?Jessica Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16990257917286059591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892624145865239840.post-49185138283881542712016-08-02T08:53:00.002+01:002016-08-02T08:53:11.214+01:00Books to Love: Reasons to Stay Alive<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDQR3_x0vxB-o-HpDdJlIriGAoSug4enmU3YJdCj7eE09yn2rlA_ETj5s97Egla6DtZHSe3Awy2PWJcSgkEBGjQcjbF7Lt49oAFzSHK6bqteWWh5twBYjXwUIjKsno0t1xDeHHU-Csimvc/s1600/IMG_2558+%25283%2529+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDQR3_x0vxB-o-HpDdJlIriGAoSug4enmU3YJdCj7eE09yn2rlA_ETj5s97Egla6DtZHSe3Awy2PWJcSgkEBGjQcjbF7Lt49oAFzSHK6bqteWWh5twBYjXwUIjKsno0t1xDeHHU-Csimvc/s640/IMG_2558+%25283%2529+%25282%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>"Every time I read a great book I felt I was reading a kind of map, a treasure map, and the treasure I was being directed to was in actual fact myself." - </i>Matt Haig</div>
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It's a very difficult thing to listen to somebody explain their anxiety or depression to you. People have tried to explain it to me before and whilst I told them I was understanding and sympathetic, I didn't really <i>get</i> the full extent of the situation. It's like when somebody shows you a photograph of somewhere and you get the general gist of what it was like to be there, but you'll never know what that sand felt like between your toes, what the ocean sounded like when it hit shore or how that ice-cream tasted on a such a hot day. We see the picture but it's flat, two-dimensional. It doesn't tell the whole story.</div>
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When I struggle to put my thoughts or feelings into words, I read. I read because so often other people say what I need to much better than I do. They explain things in a way that makes total sense even though the words won't come together in my head when someone asks me, "How do you feel?"</div>
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I love Matt Haig as an author and when I bought this book it wasn't for any other reason but that. I like his writing. For the past few months it has been buried underneath a mountain of other books, forgotten. A couple of weeks ago I wrestled it out from the back of my back shelf and devoured half of it in one afternoon.<br />
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Haig share his personal experience of anxiety and depression in <i>Reasons</i> <i>to Stay Alive</i> but he understands that not everyone suffers in the same way, so he shares useful advice but not in self-help guide kind of way. He knows that what works for him might not necessarily work for everyone. He says, "When we are trying to get better, the only truth that matters is what works for us." And it's his honesty that makes this book so special and worth reading. It highlights so many of the problems that develop as a result of anxiety and depression - physical, mental, personal - making it a useful read for not only those who suffer but also those who know somebody that suffers.</div>
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It's such a relatable and uplifting book, one that makes you realise how big the world is and how beautiful it can be.<br />
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<i>"You need to feel life's terror to feel its wonder." - </i>Matt Haig</div>
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Jessica Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16990257917286059591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892624145865239840.post-44183691619861320362016-07-10T15:13:00.000+01:002016-10-09T09:04:38.119+01:00Lemon & Green Tea Face Steam<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmw0xzCyHDU6-r7_8rnrOrXdwn2ZZk29iw6IpNp9vTN40ypk0XdeKVNdOsPZlUDgrlUSJmDyiYNDhVpTYkmIfwV3ruzheJtj5LImDtlvrg9FjfadWvHdZPaAoUUmVuFkheUn4e4Bo2NWU_/s1600/Lemon+and+Green+Tea+Face+Steam.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmw0xzCyHDU6-r7_8rnrOrXdwn2ZZk29iw6IpNp9vTN40ypk0XdeKVNdOsPZlUDgrlUSJmDyiYNDhVpTYkmIfwV3ruzheJtj5LImDtlvrg9FjfadWvHdZPaAoUUmVuFkheUn4e4Bo2NWU_/s640/Lemon+and+Green+Tea+Face+Steam.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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My skin has been <i>really</i> bad lately and while I can cope with it most of the time, there are days when it just really gets me down. I've been back and forth to the doctors but haven't found anything that helped. I've tried all the usual - drink more water, eat less sugar, exercise more. I've tried a hundred different beauty products targeted at reducing acne. Nothing seems to work! </div>
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I remembered seeing a piece Liz Earle did on the TV last year about the benefits of doing a face steam. She recommended using all different kinds of essential oils for all different kinds of purposes - rosemary & tea tree for acne, lavender for sensitive skin, rose for dry skin. It sounded worth trying. Why not? I've tried pretty much everything else going! </div>
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The only things I had to hand were lemon and green tea. Which was fine by me, apparently Miranda Kerr swears by a green tea steam and her skin is <i>amazing</i>. </div>
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All you need to do is pour some boiling water into a bowl. Then add whatever it is you want to use - I used both lemon and green tea. I put the tea bag in first and then squeezed the juice from half a lemon. I read it was best to let it sit for 5-10 minutes so that the heat is bearable when it comes to putting your face over it. When it's ready, drape a towel over your head and hold your face about 30cm away from the water for as long as it's hot. Afterwards splash your face with cold water to close pores. </div>
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I've done this a few times over the past couple of weeks and I love how refreshed my skin feels afterwards. It looks much less irritated and feels much cleaner too. The first time I did it my mum commented on how much better my skin looked so I thought maybe this was something worth doing on a regular basis. I think I'll try get my hands on some tea tree oil next and see if that works just as well!</div>
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Jessica Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16990257917286059591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892624145865239840.post-72186492400007959762016-07-04T12:17:00.000+01:002016-10-09T09:02:37.831+01:00The Rory Gilmore Book Challenge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDhzTgreairQvTiX5aw_0gvxckjemgnnrRcv0DCLJ_cmIJuJv13Mia68U7a-corPwahNScKJHrcsLGxMN9yScCuJzEzPzY90na101RsF4tWU0zctCs9AaphrCBvzNyEywsQdjVKR53yLIq/s1600/stools-690339_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDhzTgreairQvTiX5aw_0gvxckjemgnnrRcv0DCLJ_cmIJuJv13Mia68U7a-corPwahNScKJHrcsLGxMN9yScCuJzEzPzY90na101RsF4tWU0zctCs9AaphrCBvzNyEywsQdjVKR53yLIq/s640/stools-690339_1280.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I've probably already mentioned a few times that I'm trying to work on my reading habits and I've always fancied trying a book challenge. Until now I've never found one that I've been interested enough in. Then as I was scrolling through Pinterest earlier (it is Sunday, after all) I came across the Rory Gilmore reading challenge. I thought this had to be <i>the one</i>, right? It's pretty much the mother of all reading lists. So far I've read 17/339 books so I still have a <i>long </i>way to go but there are so many books on this list I'm excited to read! I wonder how many of them I'll get through!? Here's the list in case you want to have a look too!</div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">1. <i>1984</i> by George
Orwell</span></div>
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2. <i>Adventures of Huckleberry Finn</i> by Mark Twain</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><s>3. <i>Alice in Wonderland</i> by Lewis Carroll</s></span><br />
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4. <i>The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay</i> by Michael
Chabon</span><br />
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5. <i>An American Tragedy</i> by Theodore Dreiser</span><br />
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6. <i>Angela’s Ashes</i> by Frank McCourt</span><br />
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7. <i>Anna Karenina</i> by Leo Tolstoy</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><s>8. <i>The Diary of a Young Girl</i> by Anne Frank</s></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">9. <i>The Archidamian War</i> by Donald Kagan</span><br />
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10. <i>The Art of Fiction</i> by Henry James</span><br />
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11. <i>The Art of War</i> by Sun Tzu</span><br />
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12. <i>As I Lay Dying</i> by William Faulkner</span><br />
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13. <i>Atonement</i> by Ian McEwan</span><br />
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14. <i>Autobiography of a Face</i> by Lucy Grealy</span><br />
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15. <i>The Awakening</i> by Kate Chopin</span><br />
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16. <i>Babe</i> by Dick King-Smith</span><br />
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17. <i>Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women</i> by
Susan Faludi</span><br />
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18. <i>Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress</i> by Dai Sijie</span><br />
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19. <i>Bel Canto</i> by Ann Patchett</span><br />
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20. <i>The Bell Jar</i> by Sylvia Plath</strike></span><br />
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21. <i>Beloved</i> by Toni Morrison</span><br />
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22. <i>Beowulf: A New Verse Translation</i> by Seamus Heaney</span><br />
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23. <i>The Bhagava Gita</i></span><br />
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24. <i>The Bielski Brothers: The True Story of Three Men Who Defied the
Nazis, Built a Village in the Forest, and Saved 1,200 Jews</i> by Peter
Duffy</span><br />
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25. <i>Bitch in Praise of Difficult Women</i> by Elizabeth Wurtzel</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
26. <i>A Bolt from the Blue and Other Essays</i> by Mary McCarthy</span><br />
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28. <i>Brick Lane</i> by Monica Ali</span><br />
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29. <i>Bridgadoon</i> by Alan Jay Lerner</span><br />
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30. <i>Candide</i> by Voltaire</span><br />
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31. <i>The Canterbury Tales</i> by Chaucer</span><br />
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32. <i>Carrie</i> by Stephen King</span><br />
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33. <i>Catch-22</i> by Joseph Heller</span><br />
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34. <i>The Catcher in the Rye</i> by J. D. Salinger</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
35. <i>Charlotte’s Web</i> by E. B. White</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
36. <i>The Children’s Hour</i> by Lillian Hellman</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
37. <i>Christine</i> by Stephen King</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
38. <i>A Christmas Carol</i> by Charles Dickens</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
39. <i>A Clockwork Orange</i> by Anthony Burgess</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
40. <i>The Code of the Woosters</i> by P.G. Wodehouse</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
41. <i>The Collected Stories</i> by Eudora Welty</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
42. <i>A Comedy of Errors</i> by William Shakespeare</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
43. <i>Complete Novels</i> by Dawn Powell</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
44. <i>The Complete Poems</i> by Anne Sexton</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
45. <i>Complete Stories</i> by Dorothy Parker</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
46. <i>A Confederacy of Dunces</i> by John Kennedy Toole</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
47. <i>The Count of Monte Cristo</i> by Alexandre Dumas</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
48. <i>Cousin Bette</i> by Honore de Balzac</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
49. <i>Crime and Punishment</i> by Fyodor Dostoevsky</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
50. <i>The Crimson Petal and the White</i> by Michel Faber</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
51. <i>The Crucible</i> by Arthur Miller</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
52. <i>Cujo</i> by Stephen King</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><s>53. <i>The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time</i> by
Mark Haddon</s></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
55. <i>David and Lisa</i> by Dr Theodore Issac Rubin M.D</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
56. <i>David Copperfield</i> by Charles Dickens</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><s>57. <i>The Da Vinci -Code</i> by Dan Brown</s></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
58. <i>Dead Souls</i> by Nikolai Gogol</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
59. <i>Demons</i> by Fyodor Dostoyevsky</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
60. <i>Death of a Salesman</i> by Arthur Miller</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
61. <i>Deenie</i> by Judy Blume</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
62. <i>The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair
that Changed America</i> by Erik Larson</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
63. <i>The Dirt: Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band</i> by
Tommy Lee, Vince Neil, Mick Mars and Nikki Sixx</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
64. <i>The Divine Comedy</i> by Dante</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
65. <i>The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood</i> by Rebecca
Wells</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
66. <i>Don Quixote</i> by Cervantes</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
67. <i>Driving Miss Daisy</i> by Alfred Uhrv</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
68. <i>Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde</i> by Robert Louis Stevenson</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
69. <i>Edgar Allan Poe: Complete Tales & Poems</i> by Edgar Allan
Poe</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
70. <i>Eleanor Roosevelt</i> by Blanche Wiesen Cook</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
71. <i>The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test</i> by Tom Wolfe</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
72. <i>Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters</i> by Mark Dunn</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
73. <i>Eloise</i> by Kay Thompson</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
74. <i>Emily the Strange</i> by Roger Reger</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
75. <i>Emma</i> by Jane Austen</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
76. <i>Empire Falls</i> by Richard Russo</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
77. <i>Encyclopedia Brown: Boy Detective</i> by Donald J. Sobol</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
78. <i>Ethan Frome</i> by Edith Wharton</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
79. <i>Ethics</i> by Spinoza</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
80. <i>Europe through the Back Door, 2003</i> by Rick Steves</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
82. <i>Everything Is Illuminated</i> by Jonathan Safran Foer</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
83. <i>Extravagance</i> by Gary Krist</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
84. <i>Fahrenheit 451</i> by Ray Bradbury</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
85. <i>Fahrenheit 9/11</i> by Michael Moore</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
86. <i>The Fall of the Athenian Empire</i> by Donald Kagan</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
87. <i>Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World</i> by
Greg Critser</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
88. <i>Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas</i> by Hunter S. Thompson</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
89. <i>The Fellowship of the Ring</i> by J. R. R. Tolkien</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
90. <i>Fiddler on the Roof</i> by Joseph Stein</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
91. <i>The Five People You Meet in Heaven</i> by Mitch Albom</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
92. <i>Finnegan’s Wake</i> by James Joyce</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
93. <i>Fletch</i> by Gregory McDonald</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
94. <i>Flowers for Algernon</i> by Daniel Keyes</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
95. <i>The Fortress of Solitude</i> by Jonathan Lethem</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
96. <i>The Fountainhead</i> by Ayn Rand</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
97. <i>Frankenstein</i> by Mary Shelley</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
98. <i>Franny and Zooey</i> by J. D. Salinger</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
99. <i>Freaky Friday</i> by Mary Rodgers</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
100. <i>Galapagos</i> by Kurt Vonnegut</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
101. <i>Gender Trouble</i> by Judith Butler</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
102. <i>George W. Bushism: The Slate Book of the Accidental Wit and Wisdom
of our 43rd President</i> by Jacob Weisberg</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
103. <i>Gidget</i> by Fredrick Kohner</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
104. <i>Girl, Interrupted</i> by Susanna Kaysen</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
105. <i>The Gnostic Gospels</i> by Elaine Pagels</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
106. <i>The Godfather: Book 1</i> by Mario Puzo</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
108. <i>Goldilocks and the Three Bears</i> by Alvin Granowsky</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
109. <i>Gone with the Wind</i> by Margaret Mitchell</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
110. <i>The Good Soldier</i> by Ford Maddox Ford</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
111. <i>The Gospel According to Judy Bloom</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
112. <i>The Graduate</i> by Charles Webb</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
113. <i>The Grapes of Wrath</i> by John Steinbeck</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><s>114. <i>The Great Gatsby</i> by F. Scott Fitzgerald</s></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
115. <i>Great Expectations</i> by Charles Dickens</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
116. <i>The Group</i> by Mary McCarthy</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
117. <i>Hamlet</i> by William Shakespeare</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><s>118. <i>Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire</i> by J. K. Rowling</s></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><s>
119. <i>Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone</i> by J. K. Rowling</s></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
120. <i>A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius</i> by Dave Eggers</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
121. <i>Heart of Darkness</i> by Joseph Conrad</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
122. <i>Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders</i> by
Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
123. <i>Henry IV, part I</i> by William Shakespeare</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
124. <i>Henry IV, part II</i> by William Shakespeare</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
125. <i>Henry V</i> by William Shakespeare</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
126. <i>High Fidelity</i> by Nick Hornby</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
127. <i>The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire</i> by
Edward Gibbon</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
128. <i>Holidays on Ice: Stories</i> by David Sedaris</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
129. <i>The Holy Barbarians</i> by Lawrence Lipton</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
130. <i>House of Sand and Fog</i> by Andre Dubus III</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
131. <i>The House of the Spirits</i> by Isabel Allende</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
132. <i>How to Breathe Underwater</i> by Julie Orringer</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
134. <i>How the Light Gets In</i> by M. J. Hyland</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
135. <i>Howl</i> by Allen Ginsberg</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
136. <i>The Hunchback of Notre Dame</i> by Victor Hugo</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
137. <i>The Iliad</i> by Homer</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
138. <i>I’m With the Band</i> by Pamela des Barres</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
139. <i>In Cold Blood</i> by Truman Capote</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
140. <i>Inferno</i> by Dante</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
141. <i>Inherit the Wind</i> by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
142. <i>Iron Weed</i> by William J. Kennedy</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
143. <i>It Takes a Village</i> by Hillary Rodham Clinton</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
144. <i>Jane Eyre</i> by Charlotte Bronte</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
145. <i>The Joy Luck Club</i> by Amy Tan</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
146. <i>Julius Caesar</i> by William Shakespeare</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
147. <i>The Jumping Frog</i> by Mark Twain</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
148. <i>The Jungle</i> by Upton Sinclair</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
149. <i>Just a Couple of Days</i> by Tony Vigorito</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
150. <i>The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar</i> by Robert
Alexander</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
151. <i>Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly</i> by
Anthony Bourdain</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
152. <i>The Kite Runner</i> by Khaled Hosseini</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
153. <i>Lady Chatterleys’ Lover</i> by D. H. Lawrence</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
154. <i>The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000</i> by Gore Vidal</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
155. <i>Leaves of Grass</i> by Walt Whitman</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
156. <i>The Legend of Bagger Vance</i> by Steven Pressfield</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
157. <i>Less Than Zero</i> by Bret Easton Ellis</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
158. <i>Letters to a Young Poet</i> by Rainer Maria Rilke</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><s>160. <i>Life of Pi</i> by Yann Martel</s></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
161. <i>Little Dorrit</i> by Charles Dickens</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
162. <i>The Little Locksmith</i> by Katharine Butler Hathaway</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
163. <i>The Little Match Girl</i> by Hans Christian Andersen</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
164. <i>Little Women</i> by Louisa May Alcott</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
165. <i>Living History</i> by Hillary Rodham Clinton</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><s>166. <i>Lord of the Flies</i> by William Golding</s></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
167. <i>The Lottery: And Other Stories</i> by Shirley Jackson</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><s>168. <i>The Lovely Bones</i> by Alice Sebold</s></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
169. <i>The Love Story</i> by Erich Segal</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><s>170. <i>Macbeth</i> by William Shakespeare</s></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
171. <i>Madame Bovary</i> by Gustave Flaubert</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
172. <i>The Manticore</i> by Robertson Davies</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
173. <i>Marathon Man</i> by William Goldman</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
174. <i>The Master and Margarita</i> by Mikhail Bulgakov</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
175. <i>Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughte</i>r by Simone de Beauvoir</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
176. <i>Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman</i> by William Tecumseh
Sherman</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
177. <i>Me Talk Pretty One Day</i> by David Sedaris</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
178. <i>The Meaning of Consuelo</i> by Judith Ortiz Cofer</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
179. <i>Mencken’s Chrestomathy</i> by H. R. Mencken</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
180. <i>The Merry Wives of Windsor</i> by William Shakespeare</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
181. <i>The Metamorphosis</i> by Franz Kafka</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
182. <i>Middlesex</i> by Jeffrey Eugenides</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
183. <i>The Miracle Worker</i> by William Gibson</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
184. <i>Moby Dick</i> by Herman Melville</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
186. <i>Moliere: A Biography</i> by Hobart Chatfield Taylor</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
187. <i>A Monetary History of the United States</i> by Milton
Friedman</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
188. <i>Monsieur Proust</i> by Celeste Albaret</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
189. <i>A Month Of Sundays: Searching For The Spirit And My Sister</i> by
Julie Mars</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
190. <i>A Moveable Feast</i> by Ernest Hemingway</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
191. <i>Mrs. Dalloway</i> by Virginia Woolf</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
192. <i>Mutiny on the Bounty</i> by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman
Hall</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
193. <i>My Lai 4: A Report on the Massacre and It’s Aftermath</i> by
Seymour M. Hersh</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
194. <i>My Life as Author and Editor</i> by H. R. Mencken</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
195. <i>My Life in Orange: Growing Up with the Guru</i> by Tim Guest</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
196. <i>Myra Waldo’s Travel and Motoring Guide to Europe, 1978</i> by
Myra Waldo</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><s>197. <i>My Sister’s Keeper</i> by Jodi Picoult</s></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
198. <i>The Naked and the Dead</i> by Norman Mailer</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
199. <i>The Name of the Rose</i> by Umberto Eco</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
200. <i>The Namesake</i> by Jhumpa Lahiri</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
201. <i>The Nanny Diaries</i> by Emma McLaughlin</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
202. <i>Nervous System: Or, Losing My Mind in Literature</i> by Jan
Lars Jensen</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
203. <i>New Poems of Emily Dickinson</i> by Emily Dickinson</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
204. <i>The New Way Things Work</i> by David Macaulay</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
205. <i>Nickel and Dimed</i> by Barbara Ehrenreich</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
206. <i>Night</i> by Elie Wiesel</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
207. <i>Northanger Abbey</i> by Jane Austen</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
208. <i>The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism</i> by William
E. Cain, Laurie A. Finke, Barbara E. Johnson, John P. McGowan</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
209. <i>Novels 1930-1942: Dance Night/Come Back to Sorrento, Turn, Magic
Wheel/Angels on Toast/A Time to be Born</i> by Dawn Powell</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
210. <i>Notes of a Dirty Old Man</i> by Charles Bukowski</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
212. <i>Old School</i> by Tobias Wolff</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
213. <i>On the Road</i> by Jack Kerouac</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
214. <i>One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest</i> by Ken Kesey</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
215. <i>One Hundred Years of Solitude</i> by Gabriel Garcia Marquez</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
216. <i>The Opposite of Fate: Memories of a Writing Life</i> by Amy
Tan</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
217. <i>Oracle Night</i> by Paul Auster</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
218. <i>Oryx and Crake</i> by Margaret Atwood</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
219. <i>Othello</i> by Shakespeare</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
220. <i>Our Mutual Friend</i> by Charles Dickens</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
221. <i>The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War</i> by Donald Kagan</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
222. <i>Out of Africa</i> by Isac Dineson</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
223. <i>The Outsiders</i> by S. E. Hinton</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
224. <i>A Passage to India</i> by E.M. Forster</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
225. <i>The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition</i> by Donald
Kagan</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><s>226. <i>The Perks of Being a Wallflower</i> by Stephen Chbosky</s></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
227. <i>Peyton Place</i> by Grace Metalious</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
228. <i>The Picture of Dorian Gray</i> by Oscar Wilde</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
229. <i>Pigs at the Trough</i> by Arianna Huffington</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
230. <i>Pinocchio</i> by Carlo Collodi</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
231. <i>Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk Legs McNeil
and Gillian McCain</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
232. <i>The Polysyllabic Spree</i> by Nick Hornby</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
233. <i>The Portable Dorothy Parker</i> by Dorothy Parker</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
234. <i>The Portable Nietzche</i> by Fredrich Nietzche</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
235. <i>The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the
Education of Paul O’Neill</i> by Ron Suskind</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
236. <i>Pride and Prejudice</i> by Jane Austen</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
237. <i>Property</i> by Valerie Martin</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
239. <i>Pygmalion</i> by George Bernard Shaw</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
240. <i>Quattrocento</i> by James Mckean</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
241. <i>A Quiet Storm</i> by Rachel Howzell Hall</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
242. <i>Rapunzel</i> by Grimm Brothers</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
243. <i>The Raven</i> by Edgar Allan Poe</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
244. <i>The Razor’s Edge</i> by W. Somerset Maugham</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
245. <i>Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books</i> by Azar
Nafisi</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
246. <i>Rebecca</i> by Daphne du Maurier</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
247. <i>Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm</i> by Kate Douglas Wiggin</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
248. <i>The Red Tent</i> by Anita Diamant</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
249. <i>Rescuing Patty Hearst: Memories From a Decade Gone Mad</i> by
Virginia Holman</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
250. <i>The Return of the King</i> by J. R. R. Tolkien</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
251. <i>R Is for Ricochet</i> by Sue Grafton</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
252. <i>Rita Hayworth</i> by Stephen King</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
253. <i>Robert’s Rules of Order</i> by Henry Robert</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
254. <i>Roman Holiday</i> by Edith Wharton</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><s>255. <i>Romeo and Juliet</i> by William Shakespeare</s></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
256. <i>A Room of One’s Own</i> by Virginia Woolf</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
257. <i>A Room with a View</i> by E. M. Forster</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
258. <i>Rosemary’s Baby</i> by Ira Levin</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
259. <i>The Rough Guide to Europe, 2003 Edition</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
260. <i>Sacred Time</i> by Ursula Hegi</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
261. <i>Sanctuary</i> by William Faulkner</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
262. <i>Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay</i> by
Nancy Milford</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
263. <i>Say Goodbye to Daisy Miller</i> by Henry James</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
264. <i>The Scarecrow of Oz</i> by Frank L. Baum</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
266. <i>Seabiscuit: An American Legend</i> by Laura Hillenbrand</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
267. <i>The Second Sex</i> by Simone de Beauvoir</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
268. <i>The Secret Life of Bees</i> by Sue Monk Kidd</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
269. <i>Secrets of the Flesh: A Life of Colette</i> by Judith Thurman</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
270. <i>Selected Hotels of Europe</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
271. <i>Selected Letters of Dawn Powell: 1913-1965</i> by Dawn Powell</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><s>272. <i>Sense and Sensibility</i> by Jane Austen</s></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
273. <i>A Separate Peace</i> by John Knowles</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
274. <i>Several Biographies of Winston Churchill</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
275. <i>Sexus</i> by Henry Miller</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
276. <i>The Shadow of the Wind</i> by Carlos Ruiz Zafon</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
277. <i>Shane</i> by Jack Shaefer</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
278. <i>The Shining</i> by Stephen King</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
279. <i>Siddhartha</i> by Hermann Hesse</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
280. <i>S Is for Silence</i> by Sue Grafton</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
281. <i>Slaughter-house Five</i> by Kurt Vonnegut</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
282. <i>Small Island</i> by Andrea Levy</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
283. <i>Snows of Kilimanjaro</i> by Ernest Hemingway</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
284. <i>Snow White and Rose Red</i> by Grimm Brothers</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
285. <i>Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy: Lord and Peasant in
the Making of the Modern World</i> by Barrington Moore</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
286. <i>The Song of Names</i> by Norman Lebrecht</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
287. <i>Song of the Simple Truth: The Complete Poems of Julia de Burgos</i> by
Julia de Burgos</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
288. <i>The Song Reader</i> by Lisa Tucker</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
289. <i>Songbook</i> by Nick Hornby</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
290. <i>The Sonnets</i> by William Shakespeare</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
291. <i>Sonnets from the Portuegese</i> by Elizabeth Barrett Browning</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
293. <i>The Sound and the Fury</i> by William Faulkner</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
294. <i>Speak, Memory</i> by Vladimir Nabokov</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
295. <i>Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers</i> by Mary Roach</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
296. <i>The Story of My Life</i> by Helen Keller</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
297. <i>A Streetcar Named Desiree</i> by Tennessee Williams</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
298. <i>Stuart Little</i> by E. B. White</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
299. <i>Sun Also Rises</i> by Ernest Hemingway</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
300. <i>Swann’s Way</i> by Marcel Proust</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
301. <i>Swimming with Giants: My Encounters with Whales, Dolphins and
Seals</i> by Anne Collett</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
302. <i>Sybil</i> by Flora Rheta Schreiber</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
303. <i>A Tale of Two Cities</i> by Charles Dickens</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
304. <i>Tender Is The Night</i> by F. Scott Fitzgerald</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
305. <i>Term of Endearment</i> by Larry McMurtry</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
306. <i>Time and Again</i> by Jack Finney</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><s>307. <i>The Time Traveler’s Wife</i> by Audrey Niffenegger</s></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
308. <i>To Have and Have Not</i> by Ernest Hemingway</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
309. <i>To Kill a Mockingbird</i> by Harper Lee</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
310. <i>The Tragedy of Richard</i> III by William Shakespeare</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
311. <i>A Tree Grows in Brooklyn</i> by Betty Smith</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
312. <i>The Trial</i> by Franz Kafka</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
313. <i>The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters</i> by
Elisabeth Robinson</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
314. <i>Truth & Beauty: A Friendship</i> by Ann Patchett</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
315. <i>Tuesdays with Morrie</i> by Mitch Albom</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
316. <i>Ulysses</i> by James Joyce</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
317. <i>The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath 1950-1962</i> by
Sylvia Plath</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
318. <i>Uncle Tom’s Cabin</i> by Harriet Beecher Stowe</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
320. <i>Valley of the Dolls</i> by Jacqueline Susann</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
321. <i>The Vanishing Newspaper</i> by Philip Meyers</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
322. <i>Vanity Fair</i> by William Makepeace Thackeray</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
323. <i>Velvet Underground’s The Velvet Underground and Nico</i> (Thirty
Three and a Third series) by Joe Harvard</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
324. <i>The Virgin Suicides</i> by Jeffrey Eugenides</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
325. <i>Waiting for Godot</i> by Samuel Beckett</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
326. <i>Walden</i> by Henry David Thoreau</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
327. <i>Walt Disney’s Bamb</i>i by Felix Salten</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
328. <i>War and Peace</i> by Leo Tolstoy</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
329. <i>We Owe You Nothing – Punk Planet: The Collected Interviews</i> edited
by Daniel Sinker</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
330. <i>What Colour is Your Parachute? 2005</i> by Richard Nelson
Bolles</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
331. <i>What Happened to Baby Jane</i> by Henry Farrell</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
332. <i>When the Emperor Was Divine</i> by Julie Otsuka</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
333. <i>Who Moved My Cheese?</i> by Spencer Johnson</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
334. <i>Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf</i> by Edward Albee</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
335. <i>Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West</i> by
Gregory Maguire</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><s>336. <i>The Wizard of Oz</i> by Frank L. Baum</s></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
337. <i>Wuthering Heights</i> by Emily Bronte</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
338. <i>The Yearling</i> by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">
339. <i>The Year of Magical Thinking</i> by Joan Didion</span><br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">27. <i>Brave New World</i> by
Aldous Huxley</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">54. <i>Daughter of Fortune</i> by
Isabel Allende</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">81. <i>Eva Luna</i> by
Isabel Allende</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">107. <i>The God of Small Things</i> by
Arundhati Roy</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">133. <i>How the Grinch Stole
Christmas</i> by Dr. Seuss</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">159. <i>Lies and the Lying Liars
Who Tell Them</i> by Al Franken</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 12.75pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 19.5pt;">185. </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 19.5pt;">The Mojo Collection: The
Ultimate Music Companion</i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 19.5pt;"> by Jim Irvin</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<s><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">211. <i>Of Mice and Men</i> by
John Steinbeck</span></s><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">238. <i>Pushkin: A Biography</i> by
T. J. Binyon</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">265. <i>The Scarlet Letter</i> by
Nathaniel Hawthorne</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">292. <i>Sophie’s Choice</i> by
William Styron</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "cambria" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">319. <i>Unless</i> by Carol
Shields</span></div>
Jessica Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16990257917286059591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892624145865239840.post-75581789366308820612016-07-02T14:27:00.001+01:002016-07-02T14:27:09.160+01:00'Paint it With a Pen'<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0US6UkJCjMNZ4HrB4_rdtn-B_tuidFZcIHOPD8dsCxrs_N4k_YWhKArmHwKHqJurvCZuqGGAu4SMMNXD6Fln-yx7lZZzEZbW6nBMn0VCZpXjw-lqzfAY7-VEq3fXhxw7nPjlAEUWCYtlS/s1600/QoR8Bv1S2SEqH6UcSJCA_Tea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0US6UkJCjMNZ4HrB4_rdtn-B_tuidFZcIHOPD8dsCxrs_N4k_YWhKArmHwKHqJurvCZuqGGAu4SMMNXD6Fln-yx7lZZzEZbW6nBMn0VCZpXjw-lqzfAY7-VEq3fXhxw7nPjlAEUWCYtlS/s640/QoR8Bv1S2SEqH6UcSJCA_Tea.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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It has only been over the past
few months that I have really thrown myself into my writing, even though it’s
something that I’ve always enjoyed. I grew up cradling notebooks in my arms,
thinking of stories I could tell and people I could write about. I’m still
the same now. I’m still cradling notebooks in my arms thinking of what to write
about. I have an endless amount of notebooks filled with ideas, quotes, references and
thoughts about anything and everything that strikes a chord with me in any
given day. I don’t know what I’ll do with them all but I always hope it’ll be something worthwhile.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s not just that I enjoy
writing, it’s more than that. It helps me make sense of everything that’s going
on in my head. Some days there’s just too much happening in my head to
rationalise and understand everything. When I write, it helps me see what looks
and sounds right, natural, normal and what doesn’t.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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It also helps me project myself
to others around me. I’m a quiet person and sometimes find it hard to find
things to talk to people about, especially if it’s in a group. I tend to just
retire into the corner and listen to everyone else. But that makes it really
hard for people to get to know me, to find out that there’s more in my head
than comes out of my mouth. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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But it’s not always easy. There
are some days when writing just flows from my fingertips. I sit and write 1000
words in 20 minutes because my mind is just an endless flow of thoughts and
ideas. Whether those are any good or not is different question. On those days I
feel like I’m doing something right. I feel like I've found <i>my thing</i> and it pushes me to write more and challenge myself.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Then there are days when I can
sit at a computer for hours with nothing but specs of ideas in my head that won’t
translate themselves onto my page no matter how long I stare into the bottom of
my cup of tea for. Nothing seems to come together and a line or paragraph
I loved ten minutes ago makes me stop and think twice. On those days I think,
can I really do this? Do I have the patience, the drive and the determination?<o:p></o:p></div>
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I hope the answer is yes.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Despite how I feel and whether or
not writing comes easier today than other days, I still try to write every day. I have
a journal I write in as often as I can (read: hardly ever because I always forget about it.) I write bits and pieces for my blog and <a href="http://www.shedidwhatshewanted.com/">SheDid What She Wanted</a>, even if I decide never to share them. I make notes of
ideas and thoughts I have during the day that could be adapted into something
else. I write down quotes and sections from books and articles that I love. <o:p></o:p></div>
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It took a while to share my writing with people. I had a blog for years that was a bit of an experiment, something to distract me from school and exams. I never told anyone about it and eventually ended up deleting it. Not long after that I decided to try again, but for real this time. I decided that if it was something I was proud of then why not share it with people? Of course I was worried about what people might think or what they might say. I thought they might not understand or even be interested. But all of my friends and family have been incredibly supportive and I've been really surprised at how encouraging people have been of it. After reading <a href="http://www.shedidwhatshewanted.com/embracing-your-otherness/">this article</a>, my mum said, "I'm just really surprised at what's in your head sometimes." Which makes total sense. I'm way better at expressing myself through writing than talking so writing allows me to share things that I otherwise wouldn't know how to get across to people. </div>
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These past few months, or even this past year, I'm fallen completely in love with writing. And although I have bad days (like today, it look me an hour and a half to write a journal page. It just wasn't happening) with every positive conversation I have with someone it builds my confidence that I'm doing the right thing. </div>
Jessica Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16990257917286059591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892624145865239840.post-13068649388149332142016-06-19T08:19:00.000+01:002016-06-19T08:19:32.237+01:00Books to Read: Martin, Thériault & Strayed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjDLNf8pG59QjqxAlU4IrUVPxBRzEAZalFBQYCAKTeB1JxU09YxO60g2K0eHpU8LuRqCP9E8tVkPr6DDW0qpIPydF8WI_qHV4RKQrRMZlRFDJSFvl0GJkjJOltsSUQmcdk6KHgmeT33mEs/s1600/FullSizeRender+%25283%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjDLNf8pG59QjqxAlU4IrUVPxBRzEAZalFBQYCAKTeB1JxU09YxO60g2K0eHpU8LuRqCP9E8tVkPr6DDW0qpIPydF8WI_qHV4RKQrRMZlRFDJSFvl0GJkjJOltsSUQmcdk6KHgmeT33mEs/s640/FullSizeRender+%25283%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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This year I'm trying really hard to read the books I already have gathering dust on my bookshelf before I buy anymore. And I've got <i>lots</i>. I've read some incredible books already this year and I can't wait to get stuck into more. Here are the three that are next on my list of books to read.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><i>Dangerous Women Part I</i>, George R.R. Martin & Gardner Dozois</b> <b>|</b> It's hard not to get stuck into a series when it's literally everywhere you turn your head. I'm slowly making my way through the <i>Game of Thrones</i> books and I bought<i> Dangerous Women</i> on a whim in Waterstones. It contains seven short stories. The first is entitled <i>The Princess and the Queen</i> which is basically a prequel to <i>Game of Thrones</i>, set in Westeros and focusing on the Targaryen's during the civil war. It's also comprised of more tales by different authors and I'm really interested to see what they're like. </div>
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<b><i>Wild</i>, Cheryl Strayed |</b> I fell in love with Strayed after reading <i><a href="http://jessicagracemcguire.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/books-to-love-tiny-beautiful-things-by.html#.V2ZFiNIrKW8">Tiny, Beautiful Things</a></i> and she's one of the reasons I've thrown myself into writing like I have done this past year. <i>Wild</i> is the story of Strayed's hike along the west coast of America which she took after the unexpected death of her mother. Riddled with grief she sets off on the eleven hundred mile journey on her own. I've heard nothing but good things about this one so I can't wait to read it and follow her along that journey. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><i>The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman</i>, Denis Thériault |</b> I'm actually half way through reading this one and it's only 108 pages so I can't imagine it will take much longer. I was immediately taken in by the idea of this book when I read what it was about. Bilodo is a lonely postman who fills his days by secretly reading the letters of a long-distance couple and soon enough he gets entangled in their lives. I was hooked in the beginning but the storyline took an odd turn and I found myself losing sympathy for the central character. That being said, I'm intrigued to find out what happens at the end!</div>
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<br /></div>
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Ever since I started working full time I've found it really hard sleep in for very long on a weekend. I hated it at first, it drove me mad but I've learnt to love it. This morning I woke up at 6.50am, brewed myself a cup of tea and sat under a blanket with a book. The world feels peaceful at this time of day and I find I can get lost in a book for hours. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Let me know if you have any book recommendations. I'm always searching pinterest and blogs for my next read! </div>
Jessica Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16990257917286059591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892624145865239840.post-13781797043281435552016-06-12T10:39:00.003+01:002016-06-12T10:39:51.962+01:00Books to Love: Very Good Lives<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0nGxNMubAgzhVn1Re7z9e5ixKOVDzSIieYsAwJl3S0ciNOYxBpz2jeRL8ofLuuGpVVYxX-EKWPonivRFqpBBfelN3dgqlfQkat2NhFwhrWQ9k6O1AWh_pe-wEMTyCWqxNAQyXujixCYuL/s1600/IMG_2458.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0nGxNMubAgzhVn1Re7z9e5ixKOVDzSIieYsAwJl3S0ciNOYxBpz2jeRL8ofLuuGpVVYxX-EKWPonivRFqpBBfelN3dgqlfQkat2NhFwhrWQ9k6O1AWh_pe-wEMTyCWqxNAQyXujixCYuL/s640/IMG_2458.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<i>"We do not need magic to transform our world; we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better." - Very Good Lives, J.K. Rowling</i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It's authors and women like J.K Rowling that make me feel proud of being a part of this generation. She's intelligent, she's down-to-earth, she stands up for what she believes in and she cares so deeply about the influence Harry Potter has had on people. She understands what position she's in, the platform she's on and how she can use it for good.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I've kept up-to-date with her writing because I enjoy it. I read <i>The Casual Vacancy </i>and bought <i>The Cuckoo's Calling </i>the Christmas that it was released (even though I haven't got around to reading that one yet.) Then I stumbled across <a href="http://sianlouise.co.uk/very-good-lives/">this post</a> from Sian Louise who recommended <i>Very Good Lives, </i>something I'd never heard of before.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>Very Good Lives</i> is the 2008 commencement speech Rowling delivered to the Harvard University graduates. True to Rowling's style, it's witty and powerful and has something that everyone can take away from it. In it she talks about failure and how it isn't always a bad thing. She talks a bit about her journey, the problems she faced and why she made the decisions she did. She encourages those who can to use their positions to do good, much like she has. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
My favourite aspect of it was when she touched on imagination. When I first read the cover I wondered how she was going to talk to hundreds of 21 year old graduates about imagination without sounding like she was delivering a Year Two literacy lesson. But she talks about how you can use your imagination to empathise with other people, to imagine yourself in their position, which is <i>so</i> important in building an understanding and tolerant society. </div>
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<br /></div>
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There's something about people and society that she just <i>gets </i>and if she'd have delivered that address at my graduation then maybe I'd have left knowing there's so much more to offer the world other than a degree. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<i>Very Good Lives</i> is a book I imagine I'll be returning to often and I hope it's one that you'll decide to try. It's beautifully written and illustrated too so what's not to love?</div>
Jessica Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16990257917286059591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892624145865239840.post-15235570493162147952016-06-02T18:19:00.003+01:002016-10-09T09:04:14.334+01:00How Do You Use Your Voice Online?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><i>"I mean, all this stuff you're involved in, it's all gossip. It's people talking about each other behind their backs. That's the vast majority of this social media, all these reviews, all these comments. Your tools have elevated gossip, hearsay and conjecture to the level of valid, mainstream communication." - The Circle, Dave Eggers</i></span><br />
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When we're young we're taught the difference between our indoor and outdoor voices. The difference in tone, the difference in the way that we speak to different people and the difference in what we say. We're taught respectful and polite things to say, we're reprimanded for misusing our voices in an inappropriate or negative way. As the internet grows, adapts and integrates itself into our every day lives, it's becoming increasingly normalised to project our voices across the internet in a negative way, often hurting people that we don't know and have never met. For some reason, people seem to think that's okay. </div>
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I've always been very careful about how I use the internet. My rule of thumb has always been to never post anything that I wouldn't want my grandma to see, be it photos, comments or conversations. It was a choice I made when I first started using social media and it's one that I've always stuck by. I wasn't giving anything the power to come back and bite me. I've done pretty well. I've never made any catty, bitchy or unnecessary comments, direct or indirect. When I scroll through my twitter or facebook profiles I see photos and happy memories, not streams of arguments and petty remarks. I listen to others, hear their point of view and talk to them about it. I research and read opposing opinions before I make my mind up about anything. I try not to let my beliefs and opinions cloud the way I talk to people that don't agree with me.</div>
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Not everyone has those rules.</div>
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My guilty pleasure is watching youtube videos and one of my favourite channels is the Saccone Jolys. For the most part, their videos are fun and entertaining to watch. I mean, they have two children and six dogs which says it all. They're loving and light-hearted. It feels like watching your best friend's home videos, there's a familiarity and a feeling I don't know how to describe other than <i>homely</i>. They seem to be a family that understand that life has its ups and downs which is why, on occasion, they're happy home videos are interrupted with bad news. A few weeks ago, the Saccone Jolys had a miscarriage. They chose to be honest and share that part of their story with the internet, as heartbreaking as it was. It must have been tortuous for them both to sit down and work out how to turn their celebrations into news that they felt that had to break to a million extended family members who had subscribed to their lives. </div>
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Not long after they'd learned and shared the news the internet opened fire. The Saccone Jolys were attacked and not for a reason that is in any way justifiable, no matter how the light is shone on it. There were comments made that were incredibly personal and incredibly brutal, nothing anyone should ever have to hear said about themselves. But of course, as disappointing as it is, they aren't the only ones and it's become so commonplace for people to use their voices online to do more harm than good. <i>But they put their whole lives online, they're opening themselves up to scrutiny. </i>It's not an excuse and it's extended past the stage of directing the scrutiny and judgement to people in the limelight. It's spreading to ordinary people that dare comment on news article or discuss a taboo subject, even if it's in a constructive way. We should be channeling our positivity instead of dimming it's light with negativity, rumours, allegations, name-calling and abuse. </div>
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We, as the internet generation, need to learn the difference between healthy expression and unhealthy expression. We need to learn to discuss instead of argue, challenge instead of attack and disagree without being closed minded. We need to learn how to use our online voices and extend the social media etiquette beyond not liking your best friend's ex boyfriend's sister's photo from 42 weeks ago. </div>
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I love the internet and all the information it provides. I love how news is instant. How ordinary people can have their own websites and blogs to share their lifestyles and their point of view. We have a way to use our voice that no generation before us has had. We have the ability to share our stories and messages with people across the world instantaneously. We have a million extra branches of support that spread across the globe. We have a platform that has the potential to be used for so much good and yet it's being tainted by those that feel the need to aggressively push their opinions onto others. We should be using it as a chance to education ourselves, listen to another side of the story, not use it as an excuse to verbally attack someone whether we know them or not.</div>
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There's a way to discuss issues without turning the tone of the conversation sour and personal.</div>
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In a way I'm still thinking like a child. <i>Is it kind? Is it true? Is it necessary? </i>If ever I've been tempted to get involved with an argument on facebook or post a 300 word response to a comment that ultimately, I won't gain anything from, I've asked myself 'is it necesaary?' And sometimes that's just enough to make you really think about your choices. </div>
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It sometimes make me feel disappointed to be a part of this generation. It's such a forward-thinking, innovative and clever society that we should be so proud of and yet we're letting the internet give us a degree of anonymity that makes us think we're safe to say whatever we like. We need to think about using the internet as a tool to strengthen our society, not as a weapon to beat each other down with. We need to think about how we're using our voices, on the street and online, to build our generation back up to being inclusive, understanding, open and all-encompassing. </div>
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Let's use our voices for good.</div>
Jessica Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16990257917286059591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892624145865239840.post-67096010349613696202016-04-24T09:41:00.000+01:002019-02-05T20:39:39.939+00:00Books to Love: All The Bright Places<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I fell in love with this novel
almost immediately and not once did it lose its tight grip on my heart. Violet
and Finch are strangers until they meet at the top of the school Bell Tower,
both leaning over the edge prepared to jump. She’s a writer who lost her sister
in a car crash, an accident she blames herself for. He’s an eternally troubled
soul with a lot to say about <i>everything</i>.
It’s clear that his mental state is vulnerable but he still manages to breathe
life into Violet. As their stories unfold and their lives entangle it becomes
clear that they both have their own mountains to scale. As they begin to
explore Indiana for their school project, they learn a lot about their home, a
lot about each other and a lot about themselves. They fall in love in the most
perfect way and teach each other about all the little things in life that
matter. Something that we all need reminding of every now and then.</div>
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I have a pull towards these types of novels, especially ones that brace the subject of suicide but in an uplifting way. I didn't get to the end of this book feeling depressed and cheated, instead I felt satisfied, like it had served its purpose. I loved the characters and I thought for a while about whether I identified more with Finch or with Violet. In the end I think there are parts of them both that resonated with me and I devoured this book from cover to cover wanting to know where their journey would take them next. </div>
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This novel is a bittersweet story
but one that delicately and honestly explores the issues surrounding mental
illness. It’s beautiful and heart-breaking and one that you will keep with you
for long after you’ve turned the last page.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Have you read All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven? What did you think?</div>
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Jessica Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16990257917286059591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892624145865239840.post-87298493685076637252016-04-06T10:40:00.000+01:002016-05-02T10:10:30.953+01:00The Body Shop Drops of Youth Concentrate<div style="text-align: justify;">
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When the Drops of Youth <a href="http://jessicagracemcguire.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/the-body-shop-bouncy-sleeping-mask.html#.VyW_KdIrKW9">Bouncy Sleeping Mask</a> first came out, it was plastered all over my favourite blogs and youtube videos. I heard people raving about it for months until I caved in and bought it. It was a product I loved immediately. I loved how my soft and healthy my skin would feel in a morning - it gave me a great foundation for my makeup! You can read my thoughts on that product here on my blog. </div>
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When The Body Shop announced that they were releasing more products in the Drops of Youth range, I knew it was something worth looking into. So the next time I was in a store I did just that. I browsed the Drops of Youth section for what felt like hours until I feel decided on the serum. I've used a couple of serums before but none that I could really rave about. This one was different. I use it on a morning and evening under my moisturiser and it makes a massive difference to how healthy and fresh my skin feels.<br />
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Having loved the serum so much too, I later went back and bought the day cream. Using all of the products together has done wonders for my skin. I struggle with acne and the medication I use for it makes my skin really dry. Anything I can get that provides a huge surge of moisture is a winner in my book and these products do just that. </div>
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It's very rare that you feel or see the effects of a product straight away but within one day of using these products, my skin felt <i>so</i> much smoother and looked <i>so</i> much healthier. Even though they are designed as an anti-aging product, I don't see anything wrong with using them because of the other benefits they provide.<br />
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I cannot recommend these products highly enough and if you're something to invest in your skincare, try the<a href="http://www.thebodyshop.co.uk/shop-by-range/drops-of-youth.aspx#/drops-of-youth.aspx"> Drops of Youth</a> range from The Body Shop. Next on my list is the eye concentrate!<br />
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Follow me on<a href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blogs/jessica-grace-13883969"> Bloglovin</a>!</div>
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Jessica Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16990257917286059591noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-892624145865239840.post-5311151481073793602016-04-05T14:50:00.001+01:002016-04-05T14:54:54.168+01:00Tips for Learning a Language<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I've always been a bit obsessed with the idea of learning a new language. Not just because it's a useful skill but because it's fun! Now that I'm not at university I find myself craving something productive to do, I love learning new things and now is as good a time as any to brush up on my French skills. I never really enjoyed French lessons at school because I wasn't very good at it. But being at home and being able to do things my own way at my own pace has made such a difference! So I've decided to compile a list of a few things that have helped me along the way and might help you too!</div>
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<b>Basics </b>| You're going to find the process of learning a new language a lot easier if you nail the basics first. Think of it the same way you were taught to read and write in primary school. You have to start with simple concepts, ideas, words and sentences before moving onto more complex work.</div>
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<b>Dictionary | </b>This is tip that my GCSE French teacher gave me - carry a pocket size dictionary in your bag wherever you go. This way, if you come across a word or phrase that you don't know how to say in French, you can quickly look it up. The other useful thing about most language dictionaries is that they have a grammar section at the back which will come in handy when you're learning how to conjugate verbs and the like!</div>
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<b>Repetition</b> | There's a great app called Duolingo that gradually builds up your vocabulary and language skills. You can set yourself a daily target and set notification reminders so you don't miss a day. The tasks only take a couple of minutes each so it's easy to get in a daily practice without it being too much of a burden. I've found that the repetition of these tasks helps the vocabulary stick with me. </div>
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<b>Read | </b>I've challenged myself to read a Harry Potter book in French and it has been such a huge help in building my vocabulary. It's taking me <i>forever </i>to read because I have to keep stopping and looking up words but my understanding of the vocabulary and grammar has improved massively! </div>
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4. <b>Immerse yourself</b> | In this technological age, it's so easy to immerse yourself in a language without <i>actually </i>having to immerse yourself. There are thousands of websites, podcasts and apps that can help you learn a new language quickly and effectively. You can listen to conversations in other languages, read news articles and watch videos. I use an app called Euronews that lets you watch news snippets in another language and provides the transcript underneath so you can follow along.</div>
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I'm really enjoying getting a better grasp of the French language. Let me know if you have any other tips or tricks, I'd love to hear them!</div>
Jessica Gracehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16990257917286059591noreply@blogger.com0