Pinterest you are the sunshine on every rainy day!

I have to admit I am probably a little late on the Pinterest band wagon; but I am sharing it with so many people that have never heard of it I don't feel too bad about it! For those of you who haven't heard of Pinterest yet this post is for you!

So what is Pinterest I hear you cry!  Well my explanation of it has been described as many things but none of those descriptions can be repeated in writing... so lets just say my descriptions have been "poor".  So I thought I would turn to the source and let them explain....

"Pinterest is a tool for collecting and organizing things you love.  No matter what you’re interested in, there’s a place for it here."

To be honest this is pretty much how I explain it and I usually get met with a blank look. 

It does sound a little cryptic but I think that's part of the charm... for people like me it makes me curious and once you have a look I think you'll agree it is definitely worth investigating.  So for those of you who want to satisfy your curiosity head on over to http://pinterest.com/all/ (this way you can have a nosey around before you sign up to it - which is completely free by the way!) Once you sign up it doesn't take long to get the hang of the boards; how to set up your own, how to add to them from the feeds and how to add your own finds online is really simple  and once you start you'll be hooked!  So move over Candy Crush there's a new addiction in town! (F.Y.I. I am not on the Candy Crush band wagon and nor do I intend on joining it so please stop sending me requests... you know who you are!!)

Top tip that I forgot to mention to the first few people I described Pinterest to (which probably explains the blank looks and harsh words)- to many people it may look like just a strange picture gallery at first but by hovering over or clicking on the pictures you can repin a find to your own boards so you can always find it again, comment, like or go to the original source.  Being able to go to the original source is great, I've found so many amazing blogs, recipes, inspiration and tutorials on how to do... well just about everything imaginable!

If any of you guys want to add me on Pinterest (you will once your hooked!) you can find me @ http://pinterest.com/lisasmalluk/

Happy pinning everyone and let me know what you think!

L

I don't just want to read books; I want to climb inside them and live there!

I am a self confessed book-oholic! 

Ever since I was little when I would beg my mum to read just "one more chapter!" of my favourite childhood books; Roald Dahl - Fantastic Mr Fox, The Brothers Grimm -  Illustrated fairytales and absolutely anything by Dick King Smith, to name but a few! I have always loved well written books and the magical journey they take you on from reality into the depths of your imagination.

I have only fallen out of love with books once and that was during my time at uni.   I was forced to read mountain after mountain of the most boring material known to man so I stopped reading for fun and wouldn't read anything that wasn't required as course material: and even then I began to skim read as fast as possible! 

But thankfully those days are behind me and I am now back to loving literature. 

Those dark days, as awful as they were, have helped me understand why not everyone loves to read. I think I should probably make a mention to my sister at this point. Growing up together I never understood her loathing of books: we are chalk and cheese in every sense brunette/blonde, quiet/loud, sensible/wild... So it was probably inevitable that we would have opposite opinions on this subject as well! So to you Lynn I'm sorry for all those late nights my reading light kept you awake!

 (See what I mean, like chalk and cheese)

Anyways... with this understanding and a renewed love for reading I thought I would do a couple of book reviews with the hope of inspiring anyone who wants to give reading another shot but needs a little help getting started. 

Not got that problem? Then hopefully you will find a new title that you can try stuffing in your suitcase this summer! 

First things first though, for those of you that aren't head over heels here are a few of my golden rules that will hopefully help you out before trying any new books:

1 - Don't read what you don't like! You wouldn't eat something you're allergic to that you knew was going to make you sick, so why force a book on yourself that is going to make you sick of reading?! My best advice is to pick a book, whether fiction or non fiction, that contains something you are interested in.

Don't feel like you need to read the "it" book unless it's something you're interested in: because chances are it's not worth the hype anyway.

2 - Don't be afraid to shop in what British book stores call "teen literature" or "young adult" as the Americans call it. 

Twilight, The Hunger Games, Harry Potter and pretty much all the latest blockbusters (can they not come up with any original scripts these days?!) are from these types of sections. 

The title of these sections suggest that these books are placed together solely based on their target audience but I don't think this is the case.  I think the way in which the books are written make them much easier to read and as they tend to be broken into a series of shorter books they may not be what literary snobs would consider adult fiction so they class them as juniors.  Well to those snobs I say "You can keep your so called grown up books because I'm going to hold on to my youth!"

3 - Once you start a book and you realise you don't like it after a couple of chapters do not feel like a failure for giving it up! 

Think of it like that top you bought but didn't have time to try on and only realised after you see the pictures on Facebook how terrible it looks! You can't return it but you know you'll never EVER wear it again. It's the same with books. 

So my advice is to just sell it online (Amazon do a great buy back scheme) or donate it to a charity shop and go shopping for something new.

4 - And last but not least don't give up.  If novels aren't your thing try short stories, or non fiction or just read to your kids (or even yourself!) before bedtime. Because let's face it, nothing beats a good fairy tale!

Well I think that's all my words of wisdom for today! Hopefully you have been inspired to have a look at some new books and maybe even read some of my up coming reviews to help you on your next choice...  If so then watch this space!

Up first will be a review on "The Selection" by Keira Cass.

Oh and one last thing: thanks for reading :) it may just be a silly little blog, but it's a damn good start!

Speak soon

L x