B3THANY READS

One of the things I look forward to the most every year is Christmas baking with my mum. We both love baking as a hobby so it's extra nice to be able to come home during the holidays and bake with my mama. The bake that usually takes up most of our time, energy and phenomenally talented artistry is the family Christmas cake. We always make a traditional fruit cake (minus all the icky things I don't like, like nuts) and try to be creative with the way we decorate it. This is our Christmas cake from 2016: As you can see, we went for a simple but Christmassy design, with some sparkle. Last year, we pushed the boat out a little bit. I think we might have been inspired by a design we saw in BBC Goodfood, but I'm not entirely sure. Here is our 2017 cake: If you can't tell (impossible, I know, but just in case), it's supposed to be a family of penguins playing in the snow and a frozen lake. See it now? I had a lot of fun making this one. We use...

Title: Letters of Note Author: Shaun Usher I have asked for many books for Christmas over the years but the one that always stands out in my memory is 'Letters of Note' by Shaun Usher. Plus, the story behind it is quite cute, if I say so myself... (Unfortunately this photo isn't mine - it's from the Letters of Note website . I'm currently living away from home in Switzerland so I am sadly without my copy of the book. I'm sure it's sitting happily on my bookshelf above my bed as we speak.) Back in my sixth form days, I remember making the trip to Waterstones everyday on my way home after school. I mainly went just to escape the wet and cold of the December weather, but always ended up browsing through the young adult and fantasy sections.  I remember one day, Waterstones had a display table dedicated to 'Letters of Note'. It was this ginormous hardback that took up most of the table, with beautiful gold foil on the front cover. Up unt...

      Title: The Little Book of Hygge Author: Meik Wiking Rating: 3/5 'The Little Book of Hygge' was kindly recommended to me by a good friend of mine when I told him I was feeling a bit homesick on my year abroad. He said it had helped him feel better and thought I should give it a go as well. So I did! I read most of this book on the train from Verona, Italy to Venice, Italy where this photo was taken. It was a really quick and easy read with lots of interesting diagrams and photos to keep me entertained on the journey. I find it difficult to write reviews on non-fiction books as I don't do it very often and don't really know what the protocol is... but I'll give it a go anyway! I found the concept super interesting - I had never heard of hygge before and, to be honest, didn't know much about Danish culture in the first place, so it's safe to say this really opened my eyes. It was cool learning about a whole new culture that is so differ...

Everyone loves writing their Christmas list... so, following on from yesterday's Blogmas post, here's mine - but bookish!! (Disclaimer: this is just a wishlist...) Book sleeve I have seen book sleeves floating around on Instagram this year and I always thought they were such a good idea. I never got around to buying myself one so Christmas seems like the perfect time to ask! Here are my favourites from Amazon: Buy it here Buy it here Buy it here Book shelf Next up is a book shelf for my room at home. At the moment I have a shelf that sits on top of the curtain rail above my bed but it's starting to get full up... I'm sure most readers can relate.  So, on my bookish wishlist is a tall, thin, freestanding book shelf that can fit into the gap between my wardrobe and my door.  Unfortunately this might have to wait until I live at home more permanently, otherwise (and it pains me to say this) it might be a waste of money. *sobs* ...

We all need help thinking of present ideas sometimes... So, here are 5 ideas of what to buy for your book-lover friend! Amazon Audible Gift Card Gift cards are always an easy way out of a present idea slump - use them to your advantage!  An Audible Gift Card will allow your bookish friend to choose exactly what audio book they would like without you having to choose for them. Extra brownie points for you! (Gift cards from any other book shops will also do the trick) Bookmarks I know I have mentioned these before, but they're just such a great idea. There are so many beautiful and unique bookmarks for sale nowadays - just browse Etsy or even your local bookshop and you'll be sure to find something they'll love. Book Merch If you happen to know your bookworm friend's favourite book, then the world is your oyster. Anything ranging from candles, to ornaments for their bookshelves, to tote bags with their favourite quotes on them - they will all wor...

Hello and welcome to the first post in my Blogmas series! At the beginning of November, I decided I wanted to post more on my blog but didn't think I had enough content ideas to do so. However, one day on the wonderful world of Twitter, I saw someone tweet about #Blogmas. ...Blogmas? What is that?! I had heard of Vlogmas (I spent most of my preteen Decembers religiously watching Zoella's daily uploads on YouTube) but never even knew Blogmas existed. I decided on the spot that I was going to upload onto my blog everyday in December up until Christmas Eve. The kind of content you can expect from my Blogmas series is a mixture of bookish and generally Christmassy! So, here is my December TBR (to-be-read) to start things off! The Little Book of Lykke by Meik Wiking I read the first book in this series in November because it was recommended to me by a friend. I enjoyed learning about a different culture and a concept that I hadn't heard of before, but felt l...

Title: The Girl With All the Gifts Author: M. R. Carey Rating: 5/5 It's officially spooky season! As soon as October came around I knew I wanted to read something to fit the theme of Halloween, so I chose 'The Girl With All the Gifts'. And guess what? I loved it. The very first time I pick it up I read over 100 pages in one sitting, which is very rare for me. Usually I read 30-50 pages and get bored (because the first few chapters of books are never the most thrilling), but I was hooked from the start. However, I read it just before bed and ended up having the most  terrifying  zombie dream - heart palpitations and all. Secretly loved it, though. So yeah, I feel like I need to preface this review by saying that I love all things zombie related so surprise surprise this will be pretty positive. Overall, I enjoyed this book so much mainly because the concept is so refreshing and not like anything I have personally read or seen before! When I first started re...