Fragments Of Life

© Polly Crossman Sunday Times Style columnist Dolly Alderton launched a newsletter this month. It's called The Dolly Mail, and it's a really good read. It just occurred to me that I don't really subscribe to any newsletters apart from this one, so I guess it's especially deserving of a mention in this monthly fave's round up. Sign up HERE and you too can receive this newsletter every Wednesday a.m. It's guaranteed to brighten up your day. Also, I picked up a great recipe for a Nut Roast in the third installment.  http://tinyletter.com/thedollymail ***** My favourite podcast is back! Yay! Also, Eeek! The first episode of the second series of The Black Tapes 'Sleepless in Seattle' is SERIOUSLY CREEPY!  Best listened to late at night with the lights off! http://theblacktapespodcast.com/ ***** Moving Panoramas Moving Panoramas. Stumbled upon this band from Austin, Texas a few months back. Cannot stop listening. Their music isn't available on Spotify (at...

Product details : Publisher : Simon & Schuster. Hardcover, 400 pages. Release date : January 28th 2016. Rating : 4 out of 5. Ages : 14+ Source : Received from publisher for review. Reviewed b y: Arianne.   Hattie's summer isn't going as planned. Her two best friends have abandoned her: Reuben has run off to Europe to "find himself" and Kat's in Edinburgh with her new girlfriend. Meanwhile Hattie is stuck babysitting her twin siblings and dealing with endless drama around her mum's wedding. Oh, and she's also just discovered that she's pregnant with Reuben's baby... Then Gloria, Hattie's great-aunt who no one previously knew even existed comes crashing into her life. Gloria's fiercely independent, rather too fond of a gin sling and is in the early stages of dementia. Together the two of them set out on a road trip of self-discovery – Gloria to finally confront the secrets of her past before they are wiped from her memory foreve...

  Product details : Publisher : Simon Pulse. Hardcover, 320 pages. Release date : January 26th 2016. Rating : 3½ out of 5. Ages : 14+ Source : Received from publisher for review. In the tradition of Sarah Dessen, this powerful debut novel is a compelling portrait of a young girl coping with her mother’s cancer as she figures out how to learn from—and fix—her past. Few things come as naturally to Harper as epic mistakes. In the past year she was kicked off the swim team, earned a reputation as Carson High’s easiest hook-up, and officially became the black sheep of her family. But her worst mistake was destroying her relationship with her best friend, Declan. Now, after two semesters of silence, Declan is home from boarding school for the summer. Everything about him is different—he’s taller, stronger…more handsome. Harper has changed, too, especially in the wake of her mom’s cancer diagnosis. While Declan wants nothing to do with Harper, he’s still Declan, her Declan, a...

So, a little while ago - Summer 2014 to be precise - I read a UKYA book by the name of 'Lobsters' which was laugh-out-loud funny and most excellent in every way.  Now, it's coming to the USA so I thought I'd give you overseas bloggers a heads up - just in case you missed it!   Lobsters will publis in the US under a different name - A Totally Awkward Love Story - and releases in May 2016 from Delacorte.  I highly recommend you read this one!  You can read my review of LOBSTERS    if you'd like to know more about the book.  A Totally Awkward Love Story by Tom Ellen & Lucy Ivison Release date: May 2016  For fans of  The DUFF,  this hilarious and true-to-teen romance is Broad City meets Judy Blume.   The summer before college, Hannah swears she’s finally going to find  The One.  And for five perfect minutes, Hannah does find him. He’s cute and makes her laugh like crazy. She just wishes she’d caught his name, because...

Product details : Publisher : Chicken House. Paperback, 268 pages. Release date : January 7th 2015. Rating: 4 out of 5. Ages : 13+ Source : Received from publisher for review. Reviewed by : Arianne. Kicked out of ballet academy and straight into a school ski trip, Mouse knows certain classmates can't wait to see her fall flat on her face. Meanwhile, Jack looks forward to danger and girls, but hasn't a clue about either. That's until French teen sensation Roland arrives in the resort - who Jack's a dead ringer for. When Roland persuades Jack to be his stand-in for a day, Jack, in disguise, declares his feelings for Mouse. But what happens when he's no longer a pop star - will it be music and magic on the slopes?  From the writing duo behind 2015’s wildly popular Lobsters comes an endearing, laugh-out-loud tale of teenage chaos and bashful charm. Never Evers has all the drama and disaster of classic light-hearted teen fiction – think Karen McCombie or Non Pratt but w...

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted at  Breaking the Spine  that spotlights eagerly awaited upcoming releases. Illusion by Martina Boone || Release date: October 2016 Caged by secrets all around her and haunted by mistakes that have estranged her from Eight Beaufort, Barrie Watson is desperate to break the curse that puts her family in danger — without breaking the beautiful magic that protects Watson’s Landing. To do that, she must heal the rifts that have split the families of the island apart for three hundred years, unravel the mystery of the Fire Carrier and the spirits he guards, and take control of forces so deadly and awe-inspiring they threaten to overwhelm her. With the spirits that cursed Watson Island centuries ago awake and more dangerous than ever, she finds an unlikely ally in the haunting and enigmatic Obadiah, whose motivations and power she still can’t read — or trust. His help comes at a price, however, plunging Barrie into a deadly maze of magic a...

How Hard Can Love Be? by Holly Bourne || Publication date: February 2016:   Holly Bourne’s Am I Normal Yet? was hands down one of the best books I read last year - as heartwarming as it is heartbreaking, as fierce as it is funny, it’s more than just well-written: it’s a treasure. I was thrilled to hear heroine Evie’s friends Lottie and Amber would have their own stories to tell, and, in the first of many sequels to grace this most anticipated list, How Hard Can Love Be? looks set to bring more laughter, friendship, feminism and touching teen drama to YA fiction than ever before. Throne of Glass #5 by Sarah J. Maas || Publication date: September 2016:   Lightning sharp, dazzlingly written, deliciously complex and gloriously detailed, Throne of Glass is one of my favourite YA fantasy series by far. The fifth book may not have a title yet, but after the utter devastation and sheer brilliance (but mostly devastation) of Queen of Shadows, this epic adventure already has a...

I feel like reading sometimes took a backseat to Netflix binges in 2015 (Bloodline and Friday Night Lights were the biggest culprits here!) so I decided to take a look back at some of the best Movies and TV I watched in 2015.  Disclaimer: These are in no order of preference or release date -- it typically takes me a while to catch up on all the movies I watch to watch (case-in-point Side Effects which was on my to-watch list for two years before I finally watched it). MOVIES Generally, I don't love a lot of movies. I'm one of those people who thinks that Hollywood is lazy as  hell these days, churning out boring blockbuster after boring superhero movie, none of which ever appeals to me. You won't find any Hollywood blockbusters on my end-of-year lists - ever.  I'm more of an Old Hollywood fan - and I have a handful of contemporary movies that I love and watch over and over again (Almost Famous, Before Sunrise and (500) Days of Summer, to name three).  But here are so...