The Time Traveller

For me reading offers me two kind of escapism. The first one is diving into the book itself. I might be sitting on a bus stuck in traffic or in bed after a long day at my mundane job, but in my mind I am studying potions in the dungeons of Hogwarts or Surviving the Hunger Games. In books I have been to College in America, I have worked in a London Theatre, I've been a writer for a rock magazine, I've flown through the air on the back of magical beast and I have fallen in love over and over and over. 

But I also have a different form of escapism when I read. 

When ever I am travelling some where I like to take a new book with me. Something to help me while away the time. I spend a lot of time on trains travelling from the South East of England all the way up to Scotland, so I have plenty of time to take on an adventure. Or maybe something to read while I sit by a pool in Spain, or as I drive through Germany on my way to a Christmas market. I enjoy the journey far more when I have a book full of companions to keep me company. Then when the last page is done and the book is closed and I slot it into my book shelf and I can thank them all for the entertainment they offered. 

Then a few months later when I am low on money and want a book to read I pull one of these books down and I start to read.  Not only am I back in these fictional lands, but I am also back on that train to Scotland, or I am in Düsseldorf admiring their 10ft Christmas trees. Re-reading those words I first read doing something so exciting transports me back there. It sparks memories of those trips that had dimmed in my mind. I love it. They are like little time machines taking me back to all these great places where I met great people and have fond memories. 

My favourite, like so many readers of my generation, are my Harry Potter books. Because I have re-read these books so many times I have so many memories attached to them. I can remember my bedroom and how it was decorated. I remember sitting reading them  until the sun started poking its head above the trees after getting them at the midnight launches. I remember holding the book in one hand and making a sandwich with other because it was literally too good to put down. 

Also the first four books are paper backs. They have creased and bent over time, and when I hold the well worn covers in my hand you can see how my hands have grown over the year as the indents where my fingers grip the book have rippled out over time. Creases and folds over lapping each other as each time I re-read and fill these pages with my own stories and memories. 

When I read between the lines I am reading back my own life. The memories I book marked there for me to comes back to later. So I can relive those holidays or just sit in my childhood bed room as a twelve year old again. 

Rella 

Social Media Book Tag

So this is the Social Media book that which is basically a questionnaire based on books with the question inspire by different type of social media websites. it's been floating around for a while and I recently saw Kristina Horner do it on her YouTube channel and I decided I would fill it out on here !

▌Twitter ▌

► Your favourite short book (under 200 pages)

I Want My Hat Back by  Jon Klassen

This is in fact a children's book, and I picked it up one day in Waterstones while I was browsing with my boyfriend because I thought the cover was funny, and me and him laughed out loud in the middle of the shop while reading it. It is very funny. I find that children's story books are getting funnier these days which I think is great because it encourages adult to read more to children and enjoy the experience together

▌Facebook ▌

► A book that everyone pressured you to read.

 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K Rowling

I was about this book as a gift when I was 10 in the year of it's release in 2000. I was given it by a family friend because everyone knew I enjoyed reading, I loved Jacqueline Wilson and always have one of her books on the go. However the issue here was that I didn't own any of the other books. My brother had the first few but I had never picked them up.

I took this book to school as my free reading book, because it was massive and it made me feel smart and I liked the dragon on the front. However I didn't know the Harry Potter books were a series and you had to read them in order. So when my teacher came to sit with me so I could do my reading session with her I had no idea what was going on, and it didn't make sense and there were no dragons in the start, and after about two weeks I swapped books to another Jacqueline Wilson book, much to my teachers disappointment as she was a Potter fan !

About a year later my Aunt bought my all the current Potter books, including a new Goblet of Fire which was good as mine had been destroyed by me carrying around all the time because it made me feel important and smart !And devoured them and I fell in love with the books, and still love them to this day.

▌Tumblr ▌

► A book you read before it was cool.

Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth 

I must say though, this is one of my least favourite book covers ever!

I read these books back when the trilogy was unfinished and as I got further and further through the second book I tried to slow down as there was still no news of the Third book getting a release date. My local Waterstone didn't carry these books in stock at the time, I would often look for them as I had heard so many positive reviews about them, but they were never there and in the end I had to place and order for them so I could buy them, as I always like to support my local book store if I can afford to buy the book new ( If i can only afford second hand unfortunately I still go through Amazon) 

I loved this series for the most part, I loved Tris's character especially in the first book, because unlike many dystopian female leads, she wasn't very strong or skilled to start with, she had to work hard and she was often bullied, but she fought hard to do well and I loved that. I also loved the strong friendship bond she made and the importance they played in keeping her motivated. It made such a nice changed from the normal hard shelled loner protagonist we often see. 

I felt the series did let me down a bit in the third book, and the writing was as strong as in the second, and I felt the love story did become a little bit too central to the story but over all I love the books, and I am glad they are getting the recognition they deserve. Also Roth was only 22 when her books were published and that is awesome.

▌MySpace ▌

► A book that you liked when you were younger, but you probably would not like now.

 The boy in the Burning House by Tim Wynne-Jones

For so long I loved this book mainly for the cover, it was dark and dangerous and everything about it seemed so grown up to me. I read this when I was about 14 and I myself was getting into heavy music and dressing darkly and basically finding my own personality and this book fitted right in with it. Before this I was always reading Harry Potter or Jacqueline Wilson or something similar and widely popular. This however was unknown and when I told people about it  they were unfamiliar with it and it made me feel cool.

The book is about a young boy Jim trying to find out if his father was killed or had simply vanished, after a year of no news of him, a young girl called Ruth Rose the pastors daughter help Jim to discover a shocking truth. I did re-read this book when I was about 18 as I was still telling people it was one of my favourite books. But really it wasn't as great or dark as I remembered it. It was definitely a good book to transition me from Children's Literature into Young Adults / Teen fiction but it certainly not as great as 13 year old me made out.

▌Instagram ▌

► A book that has the most beautiful cover in existence.

Alice's Adventure in Wonderland and other Stories by Lewis Carroll Barnes and Noble Leather-bound Edition 

This photo does it no justice as to how beautiful it really is

This book is just beautiful ! and I love Alice in Wonderland, I have three copies of Wonderland books, and there is another edition I plan to get because again I love the cover. I view my book shelf both as my personal library, but also a collection, if there is a book a love and they bring out a new cover or an anniversary edition then I will buy it because books are beautiful. 

The Barnes and Noble Leather-bound books are just glorious I also have the Sherlock Holmes Complete Stories, The Secret Garden and Greek Mythology books from this collection and there are about five more book there I desperately want, and will be first thing on my Christmas list. 

There is just so much detail on the cover, the art work is wonderful, they feel beautiful as well. If you get a chance go into your local book store and pick one up and see for yourself.

▌YouTube ▌

► A book that you wish was made into a movie. 

Unwind by Neil Shusterman

I picked this up as a part of the old 2 for 3 offer Waterstone use to always run, which has now been placed with the buy one get one half price offer. I took it with me to the Summer Camp I use to work at and my friend read it before me, and then told me I had to read it as she enjoyed it so much. It is about a procedure called Unwinding, which can be performed on teenagers under 16 who are either troublesome, unwanted or as part of a religious ceremony. Their body part are basically donated to others and nothing is wasted there for they aren't dead they are just spread out among many bodies. The book focusses one three teenagers who are being Unwound for different reasons and their journey to save themselves.

I loved it and I was classed as my favourite book for years, and in about 2007 Tasty Film bought the rights to the film.  However after some money issues production came to a stand still and nothing more has been said about the film. The Unwind IMbD page say the release date would be in 2016 but there is no further information. With films such as Divergent and Hunger Games doing so well at the moment and The Fault in Our Stars showing how great young adult literature can be for inspiration for films I think now would be a great time to make this film, but only time will tell.

▌Goodreads ▌

► A book that you would recommend to anyone and everyone.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett 

This is such an emotional and inspiring store, I owned this book for about a year and a half before I read it because I was worried I wouldn't like. It is a fairly long book, 451 pages, and has a very small print and I didn't want to have to drag myself through that and not enjoy it.

But one month, I was low on money and couldn't afford to buy any books, so I went to my shelf picked it up and start and I could not put it down. I stayed up late reading it, and picked up first thing in the morning. I was recommending it to people before I had even finished reading. 

The book is about young Miss Skeeter who has returned home from Ole Mis having got herself a degree in journalism, and she is trying to fit back into life where her friends host Dinner Parties, and Bridge club while maids raise their children. Set in the 1960's where slavery has been abolished, but blacks were not seen as equal. Skeeter sets herself the challenge or writing down the stories of The Help, but women are too scared to come forward and talk and her friends don't want her to distract their maids from their work. 

It is a brilliantly written book, written from both Skeeter, her best friends maid Aibileen and Aibileen's friend Minny's point of view it give and insight into people attitudes to race and women during this time. It is brilliant, one of the best books I have ever read. It will make you cry and laugh and you will learn something from it. Seriously if you haven't already go out and get yourself this book.

I would love it if you guys filled this out on your own blogs, Facebook page or Tumblr I would love to read your answers

Rella Xx

Proud to be Scottish

Well half Scottish. My mother and her whole family are Scottish and proud. My Grandfather was in the Scots Guard, and my Mum travelled round the world with her parents living in military bases in Germany, Ireland, Malaysia and Hong Kong to name a few, until they were station in Surrey in England where my Mum met my Dad and they got married. 

Despite the fact my mothers family lived all over the world they kept their Scottish tradition close to their hearts. My Grandfather wore a Kilt with kilt hose (traditional socks),a fur Sporren (pouch worn on the front) and dirk (a knife tucked into the sock) to church every Sunday and worked in a Whiskey distillery after the army. He would take us up the hills on sunny days and from the top we could look down on fields of heather surround by wild flowers and thistles and if you were lucky you might even come across a Muckle Coo, and when we got home my Gran would make mice and tatties and you might even get a Tunnocks Tea Cake. 

Top of Dumyat Hill, which my Granddad would often take us up

Tunnock Tea Cakes at the Commonwealth Opening ceremony, a very proud moment for all Scots I am sure.

Although I was raised in England many of my fondest memoires as a child are from my summer Holidays up in Scotland getting to experience that side of my heritage, and Scotland as come to feel more like a home to me then London or England especially since my mother moved up their permanently in 2009.

Now since the Commonwealth games had their opening ceremony this week, and since they are being held in Glasgow, it  showcased all the wonderful things Scotland has to offer it got me thinking about what remind me of Scotland and in particular which books remind me of Scotland, as if find one of the best ways to combat missing somewhere is to travel there via the pages of a book. Since we use to drive up to Scotland from our home in Surrey I had a good seven hour car trip in which to get some reading done. So here's my list of top 5 book that remind me of Scotland. 

1. Trashy Magazines. 

Ok this strictly isn't a book, but whenever I am travelling up to Scotland to see my family I always buy at least two trashy 60p magazines, the sort that have sensational stories on the front such as "My Daughter had Half Her Head Eaten By Wolves But Now She's a World Glass Gymnast" or " My Husband Left Me On My Wedding Day To Run Off With My Maid of Honour Who Was My Identical Twin!" The reason I by them is not to broaden my mind or to stimulate thoughtful conversation with the people around me, but because to coach from London to Stirling is ten hours long and they are easy reading ! Plus at 60p they are a bargain. 

2. Give Yourself Goosebumps by R.L Stien

My brother was an avid Goosebumps reader as a kid, and being his little sister I always wanted to do everything he did as I thought he was really cool ( though I would never admit that to him!). One problem though ... I was a total wimp ! I remember my brother saying the Goosebumps book It Came From Beneath The Sink! scared him so much he found it hard to keep reading. So I didn't stand a chance! But the give yourself Goosebumps books gave me some control, they are the sort of book that give you options to turn to certain pages and you decide how the story will go, so if I wasn't feeling brave I always took the safest route! My favourite one was Escape from Carnival of Horrors 

( does anyone remember the board game they brought out based on the book? ) 

3. The Water Horse by Dick King-Smith 

I found this book in my classroom Library when I was in Year 5 a school, I liked the cover and decided to give it a read not realising it was set in Scotland (despite the massive Loch Ness Monster on the cover!) and I think it was the first time I remember having a longing to go to Scotland and this was one way to feel like I was there. The thing about Scotland is that is has this magic about it, it is so beautiful and breath taking that the idea of magic and monster existing there doesn't seem too crazy ! It is about a girl who discovers an egg on a beach near her home in Scotland, and it hatches into a Loch Ness Monster. Which I just thought was the most magical and exciting thing in the whole wide world, and from that day forward I may have kept my eyes peeling for monster eggs on our trips up the hills, just in case.

4. The Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling. 

A bit of an obvious choice! Rowling is Scottish, she wrote the books while living in Edinburgh and Hogwarts is in Scotland. But the reason it reminds me of Scotland has a story behind it. When I was about 10 I went up to Scotland by myself, I went on a plane all alone and spent two weeks with my Grandparents and had their undivided attention. On my first night there my Aunt brought over the books 1-4 ( basically all the book that were currently out) as a gift, I had never read them, never really showed an interest in them, but as I had so much time to spare while I was there I started to read them and by the time I flew home two weeks later I was half way through the third book, which was pretty good going for a 10 year old. The Potter series really spark my love for reading, and what set my on the path that lead to my doing an English Degree and making this blog !

5. Greyfriars Bobby 

If you have so much as a single drop of Scottish Blood in you you probably know this story well. It is a story about the most loyal dog every to grace Scotland. Bobby was a Terrier that belonged to John Grey a police night watchmen in Edinburgh and Bobby was his faithful dog, one day John Gray dies and is buried in  a graveyard in Greyfriars Kirk and the Loyal Terrier sat and guarded his friends grave for 14 years capturing the hearts of many until he died. The year after Bobby's death a statue was erected to commemorate the little dog, I think this represents Scotland well its not just the big things that the Scottish celebrate, they love ALL things Scottish whether that be their rich culture and history or the small things such as a teacake or Irn Bru. Scottish people are very passionate and love their country fiercely, whereas in England people would sooner put the country down and mock it. Being in a country that is so proud and full of passion is just amazing and I feel this story embodies that mentality. It is such a touching little story and I think the first book I ever read which didn't have a traditional happy ending which as a child was quite jarring. But an important lesson to learn that although you might not get the happy ending you expected following you heart is the most important thing. 

Rella Xx