Holly's blog

I have been asking myself a lot recently "Is university right for me?" and "Am I doing the right thing?". Neither of which I know the answer to.

I passed my A Levels and although my grades weren't great, I managed to get high enough grades to get into my firm university and do my chosen course of single honours History. I love History and am so glad I've gotten in. However, in the long term I would love to have a career in journalism or the media industry or social media so it would probably make more sense for me to do a media degree. Saying this, I've been told that to get into journalism it is better to do a degree such as History, English or Politics rather than Journalism.

Honestly I have no idea what I'm doing or what I want and hope I'm not making a mistake. What do you think I should do???

Today is Thursday 18th August 2016 and if you are an A Level Student you will know that today is A Level Results day!

When I woke up this morning (not that I'd ever really fallen asleep because I was worrying so much), I went on the UCAS website and waiting until 8am when Track would be updated and tell me whether or not I'd gotten into uni. I was so happy when I discovered that I'd been accepted to my first choice university and had been given an unconditional offer because I'd met the exam requirements! I'm going to be studying History at a university that seems perfect for me!

However, I still had to go to college and get my results. I went with my friend Zoe and got there around 10am. Zoe had amazing results (I wouldn't have expected anything less from her!) and my results were okay - at least I'd passed and gotten into uni even if they weren't what I'd wanted! I got a B in English Literature and Language overall, and C's in History and Media Studies overall. I'm slightly disappointed because of how hard I worked this year but I know that my AS grades are what dragged me down. For some reason I'd found AS level's so much harder than A2 and this reflected in my grades. This year I managed to get an A in my History coursework but because of exam results last year I ended up with a C overall.

Overall I'm happy with my A2 results, just not so happy with my overall A Level grades. On the bright side I managed to pass my A levels and get into a university I've wanted to go to and will be doing a course I will hopefully love! Well done to everyone, no matter what grades you got and good luck for your futures!

Hey guys! It's almost September so it's almost time to go back to school/college/university. As I'm starting university this September, I thought I'd make a school related tag!

Here is my video version on my Booktube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o1D_0PtpbY

Questions

1) The alarm clock goes off but all you want to do is dream of summer - Pick a book that reminds you of summer.

For this I have picked We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. This is a mystery book set in the middle of summer on a holiday island.



2) When you finally get out of bed, you rush to get ready as you can't wait to see your friends - Pick a book/series that you love that is set in a place of education.

I have two choices for this one, an American book and an English book! My English pick is Am I Normal Yet by Holly Bourne. This is set in an English Sixth Form College that sounds quite similar to the college that I attended!
My American pick is The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chebosky. This is a coming of age story about high schoolers so is set in an American High School.



3) When you get given your timetable you discover your lessons are all in different places throughout  the school and you will have to run to get to them on time - Pick a book that took you a long time to read.

For this I have chosen The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater.



4) When you get to class you aren't with any of your friends - Pick a book you read in class that you hated.

I pick A River Sutra

5) At lunch you and your friends discuss the class you're taking and you wish you had taken one of theirs instead - Pick a book you wish you had read in school that you didn't.
To Kill a Mockingbird and The Catcher in the Rye.

6) The last class of the day is your favourite subject - pick a book you read in school that you loved.
Othello, Romeo and Juliet, Stormbreaker.

7) After school, you hang out with friends to discuss the first day back - Who do you tag?
I tagged TwoPaperGirls, Julia Sapphire, CarysOnReading, Neverlandbooks, TargaryenPrincess and LaLaLauren1001.

If you want to do this tag then feel free to do so!

I've been loving a lot of things recently so I thought I'd put them in a July Favourites.

My first favourite is my makeup favourite. I don't normally but new makeup or change up my makeup but this month I did. I've been loving wearing orange lipstick this month, in particular the L'Oreal Paris Color Riche liquid lipstick in the shade Tangerine Sonate. It's so pretty and summery! I don't wear lipstick very much but I love this one! It stays on for quite a while and doesn't dry out my lips. Plus the packaging is beautiful!



My clothing favourite of this month is this burnt orange top that I got form New Look. I got it in the sale so it probably won't be available now but its so comfy and breezy, which is perfect for the summer weather we're having right now!



My third favourite is my book favourite. This month my favourite book I've read is Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne. I've talked about this book way too much recently so I'll link my review of it here.

My movie favourite is Now You See Me 2. I saw this at the cinema with my boyfriend because we both loved the first one and although this one wasn't as good as the first, I still enjoyed it. I loved both the plot and the cast, as well as all the cinematography and the editing. I love magic and magician's so any movie that features magic and magicians is sure to be a hit with me!

I loved the video games Life Is Strange and Portal 2 this month which is strange for me as I normally don't play video games (other than the Sims!). I've been playing Portal 2 at night with my boyfriend as it gives us something to do together without having to actually been near each other. Although I wasn't very good at it and had to just follow my boyfriends instructions, it was still really fun! I also played Episode One of Life Is Strange and really enjoyed it. It has elements of time travel and the storyline changes with different actions you choose which I find fascinating! I also loved the characters and the scenes.

For my music favourites I've been living the album In Our Bones by Against the Current, and the songs Circles by Pierce the Veil and Something's Gotta Give by All Time Low live at Wembley. I love almost every single song on the new Against the Current album but my favourites are Forget Me Now, Outsiders, Roses, Wasteland and Running Withe The Wild Things.

I was tagged by Julia Sappire on Youtube to do this tag on my Booktube channel and thought I'd share my answers on here too! Here is Julia's video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-ZmflT0TFo

There are two Twenty One Pilots Book Tag's on youtube and the one I am doing was created by Booksoverparties. Her video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NzLEJmKQ9M&feature=youtu.be

1) Stressed Out - Pick a book which you wish you could turn back time and read for the first time again.
Angel fall by Susan EE.



2) Ride - Pick a character who goes on a decline (gets worse mentally) throughout a book or series.
For this question I pick the character of Othello from Othello by William Shakespeare.

3) Fairly Local - Pick a book or series that takes place all over the country and/or world.
City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare. I won't say who travels all over the world as it will be a spoiler if you haven't gotten that far in The Mortal Instruments series.

This is my last full month off before I start university in September and so because of this I want to read as much as I can!

The first book I want to read is The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness. I've borrowed this from the library so don't have long to read it but I've just started and so far its really interesting. I'm only a few pages in so I can't tell you too much about it but I am enjoying it!



The next book I want to read before it has to go back to the library is Monsters by Emerald Fennell. I don't know much about this but I've seen it on Carys' from Carys On Reading's talk about it a lot and I really like the cover. It is set in a seaside town which appeals to me as I live in a seaside town but have never read a book set in one.



Then if I get around to it before it has to be returned to the library, I want to read The Walled City Ryan Graudin. I don't really know much about this one either but I've seen it mentioned on booktube a lot so thought it'd pick it up.



I'd love to read How Hard Can Love Be? by Holly Bourne this month as it is the second book in her Spinster Club Trilogy. I read the first book Am I Normal Yet last month and adored it so I'm hoping to love this one just as much, if not more!



Then finally I'd love to re-read Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas. I read this a year or two ago and can't remember much from it but I do know I really enjoyed it. I want to re-read this and read the rest of the series as the 5th book is coming out in September and I'd quite like to be caught up with the series.

I'm worried about starting university. I move into my uni halls on 17th September and my freshens week starts on the 19th September. I'm going to a uni that's about an hour to two hours away depending on traffic or which train I get. I've visited the university once and I fell in love with it. It isn't a top university and isn't at the top of any league tables but I could see myself there and fell in love with the campus, the city and the course.

I've chosen to do single honours history as History has always been one of my favourite subjects and I've always been (relatively) good at it. I know I'm going to love the course and would love to go into journalism or work in a museum. However, those are both competitive fields meaning it's unlikely I'll end up in either of those, especially as it's hard enough to get a job nowadays! This has made worried as a History degree isn't as versatile or as "useful" as a degree in ICT or Business and as such I'm worried about my future job prospects.

To make matters worse, neither of my parents think I should do a history degree. My mother constantly tells me it's a stupid idea and I'll get nowhere with it whilst my father just tells me how hard it is to get a job with any degree. This doesn't help with my self-doubting.

I'm so worried about whether I should be doing a history degree or not. I love History and would love a job related to it but I'm worried about what will happen when I finish my degree. I also plan on living at home during my second and third years to save money and I just don't know if I could deal with my mother telling me how much of a mistake I'm making doing a history degree while I'm in the middle if doing that degree.

Do you have any advice? X

The first book I read in July was The Princess Saves Herself In This One by Amanda Lovelace. This is a poetry collection that which is divided into four parts. The first three parts tell the story of the author, the struggles she faced, and how she came to be who she is now. The last part is called You and addresses the reader and gives insightful advice in the form of wonderful poems. Every single poem in the collection is beautiful and insightful. I think it is a must read for any teenager and young adult! It was the first poetry book I've read and I absolutely adore it!



I also finished reading The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater which is fourth and final book in The Raven Cycle Quartet. As it is the last book in the series I can't tell you much about it because it would spoil the previous books. However, I loved it and in my opinion every book in the series just gets better as the series progresses. It was full of friendship, loyalty, family and magic!



The third book I read was Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton. This is the first book in a new fantasy trilogy and takes place in a desert nation. It follows Amani, an orphaned girl who lives in poverty with her aunt and uncle and wants to escape. One day she decides to enter a shooting contest in order to win money and escape as she is a talented shooter, whilst at the contest she meets an unnamed stranger who saves her life and who she later escapes with as they both go on the run from the army. I loved this and found the whole idea to be brilliant. I also loved the magical creatures and
magical elements!



For the Booktube-a-thon the first book I read was Am I Normal Yet by Holly Bourne. I have a full review on this in my previous blog post.



During the Booktube-a-thon I also read Love Letters to the Dead. I enjoyed this but did have some issues with the characters actions. This follows the story of Laurel whose sister has died, in a way to cope with this Laurel writes letters to famous dead people who have influenced her in some way. Through the letters you discover what has happened in Laurel's life and how and why her sister died. My one and only problem with this book is that the characters smoke, drink and do drugs just to seem cool when in reality it just makes them seem a bit stupid or as if they are trying too hard.

After the Booktube-a-thon I read The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovet. This centres on a girl called Hawthorn who is a loner and doesn't really fit in. One day her brother, Rush, discovers that a girl he went to school with, Lizzie, has gone missing. Although Hawthorn didn't get on with Lizzie, she decides it is up to her to discover what happened to her, and in a bid to do this becomes obsessed with Lizzie's life, including her boyfriend Enzo. I feel like this book could have had so much potential but I felt a bit let down by it. The pace was incredibly slow and at times the book just felt boring. I also couldn't really stand Hawthorn and Enzo, which isn't great considering they're the main characters. However I did love all of the side characters, especially Rush and Connor.

Next I read The Geography of You and Me by Jennifer E Smith. This follows Lucy and Owen who get stuck in an elevator together during a power cut. When they get out of the elevator they spend the night together exploring New York City and fall in love. A few weeks later they bother discover they have to move away and the story follows their long distance relationship. I did enjoy this book as it was really cute, fun and fluffy but it was very much a case of unrealistic instalove.

Finally I read The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan. This follows a romantic relationship that the protagonist has from beginning to end and is set out in the style of a dictionary. I love the concept of story and Levithan's choice of words, but the story was pretty much your basic boy and girl meet, there is a problem, they break up story. However I did really enjoy it!

In August I read Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne as part of my TBR for the Booktube-a-thon and I really enjoyed it. I'd even go as far as to say that it is my favourite book I've read so far this year and I thought that I'd do a book review on it!



This was my second Holly Bourne book, the first book I read by her was The Manifesto On How To Be Interesting which I had quite neutral feelings towards but I thought I should give her writing another go as Carys from Carys On Reading loves The Spinster Club trilogy, of which Am I Normal Yet is the first instalment.

Am I Normal Yet centres on Evie, a sixteen year old girl who suffers from OCD and anxiety and as a result has been in and out of hospital and takes medication. Evie has just started sixform college and wants to have as much of a normal life as possible whilst slowly coming off of her medication. She wants to make friends, get a boyfriend, go to parties, go on dates, get good grades and just live the life of a normal teenager. Whilst at college she meets Lottie and Amber who quickly become her best friends and they all realise how important feminism is and start their own feminist club!

I loved the friendship between the characters of Evie, Amber and Lottie and they were all so well developed. I also loved how the settings and the characters were all realistic, which sometimes doesn't happen in YA contemporaries. The book also dealt with mental health in a respectable and educational way.

My one and only problem with the book is a conversation the girls have near the beginning of the book. The girls have a discussion about feminism but during this discussion Amber and Lottie discuss how "all boys are the same" and "all boys are bad". This to me is the opposite of feminism as feminism is equality for all and how can you expect people to respect you if you don't respect them. One way this is redeemed however, is by Evie who says that talking like that isn't feminist and gives feminism a bad name, the girls also learn from this mistake and redeem themselves later on in the book.

Overall, I love the book and it is a great fast and entertaining read that is full of friendship and feminism!

This is my last summer before I (hopefully) start university! This has meant that I've spend half my summer worrying about A level results, whether I've chosen the right course/uni, what I'm going to do etc, and the other half just relaxing and making the most of my time before I move into uni.

I work weekends at a big clothing store in my town meaning I don't get much free time at weekends and I end up spending most of my weekends talking to angry or impatient customers. However, I love  my colleagues and will be sad to leave them when I start uni, it also means I appreciate my free time in the week a lot more!

I'm not the most sociable of eighteen year olds and don't go out clubbing or drinking with friends, but I do enjoy seeing my boyfriend in the week and meeting up to go shopping or to the beach with various friends. I've also been spending a lot of time reading and improving my Booktube channel, if you're interested my channel name is Hollythebooklover and my channel can be found here.

I'm enjoying myself and the amount of free time I have before my life begins to get hectic and busy when I start university. I hope you're having a good summer! :D

Hello everyone!

This is my first blog post in over a year and I'm so sorry about that! I'm planning on using this blog a lot more, especially as I'm about to start university in September (providing I get good A Level results). I've had a lot of things going on in my life which caused me to either forget about blogging or just not have time for it. Things are still quite hectic and not as smooth as I'd like them to be but for now I'm going to try and blog as much as I can.