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Sunday Diary | #1

Sunday Diary is a new feature I’d like to start on the blog, where I chat about all the things that have happened since the past Sunday. It’s a chance for me to ramble away and hopefully you’ll learn a bit about me at the same time.

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Last Sunday was the Autumn Equinox, and a very special day that means a lot to me. The day before I made lots of cakes, and it was nice to feel so spiritual and at one with the earth. It was also my best friend’s birthday so I spent the day in the woods at a local park, taking pictures while a group of my friend’s did a treetop explorer course. It was way too high for my liking so I decided to sit out but I really enjoyed it nonetheless.

Then we spent way too much time trying to make a human pyramid, ensuing in my shoulder aching for days afterwards and, more positively, lots of laughs.

Monday

On Monday, my grandmother passed away, which explains the total silence on the blog over the past few weeks. It’s been a stressful time, with hospital visits and now coming to terms with the fact that I will never speak to her again. That a life can end so easily. It makes me feel extremely mortal.

Weekend

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The weekend was a bit of a relief, as was my complete abuse of eyeliner. Sometimes I can go way overboard, but it does ground me. I don’t feel the same without eyeliner on!

This week I’ve really enjoyed talking to Cat, who never fails to make me laugh. Although she has turned me into a little bit of a stalker.

Blogs I’m loving this week:

On Serpentine Shores is such a gorgeous blog and I quickly devour every single post. Every single post gives me all the warm, cuddly feels and I can’t wait to read even more posts this autumn.

I discovered Loose and Leafy a few years ago, but rediscovered it recently. I particularly love the idea of Tree Following, which is something I’d like to do in the future. 

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Currently Reading:

Finally, after two whole years, I am marathoning the Stonewylde series by Kit Berry. I’m finding out again just why I fell in love with the series in the first place, and it’s incredible. I decided to read them because it’s two years since the last book was released, so it’s a bit of an anniversary present to myself! Although I’ve been on the verge of tears many times, I adore Stonewylde with every ounce of my body.

How was your week? What are you currently reading? Let me know in the comments!

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Classics TBR Shortlist

I admit that I’m not a massive reader of ‘the classics’ but sometimes I’m in the mood for reading something a bit more aged and, often, well-known. Sometimes because it makes me seem very sophisticated, but also because I think you can learn a lot from reading them!

I like to put together TBR (to be read) shortlists, so I can dip in and out from it whenever I choose without feeling daunted by the sheer amount of books that I haven’t yet read. Here are a few of the classics I need to read soon!

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To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, in my mind, is one of the great classics that everyone must read. I just haven’t read it myself yet… Oops? My favourite classics are the modern classics (The Catcher in the Rye, anyone?) so I’m sure I’ll get along fine with this!

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a book I’ve been meaning to read for absolutely ages. For some reason, I just haven’t done so yet! Very soon, I promise!

I’m not sure when I first started to want to read Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier but I’ve wanted to for absolutely ages now (there’s a bit of a theme here!). I’d really like to read more gothic fiction and it just sounds so good!

There is no book that scares me more than The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. There’s a lot of pressure to enjoy it and so that’s very daunting and I’ve tried to read it a few times now but it just hasn’t clicked and I’ve had to put it down. Wish me luck with this one!

Finally we have Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and I have no idea why I want to read it because – HELLO?! – I do not like the idea of reading it because I’m sure that it will take me ages. I don’t have time to read books like that! Maybe I’ll just have to brave it…

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Which classics do you want to read soon – or one day? Have you read any of these?

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Messy Shelves

I have a bit of a problem, and I’m not sure what it says about the rest of my life: I have an extremely messy bookcase. No matter how often I try and tidy it, it always seems to revert back to its original state.

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As you can see here, everything is chucked around and in messy piles. This is mainly due to YALC, where I had to uproot everything to take to signings, and also for photographing book hauls and other posts. It makes me cringe to look at it! No matter how hard I try, it’s still a state.

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Here is the reality: I cringe every time someone breaks the spine of a book, but I treat my books no better. There are many types of book cruelty, and I’ve cried out many a time because of fallen books from my shelves. Please, just take me to book jail now… I don’t think there’s any hope for me!

Every now and again, I have a very good tidy up and weed the books I don’t want anymore from my shelves, and pretty up the ones I do want to keep. How long does it stay pretty? A week, maximum. It frustrates me to no end, but I can’t seem to stop.

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So what am I going to do to try and stop this dreadful behaviour?

  • I’m going to put each book I take out of my shelf back on as soon as I’ve finished with. No more books hanging about with no purpose!
  • I’ll be having a very big clean out this autumn of all the books I absolutely do not need to keep, and organising things properly, so they can easily be taken out of their slot and put back in without disturbing the other books.
  • The hardest one: I will stop buying multiple copies of books, and stop buying books I absolutely know I will not read. I love buying books, but there’s always a downside!

Are your shelves messy like mine, or do they have grace and finesse? Let me know!

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Reading Reminiscence

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For some people, a love of reading develops later on in life, but I’ve always loved reading. I’ve been wanting to write this post for ages now, but I’ve never got around to it. Finally, I’m going to reminisce on my reading life so far!

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I’ve always been extremely intellectual, reading massive tomes right from the start. Just kidding… Here I am pretending to be all clever, sporting this beast of a book, but I doubt I could actually read it… Maybe I’ve always enjoyed simply being around books!

When I was really young, my favourite books were Bob the Builder themed, and I still have them to this day, although they’re in an awful state – ripped, chewed and god knows what else!

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My Blogging Manifesto

 

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I, Lucy Powrie, blogger behind Queen of Contemporary, hereby declare that I will…

1. Write with passion

I want to write with full belief in the topic I’m talking about and convey that passion.

2. Share the love

Sharing the blog and book love is one of the things I love most about blogging. It’s why I want to put more of a focus on other blogs that I love and really help to showcase other people. I also want to work hard at commenting on other blogs, and interacting more on Twitter with new people.

3. Banish all resentment

There can be a lot of jealousy in the blogging community and I HATE it! Jealousy is one of the worst things ever and I’ve really managed to stop getting so caught up with other people’s achievements lately, and it’s so freeing!

4. Be weird, be wonderful

I want to share my little quirks and the things that make me “me” because I’m not a perfect person and I don’t want to be!

5. Carry no weight on my shoulders

If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you’ll probably know just how much I struggle with pressure, and I don’t want to do this anymore, because there’s absolutely no need for it!

6. Inspire, aspire

I want to inspire other people but also be inspired myself.

7. Embrace new opportunities

I want to be adventurous and try out new things because it’s so much fun, and it’s easy to just get used to one thing and stick with it until it’s overdone. This will happen no more!

8. Reflect, reflect, reflect

Reflection is so important to me because it means that you get to evaluate what’s working and what’s not and change it accordingly. It means you’re constantly progressing and working on new ideas, which I think is a fundamental blogging tool to have!

9. Focus on the positives

Negative Lucy, be gone! I can get quite negative sometimes which is a bad blogging formula!

10. Remember your roots

I think it’s important to remember that we all started from 0 followers and, no matter what, you’re just doing this for fun!

I’m hoping that following these will make for a much happier blogging experience, and maybe I’ll do an update post a few months down the line. Wish me luck!

Do you have a blogging manifesto, or any rules you’ve set yourself? Tell me yours!

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Dear Past Blogging Lucy…

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Lucy, I know this is weird. Please don’t freak out, but this is you. From the future. No, you are not in a YA time travel novel, or in Harry Potter (which you still haven’t read, but I promise you it will happen!). You often hear people being asked, ‘What would you change if you could talk to your past self?’ and my answer is: Absolutely nothing.

Because I’m writing this to you on the day you sit down and make your blog, Read, Write, Sleep, Eat! I want to tell you to stick in there. Things will be tough – at points you’ll have people be really mean to you but, in the end, it won’t bother you anymore because it happens everywhere. The blogging community, however amazing, is no different. There will be points where you’ll want to give it all up and will be on the verge of just stopping and quitting. Hang in there, buddy!

No matter how important you think page views and comments and followers are, one day you’ll be in a position where you don’t have to worry anymore, and once you get to that point you’ll feel like all of your work over the two years is worth it. This blog will be like a diary to you, a diary that just happens to be read by quite a lot of people. More than you could ever have imagined.

Put the effort in, Lucy, but also don’t put so much pressure on yourself. That’s one of the things you really should stop doing, because it will get you nowhere!

Lucy, you are going to make some amazing friends who you would like to see all day every day. It’s not possible right now as I’m writing this, but I really hope it will be one day. These friends will completely understand you and you can talk to them about anything. There are a few people you should probably just not talk to in the first place, but you will learn from your mistakes so I won’t warn you off too much. Keep going, Lucy!

Starting your blog is one of the best decisions you will ever make and I really hope that never changes.

Lots of love,

Future Lucy

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The Sorting Hat

I decided I’d have a bit of fun today and pull out my wand and owl for some Harry Potter-related madness.

I’ve had this post written for a very long time, but am only finally posting it. Maybe because I realise I’m probably not a very good Sorting Hat (it’s actually extremely nerve-wracking!), and the actual Sorting Hat can keep its job. It won’t be replaced easily anyway!

Let’s get started!

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First up is Gryffindor and with all her spy work Cammie Morgan will be kicking ass all the way to the common rooms. I can also imagine her as an amazing Quidditch player, right?

– The Gallagher Girls books by Ally Carter

Whilst Celaena might be on the verge of Slytherin (boo!), she does have some good in her and is incredibly brave so I’m sure she’ll be in Gryffindor.

– Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Kit Blackthorn is very action-driven and proud, which I think makes her a perfect Gryffindor match.

– Banished by Liz de Jager

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Then we have Ravenclaw, the best of the houses, if I do say so myself.

Harriet Manners is perhaps one of my favourite geeky characters and would always be able to guess the password to enter Ravenclaw Tower.

– Geek Girl by Holly Smale

Lilly Moscovitz, I think, would take over from Hermione and run S.P.E.W. It would be awesome!

– The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot

Most likely found in the library, I think Cather Avery would be one of the quiet Ravenclaws, not as self-assured and pompous as some of the others can be.

– Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

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Hufflepuffs! The second best of all the houses, not that they care!

Levi Stewart, who I’m sure I’ve talked about enough of this blog, would definitely be Hufflepuff. He epitomises Hufflepuff, and I don’t even need to think twice about it.

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I absolutely love Kenji Kishimoto and he is just such a loveable person. Hufflepuff, definitely!

– Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

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Slytherin, home to the absolutely gorgeous Draco Malfoy. I just love him, okay?

Warner would definitely be Slytherin. An irresistible Slytherin. Need I say any more?

– Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

I think it’s obviously that Cersei Lannister would be a Death Eater Slytherin. I don’t want to hate on Slytherin and say they’re all Death Eaters, but Cersei Lannister would be the exception. EVIL!

– A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin

Mara Dyer just fits into Slytherin in my mind. She’s not exactly what I’d call a good person, but I really like her nevertheless.

– The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin

Which Hogwarts house are you in? Which house would your favourite book character be in?

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Summer Reading: Blogs

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Summer is here which means I, and many of you, get to catch up on lots of reading. Rather than writing out a list of ten billion books I think you should all read, I thought I’d do something a bit different and talk about some of the blogs you absolutely must check out over the summer.

1. Gingerly Pale

I’ve only recently found Gingerly Pale but Jess’ blog has quickly risen right to the top of my list of favourite blogs. I check Gingerly Pale several times a day to check for new posts and I really do think I’m a little bit obsessed. As it’s only a recent find, I’ve really loved reading through all of her older posts and I don’t think Jess has ever written a post not worth reading!

Jess is so inspirational and as we’re both teenagers I find that I can relate to her so much more. There are gorgeous pictures, beautiful and emotional text, and regular posts too – a bonus!

You can find Jess on Twitter here | Follow via Bloglovin’ 

2. Books of Amber

I kind of hate Amber’s blog and that’s for one reason: I can’t stop by without wanting to buy every single book she mentions. Amber must have magical powers, because whenever I talk to her or read her blog I seem to lose all reason and MUST. BUY. ALL. THE. BOOKS.

Amber’s blog also has a really awesome design and is super easy to navigate. Well worth a read!

Amber on Twitter | Follow via Bloglovin’

3. Through a Cat’s Eyes

Over the last month or two, I’ve become totally obsessed with Cat’s blog. With a mixture of posts about her life, books and other awesome things, I’ve kind of turned into Cat’s little stalker. Cat is way, way awesome and is a blogger I would like to shout to everyone about. You need to go and discover the awesomeness of Cat’s blog right after reading this post, please! That’s an order.

Cat on Twitter | Follow via Bloglovin’ 

4. Hardcore Heroines 

Tilly, who runs Hardcore Heroines, is seriously one of the best people ever and is so lovely and cool and awesome and ALL THE POSITIVE WORDS! I would really love to be Tilly’s bestest friend and I was in the same building as her the other week and I had no idea which makes me incredibly sad. I could read every single one of Tilly’s posts over and over again. Seriously.

Follow Tilly on Twitter | Follow via Bloglovin’  

5. The Bibliomaniac

Not only is Georgia one of the kindest and most loveliest people you will ever meet, she puts so much work into her blog and it really pays off. Recently, one of the things that has made me frequently visit her blog is to take a look at her wonderful book photography. She also does brilliant graphic reviews of books, which makes a nice change from your typical review.

I really trust Georgia’s opinion, and I’m more likely to buy something if I know she’s read, reviewed and loved it.

Georgia on Twitter | Follow via Bloglovin’ 

What blogs will you be reading non-stop this summer?