Book Challenges!

I've only recently, over the past couple of years, become aware of the different reading challenges people set for themselves. Instagram is full of posts and updates about how people are getting on with their 30 day reading challenge, or 'Booktober', or whatever else they've chosen to do. Personally, I love the idea of this, and I've wanted to set myself one for such a long time. Reading is wonderful, and so is challenging yourself to read more often and to read different things. 

At the moment I've set myself a 'Booktober' challenge. Over the month of October I plan to read a book per week - any books of my choosing - so I'll have finished 4 by the end of the month. Now that I've finished my work assignment, I have a lot more free time on my hands, time which can be well spent reading! I wanted to challenge myself, mostly because I'm sometimes quite slow when I'm deep in a book, or I don't make the time to read when I know that I can. 

There are so many different reading challenges you can set for yourself. You don't have to use social media to share them with people, but I find it really enjoyable to see what other people are doing and to share my own journey and chat with people about what we're reading. You could do Twitter or Instagram picture post challenges, sharing a different book every day of the month. Invent your own challenge or take inspiration from someone else. Something like;

Day 1 - a book that surprised you
Day 2 - a book you chose based purely on its cover
Day 3 - a book that made you cry

And so on, up to the end of the month. This works best for books you've already read and want to share with others, and there are a lot of bookstagram accounts that follow challenges like this.

Another idea could be to pick a book for each day and post a photo, giving it a one sentence summary/synopsis. Not only is this a fun little activity for social media, but it can also help hone your writing skills. Try to think of something clever, but that doesn't give away too much of the plot. It's definitely something I think would be interesting to try.

Book clubs are also a wonderful way of challenging your reading. Everyone has their own preferences for genre and author, amongst many other things, so reading as a collective group can really help you step out of your comfort zone. You could read with friends, family, or even join in with some brilliant online book clubs and reading groups. There are loads on Twitter, Instagram, and even some on Youtube - every platform has its own version. Discussing books is a great way to see them from a different persepctive and broaden your literature scope.

Whether you choose to challenge your reading by joining a book club, or if you prefer to make use of social media instead, have fun with it. Reading is amazing and enriching and good for the soul :)

~ C xxx
 

Let's Talk Poetry!

I never understood poetry when I was at school. I would only read it because I had to, and I don't think I ever allowed myself to enjoy it. And it wasn't exactly cool to like poetry either - not that I was remotely cool at all - so it was very easy for me to shun it.

It was only when I went to university that I actually started to appreciate, and almost love, poetry. In my second year, as part of my Creative Writing course, we studied a module which was dedicated to poetry. At first I didn't like the sound of it, and the first few poems that I brought to seminars were awful. But I soon began to enjoy writing a poem for each week's class. We were given a different style of poem to write every week, and I found myself becoming more and more confident as time passed by, and more willing to share my work with everyone. We would sit in groups and workshop each other's poems, saying what we liked about them and suggesting potential improvements. 

All of this did wonders for my confidence as a writer.  

After studying poetry, I had a new found appreciation for it and so so much respect for the poets who give us such beautiful things to read.

More recently I've found myself buying more poetry collections to enjoy. I graduated university four years ago, and I miss reading and writing poetry as much as I used to. Sometimes I'll use my lunch hour to go peruse the bookshelves of Waterstones and find hidden gems that I wouldn't ordinarily pick up. I'm not going to lie, it's one of my favourite things to do. 

A Poem for Every Night of the Year, edited by Allie Esiri

Allie has collected a whopping 366 poems into one beautiful collection. I first saw this book on Instagram and it looked and sounded so lovely, so I had to have it. The wonderful thing about this collection is the huge variety of poems it encompasses; from Spike Milligan and Lewis Carroll, all the way to Shakespeare and Sylvia Plath. There's something to suit everyone's tastes. 

In my opinion, it's the perfect book to pick up if you want to start reading poetry but don't really know where to begin. The sheer number of different writers mean you're certain to find one that strikes a chord, and from there you can delve in to the rest of their work. 

I also think this collection is perfect to read to children. I know that my parents championed the bedtime story with myself and my brother when we were kids, and I think a bedtime poem is just the cutest idea. They're short and sweet, and each one is different every day. I can't recommend this collection any more than I already do - I love it.

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur

I asked for Milk and Honey for my birthday last year. I'd seen bits of Rupi's work all over Tumblr and Instagram, and I was incredibly intrigued by her style of writing. The book itself is gorgeous from cover to cover. I love the illustrations and the simplicity of the design - it's minimalist and that really works with Rupi's poetry. 

The collection is separated into four sections; the hurting, the loving, the breaking, and the healing. As you would expect, the poems in each section reflect the theme. Some of her work is simply one or two lines, other poems are longer. I've seen people argue that anyone could write what Rupi writes, and that her poetry isn't any good, but I beg to differ. My favourite poem from her collection is just two lines long; 

i am a museum full of art

but you had your eyes shut

In my opinion, any and all poetry is good if it means something to someone. This particular poem struck a chord with me because of the way I was feeling when I first got the book. Personally, I identified with it, and to be honest there are a whole host of other poems in this collection that I identify with. 

Now I'm just excited to read Rupi's next collection, The Sun and Her Flowers, which came out last week.

The Bees by Carol Ann Duffy

When I think of Carol Ann Duffy's work, it reminds me of my GCSE English classes where I know for a fact I didn't appreciate any of it enough at all. Now that I'm older, I'm so happy that I'm able to read her work with mature eyes instead of the eyes of a bored teenager. 

I bought The Bees for several reasons. Number one, the cover is absolutely gorgeous. If you've read any of my previous book related posts then you'll know that I'm guilty of judging a book by its cover. The Bees is shimmering gold and white, and has a beautiful pattern of a hive all over the cover.  Reason number two is the simple fact that this collection revolves around bees, which I love. They're so important and must be protected, so of course I had to buy this book. 

So far I've only read a handful of poems in this collection, and I love how the bee is somehow woven in to each one, either in an obvious way or very subtly. Imagery of nature has always been one of my favourite things to read, so the fact that this is tied in with so many other different themes is wonderful.

The princess saves herself in this one by Amanda Lovelace

I passed by this collection in Waterstones a couple of times before I decided to buy it. It caught my eye one lunchtime as I was browsing the shelves, and then I saw a few bookstagrammers sharing it on Instagram. The title itself was enough to pique my interest, so I bought it. Being a self-confessed feminist, I champion the idea of the princess saving herself. Why shouldn't she? 

Amanda's work reminds me of Rupi Kaur's in some ways. A lot of her poems are very visual, which I really enjoy, and I like the theme of fairytales that runs throughout. I can definitely feel a lot of pain in some of the poems in Amanda's collection, and as a reader it feels very therapeutic to absorb them. 

Again, I've only read a few poems from this collection. One in particular has really stuck with me, especially because the book I'm reading at the moment for my Booktober challenge revolves around body positivity. 

For me personally, this poem is powerful. It really means something to me, and I think that's important.

How about you? What are some of your favourite poets or poetry collections? I'm always looking for recommendations. Feel free to comment and leave your thoughts! 

~ C xxx

The struggles of learning to love yourself

What a concept, eh? To love yourself and have ultimate body confidence. It's a dream that so many people want for themselves, myself included.

I've struggled with liking anything about my body since I was a teenager. I've always had plenty of meat on my bones, which is in no way a bad thing, but it's always made me so self conscious. My stomach is my absolute least favourite part about me and always has been. It's not flat or smooth or a home for rock hard abs. It's soft and squidgy and a little on the wobbly side, which is fine, but in a world full of instgram models and photoshopped magazine covers, sometimes it's hard to like what you see in the mirror. Don't get me wrong, there are things I like about myself a lot and I try to focus on those things, but everyone has bad days.

Much like most women, I've put myself on diet after diet, and tried to train myself to eat the right foods and go to the gym as often as I can. Honestly, I've grown to actually enjoy exercise - which is something I never thought I'd say - so it's less of me forcing myself to go and more of me trying to avoid being lazy. I used to have hopes of beinga size 8 and as slim as I am short, but I'm slowly beginning to come to the realisation that being skinny isn't going to make me the happiest person in the world. 

Shocking fact; it's not a crime to have a tummy. I'm still coming to terms with this. Shocking fact number two; a person's size doesn't define them in any way at all. I can comprehend this perfectly when it comes to other people, but I sturuggle when it comes to myself. I suppose it doesn't help to hear and see other people labelling others as 'fat' and 'lazy' and 'chubby' in incredibly negative ways, and you look at the person they're attacking and think "I look like her... does that mean they'd label me in the same way?" Bodyshaming isn't cool or cute, and makes the struggle of loving yourself through and through even greater.

During my most recent holiday I shied away from wearing a bikini until the last couple of days. Why? I don't really know. My body is nothing to be ashamed of, but it takes a lot of hard work to shake off that mentality and I'm still learning how to do it.

Thankfully, there is a glimmer of beautiful hope in the form of Body Positive bloggers, vloggers, models, actors and social media influencers. My personal favourites include Megan Jayne Crabbe (aka bodyposipanda), Tess Holliday, Iskra Lawrence, Hannah Witton, Sabina Karlsson, Carrie Hope Fletcher, Cassie Ho, Laverne Cox and Winnie Harlow, just to name a few. They all promote so much body, mental health and sexual positivity. I know for a fact there have been several times I've been scrolling through instagram and feeling a little bit crappy, and seeing a badass, honest or positive post from one of them has made me smile. 

Loving myself will be an ongoing struggle, but I know for a fact that I'm worth loving so why not be the first to do it? c:

~ C xxx