The Pen and Inkpot

I have recently been on some bookshop crawls around the centre and East side of Melbourne and wish to share with you my discoveries. Beneath the hustle and bustle of Melbourne, you can find cosy rooms filled with every book you can imagine and amazing prices on great books if only you know where to look. If you live in or are visiting Melbourne, here are the bookshops with the best atmosphere and the best prices. Looking for cosy, bookish vibes? These ones are for you: City Basement Books - 342 Flinders St If you're not paying attention, you could easily miss the little doorway between the busy shops on Flinders Street but once you find it, it will lead you down a flight of stairs and into book heaven. Book shelves filled and piles on the ground stacked high with second hand books on any topic you can think of. Good prices and an awesome shop. Paperback Bookshop - 60 Bourke Street This is a tiny shop crammed with books in shelves going up to the cei

The tales of Miss Peregrine and her peculiar children are my favourite novels out of all of the books I have read so far. It is a large claim, but it is true. Obviously, when I discovered that a new novel was to be added to the series, I was beyond excited and couldn’t wait to get stuck into it. I was skeptical though, since it seemed to be separate from the original trilogy and I didn’t want to be disappointed. There was no need for doubt since it ended up having the same adventure-based storyline and uniquely diverse set of characters with a whole new journey for them to embark on. After the first three novels, Jake and his peculiarly talented friends had ultimately saved the peculiar world in Europe and it seemed that all of the problems had been solved. Or so I thought. In “A Map of Days”, Jake has returned to his home in America where a whole new adventure awaits him. The victory achieved by the children gives them a sense of independence and a yearning for freedom. In t

Have you ever read a novel that was so terrible that you thought, "I could write something better than that"? Have you ever had a genius idea for a story, but haven't had the motivation to type it up? Have you got notebooks filled with half written stories that you never got around to finishing? If you answered yes to all, some or none of those questions, then this is the post for you! Writing a short story or novelette is simpler than you think and in this post I will outline five easy steps to writing an awesome story. Step 1: Brainstorm Before you even start thinking about writing a story, you need to have an idea of what it will be about. Take an idea of a character, event or setting and let your imagination run wild to form the beginnings of a plot. Brainstorming can happen in your head, but it is more effective when done through dot points or a mind map on paper. In a brainstorm, you don't need to go into much detail, but simply jot ideas

The Chronicles of Narnia are a series of seven novels set in the magical land of Narnia. Each individual novel isn’t very long and it took me two months to read all seven. Despite how long it took, I didn’t get bored of them at all and found them interesting and entertaining. Written by C.S Lewis, they are aimed at children, and although this made the story shallow at times, I believe that all ages could get lost in them. I love how the characters and events link together from story to story, giving the reader a rich background knowledge and closeness to the world of Narnia as it grows and changes. For me, the Chronicles of Narnia had a deeper meaning than the fantasy story. The tales of Narnia are actually written to be like the story of the Bible and I found this eye opening to read. I could recognise the creation story, the crucifixion and the resurrection as it was played out metaphorically with different characters and in a way which broadened my understanding of the Bibl

This was the 40th novel I read in 2018 and probably one of my favourites all year. A deep, insightful yet disturbing reflection of the life of a kidnapped mother and her son. "Room" had my mind racing and my heart exploding as the characters grew and changed. It is a novel that I would definitely read again.  Jack lives with Ma in Room. It has a skylight, a locked door and sound proof walls. It measures eleven feet by eleven feet. Jack knows that everything he sees on TV isn't real, only him, Ma and Room are truly real. On Jack's fifth birthday, Ma explains something to him that changes everything. Maybe there is a world outside Room. The idea behind "Room" is fascinating and insightful yet brutally disturbing at times. It goes into depth about important issues, increasing awareness about the experiences of victims of abuse and trauma. I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of the novel which introduced Room and led into the climax and first part o