The Pen and Inkpot

I stocked up on books from the library to read over the holidays and one of the books I picked up was  A Monster Calls  by Patrick Ness. I must say that this dark and mysterious book wouldn't have been the type I would usually go for, but I was intrigued by the dramatic pictures that crept through the pages of the book. I enjoyed it too, not in the way you would normally enjoy a book, but in the way that makes you read more and more, and when you're not reading it, you're thinking about it. Also, it's one of those books that, once it ends, it takes a moment of pondering when you stare blankly into space and give several satisfied sighs. Yeah- it's one of those books. It begins with a character called Conor. His life is pretty hard to say the least. His mum's cancer is getting worse and one horrific nightmare haunts his sleep. Then, the monster calls. Conor's mum always said it was a yew tree, but this yew tree turns into a monster who is taller than th...

Finally this book arrived. Getting stuck into Harry Potter and the Cusred Child was no hard task and I flew through the pages of it in one day. It wasn't just any book though, the story is actually a play that was being performed in England so the book was written as a script, a form of text I haven't really read much. Since the book was written as a script, the layout allowed a lot more imagination so that I could match the scenes in the script to the scenes described by JK Rowling in her earlier books. Also, the fact that it was written as a script didn't make a difference in the way I read the book. It actually  made it an easier read and made it easier to imagine the characters the way you wanted. Another thing that was different was that scenes moved a lot quicker as a script.    The story begins with Harry and Ginny's second son, Albus going onto the Hogwarts Express for his first year at Hogwarts. Albus' older brother James tries to scare Albus with lies ...

Easter is approaching fast and this year I have another Easter craft to share with you. The Sunday before Easter is Palm Sunday. In church we focus on the time before Jesus' death when he enters Jerusalem. He rides humbly on the back of a donkey and is greeted by people laying their coats down for him to walk across and praising him waving palm fronds. Traditionally at my church, on Palm Sunday a small cross made out of a palm leaf is handed out. I have always been curious as to how a flimsy leaf can be fashioned into the form of a crucifix and finally, I have learnt how to do it and I am eager to share it with you. All you will need are two palm leaves that are roughly the same length (less than 30cm long). If you don't have any palm trees to steal leaves off, you can use some nice paper and cut two lengths that are the same width and length. You might also need scissors to trim your cross at the end (more on that later). Step 1 Make sure that your two strips ar...

In preparation for watching the new movie of "Beauty and the Beast"  I decided to read a fractured fairytale based on that story.  Beastly  is the tale of Beauty and Beast from the Beasts point of view and is set in the present time. But apart from the character of the beast and the significance of the rose, most of the story was different to the original which made it quite an interesting read. Kyle Kingsbury is a normal kid. He goes to a posh school,is a selfish brat, hot and popular and the king of the school. One night, everything changes. A witch turns him into the beast he really is on the inside. Kyle has 2 years to break his curse before it becomes permanent, but it's breaking the curse that's the hard part. The classic fairytale's true love kiss is the only thing to break it. Can Kyle get someone to love him the way he really is, or can he learn from his mistakes and finally become the person he is supposed to be? Beastly  is a story of love ...

Another year has gone by and we welcome the new year. We are all a little older and a little wiser. It doesn't seem at all very long ago that I began writing on this blog as the Inkpot Blogger. It was at this time last year that the Pen And Inkpot blog was born. I wrote my first post: Welcome to the Pen and Inkpot, and crossed my fingers. But I'm not hoping for success and popularity, I am hoping to inspire people and encourage people to do what they love. I write about what I love, books, movies, food, craft and God. Although I don't always get around to posting every week and sometimes I forget about it altogether, I enjoy writing, photographing and posting when I can.    Okay, okay, I don't get thousands of views and endless comments on my blog, but that doesn't mean I'm not grateful for the views I do get. If you are reading this now, I want to say thank you! I want to really thank those of you who have been with me for a while. I really love seeing peop...

  Not very long ago, I found myself in search of a good book to read so I went to the library and picked up a few to last me for a while. One of the books I borrowed was called If You Were Me amd it didn't really last me for very long at all. It is a gripping book filled with mystery and uncertainty with deeper meaning such as, equality, stereotypes and loyalty. If you Were Me will have you hanging on the edge of your seat until the very end.   The story swaps between two points of view. The first being of a girl named Aliya. She lives in Afghanistan with her Mother and siblings, managing the family whlie dealing with the loss of her father to terrorists. When her brother, Behrouz, is wanted dead by a terrorist group, they must escape to a different country. This new country is England.  The second point of view comes from a boy named Dan. Comparing him to Aliya is like chalk and cheese. He lives in England with his parents. He helps his dad with his plumbing bu...

Girl Online is a fictional book for teens and young adults. It is written by beauty blogger and youtuber Zoe Sugg (aka Zoella). It is quite romantic and a very girly story but quite enjoyable for me all the same. I think it is very different to my other reads that I've shared with you because it is way less action packed and not a fantasy book. It is realistic and based on the life of a girl suffering from anxiety attacks.   Penny Porter is a normal school girl who loves photography and has a blog. Hiding behind the name "Girl Online" for her anonymous blog, Penny pours her heart out to her caring readers and encourages them to sort out their own problems. Everything is fine in Penny's life. Until Meagan turns from Penny's best friend to a stuck up teenager. Getting the main role in the school drama play, Penny seems to sink away from her old friend. Things don't stop there though. Although Penny is the photographer for the play, she is asked to take a pho...