The Pen and Inkpot

After a recent pick up from my local library, I came home with this book. Girl on a Wire was quite an easy read but it had an intriguing plot line that kept me interested all the way through. The novel revolves around two families and their ancient rivalry as competitors at the circus, it seems harmless enough to Julieta and her cousin Sam. Nan doesn’t seem to cope, but they remind themselves that she’ll get over it. Working beside the Gracia family turned out easier than they had expected, much too easy in fact. When Julieta begins to fall in love with Remy Gracia they must keep it a secret because someone is out to get them. Julieta finds mysterious objects planted on her costumes before performances which seem to bring her bad luck. With each circus performance, Julieta attempts something death defying, so it seems too easy for history to resurface and for her to fall again... There are many themes in this book such as romance and superstition. These are all things that J...

I have written up this blog post for you so I can continue sharing with you my favourite parts of my travels in Europe. In the previous Blog post I outlined my three favourite places in London (copy this link to check it out  http://thepenandinkpot.blogspot.com.au/2017/12/the-beginning-of-my-trip-in-europe.html ). In this post I will share with you my adventures in Guildford in the English countryside and things to do in Dublin, Ireland. After spending 6 days in the heart of London, we took the train out to a town called Guildford which was around 45 minutes from the city. There we spend a few days at a small hotel called the Premier Inn. (It was a little cramped in there!) During our stay, we visited friends who used to live near us in Melbourne and we thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful countryside. We went on little walks in and out the the town, did some shopping then escaped for a day to a even smaller village called Shere. It was a tedious drive to get there through seve...

The Rest of Us Just Live Here is a novel written by Patrick Ness, author of A Monster Calls (read my review through this link  http://thepenandinkpot.blogspot.com.au/2017/06/a-monster-calls-patrick-ness.html ). It tells the story of a boy named Mike who explains his troubles with his OCD, his sisters, his Mum’s political fantasy and the chance of the high school blowing up again before he graduates. The indie kids who are somewhat ‘different’, start dying and there are mysterious flashes of blue light coming from the woods and Mike realises that all he finds important is being able to graduate and spend time with his friends over the Summer before they move away to different colleges. Mike’s OCD gets worse though, and he fights through the feelings of not being wanted. With all of the mysterious happenings in that small country town, he has to live his life with the people he loves while he still has them. Like other books I’ve read by Patrick Ness, I enjoyed the deep meanings ...

Since I’m on summer holidays at the moment, I have had much more time to get crafty and creative, hence, I decided to make this felt gnome. I got the idea from “The Big Book of Softies” which is a gorgeous book filled with adorable little animals to make with patterns and easy to follow instructions. It made sewing this softie quite simple. I tweaked the instructions to how I thought it was easiest and customised it to how I wanted it to look. The materials you will need are: felt or other fabric two or three colours (can be two scraps at least 8cm wide and 18cm long) Stuffing Threads according to fabric colour (+black for mouth and eyes) Pins, needles etc. Step 1: Trace the pattern from the book onto a piece of paper and cut out the shape of both the face and body. If you do not have the book it is quite easy to draw the shapes yourself to get the same result or customise it however you like. Step 2:  Place the paper shape of the body onto...

I read this book quite a while ago but I thought that you might like to know my thoughts on it.  The Fifth Wave is a dystopian novel about the earth being taken over in five different waves that supposedly intended to wipe out the human race. The main character is a girl named Cassie whose family gets torn apart by the waves of sickness and destruction. It is a very gripping novel and had me hanging on to every word. It is set in a world where no one can be trusted and you can be alive one minute and dead the next. This makes the relationships Cassie once had, very dangerous to form again in that crumbling world. I would consider this novel a sci-fi, action, dystopian, romance book with many changes of point of view which creates an extra dimension in the story. For any Hunger Games and Divergent fans out there who haven’t already read it, The Fifth Wave is definitely a book you should read. This dystopian novel is a good kind of cliche. Teens: this one’s for you....

I have rekindled my love for classics after reading the Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. It surprised me and turned out to be better than I had originally suspected. Filled with action and old words I have grown to love, the storyline of the Hobbit is extremely intricate and entertaining. Bilbo Baggins, an ordinary Hobbit is paid a mysterious visit by the infamous wizard Gandalf and his band of dwarves who invite him on their treacherous treasure hunt. Bilbo is their secret ingredient: the burglar, whose job is to steal the gold from the old dragon, Smaug who lives beneath the Lonely Mountain. This adventure turns out a little more strange, dangerous and exciting than Bilbo had anticipated and when his friends are in trouble and he yearns for his warm armchair at home, he needs to be brave and faithful enough to use his secret weapon for good, not bad. I think that the Hobbit is appropriate for ages 10+ since it contains no romance or swearing, but there is some violence involvi...

I apologise for my absence from uploading blog posts for the past few months, but it is partially due to a family holiday spent in Europe. Spread throughout this post and several other future posts, I’m going to share with you my amazing experience and recommendations from all over the continent in the cities of London, Dublin, Paris and Rome. Firstly, in London, there were so many famous landmarks and buildings to see, we didn’t run out of things to do until the end of the week. Highlights included Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and the British Museum. I found Westminster Abbey absolutely incredible. We bought audio guides and got tickets to see inside the Abbey, it was definitely worth it. The building is very old and the architecture is amazing. On the walls and even under the floor are the burial places for the most famous people of British and European history. The sculptures and decorations covering the coffins and tombs are very detailed and there were endless...