My review of 'Morvern Callar', by Alan Warner.

'Morvern Callar', by Alan Warner, initially intrigued me in many ways; not only is the main character 'immoral', but she acts in a way which is not expected. However, I really found this book difficult to read and by that I mean Morvern's narrative is rather monotonous. Although I have explained further on in my review why I believe he chose to write the book the way he did, overall, it just wasn't for me.

Nevertheless, I did rather enjoy the slang in the book, as I am from the North-East I recognised some of the language as we too use similar words to Morvern; 'tatties' is Scottish slang for 'potatoes' and 'mortal' is slang for being extremely drunk.

The beginning of 'Morvern Callar', really enticed me to read on, but after the first page I didn't particularly enjoy the book; I don't know whether or not it was because of the immoral, unchanging tone of the narrator, as I mentioned before or because I didn't enjoy the storyline itself. However, there are some interesting elements within the novel, which I have explored in my review of 'Morvern Callar.'

Paris.

Throwback Thursday:

My boyfriend booked return flights for us both for a weekend away for my 22nd birthday, which is on the 16th of February. He told me we were going to London, so as we arrived at Newcastle airport I did not question this one bit. When he had returned with our boarding passes tucked into our passports, he nudged me and asked me to open my passport. At this point I was confused; I didn’t know why he was asking me to look at my boarding pass when I knew where we was going, or so I thought. Once I opened it and realised that we were not travelling to Heathrow Airport, London, we were actually travelling to Charles De Galle airport, in Paris!
I couldn’t believe it, I cried whilst I stood in shock in the middle of Newcastle International whilst strangers were staring at me, probably wondering what was wrong with me, but I didn’t care, I was going to Paris!
I couldn’t believe how romantic and thoughtful my birthday surprise was and couldn’t stop questioning how I didn’t know, when everyone else, including my family knew the whole time!
We flew to Paris on the 14th of February and landed back on the 17th of February, it was the best Valentines Day and birthday present anyone could ever wish for!

My review of 'The Company of Wolves' and 'Wolf-Alice'.

 The final instalment of my reviews are 'The Company of Wolves' and 'Wolf-Alice' from Angela Carter's 'The Bloody Chamber' and other stories.

'The Company of Wolves' subverts the original tale of 'Red Riding Hood' into a new story by not only empowering the female heroine but also allowing her to realize the 'beast' within herself. 

'Wolf-Alice', borrows elements from 'Red Riding Hood', 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There', by introducing the heroine as a feral child who was raised by wolves. She is a young girl who has little/no understanding of the civilized world and is adopted by a Duke, just as she comes into womanhood.

'The Company of Wolves' is one of my favourite short stories in Angela Carter's collection as  I love the duality of human and animal and the fact that the female chooses her own destiny at the end of the story.

I'm currently reading...

 'It is off-season in a remote Highland sea-port: twenty-one-year-old Morvern Callar, a low-paid employee in the local supermarket, wakes one morning to find her strange boyfriend dead on their kitchen floor. Morvern's laconic reaction is both intriguing and immoral. What she does next is even more appalling...'

'Morvern Callar', by Alan Warner immediately intrigued me; not only is her boyfriend found dead, which is rather mysterious and ominous but according to the blurb she seems 'laconic' and 'immoral', which are two words you wouldn't associate with the grief you would expect the character to feel. I also believe there is a film based on the book which came out in 2002, which I am also interested to watch and possibly review.
Overall I am rather fascinated to read this novel as I love books which allow the main character(s) to act in an unexpected way or an opposite way to what you would expect them to.

My review of 'The Lady of The House of Love' and 'The Werewolf', by Angela Carter.

The fourth instalment of my  reviews are 'The Lady of The House of Love' and 'The Werewolf', from Angela Carter's, 'The Bloody Chamber' and other stories.
'The Lady of the House of Love' depicts a supernatural being who is consumed by her need to feed on human blood, along with the necessity to shuffle her Tarot cards to reveal her future and 'The Werewolf' is based on the story of 'Red Riding Hood', but subverts the original tale so that the heroine in the story overcomes evil.

Why do you have a blog?

This is a question I've been meaning to answer for some time now and is one which I think is relevant to anyone who has a blog or wishes to create one.
I am new to the world of blogging having only blogged for the last month or so, but I feel that it relates to all of us in the blogging community.
The reason why I blog is to analyse literature, practice my essay writing, generate debate, spark interest, invite new ideas and recommendations and to free my mind of whatever is going on in my head at the time.
Some people think having a blog is 'pointless' and 'obnoxious', but I think it is one of the best things I have ever done; not only is it a useful tool for my English Literature degree but it introduces me to so many different blogs which I never even knew were out there. I've learnt new techniques through the designing my website and discovered how to track statistics. I've also viewed some great blogs which are completely different from my own, such as blogs which include recipes, fashion, business and music.
There are thousands of blogs out there and if you are wondering whether you should start a blog or not, I wouldstrongly urge you to say yes! It is a great way to widen your knowledge and possibly attract exciting job opportunities.

If you have a blog, or are thinking of creating one, what do you want your blog to say to your readers?

'Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its troubles, it empties today of its strength.'

As a sufferer of anxiety, worrying is a daily part of my life, however, sometimes I need to be reminded that my mental health does not define me.

'Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its troubles, it empties today of its strength', is a very significant quote; worrying about irrational fears and events which haven't or may never happen does not lead to a healthy state of mind. The strength that we have within ourselves only declines when we allow ourselves to become overwhelmed with worry.

Last weekend I had a huge wake up call which allowed me reflect on my negative actions towards others. Although it is very important for your family, friends and partners to accept you as you are, there are also ways that you can improve too. 

I currently need to work on myself and focus on remaining calm, so I recently purchased some self-help books on anxiety in order to relax. It is essential to focus on yourself once in a while, so you shouldn't feel guilty about doing it, it just means you can clear your head and focus on what truly matters in your life.

• Click here if you would like to read my blog post on panic attacks, anxiety and depression.
• The books I purchased were 'Overcoming Anxiety', by Helen Kennerly, 'The Worry Cure: Stop worrying and start living',by Robert L. Leahy and 'Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway', by Susan Jeffers. I bought my copies from Ebay, but you can also purchase these books on Amazon as well.