Book Round Up #1

This is a new type of post I'm trialling. I am hoping it will keep me focussed on my yearly reading goal, and it will give me an opportunity to provide quick reviews on the books I've read from month to month. 

John Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men

 I loved, loved, loved this novella. In such a short amount of words, Steinbeck managed to create fully developed characters so much so that the heart-wrenching ending left me numb for a few days after I'd finished it. Steinbeck's prose is magnificent. Everyone must read this book. At least once. 

Rating: 5/5

John Marsden - Checkers

This one's a re-read for me; I read it as a teenager, and now re-visiting it as an adult I still love it. John Marsden has always been one of my favourite authors. Checkers is the tale of the unnamed author; writing from a mental hospital, this is her story of breakdown following her father's unethical business practices. The foreshadowing of the author's dog being named "Checkers", (Nixon had a dog of the same name, and his infamous Checkers Speech draws parallels to this book) was lost on me when I was younger. A quick re-read, but I'm glad I did. 

Rating: 4/5

Virginia Woolf - A Room of One's Own

One of Woolf's most famous pieces? This extended essay is thought-provoking, inspiring, incredibly well written. A book about writing, and a book about feminism? Totally up my alley. This was excellent. It's only short, you should just read it for yourself. 

Rating: 5/5

Jon Ronson - The Psycopath Test

I had high hopes for this book, but unfortunately it fell flat. Ronson's analysis of the mental health industry lacked depth, and was frankly, a bit all over the place. For instance, we've all heard that psychopaths apparently make the best CEO's, and this is a claim that Ronson investigates...by interviewing one "psychopath" CEO. I disliked how much Ronson inserted himself into the book; this entire book reads as "look at all the interesting situations I got into!" Towards the end of the book there was some more interesting things about the DSM manuals becoming oversaturated with "labels" that might not even be psychiatric illnesses - but again, this was rushed, anecdotal and barely scratched the surface. I'd probably give it a miss. 

Rating: 2.5/5

Susanna Kaysen - Girl, Interrupted 

I've always loved this film, so decided a while ago to purchase the memoir it's based on. This is the story of Susanna Kaysen, who at 18 years old swallows 50 aspirin in a half-hearted suicide attempt. A year later, she visists a psychologist who books her into the McLean psychiatric hospital (other famous patients include Sylvia Plath, Robert Lowell, and Ray Charles). I finished this book in a couple of days; it's mostly observations and short stories about her time in the hospital, other patients, and the nurses. It's not chronological; and might appear a bit jumpy, but I feel like that fits well with the themes of the book. Overall, a quick, interesting read. I really enjoyed it. 

Rating: 4/5. 

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Haul: Priceline 40% off.

Priceline recently had one of their famous 40% off sales. I had been eyeing off some stuff, and this was perfect timing to pick it up.

I only ever go into priceline with a list when these sales are on, otherwise there's the potential for things to get out of hand.

So I ended up getting:
- Revlon Colourstay cream foundation
- 3 Rimmel 'The One' lipsticks
- 4 Revlon Ultra HD Matte lipsticks
- 3 Essie nail colours
- Rimmel 'Brow this Way' brow powder kit.

And, I didn't pick this up in the sale, but I recently purchased the Nivea Men Post Shave Balm, after hearing for months about how great it is as a primer. I'm not convinced yet, but still testing it so we'll see.

Did you pick up anything in the Priceline sales? 




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April Goals

A photo posted by michaela (@michaelaarghh) on Mar 8, 2016 at 4:02am PST

And just like that, we are more than a quarter of the way through 2016.
Let's review March...

MARCH GOALS

- Host a board game night

Ticked off and it was so much fun! J and I used to have regular games nights, but then we started to go to trivia and they kinda just stopped happening. I'm loving getting back into it, and have already planned one for this month!

- Clear off and out my bedside table

I think I need to write this in my diary as a 'to do' because otherwise it's never going to get done. 

- Cook a new recipe

I cooked a thai chicken lemongrass skewer recipe from Donna Hay! It turned out really well - full of flavour, easy to make, and has now been added to my recipe repertoire! 

- Read 3 books 

Nope, fell slightly behind this month. 

- Go rock-climbing

- Sort already printed photos into photo box

Again, I think this is something that will actually need to be put on a 'to-do' list. 

- Edit NZ photos 

Finally did this! Now to get them printed!! 

- PIF the clothes I've culled from my wardrobe.

APRIL GOALS

- Find a blogging schedule that works for me

- Read 4 books (to catch up from last month) 

- Cook 1 new recipe

- Improve my speed at wall climb-ups in parkour

- Choose a song for pole audition

- Sort printed photos into photo box

- stretch for 5 hours a week.

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Colour Theory Nails: Spring Collection*

As Sydney is finally starting to get some cooler weather, I'm holding on to thoughts of warmer days with this Spring Collection of nail colours from Colour Theory's SS range "Gelato Dreams"

These are bright, pastel nail colours, that will set you back $4 at any Guardian or AMCAL pharmacy. 

These are made in Australia, are formaldehyde free, are really fast-drying and fairly long lasting.  

L-R: Cool Capri, I Love Bubbelgum, Pistachio Party

These particular colours are a little on the thinner side consistency-wise (especially compared to some other Colour Theory colours I own), but build up to be nice and opaque with a few thin layers. 

I like the packaging of the nailpolish bottles, it reminds me a lot of the Australis nail packaging. The brush bristles are quite short and thin, so it is easier to paint on multiple thin layers, rather than one thick layer. 

The wear time is about three days before chips begin to show; I'm quite rough with my hands as well, so I feel this is pretty good wear time. 

The biggest win for this polish is definitely the price; at only $4 a bottle, you can afford to experiment with colours; and the best thing is, the formula doesn't feel like a "cheap" nailpolish. 

Disclaimer: These polishes were sent to me for editorial consideration by the lovely people at "Colour Theory". They have in no way influenced this review and all opinions are my own. See my disclaimer for further details. 

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