Sunday Thoughts

I finished my book today. That always puts me in a strange mood, like I'm still kind of trapped in it, surrounded by the characters and empathising with their lives even though they're over.

So I went for a walk and realised, probably for the first time ever, that nothing was wrong, and everything in my life is alright. It's quite enlightening to actually comprehend that kind of thing.

So now I'm settling into my job and getting used to juggling life and full-time work, I'll update with some shopping/outfit posts in the week.

Just thought I'd drop in. It's been a while xo

What I'm Reading: Edgar Allan Poe

This arrived for me recently and I've not put it down. As a fan of gothic literature, Edgar Allan Poe is obviously a bit of a hero to me. I wasn't expecting the book to be so huge but oh my gosh! The illustrations are incredible.

Tales of Mystery & Imagination was the first ever published collection of Poe's works. Harry Clarke was the original illustrator from the 1908 edition and I'm so glad they've carried on his art to this edition from 2008.

No artist I can think of could possibly have captured Poe's stories so perfectly in illustration. As a stained glass artist, Clarke's work is beautifully eerie to match the gothic feel of the book.

My favourite piece is right at the front, and is captioned "He shrieked once - once only," a line from Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart. In the book the drawing is shown in black and white which adds more to it's gothic feel.

And this, for no reason more than my unexplained life long love for skulls and bones!

What I'm Reading.

Right now I'm reading Tideland by Mitch Cullin. I started it months ago, but due to all the fictional reading I have to do for my Creative Writing course, I find it hard to find the time to read for leisure, as I hate having more than one book on the go at one time - I like to give them my full attention!

So this week I found that I have next to no fiction books to read this semester, and therefore all the time in the world to get lost in books of my choice.

Tideland is a Southern Gothic novel, which comes as the third instalment to Cullin's "Texas Trilogy," and has been described as "a modern hybrid of Psycho and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." Sounds like perfection to me!

The novel follows the adventures of a young girl, Jeliza-Rose, who spends a summer alone in an isolated Texas farmhouse, with only her imagination and a bunch of dismembered Barbie pieces for company.

This book has got me cute. It's one of those 'can't put it down' novels which I never want to end. And as soon as it does, I will be sure to track down the first two book from the Texas Trilogy (Whompyjawed and novel-in-verse, Branches, if you're interested). So, for anybody looking for some recommended reading, or just something to get stuck into during the cold evenings, I send you this. The best book I've read for a long long time.