Sometimes, life doesn’t go to plan. People don’t always act in the kindest way you know that they can because they themselves are having a rough trot of things at the moment.
Sometimes, life gives you lemons.
I have these days, everyone does. They are days when you wish you could just jump back into your pjs by the time lunch rolls around and soak up some cozy time reading, back in bed, maybe with a cup of tea or slice of chocolate cake.
I mean, I don’t know what these days look like for you but what I do know is … sometimes if you don’t let your body, brain and heart have these wobble days, the wobble days can last longer than they need too.
So I guess I’m telling you that, if you need a mental health day once and a while, tell the people around you that that is what you need.
Try to explain to them what it is that’s going to help you and why you think you need a wobble day.
Then ask them to check in on you in a day or two.
If your wobble day has turned into longer than just a day or two, maybe you can try explaining a little bit more to that trusted person. They may be able to help you find a new perspective you couldn’t see from under your cozy bed sheets x
Write Around the Murray (WAM) started on Saturday the 16th of September for me. I jumped in my car for a road trip, grabbed a coffee from my local and switched on an episode of the Life Uncut Podcast. Travelling to Albury was so lovely and having the time to duck into GreenStreat was a highlight! If you haven’t been there, it’s one of the best salad bars and the choices are endless!
Debra and Kathryn discussed their works on nonfiction and how the heavy experiences they’d had in their lives, lead them being where they are now.
Following this discussion, I went for a wander around Albury’s LibraryMuseum, which is where the WAM Festival is annually held. The space was incredibly inviting and it was clear that all of those within the space were there to have a great time and connect over books.
Albury’s LibraryMuseum held the space of a festival bookshop (of which I attended 😉), a preloved bookshop, selling good quality library books, a fantastic coffee van, workshops spaces for little ones and an awesome podcasting section. This is where you could verbally share your feedback and engage with the creative team of WAM. Such a fantastic idea!
That afternoon, we also heard from Paul Delegano discussing his book Prudish Nation. In this interview we heard about Paul’s experience of reaching out to a large and diverse demographic of authors to interview them on their thoughts around unconventional relationships. Openly, Paul discussed his journey of holding preconceived thoughts around marriage, unity and social norms. And then, how he fell a non-monogamous marriage himself. This discussion was so interesting and clever. I must admit, it wasn’t expecting to walk away with so many thoughts, feelings and preconceived ideas of my own washing away.
After Paul’s interview, we all parted ways to book into motels, grab a drink and refresh before coming back for Stereo Stories.
I must kindly thank WAM for generously gifting me a ticket to Stereo Stories for the evening, with Ann-Marie (WAM’s Director) excitedly telling it is an event NOT to miss – how could I say no!
Upon entering Albury’s LibraryMuseum for Stereo Stories, I bumped into the lovely roaming Poet of WAM, Joel McKerrow, who read me a poem from one of his books and my gosh, did it resonate with me! It was about change, outgrowing environments & experiences, and looking to keep growing as an individual. Joel’s talent for words and expression is extraordinary. He also performed inside as we all gathered for a social drink, nibble and network before heading into what was set to be a sold out show!
Stereo Stories was up there as a highlight of my WAM experience 🎹🥁🎷🎸🎻 🎤 Stereo Stories is where a talented band comes together to combine their love and performance of music, with personal stories and a memory that connects with the particular song played. So for example, Paul Delegano took to the stage to discuss a memory and experience he had with his young child and a Nina Simone song that was playing at the time of that experience taking place. The band then brings the two creative streams together – storytelling and music. Here is a link to Stereo Stories youtube channel for you to discover them for yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe6YSHP5piA
On this evening, I made new bookish friends, connected with many talented people and networked with WAM’s awesome team. It was a joy ⭐️
It can be hard in these busy, bustling lives of ours to not feel as if we have too much on our plates. For me personally, I choose to juggle (key word here is choose – we’re usually in control of how much we take on), full time work, recreational sport, book blogging and reviewing, interviewing authors, developing a book festival and making time for friends & family.
I’m not here to boast or brag – I don’t want your empathy as I’ve said, it’s a choice I make – but I’m explaining this to give context in how try to use delegation in my life.
At this stage of my life, I choose to delegate; developing the book festival and friend & family time.
I delegate festival time by having found the most wonderful people who share it’s passion. These people have formed our strong and involved committee, whom each have a plate the size of mine, if not larger. But the key is we choose to delegate areas in which each members skills are going to excel. For example, I love communicating with others. So my areas of excelling include email correspondence, finding local community members to support us, attending networking events and organising our meetings + some more on the creative side of things. Therefore, anything that tends to fall outside of this scope, we discuss who will best suit the task. This is because somebody else in the room will find a task related to their skillset a heck of a lot easier than I, and will have the capacity to have this said task knocked over in 2 hours, compared to my 6. That my friends, is delegation at work.
With my friend & family time, I also choose to delegate. I generally choose to dedicate my Sundays spending quality time with those I value and who bring value to my life in return. You will see online that I tend to do my baking of cakes, biscuits, roasts and entertaining meals on a Sunday. This is because I delegate my other ‘need-to-do’ tasks throughout the week, leaving my Sunday for visitors. I think this comes from growing up and always dedicating time as a family to a Sunday night dinner together. As Italians, it was always pasta on a Sunday – and funnily enough, I still do that now at times. I personally choose a Sunday because it is typically known as our day of rest, but mentally for me, it’s also a ‘fill-my-cup’ day before heading back into the Monday to Friday grind.
I instantly resonated with this post saying the simple 4 words of “Don’t carry it all”, because I’ve had times in my life where delegation wasn’t my strong suit. And don’t get me wrong, as someone who has strong perfectionist traits, this can be extremely hard to work on and I do slip up – it’s only natural and normal. But choosing to have a healthy system of delegation in your life is something I would encourage you to try. And lastly, find those people who are in your corner and WILL cheer you on and work around your choices – they are your people!
I could not put down this GODDAMN book down, with it’s big puppy dog like golden retriever hockey team players, the ongoing manipulative drama between iceskating partners, and the SPICE 🌶 … the spice 🌶
Let’s just say this story has over 5 open door scenes for all you snoopy readers out there.
The storyline had body and I appreciated that. Anastasia attends Maple Hills College and is training with her partner to become iceskating olympians. Together, in their doubles duo they train hard everyday, restrict their diet, limit socialising outside of their iceskating groups and absolutely DO NOT associate with the other ice rink users, such as the ice hockey team.
Disaster strikes when the hockey teams separate ice rink is damaged due to a prank gone wrong, and our favourite tropes get introduced people! Friends to lovers & forced proximity 👏🏼🙈 Que ongoing arguments, training running over time, longing stares and secret watching/admiring of each other 😉 AND the unstoppable merging of two complete rivals in sports.
Nathan is built up from the beginning as this gentle giant. He is the captain of the hockey team and also a strong father type figure to the younger boys in the group. Nathan comes from a wealthy background but doesn’t flaunt it (too much) and our favourite part – he is genuinely love struck by Anastasia.
A big chuck of the beginning is the two of them in their own lanes, trying their best to not acknowledge the other. But, it’s not long before we’re well and truely into the depths of this ‘I want you but it’s not good to want you’ back and forward.
I genuinely liked having so much of the book about them figuring out their relationship status. I think it helped to draw out each of their personalities and fears of committing to a relationships in college (or university). Things change at the end of every year, people move away and careers begin to take a forward step.
However, this is a romance people so let’s remember that they’re always going to end up back in each others arms! 🙈
This book had me in with both hands and both eyes – unblinking 😉 I COULD NOT put this DOWN 👏🏼
Now, I know this has had varying reviews, most saying that too much happens towards the end and it all a bit extravagant. And yes, I agree that there is a lot that happens and it is a bit extravagant but for me, that was the BEST PART!
In The Only One Left we follow Kit, who takes on the new role as caregiver/home nurse to Lenora Hope, the unconvicted murderer of her father, mother and older sister when she was a teenager. Lenora has suffered a stroke in later years, and now an old woman now has limited movement in her body, and is harmless. Or so Kit is told.
Mysteriously, Lenora’s previous caregiver left unannounced. She has introduced a typewriter as something to assist in communicating with a non-verbal Lenora. Lenora and Kit slowly develop a friendship/relationship through writing back and forward about Lenora’s life and her past. Slowly, Lenora begins to share her story and Kit begins unravelling the pieces of what really happened that night.
Who was really there and who saw what? Did Lenora really do it and if she did, what made her commit such a hideous crime?
This dark, moody and addictive chapter cliffhangers, I had this finished in 3 days! If you’re looking for a novel with a stream of suspects, unforgettable twists and turns, and the need to be up way past midnight reading – try this!
I cannot thank my dearest reading friend Anna enough for this recommendation! She knows me well and she continually spoke so highly of this fantasy romance. I 100% see why ⭐️
Now I’m going to break this down a little differently to other reviews I’ve done. I want to take you through some pivotal aspects of this book but I’m only going to give you breadcrumbs. I really enjoyed not knowing a lot about Fourth Wing and it just being handed to me with a statement, “Read it. Just read it.” I want you to have that experience too, so here we go ⏬
Dragons: Yes, Dragons you say. Would I ever have thought I’d be recommending a book about dragons, dragon riding, dragons bonding with riders, dragon telepathy and dragon fighting? Heck no! But was this an epic aspect of Fourth Wing? Heck yes! I absolutely adored the relationship that Violet had with her dragon 😉 (if you know you know) and I could immediately feel how essential this relationship and bond was going to be throughout the book – and throughout the soon to be series.
Xaden Riorson: You, my friend, are one spicy main love interest 🌶 Xaden is a character that I think was perfectly placed to challenge Violet’s beliefs of herself, the world around her and the past that she’d so willingly accepted. He also encouraged her to have this wonderful self-belief that I think a partner should be able to do and hold space for. His title, knowledge of the dragon riders that have come before him and what it takes to be a good leader, is everything and more that I think makes him the perfectly imperfect spark in her story. He is witty, protective and a good liar. But does he keep these secrets from Violet to protect her? … read to find out
Basgiath War College: This place is brutal! There are characters dying left, right and centre – and you don’t even see it coming! I mean, one moment they’re there, the next they’ve been burnt to a crisp by whichever dragon sees them as weak. I mean, ruthless. I enjoyed reading how Violet’s intelligence from originally training to become a Scribe, assisted in keeping her alive at the most deadly of times. Her building up of mental, physical and emotional strength was something that progressed really well I thought. There was also a core group of other riders who became her close friends, helping with training, relationship advice and on missions. Rhiannon was a great best friend figure, as was Liam – oh Liam 🥺
Violet (or Violence as Xaden calls her): I am left with so many unanswered questions and feeling when it comes too Violet. Why is her hair silver? Why does she have physical weakness when her sister and mother do not? What happened to her Father? How were her Mother and Father even compatible when they seem so incredibly different? What does her sister know? Did she know about everything (what happens at the end)? Why is Violet the ‘chosen one’ ? What will truely happen between Violet and Xaden when they and their dragons are apart? … so many questions.
You’ve heard it here first folks – I’m taking part in NaNoWriMo this November and setting my own personal goal to work on a novel idea I’ve slowly tweaked over the past 18 months ✍🏼
National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo is a creative challenge for individuals, duos and groups to set themselves a challenge of writing and working on a novel every single day for the month of November.
I currently have just over 12,000 words and I’m aiming for a fiction average of 85,000 words.
I’m not one to share much around my creative ventures but what I will share with you is:
It’s set in a small town bookstore 😉
It’s a romantic fiction 💖
I will be attempting to write 500 words per day during NaNoWriMo (not the traditional amount but what I believe to be manageable for me. If I write over this daily word count, it’s a bonus 💫)
I will be Instagram Live-ing my writing time 📸 I want this to be motivating for all you other creatives out there setting yourself a challenge and hoping to achieve it
I’m excited, nervous and motivated to bring you all along with me on what I expect to be a wild, exhausting, thrilling and rewarding time.
Are you participating in NaNoWriMo for November? Share below and I’d love to follow along your journey as well 😊
You could say this is just a story about a woman and a movie star. And it is, but it is also so much more.
Ann’s writing style is something I feel I cannot compare to any other author. Tom Lake reads so easily, as if it were a breeze to write. Yet on the flip side, part of you can just tell each sentence has been deeply mulled over and crafted with care. I felt as though Ann knew what the reader would want at the perfect time.
Gracefully, we flick through past and present. In the past, we are watching Lara grow up. We see her first unexpected audition in Our Town, to her first interactions with the movie star and love interest, Duke. Lara’s career progression is quick, exciting and forgein. Her success in theatre was not where she expected her life to go yet her experiences brought her to where she is now, and that’s on a her family run cherry farm, with her husband Joe and retelling her life story to her three early 20’s daughters during Covid-19.
Lara retelling her story to her three daughters is fascinating and a topic our book club really chose to flesh out. We all agreed that after reading this book, there must be so many parts of our parents lives that we just don’t know. For me, I think these thoughts swirled as we heard Lara relay areas of her life in a certain way to paint a certain picture or image of herself and others around her at the time. Lara also chooses to not tell certain parts of her life to her daughters because they are too harrowing, raw and would change their perception of her. I think this could be true for so many parents. As listeners and readers, we take certain parts of a story and flesh out the bits in between with our own imagination. I think Ann painted a really great narrative around this action and how it can impact familial relationships and memories we thought we knew so well.
Tom Lake has been my first Anne Patchett novel and I can safely say, it won’t be my last. And I must admit, I know have a temptation to pick up more Reece Witherspoon Book Club books as this is the 2nd I’ve thoroughly enjoyed.
There is something about Izzy and Lucas that had me needing to stay in my pyjama’s until 3.30pm and finish this book! Yes, you’re hearing that right 🙈
‘The Wake-Up Call’ is our October book pick for THE ROMANTICS book club, of which I’ve started with a book friend this year. It covers all things love, spicy and fun. If you’d like to join our online book club, click here💖
Izzy Jenkins is a bright, bubbly English gal who passionately despises Lucas, a sexy, strong headed and co-working Brazilian at New Forest Boutique Hotel. Both share the job of receptionist slash hotel managers. Yet sharing the role is proving quite difficult, as the two of them are competitive, quick witted and always have the upper hand on one another.
But see the thing is, Izzy has (and actively does) suppress the fact that she has feelings for Lucas … strong feelings, even when he is a stubborn pain in her behind! So much so that in December 2020, she sends him a Christmas card, openly expressing her feelings and suggesting he meet her under the mistletoe. Oh man, did this go horribly wrong! Que laughing at card, Lucas kissing Izzy’s roommate instead and a totally disastrous next year of Izzy and Lucas trying to work side by side.
I really enjoyed the rollercoaster that is Izzy and Lucas’ enemies to lovers romance. Their back and forth banter, constant teasing of one another in the hotel lobby and in front of Poor Mandy. Gosh, I loved Poor Mandy and laughed every time I read her name and scenes. She’s not in fact poor, but is rather referred to as poor due to having to put up with Izzy and Lucas bickering, competing and disturbing each other every week she works with them.
I will admit, there was a part there where it started to lull for me, but then we got into the heated arguments becoming heated emotional and intimate scenes .. and snap! my attention was well and truely captured again!
Something I’ve learnt about blogging and social media in the 3-4 years that I’ve been posting on melreviewsherbooks instagram & blog is that, for me, I cannot post for the sake of posting.
I think that posting for the sake of posting is something that people who are blogging as a business would possibly disagree with, however for me who is creating something for pleasure, I only post when I have something to say, share or have found a creative piece that resonates with me.
As you can see, my social media growth is not something I’m chasing, but more so a long term goal and something I’m moving towards as my content becomes more real, connectable and honest.
But you know what, I know who my true readers and engagers are on social media and the fact that I can still have my closest book friends message me on social media means the connection I love is still there – and that is important to me! For some, once your social media grows larger, that common true connection can become limited.
To try and explain myself a little more, in person I say to my friends and family, “I post when the feeling is there.” For me, creativity is a feeling and it comes in waves. I write creatively when I have a feeling, I cook when I have a feeling, I make changes in my like based off feelings.
Consistency is something I find hard, and that’s okay because I work a full time job Monday-Friday, I’m getting a book festival off the ground and I value time with family and friends. Sometimes ‘hussle culture’ isn’t awfully healthy for creatives because the flip side is I’d be running myself ragged to post blog posts, pictures and art that I don’t feel connected too – and you’d be able to tell!!
So in summary, I guess what I’m trying to suggest is post and create content that sparks joy and movement in you. Find a topic that you’re passionate about and go for it. Don’t pay close attention and compare yourself to other content creators in your community because you are you for a reason. And your beautiful mind is one of a kind, so why not share it 💖
Mel Reviews Her Books 