I asked for 'The Sun is Also a Star' by Nicola Yoon for Christmas after reading her book 'Everything, Everything'. I was really glad that I did. It was wonderfully emotional book, with beautiful sentiments about love and chemistry. The story is told from two points of view, Natasha who is about to be deported to Jamaica and Daniel who is about to be interviewed by Yale. They struggle with internal conflicts of emotions against practicality. Natasha's love of physics incorporates many interesting facts into the book, and Daniel's love of poetry makes the tale super romantic. The ending was unexpected to me, but lovely all the same. While there are sad undertones to the story, it has an overall happy mood. The racially diverse characters also taught me about Jamaican and Korean societies too. 10/10 would recommend.

I am a massive John Green fan, so when I heard that he was publishing a new book this year I was super excited to get my hands on it. My mum recently gave it to me as an early birthday present and I  read the whole book in almost a single day. It was such a page turner and I enjoyed the book thoroughly, so I thought I'd review it for the blog.

One of the things I love about John Green is how unique his characters always are. Although the characters in this book aren't quite as quirky as usual, Aza who narrates the story suffers from anxiety so the book gives a very unusual perspective on life. Her friends still have very distinct personalities but are more 'normal' than I expected.

On top of the cool characters, this book deals with some important themes such as death, mental health and friendship. This isn't uncommon for John's books, but the particular emphasis on anxiety makes it a great read for anyone who suffers from mental health problems (or knows someone who does) because he explains it in a way that is easy to understand or relate to.

There are also always some interesting philosophical concepts in John Green's writing, and this one was no different. Not to give any spoilers, but one in particular gives the book it's title. There's also a lot of information about disease because of the type of anxiety that Aza suffers from, which is very fun to read about and also some talk about a species called a Tuatara.

I would recommend this book to John Green fans or anyone who is effected by anxiety. It is uplifting and informative and I loved it.

Disclaimer: this is not an ad. I have not received any goods or services for writing this review.

For my birthday, I received from my friend Gemma the fairly-recently-released sequel to 'milk and honey' by Rupi Kaur, Instagram poet to the masses. She's one of the most instantly recognisable poets to millennials, partly due to her spliced, free form style, also due to her affinity with capital letters, partly because some of her love poems from 2am are so *goddamn* relatable.

This doesn't mean she hasn't endured criticism:

it
doesn't seem
all that hard
for one
to chop
poetry
like you chopped
my heart (for example lol)

However, there is no denying that Rupi Kaur, et al,  has done wonders for modern poetry, for explorations of identity and intersectionality, whilst remaining non-preachy and relevant. Overall, I do actually really enjoy a lot of her poetry, and only some of it makes me groan in a 'how is this really deemed art' way, so I was excited to read her latest offering.

I think the thing about Kaur is that she manages to concisely and accurately represent feelings which can sometimes feel like they're unexplainable: love, loss, confusion. Her second book shows her having grown into herself and her style even more than in 'milk and honey'. It is less, and at once more, superficial. She still dabbles in cliche - one example being the *revolutionary* 'you're everywhere/ except right here/ and it hurts', but one of my absolute favourite parts was the section 'rooting' which explored her parents' emigration from India to Canada.

It also happened to come at a very important time for me, where I needed to read some strongly willed poetry for motivation. I've accidentally started this academic year single (again lol, having basically wasted the last year) and with a huuuuuge workload, which was getting me down a tad. Despite seeming like it's trying too hard in some places, Rupi Kaur's newest collection is uplifting and interesting, with a hugely powerful voice.

About a week ago I decided to go on a stationery shopping trip to buy everything I needed in order to stay organised and encourage myself to keep working. On my trip I went to both Ryman and Muji in central London and below are the things I have purchased. Enjoy.

Aside from my pens I have also decided to purchase some other stationery which I would categorise as "the usual" as those are the supplies everyone purchases before the start of every new academic year; pens, rubber, ruler, you name it. I also decided to purchase a clear pencil case for this year as I feel like that is what works best for me due to the fact that I can see all of my supplies and easily get what I need or identify what I need to put into my pencil case. I purchased this particular pencil case from Ryman, however you can get it from Ebay or Amazon too.





 Lastly, I also purchased some folders before the start of this new academic year alongside some dividers which I find very useful at helping me separate information within my folders and therefore make the large ring binders easier to navigate. I purchased both my folders and dividers from Ryman as their folders tend to last a long time period and look nice and presentable. I purchased the regular folders sold at Ryman, all in different colours in order to assign them to different subjects and therefore make my system of organisation easier to navigate.

I am a massive fan of books so over the years I have read many. Here are my top 10.

1. My very favourite book is Black-Eyed Susans by Julia Heaberlin. It is fascinating and emotional and a little bit scary and I loved it.
2. Next up is The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick. This is a story that explores mental illness and healing and finding love and it's really interesting. The movie of this book is also fantastic.
3. Third on my list is The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton. This is my grandmother's favourite book and is about a dollhouse with creepily realistic figures. It's creepy and exciting.
4. I could not make a list of my favourite books without mentioning I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson. Read my full review here.
5. The Host by Stephenie Meyer is really a children's book but I have read it 14 times so I really wanted to include it on this list. The book is set in the future and is about aliens that take over human bodies, it's great.
6. Looking for Alaska by John Green has my favourite characters of any book I've ever read, they are hilarious.
7. Before I Go To Sleep by S J Watson is thrilling and full of plot twists. Well worth a read.
8. We Are All Made of Stars by Rowan Coleman is such a beautifully emotional book that is truly lovely if you're prepared to cry a lot.
9. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is a classic, and still one of the most romantic books I've ever read.
10. The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare are a series of books aimed at young adults but they were some of the most gripping stories I have ever read. 10/10 would recommend.