Album Review: BENEATH THE SKIN by Of Monsters and Men

Icelandic five-piece band, Of Monsters and Men, unleashed their second album today named Beneath the Skin. Following their highly successful debut album, My Head Is An Animal, the band had a lot to live up to. This successor does not disappoint at all, sounding like a loyal sequel to their first album whilst still bringing something powerfully individual to the table.

A Fortnight in Photos [From May to June]

Since the end of exams, I've been trying to make the most of the time I have left at university. That means jam-packing every day with outings, food and shopping. These past couple of weeks have been blissful; that is partly because of the recent appearance of some beautiful weather, as well as spending all these moments with the people I love. I managed to capture some lovely photos whilst all this was happening to feast your eyes on. May you all be enjoying wonderful summers!

Blind date with a book, a spontaneous pick from Waterstones with a flat white and a good friend // Loving the 

colourful interior of Scribble in London

Tea and lemon cupcake in Crumbs Cupcakery in York whilst visiting a friend // Found a lovely mason jar in a bespoke shop, 

perfect for throwing in some lemon slices and ice cubes with plain water // Seeing wild bunny rabbits all over campus!

In Shakespeare's birthplace in Stratford-Upon-Avon // A five-hour picnic on the first day of real summer weather

Some greenery surrounding campus // Started my first Vonnegut novel // Beautiful stained 

glass windows in a National Trust property

(Inspired by the "Week in Photos" posts by the lovely Rhiannon Ashlee)

Top University Reads: First Year

Behold, my first year as an English Literature student has ended. Although this means hours slaving over essays are over, and cramming for exam season is a thing of the past (for now), I have read some absolutely amazing texts this year that I would have never touched before doing this degree. If there's one thing that is invaluable about an English Lit degree, it's that I've become so much more open-minded literarily, and some of these new favourites have truly revolutionised the way I think about the world around me (which is what you would like literature to do really).

So below is a list of the favourite texts I've studied this year and why you should read them too:

1. The Magic Toyshop by Angela Carter

One of the first books I studied this year and tells the story of young teenager Melanie who unexpectedly becomes orphaned and must move in with her uncle and his new, strange family in the countryside. The novel is fantastical, feminist and outrageous. If you've read Carter before, you might have an idea what kind of tone this novel is, but it retains a sense of reality whilst intermixing just the right amount of Magical Realism. The narrative presents a beautifully raw coming-of-age where the ambiguous ending forces you to question today's society; especially for a young woman.

Book Review: THE UNBECOMING OF MARA DYER

Source Photo and Cover Art: http://www.heatherlandis.com/

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer: the beautifully-covered, hauntingly-mysterious cliché-parody. Michelle Hodkin's bestselling primary novel of the Mara Dyer series tells the story of young sixteen-year-old Mara, whose friends' untimely deaths shock her into psychological trauma, forcing herself and her family into a new life. Once they all settle into a new place, Mara cannot shake the doubt, guilt and uncertainty that plagues her daily. Now nothing is certain; everything a question.

A Week Without Wifi

So if you're reading this, you're probably quite similar to me: the internet can no longer be classed as a pastime, or a hobby, but rather an alternate life, that simply runs alongside your regular one whilst they dip into one another occasionally. Although I wholeheartedly agree with this viewpoint, it can get a little concerning when I think about how much I can rely on the internet for everything. It becomes a platform that I spend way more of my life on than doing things away from the screen and this very dependence had me worried that I couldn't function normally without it (starting to sound like an addiction to you? Me too.)

The other day, when I met up with one of my close friends, Ellie, we started discussing this fairly bleak habit that we both harbour. Cue a pact: go an entire week  (Wed 1st April - Wed 8th)  without using the internet. None, nothing, nada. Even the thought of it was nearly insurmountable. An entire week?! Yet this very reaction prompted us even further, for it shouldn't be that hard or shocking to go a short seven days without logging into the nearest Wifi hotspot.

This is the story of how I tried, did fairly well at and then ultimately failed this pact. Yet there's a lot to learn here about how certain aspects of the internet are crucially useful or necessary (without being dramatic) and how others can be easily suspended if we put our minds to it. However, more importantly, this challenge also allowed me to take a step back and enjoy the beauty of the outside for a change. Here we go:

Marathon TV: THE 100 Overview, Thoughts and Predictions

We all have those moments when we hastily binge-watch a show after we check it out on a whim or hear the hype in some crevice of the internet. Despite the fast-pace-large-intake, marathoning TV shows is a great way to fully immerse yourself in the world and realise exactly what works and what doesn't in the plot, characters and universe. So I thought I'd start a new series called "Marathon TV", for intensive overviews of all my thoughts on the show, predictions for any future seasons (and to curb my withdrawal symptoms of not being able to immediately watch the next episode).

The first instalment is The 100 (produced by Jason Rothenberg), a science-fiction teenage drama that takes place in a post-apocalyptic universe. There have been two seasons so far, airing on the CW or E4 in England and can be compared to the extremely popular series Lost mixed with The Hunger Games. The premise itself is intriguing: the earth has currently been unpopulated for nearly 100 years due to a nuclear war where radiation which has left it unsurvivable for human beings. Cue the creation of 'The Ark', a large space station that now houses the remainder of the human race. However, The Ark is beginning to run out of air and rapid action needs to be taken. This leads the Ark's council and governmental system to decide to send down a group of 100 teenage delinquents and criminals, a large enough but expendable population to go back down to earth to assess its conditions and whether the human race can move back there for good. Once The 100 land, all seems well at first. But lingering radiation has had its effects on the ground, and the teenagers are not alone. 

Current Top 10 Albums

I'm one of those people who needs to listen to music whilst they work. So with stressful exams and essay periods, I'm simultaneously and inevitably binging on and discovering new music. With some all-too-exciting Easter exams coming up, I thought now would be a good time to run down on my current favourite albums. These are constantly changing but I finally managed to whittle them down to a somewhat structured Top 10:

10. Open Season - High Highs (2013)

I've been listening to High Highs for a while, but have only listened to this album in its entirety recently. It is the perfect album for moments of relaxation and apt for both looking outside at the rain and laying down in the sun. Their sound is made up of these beautiful soft and slightly crackly drum beats and guitar twangs that emulate a spinning record. The real epitome of the High Highs however, is the lead singer's dusty and almost cottony voice that simply wraps around your ears like an enveloping hug. A true experience of cosiness here. Favourite Track: 'Flowers Bloom'.