Good Reads Reading Challenge 2015.

I consider myself to be 'a reader' but at the end of last year I was surprised to find that I had read less than I thought. 

I subscribe to Goodreads and receive their news letters, so when I saw they had a yearly reading challenge I decided to sign up for it as a way of monitoring and keeping a record of what I read.

Initially I decided to read 50 books but then upped it to 52, figuring that a book a week wasn't too much of a stretch and it seemed more logical ( to me anyway!)

I wanted to set a challenge that wasn't too challenging - too many books and I may find myself choosing shorter or easier books just to meet my quota - but I wanted something that would make me put the Candy Crush down and do something a little more cerebral!

...

Halfway through the year, I'm ahead of schedule. I've read 31 books so far - that's 60% of my total and I'm 7 books ahead of schedule according to Goodreads. (The nerdy part of me just loves that they give you these breakdowns!)

So far I'm really happy with my progress. I've definitely made more of an effort to read rather than, say, watching TV or messing around online. I'm keeping on top of my 'want to read' list and I haven't deviated from the type of books that I usually read. There's a good mix of light reading, essays and biographies, and I've taken to reading psychological thrillers which is a new genre for me.

 As usual there have been a few things that I started and couldn't get into that got cast aside and aren't pictured above. Equally, there are a couple of books pictured that I should have cast aside!

I'm going to continue with the Challenge until the end of the year and plan to do another next year. I'll check in with a final report at the end of the year - I'm pretty confident I will complete 52 books.

Wish me luck!

How to be a Husband.

Tim Dowling's How to be a Husband isn't, as the title may seem to suggest, a self help book, instead it's a collection of very funny essays.

Dowling is an American married to an Englishwoman. He lives in London with her and their sons and writes a regular column about family life for The Guardian newspaper. This book appears to be an edited compendium of those columns.  

The book begins with Tim meeting his wife for the first time and goes on to describe their courtship and subsequent life as a married couple and parents of three boys.

It's well written and easy to read. The humour in it is very self depreciating but it is a seriously funny book - it's not often that I laugh out loud whilst reading but this made me do so more than once. However there's an emotional side to the writing as well and some astute observations are made. 

All in all it's a  hilariously funny read that I greatly enjoyed. 

Walmart Beauty Box Summer 2015

Empties posts seem to roll around very rapidly and even more scarily so do these quarterly posts about the Walmart Beauty Box. It's hard for me to believe that this is the fourth Walmart box that I have received and as always I had pretty much forgotten about it until I received the shipping notice.

(The box itself is free, you pay $5.00 for it's shipping and each box contains a selection of make up, hair care and body care items in a mix of full sizes, minis and samples along with a selection of money off coupons.)

Now guaranteed it's not the most exciting beauty box in the world but it's super cheap (well, technically it's free) and there's always something useful in it. Plus who doesn't like to come home to a little box of goodies waiting to be opened? 

I'd seen a some reviews of this months box online and people were generally disappointed as they were somewhat smaller than usual, many didn't have any make up items and a lot were made up almost exclusively of repeat products from previous boxes so I didn't get too excited for this... However, I think I must have got lucky as I received a pretty good selection of stuff in mine.

The 'big ticket' item in this box was a full sized NYC Liquid Lipshine Lip Gloss. I received shade 579 -  'Fashion Avenue Fuchsia'. Now the packaging and the doe foot aren't luxe, for sure, but although the colour in the package looks very bright, it's actually a very wearable blue toned pink that's flattering by itself or over a nude lip base. In fact it's not a million miles away in color from Chantecaille Luminous Gloss in 'Framboise'. It feels a little greasy on but it's not sticky and has a pleasant fruity scent to it that's not too strong.

My 'repeat product' was Dove Go Fresh Body Wash in 'Mandarin and Fiore Flower' - but I'm perfectly happy to get another of these as small body washes always come in handy and this is a zingy fruity floral number that's perfect for Summer

.

Another handy item is the small pot of Nivea Cream - how old school is that? Obviously, I'm not going to use it on my face but it's a great cream for knees, elbows etc and personally I love it's classic old lady scent!

I'm pretty fussy when it comes to sunscreen but Neutrogena is one of my favored brands so this mini CoolDry Sport Sunscreen SPF 70 is another hit for me. I really like these mini sun lotions that you can slip in your bag and use for top ups when you are out and about all day.

Although, thankfully, I don't have dandruff I will use the Clear Complete Care Shampoo as I have been impressed with the other Clear shampoos that I have used. They generally leave my hair soft and shiny and this one will be good for giving my scalp a really good clean and getting rid of any product build up there.

The big bust for me in this box was the St Ives Apricot Scrub. I won't use this as it can tear the delicate skin on your face. I could repurpose this as a body or foot scrub but I know there are plenty of people who love this so I will pass it along.

Sample wise this month there's One Direction You & I EDT. It's way too sweet, fruity and generic for me to wear but I'm sure my fourteen year old self would have loved it!

There's also a three day sample of  Jergens Natural Glow that I will use. Although I'm not a 'fake tanner' I don't mind the Jergens ones as they are natural looking with a gradual build up, really, who doesn't love Jergens?

My box wasn't rich in coupons this month... I was excited when I saw there was a coupon for $2.00 off Real Techniques but unfortunately you have to use it in Walmart and we don't have them in NYC.

Overall, I think my Walmart Summer Box is a hit, with a nice range of products. For me it's $5.00 well spent!

Hausfrau.

Anna Benz, an American living with her Swiss husband and their family in Zurich is the Hausfrau in question in Jill Alexander Essenbaum's first novel.

The Benz family appear to lead a comfortable conventional lifestyle but we soon discover that Anna is isolated and emotionally vulnerable. Bored and frustrated by her lifestyle and the rigors of Swiss family life and society Anna seeks solace in a variety of extra marital affairs, entering into sordid sexual situations with men who she increasingly doesn't even like.

Anna is losing control and when the unimaginable happens she discovers that she is truly lost and there is no going back.

Hausfrau is a really good book but it's not an easy or comfortable read. It's quite disturbing yet very clever. It's about love and loss and will leave you questioning many things. (And that cover - it's just gorgeous. Cover of the year so far for me...)

  

Sephora $100 Gift Card.

I tend to pay for pretty much everything by credit card so as to take advantage of it's rewards system. (I should point out that I pay it off in full each month so that I don't incur any charges - my bank must hate me!).

I always opt for a gift card and until recently it's always been for either Amazon, CVS or Target. Imagine my delight when I cashed in my most recent points and saw that they had Sephora gift cards... Who knew?... Of course I had to have one!

I split my spending into two orders to maximize the samples available. 

Order #1 was a make up treat. 

I love the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder and had been eyeing up their Ambient Blush for a while. I like a powder blush in the summer as it lasts so much better. I wanted a summery shade and chose Dim Infusion, a peachy color, long lasting, easy to apply and blend and it looks very natural. I'm very pleased with this and can see my Ambient Blush collection expanding at some point!

I needed a brush to replace my Real Techniques Buffing Brush - I've used mine to death and can only find it as part of a set here - so I bought Sephora's Multitasker Complexion Brush #45. It's a nice soft brush and I use it all over my face to blend everything in when I've finished my make up. Whilst I don't love it quite as much as the RT Buffer it is a very good brush that I am pleased with.

Order #2 was more skincare orientated. As I'd used up my huge box of Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Pads I decided to give F.A.B. Facial Radiance Pads a whirl. I've only used them for a few days but I'm impressed so far! There's a bit of a tingle there but they are gentle enough for everyday use (I'm using them just at night). They are a no frills product that is very economical and live up to all the hype they have received. I've yet to try Nude Radiant Day Moisturiser which I grabbed as it was on sale. I'm always on the lookout for a simple, basic moisturizer that I can layer on top of serums and oils and this fitted the bill.

Deluxe weekly sample specials that I picked up were Sunday Riley Good Genes  (I can never have too much of this) it's my night serum of choice and as it's a pricey one I always choose samples of this whenever I see them - and another chemical exfoliator, Alenist Genius Bi Phase Peel, which will be good for travel. 

Smaller samples included two perfumes - Chloe and Replica Beach Walk, a sachet of Living Proof Style Extender hair treatment, and skincare sachets from Sephora, Dr Brant and Estee Lauder.

All in all I think that's a pretty good range of freebies and my bank account and manager are happy with my purchases!

The Master Bedroom.

After enjoying Clever Girl so much I decided to pick up some of Tessa Hadley's older books. 

The Master Bedroom tells the story of Kate Flynne who returns to her childhood home to care for her aging Mother after a successful career in London as a college lecturer.

Once home Kate spends her time reading and playing her violin. She runs into David, the younger brother of a childhood friend at a classical music recital and finds herself attracted to him. David's marriage is foundering and he is drawn to Kate. Kate then meets David's seventeen year old son and starts having a sexual relationship with him...

 It's all a rather improbable plot that really doesn't progress. The ending ties up all the loose ends - Kate breaks up with the son, her Mother dies, David and his wife restore their marriage, Kate sells her childhood home and that's the end of the book.

 

I didn't dislike reading this book, Tessa Hadley, as ever, delivers elegant flowing prose and it shows great useage and command of the English language, but in addition to the plot being rather unbelievable so were the characters, in particular Kate and her Mother, Billie. Whilst 'Clever Girl' resonated with me because of it's credible characters and situations I really don't think that people live the 'Kate Flynne Lifestyle' in this day and age and I found the ending to be disappointing.

Overall, I didn't hate The Master Bedroom but the far fetched plot and unrealistic characters irritated me so it wasn't a great read for me.

Meeting the English

Meeting the English tells the story of Struan Robertson, an orphaned and unworldly Scot who spends his gap year in London caring for Phillip Prys, a famous playwright who has been paralyzed by a stroke. Set in 1989 this book received outstanding reviews in England and is the first novel by the Scottish poet Kate Clanchy.

Sad to say I really did not enjoy this book. It failed to resonate with me and I just could not connect to it or it's characters. 

It's not a long book but it took me over a week to get through it - I really should have abandoned it. I did think that I would be able to polish it off quickly but I would read a page or two and set it aside... I did wonder if this was because I had hit a wall with my reading or because I have read such great books recently but, ultimately I think that it just wasn't my kind of book.