Book love

Each month I chat about what books I've been reading in my monthly Book Love feature.

The Psychopath Test - Jon Ronson
I hadn't read anything by Jon Ronson before, but I'm hooked after just one book. He's such an intelligent writer, and is super witty and funny too - even when looking at quite harsh topics. What a chap! This book races through psychopathy, psychiatry, Scientology, conspiracy theorists, mysterious hoaxes, and all sorts of strange behaviours. You'll speed through it.

Watership Down - Richard Adams 
This is a novel about rabbits, but it is so so so much better than that sounds. Think Animal Farm and you're on the right track... it's surprisingly gritty and violent in places, and the effort that has gone into creating the history & mythos of the rabbits is just BRILLIANT. I've been obsessed with the film since I was wee (the opening scene absolutely terrified me) and can't imagine how many times I've actually watched it, but hadn't read the book since I was a teenager. It's really just SO good, and worth taking a chance on (even if you don't really like rabbits).

Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman
Aw, Neil Gaiman. If you haven't read anything by him then you need to immediately go to a bookshop and purchase something with his name on it. Doesn't really matter what. Ocean is his newest book for sort-of-kids-sort-of-everybody, and it's just lovely and magical and scary and sad and poignant and wonderful.

Warm Bodies -  Isaac Marion
Before starting Warm Bodies I knew it was going to be ridiculous. It's a zombie romance novel. A zom-rom. The front cover has a quote from Stephenie Mayer (her of Twilight fame, obv). It was going to be daft, but brilliant, I thought. And.. well... oh. I was just SO annoyed with it! I didn't care about any of the characters, they did stupid, stupid things, sulked about & just wound me up. I think it mainly frustrated me as I really liked the concept, and some of the imagery was just lovely. But it didn't deliver. Grr!

How to: make a hula hoop

Say hello to my new favourite hobby - hula hooping! I was always RUBBISH at hula hooping as a kid (along with whistling, cartwheels and headstands... what kind of childhood did I have?!) but it recently came back into my life when I met my pal Joshua, who is some sort of hooping master! (Seriously, he goes to hoop camp and everything).

Anyway, before I knew it, I was hooked & had to make one of my own. Here's how you do it.

To make your very own hula hoop you need the following:

• 25mm MDPE pipe
• 25mm pipe connector
• Pipe cutters (or hardcore DIY scissors)
• A kettle
• Tape to wrap your hoop in! I used a mixture of gaffer tape (good for being grippy), electrical tape and glitter tape

It's pretty easy to get the bits and pieces you need to make a hoop, but things like the pipe seem to only come in longish stretches, which means it might be worth teaming up with a pal or two to split costs! That or make yourself a hoop for every day of the week.

Start by measuring the size of your hoop. It should go up to your navel - mine is slightly bigger because I'm a beginner, and a bigger hoop spins more slowly, and is therefore easier to learn with!

Cut it with pipe cutters (and be careful when using scary scissors!) and make sure the ends are neat.

Now you need to heat the ends of the pipe so they are soft enough that the pipe connector will fit in. We soaked it in very hot water for a few minutes, but you can also hold straightners over the end if you can't be bothered to boil the kettle!

Shove the connector in, and make sure the hoop is firmly connected. If it's hard to join it together either heat it for a little longer, or wiggle the hoop up and down  until it slides in. Give yourself a pat on the back for making a hoop!

Now the really fun bit - making it pretty! Tape is good because it adds a bit of weight to the hoop (which slows it down, and makes it a little easier to use), adds grip, and looks lovely. I used white electrical tape to cover the entire hoop, blue glitter tape for a bit of sparkle, and red gaffer tape that has a bit of texture.

Try to be very patient when wrapping your hoop - you want to keep the tape nice and flat, and evenly spaced out if you are making it stripy. It turns out it takes a surprising amount of concentration (and at one point, two pairs of hands) but it's so satisfying when it's done!

Look at my lovely hoop! I've been practising almost every night and I am definitely getting better (when I first started I could barely keep it going round my waist). I'm mainly doing it because it's SO much fun (surprisingly so) and I want to learn loads of tricks, but it's also meant to be great exercise as it really works your core.

Go forth and hula! Let me know if you make one yourself...

Gold wishlist

Every time I start a blog post by commenting (mainly moaning) about the weather, I'm reminded of what a massive British cliché I am. But in Scotland it really is quite ridiculous - you can get every possible combination of weather in a day (I'm only slightly exaggerating... but sunshine, hail, sunshine, rain, snow, light shower isn't that uncommon in winter!).

Now September has struck, the days are getting much darker, the winds are freeeezing, and skies are pretty much permanently grey (except for one stupidly sunny day last weekend, which will feature in a blog post soon! I told you the weather was indecisive). Anyway, one of the nice things about darker days (alongside cosy duffel coats and hats with pom poms!) is that it feels acceptable to start dressing like a glitter ball - maybe to combat dull freezing days!

I'm pretending to be more of a grown up these days, but I'm still a bit of a magpie at heart... although now I keep finding myself obsessing over gold things - the more obnoxious, the better! I'm still on a spending ban (WOE, when am I not) because of the house & whatnot, so as always, here's a wishlist to help curb my shopping...

Top row

Converse high tops | Amazing headphones | Umbrella necklace

Bottom row

 Zatchels satchel |  Sequin tee | Gold Rush polish

IMAGINE wearing all of this at once. Too much, maybe? I'm lucky enough to already own that satchel - it was a leaving present from my very lovely pals at The List and fits absolutely loads in it - I only ever use satchels these days, I can't imagine going back to normal handbags.

& if dressing like Midas sounds like your idea of hell, but you still want to be a wee bit bling - gold nail polish is lovely, and works really well in nail art designs!

Disclaimer: This post contains a sponsored link.

The Other Side

We all know who Canongate are yeah? The indie Edinburgh publisher (and my old office neighbours!) who have worked with the like of Patrick Ness, Barack Obama, Michel Faber & Yann Martel (plus loads more)? 

Well, Canongate are turning 40 this year (happy birthday guys!) and to celebrate they are hosting The Other Side - a night of stories, sights and sounds... and it looks like fun.

At the party there will be (deep breaths)... amazing storytellers! Authors Michel Faber (love love love!), Matt Haig, Alasdair Gray and Michael Smith will join poet (and ex-Arab Strap musician) Aidan Moffat, RM Hubbert and Rick Redbeard from the Phantom Band. 

Jeremy Dyson (he of League of Gentleman, Psychobitches, & Ghost Stories) will take guests over to the dark side with his twisted tales (I don't know what this really means, but it sounds great). There will also be music! A showcase of original short films featuring Tilda Swinton (love her), Miranda July, and Gil Scott Heron, AND a preview of Under the Skin (written by Michel Faber, starring Scarlett Johansson, set in deep dark Scotland. Lovely stuff).

AND there will be live art by the super-cool Too Much Fun Club AND even more mash-ups of arty, Scottish, publishing loveliness. Plus, I imagine there will probably be gin.

Sound good? OF COURSE it does. It's on this Thursday (September 19th) at The Jam House, Edinburgh. 

Tickets are only a tenner (what a cultural bargain) and are available here.

Stay Home Club

As a fan of hibernating and cosy homes, I am a big big fan of the Stay Home Club. Run by illustrator, and all-round super person, Olivia Mew (who I've blogged about before - she designed my amazing star wars droid scarf), Stay Home Club is a collection of super cute (and slightly grumpy) items for yourself and your house!

As well as featuring loads of Olivia's illustrations, there's a whole range of things by contributing artists - if you've ever wanted an illustrated pillow then this is your lucky day.

I really want everything, but will do my best to hold off shopping until I get my house/future flat situation sorted (aaargh!). But until then, here's what I've got my eye on...

Top row

Stay Home and Watch Buffy tote | Boring is Best pullover | Through Being Cool patch

 Bottom row

Nothing pennant | Stay Home Club pillowcase | No New Friends tshirt

Passive-aggressive apparel is the BEST. Be mine!