What DO I carry in my bag?

I can be extremely over-cautious when it comes to the contents of my bag - part of my 'prepare for every situation' mentality - but these days I'm more of a simple gal, especially when it comes to smaller bags where you don't really have the space to fuss.

Sometimes I read other peoples' 'What's in my bag?' features and I just think No way do you carry some of that stuff around! ...Seven shades of lip gloss?!  - so I'm personally going to be as realistic as I can for this.

Glasses / A book - I wouldn't be allowed this luxury in a small bag like the one above, but I do like to bring a book so I always have something to do if I have a little bit of time on my hands. My current fixation is Morrissey's Autobiography / Purse / Mini hand cream - gotta look after those hands! This Soap & Glory one is so velvety and smells good enough to eat (but I won't of course)  / Vaseline - I'm addicted to it / Phone and cover case - got this from Etsy recently, along with the bag / Pen - honestly don't know why I carry this, there aren't many situations when I have needed a pen on demand.

Also:  Hairclips - an absolute must for my Medusa-eque do / Earphones / Mini deodorant/body spray - not so relevant for today (rain!!), but the past few weeks have been BOILING and there's nothing wrong with a little preparation for when the sun is sweltering you! / Keys / Snacks - usually these (they're delicious and taste like sweets except are 100% fruit!) or something more a bit more naughty and/or chocolatey! Some say it's bad to carry food around with you but I regret to say I disagree!

I'm sure I've forgotten something but there you go. No doubt a uni edition will be coming in Sept/Oct in preparation for my new term!

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BELIEVE the hype.

Excuse the state of my library copy! 

Wrote this last night:

I've just finished reading this - 5 minutes ago - and immediately felt I had to write about it.
You know when people GO ON AND ON about a book so much, that when you finally read it, yeah it's generally a good book but it's doomed to be somewhat disappointing because it can never live up to the success that surrounds it (BTW, this sort of happened with Looking For Alaska by John Green for me - it was great but I was naively expecting my life to be changed forevermore or something). It's undermined by its own well-deserved hype. What a paradox. 

Well.
This didn't happen with Wonder by R.J. Palacio. Not at all. A review by 'The Bookseller' states that 'it will make you laugh, cry and break your heart'. It's no lie. In many moments I laughed out loud, which doesn't happen with many books - little gems of humour peppered throughout, such as the unexpected Justin Bieber reference at the end, in amongst the list of great philosophers, explorers and artists. Fantastic.

With risk of sounding cliched, it really is an inspiring book that left me feeling hopeful after quite a bad day, and ready to face tomorrow as a brighter one. I'm still on a high from it in fact. I have a library copy, but maybe I'll get one for myself - just so I can flick through some of its wonderful snippets of universal wisdom when another bad day comes around. 

So, I'd just like to say: Believe the hype. It may or may not change your life. Hey, we all have different reading experiences and things that move us don't necessarily move others. You may not connect with this book at all, in fact.
But there's only one way to find out.

Danielle x

P.S. For those of you who have read it already, try The Julian Chapter,  a short e-book in the perspective of the school bully from Wonder, Julian.

Hay Festival 2014

Book art at the festival

I was so excited to go to this years Hay Literature & Arts Festival in Hay on Wye in Wales this year, even if it was just for 1 (Friday, Day 7) out of the 10 days in which it runs for. Book + food + music = my perfect day out so you could say I was in my element. Indeed, this festival has been visited by many familiar faces in the past including Rowan Williams, Carol Ann Duffy, Boris Johnson, Bono, Bill Clinton, and there were many additions to the list this year such as Benedict Cumberbatch(!!), Dame Judi Dench, Steve Coogan, Jacqueline Wilson, Stephen Fry, Paloma Faith, and more.

This was my first year attending the festival and, although most of the events were sold out because I hadn't booked in advance, I still had a really fantastic day!

Interior of one of the book shops 

Personal highlights/+:

• Discovering the bookshops around Hay on Wye, famous as the 'Town of Books'. In short walking distance I went in about ten, and they were all so original and quirky, especially in their decor. I also thought it was funny that many of them had a 'No Kindles allowed' policy (I daren't mention I had one in my bag that I used for the journey up!)
• Book signings! There are about 10 book signings throughout each day, open to everyone. 
• Being in the audience of the One Show filmed live from the festival. Funny being near something I watch regularly.
• The shuttle bus was only £1 for an all-day ticket. A great perk to the day as I pay at least £4 in my city.

Cons/-

• Parking! Took us a while to find a parking space but in the end we had a bit of luck and landed a space in a field directly opposite the entrance!
  
• Food prices - although I'm sure there were other, more reasonable venues to eat at, we were forced into a place where two salads and two pots of teas cost over £25 which we thought was just crazy.

I will DEFINITELY be coming back next year and do the whole 'festival experience' properly, perhaps camping and all. It's really not something to miss out on as a book enthusiast and recommend everyone goes at least once! 

Snapshots!*

 

       

        Poetry book shop in Hay on Wye                                                             Hundreds of Penguin Classics

Filming of the BBC One Show

Books everywhere!

Danielle x

All images in this post belong to Danielle at cupofloveliness.blogspot.com