Month: Jul 2019

The Nerd Next Door – Sylvie Stewart

by melissay1, posted in Book Review

The Nerd Next Door is the story of Haley. As the book title suggests she lives next door to a nerd, Ted Jones. The only problem with that is she absolutely fancies the pants off him. Somehow without even meaning to Haley and Ted seem to have the most embarrassing interactions every time they encounter each other, even when their relationship doesn’t extend further than a friendly neighbourly hi. Thanks to Haley’s best friend Liv taking matchmaking matters into her own hands, Haley and Ted finally become friends but even though she’s giving off every single signal she can for some reason Ted just doesn’t seem interested in her being anymore than a friend.

Haley was likable from the word go. I think we’ve all been in that situation where no matter how much you try to be cool in front of that person you like, somehow you end up doing something ridiculous and I think that is largely why I at least instantly liked this story. Ted was equally as instantly likable and it was fun to watch the relationship between them grow. Even though they’re just friends I thoroughly enjoyed reading how they interact with each other as they certainly have chemistry. Although she wasn’t in the book so much I also really liked Haley’s best friend Liv and I’ve already decided that I need to read a book about her as I think it’ll be fantastic.

The storyline I thought flowed quite well and it did turn out more than just Haley lusting after Ted which I thought was a good thing. I’ve mentioned before that a lot of the time it irritates me a book being told from a dual perspective as I find sometimes it makes the story difficult to follow. However, in the case of The Nerd Next Door I felt it really added to the story. I felt that you learnt so much more about both Haley and Ted when they were telling the story in each others perspectives. I particularly enjoyed the dual perspectives when the hilarious misunderstanding happened. This incident was also one of the many sections of the book that made me laugh out loud.

If you’re after a book that has some laugh out loud funny moments, as well as a nice romantic build up then you should pick up The Nerd Next Door. Its a quick read and although I don’t think this book is one that you would read time after time, if you are just wanting that quick read then I couldn’t recommend this book more.

Synopsis – 

New town, new job, new neighbor… new crush.

I’ve got a serious problem and it goes by the name of Ted Jones. Even his name is nerdy! Combine that with his glasses, lean runner’s frame, crazy smarts, and superhero addiction and he’s got my lady engine revving hard.

What can I say? I’ve got a thing for hot nerds.

But our shy glances and awkward exchanges in the elevator aren’t going to cut it. This nerd is mine; he just doesn’t know it yet.

Sanctuary Tour – Aly & AJ

by melissay1, posted in Music

Changing it up from my usual Sunday book blogging this week as I recently went to see Aly & AJ in concert and I can’t wait to post this up, particularly as the European tour is very short so if you’re wanting to see them live you have to act fast as it’s sadly all over and done with on Wednesday.

Aly & AJ have been one of my favourite artists since I was at school, I was trying to pin point when I started liking the music and I think its probably a good 14 years ago now! I was definitely that kid who watched the Disney Channel 24/7 and one of my favourite shows at the time was Phil Of The Future which starred band member, Aly Michalka. Then when they started to make music together, Disney Channel used to play clips between shows and since then I’ve been a fan. I used to ask for their merchandise and albums for Christmas and birthdays as it just wasn’t sold in England at the time so its safe to say I’m a fan. Aly & AJ were the only band left on the list of artists I really wanted to see live and as they’d never done an overseas tour before I didn’t think it would ever happen unless I went to America to see them…well now I have seen them perform live and it was everything I’d been expecting it to be and so completely worth the wait to see them perform live.

I had a meet and greet ticket for the show. I have to mention this as I thought it would be like any other meet and greet, you know the drill, pushed in for a photo, a very quick small talk chat if you’re lucky but Aly & AJ kept the numbers low and made it the best meet and greet experience I’ve ever had. They took the time to talk to depth with every single person, introducing themselves, making an effort to ask your name and where you’d travelled from and they were genuinely interested in how you became a fan or just hearing about your life in general. They both made the conversation as if you were just talking to friends and must’ve spent a good 10 minutes talking with every single person, signing anything you wanted them to sign and taking countless photos. It was truly the best meet and greet experience and I have left with the greatest memories from it.

Tour support came from Audrey – to find her on social media search for @audreyismusic. I thought Audrey was such a great choice in support act, she was fantastic! Great vocals, a very expressive and lively performance and super catchy songs – what more do you want? Audrey performed all of her own music and I think if you like Aly & AJ’s music you will like Audrey which is why I feel she was a perfect choice of a support. My personal favourites from her set was Stampede which has only recently been released and Red Flag. Audrey got the crowd perfectly hyped up for Aly & AJ and I think a lot of people, including myself, will have watched her performance and gone straight home and downloaded her music. I know that I’ll certainly be keeping an eye on her social media pages and would certainly see her own show if / when she comes back to the UK.

You could feel the excitement building up in the room in the wait for Aly & AJ to come on stage. Everyone you spoke to had been waiting a very long time to see them perform and it was quite interesting how barely anyone was actually from Manchester and had travelled some distance to see the show. I think that alone proves how these few European tour dates were completely well overdue. Aly & AJ came onto stage and considering the relatively small venue, the amount of applause and cheers coming for them was like nothing I’ve heard before.

The first song of the night was Church, one of Aly & AJ’s latest songs from the Sanctuary EP. It was a great choice of an opening song with every single person in the crowd singing along word for word, something which continued throughout the night. Aly & AJ basically took a ten year hiatus between the first two albums they released and the two most recent EPs, but the set list was a great mix between both old and new albums. I had worried they wouldn’t perform any of the old music that I love so much so I was thrilled older songs were dotted in throughout the setlist, the first of these older songs that was performed was Closer, one of my favourites from the Insomniatic album.

The set continued with a number of songs from the two recently released EP’s. My personal favourite to hear live was Star Maps from the Sanctuary EP. However, every single song both old and new sounded incredible live and you can’t deny that Aly & AJ are really good performers. Vocally they’re both incredible and they know exactly how to work a crowd. I never thought that I would hear older songs such as, Like Woah performed live and it was such a wonderful experience to be a part of a crowd that thought the same thing but you couldn’t deny that the new songs were any less fantastic to hear live. For me, I didn’t realise how much I actually do love the new songs until I saw them performed live. The likes of Not Ready To Wake Up, Promises and The Distance saw the entire crowd dancing and singing along, loving every single second of the performance. Take Me was another personal favourite of mine to hear live, this was the first song Aly & AJ released after the hiatus and it is the perfect introduction to the new music and the chorus is particular was sung so loudly by the crowd. After performing an already jam packed set list, Aly & AJ left the stage after performing Rush. Although this song is from the first album they ever released, it sounds just as much of an anthem as it was when it was first released and for me it was my favourite of the older songs that they performed live.

Of course this wasn’t the end of the night as both Aly and AJ walked back onto the stage with the biggest smiles on their faces for the encore, I can only imagine it was just as good of an experience for them to hear crowds from a different country who clearly adored ever song they’ve every made as it was for the fans to finally see them perform. The encore consisted of an cover of Kacey Musgraves song Slow Burn, and although I have to admit I’ve never heard the original before I thoroughly enjoyed Aly & AJ’s cover. This led onto the title track from the new EP, Sanctuary, a song saying thank you to the fans which never seemed more appropriate as they were performing in a room full of people who had been supporting them for well over ten years. Sadly they only had time for one more song and of course it was Potential Break Up Song. I’m pretty sure that even if you’re not a fan of Aly & AJ that you will know or will have at least heard of this song so it only seemed fitting this was the final song of the night. Although the crowd didn’t stop singing and dancing along all night long, the mood somehow seemed to go from 100 to 110 during this song – to this day this song definitely seems to remain a firm fan favourite!

This tour was a long time coming and I really hope that Aly & AJ do come back to the UK one day. From the most perfect meet and greet experience, to the show that I’ve been waiting a very long time to see, to being part of a crowd that clearly shared my love of Aly & AJ…all this combined made this one of my favourite concerts that I have ever attended and if you get the chance you must try and see Aly & AJ in concert. I don’t think one person in that crowd walked out of the concert thinking anything less than wow, that was an amazing show.

Glastonbury Festival 2019

by melissay1, posted in Music, travel

Last week I could be found in the middle of a field in Somerset in a tipi (glamping all the way!) for Glastonbury Festival. I’ve been going to Glastonbury on and off since I was at school and to be honest I can’t imagine any festival in the world comes close to it. I mean where else can you see David Attenborough making a speech on saving the planet by reducing your usage of plastics, catch the likes of Liam Gallagher, Stormzy and Kylie on the same line-up and do a million and one things that isn’t seeing music performed, this year they even introduced Glastonbury On Sea!

I think I’ll probably do a few Glastonbury posts in the near future as I really want to write up my thoughts on glamping at the festival vs bringing your own tent on site, but for this week I want to talk about some of my favourite performers I saw at the festival.

Miley Cyrus

The minute the line-up was released Miley Cyrus was the name I was most excited about. I consider myself to be a massive fan of Miley and even went to see her on tour when she was still in her Hannah Montana days so she was always going to be in my favourite performers list. For me, I was intrigued to see her for the first time since her Disney days and boy has she progressed as a performer. Admittedly, Miley Cyrus is known nowadays as being quite controversial but you can’t deny that she’s a performer and vocally she is fantastic and has definitely massively improved since the last time I saw her. Her set list was littered with covers that the Glastonbury crowds knew, new songs from her latest album as well as her biggest hits, all whilst chucking in a few special guest appearances for good measure. Miley Cyrus well and truly got the crowds attention and I heard countless people declaring her as being their favourite performance from the weekend.

Lewis Capaldi

To be truthful I must’ve been one of the only people on the planet that hadn’t heard Lewis Capaldi’s music prior to Glastonbury. I have seen his face all around social media from videos he’s posted online and I have laughed at them but not once did I bother to check out his music. However, a friend constantly talked about how much she loves him prior to the festival so whilst I was there I figured that I had to go and see what the fuss was about. I went in to his set completely blind as to what his music / performance would be like and I absolutely wasn’t disappointed with what I saw. His music is exactly my cup of tea and I genuinely can’t believe I never bothered to listen before. I feel like he’s one of those people whose name has been hyped up so much that at fear of joining in with the latest popular trend you just never check it out but I enjoyed his set so much that his album was instantly downloaded the second his set had finished. Lewis Capaldi has an unreal voice, a personality that works so well on stage and I certainly have walked away from the festival as a fan and have told everyone how much I enjoyed his performance.

George Ezra

I have seen George Ezra a couple of times previously. I’ve always thought he was ok to watch at a festival but I’ve never really had an opinion on him more than he’s ok. Then last year I did a charity walk and one of the girls I did it with kept singing his songs including Shotgun as we were climbing up mountains, since then I just associate George Ezra with doing that walk and it brings back (somewhat!) happy memories. I’m not sure if that is the reason why I really enjoyed his performance or if he’s just really upped his game but George Ezra was one of my favourites from this years festival. Before seeing him at Glastonbury I’d only heard his most recent album either played on the radio or being sung half way up a mountain and I have to say I was very pleasantly surprised at how good it sounded. I actually would go and see George Ezra if he performed locally now as even with a sprained ankle he put on one hell of a show.

Liam Gallagher

I think that if you play any of the Oasis hits anywhere in the UK people will always stop and sing along, so when you put Oasis frontman in the field singing a lot of Oasis songs its safe to say that it’s always going to go down well. I think Oasis is just one of those bands where people at least love the hits and know every single lyric. I’ve seen Oasis live before they split but this was the first time I’ve seen Liam Gallagher perform as a solo artist so I was abit sceptical as to whether to could deliver a performance to rival that of Oasis. However, he most certainly did and although much of the crowd was definitely there for the Oasis songs, when he weaved his own songs in they didn’t sound out of place in the slightest. I think many people, including myself, will be checking out his solo material now we’re back at home.

The Killers

I have to be honest, when The Killers were announced as one of the headliners of this years Glastonbury I was ever so slightly disappointed. I’ve seen The Killers live on a number of occasions now and I think if you’ve ever been a fan of The Killers or have even attended festivals you’ve probably seen them perform at some point over the years. I used to really like The Killers music but I’ve not been so keen on the more recent albums, however I thought that the performance was fantastic. I’d been quite vocally going around telling people how they just aren’t as good as more but the new songs actually came across really well live and seeing the performance made me realise just how much I did use to love the earlier albums.

I think my list of top 5 is probably quite predictable as they’re all big names. In most years at Glastonbury I’d usually tire myself out running from stage to stage seeing the last known names but this year is was just too sweatingly hot to even consider moving far from the Pyramid stage, so I ended up seeing most of the big artists who performed on that stage that weekend. Despite this, I wasn’t disappointed with who I saw and the above five artists were my stand out performers of the weekend.

Did you go to the festival or even just watched on television? I would love to know which performances you enjoyed, if I didn’t see that one I’ll definitely have a watch!

 

The Paper & Hearts Society – Lucy Powrie

by melissay1, posted in Book Review

I’d been looking forward to reading The Paper & Hearts Society for a long time so its safe to say when I opened up my June Wildest Dreams book club box and saw this book was in the box I was thrilled and added this straight to the top of my to read list.

Tabby is a self confessed book nerd, she would much rather sit and read a book than attend a party. After seeing a flyer in the library for a book club (and with abit of encouragement from her Grandma) she decides to join. Tabby is awkward and struggles with panic attacks when she gets nervous and is put in new situations but she hopes that meeting bookish people will help her find a good group of friends who are passionate about the same things as she is. Tabby finally feels like she is part of a group who they call themselves The Paper & Hearts Society, but sooner or later her past will catch up on her which threatens her new found friendship group.

The Paper & Hearts Society is quite a leap ahead of young adult books. It features sexuality, mental health issues and online bullying which I feel that young adult books should be increasingly covering. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t really read enough books where these kind of topics feature but this book is the first one that I have read where the topics are covered very well. Without revealing too much, in The Paper & Hearts Society Tabby has anxiety and this triggers off panic attacks. I can appreciate that people have different responses to how they tackle things such as mental illnesses but I personally think that the way in which Tabby is portrayed in the book is one of the most realistic ways I’ve ever read about in a book. I think this goes for every single issue that’s presented in the book too.

I think if you pick this book up you’re probably quite a bookish person yourself and could identify with wanting to find like minded book people like Tabby does. For this reason I think a lot of readers will easily identify with the characters and the idea of the Paper & Hearts Society itself. What I liked the most about this story is that all 5 of the members of the book club are quite different people but all bond over the mutual love of books and people will definitely be able to see parts of themselves in at least one of the members. The story as well isn’t overly complicated and I believe every single person reading it will be able to relate, it also provides a few little romantic moments too for those people like me who love a good romance!

The hype that’s been around this book lately is so well deserved and I really do think its one of the best young adult novels around at the moment. It explores issues that are super important particularly in todays society and presents a story that is extremely realistic and relatable. If you love a good young adult novel then you must pick up The Paper & Hearts Society, I know I’m already sat eagerly awaiting the sequel!

Synopsis –

A brand new series from Booktuber Lucy Powrie – about what happens when you give up on trying to fit in and let your weird out! It’s time to join The Paper & Hearts Society …

Tabby Brown is tired of trying to fit in. She doesn’t want to go to parties – in fact, she would much rather snuggle up on the sofa with her favourite book.

It’s like she hasn’t found her people …

Then Tabby joins a club that promises to celebrate books. What could go wrong? EVERYTHING – especially when making new friends brings out an AWKWARD BUZZING feeling all over her body.

But Olivia, Cassie, Henry and Ed have something that makes Tabby come back. Maybe it’s the Austen-themed fancy-dress parties, or Ed’s fluffy cat Mrs Simpkins, or could it be Henry himself …

Can Tabby let her weird out AND live THE BEST BOOKISH LIFE POSSIBLE?

Perfect for fans of Holly Smale and Super Awkward.