17 June 2015

Book Review: Stardust

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Stardust - Neil Gaiman, published 1999 - Buy the book here

I recently picked up Stardust after falling in love with other Neil Gaiman works, and this novel was just as magical. The setting and pace of the book make me think of christmas, especially those cold winter days when you're tucked up inside with a hot chocolate - so it's a definite re-read for next winter.

In Stardust we follow Tristan Thorn, who lives in a village called Wall which is where we are shown that this is the 'normal' world, and anywhere outside of Wall is the world of Faerie - these two worlds do not meet except from once every few years.

We see Tristan make a promise of finding a 'falling star' to the girl whom he believes is his one true love. Normally people are not allowed to venture outside of Wall until that one fateful day every few years, however Tristan is an exception. And he embarks on his adventure to finding this falling star, meeting various people (and creatures) on his journey and finding out he has a little Faerie inside of him afterall...

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and once again fell in love with Gaiman's magical words, and when people ask me which Gaiman book to start with I will now say this one. I was also pleasantly surprised as to how different this was from the movie - I know I probably shouldn't have watched the movie first. However after reading the book I have now realised that the film did not do it justice at all, the book had this magical feeling throughout and I felt as though you got a much better understanding of Tristan especially.

I found that the underlining love story within the book made it enchanting and gripping, especially as I am not the biggest fan of romance novels. The only thing I can say is if you don't like sex in books, this does have a few explicit sex scenes right at the beginning of the books.

As I said before if you want to fall in-love with Gaiman's wonderfully hypnotic writing, then start with Stardust as it's an easy and wonderful read and will guide you into Gaiman's novels easily.


Amy x




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12 June 2015

Haul: May Book Haul.

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So this months book haul was a big one, I kind of went a bit insane when it came to my Amazon wish-list! Especially now there is tonnes of sales going on (especially through the kindle store, and you all know how much I adore my kindle!).


I picked up a gift edition hardcover Philip Pullman novel which contain's his dark materials (Including, Nothern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass) it is beautiful, I couldn't resist picking this one up with my Waterstones £10 off voucher! You can pick this book up here!

I also picked up Us By David Nicholls, I am super excited to read this book, I am not usually the type of person who reads romance but now I am venturing into the world of romance, let's hope for the best. You can pick up this book here!

The Neverending Story By Michael Ende, I have read this book many times, but I don't own a physical copy - this case was beautiful I couldn't not pick it up. You can pick it up here. 

Her By Harriet Lane, I picked this up because it was recommended to me because I really enjoyed Gone Girl, I'm looking forward to reading it. You can pick it up here. 

The Narrow Road To The Deep North By Richard Flanagan, this is another book which was recommended to me -  I don't usually read books in this genre but I've heard nothing but rave reviews so I thought I would give it a shot, cannot wait to read this one. You can pick it up here. 

A Darker Shade of Magic By V.E Schwab,  I have been waiting to read this for ages and I finally went out and bought it, I love fantasy and I love horror so putting them both together sounds perfect. You can pick it up here. 

Crown of Midnight By Sarah J. Maas, another recommendation because of my love of fantasy books - I've seen loads of book bloggers talk about Sarah J.Maas's work so I'm super excited! You can pick it here. 


Throne of Glass By Sarah J. Maas,  another Sarah J Maas book which I've heard nothing but rave reviews about. You can pick it up here. 

Elizabeth is Missing By Emma Healey, I picked this up right at the beginning of the month and I haven't got round to reading it yet! You can pick it up here. 

All The Bright Places By Jennifer Niven, I saw a booktuber receive this book in the post and when she explained the premise I felt like I needed to read it! You can pick it up here. 

Marina By Carlos Ruiz Zafron, I have just finished reading The Watcher in the Shadows and I absolutely adored it so I thought I'd pick up another book by Carlos Ruiz Zafron and the reviews on Goodreads said that this one was the best. You can pick it up here. 

The Haunting of Sunshine Girl By Paige McKenzie, I saw this advertised all over YouTube and thought it looked like an interesting horror book! You can pick it up here. 

The Peripheral By William Gibson, this was another book I saw a booktuber talk about in one of their monthly round-up videos and the premise really appealed to me! You can pick it up here. 

Family Life By Akhil Sharma, this book seems like an emotional roller-coaster and every now and again I like to take a step away from fantasy, sci-fi or horror! You can pick it up here. 

Words of Radiance By Brandon Sanderson, this is part one of the series and again it was another book that people have been raving about on Twitter and YouTube, I picked this up when I picked up the Sarah J.Maas books! You can pick it up here. 


As you can see the haul was huge! 
Reviews will come along after I've made my way through the books, I am currently making my way through Stardust - so this will be my first review on my blog. 


Amy x



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4 June 2015

NerdCraft: Cross Stitch

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Hello, my name is Kelsey and I like videogames. I also like crafts. I also like Buzzfeed. Because of these facts I have decided to start a monthly article for the Glim Glam called Nerd Craft. Get it? It’s like Mine Craft but changed to Nerd Craft...


Anyways...expect a monthly top 10 of my favourite merging of pop culture and crafting, starting with this month’s piece on CROSS STITCH.

Cross stitch is really easy to pick up, it’s relatively cheap to start and there are patterns available for every single fandom you can think of which is why I think it’s a great craft to get into and here are 10 amazing patterns to hopefully inspire you to jump on the cross stitch bandwagon:

1.     Mario!




I said I like videogames so let’s start off with a classic. Everyone loves Super Mario, and this design even comes with a motivational slogan. Perfect. This design is quite basic so should be quite easy for a beginner to attempt. Pattern available here.

2.     Legend of Zelda




Sticking to the gaming classics theme with Zelda, here is another great pattern. This one would be great as a house warming gift, or if you are like me and don’t have any friends then perfect to stitch yourself, for your own house. Pattern here.


3.     Breaking Bad



If videogames aren’t your thing thank how about TV? This Breaking Bad pattern takes the classic cross stitch style and brings it up to date by adding Walter White. The pattern is available on etsy.


4.     Game of Thrones




Or if fantasy TV is more up your alley check out this awesome Game of Thrones cross stitch pattern available here.


5.     Harry Potter



On a slightly lighter note, this epic list of spells from Harry Potter would make any Potter fan ecstatic. Find this and many other adorable geeky patterns on CloudsFactory.net.


6.     Labyrinth



Oh Labyrinth, what a classic film you are! I don’t think this one needs any more explanation than that. Pattern available here.


7.     Howl’s Moving Castle



Any Ghibli fans in the house? This Howl’s Moving Castle piece is gorgeous, and the designer has many more beautiful and intricate patterns available here including my favourite Ghibli movie Kiki’s Delivery service. This pattern is super complex so probably one more suited for those with plenty of experience!


8.     Sailor Moon



You can even find anime cross stitch patterns as demonstrated here by the awesome Sailor Moon one. #Sorrynotsorry for using another cloudsfactory pattern but they are just too cute to not share!


9.     Marvel



Because Marvel trumps DC and this is pretty epic. Linky link link.


1.  Science!


The last one is one that is very dear to my heart. My fiancĂ© is a scientist so I will be stitching this as a gift for him but I think that even if you aren’t into chemistry you will still chuckle when you figure out the molecule structure. Pattern here.



So those are my top picks for nerdy cross stitch, but there are so many, many more so go forth and find them. I hope you enjoyed this piece and are inspired by it. I’ll see you next month!


@CocoaLikeGnomes




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