Saturday 23 July 2011

A Rare Phenomenon

I'm probably going to jinx it now but today is a rarity, my second day off in a row! I only think this has happened once before and although I absolutley love work it's nice to have the occasional break! These last few days have been fairly hectic. I met my friend Sophie on Wednesday for coffee. She had a job interview on Thursday at a primary school in Shrewsbury that unfortunatley she didn't get. It's such a shame because she deserves it! Not only is she lovely and gorgeous she's bloody qualified too! But thanks to David Cameron the rate of unemployment for people in our age group has grown!
This has been quite a general post so I'm going to add in the fact that I'm heading down South in early August. (Not sure if I've mentioned this already.) It's been too long since I met up with my friends, but I'm also looking forward to seeing my family, especially my Dad. I've been working on his birthday present so that it's extra special this year. I won't write it down in case he finally gets his bum in gear and goes on the computer!
Published with Blogger-droid v1.7.4

Thursday 14 July 2011

Book review: Stuart: A Life Backwards by Alexander Masters

Stuart : A Life BackwardsStuart : A Life Backwards by Alexander Masters

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Stuart: A Life Backwards by Alexander Masters



When I found out that this was one of the 25 books I had won from Booka I was really excited. I'd seen the film and absolutley loved it thanks to Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hardy. It hadn't taken me long to love Stuart. When I started the book I felt that same tone. Despite the potentially depressing subject matter I found myself smiling at what Stuart said and I was eager to read the next chapter. Unlike most biographies there was real humour and warmth. Normally I find they are simply the bare facts. The book is obviously more detailed than the film and the friendship between Alexander and Stuart really shines through. Masters does a brilliant job of making chaotic, homeless, violent, druggie Stuart likeable as well as someone you care about and would like to meet. Unfortunately the latter isn't possible. The only reason I gave it four rather than five was because I found the book lagged slightly in the middle before picking up again at the end.



View all my reviews

Book review: The Dead by Charlie Higson

The Dead (The Enemy #2)The Dead by Charlie Higson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The Dead by Charlie Higson



I had read The Enemy and was expecting this to be a sequel so I was very surprised when I discovered these events happened a year before with a completely new set of kids. Higson is a brilliant YA writer. He manages to grab your attention and keep hold of it right until the end of the book. The characters he creates can be stereotypical but generally there's someone there for everybody to like. The amount of gore and the vivid descriptions do surprise me for the age group but it's not any different from his first book. The fact that the kids get killed off so quickly and suddenly is a surprise too but regular readers will learn not to get too attached to anyone. Overall when I'm reading the book I can't put it down, but when I'm finished I feel like there's something missing from making it one of my favourite YA books.



View all my reviews

9 to 5...

First I must apologise to my faithful readers (if there are any) for not posting anything in a while. I feel like I haven't had much time to just stop and do stuff like this during the last couple of weeks because my job started. I am now one of the employed! Wehey! I was so nervous about being a Care Assistant because it is a big responsibility. You are one of the people that has to ensure the residents of the care home are happy, comfortable and well. As my deputy manager pointed out: 'it's not just cups of tea', although that is a big part of it haha! The staff at Fairholme have been even better than I imagined they would be. As well as someone to have a laugh with they've given me great advice, always offering support and saying 'if you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask'. The residents themselves are great characters and it is a really rewarding seeing them make progress. It's a much more fulfilling job than I expected it to be. When I found out that I'd got the job I was just grateful to be employed, now I'm grateful that it's with Coverage Care at Fairholme. I've only been there three weeks, but I already feel like part of the staff, even if I haven't got all of the uniform (only the trousers and the badge). Being a carer is certainly a job that you look forward to doing. I wake up in the morning, bleary eyed, but ultimately excited to see the residents and talk to them. I'm lucky to be this age and be in a job that I enjoy which has a future. There's plenty of opportunity to further my training (NVQ2 & 3) and eventually I may study Nursing. A new Coverage Care Home is being built just down the road to replace Fairholme in two years time. It will be nursing as well as care. But that's a long way off. For now, I'm glad I'm a Care Assistant at Fairholme, even if I'm tired, have achey feet and no social life!

Thursday 7 July 2011

Book review: The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

The Poisonwood BibleThe Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

I was a little bit disappointed at the end of this book. It seems I spent the whole time warming up to them, but by the end of it I still wasn't sure if I liked them. The main characters are Leah, Rachel, Adah and Ruth May and they were all fairly one dimensional, particularly Rachel. It seemed over the span of forty years she didn't change from being the whiney teenager, whereas Leah went from following her father around to following Anatole around. Adah was the only one not to annoy me. I'm not a mother, but I would like to think that when things started going downhill I would have gotten my children out of there no matter what the cost. An added thing that I thought was missed was a chapter or two from Nathan Price. He was probably the most interesting character of the lot.
Overall, I thought it was well written, but by the end, I was bored.



View all my reviews