Book A Day Challenge Day #22 - Favourite festive scene

22. Favourite festive scene.....The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E. T. A. Hoffman

This book just made to-read list! Ballet was a huge part of my life as a child and I remember the first time I saw The Nutcracker at the Birmingham Royal Ballet. There is something about the opulence of the show that just captures Christmas not just as it is can be; with lovely decorations, time with friends and family, getting dressed up but how it can exist in your mind. All the luxurious foods are there in dreamy colours and exotic flavours and the feeling of it being a party is overwhelming.

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I've seen so many different versions but the one I return to is Matthew Bourne's as it is so colourful and sweet. It adds clarity to the plot and a great deal of contrast between the Christmas party by making it very stark to make the brightness of the fantasy world all the brighter.

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I really want to read this book now to see how it was transformed from the page to such an iconic ballet.

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Book A Day Challenge Day #10 - Latest purchase

10. Latest purchase......Make Your Own Diet Rules by Tara Stiles I went for a wander round the new Foyles bookshop on Saturday and, unsurprisingly, I wanted to buy a number of books. I went for this one because it seems to set out an approach that I am eager to explore. I haven't really been a big trier of diets but there always seems to be a new miracle weight loss solution kicking about. I have been at extremes of eating but want to achieve the golden dream of sustainable weight loss/maintenance. Tara Stiles, from what I have read so far, seem to advocate listening to your body, enjoy live and take the time to take care of yourself through eating and action.

Fresh Start

I have been using my social media accounts attached to this blog more than I have been updating here and when I looked back at the content had very little connection to my interests now. So I have cleared the posts out, with the exception of my old book challenge, and shall start afresh! So with that in mind....a brief introduction: Reading is my comfort and my joy and I will usually have 2-6 books on the go at any one time. My reading habits hop around somewhat in terms of subject matter, at the moment my current obsessions are American History and magical realism fiction. Last year I tried to cut down my book buying habit and ended up with a bit of a library habit! This year, all ten days of it, I've been reading with a focus on mindfulness and growing out of your comfort zone.

Book A Day Challenge Day #20 - Set where I live

6. Set where I live.... North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell I live in the north of England and take certain things for granted, I accepted the harsh and beautiful landscape, industrial buildings in odd places, the accents and the cold as normal. I've been for visits 'down south' but all of the places I have lived have been 'the North'. This book is a story follows two characters Margret Hale and John Thornton; it tells their story, moving from dislike to love, as much a story of misunderstandings as Pride and Predjudice. Their differences stem from their upbringing, their personal natures and their understanding of the world and it's people. I love this book, for each and every character, the story and it's setting. It's unsettling and doesn't sugar coat but is still delicate with how it treats the relationships, the friendships.

Violet Clouds

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