I'm a Volunteer for The British Lung Foundation!

I've been applying for Summer jobs/internships/work experience placements/etc. for the past couple of weeks and I'm delighted to finally blog about some progress!

As of approximately 12.30pm today, I became a volunteer for The British Lung Foundation. It's a fairly small charity (even though it's been around for 20 years!) but the office is a lovely place and I can tell that I'll be comfortable there. I'll be working there once a week as a volunteer receptionist whilst taking up some administrative duties too. :)

I had been slightly nervous about the interview yesterday, especially considering I haven't had an administrative related interview before and have minimal admin experience (2 weeks worth). Surprisingly though, it all went pretty well (although it was an "informal interview", so maybe it isn't actually that surprising!). My interviewer was extremely nice and friendly and we ended up having a really nice conversation in which she even gave me some advice for the future! She asked me what I wanted to do after university and once I'd explained to her that I wanted to go into Editorial Publishing, she told me about possible editorial opportunities at BLF.

I'm so excited! It's not quite in the publishing industry, but not only will I actually be doing something beneficial with my summer, I think it'll also be an excellent chance to really build on my admin skills, improve my social skills and also meet some interesting new people!

At this point, improving my social skills through this role is my main personal goal. Networking isn't my forté especially since I still feel like an awkward teenager in the middle of an adult conversation. I think regularly being in a professional environment will really help to change that. I'm going to be 20 years old in less than a month, so what better timing? ;)

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So much to read, so little time

As expected, I'm behind on my uni reading list for the semester. I don't know if I've met anyone at uni (other than the lecturers of course) who has been able to keep up with the mass of reading we have to do. Considering I have pretty much no social life right now, I'm not even sure if it's possible to keep up with all the work we have to do.

So, to emphasise my immense work load here's my current reading list (excluding the books I've already read because I have read a few, the books I want to read for pleasure and the books from one of my modules which I'm still contemplating on dropping)

My current reading list:

1. Emma by Jane Austen
2. Persuasion by Jane Austen
3. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
4. Maria, or The Wrongs of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft
5. A Sicilian Romance by Anne Radcliffe
6. Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
7. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
8. Silas Marner by George Eliot
9. Wessex Tales by Thomas Hardy
10. Dracula by Bram Stoker
11. The Time Machine by H. G. Wells
12. The Lady of Shalott by Alfred Tennyson
13. Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
14. Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell
15. Confessions of an English Opium Eater by Thomas De Quincey

The books in italics are low priority right now, but I guess we'll see how much I can get through within the next two months! If you're following me on Goodreads, you'll know I've started quite a few of these: I'm "currently reading" 13 books! At this point, I think I'm going to have to take a break from all other books. Which means less book reviews (not that I write an abundance of book reviews anyway) in the next few months to come. On the plus side, I've got some book events lined up which should make for more interesting blogging!

So if I haven't successfully gained your sympathy already, consider the fact that I'm also studying Latin on the side of all of this! Although I excel under short term pressure, the work and reading is really starting to take it's toll on me. I can't help but wonder what my third and final year will be like if this is just second year!

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Book Review: "Torn" by Ashley S. Morgan

I was sent this eBook by Ashley S. Morgan to read and review. I started it almost straight away but it took me a while to finish as I was reading it at the same time as a couple of other books. Right now it only seems to be available on Amazon U.S. on the kindle for $5.13, I'm not sure if they'll be putting elsewhere or in other formats.

Synopsis:

Isadora Rivers feels trapped. Her small town high school is suffocating her.
Another day of wannabe gangsters, dumb jocks, and Barbie clones, and she'll just lose it. Her keen emotional sensitivity is to blame. She sees through all of the poser behavior to the pain and insecurity simmering just below the surface, and it's overwhelming. She feels like she's literally drowning in other people's emotions.

This same sensitivity, however, makes her a great actress. Suffocating or not, her high school is one of the top arts schools in the country. Acting is not only her passion, but it also looks like her way out. If she can just score the lead role in the school play, she might get herself noticed by a Hollywood agent. But she's got a strong reckless streak, and it keeps getting her in trouble and jeopardizing her chances.

Riding her bike at top speed, she swerves in front of a car and nearly gets hit. The driver, Tristan Blake, turns out to be the mysterious new boy at school. He's rebellious, broody, and wise beyond his years. He's also devastatingly gorgeous. From the moment their eyes meet, Isadora is irresistibly drawn to him. But as soon as he enters her life, things go horribly wrong. She begins having disturbing visions full of unimaginable glamour and unbearable darkness. He knows things about her he shouldn't. And he's somehow so familiar. As he at turns pulls her close, and then pushes her away, Isadora feels like her heart is being twisted and torn.

She soon discovers that her whole future is in jeopardy, and her only hope is to stay away from Tristan. But how can she turn away from the only boy she has ever loved? As a harrowing event looms closer, one that threatens to rip apart her psyche, Isadora must reach deep inside herself and find the strength to change her own destiny. But is she strong enough to do it?

The following review doesn't contain any direct spoilers, but if you want to go in reading it cold turkey, I'd skip to the last two paragraphs just in case!

The synopsis gives you a lot of the story line to the book which is off-putting in my opinion. I like to be surprised (sometimes) with my books so after reading the story line beforehand I didn't feel much suspense whilst reading the actual book. My first impressions were pretty good when I started the book though. In fact, I found the beginning chapters to be the most enjoyable part of the book. Ashley Morgan is gifted in her ability to describe abstract moments between her character and nature. Her descriptions are vivid enough for me to be able to feel the same experiences as Isadora riding her bike, within just the second paragraph. Written from Isadora's perspective, we're taken into her average teenage life of highschool classes and highschool problems. A lot of the information we get in the story is from dialogue between the characters which both helps to put us in Isadora's shoes but also minimalises Morgan's use of description - which is something that upset me throughout the book. To begin with, Torn actually reminded me of the first Wicca book (which I absolutely loved!) so I was floating on air in the first few chapters.

Yet once my honeymoon period at the beginning was over, the chapters started to become repetitive and very quickly I found myself bored. There was a lot of unnecessary detail which didn't actually add to the story, to the relationships or to anything at all.  It was irrelevant and frankly infuriating for me as I was constantly hoping for movement and action at which point I took a break and stopped reading. Thinking back, I realise that the book is very much a "the beginning", "the middle" and "the end" story. Additionally, the love story itself lacked any sort of build up. We all know the boy and the girl end up together in the end, but I enjoy reading the process of them falling in love more than anything else. Sadly, Isadora falls for Tristan instantly so their love often felt artificial. Just like her parents, I felt like she experiencing teenage lust more than an emotional connection to Tristan.

When I came back to the book, the synopsis had long ago become a blur in my mind. At almost exactly the half way point, I started to put all of the pieces together and figure out what was happening and felt thoroughly disappointed. The premise of the story and the paranormal aspects are pretty damn awesome, but for some reason they took a back seat for more or less the whole of the first half and only became sort of important in the latter half. The paranormal aspects of the book are not explained to the reader, though Tristan does seem to understand it. I wish we'd been able to meet Selma or Louise and see their characters in action because it would have made my connection to the story a lot stronger. For example, Isadora could have spontaneously stalked Tristan - out of jealousy or maybe even curiousity - during one of his visits to Selma and had one of her "visions" shortly after. The whole scene would have so much more interesting than Tristan simply telling Isadora what to believe.

Honestly, I feel like I would have enjoyed this book more when I was in highschool. I know some YA books are appropriate for even adults but this one I think is aimed more at highschool age group. There were a lot of funny and realistic school moments, I loved the fact that the students re-named Dick the security guard to Dickhead because I know it's something that would have happened back when I was in school. At the same time though, the book made references to up-to-date technology and celebrities so it could easily be relevant to any teenager now. My favourite character was definitely Sarah, who seemed like a breath of fresh air during Isadora's more immature moments. To me, Isadora only became bearable at the end once she'd figured out who/what she wanted to be - which may say more about my lack of patience with immaturity more than anything else!

This book had so much potential and I feel like it could have been a lot better than it was. I don't know if the book was rushed (I got that impression when I read a reference to Kim Kardashian's divorce which happened just last November) but I think it could still go through revisions and become an amazing book. That being said, it's still an interesting story of the journey of a young girl trying to find herself in an adult world, so I'd still recommend it to a teen interested in YA fiction.

Rating: 

Edit: The cover of Torn has been updated since my book review! Here's the new cover:

I have to say, I prefer the old one since it was a lot cleaner but I understand the concept behind this one more so I guess it makes sense!

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Updates: 5 months in and the whole world ahead of us

 

After a little thinking, I decided this was a post worth writing considering I've yet to post any site updates. (If you've been a lurker you may have noticed the recent drastic layout change though!) Whilst my blog is far from a successful and established book blog, I've reached what seems to me like a mile stone in my blogging: I've been lucky enough to have a couple of authors personally contact me about the possibility of reading and possibly reviewing their books.

I originally started this blog 5 months ago with the plan of discussing my thoughts on books and recording my journey into the publishing world. I've always considered reviewing books to be part of the former but at no point did I expect to be contacted by an author – I'm equally honoured and quite frankly flabbergasted by this situation. I have no idea how the authors found me, but I feel so grateful for the opportunity to have someone send me their work to read. I feel like DTW has come a long way since last November. I may not have a million subscribers, but I consider this to be massive progress in the right direction as a both a book lover and for my future career in publishing.

I feel it's important to mention that any books I have been sent to review will always reflect my honest views. I have nothing to gain from false depictions so I have no reason to lie. I know a lot of readers (myself included) can be put off by sponsored posts but I hope this will assure you that my reviews will always remain true to my real opinions.

As for recording my journey into publishing, I've been so focussed on University and my numerous blogs and hobbies that I've barely had time to think of anything else. I'm hoping to get some direct experience of the publishing industry some time between now and my third year of University, but I guess it'll have to wait until this year is over with before I can make any progress. It's a bit of a disappointment but I guess it gives me plenty of time for self improvement instead.

I will be aiming to post more here now I've got to this point. Clearly I'm doing something right, so now it's time to shine! The content I'm not exactly sure of yet. More of the same previous stuff (including reviews, favourites etc.) but I'd also like some new content so I believe it's time to do a little brain storming!

Until the next post! ♥

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