Quest to add more libraries to my collection

Seaton/Colyton tram

I was on holiday last week, visiting friends in Seaton, Devon. We took a tram ride to Colyton on one of the sunniest days of the year so far, and I was surprised (and pleased!) to find this small town had their own library. It was closed, so I was unable to check out their YA section, but I took a picture of the building for posterity.

Colyton Library

Seaton also has their own library, and they had a great selection of YA books. For a moment, I thought I'd be able to borrow some until I remembered it was Dorset that was joining the Libraries West Consortium and not Devon. Ah, well - maybe in years to come?

Seaton Library

How about you? Do you like to visit libraries when you're on holiday?

Quest to read a further 100 YA books (Part 1)

If you've read the last blog entry, you'll know I've already achieved this quest. But it's still fun to list the books I've read, right? Here are the first 20:

1) Starcrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce
2) Liar's Moon by Elizabeth C. Bunce
3) We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
4) The Declaration by Gemma Malley
5) The Resistance by Gemma Malley
6) The Legacy by Gemma Malley
7) The Poison Boy by Fletcher Moss
8) Charm and Strange by Stephanie Kuehn
9) Hurt by Tabitha Suzuma
10) All The Truth That's In Me by Julie Berry
11) Say My Name by James Dawson
12) All Our Yesterdays by Cristin Terrill
13) The Fault in our Stars by John Green
14) The Lost and the Found by Cat Clarke
15) I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson
16) Strands of Bronze and Gold by Jane Nickerson
17) Divergent by Veronica Roth
18) Insurgent by Veronica Roth
19) Allegiant by Veronica Roth
20) Four by Veronica Roth

As Shelfari is closing down, it doesn't look like I'll be able to add these 20 books to my virtual bookcase, which is a great shame as I enjoy seeing all the covers at a glance!

How many books did I read in 2015?

A bit late to the party, I know, but it's about time I gave a report on how many books I read last year (for my own records, if nothing else!).

I'm stoked to say I smashed last year's record of 137 books with a new record of...

One of the libraries I visited in 2015

*Drum roll*

*Drum roll*

*Drum roll*

167 books!

I know! I couldn't believe it either!

I borrowed (and read) 87 books from 10 libraries (no new libraries to add to my collection this year though, sadly) and 23 e-books from the virtual library. I read 44 of my own books (but I still have a huge dent to make in my TBR pile) and did 13 beta reads.

I seriously doubt I'll get anywhere close to topping that this year (or even matching it), but that's nothing to be ashamed of, right?

How about you? How many books did you read in 2015?

National Libraries Day 2016

Today was National Libraries Day, and I braved the wind and rain to visit my local library in support. The librarians were gearing up for a Gruffalo storytime for children just as I arrived. I didn't stay to listen (I wasn't the target audience!), but I did borrow three books: Dark Room by Tom Becker; Breaking Butterflies by M. Anjelais; and The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. I'm hoping they're going to be great reads!

Did you visit your local library today? Did you borrow any books?

RIP Jareth the Goblin King and Severus Snape

In the space of a week, we've lost two great British legends to cancer.

David Bowie is known more for his music than his acting, but he'll always be Jareth the Goblin King from Labyrinth to me. (Another film of his I'd highly recommend is The Prestige, which I forced my 14-year-old nephew to watch last month. "Batman & Alfred are in it. Why yes that *is* Wolverine. Gollum too. Oh & Black Widow.")

I've dug out my movie lobby sets for Labyrinth in tribute:

RIP David Bowie a.k.a. Jareth the Goblin King

The second British legend is he of the velvety dulcet tones, Alan Rickman. There are too many memorable films he's appeared in, so I'll list a few faves: Truly, Madly, Deeply; Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves; Sense and Sensibility: and, of course, the Harry Potter series.

RIP Alan Rickman a.k.a. Severus Snape

Quest to have the best Christmas decorated office

Welcome to our workshop

Our department at work decided to run a competition to find the best Christmas decorated office. My manager decided our team would go all-out this year, and my colleagues and I got very creative in our bid for glory.

Enchanted Wood scene

Let it snow!

Results were announced on Friday - and our team WON!

Quest: successful!

My manager is already planning for next year's competition.

(And when she found out I'd written a couple of pantomimes for my local drama group in the past, her eyes took on a furtive gleam...Yikes!)

Smiling at Rafe Spall

Film trailers at Glenside campus

So, last month I visited a film location - Chavenage House near Tetbury. This month, I was within smiling distance of a film star - and I didn't even have to travel outside my usual locale to do so!

A TV crew rolled up at Glenside Campus this week to film scenes for Mum's List, a film based on the book by St John Greene. The true story is about a woman dying of breast cancer who gave a list of instructions to her husband to raise their two sons. Things like 'Celebrate birthdays big time' and 'Go to Egypt and snorkel in the Red Sea.'

Emilia Fox (Merlin, The Wrong Mans, The Casual Vacancy, Silent Witness) plays the part of Kate Greene, whilst Rafe Spall (Life of Pi, I Give It A Year, Prometheus) plays her husband.

The TV crew took over the students' car park with their trailers (which probably didn't go down very well with the students who then had to find somewhere else to park) and there were 'ML' signs dotted around certain parts of the campus.

Rafe Spall and Emilia Fox's trailer

There was no sign of either Rafe Spall or Emilia Fox when I walked through the car park on my way into work this morning, and both their trailer doors were firmly shut. However, when I walked past later on my way home, Rafe Spall's door was open and he was sat inside!

I smiled in at him.

He smiled* back.

My heart missed a beat; a film star had smiled at me! Wow!

I carried on walking. (Playing it cool, obvs.)

I was so, so tempted to turn back around and strike up a conversation, or ask if I could take his photo, but I restrained myself. I didn't want to be the one to break his concentration if he was mentally preparing himself for his next traumatic scene. (Besides which, I had a book I wanted to return to the library before it closed. Priorities, right?)

So, fellow Quest Seekers, have you ever approached anyone famous? And would you have approached Rafe if you'd been in my shoes?

*It might've been a grimace - he was looking a mite bored as he sat there on his lonesome in his trailer.