June Wrap-Up and London!

Kate Maryon's discussion at Hay!

I'm back! For the next week I will be posting regularly as I have fewer exams, and since I'm off timetable all next week, I won't be sitting any. I've done my Chemistry and two English exams - which were done back to back! I've decided to do a monthly wrap-up and I can't quite believe we're heading into July already. Where has this month gone? It's now at the point in the year where I'm planning what I'm going to do over the summer and am forcing myself to think about leaving the comfortable place which is Year Nine and moving into Year Ten.

Apart from my lack of reading, this month has been a fantastic one. To begin, I met Patrick Ness and saw Kate Maryon once again at the beginning of the month at the Hay Festival! Patrick signed my book, "Not sorry about Manchee" and Kate was just lovely, talking to me for about half-an-hour!



Patrick Ness signed my book!

I also went to London for the first time for the finals of a competition, where I was a finalist for the 'Best Journalist'. The final was held at the Royal Society, which was gorgeous.  I was up at 4.45am and at the train station by 5.50am to meet my teachers, ready to catch the train. I spent over three hours discussing books and so much more with my English teacher and as we got of the train, I felt my nerves kick-in. This was really happening. I was in London and my writing had gotten me somewhere.

When I stepped off the train, and the station stretched out further than I could see, I was astounded. Not only be the size, but by how fast everyone was moving. Non-stop. I also had my first ride in the Underground - an experience I'm not in a rush to repeat! I was worried of getting stuck on the platform while my teachers were heading somewhere else.

Big Ben!

During the day, I got to report on what was going on at the finals since Journalism was not the only category and do some writing. I also met James May and Liz Bonin, as well as passing Stephen Fry in the streets for my teacher to scare him away when she got excited and shouted "Hello" in his face. We did though, sneak out of the Royal Society during my lunch break to go and see the Palace. We walked straight up the Mall where the Union Jacks were hanging and even though I was late back, I couldn't help almost jumping up and down with delight at the fact I'd just seen Buckingham Palace. I didn't win the award, but what I did get was my writing live on the Apple AppStore Newstand. After the finals, I did feel disappointed, but we went to do some very quick sight-seeing where I saw everything from the Houses of Parliament to Big Ben and The Thames to Convent Garden. It was a hilarious day - especially my English teacher showing me how to eat cake properly!

 

Since my spare time has also been up of revision the past few weeks, I haven't found much time for reading. Which, I'm really disappointed about because I have so many books waiting for me! This month I read two books:

1. Finding Cherokee Brown by Siobhan Curham - 4 Stars
2. The Ask and The Answer(Chaos Walking #2) by Patrick Ness - 4 Stars

I also received a lot of books this month:

1. Shipwrecked by Siobhan Curham(Signed) - Thank you Siobhan for sending me this copy! I'm so excited to start reading!

 

2. The Arrivals by Melissa Marr - HarperCollins sent me this and is my second adult review copy. As I said above, I'm enjoying this one and am looking forward to finishing it!

 

3. The Puppet Spell by E. L. Adams - Emma, the author, is a fellow blogger and I have been really looking forward to giving her novel a try! Thank you for sending me a copy, Emma!

4. Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas - I got accepted on NetGalley for a copy and am too excited about having this one! Crown of Midnight is one of my most anticipated books of this summer and Throne of Glass is truly fantastic. I have such high hopes for this sequel.

 

Thank you so much, Kate! You almost had me in floods of tears!

5. Invisible Girl by Kate Maryon(Signed) - I've already had a chance to read this after the 'Invisible Girl Blog Tour' but I couldn't wait to get a printed version as I'm in love with the cover design. I would like to say a huge thank you to Kate for allowing me to be involved in the whole journey to the publication!

 

Bought:

 

1. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness - I had to get a copy of this for Patrick to sign at Hay. The Knife of Never Letting Go is one of my favourite dystopia novels and my signed book is one of my most prized possessions.

Hope you all had a great June!