Quirky Reads: Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher

Rachie's Musings on: Billy and Me by Giovanna Fletcher


Billy and Me very quickly became one of my favourite books that I’ve read.

 It is, as you would expect from the title, a love story about how girl meets boy but to me it’s a lot more special than just that.

When I read Billy and Me, I felt as though Sophie, the ‘Me’ in Billy and Me, was speaking directly to me, I felt as though I wasn’t reading this story, I was sitting in a coffee shop somewhere, listening to my friend tell me all about this great guy she has met and all the adventures they have been on so far.

Sophie appealed to me because I could relate to her. She’s roughly my age or thereabouts, her mum works in a library (so does mine!) she’s unassuming, she dislikes rudeness and gossip, she was unsure of what she wanted to do with her life and found something she was good at by accident and most importantly, she works in a teashop and bakes cake every day – cake is my happy place!

I won’t delve too much into Billy or the story because that would spoil it for anyone that wants to read it themselves – if you are into this kind of genre, you absolutely should read it because its awesome!

A really funny and cute read that left me feeling warm and fuzzy – and hungry for cake.
I think I’ll hunt down some more Giovanna reads, she just released a book called Dream a Little Dream so I think I may make that my next :-)

I originally wrote this post on an older blog I had, before editing it slightly and posting it here, I'm going to start moving all of my old book reviews and maybe scheduling them for like once a week across the summer or something like that so I can have everything in one place :-)

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Things That Make Rachie Smile.

Happy is pretty much my favourite mood to be in. I can at times be a bit of a Pollyanna (if you aren't familiar with Pollyanna, it's a novel by Eleanor H. Porter about an eternally optimistic young girl who moves in with her grumpy aunt when her parents die and spends her days looking for reasons to find the 'happy' in every situation. Oh and Hayley Mills plays her in the 1960 movie and is awesome!).

I like being a bit of a Pollyanna, but sometimes even I can be a bit of a Grumpasaurus.

Since the latter half of last year I've been filling the pages of my London Underground notebook (from Paperchase) with Happy Lists or as I call them - 'Things that Make Rachie Smile'.

I noticed Carrie Hope Fletcher (You can read my musings on her recently published book here - you can also find her blog here) put some on her blog and I thought it was a good idea and might be therapeutic on days when I feel a little less than happy to think about the things that have made me smile recently.

Sometimes the content can vary depending on whether or not I recently bought shoes, if someone recently gave me cake or went to the Disney Store with me - yes I know, 26 and still love Disney - it's allowed! I hope :-) but they are generally full of random simple things.

It does actually make me smile on a day when I'm feeling sorry for myself or a bit grumpy to think of all the things I could be smiling about or feeling lucky for.

Here is my most recent.

Also - the weird shapes all over the page are meant be smiles - I am a really bad drawer! Haha.

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choosing the right words :-)

Choosing the Right Words :-) 


I haven't blogged in a while, mostly because I've had fairly little to talk about and I don't want to ramble on for the sake of rambling!  

Choosing words carefully is pretty important. Choosing the right words can make all the difference between getting your thoughts out correctly and causing offence.  Choosing the right words can make the difference between delivering a joke properly and hurting someone's feeling. Choosing words carefully can also make all the difference in starting a conversation with someone - word it wrong and you may find the conversation goes awry pretty quickly. 

Conversation starters can be tricky things, they often require consideration, but I find us humans have a tendency to speak too quickly in order to fill up dreaded awkward silences.

I've noticed lately that there are occasions when people try to start conversations with me they immediately base their topic on some element of my appearance.  I completely understand why - my hair is postbox red, I wear kitsch/novelty jewellery and my wardrobe choices are often colourful. 

Although unintentional, my appearance lends itself to conversation starters, which whilst I can feel a bit insecure, is something I've gotten used to.

It's fine if it's something like 

"Those earrings are really different, where did you get them?" 

"Can you walk in those shoes?" 

A question or comment that comes out of genuine curiosity and interest is fine, I don't mind people drawing attention to my appearance in that kind of circumstance.

I do mind, however, when a comment or question is designed to make me feel inferior or insecure about myself.  There have been times when I've worn something like a stripey pair of jeans which have invited a comment from someone asking the person I was speaking to if they would wear something that weird, in order to hear them say no and reinforce how weird my outfit choice is. 

On my birthday this year, I got the following comment on my coat, which is green, has a bow on the back and nips in at the waist before flowing back out again - fairly standard coat, I thought.

Commenter: I might have known that was your coat.

Me: Why is that?

Commenter: It's weird, just the style and the colour, no one else would wear it so it had to be yours. 

Comments like that are not usually designed to be horrible or hurtful, but there are times when a poorly worded sentence can be quite hurtful. On that particular day I think what they were trying to say was

 "I thought it was unusual, so through a process of elimination, I figured you were the most likely owner" 

However what it sounded like was

 "This looks weird and no one else would wear it, so it must be yours"

Whilst I am over sensitive, and know it, choosing words carefully is important. 

Also while I am on the subject of appearance - there is more to humans than what they look like.

We are complex, living, breathing, feeling humans, we are more than just an outside shell.

Some people have more dazzling shells than others, some people have more polished shells, some people have rougher shells that have been through a little more upheaval and relocation, some people have shells that are a bit beaten and cracked. 

The shell is not the important thing!!! 

Appearances are great and a great way to express yourself, but you are more than your appearance, don't let other people make you feel like your appearance is all there is. 

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