Quirky Reads: The Fault in Our Stars

Rachie's Musings on: The Fault in Our Stars

When The Fault In Our Stars was published in 2012, I was still at uni and in my ‘not reading books unless it is to quote and stick in an essay/dissertation’ phase so this little beauty passed me by.

As time went on I became aware of its existence because it was being turned into a movie.  Despite being aware of the ending in advance because….the internet exists, I decided I wanted to read the book before seeing the film just to see what all the fuss was about.

I read the book in three days, only putting it down to sleep because my eyes couldn’t stay open any more, I was gripped straight away.

On first impressions  you’d probably think it’s a teenage love story but The Fault In Our Stars is so much more than that. Not only is it laugh out loud funny, witty and heart-breaking all at once, but it’s also honest. Life isn’t always fair and it doesn’t always work out the way we hope it will and The Fault In Our Stars isn’t afraid to hit you right in the face with that.    

The Fault In Our Stars also reminds me that just because the odds are against you doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy  and cherish every second life gives you.

I’ve deliberately tried not to go into much detail on the story because a) the internet exists and I’d simply be reiterating what already exists and b) I’d be taking away the joy of reading the story for yourself from anyone who hasn’t read it.

Now that I’ve read the book, I finally got round to watching the film, not so I could compare the two but just to see it brought to life and the characters were just like I pictured them in my head, that almost never happens! :-)

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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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Quirky Reads: All I Know Now, Wonderings And Reflections on Growing Up Gracefully.

Rachie's Musings on: All I Know Now, Wonderings And Reflections on Growing Up Gracefully. 

Before I start with my thoughts and musings, I'm gonna put it out there - I quite like Carrie Hope Fletcher!
Well, I don't know Carrie, but I like the bits of her personality I've seen in her YouTube videos and in her writing. 

Carrie and I share a few similarities, we both have naturally curly hair that is prone to doing it's own thing, we both like musicals, we both like to read and we both have a massive place in our hearts for all things Disney. Unfortunately I am neither a West End actress or a published author so that's possibly where our similarities end :-) 

If you aren't familiar with Carrie, she's pretty cool! Primarily an actress, currently appearing as Eponine in London's West End production of Les Miserables, Carrie is also a singer, a writer, a YouTuber and honorary big sister to her 500,000 plus subscribers
'The Hopefuls' 

Carrie, albeit unintentionally, has become a role model/big sister to so many young people who look to her for advice and help. This is a responsibility she takes very seriously - so much so that she wrote a book offering advice and insight (and some hilarious personal stories & tongue in cheek musings) from her teenage years and some of the life lessons she has learned along the way. 

At 26, I have a few years on Carrie (four to be precise) and I probably have more than a few years on the vast majority of her primarily teenage audience, so I was initially concerned that I sat outside the targeted demographic for the book. 
I needn't have worried.

I don't want to go into too much detail and spoil something for anyone who hasn't read it yet but to give an idea -
Carrie's book 'All I Know Now, Wonderings and Reflections on Growing Up Gracefully' covers many topics and issues such as bullying, body image, consent, how to apologise, hindsight, relationships - to name but a few and there's even a section on navigating the scary world of the internet!

Yes, there are some topics that are especially apt for teenagers but adults can learn many lessons from All I Know Now as well. 
Bullies, insecurities, making mistakes and relationship worries don't disappear into the distance when you stop being a teenager. They can linger on for many years to come and in some cases, forever.
I know a fair few adults, myself included, who could do with mastering the art of apologising :-) 

I found myself nodding along in agreement with Carrie throughout the book when I read things that I too have come to realise over the years and had a few moments when I came across something that never occurred to me before!  Carrie doesn't claim to be a professional in any area of her advice - in fact, there is an entire section of the book that signposts to organisations and helplines in various parts of the world. 

What Carrie has created in All I Know Now is not only a fantastic  manual for navigating your way through the teenage years,  but also a friendly and reassuring voice when you need reminding that it's okay to be human and more importantly - you. 

Whether you are 13 or 30 or 102, I'd recommend having a read, not just for advice but as a reminder that there is always someone you can turn to.

Thumbs up from Rachie! :-) 

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Quirky Reads: Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway.

Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway.

As a kid, I was fairly confident, possibly even too confident at times, I was scared of insects, dogs and lifts/elevators but not much else. 

As I got a bit older, that confidence sort of dissolved like Alex Mack into a puddle of goop, and I found myself a much shyer Rachie.

A few months ago, I met with a lovely lady called Hilary who was helping me by offering me advice & tips for interviews and she quickly picked up on the fact that one of my biggest problems was confidence.

Along with lots of interview specific advice, she also advised that I do one scary thing everyday and read a book called

'Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway' by Susan Jeffers.

I quickly acquired a copy and began reading it in the hopes that I would gain something from it - and I certainly did.

Without reiterating the whole book and spoiling it for anyone who hasn't read it yet and might want to - I learned that I'm most afraid of What Ifs!

What if I can't do this? What if they don't like me?

What if I'm awful at this?

What if something goes horribly wrong?

Shortly thereafter, I learned that the best thing I can do to try and squash that fear is to answer all of my What Ifs with

'I'll handle it!'

I'm not suggesting I'll be going skydiving or walking a tightrope anytime soon but I am more open to tackling the unknown and I'm gradually learning to stop saying 'I don't think I can do this' and go with 'I'll give it a try' instead.



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