Shattering Stigmas: My Story and mini readathon!

Last night, I was doing my usual little stalk on Twitter when a retweet caught my eye. I clicked on the original tweet's link and what I read made me cry. 

Shattering Stigmas is an event running from 10th-24th August, hosted by the lovely Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight, Inge @ Bookshelf Reflections and Kayla @ The Thousand Lives. They aim to talk about all things mental health and mental health in YA fiction and they'll also be hosting competitions, games, author guest posts, author interviews and books to read which focus on mental health. Guys, I am SO super excited for this! I implore you to join in and check out their posts throughout the next couple of weeks, please! I know I'll be participating and I'll be doing my own mini readathon of mental health themed YA books (listed below).

Apologies in advance for the long and detailed post, I am just lucky enough to be able to pinpoint exactly where things went wrong for me. There is a detailed paragraph on domestic violence, so feel free to skim that part if you think it will affect you badly.

Many of you may or may not be aware of my struggle with depression over the years. In fact, depression was a major cause of my almost 2 year long hiatus on this blog until recently. I don't know how long I've had depression for, as far as I know it's been on-off since about 2009, but when I really think about it, I know at one stage I was quite young. 

High school was great for me and for the most part I was absolutely fine, I didn't feel depressed, have anxiety, or any other mental health issue and I had lots of friends who were there to support me in tougher times.

My final year of high school is where things started to go awry. I met a boy slightly older than me who seemed lovely, kind and caring. We hung out heaps, I made more new friends, and things were pretty great for a while. At the end of Grade 12, I failed my uni-entrance exams and thought my world was going to end (for those going through the same thing, fear not!), but managed to find a bridging course to get in instead. I saved up for the initial upfront payment in 6 months by working two jobs and 12 hour days almost everyday and inbetween working and spending time with my new boyfriend, I barely saw my family.

I moved 600km away from my home for uni, my boyfriend ended up moving shortly after, and we moved in together. The two years after that were some of the hardest I've ever been through. He was emotionally, physically and psychologically abusive, and without realising at the time, he essentially ostracised me from seeing my family or friends. Going out to visit my family when they were in my city would result in feelings of guilt and possibly a screaming match. The same thing happened if I wanted to see friends. In order to keep him happy and prevent him getting angry, I stopped seeing friends and family. Nothing I did was enough, he would regularly throw furniture at the walls, threaten me, scream at me, and call me names all the while I thought everything was my fault and I was to blame, I was never good enough. By then, my depression had well and truly manifested and when I finally realised something was wrong, I felt I had noone to talk to. I hated myself and who I'd become, and thought there was no way my family or friends would want to help me. Why would they want to help me? I'd barely spoken to them for 2 years and was this horrible person who couldn't do anything right. (I actually started book blogging around this time and it was a major help). In December 2011, I went and visited my hometown for a few months to work and started going out with people I went to high school with, I was shocked that people thought I was someone worth hanging out with. I went back to the city in January 2012 and broke up with my boyfriend. It was not easy, in fact it was one of the hardest things I've ever done, but after a couple of days, it was finally over. I moved back with my family until uni started again and the times I spent with my new friends were some of the best I've ever had.

Over the next couple of years, my depression was on and off. I had an awesome network of friends, my relationship with my family was greater than ever and my housemates at the time were incredibly understanding as well. In 2013, people I loved died and I failed some units at uni. My coping mechanisms back then were far from stellar and I would go out drinking over the holidays and kind of, I dunno, ignored everything until I went back to uni (which, by the way, you should definitely not do. In hindsight, drinking alcohol was one of the worst things I could've done for my depression), had to face reality and it all caught up with me.

At the end of 2013, beginning of 2014, I would go to bed at night not caring whether I woke up the next day and just generally didn't feel much of anything. I don't really know how, but after one of the darkest periods of my life, I managed to crawl out of that darkness and started feeling happier again. It sounds weird, but it's a bit of a blur. Over the years and to this day, I have learned to monitor my thinking patterns and have learned how to separate destructive, depressive thoughts, from normal ones. I've never been on medication due to not being able to afford it at the time (there is NOTHING to be ashamed about if you do take medication to help though, I can not stress this enough and recommend it more than my method) but I still "think about my thinking" and have started mindfulness meditation (by the recommendation of my old housemate who is very mental health aware as well). 

I've been well, happy and improving since May 2014. It's not easy and my mental health is still something I work on in some way, everyday. I have bad days and some weeks/months where I am terrified I'm going to fall into a depressive episode again, and almost have. I do little things that make me feel better and so far I've managed to prevent it since last year *high fives self*

You should definitely visit Bookish Reflections whose post, 'What to do if you're feeling blue' is much more eloquent than anything I might try and suggest in regards to making yourself feel a little bit better (although I would totally recommend mindfulness meditation too, there is an app called 'Smiling Mind' which is what I use when I have "bad days" or feel like I may be relapsing again).

*takes deep breath*

SO!! Onto the books! In honour of this event, I'm going to read/review as many books with mental health themes as I can. I have a few in mind that I already own and I probably won't read them all but here's to trying :) 

The Pause by John Larkin
The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
The Law of Loving Others by Kate Axelrod

Let me know in the comments below if there are any I should go out and buy straight away and feel free to join in if you like with your own selection of books :) Even if you take the time to check out the blogs of the ladies I first mentioned in this post, that would be wonderful

If you know me personally, or even just online, I ask that you please not judge me for going into so much detail, or treat me any differently. Some of my family and close friends know the extent of my depression and struggle in the past and I'm fortunate that they love me unconditionally but I don't really openly discuss it with many others. That time period is something I was ashamed of for a very long time, and can now talk about openly about it, but I am still met with wary glances and awkward conversation whenever the words "I suffer depression" are uttered. If you suffer from depression, anxiety or any other mental illness that's not talked about as often; you are not weak, you are not a burden, and you should feel proud of yourself for doing the best you can even if it's just getting out of bed in the morning or making yourself breakfast.

"What Happened To You?!"

Two years. Two. Freaking. Years. 

Two years ago I hit the lowest point of my depression. Two years ago I felt like I was in a constant state of numbness which I tried so hard to hide. Two years ago, when I wrote this post, I had never felt more alone or helpless. I couldn’t find the motivation or the love in me to write, read, or do much else apart from kind of exist in my own little bubble while I watched the world as I knew it crumble around me.

That is how long it has been since I last wrote a blog post.

Two years later, I no longer feel like I’m struggling to keep my head above the water; I’m not paddling my way through life anymore. Life has not gone the way I planned at all, however I’ve been learning to accept things as they come, to not beat myself up over things and to let things take their course. I’m still at university (it’s taken a little longer than I would’ve liked, but oh well), I’ve been through two different jobs, I organized my very first event in Public Relations (with over 1500 people attending), I found the joy in everyday things and I fell back in love with the world.

I’m coming back to blogging because I feel like I’m ready again, and blogging has been on my mind since I stopped! I’ve been thinking about where I’m going to take this blog when I get started again and I’ve decided a few things: 
- I will post twice a week. One review and one other post. I may post more often some weeks, however I am not putting the pressure on myself to promise to do more than I may be able to handle some weeks
- I will be redesigning and revamping this entire site very soon! I'm hoping to give it a fresh look and feel.
- I will be editing and going over sections like my review policy and may make changes, but I will let you know :) 
 

I’ve really missed this community and can’t wait to participate and be a part of it again. I’m obviously out of the loop with things like current memes and whether they still even exist (or if there are any new ones that would be fun to take part in) and if there have been any other major changes, so if any of you have any suggestions to help me with blogging again that would be amazing! Also, how are YOU going? I would love to hear from fellow bloggers and would love to make new (more) friends in this community :)

I hope that you will stay tuned for more to come in the near future, either way I'm glad to be back :)

I'm sorry

If you don't want to read a personal post, then don't read any further :) I just want to explain where I've been and what I've been doing.

At first it was lack of time I had that kept me from reading or blogging, then new things came into my life and I progressively got busier and busier (and slacker and slacker), then I started my new job and I had MORE time on my hands and I had all intentions of starting to blog again. I was even happier than I am usually.

Then everything went downhill. It's like every aspect of my life that was great before just went down the drain. I had two friends commit suicide within a day of eachother, I was/am having constant trouble with some of my family members, money (as always) seems to disappear as soon as I get it (on rent and bills, yay) my relationships with people started to fail and I failed two of four units at university for the semester. There is more to this, but all of that happened in a week. I felt like I had noone I could turn to for help and I had no idea who I could talk to about this which made it all worse. I've now confided in a couple of people who I know I can trust with my everything and that has made me feel a lot better and I'm slowly getting happier again. But I'm still at one of the lowest points I've ever been at in my life and I lack the motivation to do anything I used to love.

I don't want to feel like this anymore. I'm sick of losing people and I'm sick of feeling like I'm not good enough for anybody. I'm not trying to fish for compliments or anything like that, it's genuinely how I feel at the moment and I hate it.

Everytime I've attempted to clear my head and sit down and read a book, I can't do it. All of these horrible thoughts and feelings come creeping back into my head as soon as I try to. I can't blog because I have nothing to blog about and I'm so unmotivated that I barely wanted to see or talk to anybody for a couple of weeks (I'm an extrovert so this is a big deal for me) and I haven't been able to clear my head - even reading hasn't been able to do that for me, and reading, as you know is a great way to escape the world and to just relax and forget everything.

But I can't do it. Even as I'm starting to feel happier again and more sociable, there are times (out of nowhere it seems) that those terrible feelings come creeping their way back into my head and I find myself either crying, wanting to cry or just feeling horribly numb.

I'm sorry for the sob story and the huge amount of venting but I wanted to explain why I have disappeared for a long time so far and why I haven't been reading or blogging. I want to - I really do - but I literally haven't been able to.

Sorry and I'll be back soon, I love you all <3>

I AM A BAD BLOGGER

So I haven't been blogging. You'll see why in my previous post but it's also partly because I've gotten lazy. I haven't been reading because I'm still in a slump and I haven't been blogging because I haven't been reading!

I'll have you guys know though that I HAVE attempted to read something... That something is Fifty Shades of Grey. I'm about half way through and quite frankly, Fifty Shades of Shit PUTS ME OFF READING. I've TRIED reading a book to review, I have! I swear! But oh my god, it's driving me up the wall! I'm hoping it redeems itself in the end because so far I'm going a little crazy! I won't be reviewing it on this blog by the way (it's uhh, a little inappropriate for a YA blog!) but I will post a review on Goodreads :)

I am reading Matched by Ally Condie at the moment and although I'm only about 20 pages in, I can already feel my brain cells growing back after weeks of trying to get through Fifty Shades.

I have a feeling I'll be able to finish this within a day or so because it's easy to read and I'm really enjoying it so I'll be writing a review soon :) wooo! Also you could expect a video up in coming days because I have been naughty and bought way too many books lately for my wallet to handle :( *slaps wrist*

Anyway, I know this is just an 'update' post but I just wanted to let you know that I will be back VERY soon because I'm back at uni and what better way to procrastinate than read as much as possible and blog :)

As I'm on a uni computer (I'm in a computing class and I actually got TOLD to write a blog post if I already have a blog so THANKYOU MR. LECTURER!)...

I have no GIF of David Tennant declaring his love for you to post here, I am SORRY! (I'm speaking to you, Sarah)

Absent

Hey guys, just a quick post to tell you that I am SORRY for not blogging lately, I really want to be, but there are two main reasons why I haven't..

1. I've just started a new vacation student job which is 8-4:30 and while I am LOVING it (I'm doing public relations for one of the biggest mining companies in my home city), I have never, ever, EVER in my life worked for that long (okay, I lie, I used to work about 12 hours a day but that was with two different jobs and they were COMPLETELY different to an office job - which is actually pretty tiring haha) in one go so I'm normally pretty buggered by the time I get home!

Now, normally when I am buggered I would SIT DOWN AND READ or I would read WHENEVER I had a spare second but this is where the second reason comes into play...

2. Some of you might know that a while ago I had a really decayed tooth, so I got a filling and the dentist said because there was decay so close to the blood vessels (or something), if I feel any more pain, I should go back for a ROOT CANAL *cries*.
You guessed it.. It is hurting REALLY badly, at first it felt like the pain was above my tooth (or whatever, I don't know) but now it's that and my actual tooth is so sensitive I can't eat on that side and it makes me dizzy haha. As a result of this God-forsaken tooth, all I want to do is sleep and I've also lost my appetite for reading at the moment (cos, you know.. the whole keeping your eyes open thing).

I still get a little reading done but honestly, it's a lot of effort when your mouth/head feels like it's constantly throbbing haha

BUT I AM GOING TO THE DENTIST ON WEDNESDAY (hopefully.. if I can book an appointment!).

So, I know I'm full of excuses and I'm really, really sorry but I promise I'll be back as soon as I get this horrible tooth sorted!

I LOVE YOU GUYS <3

Here... have a gif of David Tennant for the time being...

The author-reviewer relationship

I know this topic has been discussed to death, but  recent events have once again caused me to really sit down think about the relationship between authors and reviewers. I just wanted to put in my two cents. Feel free to not read this if you don't want to, but I just feel too sad and disgusted to not say something.

Normally, I don't take things like this *too* seriously. I mean, sure it pisses me off, but I know it'll calm down. In this case, however, a reviewer's personal information has been published by an author on her blog. What makes me sad is that the author thinks this is justified. Digging up personal information about somebody who uses an online alias (which many people do), and publicly publishing it, is drawing the line. Quite frankly, this kind of author behaviour disgusts and saddens me.

I’m sure a lot of you, if not all of you who are reading this, are familiar with the website Goodreads. I joined Goodreads because I wanted to discuss reading and books with others who were as obsessed with reading as I am. It’s been about a year since I signed up to Goodreads and in that time, I’ve unfortunately witnessed some really awful behaviour on behalf of reviewers, but I’ve also seen a lot worse from some authors. While I can’t say any of my reviews have been attacked, I’ve witnessed many other reviewers attacked for writing a negative review by trolls and sock puppets.

Troll (internet): someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response (Wikipedia)

Sock puppet (internet): a false identity assumed by a member of an internet community who spoke to, or about himself while pretending to be another person.

OR

“The term now includes other uses of misleading online identities, such as those created to praise, defend or support a third party or organization”. (Wikipedia)

On Goodreads, sock puppet accounts are normally created by authors to defend their book on a negative review and they’ve also been known to deliberately give one star reviews to other authors if they gave their book a negative review. I haven’t had as much experience with sock puppet accounts as I have had with trolls, but it shouldn’t happen at all. One particular author (who I won’t name), has created sock puppet accounts in the past. There are screen shots and evidence of this here. 

The majority of book bloggers and all of the reviewers on Goodreads DO NOT GET PAID. We read and review books because it’s something we love doing. Bloggers and reviewers put a lot of time, dedication and effort into what we do for absolutely nothing. We don’t get anything out of it, and half the time we don’t even care if it doesn’t “benefit” us, all we ask for is to able to share our opinions without fear of being attacked by other reviewers or authors. Seriously, if we got paid by the hour for writing reviews and blogging, I reckon a lot of us wouldn’t need a job.

I’m not saying that all authors behave badly; in fact the vast majority of authors are wonderful and seem to be able to handle constructive criticism. However there is always a select few who ruin it.
A lot of the time, when a review thread blows up and receives a lot of attention, is because people can’t handle criticism. Many trolls get defensive about their favourite books and argue that the reviewer has been too critical of the book or, “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t review it” or, my personal favourite, “If you don’t like the book, don’t read it”. Let's address these...

1. Being ‘too’ critical of a book:
Let’s type the word ‘review’ into Google, shall we? And we’ll see what comes up.

According to the Online Oxford Dictionary a review is:

‘a critical appraisal of a book, play, film, etc. published in a newspaper or magazine’

In addition, according to Wiktionary, a review can be defined as,

‘An account intended as a critical evaluation of a text or a piece of work.’

Both of those define reviews as critical evaluations. I take this to mean a reviewer can be as critical as they like so long as the author isn’t being ‘reviewed’ and the reviewer validates their opinions by stating reasons as to why they disliked (or hated) the book in question.

2. Don’t review a book if you don’t have anything nice to say:

This relates to the above. The whole point of a review is to critically evaluate the content. Whether this be negative or positive, it shouldn’t matter so long as the reviewer backs up their arguments and doesn’t personally insult the author for the entire review.

3. If you don’t like a book, you shouldn’t read it:

This argument comes mostly from trolls who loved a book that a fellow reviewer hated. Well now, this is just silly and I feel rather stupid addressing the issue, but this response crops up so often. I only have one thing to say, you have to read the book in the first place to know how you feel about it.

TO AUTHORS:

Attacking a reviewer will do more damage to your reputation and your books reputation than any negative review would.

Reading a negative review of a book WILL NOT put me off from buying and reading your book, but if you’ve publicly reacted badly to a review (for example, calling a reviewer/blogger demeaning names or actively campaigned to have a negative review “bumped down” on a site such as Amazon), then I won’t read your book, no matter how much I’d like to. All bloggers and reviewers ask for is some mutual respect. If a review upsets you, by all means swear, carry on, hit your walls, scream, cry or do whatever you want in private, but reacting publicly is only going to do much more harm than good. I understand if a reviewer personally insults you, or attacks you, but more often than not, this is not the case.

What I’m trying to say is, please have some respect for other people’s opinions. It’s about time the author-reviewer relationship changed. The blogging community is wonderful, and I feel so privileged to be a part of it. I love reading, blogging and reviewing, but it really saddens me to see the friends I’ve made on Goodreads and through blogging, to be attacked by other reviewers and by some authors. I love this community, if one of us is attacked, we band together not because we’ve been asked or told to, but because we respect eachother and our differing opinions.
All I ask is for people to respect us, and our opinions just as we respect everybody else’s.

In which I talk about nothing in particular

Firstly, here are some videos to entertain you...

One of my amazing friends just posted this on my Facebook wall... 

Needless to say, it's now one of my favourite song. IT'S SO CATCHY!

This is awesome because it's true :)

For no reason in particular.. I just love the Weasley twins :D

Also for no reason... It's just hilarious, plus I love Charlie :)

NOW... The age old question, WHY AM I POSTING RANDOM YOUTUBE VIDEOS INSTEAD OF REVIEWS??? 

Well, it's not really an age old question, I think I'm just going a bit loopy :S Anyway, to answer that, here is a list (cos I like lists):

1. I've been rereading Harry Potter

2. When I read Harry Potter, I seem to forget any other book (or just life in general), exists. 

3. University has started back up

4. A particular unit at uni has me wanting to punch myself in the face several times a week (and rather than punch myself in the face, I've been attempting the gazillions of assignments I have to do for it)

5. Said unit's teacher also makes me want to punch myself in the face

6. I have just been introduced to Doctor Who

AND in the spirit of keeping to the magic of the number 7 (in the Harry Potter world)

7. Harry Potter.

NUFF SAID.

No?

Well, there is another reason apart from Harry Potter and the temptation of punching myself in the face, and that is, my mum and 4 year old sister have come to visit me :) (have you ever tried to read, do assignments or ANYTHING with a 4 year old saying, "What are you doing?", "But why?" and "Will you play with me?" every 5 minutes?) It's pretty great, I've missed them both a bunch :D

So, I will keep the reviews and blogging coming as much as I possibly can, but it won't be as often as I'd like it to be. But things with dragon-unit and dragon-lady will hopefully even out soon and I'm onto Half Blood Prince at the moment, so I'm nearly done rereading Harry Potter ;)

So tell me...

HOW FREAKING AWESOME WAS THAT FIRST VIDEO?

"Baby I'm a Slytherin and girl you are a Gryffindor..." *hums*

The reason I haven't been blogging....

HELLOOOOOO! *waves* I'VE MISSED YOU <3
Really, I have!

So if you've noticed (I hope some people have haha!), I haven't blogged for NINE DAYS. Needless to say I have been going bonkers. I must explain my absence to you because I love you guys so much :)

There have been a few reasons as to why I haven't been blogging....

1. I've ah, had some personal issues going on lately
2. My parents came to visit me and we went to the Aquarium, the Zoo, SciTech - basically all that awesome stuff
3. I had no internet.
The reason I had no internet is because I'm a poor uni student living 700km away from her parents, I have mobile broadband. Whilst this internet is slow, it still does the job. I unknowingly used all of my credit up last week and haven't been able to buy anymore yet. I am now visiting my parents (I'm only home for the weekend) and get to use their super fast internet again *dances* and will be buying credit for my mobile internet before I go back in the next few days. The reason I couldn't check how much credit I had left in the first place? Well, I don't know. The Virgin website decided to be annoying and not let me log into anything (Dad fixed that for me, yay!) so the whole "you are out of credit" thing was a devastating shock to me. Seriously. I freaked out.

Anyway, I am now back (and I'll make sure I check my internet balance often from now on) and you can expect a fair few reviews in the next few days :)

BYYYYYEEEEEE! (Not really :D)

Versatile Blogger Award! (x2!)

Jennifer at Some Like it Paranormal and Amy at Following the Reader have awarded me with the Versatile Blogger Award! Thankyou ladies so much!!

I received this from Jennifer a few days ago, but didn't have time to post straight away :) Then Amy awarded it to me as well and reminded me!
Thankyou so much :) I love both of your blogs heaps!

Now, there are some "rules" to accept this award...

Rules:

1. Thank and link the blogger who awarded you
2. Share 7 random facts about yourself
3. Spread the love by passing the award to five other bloggers, and be sure to let them know.

My 7 Random Facts:

1. I can't go to sleep with makeup on and I use baby wipes instead of makeup wipes cos they're cheaper!
2. At any given time, I have at least 4 pens in my bag (I don't know why)
3. In addition to books, I have waaay too many DVD's and CD's and have now run out of room.
4. My favourite type of chocolate is peppermint (and Mint Slice is amazing)
5. I'm TERRIFIED of cockroaches (seriously, if I see one, I run across the road) but I don't care about spiders etc
6. I don't make my bed but I can't go to sleep unless the blankets are perfectly straight
7. My "specialty" (aka-the only thing I can really cook) is chicken and rice.

I'm spreading the love to these 5 bloggers!!

1. Sarah from Saz101: I basically stalk her blog on a regular basis because she is hilarious, and awesome! She's also Australian, plus her blog is all pink and pretty... and pink!

2. Shirley from Shiirleyy's Bookshelf: Another Australian blogger (yay for Aussie bloggers!) and I love her reviews and her blog is also really pretty

3. Wibi from Lost in Translation: This isn't a book blog, but Wibi is my friend from uni and seriously, His. Blog. Is. Awesome. It's a travel blog and looks freakishly amazing!

4. Brodie from Eleusinian Mysteries: The FIRST blog I ever saw! Her blog is amazing, she is Australian, an avid Harry Potter fan and was a huge help when I first started blogging!!

5. Rebecca from Reading Wishes: I "met" Rebecca through Goodreads and thought she was super awesome and just an all round lovely person :) Her blog is also amazing, plus she is Australian!

Reading for a cause update!

A few weeks ago, I posted about Mulitple Sclerosis and the reading challenge they are hosting for kids in Australia! Although I can't participate, for every book I read over this Summer, I will donate $1 toward the foundation!

This month, I have read 6 books!
- Lola and the Boy Next Door
- Imaginary Girls
- Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief
- Hallowed
- Dead Reckoning
- Under the Never Sky

No, I didn't read many books or as many as I would've liked, but I will read more next month!
Maybe I should take a note out of my Aunty Caroline's book, (haha, pardon the pun) and read smaller MG reads :D

 

How many books did you read :)

In My Mailbox (5) CHRISTMAS EDITION! Also, Happy birthday Laptop :)

In My Mailbox is a weekly feature by The Story Siren which allows us to drool with one another over the books that we received or bought this week!

Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday dear laptop, Happy birthday to you! Hip hip hooray!! One year ago, I got my laptop for Christmas from my Dad and stepmum, Kelly! Laptop has come to uni with me, been lugged around and has helped me with blogging. Kelly has suggested I give laptop a name, so her name is now Libby... Not sure where I got that from but it may possibly be inspired from Jimmy Neutron...

Anyway, here is Libby with a party hat.

As for the IMM!

So no, these aren't books... But these are presents from Dad and Kelly... The things I'd like to point out are the PINK Wii Remote and the little notepad or sticky notes! I am obsessed with sticky notes, I use them for absolutely everything and these ones are sooo cute :) Oh, and I bought myself the dishwashing stuff because I broke my last one - I just thought I'd wrap it up and put it in my stocking! Hahaha!

Now, the books here are from Mother dearest <3 She also got me a framed photo of us :)

Roald Dahl's Phizz Whizzing Collection
Percy Jackson Boxset by Rick Riordan
Codename: Sailor V 2 by Naoko Takeuchi
Fury by Elizabeth Miles (My mum thought this was Fury by Shirley Marr and got so excited and bought it for me, she was incredibly disappointed when I said it wasn't the right book, but this is on my TBR list anyway and it's the thought that counts mum<3)

Bought:
Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi 
Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta
Dash & Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

And from my Nanna/Poppy, a Target giftcard (which I'm using to buy books). Not sure which books yet, but I will.... :)

What's in your mailbox :)

Reading for a good cause! :)

Multiple Sclerosis is a disease which affects the central nervous system and according to Wikipedia, "MS affects the ability of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord to communicate with each other effectively". There is currently no known cure and there is only treatment to try to prevent further attacks. Currently, the average number of people diagnosed with MS every month in WA alone is 16.

This Summer, the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Western Australia is holding a summer reading challenge for kids who are in Kindy-Year 7. If you'd like to participate and would also like to encourage your child to read then check out the MS reading challenge site and sign up :).

You can donate as much money as you like, the only requirement is that children in Kindy-Year 3 have to read for a minimum of 10 hours (this includes magazines, newspapers and any book you want!) and that children in years 4-7 do 15 hours of reading... and that's over the WHOLE Summer!!

Oh and you can go in the draw to win iPods, e-readers, a holiday and heaps more :)

I'm not saying you have to participate (because that would be a bit rude, wouldn't it!) but I just really want to raise awareness of this challenge because MS is a disease that is relatively unknown and somebody I love has recently been diagnosed. I'll be donating $1 for every book I read over this Summer in order to raise money.
Like I said, you don't have to :) I just wanted to raise more awareness of this challenge

<3