Recent Reads | June 2020

I've always been an avid reader, but my frequency for reading has dropped over the years and I began to struggle focusing on books. Over the last month or so having a little bit more free time has allowed me to rekindle my love for reading. I've set myself a goal to read 60 books this year, which sounds like a lot but it'll push me to work toward it. I've decided to review and recommend some of the books that I've enjoyed. I've done this as a series before and decided to bring it back on my reading journey and it'll hopefully keep my motivation and maybe get some recommendations from others along the way! 

• Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

This book has been on my to read pile for a long time. I've seen it all over instagram and everyone had given it raving reviews, I'd even gotten it recommended to me a few times. The main character, named after the title, Eleanor, is written as a very unlikeable character. This is one of the reasons why I liked her character, to me she felt like a really real person like reading her diary, it wasn't a fake kind of happiness that you often seen in novels. She has many redeeming qualities throughout the novel. She is mainly happy with her own company and the novel focuses on her journeywhere she unwillingly makes a friend and becomes a more sociable version of herself. This book has many twists and points that have you wanting to scream into the pages. Without spoiling it, it's a. book that will be in your mind surrounding its message on mental health and looking after others. This is my favourite book I've read so far this year and I can imagine I will read it again.

• Station Eleven by Emily St John Mendel

I hadn't heard anything about this book until I bought it and then had a lot of people I know telling me how much they enjoyed it. I am a huge Science-Fiction fan and it had been a while since I had read anything as fantasy as this. The book has many different time frames that it is written in that go back and forth interweaving between each other and connecting the story between character's in different times. It begins set in a virus pandemic (how apt) and the majority of the story is the aftermath of its destruction and about the survival of a few in a travelling theatre. This book was very clever in its story line and how it all came together in the end. There are so many characterswithin the story but they all got appropriate time to develop and show their individual story. I enjoyed the flashbacks and present passages in the story and how it didn't have one set narrator, it was hard to figure out at first but it all made sense the more you read. It's thought provoking about what could happen in times of mass hysteria and also solidarity between people.

• Fishbowl by Bradley Somer 

I've had this book for a long time and never got around to reading it. This book is similar to Station Eleven in narrative. There is no individual narrator and the storyline is very strange but it is interesting to see how it progresses. The story follows a fish, Ian, as he falls 27 stories from a building to the ground. On his journey it depicts who and what he sees on his fall. It shows how many individual events are happening in a single moment in one building, and how all these events are connected all together in one moment, and how they build on each other to create a bigger picture. I would love to see another follow up to this with different characters it was very intriguing, and I love books with a style or narrative that is unconventional but overall works.

Has anyone got any book recommendations? I've a lot of books to read to reach my goal for the year! 

Primark Balm to Oil Cleanser | Review

I've been using the same cleansers from Lush for a long time. As much as I love them they are expensive for what they are - I'll probably always still go for them as my top cleansers but it's nice to try some new ones every now and then. I saw this Balm to Oil cleanser in Primark recently, and it seemed to be part of a more eco conscious collection. It included some skin care items and also bamboo pots and brushes of various types which I loved. I only picked up the cleanser as it was the only thing I needed at the time but I would love to try some of the other things I've seen as they seem like a more eco-friendly version of the items that everyone usually picks up at Primark. It's great to see some bigger brands getting more products that are friendlier to the environment and also more natural as I know a lot of people are becoming more conscious of what is not only in the products they're buying but also the packaging too. 

I've been trying this cleanser for the past few weeks by blending it in to my face and using a wet cloth to remove. It doesn't say anything about using this to remove make up but I have been doing so and it has worked perfectly that way. The texture of it is very similar to coconut oil yet the main ingredients are camomile and aloe vera. It is solid until you put it in your hand and it becomes an oil straight away which becomes easy to rub into your skin. It doesn't have much of a scent which is nice about it and it is also very light weight. As it turns into an oil you get a lot of product out of one tub. It's a very cheap and natural alternative to a lot of other cleansers I've used before. It has also been very soft on my skin and feels moisturising. 

Has anyone tried any good cleansers that they would recommend?

Lush Marshmallow Bath Bomb | Review

Long time, no Lush review. I tried the Marshmallow World bath bomb twice and it's becoming a favourite of mine. This is one of the sweetest bath bombs out there so if you have a sweet tooth you'll love it. The main ingredient is sugar, also with vanilla and marshmallow powder (which I didn't know was a thing until now). It smells like it's straight out of a candy shop. It smells like a fizzy strawberry sweet and it is so refreshing and pleasant. It's also enjoyable to relax in because it's not an overwhelmingly strong scent. It's also one of the bigger bath bombs that Lush sells which is always a bonus. 

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Marshmallow World is mainly pink in composition, but also has streaks of white, blue and yellow. When dropped in water it fizzes and turns the bath a pretty pale pink colour. It then mixes with the colours that it is streaked with. These colours are all really pale shades and when they mix together they create some new colours that are even more vibrant. It has one of the prettiest end colours I've seen. As it's a bigger bath bomb it swirls around the tub for a long time and it's visually pleasant. I found that it foams really nicely while it fizzes also leaving a nice fluffy layer to the bath water. 

Has anyone tried this bath bomb before? What do you think of it?