My Thoughts On: Paper Towns

Paper Towns has been on my reading list for a while now and with all the hype about the upcoming film adaption I thought this would be the perfect time to finally sit down and read it.

Quentin 'Q' Jacobsen has always admired Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar, so when she shows up at his window one night to take him on a road trip of revenge pranks he knows it will be a night that will change everything. However, when Margo disappears the next morning, Quentin starts to discover clues that he hopes will lead him to the whereabouts of the mystery that is Margo Roth Spiegelman.

This is the second book I've read by John Green, the first being Looking For Alaska which I enjoyed very much, and Paper Towns did not disappoint. I couldn't put this book down and I read it in about three days, which is a new record for me. It's one of those books where I kept saying "one more page, then I'll go to bed" but then I'd find myself losing track of time and reading another 20 or so pages without realising. I thought the characters were diverse and relatable and I found myself wanting to go along with them on their journey to find Margo. One of the messages that I took from reading this book was that when we love someone, we imagine them to be something they're not, and I feel that John Green captured the idea perfectly. Overall, if you enjoy reading books with elements of adventure, mystery, and humour I would definitely recommend giving Paper Towns a read.

Memorable quotes: 

"What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person."

"Maybe all the strings inside him broke."

"It's so hard to leave - until you leave. And then it is the easiest goddamned thing in the world."

"As long as we don't die, this is gonna be one hell of a story."

Have you read Paper Towns? If so, what are your thoughts on the book?

Liv

July Goals

Can you believe we're now over half way through 2015? This year is flying by, and although schools and colleges are only just starting their summer holidays, I finished my second year of university almost a month ago. So far I have been unproductive and lazy, but after a year of hard work and stress I feel that this month of doing nothing was definitely needed. Now that I've had this break it's time for me to start making the most of the next two months, so for my first blog post I've decided to compile a list of goals that I want to accomplish throughout July.

Get back to the gym.
Last summer I spent most of my spare time at the gym and I was so motivated to lose a few pounds and lead a more active life. When I moved back to Manchester for the new academic year I fell back into my bad habits of having a limited diet that mainly consisted of pasta, porridge or potatoes due to the fact I can't cook to save my life, and although I danced throughout the year it still wasn't enough to counteract my terrible eating habits. This summer I'm determined to get back to the gym and regain my healthy lifestyle, and when I move back to uni in September I'm also going to try harder to keep up these healthy habits.

Work on my flexibility.
This is probably one of the most important goals I want to achieve this month. I was on my university's Advanced Jazz team this year so ideally I should have been at least flexible enough to do the splits. If I want to make it back onto the team in September as well a few other teams that I'm going to audition for I need to continue working on my flexibility. I've been stretching every day since the start of summer 2014 and I've definitely improved a significant amount since. Stretching just a little every day can make a big difference in the long run and you should try not to overstretch, so just 10-15 minutes every day is what I'm aiming for.

Reduce my sugar intake.
This goal is a serious must-do. There's no denying that I'm a sugar addict. I've never really been bothered about this before but recently I've noticed how uneasy my stomach feels after devouring my way through a sugary snack, which makes me think my body isn't handling my eating habits as well as I thought. As a result I've decided to gradually cut down on the amount of refined sugar I eat, starting with sweets, biscuits, and sugar in cups of tea. This will also help me with my first goal on this list as cutting out refined sugar will bring me one step further towards my healthy lifestyle.

Declutter.
A good clear out is long overdue and I always feel so much better afterwards. I find this a good way to relax and hopefully by the end of July I will have decluttered my whole bedroom.

Finally put pen to paper.
By this I mean finally pluck up the courage and write something. I love writing and I have an idea for a book that I would love to write but the thing that's holding me back is that I don't know where to start. I have so many ideas and I don't even know what to note down first which sounds weird, I know. This month I'm determined to finally push myself into getting ideas out of my head and down onto paper so I can finally start to write something.  As this post is now public it means that I have also published my first blog post, which is something I have been delaying for longer than I would like to admit.

So these are the goals that I'm aiming to accomplish this month. Have you got any goals that you're working towards this summer? If so, what are they?

Liv