Book Review - Swimming Pool Sunday

Swimming Pool Sunday - Madeleine Wickham
On a shimmeringly hot Sunday in May, the Delaneys opened their pool to all the village for charity. Louise was there, so were her daughters Amelia and Katie - and so, glaring at her resentfully, was her estranged husband Barnaby. This was supposed to be his day with the girls. But Louise ignored his angry glowers - it wasn't her fault they'd wanted to come swimming with her, was it? While the children splashed and shrieked in the cool, blue waters, she lay blissfully back in the sun and dreamed of Cassian, the charismatic new lawyer in her life. The day seemed perfect.

But suddenly the perfect day was shattered, as tragedy struck. And the consequences of a terrible accident develop into a dram of recriminations, jealousy and legal power-play, in which Louise found herself pulled in three directions at once. Friendships crumbled, the village was split, and the needs of a child become secondary to a dangerous contest in which the grown-ups were engaged.
 

I have literally been reading this book on and off since my last book review, and I have only just realized that the front cover is meant to look like a swimming pool with the reflection of the diving board :')

Anyway, I will start off by saying that Madeleine Wickham has written my favourite books ever, the Confessions Of A Shopaholic series but under the name Sophie Kinsella, so I was expecting this book to be really great. I was actually rather disappointed with it if I am honest.

This was Madeleine's first ever published book so I wasn't expecting anything as good as the COAS series, but I still thought it would be better than it was.

After reading the blurb before I started reading the book, I had already guessed what happened in the book. And to the most of it, I was right.

Things I like about this book: The storyline on the whole is great. The little twists add a great atmosphere to the novel. The court case (I can't really say why I like it...otherwise it will ruin it incase after reading this you still want to read the book...dayum!)

Things I don't like about this book: The fact that I figured out most of what was going to happen within reading the blurb and the first couple chapters. The whole Alexis and Daisy storyline, IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE REST OF THE BOOK!?!?! I DON'T GET IT!!!! The fact that after the accident, Amelia isn't mentioned for like 5 chapters. The whole ending of the book.

So yeah :/ I don't really know how to review this book as I didn't really like it. At parts I did find it hard to put down, it did pull me into the story at times, but at other times I didn't really care less. It might have also been to do with the fact I've been doing a lot the past few weeks and so haven't had time to read so much and so have been reading a chapter like every few days, so haven't got pulled into it as much.

I'm not going to say 'STAY CLEAR OF THIS BOOK, IT IS AWFUL' because that's not the truth. I have read worse books in my life but this just wasn't as good as I had wanted it to be.

Sorry Madeleine :/

Baa.

Found my blue clip in hair thingy :D Was happy :')

Going to London Zoo tomorrow with Amy, her cousin and her mum :D
Excited apart from the fact that I have had to set my alarm to 7:30 on a blooming Sunday morning :O
Oh well :P

Staying over at Amy's afterwards, will be a laugh :)
Will come home somewhen on Monday.
But I bet you if it is nice on Monday Amy and I will play swingball.

:')

So yarsh, speak soonies

xoxox

McFly - Above The Noise

You know what I have only just realised? I never blogged about the McFly gig. And so I am going to, even though it was nearly a full 3 months ago. 

April 1^st 2011.

I had to go to school during the day due to having an art exam. So I went and had the first half of my exam which went rather well actually…my art final piece was about McFly so I had a near enough full McFly day, was exciting :P I normally finish school at half 3 but my mum sent me in with a note saying that we had a wedding to get to up in Manchester so I had to leave at 3. Well I couldn’t exactly say that I was going to a McFly gig could I? And I could have stayed till half 3 seeing as we got the 4:09 train to London Waterloo, but still :P Got ready at home before going to the train station and then getting on the train. Raved silently to McFly all the way there and then turned my music off so I could make sure we got on the right tube, just in case my mum got it wrong :P 

Anyway we got off at Wembley and we walked to the arena and it bought back so many memories of when I went to see them end of 2008 on the Radio:ACTIVE tour as I had seen them there and walked the exact route, it was just a lot lighter now then it was then! We got into the arena and went to buy a tour book and top…and they take the lids off your bottles when you enter for some reason (stupid seeing as you can buy drink in the arena with lids…) but me and my mum always have spares in our purses…because we think like that…but I put my bottle without the lid on the counter whilst I got my money out and my mum turned and wacked it onto the floor, soaking someone. I actually was trying not to laugh to be honest. We got my stuff anyway before gathering in the crowd and waiting to be allowed to find our seats. We got to our seats and I grinned. We had an amazing view. I changed from my skirt into my tutu and put on my new McFly top and sat and chatted to my mum. After about half an hour my friend walked over so I got up, gave her a huge hug, before going and sitting with her and talking to her. I had met Silke on twitter though another friend and yet we had met first due to going to the same gig and the fact that she was sat 3 rows behind me. I was so nervous yet happy to meet her! She didn’t realise at first how small I was until I stood on the same step as she was stood on. She laughed :’) Was really nice meeting her, she’s such a lovely person <3 And for the first McFly friend of mine which I’ve met, it was great :D

Anyway, I then went and sat back with my mum and put on my glowsticks :D She has 3 of them too :’) The support acts came on and the first band were okay, but my mum pointed out that the lead singer looked gay due to his hand movements, and I couldn’t stop watching him :’) it was annoying! The second band were better, but the last band, The Struts, were my favourite <3 Apart from at first I didn’t like the lead singer but by the end I totally loved him due to the fact that he wore what he wanted to wear and didn’t really care what anyone else thought, just like me. And he was just mental :’)

And then McFly came on. I was actually on the verge of being sick because I was screaming, so hot and near enough hyperventilating. Usually when I feel ill I start singing McFly songs to myself to get me to calm down and take my mind off of things so I put all of my energy and thoughts into screaming the words which Tom, Danny and Dougie were singing to us. I don’t really remember the set list and at the other gigs I spent a lot of time taking photos and videos so I could remember the day better but to be honest I hate watching the videos back as it makes me sad that I can’t remember the gig without the videos. But that’s the thing, I never remember the best days of my life really…well I do…but it’s all blurry due to the amazingness of it.

Anyway! I let my mum have the camera and she took quite a few photos and thought she was taking videos but she wasn’t :’) bless her heart! But I have the live stream to always watch so I can relive the gig, just like I can with R:A.

We had to leave early due to wanting to actually get home that night so I missed them singing The Heart Never Lies and Shine A Light but still :’) We left the arena and I could hear it outside so was skipping along singing The Heart Never Lies whilst my mum laughed at me. 

We managed to get the last train home and I just listened to McFly through my buzzing ears and nearly fell asleep.

I know a lot of this wasn’t actually about the gig itself, but I truthfully can’t remember much of it as it was all above amazing. At random times I suddenly remember something which happened and I find myself randomly grinning at the memory. I will however never forget Tom’s dad coming on stage and singing Smile with them, Tom’s hip thrust whilst singing Star Girl, Danny’s guitar…thing…whilst singing iF U C Kate, Dougie introducing Bob onstage (and his ‘holy jeans) and Harry showing off his left (I think) nipple <3

Oh I love McFly.

And after writing this I just want to see them live again.

Yes I felt ill at the beginning due to my hyperness but that all adds to the amazingness of the whole gig experience.

I also received many lovely texts of my McFriend Kat during the gig, was lovely <3

I love all mc McBuddies <3 They are all lovely and I can't wait to meet the rest of them :)

IT'S NOT ALWAYS EASY. BUT MCFLYS HERE FOREVER

So true.

.

I love Jimmy Carr's laugh.

That's all :')

Tonight consists of 8 Out of 10 Cats, King Of... and then flicking between Eastenders and Alan Carr Chatty Man <3

This Week

This week has been pretty darn good.
On Monday I stayed at home and then Olivia came down and we went into school to give our photography teacher his present. We had bought him a Red VW Campervan mug which was pretty darn lucky seeing as he already had the blue and orange one :') (he likes VW Campervan's btw...) and then I came home and didn't really do much.
On Tuesday I went to the beach with Sheena and Jade. It looked sunny in Liphook but got down to Portsmouth, as soon as we got out of the car it started spitting with rain. Cheers! It didn't last long and we walked through the swan boats to the seafront and then along to the first pier and then to the castle where we sat and ate lunch before carrying on walking down to the second pier. I was wearing flipflops and hurt my foot though :( But still walked back :) Oh and on the walk back it poured down for like 2 minutes and my aunt said I looked like Ozzy Osbourne.
On Wednesday I had an exam in the morning and then I came home and played on Sims for most of the day. I then played on the Wii for a bit before going round to my nans in the evening to play some games with Sheena and Jade.
On Thursday me, mum, Sheena and Jade went to London. It was amazing, despite my feet being in agony. We got the underground to Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum which was pretty darn amazing <3 And then we got the underground to the portrait gallery. Well, we ate lunch outside before heading inside. We then got the underground to Buckingham palace before walking down to the London Eye where we sat an admired the world going by. Well I was trying to take photos of bubbles...I am still fascinated by bubbles, despite being 16. I don't think I will ever outgrow that fascination. Anyway...oh! When we were outside Buckingham Palace, we were stood near the gates when these police men came over and told us to go stand opposite, near the big monument thingy so everyone did and me and my aunt were like 'omigod the Queen is coming out!' but no. Someone had just abandoned their rucksack. It was a bomb scare. Pretty funny though :')
Today Amy and I went into school to get my leavers formed signed and handed in before heading back to mine. We then went over to Sainsburys for two hours to help collect money for Cancer Research. There was this crazy woman who came and stood in front of us (gave us no money mind you) and went 'I can never find my blue car here. Never have the problem anywhere else. I come here to Sainsbury's and it takes me ages to find it but I go to London and it takes me no time at all' before she walked outside and went straight to her green car. Totes made my day though :')

Anyway, that was my week :)

xoxoxox

100 Truths

1. Real name → Laura Jade Pay

2. Nickname(s) → Lolli, LJ, Lolster, Betty, Lau

3. Zodiac sign → Taurus

4. Male or female → Female

5. Elementary → Liphook Infants

6. Middle School → Liphook Juniors

7. High School → Bohunt School

8. Hair color → Reddy Purple atm

9. Long or short → Midlength but too long.

10. Loud or Quiet → Quiet if you don’t know me, but once you get to know me I won’t shut up

11. Sweats or Jeans → Jeans

12. Phone or Camera → Cameraa

13. Health freak → Pffffffttt nope

14. Drink or Smoke → Neither

15. Do you have a crush on someone? → Yarsh

16. Eat or Drink → Eatt

17. Piercings → 2 on each ear :)

18. Tattoos → Nope

HAVE YOU EVER? 

19. Been in an airplane → Nope

20. Been in a room → Yes…what sort of question is this!?

21. Been in a car accident → Nah

FIRSTS: 

22. First Word → No idea

23. First piercing → My ears

24. Best Friend → Amy :)

25. First award → No idea tbh

26. First crush → My old next door neighbour most likely

27. First big vacation → Erm unless you count Disney Land Paris then I’m still waiting

28. First school → Liphook Infants

LASTS:

29. Last person you talked to → Olivia

30. Last person you chatted → isn’t that the same thing as ^^? Olivia

31. Last person you watched a movie with → my aunt

32. Last food you ate → Aero bar :D

33. Last movie you watched → Kung Fu Panda

34. Last song you listened to → *goes onto iTunes and onto ‘recently played’* Circle The Drain by Katy Perry

35. Last thing you bought → McFly That’s The Truth CD’s

FAVOURITES: 

36. Food → Lasagne probably

37. Drinks → Cream Soda

38. Clothing → McFly tops or Wicked hoodie

39. Books → All of the Confessions Of A Shopaholic books and Handle With Care by Jodie Picoult. Oh and House Rules by Jodie Picoult :D

40. Music → McFly…obviously…but I also love: Alex Day <3, Bruno Mars, Busted, Cascada, The Fratellis, Get Set Radio, Green Day, Jessie J, Katy Perry <3, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Lissie, Scouting For Girls <3, The Script, Sceondhand Serenade, Son Of Dork :D

41. Flower → Lily

42. Colors → Black and bright pink

43. Movies  → Finding Nemo, Confessions Of A Shopaholic, Just My Luck…

44. Locations → Home

45. Subjects → Photography :’) And I liked Maths and weirdly Biology…

HAVE YOU EVER- 

46. Kissed in the snow? Nope

47. Celebrated Halloween? Yes

48. Had your heart broken? Nope

49. Went over the minutes on your cellphone? No

50. Had someone questioned your sexual orientation? nope

51. Came out of the closet? Don’t need to

54. Done something you've regretted? Nope

55. Broke a promise? Yup, but everyone does

56. Hid a secret? Yup

57. Pretended to be happy? Yes

58. Met someone who changed your life? Yup

59. Pretended to be sick? Yup

60. Left the country? Nope

61. Tried something you normally wouldn't try and liked it? Yeah overall probably quite a lot of things

62. Cried over the silliest thing? Yup

63. Ran a mile? Nope

64. Went to the beach with your best friend(s)? Yup

65. Stayed single the whole year? Yeah

66. Crashed your dad's boat? My dad doesn’t have a boat…and even if he did theres no way he would let me drive it

CURRENTLY: 

67. Eating → Nothing

68. Drinking → Nothing

69. I'm about to → Write part of a story

71. Plans for today → eat, wash hair, sleep, write, read…not in that order

72. Waiting for → me to finish this

YOUR FUTURE:

73. Want kids? → I think so…

74. Want to get married? → Yeah

75. Careers in mind? → Phtographer or something to do with photographyyy

76. Lips or eyes → Eyees

78. Romantic or spontaneous → Both :) 

79. Nice legs or Nice arms  → Arms :)

82. Cute Or Sexual → :/ probably bit of both in someone else

HAVE YOU EVER:

83. Lost glasses/contacts → Yes lost my glasses 

84. Ran away from home →  Nope

85. Held a gun/knife for self defense → Nah

86. Killed Somebody → Nope

87. Broken someone's heart → Nah 

88. Been arrested → Nopee

89. Cried when someone died → Yes

BELIEVE IN-

90. Yourself → Not enough

91. Miracles → No

92. Love at first sight → Yes

93. Heaven → Nope

94. Santa Claus → Nah

95. Sex on the first date → No

96. Kiss on the first date → Depends how well it goes

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:

97. Is there one person you want to be with right now? Yes

98. Are you seriously happy with where you are in life? At the moment, yes.

99. Do you believe in God? No

100. Title as 100 truths and tag 16 (22 is too many) people and the person who tagged you originally and they have to fill out this out – Blogging this so no.

Chapter One

I started writing a McFly fic about a year ago. Well, I wrote a chapter of it and couldn't think of a name so just named it Chapter One. I've worked on it at odd times over the past year and it's only nearly finished but I am actually incredibly proud of it if I'm honest. It's a bit confusing in places so every time I write something new to it, I have to re-read half of it so I remember what has gone on etc. I've enjoyed writing it though. It's different from what I normally write, for one thing it's a 'homosexual' fic with the guys dating each other, without having me or another character involved or anything. The guys aren't in a band and it's told all from Danny's POV which I've also never written a full story in, not even a full story in Tom's POV or anything before.

Practically to sum it up, Danny joins the school and meets Tom straight away. Tom is engaged to Harry but that doesn't stop Danny falling for him. Tom and Danny flirt and Tom falls for Danny. But he finds it hard to leave Harry and he can't decide what to do. So Danny and Vicky come up with a plan which involves playing Dougie and stealing Harry.

So yarsh.

Oh and the story is still called 'Chapter One' as I still can't think of what to call it and because I've decided that I am going to write a follow up to it, probably called 'Chapter Two' or something. Different chapters in the life of Danny Jones.

I find it weird that it's told from the POV of Danny, seeing as he's probably my least fave member of the band...

Oh and Emily has kept up to date with what I'd written and kept telling me that it was good, so I do owe it to her that I'm near to finishing this. I kept thinking that parts were crap and that I didn't know what to write next and stuff and she kept saying that it was great and that I should carry on :) So thanks Em! :D

xoxo