Happy Easter!

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last posted. Time flies when you're having fun...or in my case struggling under the demands of uni, work and trying to figure out my future.

Amongst all the craziness that has been my April thus far, my iPad finally arrived a couple of weeks ago (yay!)

I absolutely adore my iPad. In fact there are no words to describe how freakin' awesome it is, so I won't even attempt to express it. Sadly for my Macbook, it has seen it become rather reduntant and is now only ever used for serious uni work/cramming (and the occasional blog post).

Aside from the iPad, the past few weeks have seen both myself and my sister embark on a book buying spree - mainly from our beloved Barnes & Noble, but some have come from Borders for only $3 (what a bargain, right?!). These are just some of our purchases...

Whilst I love a bargain as much as the next person, my recent shopping trip to Borders was rather bittersweet. For the past 4 years, my local Borders store (well, local to my uni campus) has been the place where I've spent many a break between classes studying and catching up with friends over coffee. To walk into the store and see the furniture up for sale and the shelves bare, it kind of broke my heart :(

On a more festive note, it's Easter and we all know that means...CHOCOLATE!!

Happy Easter everyone! Hope you're all having a wonderful break filled with lots and lots of chocolate :)

The best part of online shopping...

...is receiving the order early on a miserable Monday morning. As you can imagine, I was ecstatic to receive my most recent order of books, CDs and DVDs.

I FINALLY have a copy of Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare.

It is the follow-up series (or rather a prequel series) to the New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series. I love, love, love this series and am constantly recommending it to everyone as a good read (and once again I must thank my friend S for introducing me to the series, so thanks S!!). While it has the elements of vampires and werewolves that are quite typical of the fantasy genre in young adult fiction at the moment, it is a very well-written series that draws you in. In fact I was so captivated by the series that when S lent me the series I didn't leave my room for 2 whole days because I just had to finish the series. Needless to say, I absolutely cannot wait for the weekend so I can read Clockwork Angel.

Also in the parcel was the Season 4 boxset of Psych.

My sister and I love this show, I remember we began watching it way back when Channel 10 put on a couple of episodes one summer. Unfortunately it didn't get the ratings in Australia and was soon after taken off air. In the US however Psych is much loved and has recently been renewed for a 6th season. I can understand why the show may not be to everyone's tastes, especially with a multitude the crime shows on tv, but more particularly because of the fact that the show's fast-paced (sometimes crazy) humour has it's roots in pop culture references that some people may just not get.

On the CD front I FINALLY got around to ordering a copy of Glee Vol. 3 Showstoppers...

...And there was a copy of American Dreams: The Original Soundtrack.

It's no secret that I love all things 1960s, but it was particularly the tv series American Dreams that really got me interested in the popular culture of the '60s (and finally after many years I managed to track down a copy of the soundtrack!). Although at times historically inaccurate the series chronicled the major historical events of the decade while following the life of a typical middle-class American family. What I really loved about the show was how it re-created and depicted the popular '60s show American Bandstand and as such had an array of famous modern day musicians cover the chart-topping songs of much-loved '60s bands.

Well, I'm off to order me some more books (I really wasn't lying when I said I love books) especially with the Aussie dollar currently doing so well. Happy Monday all!

Search for the "Perfect" Bag

Okay, so one last rumination before I call it a day.

My shoulder has been in absolute agony for the past few weeks. The pain can only be attributed to those incredibly large, heavy and evil law textbooks that require carting around campus. It got me thinking, this is my 4th year of university and I am yet to find the perfect bag that holds these insanely big books, along with a notebook and other necessities like food, wallet, phone, keys etc.

I have gone through many bags. I've tried out a backpack (one from my high school days) but it wasn't the right size AND had very little back support leading to a super sore back. In all honesty I should have known better than using a backpack from my high school days, since back then I used to choose bags based on their appearance. Similarly, I've tried a multitude of large totes and duffel bags, even at times carrying an additional enviro bag purely for textbook toting purposes, and looking somewhat like a pack horse in the process.

I'm not sure what qualifies as the "perfect" bag, but I'm thinking one that holds my ridiculous amount of stuff and doesn't break under the weight a law textbook is a good start. I'm also thinking that it might be in the form of a backpack - especially since my poor right shoulder (which tends to be my bag carrying shoulder) would probably like to share the weight and pain with my other shoulder.

And so begins the search for the "perfect" uni bag...

More Book Stuff.

So, after days and days of waiting I FINALLY received another of my recent online purchases in the mail.

A part of me hoped it was the lovely new clothes and shoes I couldn't resist buying over the weekend, but that was wishful on my part. It turned out to be parcel #2 of the books I recently ordered, containing the box set of Percy Jackson and The Olympians by Rick Riordan.

I can't wait to get reading this series!

Of course it'll have to wait until I finish all the books lent to me by my friend S. I'm currently (and, I must admit, very slowly) making my way through the Inheritance Series by Christopher Paolini, but while I take a short break from them I'm reading the recently released Linger by Maggie Stiefvater.

Linger is the sequel to Shiver and falls under the Twilight-esque genre that I mused about in an earlier post. This series centres around the mythical world of werewolves. It's not a bad read and despite my criticisms, I do like it - I even took to recommending it to people while working at the bookstore recently.

My only criticisms (well, the ones I can think of at the moment) are that at times I found the first book to have moments where the story assumed a very slow pace. I also found the main character Grace to be a bit hard to sympathise with at times, particularly in regards to the idea of her "falling in love" with the werewolf (Sam), and having been in"love" with him since the age of 7 - which just sounds a bit absurd. The tone of Linger changes rather dramatically by comparison, and although still somewhat focused on Grace and Sam's relationship, it has a bit more mystery, with new and interesting characters - basically more story.

All in all, it is an addictive read, and once you read the first book you will want to see the series through. It's definitely one of the better books of the genre out there at the moment.