Time for Tea

Another good idea for a Christmas present is to treat a loved one to a spot of tea somewhere special. You could make an event of it, or do it as part of a day trip or shopping expedition.

Here are a couple of places I'd recommend in London and the south:-

Christmas ideas- Non fiction

One of my new years resolutions for 2014 was to read more non-fiction- I've kind of failed on this one.

Still, here are some non-fiction releases that have caught my eye, and are potential ideas for Christmas presents:-

Bookity

With Christmas coming up (hey, it's officially December, it's ok to talk about it now) I thought I'd start giving you some gift ideas for your bibliophile friend.

I was given this bracelet for my birthday by my smallest sister- but this is the first time I'm showing it off on the blog.
 

It is available on etsy  and The Literary Gift Company. It designed by Bookity, who makes handmade jewellery from damaged books.

My particular bracelet is made from Kafka of The Shore by Haruki  Murakami. I'm a big fan of his work, read my reviews of The Underground  and  Tsukuri Tasaki and His Years of Pilgrimage. There are plenty of other authors to choose from including Tolkien, Austen and Agatha Christie.  

The bracelet feels tactile, the inside is smooth. The only downside is, that the clasp is non-adjustable.  

P.s Happy Birthday to my big sister!

Bookish Birthday

Yay! It's my birthday today and at the grand age of 26 I feel I am officially a grown adult woman. So to honour the occasion I've put together a small ideas for the literature-lover in your life.


1. Doubleplusgood necklace, quoted from Nineteen Eighty-Four, £28.00, sold here   

I'm a fan of Orwell, so things makes my list. Also it's bang on trend at the moment as delicate gold  accessories are going to be massive this summer.

2. Bookish....and proud of it notebook, £7.99, sold here

I'm always slightly cautious when I get a new notebook as I don't want to spoil it with my dreadful handwriting. Both these notebooks would be perfect for readers to write reviews of make lists of what they want to read next.

3. Old Junk, Penguin Notebook, £8.99, sold here 

4. Roland Dahl Matilda t-shirt, £19.99, sold here 

I think Matilda is my favourite Roald Dahl, but the Fantastic Mr Fox and BFG are also pretty wonderful.

5. Game of Thrones, Westeros leggings, $85.00 AUD, sold here 

Possibly over-priced (and I'm not totally sure I could pull these off) but as a huge GoT fan I had to include these snazzy Black Milk leggings. The print also comes in a dress.  

6. From small seeds necklace, £20.00, sold here

 Staying on the Game of Thrones theme, I think the tree on this locket look like it belongs in a weirwood.

7. Personalised Penguin Kindle Cover, £19.99, sold here

This is so cool! You could use the details of your fave book, but  I think I would be tempted to use my own name as the author, or is that a bit sad? I really love the classic penguin design, when I went to a charity shop I had to really resist buying a bulk lot of these orange and white books, but as I didn't actually want to read any of them it felt a bit fake.

If you want to find my previous gift ideas see here:

• presents for readers 
• presents for tea-drinkers 
• presents for writers
• presents for potterheads  
• presents for feminists 

Or if you are on a budget or fancy giving a home-made present, check out my DIY ideas here:-

quote bunting 

framed penguin postcards 

I'm off to enjoy my day! 

Presents for a Potterhead

It's been six years since the last book was published, but the magic can live on with these Harry Potter inspired gifts:-

1.  'Oculus Reparo' illustration print (£15.00 from here)

2. Glasses and Scar ring (£17.81 from here)

3. Butterbeer bag (£7.63 from here)

4. Marauders Map dress (from here)

5. Butterbeer lipbalm  (£2.38 from here)

She wants the D(estruction of the patriarchy). Gifts for feminists

Ok, slightly specialised, but still here is a list of gift ideas for the feminist reader in your life.

1. If you're after a fiction book good authors to try (my favourites in brackets);

•  Margret Atwood (The Handmaids Tale, actually any of her books are winners, my review of Madaddam)
•  Angela Carter (The Passion of New Eve)
• Toni Morrison ( Jazz)
• Octavia E. Butler
• Sarah Waters (Fingersmith)
• Suzanne Collins (for your adolescent feminist, Hunger Games)     

This list is in no way comprehensive, and also there is plenty of non-fiction book on feminist thought out there. People worth checking out include, Judith Butler, Pat Califia and Patricia Hill Collins.

2. A Book from Persephone Book store (here) a specialised bookshop dedicated to neglected (mostly women) mid-twentieth century fiction and non-fiction. Organised by categories such a 'Suffragettes', 'A Woman's Place' and 'Gender and race'. The covers are also beautiful and simply designed.

If you don't want to get your favourite feminist a book, here are some other suggestions:

3.  Feminist Brooch (£9.00 from here). Also comes in a snazzy necklace.

4. Feminist Killjoy Banner (£8.63 from here)

5. Margaret Atwood Print (£9.58 from here)

6. 'she is too fond of books and it has turned her brain' Notebook (£7.95 from here)

7. Uterus Plush ($20.00 from here)

8. Feminist Embroidery Hoop (£14.93 from here)

9. 'well behaved women rarely make history' tote bag (£9.59 from here). A nice Christmas idea would be to buy a bag like this, and then pop a feminist novel inside.

10. NUWSS replica badge (£13.50 from here)

11. A Room of Ones Own print (£19.95+ from here)

Gifts for Writers

Sorry, I've been a bit quiet this past few weeks, but I'm back (yay!) and here to help with some present suggestions as it's not long now until Christmas (double yay!).

I'm intending to do a whole series of present ideas, and first up is gifts for writers:-

1. Write Brooch. (£14.99 from here)

2. Vintage Typewriter, typewriters make beautiful home decoration (or you could write your first novel on one). Ebay  is a good place to start, with typewriters going for about £30, charity shops and carboot sales are also good places to go hunting.

picture taken from pintrest 

3. 'I could have been a novel' notebook (£6.99 from here)

4. Typewriter Print (£12.78 from here)

5. Working Fountain Pen Necklace ($30.00 from here) 

6. Scrabble Ring (£0.99 from here) as they're so cheap you could buy a few, have your initials or maybe 'write' or 'type' go across your knuckles.

loads more ideas after the cut......

Retro from Scratch

Thought I'd share this with you Retro from Scratch, handmade stationary and bunting made from up-cycled vintage books.

picture taken from here

With the new school/ uni term just starting the bunting would be a good idea to jazz up your dorm room or use one of the notebooks in your seminars.

Etsy shop

Roald Dahl T-shirts

TruffleShuffle have got some awesome Roald Dahl T-shirts for adults and children. They're going on my wishlist and would be perfect as gifts for fans of Dahl's delightfully funny and wicked children's books.

The BFG was my favourite Dahl book

picture credit

 but I think my favourite T-shirt design is for Matilda. I really like Quintin Blake's illustrations   

Picture credit

English Literature Degree: Reading List

So you've started Uni, and you're in the middle of freshers week- no doubt you've drank way too many jagerbombs, already had an argument with one of your new housemates over the washing up and blown most of your student loan.

No worries, the next three years of doing your English Literature degree are going to be awesome- here's a list of books that might just help get you through: 

1. Compact Oxford English Dictionary for Students (ISBN: 9780199296255):  Trust me, you're not going to know half the words your lecturer says, but that's ok with a good dictionary you can soon swot up and get developing that pretentious self-conscious English Lit student vocabulary. 

There are a ton of of dictionaries out there, but I favour this one as it tells you how to phonetically pronounce the words. I know some people thing dictionaries are obsolete because of spell checker etc. but dictionaries do give a lot better definitions.    

The downside of dictionaries, is of course, that they're bloody enormous. You might want to consider investing in an electronic dictionary. They can be rather expensive, I have a Franklin Collins Paperback Dictionary/Thesaurus, which retails for around £48.00, although I got mine for free through my Disabled Student Allowance. The best thing about this electronic dictionary is its phonetic spell-correction, an absolute god send if you're dyslexic. 

2. The Adventure of English, Melvyn Bragg  (ISBN: 9780340829936): The English language is constantly evolving, just last week 'twerk' and 'selfie' were added to the dictionary. This highly enjoyable and accessible book takes you through the origins and developments of language. My favourite chapter is about dialect, as I speak with a pretty strong (and often mocked) regional accent.   

The Tea House

The Tea House in Covent Garden is a tea drinkers' paradise. It sells loads of varieties of loose tea, my favourite name was 'precious eyebrows', though I don't think I'd actually like to drink it! The pictures aren't the best I'm afraid the shop has 'atmospheric' lighting and I thought it would be bad etiquette to use my flash.

loose tea at The Tea House 

Prices vary from about £3 up to about £12. They would make fantastic presents, especially some of the more unusual flavours. I have a sweet tooth so quite fancied the marzipan blend, the queue was too long though so I didn't make a purchase. It's not too far from where I work so I'll probably pop in and pick some up when it's a bit quieter. I also quite fancied the tea diffusers and tongs, they came in quirky shapes like robot, fruit or rubber ducks- again would make an excellent gift.  

The rosebuds smell lovely and would look so pretty unfurling in a teacup 

This would make an excellent gift for the squaddie tea drinker in your life

Gifts for Tea Drinkers

Following on from my post from yesterday, and because I'am undoubtedly still in birthday mode I have a few suggestions of what to buy for the big tea drinker in your life:-

One:
It would be lovely to take that special person out for afternoon tea. A lot of the famous hotels in London do this, but I'm sure you'd be able to find somewhere local. Most places you need to book in advance and some offer gift vouchers. It is a quintessentially British activity and would be a real treat. Tea at The Ritz ranges in price from £47- 67 per person.

picture credit: The Ritz website 

Or, if you budget is restricted, why not host a fancy tea yourself? The Ritz is certainly out of my price range.  Scones and sandwiches are easy to make and I'm sure the birthday girl/boy will appreciate your efforts.