During 2016 I found myself falling back in love with reading, as it was one of my New Years Resolutions to read more, and yes, I actually stuck to it. I read quite a few books during the year and there were definitely some good'un in there, so I've just had a little scan of my bookshelf to pick out my absolute faves from the year. I've tried to narrow it down as much as possible (there we so many books I enjoyed!). These are the ones which I found really held a special place in my heart. I always think you know a book is well written when you find the character popping into your head months afterwards, as if they're are old friends you once knew (...please say I'm not the only this happens to?!), or when you feel the need to share the book with the world or you find yourself really feeling something.

I've got a bit of a mixture here, so they're something for everyone, and no, they're not all fiction either!

If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo - This book I felt was really special, it's a young adult fictional story about a Transgender Teen Girl. Firstly I thought this book was great because I think Trans identity isn't something often covered in Young Adult books, so straight off the bat, it was unlike anything I'd ever read before. I found this book really eye opening, although it is fictional, I felt I learnt a lot, and found myself rooting for the main character throughout as I became aware of here struggles.  I've not that I know of met anyone who is transgender, and (maybe) selfishly have never thought about it in much depth because it's not part of my life - so this book was extremely eye opening. Alongside this the book covers many other themes, there's a lot of general teenage struggles running throughout, sexuality, religion, parent/child relationships and there is also underlying romance - and I do love a good romance. I was a little disappointed by the ending of this book, but I struggled to put it down nonetheless.  I just wanted to learn more about the characters, and it did pull on the heartstrings slightly.


We Were Liars by E. Lockhart - I won't chirp on about this one too much, as I wrote a full blog post on it as soon as I finished reading which you can find here. This book is again a young adult fictional book. The language used throughout is beautiful, and there's a huge twist in the story. There is an air of mystery to the story Cady does not remember what happened one Summer on her Grandparents private island, after a few more visits, she begins to uncover what's happened and I'll just say, it was not what I expected - it took me a little while to realise what was going on, and just how clever the book is.


Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon - Another young adult fiction book with a bit of a twist, which you can find my full review of here. The book is about a girl who is allergic to basically the world, so she has lived a pretty shelter life, and then, of course, she meets a boy. I loved this books, I thought it was very special and the characters were very interesting and seemed to just fit together. The story touches on illness, death, life online, domestic abuse and more - there's a lot covered in this fairly short books and it's written in a simple, yet beautiful way with the odd few wonderful illustrations.


Everyday by David Levithan - This is a book a really loved because I think the idea behind it is so original. The main character of the book inhabits the body of somebody new (but of the same age, close by) each day. This character is neither male or female and does not have a body of their own but despite all this main character has such a strong personality, which I think is just down to good writing - although the concept is utter bizarre, this book really works and feels very real. The story is about how life changes as the main character finds him/herself falling in love, and finding a reason to want to belong somewhere, and somebody to chase. I loved reading this book, although there was one point in the middle it found it got a little weird (weirder than the rest I mean). The ending also felt very right, although I expect many people may disagree - I wrote a full review on it which you can find here.

Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Nivan - This is the last of the fictional books which I have to recommend to you. Holding up the universe is written in two different perspectives - there's Libby who was once the largest teen in America, and then there is Jack who cannot recognise faces. The story is about how their struggles bring the characters together. Both characters are so interesting, and the story messes slightly with the idea of fate which I love in a book... as I did with the others, I wrote a review on this book shortly after finish it, which you can find here.


The Modern Love by Will Darbyshire - Slightly different from the rest of the bunch, but this book is a collection of love letters written by different people of different ages, from different places. I love everything about this, the idea is just lovely. It's so relatable, and it's interesting to hear a different range of voices. This book just makes you feel something. It also makes a great addition to your coffee table. I wrote a full review on this one here.


CTRL ALT Delete How I Grew Up Online by Emma Gannon - This book is incredible, it's hilarious, brutally honest, well written and oh so relatable if you grew around the same time as Emma. This is the only book to make me laugh out loud. Seriously, early on in the book when Emma talks about her first blow job giving experience I seriously LOLed and cringed for her - in a good way. This book is just pure genius. My full review is here.


Bloom Navigating Life and Style by Estée Lalonde - Firstly this book is bloody beautiful, and then secondly the content is so much more interesting and well written than I'd expected. I'm a big fan of Estée so I was intrigued to read this, but to be honest I didn't expect the to be unable to put it down. I literally read the whole thing in a day. The book touches on so many different topics and is quite varied throughout - also Estée's voice is clear throughout so you can really tell she wrote each word. Anyway, you can find my full review here.


Well... well done if you made it through that rather lengthy post! I'd love to hear what your thoughts were on any of these books, and your favourites books of the year just gone! X

As I type away at the blog post, I am currently feeling extremely hungover and a little sorry for myself,  I may have partied a little too hard as a bought in the New Year last night (it's New Years Day as I write this), but despite my (self-inflicted) banging headache and horrendous nausea, it feels bloody good to be writing a blog post. I disappeared a little from my blog towards the end of 2016 as I broke my beloved MacBook, it took me a while to find out if it could be repaired and to look into my options when it came to purchasing a new one. Anyway, my new Macbook Pro has finally arrived, just in time for the New Year.

I love making New Year's resolutions and setting myself goals when a new year rolls in. I think it's a great way to reflect and figure out how you can better yourself.

Quite a few goals have popped into my head over the last few days,  and I feel as though if I write them down my they are more likely to be ones I stick to, rather than forget by the time we get into February. So here they are:


- Be better at replying to text and emails... I'm awful for reading a message on my phone and thinking I'll reply in a minute, and they next thing I know two weeks have passed and Tom's asked me to go for drinks over a week ago. From now I'm going to try my best to reply to things as soon as I read them.

- No more social breadcrumbing... This is a term which I came across through Emma Gannon's newsletter, and I realised it's definitely something I do, from now on I'm not going to be that person you bump into who says we should go for coffee but it never happens, I'm either going to put dates in my diary, or not mention hanging out when we both know isn't going to happen.

- Be more proud of my blog and youtube... I often find I feel slightly uncomfortable when I talk to people who aren't in my digital world about my blog and youtube channel especially. I'm not sure why I find I feel slightly embarrassed that I make videos although it actually something I should be proud of. It's a cool hobby to have and I put a lot of time and effort into it.

- Take better care of my belongings... like did I seriously spend £300 on a jacket and then leave it on the floor because I couldn't be bothered to hang it? I need to start showing my belongs more respect, and putting them away carefully, where they belong. I'm going to make a conscious effort to make sure all my things have their own little homes, where they live when I'm not using them

- Save some money... I need to stop spending £10 on lunch every day because I'm too lazy to take food to work, I'm going to go to work with a packed lunch more often than not. I also want to be me more aware of what I'm spending my money on.  I'm going to set up a monthly direct debit from my bank account to my savings to make sure my money doesn't just go.

- Go to life drawing classes... During my final year of Uni used we did weekly life drawing classes, and I LOVED it. Since finishing I've been saying I'll go classes, but have never bothered to do it. 2017 I'll be drawing the naked people.

- Post spoken word poetry on my youtube - I love love love listening to spoken word poetry. I tend to get poems stuck in my head rather than songs because I'm a bit of a weirdo like that. I occasionally write bits of poetry which I post on here, it's not something I'm great at, but it's something I'd like to keep doing. 2017 will be the year I will force myself to be brave enough to post some spoken word poetry on my youtube.

- Meet more like-minded people, make friends... you can never have too many friends, right? It's always great when you find people who share the same values, interests and hobbies as you.

- Pass my driving test... It's really about bloody time I did. Life would be so dreamy if I could get in a car and drive away as and when I wanted.

- Go to an acting lesson... Despite my fear of public speaking I've aways felt curious about acting, so I'm going to book a lesson and go to see how I get on.

- Look after me more... Exercise at least weekly, build some strength, eat well more often than not, surround myself with good people, pamper myself and more self-love because I'm actually pretty great, so I deserve a pat on the back occasionally

- Keep doing me... Wear what I want, post what I want, write what I want, and say what I feel. I need to stop being embarrassed to speak up, and stop trying to fit in where I don't belong, or want to be, stop hanging out with people who I don't feel like myself around, and recognise the people who appreciate me for who I am.


I'd love to hear what you hope you achieve in 2017!

Love,
C x

A book I was very excited to read was Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven, as I previously read her novel All the Bright Places, I realised she was a great writer, and that I felt very connected to her words.

I was pleasantly surprised to find I enjoyed reading Holding Up the Universe even more than All the Bright Places (shock, I know). I found the characters in Holding Up the Universe felt a lot more real and although it touched on mental health which I think is a good thing in a book, there was a lot more to the story, I found All the Bright Places just made me feel a little down as the story was so deeply surrounding mental health issues.

Holding Up the Universe is written in two different perspectives and the narrator switches with each paragraph change. I love hearing  multiple views in a book, I think it gives the reader a clear picture of the story being told, it also shows the writer is invested in all of the characters, and it's just more interesting  - having said this, if this is done badly, it can become too confusing and ruin a good book. I'm pleased to say, this wasn't done badly at all in this book, in fact, it was done really well. It was always very clear whose eyes you were looking through and both characters were so interesting, I think it was important for the story to be written in the minds of each of them.

The story takes place in a high school (as many young adult novels do!) It is based on two characters, Jack and Libby. Both Jack and Libby are not your average teenagers. Libby was once the fattest teen in America, to the extent part of her house had to be knocked down to get her out. Libby has now lost some weight and is ready to lead a normal teenage life - which of course means going back to high school.
Jack has his own problems - he has a medical condition which means he is unable to recognise faces - friends, family, teacher, strangers, anyone, Jack cannot recognise them. Jack is keeping this to himself, keeping his head down by trying to fit in with his "popular crowd" - which leads to some bully, that Libby being an easy target receives the brutal end of.

And then everything changes are Libby and Jack, ironically grow closer due to these strange nasty circumstances.

The book talks a lot about bullying, high school cliques, and fitting it. It also deals with subjects such a death, separation, unhealthy relationships, cancer, virginity, the internet, and being a teen - there are a lot of important themes running through this book, and they all fit quite naturally into the story.

I really liked both Jacks and Libby's characters. Each of their characters made me think, they made me consider how I treat people, and really reminded me that everyone is going through their own things, which you may not know about. I think the character they worked really well together and seemed very real.  I wish some of the smaller characters played a bigger part. There were a lot of characters I would have liked to have learnt more about - however, they weren't necessarily all that important in the narrative.  I loved this story, however, the ending was a tad cheesy, but who doesn't love a bit of cheese?

I'd strongly recommend this book. I couldn't put it down!

If you follow me on Instagram (@chloehayfs), you'll know how much I love Autumn. Autumn is by far my favourite time of year, to the extent the excitement gives me butterflies in my stomach when I notice the first signs of leaves falling, and temperatures dropping. I love how colourful the world becomes, I love stepping on crisp autumn leaves, and feeling that crisp cold air against your face, I love the clothes, I love being cosy inside, and being chilly outside, I love wrapping up in jumpers and sitting by bonfires, and Halloween, and the oranges, and reds, and did I say I love autumn leaves?! As you can probably tell, everything about this time of year makes my heart happy - I just love everything about Autumn.

Lately, I've been enjoying appreciating Autumn and taking myself on some Autumn walks, along with my camera to get some snaps of how beautiful everything is this time of year.  So I thought I'd share my love for Autumn through the view of my camera...


You can probably tell I think Mother Nature is just a real babe this time of year by the excessive number of images (it took a lot of narrowing to get to this many!)

As I'm enjoying playing with my camera more than ever, one of my favourite things about Autumn this year is capturing the beauty of it through my camera lens, as you can probably tell!

What's your favourite thing about this time of year?