‘Maybe our favourite quotations say more about us than the stories and people we’re quoting.’ – John Green

To be quite honest I don’t know where to start. Finding the balance about sharing information online can be tough, and I want to put my personality into this blog, but I certainly want to keep things secure and private. So here we go.

As is probably becoming clear already, I like quotes. I know some people hate when people’s houses are full of those motivational quote plaques, and in all honesty, I don’t like that too much either. However, I think there are some amazing quotes, especially from books, and not all quotes are motivational. Sometimes a good quote to help remind you to keep going is good, but they don’t have to be like that at all. Hopefully you won’t get sick of the occasional quote on my blog, I promise I’ll make them good. Like this one:

‘It is very foolish to shut oneself into any wardrobe.’ – C.S. Lewis

Something else that is probably obvious by the amount of book reviews on here is that I like books. And reading. A lot. As long as I can remember I have loved reading. Probably because both of my parents do and my mum works in libraries so I’ve spent many a day sat surrounded by books and I love it. For a long time, and still a little bit now, I couldn’t comprehend that someone wouldn’t enjoy sitting alone in a room with a book. Just like when I came to uni I brought some books from home so that my selves wouldn’t be bare when I moved in, but plenty of people only have their text books on their shelves whilst mine are filled and almost overflowing by now with so many books.

On the subject of my love of books, and quotes too I guess, I’m currently a first year English student. Studying English is great, even if some of my modules have been a little tough. First year is all compulsory modules and we have really done a wide range to give us a good foundation for whatever we want to do in second and third year. Choosing to study English was really quite simple for me. I felt that taking Spanish to AS Level and French to A Level was enough for me, and although I enjoyed history and it really interests me, I was most passionate about English and I knew that I wanted to continue with it. I might do some more posts about university and my decision to go, where to go and maybe what it is like when you get there.

As I just mentioned, I studied two languages for a long time and I really enjoyed them. Language is something that I find really interesting and I would like to try to keep them up if I can. I’m not really sure if I can put into words what it is that interests me about languages but I think it is mainly the different sounds of them and learning how the different grammar works and possibly also how our own language originates from other languages. I also think that us Brits are very lucky that other countries learn English so well and we really take it for granted. So for that reason, I like to be able to speak a bit of other languages at least, just to try to make the effort.

This semester I have also started learning sign language. This is also something I might write a post about, but I wanted to do it after reading A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard (review here). So far I am finding it so interesting and learning a language with your hands that you actually speak with your whole body (sign language is very expressive, that is how tone is conveyed) is amazing.

A big part of my life for a long time has been music. When I was 8 (12 years ago!) I began learning the flute and I did my grade 7 in that. At the same time that I began that, I joined the local church choir which I still sing with whenever I can. I also had some singing lessons for a few years and achieved my grade 7 in singing as well. Music is something that I have always enjoyed and I cannot imagine life without it. Singing is especially something that I adore. There is nothing better than being in the car and having a good sing. My sister and I do that all the time and we especially enjoy belting some musicals and showing off by harmonising. During my time at school I played with the school orchestra, jazz band and sang with the staff and 6th form choir. Playing as a group adds an extra challenge as you need to be working together, but is also so much fun. About a year or so ago I started teaching myself the ukulele (I’ve not gotten too far) because 8 year old me did not think about the fact that you cannot sing and play the flute at the same time. Perhaps choosing an accompanying instrument would have been good.

I think that is probably enough about me for now, I’m sure there is a lot left about me to be said another time or continuously through my blog posts. I hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know a little more about what I like and if you’re a bookworm like me, there are plenty of book reviews for you to explore on my blog already.