Top Ten Tuesday: Favourite New-To-Me Authors in 2015

It's Top Ten Tuesday time again with The Broke and the Bookish! This post I was really excited to put together as this year I've discovered so many new-to-me authors that make me want to tell everyone! Let the countdown begin:

Liane Moriarty :: Having read What Alice Forgot, The Husbands' Secret and Big Little Lies all this year, Liane Moriarty is my most-read new author by far. I just love her easy way of writing but also that her books often tackle bigger issues surrounding parenting and marriage that don't get too serious.

Jojo Moyes :: The Girl You Left Behind and Me Before You are such beautiful books that I can't wait to read more from this author.

John Green :: So, I was a little late to the John Green party, only just reading Paper Towns a few months ago but John Green's writing is so great and he really is the best as coining great metaphors.

Sophie Kinsellar :: Reading Finding Audrey has made me want to read more from Sophie Kinsellar as I actually thought that this book was both hilarious and quite touching too.

Laini Taylor :: Daughter of Smoke and Bone is everything.

Anthony Doerr :: I can't get over how beautiful Anothony Doerr's writing is. It's pure craft and reading All the Light We Cannot See had me mesmerized at the power and beauty of his words.

Ben Elton :: I love discovering authors who can write successfully in different genres. I loved reading Ben Elton's Time And Time Again for the mix of action and historical elements but Chart Throb was equally entertaining for it's satirical humour.

Eliza Gordon ::  Because Must Love Otters was about the cutest book I read this year and sometimes that's all I feel like.

Rainbow Rowell :: I can't believe I only discovered Rainbow Rowell this year but I've already got Fan Girl on my bookcase and Attachments and Eleanor and Park are on my must read list. So. Much. Love.

Libba Bray :: Finally I think I can say that Libba Bray gets a virtual fist pump from me for being my favourite self discovery this year. The Diviners was AMAZING and I need to just hurry up and get going with Lair of Dreams because this book has made my year.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Daughter Of Smoke and Bone, 418 pages. Published September 2011 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Rating: ****

Remember how I've often said that I'm not that big of a fan of YA books. And, that I don't really do fantasy novels? Yuh. I take it all back. When I picked up Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor I don't really know what I was expecting. Mainly I just wanted to see what all the hype was about. What I wasn't expecting was to be completely blown away by the awesomeness of this novel. Because that's what this book has in spades.

I can't really fault this book (okay, maybe one little thing that I was like errrr, yeah nah but I'll get to that in a minute) because it had a little bit of everything that makes me think fantasy might be a genre for me after all. There's magic - it's about angels and demons (well kinda) a little bit of romance, it's funny and the main character Karou is a blue haired tattooed art student that had me loving her in about two minutes.

Overall this book was just a really fun and entertaining read that still had me emotionally invested in Karou's life. Plus I loved how weird it is. There's weird stuff going on with wishes and teeth and resurrections of spirits. Not to mention the fact that this book is set in Prague which had me all heart eye-emojid for the cities beautiful descriptions. The tiny thing I didn't like was the romance in this book was a tad insta-love for my liking but even then that had an explanation so I can deal with characters dropping the L bomb mere weeks after meeting each other.

Anyway, if like me you've always thought of yourself as not a fan of fantasy novels then I would definitely recommend giving Daughter of Smoke and Bone a go. It's soooo good and I can't wait to read the next installment.

Have you read Daughter of Smoke and Bone or have I convinced you to pick it up?

Easy Eyeshadow

It's been a while since I've shared any of my favourite beauty or skincare bits and pieces on this blog so I thought today it was time to dedicate a post to my most recent love. And, while they are hardly new these tiny pots of coloured goodness are transforming my love for eyeshadow.

Whether wonderfully mousse-like in texture like the Max Factor Colour Tattoo or the creme Maybelline Colour Tattoo pots I have a steadily growing collection of colours from pink, gold and taupe to a browny bronze shade. The best thing about these little pots is that they are great for a quick dash of colour across the eye and super easy to blend out if you are short on time in the morning. The even better thing is how great they are at being a base for eyeshadow colours packed on top.

I have been loving using all four colour pots in conjunction with my Naked original palette and love the way really deepen the colours of my eyeshadow as well as creating an extra look that's slightly different than if I were to just use the naked palette.

The only downside is there shortened shelf-life of six months. As they are creme and mousse textures (although they dry down to a powder like finish) these pots will inevitably dry up and can't be kept as long as most other powders. For now I think I have covered all the colours I use on a regular basis but the fact that they can only last a certain amount of time has been spurring me on to get as much use out of them as possible.

Are you a fan of the Colour Tattoo pots? They've been the best thing I've added to my beauty stash all year!