January Life, Style & Beauty Favourites

January's a funny month isn't it? The month we all go back to work and school and it can be slightly depressing even for those of us enjoying the Summer sun down under. Fortunately for me it's also my birthday month which always gives me something to look forward to. Here's what I've been enjoying the most this January.

My New Ikea Desk :: My desk was a present for my birthday after I complained about not having anywhere to write in our house and I just love it so much. Even though I'm yet to style it in any way just having a space to blog and write from that doesn't have to get tidied up and put away at the end of the day has made a big difference to how often I sit down to tap away at my keyboard. Stay tuned for some desk styling content as I'm really excited for all the copper and rose gold accents you know are gunna be coming at ya!

Essie Cute As A Button Mini Nailpolish :: I seriously think that all Essie nailpolishes should be available in mini form easily as who even uses up a whole bottle of varnish before they get weird and gloopy and need to be chucked in the bin? This colour is such a cute one for the summer and compliments a tan just nicely.

Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask :: Oh the hydration in this mask is so good for holiday-bad-diet skin! I love the moisturising texture on the skin and that I can just slather a layer of this on and head to bed without actually looking like I have weird goo all over my face. Winning.

Morning Work Outs :: What a difference a change in schedule has made to my week! Since both my boyfriend and the sun rises at a ridiculous hour in Western Australia I've started making the most of the three hours of sunshine before I head to work at 8.30am and fit in a sneaky workout before hand. Not only do I get it done and dusted before the days begun but I'm actually working out more than ever since it feels like such a long time between workouts. Like, who even am I?

Mums, Cooking and Jamie Oliver's 30 Minute Meals :: I was a lucky girl this January and got to have my mum come over from New Zealand to stay with us for a while. Mum did most of the cooking over this time as me and the boyfriend mainly just tried to stay out of the way in the kitchen but I didn't realise that all the recipes she was whipping up were from my very dusty edition of Jamie's 30 Minute Meals. Thanks mum!

What have your favourite things been this month?

Book Tour: The Pestilence by Faisal Ansari

The Pestilence by Faisal Ansari, 269 pages published by Troubadour. Rating: ****

"The little girl cupped her hands and whispered almost inaudibly into her father's ear. 'The Pestilence is coming. Everybody here is going to die.'"

The Pestilence by Faisal Ansari is a science fiction come thriller novel that brings with it a mix of 'end of days' story and good versus evil plot line. When a mysterious electrical phenomenon rolls above the cities of the world, night is turned to day and two brothers are gifted unbelievable powers by the storm. But each brother chooses to use his powers differently and powerful forces are on their way. The pestilence is coming.

It's not often that I read books set in the Middle East but the setting of Israel was really a standout factor in how much I enjoyed reading The Pestilence. This beautiful and ancient backdrop is also very fitting for the spiritual references throughout the story and you know what? It's actually kind of refreshing to read a book like this that isn't set in the USA.

A fast paced and enjoyable read The Pestilence will appeal to fans of action and thriller reads while bringing an element of science fiction into it's story. There's also a touch of political and religious elements thrown in due to it's Middle Eastern setting but if all sounds too much for you then I can assure you it's not.

Beautifully written and with a plot that maintains a steady pace The Pestilence is told from many viewpoints which I really enjoyed switching between and while the endning doesn't give everything away I think this won't be the last time I pick up a Faisal Ansari novel.

Recent Reads and Reviews (& Win a Giveaway Copy)

It's been a while since I sat down and did a book review on what I've actually read lately so rather than write up individual posts I thought I would do a quick in-a-nutshell run through of what's been floating my boat lately. So far 2016 has actually been pretty awesome reading wise and I'm super stoked to be giving away two copies of one of the books I've read in January! Here goes:

Tears of the Cheetah by TM Clark :: I've mentioned before that I love reading books set in different exotic locations especially if I have actually travelled their myself. Tears of the Cheetah is an amazing fast paced action adventure novel set in South Africa and follows the story of an American artist who escapes her past in the States. Mackenzie moves to South Africa to escape the media attention that comes with being a senator's daughter, but despite her attempts to isolate herself from anyone her friendship with Cole, a local game park owner is too hard to ignore.

Neither Mackenzie nor Cole are prepared for the events to come when poachers target Cole's beloved cheetah's and endanger someone Mackenzie holds dear to her. I loved the mix of action, romance and the beautiful African backdrop to this novel and I'm so excited to be giving away two copies of this novel thanks to the lovely people at Harlequin Books Australia! (See below for entry details).

Rating: ****

Hello From the Guillespies by Monica McInernay :: In December I was feeling quite festive and decided I wanted to read a Christmas kinda story to get me even more in the mood. On that front I actually failed a tiny bit because although this book is set around Christmas it's also set in Australia (which I didn't know from it's candy-cane cover) and wasn't quite the snow and snuggle fest I was after. That being said I actually really loved this book which centred around three sisters whose lives had all kind of fallen apart rather spectacularly in the lead up to the Christmas holidays.

There's something very relateable reading about other twenty somethings still trying to figure their lives out and Monica McInernay does write funny and heartwarming family drama. A great holiday read.

Rating: ****

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell :: I love Rainbow Rowell so there was no doubt in my mind that I wouldn't love her Young Adult book Fangirl and I totally did. Firstly I just gotta say that her writing is just brilliant and every time I read a Rainbow Rowell novel I marvel at how she effortlessly makes the characters personalities unfold throughout the story.

If you don't know the premise, Fangirl centres around a girl called Cath who loves writing fan fiction and isn't surviving her first year of college very successfully. Although I wasn't a big fan of the actual fan fiction extracts in Fangirl - which are like a Harry Potter-ish boarding school wizard called Simon Snow - I still think the book benefited from having them included. Well it's safe to say that I won't be reading Carry On (as it is the story Cath was writing in Fangirl) the character progression and Rowell's wonderful writing had this book stealing my heart. I also just loved all her side characters too.

Rating: ****

Giveaway Details:

Want to win a copy of T.M Clark's Tears of the Cheetah? Simply follow me on twitter to enter and retweet the #giveaway link to enter again! Giveaway open internationally.

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