The Weekly Lowdown #2

How has a week gone by so quickly? How is it nearly October? My gosh, we're already on the second edition of the Weekly Lowdown!

I didn't think I'd have anything worth writing about in the space of a week, but I managed.

In my everlasting love for Throne of Glass, I made a thing. There's an A4 print along with wallpapers for the iPhone. The one size is compatible for iPhone 5s//iPhone 6s (which I guess inadvertently means compatible with iPhone 5/iPhone 6 too?).

A4 print

 

iPhone lock screen | home screen

One of my favourite savoury foods is pasta, and working in the city I've been trying to find good pasta places. It's been sort of hard. One of my colleagues took us to Vapiano the other day and I loved it. It felt very authentic and you got to watch them make it in front of you as you ordered. I told someone else of this place and they said it was horrible LOL. Everybody has different tastes so yeh.

I went brunching at Orto Trading Co. yesterday and to be honest, wasn't that impressed. I liked the hipster vibe and the service was pretty decent but what I ordered didn't taste that great. It was called the Hash 2.0 and had potato, ham, rocket, avocado, asparagus and poached egg. There was WAY too much rocket and it overpowered the taste of the avocado... which can I add was presented like green poop. The asparagus would have tasted much better grilled as well. I'd give the dish a 2/5 if I had to rate. Without the hash and ham it would have been bland as well - everything was just raw veggies just chucked together.

The first Aussie YA book subscription box, the YA Chronicles, arrived and I was really happy but also slightly disappointed: I already own a copy of The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness and the necklace that came with it also had a broken chain. I do love the little superhero USB (I got Captain America) that came with it though, and bookmarks YAY! The badge is adorable and there was also a free download for an e-novella (Untouchable by SA Starcevic). I'm thinking I might sign up for the October subscription box but there's always the risk that I will already own the book - they don't ship out until the 20th of the month which means you're essentially getting the release at the end of the month as opposed to in the beginning.

What was in the box (theme: That Hero Nonsense):

• The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness with embossed The YA Chronicles stamp on the inside
• The YA Chronicles card
• The YA Chronicles bookmark designed for the month's theme
• TROUJLH badge
• A necklace with quote on pendant from Etsy
• Untouchable by SA Starcevic e-novella free download + bookmark
• Superhero USB 4GB

Overall, is it worth it? You're paying $40 ($29.99 + $9.99 postage) for a book, bookmark, and 2-3 extras. I would say yes if you don't go out to buy new releases immediately. but no if you tend to pre-order books and get them early in the mail/buy books as soon as they're out in the bookstore. The RRP of TROUJLH is $24.99 so you're paying $15 for everything else. I got TROUJLH for $19.99 so it felt like I paid $20 for a few extras which wasn't as worth it for me.If all the books are going to be hardcover then it's definitely more worth it because they go for $20+ here, usually $30. Paperbacks? Not so much. Paperbacks retail for $16.99 - $19.99 in bookstores and $12 in Aussie online bookstores.

I finished Uprooted by Naomi Novik and holy smokes you guys this was AMAZING. I don't usually give 5/5 but this one was standout. Some people said it was a Beauty and the Beast retelling but I likened it more to Howl's Moving Castle. It had notes of Polish folklore mixed in with lots of magic and had a high fantasy setting. I completely loved the protagonist Agnieszka. What was profound was the stunning and unbreakable, steadfast bond between Nieshka and her best friend Kasia. You don't read friendships like that in books often. The food and imagery were simply stunning and the Dragon was so enigmatic. I loved the story wao you should just go read it. Also, that cover is GORGEOUS.

I also got Erin Bowman's Vengeance Road in the mail and due to difficulty with my current read, I decided to start this. I am flying through it, the story just sucked me right in and I love the Wild West style language used which adds that extra touch to the story. It's a wild chase across Gold Rush America and our protagonist wants revenge. The cover is so beautiful and it actually matches the story so well.

That current read I'm struggling with? I'm extremely sad to say it's In the Afterlight. I've been reading this for ages and only just got past half way. I've always found this series to be a slow read but books 1 and 2 were so interesting. I'm finding In the Afterlight to REALLY drag on and it's just planning and running and more planning then more running. It's exhausting and getting boring and I just need everything to move on. If I wasn't so in love with the first 2 books and invested in the series I would probably DNF.

Dropping off The Here and Now this week as I've talked about my reads and I've had no new tunes.