1. Build a Study Nook First thing first, you must develop some sort of study nook; a place dedicated purely to studying...and watching the occasional Youtube video in-between study sessions. This study nook can be as simple or as decorative as you want. Make sure that you have easy access to pens, notebooks, your laptop, paperclips, highlighters and every other piece of stationery you own. It is important that you limit the amount of time you are looking for things so that the time is spend productively. Make sure that your study nook is a place you like to be because you want to make sure that you develop a positive attitude towards studying...no matter how boring it may seen. Plaster your space with motivational quotes, cute pictures of hedgehogs or tickets to concerts you've been to! Think of all the opportunities! Make sure that you also have a comfy chair at your desk. You will be spending a lot of time in it so you may as well be comfortable. I have a grey Ikea bucket chair at mine and it is oh so wholesome. Study nooks can be so much fun to decorate which makes for a more enjoyable time when in them. 2. Be Organised I would say...in fact nearly everyone who knows me would say that I am a rather organised person. I remember during my HSC I thought of myself as a mini Blair Waldorf, social events recording in different colours in my diary and perfectly constructed flashcards carried around with me at all times. Yes I was a nerd but I was going to do it in style...and why shouldn't organisation by stylish. Go out and buy yourself some pastel flash cards, use your favourite highlighters and buy some cute binders! Kikki K and Typo were my go-to stores! Organise your content into different coloured sections of your binder with your readings or notes to study in the front parts and then an overview and flashcards towards the back. This way all your study stuff is easy to access and as simple as it sounds, having stationary that you like the look of makes studying that little bit more enjoyable...especially when your sticky notes are in the shape of cute little foxes!!! (thanks to Kikki K!) 3. Have a Study Playlist on your iTunes Account If there is one thing I couldn't live without during times of assignments, it would be my 'Study playlist' on my iTunes account. Now, this blog post would go on for a hefty couple of pages if I were to include my entire playlist however I thought I would let you in on a couple of my study music essentials. Some may go for a "pumping" style of music whilst studying...however that makes me want to either a) dance in my bedroom and procrastinate from writing my 2000 word paper or b) go for a run. So instead I go for the folky, acoustic route which helps me to settle and focus. Great background music! 'Study Playlist' Sneak Peek: • Because I Do - Pearl & the Puppets • Clean White Love - Lisa Mitchell • Coming Up Easy - Paolo Nutini • Leopold Street - The Paper Kites • Lily - Ben Gibbard • Best That I Can - Vance Joy • Someone New - Hozier • Lost In My Mind - The Head and the Heart • Don't Watch Me Dancing - Little Joy • Better Together - Jack Johnson • If You Ever Want To Be In Love - James Bay • Barcelona - George Ezra • San Francisco - Stu Larsen 4. Drink Tea and Prepare Snacks
I can pretty much guarantee you that there will be plenty of hours of assignments and study ahead of you...so why not enjoy some cups of tea/coffee/hot chocolate and some delicious snacks whilst you do so. My personal favourites are Early Grey tea and frozen mango. Although I also make sure I have chocolate in the house whilst doing an assignment, I love having some fresh fruit whilst studying. Buy a tub of blackberries, some frozen mango or cut up some strawberries and have them next to you whilst you write away. That way you are getting a little burst of something sweet whilst working towards your 3 & 5 for the day (green beans are also wholesome!). 5. Put It Into Perspective It is important, no matter how stressed you may be, to make sure that you put things into perspective. This assignment or test isn't going to be the determining factor for your entire future. Trust me when I say that I have had my fair share of stressful 'oh my goodness if I don't get an A on this paper my life is over' moments, but now that I look back it's clear that I just needed to step back and realise that it is not the be-all and end-all. Life goes on and there will be more tests, more assignments, more paperwork...and you need to know how to deal with them. Go for a walk or a swim, do some yoga or watch an episode of your favourite TV show on Netflix and then return to your studies refreshed with everything in perspective. Remember - you have got this! xxx
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When attempting to construct an elegant sounding sentence to introduce Kelsey I found it rather difficult...so instead here are a collection of words which I deem quite appropriate to introduce this lovely lady: eternally enthusiastic, tea-lover, independent, loyal, hilarious, extravert with a capital E, life of the party...and perfect friend to appreciate good looking men like James McAvoy and Tom Ellis. The beginning of our friendship, I can honestly say, was quite different from any other...reflecting a kindergarten like naivety. After meeting initially we pretty much decided at that moment that we were going to be one of each others best friends...and we still are to this day. Along with road tripping across Sydney for gelato, 6am Yoga classes and our shared passion of teaching, Kelsey and I share a love of literature. We like to visit cute little bookshops in the inner western suburbs of Sydney, share the unique finds amongst the dusty bookshelves and then bond over how we found the brooding English shopkeeper rather good-looking. So when it came to choosing my next reader in residence I thought of none other than Kelsey. Enjoy reading the literary musings below of this gem of a friend! It is a strange thing, the power of a book, how an accumulation of words bound in a beautiful cover can have such a hold on a person. When I was thinking about what I could write for 'The Nook', I began to consider how books became such a large part of my life! In my family, a book is never a solitary adventure into the pages of another world; a book is never read just once! It is passed around from Newcastle to Wareemba to Toongabbie, often a companion in the drive between family houses and eagerly discussed around the dinner table. As a child I remember watching my parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents pass well-worn books around and discussing their opinions and recommendations for the next person. Two authors invited me into this world that my family was apart of, and I have never gone back! Firstly, as this is a blog about children's literature and young adult fiction, I cannot go past my first love, Harry Potter! I must tread lightly with such a beloved book, however as with much of my generation, I must credit the magical world of Harry Potter and his trusty friends as my first step into the world of literature. J.K Rowling was able to create a world so real that all I would have to do was snuggle up in my own little nook and I was in a world of wizards, witches and You-Know-Who! So there I was, a twelve-year-old schoolgirl waiting for the next Harry Potter instalment searching for something to send me back into the literary world. This was when I was given a very different book by a very different author. 'Pride and Prejudice' by Jane Austen still makes my heart jump whenever I hear it mentioned or I walk past my 'modest' collection of different editions! The strong willed Elizabeth Bennet and the aloof Mr Darcy dropped me straight into early 19th century England. Austen and Rowling are still the authors I return to, they serve as a reminder of my twelve-year-old self first discovering other worlds living in the pages of novels. I have always had a desire to be the original reader, the person that everyone goes to to find the next great book that I just happened to stumble upon in that funky little bookshop in Glebe. Unfortunately I have yet to fulfil this dream of mine. I am often the person who is doing the asking! However this has led me to fantastic books, the most recent recommendation sent me searching for The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. The book follows Don Tillman a Professor of Genetics who devises a questionnaire to find a wife that will be compatible with his life. What happens when Rosie, a highly incompatible match, comes into his life throws the project wayward. Simsion explores the themes of love, life and change through the eyes of Don and his scientific approach to love. Simsion is able to twist a convoluted plot into an intricate exploration of a man living with autism; he illustrates the complexity of human life. The first-person narrative style, at first is quite jarring as you get used to Don's thoughts, however his internal voice soon creates the humour that is interlaced within the novel. My own reading nook must have a few essentials for any productive reading to happen. A comfy pillow, a fan and a warm blanket, is all that is required for my mind to delve into another world. I often cannot trust myself with a hot tea, as I become so engrossed that I have been know to spill my drink all over myself and my book! For any nook to be complete, a companion is needed, my dog, Ellie, plays this role, however I often look over to her glaring at me to turn the light off (as seen in the photo above). xo Kelsey This is Shannon. She is my best friend. She is an avid reader, writer and artist...and she is also pretty amazing. But see the problem is she lives all the way over in Canada (could you not tell from all the weather references in the above photos). We talk often about new music we have discovered, work and other seemingly obvious things to chat about (usually over Skype with a cup of tea in one hand and in our pyjamas) but a conversation never goes past without the discussion of books, whether it be the ones we are reading currently or something we saw that reminded us of a scene in a story we once read. I would like to insert here that shamefully Shannon and I were both Twilight lovers in our early teens and would spend many a day spotting different coffee shops or woodland areas that reminded us of the town in the books (don't judge us, we were young and impressionable). Due to our shared love of books and comfy blankets I asked Shannon to be my first 'Reader in Residence' for this month *see the sidebar for more info on this*. It is here she will share with you her very own "reading nook" and books that shaped her as a young reader (with the exception of Twilight). As a bonus, Shannon has also shared some of her amazing artwork for this blog post so keep 'a scrolling if you want to see that! I shall stop blabbering now and let you enjoy... I have this list I have accumulated of “must read” books, and I have found that I am adding titles to this list more than I am scratching them off. It dawned on me the other day that there is chance I will die before reading every book on this epic list. Excuse the morbidity. Having said that, there is a silver lining - the list of books I have read is almost as long, not quite, but almost, and most of them I would consider favourites. So choosing a single book or a single character as my most beloved was a daunting task. But after a gruelling elimination process two characters I could narrow it down to was Atticus Finch of ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’ and Daniel Sempere of ‘The Shadow of the Wind.’ As a child I was not much of a reader. My Alice-falling-down-the-rabbit-hole moment, or finding-Narnia-in-the-back-of-the-wardrobe if you’d prefer, when I toppled into the world of reading, came much later in my mid-teens. But whenever I think back on my childhood the picture book that I always recollect first is Mrs. Millie’s Painting (1997) by Matt Ottley, who both authors and illustrates the book. Mrs Millie’s Painting is filled with sweet and whimsical art which, though the story itself is equally brilliant, could tell the story independently. For myself, who struggled to learn to read early on, illustrations were what mattered most to me and I believe it has forged a lasting appreciation. With its sweeping, colourful scenes that encompass the entire page, like a window into the book, Mrs. Millie’s Painting did not disappoint. It absorbed me and carried the story so perfectly. The book centres on Mrs. Millie, a sweet old lady who lives in her flat with her cat, Socrates. Mrs. Millie is an avid gardener but has only the space on her windowsill, where she grows Geraniums, so she paints the garden she longs for. One morning they awake to find great vines, and all kinds of plants infiltrating their apartment. As they venture out of the window and into the city, which is now entirely lost to strange exotic flowers and hidden floral caverns, they soon realise that the twists and turns of this adventure are the very depths of Mrs. Millie’s paintings. This kind of story, of journeys of the imagination and creativity, has always appealed to me. Both as a child – who used to paint over the walls of her dolls house with vibrant primary colours and make perfume in jars out of petals, shampoo and water – and as a young woman – whose mind is always buzzing with too many ideas and images to express. (See some of Shannon's artworks below!) My Reading Nook Sprawled, curled up, or nestled into a corner, my reading spot of choice is on a spacious suede armchair in our living room. It is the perfect chair for reading because it enables all types of reading acrobatics, if like me, you unconsciously move around a lot while lost in a good book. When it comes to spots I like to read, I can usually find a perfect nook anywhere so long as there is an adequately squishy chair and a window nearby. Nestled between a bookshelf and a wall in our living room is where my nook currently lives. Here I like to light some incense or candles - a particular favourite of mine of late is a soy candle in the scent “Mango Sorbet” – and settle into my very wide and cushiony armchair.
- Shannon The idea behind 'The Nook' came when brainstorming in my little green notebook (visible in the photo above) about what I wanted this blog to be. I knew that I wanted to extend the idea of 'the lamp post' into the places that I enjoyed reading, the spaces that inspire me to write and the bookshops I stumble across and love to explore.
Growing up I always had a 'reading nook'; a literary safe haven of sorts. It was and still is somewhere I could retreat to with a good book, a cup of tea and the obligatory cosy blanket. I eventually want my bookshop to be like this...minus the blanket... although who am I to judge if you rock up in a snuggie. What I am trying to say is that I believe enjoying a good book is as much about the actual story as it is about the environment you read it in. So this part of my blog will be dedicated to the reading nooks of the world, beginning with mine and growing with the willingness of others to share their own. I present to you...my very own reading nook. |
Readers In ResidenceEach month a new 'Reader in Residence' will take over the nook and introduce you to their favourite stories, beloved characters and the places and spaces that they love and inspire them to read and write. Archives
September 2015
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