The English Mademoiselle Diaries

So I read and re-read more books than I anticipated over the last couple of months, having said that most of these are for my university course, but I hope to get back to my TBR pile over the christmas break before i get my reading list for next semester.

Selected Poems by Oscar Wilde - 4/5
This has started a love affair with Wilde, I had never read anything of his until I studiedThe Ballad of Reading Gaol in class. And now I'm obsessed, my little book of selected poems if full of random notes to myself and accidental analysis because I just can't help it when I read poetry anymore. I don't really know what it is about Wilde's poetry that makes me re-read it over and over but I don't think that matters anymore as long as i enjoy it and get something new from it each time i go back.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov - 4/5
I reviewed this fully while back, but I re-read it in preparation for the week we were studying it in class, and my opinions haven't changed so check that out here. However I definitely think it improves with each read so my rating of it has gone up, but this is also due to a deeper understanding of the text.

The Monk by Matthew Lewis - 2/5
Hooray another university text! I was dubious about this book before i read it, mainly due to the subject matter, but I was surprised to find it was an easier read than others had led me to believe. I definitely agree with my english lecturer in that it was the trashy book of it's time, think 50 Shades or other such books. I didn't like that it went off on chapter long tangents that are basically irrelevant to the main plot and overall meaning behind the book. But if you are looking for an easy yet controversial read this book would be it, having said that I won't be reading it again.

The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith - 2/5
I actually listened to the audiobook for this one, as I was travelling a lot on the week I was required to read it so it made sense to listen to the book so my luggage was a bit lighter. Turns out this was probably the best way to understand the book, as you can understand the tone of the narration and the context of the book a lot better. I'm not 100% sure I was listening to the official audiobook as I found a free download, but who ever narrated the one I listened to added a whole bunch of meaning I didn't get having gone back and read chapters as a part of my exam prep this week. Given I have read a lot of crime novels this semester this isn't up there with my favourites, however I might come back to the Character of Mr Ripley in other Ripley novels later next year.

The Princess Bride by William Goldman - 4/5
I have been a lover of the film of this abridged version of this book for quite some time now. So unsurprisingly this book was an absolute joy to read, and quite frankly I am glad it exists, the idea of reading a persons favourite bits of a novel is fascinating as well as creating a far better and easy to read novel. Goldman's abridgement is a clever one, explaining and making anecdotes when he cuts out sections. If you love the film you will love this, I laughed in public reading this, and quite frankly i should have finished it faster than I did.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - 3.5/5
Another University read this one, not that I have any complaints due to my unadulterated love for the BBC's Sherlock. (Can we discuss that I might be a little excited for the Christmas episode?! It is even going to be in the correct time period!!) Anyway back to the book, as with all Sherlock Holmes books it is made up of many short stories as written by Watson, who narration is nothing short of incredible, how do you fit a character such as Holmes into such a short amount of pages... Naturally I am now going to read even more of the Sherlock books.

Eat Pretty by Jolene Hart - 4/5
Welcome into my life fantastic little book of recipes and advice for how to eat in-tune to what your body wants, may you be forever useful, except when you mention meat and fish of course. While I did read this whole book from cover to cover, I know I will be coming back to it as a little reference guide, to see what is in season, to discover which veggies I should be eating for certain vitamins and minerals, and for recipes, because I cannot go without new recipes for too long. It turns out food can change your life and the way you perceive yourself and as a lover of food and positive thinking I won't say no to that idea any time soon.

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert - 5/5
I am going to write a full length review about this book, oh the ideas it has given me. There is so much to learn from this book, and as a love of the Eat, Pray, Love book as well Gilbert is gradually climbing the ranks of my favourite authors. So watch this space for a lengthy set of thoughts about this book that has taught me so much about creativity and how to live creativity without having to be an artist.

So that's my November and a little bit of October Wrap up, here's to a better reading month in December!

XO, Miriam

Please believe me, I'll never do you no harm...

//Cardigan - Thrifted//Top - Primark//Skirt - Urban Oufitters//Tights - TU//Shoes - Ted and Muffy//

I planned to shoot a different outfit with this skirt today but when I picked up this amazing vintage Chanel-esque cardigan yesterday I couldn't help but pair the two. I definitely feel that recently I am going back to my more preppy roots with my style, even if now there is more of a hipster vibe. As always I get most of my inspiration from books, TV and films and in this case Madison Montgomery from American Horror Story: Coven is my muse, and because of the textures of the cardigan and skirt I am still channeling some of the Chanel catwalk combos over the years. You know the ones I mean. I wish I had time to write more but I have to get back to studying for end of semester assignments and exams.

XO, Miriam

P.S. Have a wonderful day or night.

Tumblr

"Start each day with a positive thought"

So recently I have been watching a reading a whole bunch of things, learning more and more about positivity, being creative, being inspired and where spirituality comes in all of that. Well here are some of my thoughts so far, along with some of the people, books, and other stuff that have inspired me over the past few months on my journey to a more positive life.

It all started off with Essena O'Neill leaving social media, as I wrote about in this post, I began to think more about what being creative can be, and I want my creative efforts to be primarily for me but when I share them I want them to inspire. So I watched video after video, read blog post after blog post, on social media and its effect on creativity. And this is my conclusion, you must allow yourself to be creative, everyday if possible. You should never to aspire to be someone else, that is how you stop being creative and negative thoughts come in abundance with that kind of thinking.

There is a certain mindset to being a positive person, and it is something I am yet to master but I am somewhere on the way to understanding how to create my own happiness. So here are a few habits I have picked up over the last few months:

Meditation, i don't do this everyday as much as the intention is there, I tend to use use this guided sleep meditation 2-3 times a week, and I meditate at the end of yoga class as a part of the session.
Journalling, this is something I have done for years on and off, sometimes it was a creative, expressive experience, but sometimes it was a purge of emotions. I am currently in what I would call journalling slump, but I definitely want to get back into it again and use it for positive ideas and thoughts.
Making time to read, read for pleasure that is, I read a novel every week as a part of English Literature modules, but I really need to make more time to read for pleasure and out of my own interest.

I'm currently reading Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, I will write a post on my thoughts when I finish it, because it has definitely inspired me.

XO, Miriam

As you may know I have been trying to capture the wonder and healing that concerts bring when I attend them. I am yet to succeed, but that doesn't mean I won't keep trying. And the Smoke & Mirrors Imagine Dragons concert was nothing short of incredible, I have seen these guys before a few years back, I might have written a post on it but I can't remember. I could have posted this so much earlier this week but something kept stopping me, like the words couldn't flow right nothing could put the emotions and release that a concert like this brings. Because music must always be looked at as both separate parts, but also as a whole. Lyrics are poetry and there is always some deeper meaning to what the music behind them can bring, thats not to say instrumental music has no merit, but I find I am most connected to music when the lyrics mean something. Basically the lyrics have to bring something to the party or there is no point. For me at least Imagine Dragons have always been able to capture my emotions and make me think more openly, I don't know what it is but there is something profound about their performances, and their music in general that just connects to me.

And as I have run out of words,

XO, Miriam

P.S. Photo credit to my sister.

Food Styling by I was promised donuts

The other weekend I attended a Health Blogger's Community photography workshop, something I only found out about the day before through Eleanor from Green + Aquamarine who is a part of the community. The afternoon was hosted by Wellicious in their wonderful HQ, taught by Anastaija of Grandmother's Figs, and run by Fab.

As a blogger photography a huge part of what I do on this space, and as I have branched out from outfits, to food and books this workshop was much needed to hone my skills for more close up photography. As I very rarely feel like I have perfected my shots, I was grateful for the chance to attend the workshop.

So here are my top three tips I learnt from the 3hrs workshop:

Natural Lighting:
We all know lighting is important, but the most important type of light is by far natural light. But as the days get shorter and we have less and less time to get those perfect shots, there are a few ways to maximise the amount of light, Anastaija recommended to use a type of reflective sheet, e.g. white fabric or a white board to increase the amount of light on the objects you're taking photos of. As well as this she suggested that 10am and late afternoon are the optimum times to takes photos as the light is not to harsh or to dim thus avoiding those weird shadows you get at certain times of day. But that is not to say to avoid shadows completely, use them to your advantage to create more depth in your photos.

Using Manual:
The second thing I picked up on was that you should 100% switch from Auto to Manual on your camera, and really get to know what your camera can do. Get to know every setting possible, but the keys ones are ISO, Aperture, and Shutter Speed. I am still getting to grips with these settings so I am in no position to give advice here however, Eleanor who I mentioned earlier has written more about the final details in her post (here) about the workshop so head over there for more info on these settings.

Props:
This is the fun part, you can do anything you want here. I loved playing around with all the props available, you can change so much about an image just by altering what surface it is on, and its surroundings. I personally prefer more clean cut simple images, so I tend towards white surfaces, with more modern and simple props. But some people prefer a more rustic look so tend toward more wooden surfaces and a more crowded images making use of ingredients and props as well.

I hope you enjoyed this somewhat different post from me.

XO, Miriam

So as I mentioned a week or so ago, I got the chance to work with Oxford Fashion Studios for the last ever Oxford Fashion Week as an ambassador. So basically I had a whole variety of jobs and things to do along with taking photos for my blog. It was the most hectic day of my life and just a little stressful but I loved it. The day of running around finding dresses, picking up coffee, and dry-cleaned shirts confirmed what I want to do after university. I would love to work in fashion, but if that isn't the case then I want something that requires the same amount of creativity, passion and drive that the fashion industries require.

But back to the shows, of which there were two, a ready-to-wear show and a couture show, they were really well put together, and here are my highlights:

If you want to see more looks from the shows head over to the Oxford Fashion Week Website.

XO, Miriam

Finally I am back writing about books, its been a while hasn't it... But oh well I am back at it and this time with two short speeches in book form, from two of my favourite authors.

Very Good Lives by J.K. Rowling - 4/5

Very Goof Lives, is the speech Rowling gave to the Harvard Class of 2008, I have listened to this speech before but when I wasn't at uni or on the verge of 'adulthood'. This speech if something I will be coming back to again and again for the same advice. No you don't have to buy the book you can listen to the speech online, but I like having something tangible, something I can add to with a speech like this. I have already added several post-it notes of more positive and inspirational quotes and ideas that the words made me think of. The other thing I loved about this book is the illustrations and the typography, it is a well crafted book, it looks good both with and with out the dust jacket. If I learnt one thing from this book it was that in order to succeed you need to have failed first, and that applies to all areas of life not just academically. This book will definitely be in my top books of 2015, for how it impacted me and my outlook.

Shaking Hands with Death by Terry Pratchett - 3/5

I haven't actually read all that much by Terry Pratchett, but I know a lot about him, seen multiple book to screen adaptations of some of the Discworld novels, and heard Neil Gaiman talk about writing with him during the last few years of his career while he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Which is what this speech is about, it was written by him for the BBC, but it wasn't all read by him, someone else stood in partway through to finish the speech. For me this book was eye opening, there is so much we don't know about Alzeimer's, especially about how it effects the individual. But Pratchett didn't avoid those topics, he addressed them, and brought the disease into the public eye and discussion. The only problem I would say with the book for me is that, this disease has never affected me in my family, so in some places i found it hard to engage. However given how small the book was I don't see that as too much of a problem.

XO, Miriam