Sunday Sundries

Ah, this week, this week. Let's see. I've been struck down by a cold since Thursday, so I can't really remember anything that happened before that. Oh! I know. Mum had some hospital appointments that she didn't let me accompany her on ("There's no point in buying two travelcards!" etc etc) and the long and short of it is that she's starting radiotherapy on the 19th September, and after either 13 or 15 sessions (we're not sure which...) she'll be done! Which is awesome. Also, I don't know if you know this but they tattoo you with teeny dots before they do it, so my mum totally has tattoos before me. So jealous! (Not really. But you know.)

So that's the BIG news of the week, and other than that... We had a bit of a family lunch on Monday because it was a bank holiday here, and I went shopping a couple of days and helped my sister out in her classroom on Wednesday (she's a teacher. Obviously) FOR WHICH I got a massive bruise on my thigh and a lot of nagging. So don't do good deeds is basically what I'm saying here. (Although my sister did fall into a bin, so... It could have been worse.) And then, yeah, ill! I mean, I say ill, but I'm not that ill. I just feel all groggy and I have a cough and a lot of snot, so basically it's the perfect excuse to stay in bed and watch Netflix and/or DVDs all day. 

DAMN, it's a good job I'm not a 'lifestyle blogger'. Who would want to read about snot?!

Ahem. So, not much life stuff. It being the beginning of a month, though, means that there's some blog stuff to wrap up and stuff, so let's do that! Remember this?:

Yeahhh, so I kind of did two things that I'd pinned. Which, actually, is all I said I'd do, which isn't that bad! And also technically I can count going to Haworth, since I pinned it on my Places to Go board, so... Three is even better! What I will say about this challenge though, is that it kind of encouraged me to do more things that I hadn't pinned, but that I still wanted to make, if you know what I mean? Like, this week I made pizza from scratch, AND a chickpea curry (that was SO good, by the way) and I don't think I would have felt as motivated to make them if I hadn't had so much fun/been so successful making the Nutella Doughtnuts. So I consider THAT a success.

AND now for the super duper exciting new thing... RIP VII!!!! 

I might be a little overexcited about this, but I can't help it! I've literally been saving books ALL YEAR because I'm like 'ooh, that would be good for RIP', I bought The Haunting of Hill House in like February or something with RIP specifically in mind, and overall, yeah, I'm just very very excited! Especially because, last year I wasn't fully committed to it because I'd decided to do Orwell October, but this year I am just GOING FOR IT. Really. 

Behold!

This is my RIP pile. And I know it's ridiculous, so don't even tell me. But it is what it is, and it's going to sit on my bedroom floor until October 31st, and DON'T think I won't hear shit about that, cause I totally will. You want to know what's on it, don't you. Well, I'll tell you. From top to bottom:

• Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
• Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe
• Nightmares and Dreamscapes by Stephen King
• The Godfather by Mario Puzo
• The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (Readalong book! Yep, another readalong!)
• The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Phillip K Dick
• Sweeney Todd by Anonymous
• Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist (cause Sweden and vampires go SO WELL)
• Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
• The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino
• We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
• Beloved by Toni Morrison
• The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith
• The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
• Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter
• The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing
• Burton on Burton

Not pictured: Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice. Just cause it got left behind, not because I don't want to read it. It's on the pile now, don't worry!

So, I understand that I can't read all these books. But I WANT to. Although I know I can't. Off the top of my head, I really want to read Let the Right One In and We Need To Talk About Kevin; The Godfather, Nights at the Circus and Beloved are all challenge books, so I kind of want to get them read, and I really want to read The Fifth Child so I can decide whether or not to completely reject Lessing or not. But also, I want to read them ALL! (Except maybe Murder on the Orient Express, cause how does one review that?! I really don't know.)

But anyway. I'm really very very excited. I would tell you which Perils I'm doing but reading like 20 books isn't really part of RIP (also, I'm not reading 20 books. I'm NOT!). But I guess I'm doing Peril the First (read 4 horrifying books) and also the Peril of the Group Read. So, yay! Also I'm reading Attachments (LOVE IT!) and Crime and Punishment (also love, so far) and this book about ADHD, so... I'm going to be reading solidly for about 2 months. I may need to be nudged every now on then to be reminded to wash and stuff. Anyone want to take on that responsibility? Anyone?