RECOMMENDED READS - TOP FIVE BOOKS

Before I begin the countdown of my top five books of all time, I must tell you how hard it was for me to compile this list. Being an avid reader, there are so many books that I absolutely adore - many of which aren't included in the list because they were pipped to the post by the five that I have chosen. So, without further ado, here are my top five books of all time - in other words, the five that I would recommend more than any others.

5. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - John le Carre

I would say that this novel is very much a niche one - if espionage in the Cold War era isn't something you'd like to read about, I'd give this one a miss. The plot of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy follows retired agent George Smiley as he attempts to find a traitor who has hidden in amongst the British secret service. Although the premise sounds a bit like James Bond, the two depictions of spies couldn't be more different. In this novel, there aren't any wacky gadgets or action-packed gunfights. Instead, there are mind-games and almost Sherlock Holmes-esque deductions about when, where, why, and how crimes are committed. The style of writing is very detailed and heavy on espionage jargon, which some people may find a bit heavy - personally, I like very detailed narratives and enjoyed both the plot and style of writing.

4. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling

Apologies for the quality of the photo above - the holographic title didn't like the flash on my camera. I felt somewhat obligated to include at least one Harry Potter book in this list - I am, after all, a self confessed superfan. The reason that I picked this book over others in the series and other book series (including The Lord of the Rings and Sherlock Holmes) is simply because it has been a favourite of mine for a very long time. Back when I was much younger, this was one of my favourite books, and is still a favourite today - although, sadly, I no longer have the cassette audiobook that I used to have in my childhood. I'm sure most people will already know the plot, but for those who don't, here's a brief synopsis (taken from the back of the book); Harry Potter is about to start his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry - however, when he arrives, the atmosphere is tense. There's an escaped mass murderer on the loose, and the sinister prison guards of Azkaban have been called in to guard the school...

3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey

Unlike Harry Potter, this favourite is more of a recent read. When I was on holiday over the summer, I bought this to read because I thought that it sounded quite interesting and I'd heard that the film was very good - and I always like to read the book before I watch the film. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest follows the shenanigans of R.P. McMurphy as he is committed to a mental institution in Oregon. Upon his arrival at the hospital, McMurphy wages a war against the tyrannical Nurse Ratched, who is determined to stamp out any free spirit and fun in the asylum. This book reminds me of George Orwell's 1984, as it raises questions about oppression and whether or not madness is simply a label for those who don't fit in with society. Overall, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is both a saddening and uplifting novel that celebrates individuality.

2. Atonement - Ian McEwan

I will admit, I my love for this novel is probably on par with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. However, the superior element of Atonement for me is the ending. How OFOTCN ends isn't inherently predictable, but the tone of the novel throughout made me realise that the ending events were inevitable. Atonement, on the other hand, had a completely surprising ending to me, and left me stunned for quite a while afterwards. The plot of Atonement follows thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis, an aspiring writer living at her family's estate in 1930s Britain. Over the course of one summer's day, she witnesses several moments of intimacy between her sister, Cecelia Tallis, and the son of a family servant, Robbie Turner. However, Briony's imagination skews these events, meaning that she commits a crime that she spends the rest of her life trying to atone for. The narrative is hugely detailed and the characters have a lot of depth to them - however, it's the way that Briony's actions manipulate the entire plot that I find most interesting - and ultimately devastating.

1. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Where do I even begin with Gatsby? For me, this novel is as close to perfection as it gets. Fitzgerald's writing style is beautifully descriptive but ultimately tragic. The Great Gatsby follows wannabe bond salesman Nick Carraway, who moves to the New York coastal town of West Egg. An unlikely friendship between him and his millionaire neighbour, Jay Gatsby, begins after Gatsby enlists Nick to help him win back the latter's cousin, Daisy. The corruption and immoral society of 1920s America is fully exposed in this novel as well as consumerism and parties galore. What I find most interesting about this book is how each reader reacts to different characters - I love Gatsby as a character and feel immense sympathy for him, however, some of my friends disagree and find him hugely immoral. Overall, Fitzgerald creates an absorbing plot with dynamic and unique characters that keep you engaged until the very end.

So there you have it - the top five novels that I've read so far (despite some of my other much loved favourites missing out on the list). If you have any recommendations of other novels that I should read, please comment below!

- Kate Shortt -

FILM NIGHT - THE FIFTH ESTATE

I would start this review by saying that the review is spoiler free, but of course, it is based on real events. The film in question is Bill Condon's new film The Fifth Estate, which stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Daniel Brühl as Julian Assange and Daniel Domscheit-Berg respectively. While many reviews of the film haven't been massively positive - the film has a rating of 42% on Rotten Tomatoes - I would take this with a pinch of salt. Compared with the last film that I reviewed (Prisoners, which scored a respectable 81%) I feel that this one is better, as it was much more concise and satisfying.

This is the synopsis of the film taken from IMDB:
The story begins as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his colleague Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Daniel Brühl) team up to become underground watchdogs of the privileged and powerful. On a shoestring, they create a platform that allows whistle-blowers to anonymously leak covert data, shining a light on the dark recesses of government secrets and corporate crimes. Soon, they are breaking more hard news than the world's most legendary media organizations combined. But when Assange and Berg gain access to the biggest trove of confidential intelligence documents in U.S. history, they battle each other and a defining question of our time: what are the costs of keeping secrets in a free society-and what are the costs of exposing them?

In terms of acting, the cast is generally solid and convincing throughout the film. For me, the stand-out performance comes from lead actor Benedict Cumberbatch - although admittedly, there is some slight personal bias (he is one of my favourite actors). Assange's Australian accent is done very well by Cumberbatch, and he manages to juggle the accent with a solid performance. The result is a multi-layered portrayal of a controversial character, as the audience's response ranges from sympathetic to shocked, sometimes within the space of a scene.

The cinematography and the editing of this film make it visually stunning. The way in which the technology is integrated into the visuals means that the clunky close-up shots of mobile phones and computers are rarely used. Instead and rather fittingly, a Sherlock-esque approach is taken, where the messages appear next to the characters. The visual splendour of the film means that when the plot begins to slow down a little, there is something to keep you focused on watching. There are particular scenes where more of a metaphorical approach to revealing or reinforcing information is taken, which is done by creating an imaginary office space. As someone who studies literature, I found the symbolism and metaphors used in these scenes as very interesting and unique ways of conveying a message to the audience.

Criticism-wise, I would say that there was perhaps a lack of depth with regards to some of the portrayals. Aside from Assange, there is little back story or development for many of the characters in the film, as it focuses more on the consequences of their actions rather than the people behind them. With that being said, additional development and detail would of course add additional length to the two-hour run time, and would probably stagnate the plot.

Overall, I found the film to be surprisingly enjoyable to watch - given the mediocre reviews and the concept of a documentary feature film, I was a little apprehensive about watching it. I will say that I don't think that The Fifth Estate will be everyone's cup of tea, as it is quite detail heavy and there isn't a great deal of action.

For anyone that is interested in the film, here is the official trailer...

I hope you have enjoyed reading this review - let me know in the comments if you've seen The Fifth Estate and what you thought of it.

- Kate Shortt -

FOOD FOR THOUGHT - CHOCOLATE AND PECAN MUFFINS

I've been so busy lately with visits to universities and masses of schoolwork that I haven't posted in almost a week. I thought that I'd kill two birds with one stone and make a baking post as well as satisfying my hunger for something chocolatey (to compensate for all of my rushing around). The recipe in this post is actually one that I came up with myself, and these tried-and-tested muffins are a result of lacking cupboard ingredients and experimentation.

INGREDIENTS:
170g of self-raising flour
170g of butter
140g of caster sugar
30g of soft light brown sugar
2 eggs
120g of dark chocolate
50g of chopped pecans
A few whole pecans to top the cakes
1 tsp. of vanilla extract
1 tbsp. of Nutella

METHOD:

- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius and place the muffin cases in a baking tray.

- Combine the butter and both types of sugar in a large mixing bowl until the mixture is creamy. The reason for using two types of sugar is to make sure that the top of the cakes are chewy in a similar way to brownies.

- Sift in the self-raising flour until it is fully combined into the mixture. Add each egg in, mixing vigorously in between to make sure that the mixture comes together properly.

- Melt the dark chocolate - I use a bain-marie to do this, but any other chocolate melting method works fine. While the chocolate is melting, chop the pecans into rough quarters.

- Pour the melted chocolate into the cake mixture and add in the tablespoon of Nutella and the teaspoon of vanilla extract. Mix well to ensure that the Nutella incorporates into the mixture properly - this may take a little while because of its consistency.

- Sprinkle the chopped pecans into the finished cake mixture and stir them in. Once this is done, spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin cases; usually, the mix makes nine large muffins. Place one whole pecan onto the top of each cake.

- Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. To test if the cakes are cooked, poke a skewer or a small knife into the top of one of the muffins. If the skewer comes out clean (without any raw cake mixture on it), then the cakes are cooked properly.

On the left are the muffins before baking and on the right are the finished cakes

So there you have it - my recipe for chocolate and pecan muffins. If you try out the recipe, let me know how it went in the comments below.

- Kate Shortt -

A BELATED SEPTEMBER FAVOURITES

October is here, which means that it is about time for a favourites post - although, admittedly I would have posted this a little earlier if I was a little bit more organised. Within this months favourites (and probably all of the other favourites posts, too), both beauty products and other things that I've been enjoying throughout the last month will be featured.

REVLON LIP BUTTER IN RASPBERRY PIE

Lip butters have been very hyped-up in the past year or two - personally, I think that they live up to the rave reviews that they have been getting. The texture of these lipsticks is sublime, as they are very creamy to apply and sit very comfortably on the lips. In the last month, I've rediscovered a shade that I bought a little while ago called Raspberry Pie. I wouldn't say that the shade is a true raspberry colour per-se, but more of a fuchsia colour. In any case, the colour of this lip butter is very versatile, as it can be worn for both day and night. However, because of the consistency of the lip butters, they do come off relatively easily during the day, but the darker colours do stay on for a little longer.

FILM - STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS

When Star Trek Into Darkness was in the cinema, I went and saw it twice because I liked it so much. You can imagine, then, that I was very pleased when the DVD/Blu-Ray came out this month. Here's short synopsis of the film (taken from Wikipedia) - the plot of Into Darkness takes place one year after the previous installment, with Kirk (Chris Pine) and the crew of the USS Enterprise sent to the Klingonhomeworld seeking former Starfleet member-turned-terrorist John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch). To summarise, Star Trek Into Darkness has a great cast, a script that brings elements of both comedy and tragedy to the plot, and is visually very nice to watch (lens flares aside).

URBAN DECAY 24/7 GLIDE-ON EYE PENCIL IN CRASH

This is another product that I've had for a little while now, and rediscovering it this month made me realise that I ought to use this more often that I do. The Urban Decay eyeliners in general are very good - they are some of the rare eyeliners that don't run during daily wear. Crash is a colour that I've had for a little while now - I got this colour instead of a brown eyeliner that I'd been after, as Urban Decay didn't have any in stock at that point. The colour of this eye pencil is a deep plum purple with flecks of silver glitter in it. This means that it works well as a substitute for black eyeliner, as it isn't as harsh against against lighter eye colours.

MAX FACTOR MIRACLE TOUCH CREAMY BLUSHER IN SOFT MURANO

Usually, I'm not overly fond of wearing blusher, as I don't really like the way that they sit on my skin. However, this one from Max Factor has made me rethink my slight aversion, as this cream blusher has a much nicer consistency than my other powder blushers. Because it is creamy and because I have quite dry skin, the texture of the product seems almost moisturising and blends much more easily on my cheekbones. I also love the colour of this blusher - it is in the shade Soft Murano and is quite red-toned with a sheen to it that doubles as a sort of highlight.

TV SERIES - HEROES

I actually got all of the Heroes box sets last year for Christmas - however, the arrival of my Sherlock box set in the post meant that I stopped half way through series three of Heroes. However, I decided at the beginning of September that I would finish watching the entire show. Currently, I've just started the beginning of series four, and I have to agree with the general consensus that the first series is by far the best one. I still find Heroes an enjoyable show to watch despite the quality (mostly of the plot) faltering as the programme progresses, and it's been my go-to T.V. show for the month of September.

URBAN DECAY NAKED 2 PALETTE (PARTICULARLY THE SHADES SNAKEBITE AND SUSPECT)

Finishing off my September favourites is the Naked 2 palette by Urban Decay, but in particular the shades Snakebite and Suspect. I went out to a party last week and put Suspect as a base colour across my eyes and then heavily concentrated Snakebite in the crease. The colours compliment each other very nicely and can make a great night-out look that is bold but not over the top. I also find that Suspect in particular is a very versatile shade, and one that I enjoy wearing for a daytime look; it adds a nice wash of colour to the eyes that isn't too dark for the day. It's an added bonus for me that both of these metallic neutrals bring out blue eyes, but since they are neutral shades, they will work well with all eye colours.

Again, sorry for the lateness of this post - my next one will be coming up soon and will probably be either a film review or something to do with baking.

- Kate Shortt -