What I'm Listening To

Every year around this time there is always a bunch of music released in preparation for summer on the other side of the world (so expect an influx of new albums and songs about drinking) and with that influx comes another update about what I'm listening to. Once again is quite varied so hopefully there's something for everyone.

I've just realised that this is very similar to my exercise playlist so maybe crank this one while walking the dog like I do? I don't know.

Lily Allen - Our Time

I absolutely love Lily Allen and I want her song Hard Out Here played when ever I enter a room but I have to say this track is the one I am listening to the most. I'm really enjoying her new album 'Sheezus' too.

Ed Sheeran - Don't  I am beyond excited for Ed's new album that's coming out next month and I am loving this version of 'Don't' that he performed on Jools Holland last weekend. That boy is a genius with his loop pedal.

Iggy Azalea-Work You've probably heard 'Fancy' featuring Charli XCX but this song is better. I bought her album "The New Classic' the other day and it's pretty good! I particularly like the song 'Goddess'.

Lady Antebellum - Bartender Lady A have just announced that they're working on their 5th studio album and again, I'm excited. This song is unbelievably catchy and a is wicked lead single.

Sia - Chandelier  I was a bit meh on this song when I first heard but a friend of mine told me about this video so I re-watched it and I am absolutely hooked. It's the most beautiful, hunting music video and It reminds me of Pink's 'Try' music video a bit. Even if you don't like the song this video has to be appreciated for what it is.

Zac Brown Band - Goodbye in her Eyes I've had this song on my ipod for a really long time and always liked it but lately I just keep going back to this song. It's so sad but lovely at the same time. the Zac Brown Band are so brilliant, I really wish they had more of a following in New Zealand.

The Book of Hat

‘This way I will NEVER have to get a job, learn how to cook more than two-minute noodles or do anything mildly productive. I never have to grow up and I can forever be a kid! Though my ‘forever’ is shorter than most, I don’t mind. What I do mind is that I am going to have to leave everyone I love behind.’

I am well aware that I need to shut up about John Green's The Fault in our Stars and you are probably fed up with me constantly writing about it and it was very much my intention to do just that - that was until I found The Book of Hat by Harriet Rowland. 

"Hat was 17 when she was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma, a rare form of cancer that starts in the bones. Living in Wellington, New Zealand, Hat has fought the disease for three years and found a friend in cancer sufferer Hazel from John Green's novel The Fault in Our Stars, duplicating her trip to the Anne Frank House. In 2013, Hat celebrated her 20th birthday and mixed with the stars of the new Hobbit movie - both things she never expected to do. Since her diagnosis, Hat has kept a blog called My Experience of Walking the Dog and the posts are collected in this book, edited with the author's blessing. Why the blog title? Her family says cancer is like a dog - fine if it stays in its own yard. Hat's dog got out. This is her unexpected story"

Harriet's story is uplifting and heartbreaking at the same time. The fact that any child or young person would ever have to suffer from a disease like Osteosarcoma is unjust and terrible but Harriet shows so much maturity, compassion and positivity through her blog posts that I couldn't help but admire her. Harriet wrote this blog for her friends and family and I could really feel that when I read her book. There is warmth in the pages and her love for those around her really shines through. There is so much to be learned from Harriet's life and the love and compassion she has for those around her.  

I always want the readers of the blog posts I write to listen to my recommendations but I don't think I've ever wanted you to read a book as much as this one. I will post a link to the library website but I would also like to encourage you to purchase this book as money from each copy sold goes to Canteen. 

The Book of Hat is the real The Fault in Our Stars and it's a beautiful legacy.


Harriet's Blog: http://www.myexperienceofwalkingthedog.blogspot.co.nz

Something to look forward to

There are some pretty cool things coming out in the next wee while that I thought I would share with you today.

Ed Sheeran's new album

Ed Sheeran's new album X (pronounced multiply) is out of the 23rd of June 2014. The first single of of the new album is called Sing and it's produced and co-written by Pharrell  Williams. After hearing a couple of the songs of off this one I am beyond excited. Ed is brilliant so I know this record will be too.

The Fault in our Stars movie

 The movie of the book I never shut up about is out on the 5th of June. SO freaking excited and nervous. I've talked about this book and movie so much you're all probably sick of it but I just have a lot of feelings okay? Okay.

City of Heavenly Fire

This next one I cant say I"m personally looking forward to but a couple of 14 year old girls I know are beyond psyched about it. We get so many request for this series that there is no doubt in my mind that other people will be just as thrilled. Out at the end of this month and if you want to get in early on the request list click here.

ANZAC

In celebration of ANZAC Day I thought I would share with you some of my favourite New Zealand and Australian items from our collection. I'd never really thought about how many of my favourite books are written by authors from this part of the world. Thankfully my school years introduced me to some really great books that I still treasure today.

To the Is-Land - Janet Frame (NZ) and The Book Thief - Markus Zusak (AUS)

To The Is-Land is another book that I was assigned to read in school and I really liked it. I hadn't really read anything like it at the time and I found Janet Frame completely fascinating. As I've said in previous blogs The Book Thief is my absolute favourite book so it was impossible not include it in this blog. Just read it, if you don't like it there is something wrong with you.

The Castle (AUS) and Boy (NZ)

Two of the most quotable, underrated movies to ever exist and both iconic to their home countries. They're equal parts funny and touching.

The Alex Quartet - Tessa Duder (NZ) and Tomorrow When The War Began - John Marsden (AUS)

These books had a massive impact on my early teen years and I re-read them fairly regularly. The first Alex book was assigned to me by my 4th form English teacher and I loved it so much I obsessively read the entire series in a week. I have read the Tomorrow series almost every year since I was 13 years old and I've spent most of that time wishing I was Ellie Linton. John Marsden is coming to the Auckland Writers Festival next month and I'm so excited to go and hear him speak and hopefully get him to sign my ratty old copy of Tomorrow When the War Began.

Outrageous Fortune (NZ) and Summer Heights High (AUS)

The Summer Heights High creator Chris Lilley is an absolute genius so it was hard to pick which of his TV series is my favourite. In Summer Heights High he plays 3 different characters all equally as cringe worthy and hilarious as the next: drama teacher Mr G, private school  girl exchange student Ja'mie King and a 13 year old Togan boy Jonah Takalua. I'm sure you've all heard of Outrageous Fortune by now, it's as great as they say.

I hope you all have a lovely ANZAC day.

My favourite new movies

I've been sick the past week so all I've been doing is staying in bed and watching movies, they were all relatively new so I thought I would share with you a few of my favourites out of the pile I watched.

Frozen

I'm a huge Disney fan so I was super excited when Disney's Frozen came out. I love what they're doing with Disney Princesses now too, no more of this giving your voice away for a guy you don't even know shizz. Elsa and Anna are total bad asses and much more human than Disney Princesses of the past. This movie is so much fun that I went out and bought the soundtrack... I really like musicals.

Gravity

I wasn't expecting to like this movie but I really did! I kind of assumed it would be a tons of explosions, no plot line kind of movie but it was actually very interesting. I did find it quite stressful in parts because I was getting so into the story line but I think that's quite a good thing really. I can totally see why this movie got the Oscar for visual effects and other technical aspects of the film, it really is amazing to see what they can create these days.

The Heat

I watched this just a couple of days after watching Gravity and it was amazing to watch Sandra Bullock go from an Astronaut in the very serious and dramatic Gravity to an FBI Agent in The Heat which is pure comedy. This movie is hilarious. Melissa McCarthy is just as funny as Sandra Bullock and the two of them together is just magical. I really hope they do another movie together.

The Undesirables: Inside Nauru

Life inside Australia's offshore asylum seeker processing centres is something that very few people know about. In his book The Undesirables: Inside Nauru, Mark Issacs offers a first hand account of what he saw and experienced while working for the Salvation Army at the Nauru Regional Processing Centre. Read this one with compassion in mind.


'How long will we be here?' one man asked.

Nobody could answer him. Nobody knew. The intention was clear: this was the No Advantage policy. Take them to a distant island, lock them away, punish them, forget about them. Criminals were given a sentence to serve; these men were not even given that. Lost hope ebbed out of the men in uncontrollable sobs and tears. 

Queue jumper, boat person, illegals. Asylum seekers are contentious front-page news but obtaining information about Australia’s regional processing centres is increasingly difficult. We learn only what the government wants us to know.

Mark Isaacs worked for the Salvation Army inside the Nauru Detention Centre soon after it re-opened in 2012. He provided humanitarian aid to the men interned in the camp. What he saw there moved him to speak out.

The Undesirables chronicles his time on Nauru detailing daily life and the stories of the men held there; the self-harm, suicide attempts, and riots; the rare moments of joy; the moments of deep despair.

Mark's eyewitness account humanises a political debate usually ruled by misleading rhetoric. (from Goodreads)

My emotions! The TFIOS trailer is here!

One of my favourite books is being made into a movie and I am equal parts terrified and excited! I talk about The Fault in Our Stars all the time but if you're not sure what the heck i'm talking about see my previous blog about books that John Green has written.

I really hope they do this amazing book justice but after seeing the movie version of The Book Thief I have hope! The book is always better than the movie though so I'm not going to get my hopes up too high.

'18 Great Books You Probably Haven't Read'

A little while ago, John Green who is one of my favourite authors/vloggers/people ever made a video entitled '18 Great Books You Probably Haven't Read'. I watched the video enthusiastically and just as he said I haven't read any of them! But I want to and I thought you might want to as well.

I love John so I'm always going to take his book recommendations seriously and I've requested and several of the books on John's list. Unfortunately we don't have all of the books but we do have quite a lot of them so I've conveniently made a list for you below if you're interested in checking them out.

Round Ireland with a Fridge - Tony Hawks

Thirsty - MT Anderson

Boy Proof - Cecil Castellucci

Fly on the Wall - Emily Lockhart

Show Way - Jacqueline Woodson

The Enormous Room - E.E. Cummings

Regarding the pain of others - Susan Sontag

Death Comes for the Archbishop - Willa Cather

This Blinding Absence of Light - Tahar Ben Jelloun 

Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone: the Carter Family and their legacy in American music / Mark Zwonitzer with Charles Hirshberg

The last summer of reason / Tahar Djaout

(If you don't have the book you're after in our collection John has the Amazon links to the books in the description of his video).

And here is a link to John's books if you're interested in checking them out and I wrote a blog post about them a couple of years ago if you're interested. 

Chelsea Handler has a new book and I'm really excited about it!

Uganda Be Kidding Me (great name) is Chelsea Handler's new book about her adventures in travel! I'm so excited to read it! Chelsea's other books are some of the funniest books I have ever read in my life and I can't wait until it get's here!

"Wherever Chelsea Handler travels, one thing is certain: she always ends up in the land of the ridiculous. Now, in this uproarious collection, she sneaks her sharp wit through airport security and delivers her most absurd and hilarious stories ever.

On safari in Africa, it's anyone's guess as to what's more dangerous: the wildlife or Chelsea. But whether she's fumbling the seduction of a guide by not knowing where tigers live (Asia, duh) or wearing a bathrobe into the bush because her clothes stopped fitting seven margaritas ago, she's always game for the next misadventure.

The situation gets down and dirty as she defiles a kayak in the Bahamas, and outright sweaty as she escapes from a German hospital on crutches. When things get truly scary, like finding herself stuck next to a passenger with bad breath, she knows she can rely on her family to make matters even worse. Thank goodness she has the devoted Chunk by her side-except for the time she loses him in Telluride.

Complete with answers to the most frequently asked traveler's questions, hot travel trips, and travel etiquette, none of which should be believed, UGANDA BE KIDDING ME has Chelsea taking on the world, one laugh-out-loud incident at a time." (from Goodreads)

What I'm listening to

I'm sick to death of all of the bad dance music that's on the radio so I've been going online to find new music. Here's some of the little treasures I've found.

Jonelle Monae - Dance Apocalyptic
I've been listening to Janelle's album Electric Lady a lot, it's really fun and energetic and doesn't really sound like anything else that's around at the moment.

Colbie Caillat - Hold On
This song is forever stuck in my head after I hear it. I like this because it's different to the beachy songs she usually does. It's a little dark and it totally works for her.

John Farnham - You're the Voice
Every time the ad for the Lionel Richie and John Farnham tour comes on I get the 'Woaaaaaaah' bit stuck in my head.

Miranda Lambert - Automatic
The nostalgic lead single from Miranda's soon to be released 5th album Platinum. I could not be more excited for this album Miranda is a true favourite.

Dierks Bentley - I Hold On
I've never really got into Dierks Bentley that much but I love the 2 singles off of his new album: I Hold On and Bourbon in Kentucky

Childish Gambino - 3005 
I'm always going to love anything Donald Glover does. He's a true genius. I also really love his song Sweatpants off of his new album Because the Internet.

Brand Spanking New YA Fiction

We have just received quite a bit of new young adult fiction in the libraries this week so I thought I would share some the books that caught my eye as I was preparing them for the library shelves.

The Unseemly Education of Anne Merchant - Joanna Wiebe

So many secrets for such a small island. From the moment Anne Merchant arrives at Cania Christy, a boarding school for the world’s wealthiest teens, the hushed truths of this strange, unfamiliar land begin calling to her—sometimes as lulling drumbeats in the night, sometimes as piercing shrieks.

One by one, unanswered questions rise. No one will tell her why a line is painted across the island or why she is forbidden to cross it. Her every move—even her performance at the school dance—is graded as part of a competition to become valedictorian, a title that brings rewards no one will talk about. And Anne discovers that the parents of her peers surrender million-dollar possessions to enroll their kids in Cania Christy, leaving her to wonder what her lowly funeral director father could have paid to get her in… and why.

As a beautiful senior struggles to help Anne make sense of this cloak-and-dagger world without breaking the rules that bind him, she must summon the courage to face the impossible truth—and change it—before she and everyone she loves is destroyed by it.

This Song Will Save Your Life -Leila Sales

Making friends has never been Elise Dembowski’s strong suit. All throughout her life, she’s been the butt of every joke and the outsider in every conversation. When a final attempt at popularity fails, Elise nearly gives up. Then she stumbles upon a warehouse party where she meets Vicky, a girl in a band who accepts her; Char, a cute, yet mysterious disc jockey; Pippa, a carefree spirit from England; and most importantly, a love for DJing.

When I was the Greatest - Jason Reynolds

Ali lives in Bed-Stuy, a Brooklyn neighborhood known for guns and drugs, but he and his sister, Jazz, and their neighbors, Needles and Noodles, stay out of trouble until they go to the wrong party, where one gets badly hurt and another leaves with a target on his back.

So Much it Hurts

Iris is an aspiring actress, so when Mick, a well-known visiting Aussie director, takes an interest in her, she's flattered. He's fourteen years older, attractive, smart, charming and sexy--in other words, nothing like her hapless ex-boyfriend, Tommy. But when Iris and Mick start a secret relationship, she soon witnesses Mick's darker side, and his temper frightens her. Before long, she becomes the target of his rage, but she makes endless excuses for him. Isolated and often in pain, Iris struggles to continue going to school, where she is preparing for her role as Ophelia. When her family and friends begin to realize that something is terribly wrong, Iris defends her man, but she also takes the first tentative steps toward self-preservation.

The Lure

Fifteen-year-old Blaise Montgomery lives in the gritty outskirts of Washington, DC, where a stray bullet can steal a life on the way to school. Drugs and violence are the only ways to survive, so Blaise and her friends turn to gangs for safety, money, and love. When Blaise is invited to join Core 9, one of the most infamous crews, she jumps at the chance. Though her best guy friends, Rico and Satch, warn her about the danger, she agrees to be beaten for a minute straight as part of the gang's initiation ritual.

Now Blaise is finally part of a crew. A family. 

But things get only more dangerous when she becomes a member of Core 9 and tensions with a rival gang heat up. Trek, the head of Core 9, asks Blaise to be his "lure," the sexy bait he'll use to track down enemy gang members and exact revenge. Rico and Satch tell her it's a death sentence, but Blaise can't resist the money and unparalleled power. As Trek puts Blaise in increasingly dangerous situations, she begins to see that there's more to lose than she ever realized-including Satch, the one person who has the power to get under her skin. With death lurking around every corner, should Blaise continue to follow the only path she's ever known, or cut and run?

Sometimes Never, Sometimes Always - Elissa Janine Hoole

Cassandra fears rocking the family boat. Instead, she sinks it. Assigned by her English teacher to write a poem that reveals her true self, Cassandra Randall is stuck. Her family's religion is so overbearing, she can NEVER write about who she truly is. So Cass does what any self-respecting high school girl would do: she secretly begins writing a tarot-inspired advice blog. When Drew Godfrey, an awkward outcast with unwashed hair, writes to her, the situation spirals into what the school calls "a cyberbullying crisis" and what the church calls "sorcery." Cass wants to be the kind of person who sticks up for the persecuted, who protects the victims the way she tries to protect her brother from the homophobes in her church. But what if she's just another bully? What will it take for her to step up and tell the truth?

***Flawless: Chimamanda and Beyoncé

Late last year Beyonce surprised the universe by dropping her 5th album with no promotion. I was beyond thrilled when I heard about it and downloaded it from Itunes immediately. Every song on the album comes with it's own music video so I sat down and watched/listened to the whole thing in one go and it was glorious.

The best part of the whole experience is track number 11 called ***Flawless, and the best part of that song is that it samples a speech made by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Adichie is an amazing Nigerian author of several books inducing Purple Hibiscus and her latest novel Americanah.

Adichie's speech is from a TEDtalk she did in 2012 entitled We should all be feminists and it perfectly summarizes basically everything I believe about gender roles. Beyoncé must have loved this speech too (just another thing we have in common) because she has selected several of Adichie's ideas to make up the entire 2nd verse of the song and I love putting on Adichie's awesome Nigerian accent to sing along.

I think every single person in the world should listen to both the song and the speech. Even if you're not a feminist I think that the ideas that Adichie puts forward are highly intelligent and certainly worth putting some thought into.

Indian Ocean with Simon Reeve

In my new favourite documentary series Indian Ocean with Simon Reeve (and I don't say that lightly; you know how I feel about David Attenborough) Simon Reeve travels around some of the countries that boarder the Indian Ocean. Including but not limited to: South Africa, Madagascar, Seychelles, Somalia, Indonesia and Australia. This show is super interesting and Simon is a brilliant host so I highly recommend it. Plus there's a Turtle in pretty much every episode and Turtles are one of the cutest animals in the whole word and if you don't like them you have no soul.

The thing I absolutely love about this show is that it doesn't skip over the sad or slightly less pretty parts of these countries. Not only does it show you the beautiful beaches, amazing culture and totally rad turtles but it covers shark fining in Mozambique, the drug trade in South Africa and the pirates in Somalia among other harsh truths.

I have learned so much watching this show, it's a really awesome look into how the Indian Ocean effects the lives of so many different places, people and animals.

(Plus Simon Reeve is super handsome).

Grammys 2014: The big winners

The Grammy's where on this past weekend! I'm sure you already knew that though what with NZ's very own Lorde winning 2 awards! If you're interested in who else won big on Grammy night then read on my friend.

Kacey Musgraves

Kacey Musgraves is thebombdotcom! I was so super excited when she won Best Country Song fro Merry Go Round and Best Country Album for Same Trailer, Different Park. This was so well deserved; Kacey is a brilliant song writer and her songs are so original and interesting. I think the fact that Kacey won over some of the more accomplished and well known nominees is a sign that the Grammy voters are ready for some more diverse and, dare I say, liberal content in country music.

Lorde

Yeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah guuuuurl. No doubt that you already know that Lorde won 2 Grammys this year for Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance. We're all so super proud of her! It's so cool to watch her and her producer Joel Little go up there and represent NZ and even cooler to see the super proud look on her Mum's face! She didn't win any for her album Pure Heroine but it is brilliant so make sure you give it a listen.

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

I have so much respect for Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. It's so cool to see musicians who understand the responsibility and power they have to make positive changes in the world. During their performance of Same Love at the Grammys, 33 couples got married by Queen Latifah in the aisles of the audience! It was so cool to watch and when I saw Keith Urban crying at the end my little heart couldn't take it! If I had gotten married during that song I would start every conversation for the rest of my life with 'Beyonce was at my wedding'.

Macklemore won 4 awards including Best New Artist. 

Daft Punk

Daft Punk cleaned up at the Grammys this year winning 4 trophies including Record of the Year and Album of the Year. Daft Punk are still pretty cool/terrifying so if you get a chance to listen to their new album Random Access Memories please do, I like it but I cant get past the fact that I think my girl Taylor should've won album of the year for Red. Whatevs, it's cool. The Grammys were so much fun to watch that I vote that they air the awards on New Zealand TV every year! If you get a chance also make sure you check out the Performances by Pink, Beyonce and Taylor Swift because they are particularly cool.

Best of 2013

It's hard to believe that it's been a full year since I last wrote one of these blog posts, it feels like it's only been a few months! Once again this isn't a blog post about my favourite things released in 2013 it's a blog post about my favourite things that I discovered in 2013.

Songs
This was so hard! In a week I will have changed my mind but for now, here are my favourite songs of this year.

I Want Crazy - Hunter Hayes
Aint it fun - Paramore
Dust to Dust - The Civil Wars
Drive Darling - Boy
Glory and Gore - Lorde
I Choose You - Sara Bareilles
Young volcanoes - Fall Out Boy
Grown Woman/ Flawless - Beyoncé
Aria - Giovani Allevi
Highway Don't Care - Tim McGraw, Taylor Swift and Keith Urban
Done - The Band Perry

Albums


Beyonce, Kacey and The Civil Wars are hands down the best albums of the year. No question. The other 2 are pretty good too though.

Kacey Musgraves - Same Trailer, Different Park
The Civil Wars -self titled
Lorde - Pure Heroine
Beyoncé - Beyoncé
Haim - Days are Gone

Books

This year I read a lot of autobiographies by comedians which were really interesting and funny. I particularly enjoyed Mindy Kahling's book. It was awesome to read Brad Paisley's book this year too. He's one of my musical heroes so it was really cool to read how he started in the music business.

Lean In - Sheryl Sandberg
Bet Me - Jennifer Crusie 
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without me? - Mindy Kahling
Born Standing Up - Steve Martin
Diary of a Player - Brad Paisley

TV Shows

My fellow bloggers finally talked me into watching Supernatural and they were right, it's awesome. I looooooooove Pretty Little Liars which I wasn't expecting and re watching Outrageous Fortune and McLeod's Daughters has been awesome. Not as awesome as Parks and Rec which has replaced 30 Rock as my weekly obsession.

Pretty Little Liars
Supernatural
McLeod's Daughters
Parks and Recreation
Outrageous Fortune

Movies

One chance was one of the sweetest, happiest movies I've ever seen and I absolutely loved it! Plus James Cordon is in at and he is one of my favourite actors. Django was super violent and disturbing but wonderful and don't even get me started on Catfish one of the craziest documentaries I've ever seen!

One Chance
Django Unchained
Never Let me go
Catfish
The Hunger Games - Catching Fire

Adorable Christmas Picture Books

We get some of the most adorable picture books through the library. I was looking through some of our new ones the other day and I came across these lovely non-traditional Christmas stories.

Dinosaur Christmas

After he gets a postcard from a little girl, Santa Claus reminisces about all the trouble he had when dinosaurs pulled his sleigh


The Christmas Show

It's Christmas and the children have been practicing very hard for their nativity play. The narrators are word-perfect, the Important Angel has brushed her hair and the audience are in their seats. But when the curtain rises, no one's expecting a spare shepherd to steal the show.

Kangaroo for Christmas

The day before Christmas, Kathryn's present from Uncle Dingo arrives in a big box. Naturally, it's a lively kangaroo. Kathryn can't wait to show grandma, so she hops onto Adelaide's back and off they go! But getting to Grandma's proves more difficult than expected. Honking horns and screeching brakes frighten Adelaide into taking off on her own.

I listened to One Direction.... and I liked it?

I kind of hope some of my colleagues don't read this blog post. Not because I am in anyway embarrassed in what I'm listening to but just because they're going to give me so much crap for listening to One D and sometimes it's just easier to skip that conversation. But none the less, I listened to One Direction.... and I liked it.

I 'decided' to listen to One Direction because a good friend of mine never shuts up about them and the nagging wore me down (she's not 12 years old by the way) so I went out and I bought (yes, bought) their new album Midnight Memories.

The album opens with their smash hit Best Song Ever. Which is by no means the best song ever but oh my God it's so fricken catchy. This song has been stuck in my head for weeks and is one of the stand out songs from the album. Best Song Ever is not only a pretty solid pop song but it's also the kind of song we all expect to hear from One D. Next up is the band's current single Story of My Life which is arguably one of the better songs on the album. SOML is a good example of what the rest of the album has to offer. The boys have decided to go the poppy, folky-Mumford and Sons route instead of the Dance/pop David Guetta route which personally I applaud. Story of My Life is also one of the best vocal performances on the record.

Best Song Ever

The rest of the album follows the same line as the first two songs. You either have infections boy-band pop (Diana, Little White Lies) or folky guitar based Mumford tributes (Don't Forget Where You Belong, Through The Dark). Of you like either of the first two singles. Then there is a good chance you will like the rest of the album too.

Being new to the One Direction experience I couldn't tell you how this album stacks up against their last 2 releases. Do I think that it's amazing? No. The boys haven't quite nailed putting emotion into their voices as they sing and the album was a little expected content-wise. but I can say that I enjoyed this album. It's fun to listen to and if you want something easy and light then it's pretty good.

Story of My Life

Haim (rhymes with I am)

Haim are a super cool trio of sister's from The Valley in California who are currently walking the line between being indie-cool and being played on pop radio. If you're into Boy, The Naked and Famous, Lorde or any kind of 70's Fleetwood Mac-y kind of deal, you might be into these guys too.

Haim's debut album 'Days are Gone' came out a couple of months my and it's fricken awesome, my favourite songs are 'The Wire', 'Don't Save Me' and 'My Song 5'  but make sure you check out the whole album.

I wish I was in a girl-band so bad. Especially one as good as these guys...

The Wire

Don't Save Me

P.s. Haim are playing at Laneway Festival this January so try and go along to see them! 

Tickle, Tartt and Trollope

I think there's some truth to 'the best things in life are free' because I am endlessly entertained by people's hilarious/different/weird names. Here are some examples that are impossible not to enjoy just a little. And yes, I am very easily entertained. It's delightful. 

Phyllis A. Tickle

Donna Tartt

Jane Christmas

Joanna Trollope

Alan Butt

Queen Bey

Last week I was one of the 48,000 that went to Beyoncé's Mrs Carter World Tour at Vector arena. It was an amazing experience. I've been a huge fan of Beyoncé for a very long time and she had been at the top of my 'Artists I must see live' list just as long so seeing her last week was a dream come true. The show was incredible, as you would expect Bey completely killed it. Her show was so well thought out and top quality. Everything from her dancer's, the crew and her kick-ass all female band we're amazing and I almost feel as if you need to see the show more than once to truly appreciate it.

Check out some of our Beyoncé and Destiny's Child items below:



I Am - World Tour DVD

If you missed out on going to The Mrs Carter World Tour we have the live DVD of her I Am World Tour.This features one of my favourite things Bey has ever done: her mash-up of If I Were A Boy and Alanis Morissette's You Oughta Know. It's worth watching this just for that performance.


4

Hands down my favourite Beyoncé album. It features the Grammy winning song Love On Top and the iconic Run The World (Girls). If you have never seen what is possibly the best live performance in the world, check out this video of Bey performing Run The World at the Billboard Awards a couple years ago.

            

I am... Sasha Fierce sheet music

I'm never sure how many people realise what a great selection of sheet music Auckland Libraries has. We have both Beyoncé's sheet music and some Destiny's Child too so make sure you check those out.

#1's -Destiny's Child 

I couldn't do a post about Bey and not include something of Destiny's Child could I? I love D Child and I was so stoked when the had a mini reunion at the super bowl. We have all of their albums and their live DVD so make sure you rock out to Independent Woman sometime soon. That song is my jam.

Bey has also been in several movies in that past few years which we have on DVD.