Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton Book Review

After so many fiction novels over the last 12 months, I felt it was time for something a little bit different and Everything I Know About Love was the perfect choice. It had been on my radar for a while so when I last placed a little book order, it was the first book I had in mind.

'When it comes to the trials and triumphs of becoming a grown up, journalist and former Sunday Times dating columnist Dolly Alderton has seen and tried it all. She vividly recounts falling in love, wrestling with self-sabotage, finding a job, throwing a socially disastrous Rod-Stewart themed house party, getting drunk, getting dumped, realising that Ivan from the corner shop is the only man you've ever been able to rely on, and finding that your mates are always there at the end of every messy night out. It's a book about bad dates, good friends and - above all else - about recognising that you and you alone are enough.'

My review

Despite not knowing anything about Dolly before reading, I'm so glad I gave this a chance. I have to admit once I started, I was a little unsure of I'd made the right decision. I found that Dolly was the complete opposite of me, she came across as quite privileged growing up, she'd gone to boarding school and then university where she lived with her best friends for years and spent night after night partying. Such a contrast to how I lived my teenager years. I just wasn't sure if anything would lead me to connecting with her but luckily everything eventually changed.

I found once we got past Dolly's university days and she was tackling love and life as a twenty something, I started to find her really endearing. Whilst I might not have had the majority of experiences that she has (I'm pretty boring) I could relate to so much of what she had been through in other areas - loss, jealousy, comparing yourself to others, feeling insecure, feeling lost, anxiety. And that's one of the main things I loved about this book. Yes a lot of it was about love and her ups and downs in the dating world but she touched on so many different topics. There will be something every single person will have also gone through. One thing I'm really glad she brought up was the topic of feeling really envious of even your best friends sometimes. She's quite open about how when her friends have got engaged or reached certain milestones before her, she's felt this intense jealousy, and it's something I think a lot of us can relate to but it's not something we'd ever want to admit to. Of course deep down we're happy for these people, but it's totally normal to think 'when is that going to be me'. It was nice to know I wasn't alone in feeling the way I do sometimes.

Whilst there were of course serious moments, in fact moments that made me cry, there was also so much humour. I absolutely loved reading about Dolly as a teenager when she would run back home to get on MSN, something I definitely did every single day! I'm sure we all did the logging out/logging in trick so the boy we fancied could notice we were online 😉. Dolly and her friends also all seemed like an absolute joy to be around. I laughed out loud several times at some of the things that happened, and her friendship with Farly just made my heart burst.

After initially wondering if this book was going to be for me, I ended up absolutely loving it. I never thought I'd enjoy a memoir quite as much as I did. It was so refreshing to read a totally honest account of growing up as a teenage girl but also as a nearly thirty year old woman trying to find her place in the world. It's a book about falling in love, falling out of love and the power of friendship. A book every woman should read.

Have you read Everything I Know About Love?

Book reviews - The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen // Five Years From Now by Paige Toon

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Bomb Cosmetics Sir Fizzalot Bath Blaster Review

It's been such a long time since I reviewed any sort of bath bomb or bath product, something I used to love writing about. I just went ages without picking anything like this up, mainly because of how hot our Summer was, I couldn't bare sitting in a bath! Luckily Winter has been nice and cold so far, which I'm loving so I'm all about pamper evenings. I got loads of bath bombs for my birthday so it's time to start getting through them all, starting with Sir Fizzalot by Bomb Cosmetics.

Whilst I did get several products like this as birthday presents, I couldn't help but pick up a few of the Bomb Cosmetics bath blasters from The Yorkshire Soap Company when we went to Leeds for the day. All of their Christmas range was on offer so I picked two up - Candy Cane Lane and Sir Fizzalot. I love bright coloured bath bombs so this one stood out to me straight away. 

As you can see, Sir Fizzalot is bright blue so as soon as it hit the water, the colour exploded, soon turning it into a gorgeous turquoise colour. It all seemed to stay one colour but it just intensified as it bubbled away. I did find though the white top of the bath bomb which was almost like a bath melt created the prettiest swirls all over the water. Together the two made it very 'Winter Wonderland', it was just beautiful to look at. 

Onto the scent, because that's a massive factor when it comes to choosing products like this. Sir Fizzalot is full of spearmint and peppermint essential oils so it's right up my street. I adore anything minty, especially in the Christmas and Winter months so I loved it for that alone. It made the entire bathroom smell beautiful and it lingered for hours.  Now finally, how did it make my skin feel? Well the bath melt part, which is usually known for being a very moisturising product, made my skin so incredibly soft. It felt so nourished and cleansed and there would genuinely have been no need for a moisturiser afterwards. I can't remember the last time my skin felt so soft and smooth so for that it's definitely a winner.

Whilst this might not have necessarily been the most exciting bath bomb I've ever used, I'm really happy I picked it up. It was such a bargain at £2 too! I've got quite a few other products to use up from Bomb Cosmetics and Lush so look out for reviews of those too in the next few weeks!

What's your favourite Bomb Cosmetics bath bomb?

Similar posts - The Body Shop Bath Bombs review // Bomb Cosmetics Pink Elephants & Lemonade Bath Blaster review

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Books I'd Like To See On The Big Screen

After reading book after book for a good year or so now, I've become such a fan of so many authors. So many that I think deserve to have their stories shown on the big screen. I've spoken in the past about my favourite book to film adaptations, it's actually one of my favourite posts so I thought I would share some of the books I've read over the last 12 months that I think would be amazing as films in the future.

The Tattooist Of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

One of the first things I thought when reading The Tattooist Of Auschwitz was this needs to be a film. Heather Morris has written the story of Lale and Gita and how they met at Auschwitz so beautifully. It's such a tough time at reads, and one that is pretty much guaranteed to make you emotional but it's so sensitively done. It's unbelievable that something so wonderful could have come out of such a tragic time. I mentioned in my review last month that I think this would translate so well to screen. I think it was originally written with the intention of making it just into a movie so hopefully it won't be too long before that happens. I still remember watching The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas and absolutely sobbing, it still gets me now, so I imagine I'd be very much the same with this too. It's just such an important story though and I think a film would be the perfect way of getting it out to a wider and younger audience.

One Perfect Summer by Paige Toon

When I first had the idea for this post, this was one of the first books that I thought of. Out of all of the books I've read from Paige Toon over the last year, despite thoroughly enjoying them all, One Perfect Summer is the one I think could really end up being on the big screen. A lot of Paige's books follow the same theme and there always tends to be a will they/won't they end up together situation, so you could really pick any of them and I'd love it, but there was something special about this one for me and I think the mini sequel One Perfect Christmas rounded things up perfectly. The characters of Alice and Joe, two teenagers who fall in love one Summer and then are ripped apart by turbulent families and university, are so likeable. I adored them and out of all of the characters I've rooted for in Paige's book, these two stood out to me. It's just such a beautiful love story so I think it would make such a perfect film. There hasn't been enough films like this over the last few years.

The Husbands Secret by Liane Moriarty

It feels like forever since I read The Husbands Secret, and whilst it wasn't one I 100% loved, overall I was impressed and ever since I've thought of how well it would work as a film. It's about Cecilia who discovers an envelope in the attic from her husband but it clearly states it's only to be opened if he dies. Like I'm sure most people would though, she opens the letter and her whole life changes. It's a confession that could wreck several families lives. At times I found it a little all over the place as it switched narrative between several different women but I think that would work so much better on screen. It was such an interesting story and the 'confession' was brilliant so I'd love to see it all play out. I'm pretty sure it has actually been confirmed that it's going to be turned into a film with Blake Lively playing Cecilia but there doesn't seem to be any sort of idea of when it will be released.

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

I think pretty much everyone spoke about Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine last year! It was the first one in 2018 that really made me fall back in love with reading so it's definitely special to me. I was instantly a fan of Eleanor, she struggles with interacting socially and had clearly had a difficult past, so I found her really endearing. I was rooting for her throughout the whole book, and I thought Gail Honeyman had just done such a fab job, especially considering it was her debut! Reece Witherspoon has been chosen to produce the film so it's certainly coming at some point over the next few years, which I can't wait for!

One Day In December

This book has become one of my all time favourites so I'm desperate to see it actually to come to life. One Day In December is a love story about Laurie and Jack, two people whose eyes meet a bus stop one night. They don't see each other again until the following year when Sarah wants Laurie to meet her new boyfriend... who turns out to be Jack. What follows is a heartbreaking story as both Laurie and Jack battle with their feelings and have to work out if they can ever really be together. Whilst it's obviously a romance novel, I love how much of it was about friendship too and it was so nice to have so much of that side with Laurie and Sarah too. It's full of beautiful moments though heart-wrenching at times, loads of drama but but also so much humour. It's just a wonderful story, I think it would be a perfect one to release around Christmas time one year.

Have any of your favourite books become films? Or are there any others you're hoping will be made one day?

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Valentine's Day Gift Guide 2019

I know a lot of people don't think much of Valentine's Day and see it as another way for brands to make money, but I personally love it! It's been an occasion I look forward to each year ever since George and I first celebrated it (this years is our 8th!) and I just think it's an extra way to show how much you care and an excuse to treat one another. We don't spend loads and the day is usually pretty normal but it's still nice to pick a few presents up so I thought a gift guide with some of the bits I have my eye on might be useful for you!

Vanilla Reindeer Personalised Gifts*

I love a personalised gift so I was thrilled to receive a few bits from Vanilla Reindeer to share with you! There are several items available for Valentine's Day including cards and gift bags but the bits I chose were - one of their bottle boxes and the 9 chocolates gift box and I personalised both items, which was incredibly easy to do. I loved how simple the process was of adding text and photos (the website is also mobile friendly so easy to do on the go!) and I was so impressed with the quality of them when they arrived. With the chocolates I went for the Favourite Husband design £11.99 and I added a photo of George and I. This contains 9 beautiful truffles - 3x smooth milk, 3x white lemon, 3x intense dark and I can confirm they all taste incredible! There were lots of options to choose from when it came to gift bags and boxes but the Game Of Thrones bottle box £6.99, stood out to me, anyone else incredibly excited for the new series?! This came already put together which I wasn't expecting so that was a nice surprise, and again the photos had turned out just as I was hoping. This is great if you want to treat someone to a fancy bottle of wine, or maybe something a bit different like a bottle of whiskey? A final thing to mention about Vanilla Reindeer is that direct delivery is possible so great if you're away but want to surprise someone. If you want to place an order, use the code LOVE30PR for a 30% discount!

Ross & Ross The Man Box*

Now this may be called The Man Box but really it's perfect for anybody! Ross & Ross have collaborated with some of the best artisan producers in the Cotswolds to bring you a hamper with the finest products so if you're not sure what to get your partner, this could be a great idea. The Man Box which is priced at £22, contains a refreshing Premium Cotswold Lager, the award winning British Charcuterie Original Salami which is based on the French 'Rosette' De Lyon, Mr Trotter's Great British Original Crackling and finally, a Smoked Apple Chutney. All of these items are ideal for snacking or for sharing with your partner, maybe as part of a cheese board or a starter on Valentine's Day? I love that it's different to the usual hampers you find in stores at this time of year, they also tend to be extremely expensive too so a smaller one like this could be perfect. It's full of high quality products that you're both sure to enjoy!

Prezzybox Movie Night In Set - £12

If you love a movie night, or if you're film fanatics like us, then this night in set from Prezzybox is such a fab idea! No need to go out to the cinema, create your own in the comfort of your own home. This set contains a popcorn bucket and 2 retro style cups which are perfect for all of your snacks! Something else I spotted on the Prezzybox website was the personalised Toblerone bar too. It's a little pricey at £12.99 but could be a great addition to the movie night!

Lush Bath Bombs - Starts at £3.50

I don't often buy from Lush anymore as I do think their prices have become a little bit ridiculous over the last year or so but I'm not sure I'm going to be able to resist their Valentine's range. These could be perfect for your partner if they love a pamper evening! I'm hoping I might get the Peach bath bomb for Valentine's which is £3.95.

Clintons Sausage Dog Keyrings £5

I love the idea of this. It's a two part keyring so you can both have one half and it's sausage dogs which are just one of the cutest things ever. I think little gifts like this are lovely!

Paperchase Lunch Box Notes £3.50

If you want to be extra cute, these lunch box notes are perfect. It contains 25 printed cards, each with a different message, perfect to sneak into your partners lunch, something to make their day.

Chocolate 🍫🍫🍫

You can't go wrong with a box of chocolates at Valentine's. Whether you just want to spend a little, or splash out, there is so much available at the moment. On the cheaper side, I love these Milk Chocolate Hearts from Hotel Chocolat. They're only £2.50. If you want to spend a bit more, I think the chocolate gift sets from M&S are brilliant. The one that stood out to me is the Taste Of Belgium set which is £30 and contains flaked truffles, a biscuit tin, chocolate classics and a smaller biscuit selection.

I hope this gift guide has given you some inspiration for Valentine's Day! There are so many lovely gifts out at the moment so it's definitely worth taking a look around.

*Products marked with a * are PR samples/gifted items

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