What Made Your Day Today? #3

My dad came home with two purple ties for a wedding today, and coincidentally I needed a tie for a fancy dress 'geek' night at the local club.. So he gave me one :) So that's almost all of my outfit sorted now, I just need some purple heels. Which I'm hoping to buy tomorrow. Yay!

In My Mail Box - (1)

I'm sure we all know this by now, but I'm going to say it anyway :) In My Mail Box in a weekly meme hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren. Basically, you just show what you received in the mail this week. Here's what I received:

For Review

'Wildthorn' by Jane Eagland

Pub. Date: 09/06/2010

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

'The Freak Observer' by Blythe Woolston

Pub. Date: 08/01/2010

Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group

'Trickter's Girl' by Hilari Bell

Pub. Date: 01/03/2011

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

'Hunger' by Jackie Morse Kessler

Pub. Date: 10/18/2010

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

'Dragon Chica' by May-Lee Chai

Pub. Date: 10/31/2010

Publisher: GemmaMedia

'Tyger Tyger' by Kersten Hamilton

Pub. Date: 11/15/2010

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

• 'Always A Witch' by Carolyn MacCullough (Pub. Date: 08/01/2011; Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt).
• 'Those That Wake' by Jesse Karp (Pub. Date: 03/21/2011; Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)

So I just want to say a HUGE thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, GemmaMedia and Lerner Publishing Group for letting me review these books! 

Tiger, Tiger: Lynne Reid Banks

Tiger, Tiger by Lynne Reid Banks
Release Date: November 7, 2005
Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
Rating: Essential

Two tiger cub brothers are town from the jungle and taken to Rome. The stronger cub is trained as a killer at the Coliseum. Emperor Caesar makes a gift of the smaller cub to his beautiful daughter, Aurelia. She adores her cub, Boots, and Julius, a young animal keeper, teaches her how to earn the tiger's trust. Boots is pampered while his brother, known as Brute, lives in a cold and dark cage, let out only to kill. Caesar trusts Julius to watch Aurelia and her prized pet. But when a prank backfires, Boots temporarily escapes and Julius must pay with his life. Thousands watch as Julius is sent unarmed into the arena to face the killer Brute. - Goodreads

This book was an absolute pleasure to read and overall I thought it was absolutely outstanding.

The book is about - as you may have guessed - two tiger cubs, who are captured by hunters and taken to Rome. Once in Rome they are separated, one (Boots) becomes a pet in the house of Caesar and the other (Brute) is caged underneath the Colosseum and trained to fight in the arena.

After a while, the story starts to focus more on Auriela - Caesar's daughter - and her cousin Marcus, who play a prank on Boots the tiger's trainer, Julius. They hide Boots and claim he has escaped. Their plan backfires when the tiger really does escape, and Julius must find him again or he will be put in the arena against the very animals he trains.

The books goes on, and we see the two tigers - now fully grown - reunited, one tame and the other a vicious beast.

The character development is brilliant, Aurelia turns out to be a very brave girl and the rest of the characters are just as engaging, much like the plot.

If you like animals and historical fiction then this book is for you - although it is guaranteed to make you cry!

What Made Your Day Today? #2

This. It's a triple chocolate and cream sundae from Marks and Spencer. Gorgeous. That's all it took to make my day :)

What Made Your Day Today? #1

I've been feeling a bit down this past month or so, and today I suddenly felt a lot better than usual. I went to school, met with some friends and went to my best friend Shivi's house for dinner. I came home, had the most relaxing bath and then sat in my jammies with a mug of hot chocolate while watching The Vampire Diaries with my mother. 

Because I'm in such a bright mood, I have decided to start/take part in a thirty day meme called 'What Made Your Day Today?' The title says it all really. I'm not sure if anyone has already started a meme like this, and I promise I'm not trying to take credit for it! But I just want to take part in it because I think posting one thing that made you happy every day will be very uplifting :)

So, what made my day today? 

The fact that I feel a lot less gloomy has definitely made my day. I feel less tired, and a lot chirpier than I have been for a while. Today has been lovely and relaxing, as well as a lot of fun. So.. that's what made my day!