About

Meet the Buds

Hello internet! So, in order to properly explain how this wonderful group of book-loving friends came to be, we’re going to need little bit of back-story… *flashback* The year was 1999, and thanks to a little thing called fate we were all placed at the same primary school. After finding a shared affinity for creating wild, imaginary lands and stories in the play ground, and a shared love for reading (Goosebumps and Lemony Snicket anyone?!) we all became fast friends and haven’t looked back since!

Keep on reading below to find out some more about us…

Elen

I would probably be considered to be the layman of our group. I’m the only one who didn’t go on to study something English related and my interests in books are a little less high brow than my fellow buds. I read primarily for fun and tend to break most of the cardinal rules of book lovers. I crack my spines, will fold down corners and if I’m not enjoying something I’ll put it down and not regret it. My tastes run more towards the cheesy end of the spectrum. Genre wise I usually read sci fi, fantasy or crime although I’m looking forward to expanding my reading habits with our monthly book club.

Hayley

First things first, my name is Hayley and I ADORE reading. Sadly my ‘reading-for-pleasure-life’ has diminished during the last three years at University. Now, having graduated and standing on the edge of the adult world I am re-introducing reading into my life. Most of my childhood treasures are books I have loved: The Worst Witch, The Mediator series, Harry Potter and so many more. My pile of Jacqueline Wilson is really rather extraordinary! My favourite reading choices range from young adult to the classics, with a significant amount of Shakespeare thrown in. From this blog I’m sure you’ll get an eclectic mix of tastes and reviews, especially on the one we all read – even we disagree sometimes!

Kate

Michelle

Hello! I’m Michelle (aka Mim) and I love reading. Growing up, in the pre-mobile phone days, you’d find me huddled underneath my duvet, lamp turned on, desperately trying to finish my book before a) I fell asleep, mid-sentence, because it was literally two in the morning, or b) my mum noticed the light coming from underneath my door and busted me. Late night reading was the worst crime committed in my household, which tells you pretty much all you need to know about me. I love anything that makes me feel something (real specific, I know.) Delight, sorrow, anguish, anger, hate, love. If a book can make me laugh or cry, alone in the darkness of my room, or want to throw it against the wall, then it has succeeded in its efforts. Or at least it has in my books. (Puns and word play in general make my heart sing, by the way, so expect lots of that.) Big fan of the classics (I will fight you to defend Jane Austen’s honour), sci-fi, fantasy, contemporary and YA in all its many genres. When I’m not reading, you’ll probably find me playing my ukulele, re-enacting musicals in their entirety or baking something that involves heavy of doses chocolate. Happy reading all!

Rosie

I have Lemony Snicket’s VFD tattoo inked on my left ankle. I think that sums my reading preferences pretty well. I have a thing for sad books. I like books that are brutal and vicious and aren’t precious about their characters getting a happy ending. There’s something so incredibly powerful in crying or feeling sickened or terrified, just from reading some printed squiggles on paper. But, to counter that pretty awful image of myself, I am also a huge people person. Well-written, eccentric, flawed, insecure, enthusiastic, mad, brilliant, human characters always sell a book to me. I love writers who write characters who feel and act like people – everyone from Khaled Hosseini to Jonas Jonasson. I’ll read absolutely anything, I finish every book I start, and I take real pretty Instagram pics of them too.