Podcast Of The Week: (Blank) With Friends

Hey Guys!

I haven't talked about a podcast on my blog for a while now, so I wanted to introduce a new segment where every week I share the podcast I'm currently loving and my favourite episode I've listened to that week. From previous blog posts, you'll know that I'm a huge fan of podcasts and I'm always listening to something new and I'm always searching for something different to tune into ❣  

So this week I'm kicking it off with (Blank) With Friends!

(Blank) With Friends

I stumbled upon (Blank) With Friends only recently. Normally I find the podcasts I listen to by scrolling through the various genres on both iTunes and Spotify but this time I clicked on a few mini video snippets of the podcast on Instagram and then went and checked the episodes out on Spotify. 

(Blank) With Friends is a fairly new podcast to Spotify with their first episode going live on 6th March 2019 and they have uploaded two episodes since, the first one featuring Jessica Sappington and the second episode featuring Samuel Larsen. They discuss topics from Starbucks, creative passions, social media, friendships to female empowerment. The difference with this podcast is that it isn't scripted so the conversation just flows from one random topic to the next. 

The podcast hosts Mike and Jordan are great! They are able to talk in depth about particular important topics but are also able to joke around and make light of situations like "punching phones" and Steve Irwin memes. On each episode they get a friend on who is pursuing something fun and has exciting things going on in their life to share, such as Jessica' female empowerment program and Samuel's music and acting career. 

The vibe between the hosts and their guests is so good as well, it reminds me of the type of conversations I have with my close group of friends when you are sat there and talk for hours about everything and anything. 

The first episode with Jessica Sappington was an amazing and by amazing I mean AMAZING discussion focusing on female empowerment, our obsession with Instagram and how women feeling like they aren't good enough breaks her heart. Jessica has been focusing on stopping females from comparing themselves on social media and empowering women to feel strong. Which as a female myself is something so energising to listen to, especially as I've been one to compare myself to others on social media and goes through not feeling good enough ❤

Jessica's episode was so uplifting hearing such positivity around women's body image and our strength as a "female warrior", whether it be physical strength or mental strength. However, my favourite episode for this week was Episode Two...

Ep. 2 - Put That In The Pile of Things We Don't Eat

The episode I listened to this week featured Samuel Larsen, the musician, actor and performer who is known for featuring on Glee as Joe Hart and is starring in the movie After out on April 12th here in the UK. 

This week's episode focused on topics of discussion I find really interesting and enriching! Such as our engagement with social media, being creative, music, being a people-pleaser and our relationships with other people. 

For me listening to Jordan, Mike and Sam talking about such topics that I can really relate to makes me stop and think about what they were really saying. I was actually cleaning the kitchen when I first started listening to episode two and I had to stop and properly listen as Sam made some great points. For example, we always look at what our friends are doing on Instagram, where they are going out and who they are with comparing who is doing better than who, (which is a topic I actually wrote an article on for BBold Magazine about how on social media we are always trying to prove we are our best lives and comparing ourselves to others). The conversation between the three of them made me stop and think about what they were discussing which for a podcast proves how engaging it is for a listener like me!  Samuel also goes on to talk about that way we used to deal with boredom when we were younger and without social media - how we would fill our time being creative. So, when I was younger and I was bored I would write so many stories and fill journals full of little story lines but now that we have social media we don't fill our time with creativity but instead, we scroll through Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Until someone says it though you never actually realise how the younger generation today is surrounded by social media platforms from the moment they are old enough to hold a phone, but we grew up building and creating things. The conversation between the three of them sparked so many different thoughts about my own interaction with social media - which is what I love! A podcast that gives me such a realisation are my favourites ❤

I think Jordan and Mike are great to be discussing such a broad range of topics that aren't just fixed to one debate. They are discussing just a wide range of issues and points it's uplifting and refreshing to hear!

If you like unscripted podcasts and topics that are raw and unedited then definitely check out (Blank) With Friends! 

You can check out the podcast on Google Podcasts, iTunes, Spotify and SoundCloud or you can just click below:

You can follow (Blank) With Friends on Instagram @blank.withfriends, Jessica Sappington here and Samuel Larsen here. 

What podcasts are you listening to at the moment? Let me know in the comments below!

See you next week for another blog post ❤

Amy x

Book Review: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Hey Guys!

I hope you've had a great week and have a fun weekend planned! This week I'm back with another book review and this time it is one a little different to Harry Potter. With a lot of books I read I don't tend to stick to one genre -  so Rebecca wasn't anything new (genre-wise) for me, however, it was a little different...

This book is a masterpiece when it comes to classic novels. It is still a great piece of literature now, a lot like Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility, which with time has only grown more popular amongst book lovers ❤

Rebecca is a gothic novel written by Daphne du Maurier in 1938 and was very popular in the era it was published but it also became even more popular due to Alfred Hitchcock's adaptation of the novel in 1940.

Blurb

Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley Again...

Working as a paid companion to a bitter elderly lady, the timid heroine of Rebecca learns her place. Life is bleak until, on a trip to the South of France, she falls in love with Maxim de Winter, a handsome widower whose proposal takes her by surprise. Whisked from Monte Carlo to Manderley, Maxim's isolated Cornish estate, the friendless young bride begins to realise that she barely knows her husband at all. And in every corner of every room is the phantom of his beautiful first wife, Rebecca. 

Rebecca is the haunting story of a woman consumed by love and the struggle to find her identity. 

Opinions

When I first picked up the novel I was in the gift shop to a Daphne du Maurier museum in Cornwall and was browsing the endless piles of her books available to buy. My mum has read a few Daphne du Maurier books in the past, so after seeing me take interest in her novels my mum offered to buy me two of her novels - so I picked up Rebecca and Jamaica Inn.

When I first picked up Rebecca and read the blurb I knew it would be a book I could easily sink my teeth into as I'm a huge fan of books that hold a lot of mystery, suspense and drama (especially anything like Agatha Christie's crime novels) so I was excited to start reading and bury deep into the mystery that was Maxim de Winter's previous dead wife Rebecca. However, I also had the perception that the book would be easy to read - even though it is a novel that was written quite a long time ago I had the idea that the book wouldn't be a challenge. However, I was very wrong. The language used was quite dated so I found myself having to search for words to understand what they meant - which was probably due to the time period in which the novel was written, but I also found it very difficult to fly through chapters like I usually would. I had to keep re-reading pages and going back to previous chapters to understand what was going on. Even with chapters where there wasn't a lot happening I found myself having to go back and re-read the previous page to remind myself what was going on - and I think that was purely due to it being a very busy novel in the sense there was a lot going on in each chapter to get to the plot twist and give the reader all the context they needed. In the end, it took me forever to finish the book. I started reading in on holiday in Lanzarote with the idea I'll finish it in the two weeks I was there but no...it took me more than a month (even though I was reading it every night) to finish the book. 

Even though it was a book that took time to read it was so worth it. It is a novel I would recommend - especially to those who love lots of suspense, drama, mystery and confusion. There were certain parts of the book where I had no idea what was going on, so you needed to keep reading to find out why particular events took place and the context such as Mrs Danvers attitude and hostility towards Mrs. De Winter. You will get frustrated every now and then that nothing makes sense and events are taking place but nothing links together until the end and the plot twist is revealed. 

One thing I find interesting is that the protagonist Mrs de Winter never had a first name. The novel is written all in the first person so she was never once referred to with her forename. Up to the end of the book, you never find out the protagonists first name - which drives me crazy because as a reader I really want to know her name as the heroine of the novel. Like the lack of a name for the heroine there are many parts in the book that you question but after completing the novel I wouldn't have changed anything as it's what makes it so compelling!

I find Maxim de Winter a very interesting character as well as he doesn't give away a lot at the beginning of the novel and he remains a big mystery along with his previous wife. You find yourself asking lots of questions to who he really is, where is Rebecca and what happened all those years ago. AND luckily all these questions do get answered but like the heroine, at first, you feel like you barely know the character Maxim until more drama unfolds and the past comes to light revealing everything - which unravelled an amazing plot twist!!

The plot twist in the book was so surprising. It is one you'll never be able to guess and that is one of the reasons why I loved the book so much - it was so unpredictable. You'll be gasping and holding your breath through it all. The suspense is the best bit!

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves classic novels like Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre! It was quite a difficult read but I would definitely read it again! 

When I start to read her other novel Jamaica Inn I'll be going in with the perception that it might take me a while to read!

What book are you reading at the moment? Let me know in the comments below ❤

See you next week my lovelies for a new blog post! 

Amy x