What to do when your favourite TV show is on hiatus

The one and only terrible hiatus. More heartbreaking than an OTP split, more shocking than a character death, more mesmerising than a resolutional ending into which you expect everyone to get a happily ever after, only to have your hopes dashed in the fact that it's a mid season finale and there's more catastrophes to go *cough* Arrow *cough*. It's the hiatus to end it all. 

Whether you're a sci-fi buff *waves to the Doctor Who and Star Trek fans* or you're hooked on a reality show (who knew Keeping Up With The Kardashians and Dance Moms could be so addictive) adore your Supernatural creatures (hey who doesn't love a Teen Wolf or Once Upon A Time fairytale character) or even a little mystery and periodic romance (am I talking about Sherlock or Reign you don't know, I could be a Pretty Little Liar); there's nothing worse then when you become so attached to it all that you can't bear to wait another 5 months until the next season. Time ticks by so slowly, and you find yourself drawing triscillaes or symbols to ward off evil or even the occasional quote subconsciously on your page. Maybe someone's made an off hand joke about an everyday thing and you laugh to yourself because there's a reference in it; to the Awkward stares of everyone else who thinks you're Faking It.  Maybe your Friends' Criminal Minds have you on The Blacklist and have a plan of How To Get Away With Murder (yours specifically) because you've talked that much about American Horror Story you need to be put in an Asylum. Just saying, it's a Game of Thrones out there.  But that's when you know it's got to you (like I've just exemplified). Though we're lucky the symptoms are obvious and easy to treat. 

Now dealing with this suffering for some can be a big impact. What else are you going to do on a Thursday night between the hours of 8-10? How else will you claim the best seat in the house, and get away with it because it's "your show"? There's nothing that can even compare to that thrill you get at the opening credits, knowing that once again you can see your favourite actors and actresses doing what they do best; playing the characters that so many have come to love over the years for just a minuscule 40 minutes. It can be the only thing that's pulling you through that dreadful week, to come home and sit back and laugh, cry, pause for screenshots and not move from the couch that entire time -no one can tell you to do so either. 

Yet you are now faced with the task of staring down that cliffhanger like a bull at a red cape. Your favourite character's just been killed off, your OTP have been split by a curse and a new villain introduced that's going to turn the world they know into rubble and ashes. And then the credits roll, and the upcoming news break begins and you sit in shock at the screen, unable to comprehend that just 12-20 episodes was not the end of an entire season. But here, dear reader, is what to do in this blank space they infamously call a hiatus:

1. Curl up in a ball. Cry. Repeat. Throw a few things around to get that anger out. 

2. Don't get out of bed for a few days because you've got bad withdrawals and if your favourite characters are stuck in a cave then so are you. 

3. Retreat to your internet blog (as I have done) and relive all those moments through GIFS and vines, whatever you can replay the most. 

4. Fanfiction will never let you down, unless you've clicked the wrong link and it's led you to an AU (alternate universe) where they're all inanimate objects. Or inappropriate things not to mention in public. 

5. TUMBLR TUMBLR TUMBLR. TV show universe. You'll find things you'll never knew even existed on your show. Conspiracy theories, deleted scenes, "ways to get your favourite character back from the dead (not including human sacrifice)" I'm sure it's there. Not that I've searched. 

6. Watch cast interviews until 2am and revel over their changing hairstyles for different seasons and the fact that the old cast is slowly being replaced by new characters which you aren't too happy with. 

7. See how quickly you can binge watch entire previous seasons and beat your record (The most I've watched 2 and a half seasons in a day until my mother cut the internet and told me to get a life)

8. Spend all your savings on merchandise that you'll never regret buying and wear it in public waiting for someone to call you up on it. Or you know just wear it because you want to and it reminds you of that time when everything was happy on the show and no one was possessed. 

9. Learn the theme song on a musical instrument. If you have no talent at all perhaps except for writing (like myself) humming can do just fine. Until people tell you that you've ruined it for them because you won't stop. 

10. Repeat step 1 as many times as required. 

In saying this, I could be wrong. Maybe you're not one of those people who gets so obsessed with TV shows it's unhealthy. Or who feels they can cope with a hiatus quite reasonably and silently by themselves with no need to express their feels. You just let me know how you go dealing with the next season. It won't be long now I promise. 

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (2012)

Simplistically, the cover does not stand out from the book shelf. A pastel colour scheme, silhouettes , the faint crease in the corner where another has flicked through the pages, read the blurb and put it back. But that's their first mistake. The first rule of reading, contorted to fit motivational quotes and other cliché verses of self esteem: to never judge a book by its cover. And for many reviewers like myself, the very cover of Jojo Moyes' Me Before You doesn't do the inside beauty of words any justice. It may seem like any other Mills and Boon, a paperback fantasy romance that captured the hearts of many desperate Australian housewives in the mid 1900s; escapist fiction that promises of a dark, handsome stranger to whisk the 'damsel in distress' away to go "tenting". Not exactly my kind of courtship thank you very much.

But this book is different. And you may be thinking, that's what she's going to say about all of them.  In all honesty, it's life-changing. It's the one that you can't stop thinking about a week after finishing, the one that gives you that spark, that realisation that the irrational actions of your past will not define you, but the journey that you make on the way and the people you touch around you. It shows the importance of being selfless, accepting and yet defiant, to challenge the perspective that most of us have underlying our thoughts: we think we know what is best for everyone around us. Because many times over, we don't, we really don't know our best intentions, and the world that we know so vividly can slip away from us in that very moment because of our decision to impose this belief on others. It is in these choice words that we put so much effort and trust in ourselves, that we fail to see from the point of view of our 'victim', the one that is to endure this over-protectiveness as if it is a life sentence. In the words of acclaimed author Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird, and perhaps known more in the voice of her character Atticus Finch, "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."

In following this advice, we as the reader position ourselves in the shoes of Louisa Clark, a charismatic, quirky 26 year old with a knack for outrageous outfits and making cups of tea who finds herself unemployed after her previous job at a local cafe is terminated, and in the direst of situations (as the breadwinner of her chaotic family) must renew her limited hospitality skills in another field. Attempting various positions in her local town, and finding none to suit her best, she encounters an advertisement for a "care assistant" to a 35 year old quadriplegic who after a motorbike accident two years ago, is confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Enter Will Traynor, a man once of business, wealth, beautiful women and adventure who despite his initially antagonistic, cold and somewhat introverted facade, reveals his true warmth, wit and compassion; and the fragility of his condition to both Lou and ourselves, all without lifting a finger (literally). Lou's infectious happiness and proposal of adventures wears away this barrier and a firm friendship forms, breaking both Lou's insecure passivity and Will's ineptitude to see beyond his chair and disability; sharing moments together that, at best, will pull at your heart strings, and worse, make you weep like a child in the fetal position, clutching at your heart as though it might shatter into a thousand pieces. Of course, this is just hyperbolic, although Moyes' writing does has the inescapable tendency to do that to you. 

But their happiness together is unfortunately limited by factors both out of Lou's control and Will's family - there isn't much time left, and as the minutes, hours, days, months fly by- Lou soon realises what it means to have freedom, independence, the world at her feet; and a path to the future.

Plucking the book from the shelf, I added it to my towering pile, oblivious to the impact it would have on me. As all unsuspecting readers are, when we nonchalantly scan the titles for something that takes our fancy, often skimming through the blurb and borrowing it just for good measure - in case we run out of reading material on our lunch breaks. Moyes has a distinct writing ability.  You can't help but be completely absorbed by the humbleness and normality of her writing; the facts of life that are so plainly written within words that don't boggle your mind with complexity and mispronunciation, the way you can so clearly imagine Lou's crazy outfits and Will's rare but genuine smile under all that sadness. The novel is mostly within Lou's perspective, with poignant chapters inserted in the points of view of those around her  - Will, his parents, carer, and her sister Katrina - to give a different opinion on their situation, opening up emotions and events that would otherwise go untold.

I chose this book as my first review essentially because I knew it would be a tear-jerker, and possibly have me with mascara-smudged and red-rimmed eyes - which it certainly lived up to expectations - and because it had been recommended to me countless times. Me Before You is not just for those who enjoy a good romance, but for the ones who need a kick start on life- you need to realise how important it is to just live.

Welcome to the Wonderful World of rants, books, and the occasional cup of tea (milk, two sugars)

They say that the only way you're going to get somewhere in life is with experience, motivation, determination and connections. And perhaps a bit of talent to throw in there. But it seems, to my frustration, and now that of the world (because you'll be the ones reading it), I have only just realised that the accumulation of these aspects is what's going to give me the success that I so desperately need. Of course, the path of success is drilled into my brain on a daily basis between the hours of 9am-3pm, when at the tender age of 17 I am forced to decide where my life will lead in the next 5 years. It is in this decision perhaps, to begin a blog, that will define my future journalist career - whether I shall revel in the success of my first ever book blog or I fail and turn to the life of a couch potato.

Let me introduce myself first. The name's Aly (trust me, my real name is too hard for you to pronounce and I can not stand mispronunciation of it for one more second let alone every year of my life). I'm 17, on the cusp of adulthood; and yet I still haven't completely and utterly defined who I am. Am I the bubbly, outgoing, no-filter teenager who will do anything if I'm bribed or the quiet, slightly intelligent please-don't-talk-to-me-I'm-trying-to-stop-blushing teacher's pet who begs for just one higher mark? I could easily be both, but describing myself in five words is not something I can muster let alone defining my one personality type. Does that make sense? Most of the time I don't so bare with me while I sort myself out. But let's see what else I can come up with. I'm opinionated to the point of where most people will tune out to my ranting in the first 3 minutes; have a bad habit of walking so loud you can hear me from 100 metres away and will never accept the fact that this is 2014 (almost the end of it) and I have not yet had a boyfriend I can't have a pet pygmy goat. One day, I hope to be a well known journalist in the field of medicine, entertainment or travel. Or you know, all three, but once again my highly-inflated ego is promising something my physical capabilities can not yet comprehend. 

And I must let you know in on one more thing: I LOVE BOOKS. The smell of them, the smoothness of the paper, the words inside that can take you to a world you'll never want to leave, the way you feel once you've finished such a good book that surely you can't find one to top it; they change you. I endeavour to attempt all genres, lengths, and time periods;not just for my own pleasure but for yours, to know what's good and what's great and what's downright awful (but of course this is constructive criticism and in my own opinion and will not be affiliated with the actual author at any stage). But for once, to actually have someone who might listen to me and understand and allow me to be myself without thinking of the horrible judgement I'm going to get is something that will definitely be worth it. However I must warn you: with the books comes the reading, and with the reading may potentially come rants, a few spoilers (there will be an enormous warning on this in the title) and fangirling. That's right: fangirling. Urban Dictionary (oh the faithful site that is constantly changing due to irrelevant updates of even more irrelevant words) defines this pop culture term as: 

"The reaction a fangirl has to any mention or sighting of the object of her "affection". These reactions include shortness of breath, fainting, highpitched noises, shaking, endless blog posts, etc."

 Are you already judging me dear reader? So be it. This is inevitably going to happen from time to time, and as much as I shall attempt to quell it (in the most direst of situations I have become so overwhelmed that I have thrown my book at the wall and refused to pick it up for 3 days), there may at times be (as quoted) endless blog posts on characters and quotes and scenes that you may tire from to begin with but I can assure they will soon become just another nonchalant post on your feed. You have been prepared.

Hence why, this is a new beginning. A blog of book reviewing, rants on current events and as mentioned in the title, tea that I'm most likely going to spill on my favourite top again. A blog that hopefully, is going to become the highlight of your day, that reading it will make you smile and forget about your worries or encourage you to read a truly amazing book that you have to read right this second (heads up I also over-exaggerate quite a lot). And what do we know, perhaps it could lead to my own column or talk show or the position of editor at TIME magazine. That, or a life spent wasted online. What's new? 

Welcome to the Book Nook.