Top Ten Drama Games

As I've worked as a classroom assistant in a youth theatre over my gap year, I've decided to share some of my favourite drama games that we use in our workshops!

1.  Zombie Penguin
Zombie Penguin is definitely the best drama game in the world. It's fun, it's fast and it's loud. 
How to Play:
Every child needs to grab a chair and they need to space them around the room and sit in them, facing all different directions. If you have any physically handicaped children, they can play too, by holding onto their chair instead of sitting in it. Then select one child and ask them to stand on the opposite side of the room. This child is the Zombie Penguin. Their object is to go across the room and reach their seat to sit down. However, being Zombie Penguin means they have to move as a Zombie Penguin, e.g. very slowly and waddling (I also encourage zombie noises! Braaiiiinnss...). The other children, however, are allowed to run as fast as they need to in order to prevent the Zombie Penguin from reaching the empty chair. This obviously then leaves their chair empty so you can see how it quickly dissipates into chaos! :-) If the Zombie Penguin reaches the chair then they are no longer the Zombie Penguin and you have to pick a new one.

2. Splat!
Splat is fast-paced and fantastic fun. 
Splat is played by getting all of the children to stand in a circle. The pick one child to stand in the middle. They are the Splatter. They then spin around and point at one of the children in the circle [the Splatee] and shout 'Splat!'. The Splatee bobs down and the children either side shout 'Splat!' whilst pointing their 'guns' (hands shaped to look like guns) at each other. The last one to shout 'Splat!' is out and has to sit down. If the Splatee does not bob down then they are out too. Keep playing until there are only two people left in the circle. Get the two children left to stand back to back in the middle of the circle. Choose a word which is their cue to 'Splat!' each other. Then choose a few other words that sound similar and as you say each word, have the children take on step forward, away from each other. When you finally say the cue word, the children will turn around and 'Splat!' each other. The one to 'Splat!' first wins!

3. The Party Game
This game is slightly more serious and encourages the children to develop their improvisation skills. 
The Party Game is played by setting up the room to look like a party setting. Then ask one child to volunteer to be the host of the party. They are then sent out of the room while you choose traits for each of the other children to portray. These can be things such as '...is in love with the host', 'is a pyromaniac', 'hates feet' 'is Paloma Faith' etc. etc. The host is then asked to come back in and start the scene. They set up their party and then each guest arrives one by one. The aim is for the children to act in accordance with their chosen traits so that the host can guess them. The host can ask as many questions as they like, but once they have guessed the trait, they must find a subtle way of dropping it into conversation, such as if someone is a fireman they could say 'Ah, do you like to put out fires?' Continue until all traits are guessed. Guests must be careful not to reveal their trait but saying anything too obvious.

4. Card Flipping
Fast-paced and fun. Good for teaching children about self-regulation.
This game involves a little prep beforehand. Before the session cut out equal number of red and green cards (you'll need more depending on the size of your group). Stick one red card to one green card and continue until you have a complete set of red/green cards. In the session, ask the children to split into two equal teams. Then place the cards on the floor, with an equal amount of red and green showing. Give each team a colour and then give them one minute to try and turn all of the cards to match their team's colour. A few rules: no hoarding cards, no picking cards off the ground and you can only turn one card at a time. The team with the most cards turned to their colour wins!

5. East Enders Zip Zap Boing
A twist on an old favourite.
Many of you will have heard of the drama game Zip Zap Boing, but this is a twist on it, invented by one of the tutors I worked with. To play this game, you get all of the children to stand in a circle and teach them these rules:
OI! - the children shout Oi! to their neighbour so that this passes around the circle (the equivalent to Zip in the original game) 
Get Out of My Pub! - to pass the 'Oi' across the circle, the children must shout 'Get out of my pub!' and point to the person they're trying to send it to. (the equivalent to Zap)
Shut it! - to prevent someone from passing the 'Oi' to you, then you shout 'Shout it!', this sends it round the other side of the circle.
Tequila! - If someone shouts this then everyone has to sing the tequila song and spin on the spot.
You Ain't My Muva! Oh Yes I am! - If someone shouts 'You ain't my muva', then the person they are yelling to has to yell back 'Oh yes I am!' The children then swap places in the circle and the child who shouted 'Oh yes I am!' starts the game again.
Wellard! - If someone shouts 'Wellard!', then all the children have to woof until someone shouts 'Wellard!' again.

6. Captain's Coming 
A very active fun game to play with younger kids. 
This game is played by having the children all face you. You then teach them these rules (much like Simon Says) to follow when you say these words:
Captain's Coming - the children salute you and have to remain still until you say Captain's Gone, at which point they say 'Phew' and can follow further instructions.
Climb the Rigging - the children mime climbing the rigging
Starboard - the children run SR
Port - the children run SL
Submarine - the children lie down on the floor with one leg in the air.
Shark Attack - the children lie down with their legs flailing in the air and screaming
Scrub the Floor - the children drop to the floor and mime scrubbing
Captain's Girlfriend - the children say 'oooh' or wolf whistle and do a "girlie" gesture (e.g. hand on hip)

7. Budge
A game of concentration and name learning.
The children either stand or sit in a circle. Select one to begin the game. They must gain eye contact with someone in the circle. Once they have done that they then say that child's name and 'Budge.' They then cross the circle slowly to take the child's place. The named child must then repeat this. If the original player reaches the named child before the named child has spoken, the named child is out.

8. Red Ball, Yellow Ball
A game great for building concentration skills in older pupils.
The children all stand in a circle. You begin by throwing an imaginary red ball around the circle. Once the pupils have got the hang of this, you introduce a different coloured ball. Keep adding balls as suited to the size of the group. At the end of the game, see if you have managed to keep one ball of each colour. Works better in larger groups.

9. The Concentration Game 
Quite complex and better with older groups. 
This game is similar to Red Ball, Yellow Ball. Start off by throwing a ball around the circle, making sure that every person in the circle only receives the ball once, but that everyone in the circle receives the ball. Remember this order. Then do the same thing, without the ball, but by saying names. Make sure the order is different to the first order. Then try to do them at the same time.

10. Who Killed King John?
Similar to President, President, but without the headache inducing thigh slapping. 
The children sit in a circle and you number them, with the last one being 'King John'. 'King John' starts by saying 'Who killed King John? Number....(picks number) killed King John.' The number they picked replies 'Not I' so King John asks 'Then who did kill King John' and the game continues. If someone replies too slowly or doesn't reply correctly, then they are out and their number no longer exists.

Hope these help!           

She's Leaving Home...

So here it is: my last few days at home before heading off this weekend to start my first year at Cambridge University.

I am very excited, but very nervous. I guess I should probably change the name of this blog!

I am currently sitting watching Downton Abbey with a blanket, my teddy bear and a warmed Beanie Buddy. And I am feel exhausted between the stress of moving, tying up loose ends and preparing for uni.

I've had books to read, grammar to revise, worksheets to complete, forms to fill in, packing to do, decisions to make...it's all been quite tiring really!

Anyway, that's all I have the energy for! Hopefully I'll be back with some insights into life as a Cambridge undergrad!

French Map

This is a map of the world that I have labelled with all the countries names in French. Please use!

I am a Yes Girl

This blog has been a long time coming, but it feels very relevant now...

Back in 2011/2012, I read 'Yes Man' by Danny Wallace and it sounds cheesy, but I was really inspired by his message.

Now don't get me wrong, I have no grand ambitions to say yes to every single thing that someone asks me to do. For instance in the book, I found it bizarre, if not verging on irritating when he decided to travel all the way to Amsterdam in search of someone who asked him for his bank details over the internet. Now I'm not so naive as to not realise that the innocent tone in which he wrote that particular passage was intended to heighten his sarcasm and the hilarity of the situation. However, I am assuming that the book is founded mainly in truth, like a memoir, and therefore I cannot believe that someone would do something so stupid just because he decided to say yes to everything/because he thought it would make a good book. He must have wasted a lot of time and energy and if I were him, I would have found it more disheartening than enlightening.

However, the book did cause me to reflect upon how often I say no to things in my own life. This was particularly poignant back in 2011, when I was a stubborn 17 year old starting her A2 year, in a very new relationship. I suppose in a time of so much obligatory change, I wanted to do my best to keep control of my life by sticking to my guns, despite my opinions being questioned by my new boyfriend and by the changes in my life. For example, I believed I wanted to go to Cambridge University, but I never stopped to ask myself why. I just wanted to go because it was I always wanted. However, when I failed to get in and had to make the decision as to whether I wanted to reapply or not, I found I did want to go for reasons other than just because it was what I expected of myself.

As I am now, once again, facing a big change in my life (MOVING TO UNIVERSITY!), I think now is the time to try to undertake the challenge that tempted me two years ago...

I want to become....

a yes girl.

I want to start saying yes to more things. A few weeks ago, I worriedly asked my boyfriend if he thought I could get away without going clubbing when I'm at Uni, because when I've been once before I didn't particularly enjoy it. He basically told me in no uncertain terms that doing so would make me seem like a massive spoil sport and he reminded me that this is a time that I can try new things and really find out what makes Verity tick, because everything is subsidised and the kinds of people I'm going to be mixing with...well there is no specific kind of person! According to everyone I've spoken to who has been to university, it's a time when people are much less judgmental; I suppose because everyone is in the same boat, trying to find out who they are as an independent adult.

With this in mind, I don't want to say yes to everything. That would be incredibly impractical. However, I do want to say yes to more things, in particular things that I am afraid of or things that I think might not interest me. I have already started by deciding to take my bike with me to uni and bike to lectures, despite not having ridden a bike for 2 years. I have also purchased a pair of jogging bottoms and trainers for the first time ever in order to increase the likelihood of my trying sports at uni. And...I bought a new bag that's small enough only for essentials and has a zipped pocket for my ID and money....so that I can go out clubbing. I don't mean to say that I'm going to force myself to do things that I REALLY don't want to do. Nor will I say yes to things that will endanger my education/health (e.g. illegal drugs, too much alcohol, or even poorly timed outings and trips). And I won't be saying yes to prince from Albania who wants to send me £2million. But, I will be saying yes to things that I wouldn't usually say yes to. At university, I want to try lots of new things and discover who I am really am as a person.

And for anyone who actually got to the end of that, I'm sorry for the cheese fest. :-)

Preparing for University

Hi there!

It has been quite a long time since I posted a proper blog on here, so here goes nothing...

In just under 4 weeks time, I will be embarking on the biggest journey in my life to date. I will be moving to the city of Cambridge and I will become a undergraduate student at Girton College, Cambridge University.

And oh boy, am I scared.

Yup. Really scared.

I am currently in a very strange position. Since the beginning of the year, I have known that I had a guaranteed place at the university I have been dreaming about since I was a little girl. I was about 7 or 8 when I first decided I wanted to go to university and when I first decided that that university had to be Cambridge. I wanted so badly to go there, that I took a year out simply to reapply for Cambridge, based on a night of insomnia. For a long time, I felt very excited about leaving for university, because it was so far away that it didn't really feel like it was going to happen.

Well now..now, I know it's really. Because I have to do all the boring, horrible things to prepare for it, which makes me cry in the middle of the night.

Things I've Done to Prepare:

1. Try out so many budget apps you would not believe. My loan does not cover my accommodation and therefore I've had to make decisions about where to get a student account, how to pay my rent, how much money to accept from my parents, how many hours to work a week and how I'm going to keep track of all this. I've been puzzling about this for weeks and tried so many apps that seemed to make the muddle in my brain much more confusing than it had been before I entered the information into the app. Finally today, a friend put me onto an app that I think my tiny brain can deal with. 
2. Teach myself basic Arabic. So, Cambridge put on their AMES a worksheet for you to work through before you arrive. I started working through this by copying out the Arabic alphabet as best I could, before I was fortunate enough to be offered a language swap with a Palestinian. In return for teaching him French, he would help me with my Arabic. When I proudly showed him my work up until that point, he chortled for 5 minutes straight...but despite that, we got on very well for several weeks and now I can introduce myself, write my name and count to 10! 
3. Buy all my course books. I spent a ridiculous amount of time and money on my course books. The Arabic textbook has DVDs that are essential for the course. I was super chuffed when I found a copy for a tenner instead of the usual £30!! However, the thing they failed to tell me was that this copy came without the essential DVDs...I then bought what I thought were the DVDs and was promised I could return them for a full refund if incorrect. They were not what I needed, but yet there is no sign of my refund yet....finally, one of my books for French was so difficult to get hold of, I had to wait until the 2nd years were selling theirs.
4. Spend time with my family. I've dedicated the weekends to seeing my family. My time is divided between seeing my parents, brother and niece (who all live together) and seeing my boyfriend's mum. This weekend however, my sister and her husband came up to wish me luck for Cambridge and we had a lovely weekend relaxing and eating and picking blackberries. 
5. COOKING. Before this year, I had no interest in cooking and very little interest in baking. Now I can't get enough! Because I will be in catered halls for the entirety of my course (what a blessing!), I am frantically squeezing in as much cooking/baking as I can! In the last week alone I have made a huge quantity of yellow plum and vanilla jam, 4 earl grey jellies and jam and cream macarons. I have plans to make scones and a blackberry cake this week, to use up the leftover buttercream icing and jam. 

So all in all, these things aren't making me feel any better about going away. I keep worrying about having to try new things, meet new people and get back into studying. I'm sure I'll get back in the swing of it. However, any tips would be gratefully received ;-)  

Mojito Cupcakes Recipe

This is the first time I've ventured into culinary blogging!

Mojito Cupcakes
These were inspired by a recipe on domestic sluttery. Makes 22 cupcakes (roughly).

Ingredients
Cake Batter

• 240g caster sugar
• 240g marg 
• 240g self raising flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 4 eggs
• 3 tsp peppermint essence
• 130ml rum
• zest of 3 limes

Syrup

• 150ml water
• 150ml caster sugar
• 5tsp rum
• juice of 2 limes

Icing

• 250g butter
• 250g icing sugar
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 tsp peppermint essence  

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180 and take the butter out of the fridge to soften.
2. Cream the marg and sugar together. You may need to cream the marg on its own first so you don't get sugar everywhere. :-)
3. Crack the eggs into a separate bowl and lightly beat them.
4. Add the eggs slowly to the creamed marg and sugar.
5. Add the rum, peppermint essence and zest.
6. Sift the flour and baking powder into the bowl. Beat them into the mixture; slowly at first so you don't make a mess!   
7. Half fill all of the cupcake cases and put them in the oven. (I usually do them by eye, but they take somewhere between 10 and 20 minutes.) Take out when lightly golden. 
8. While they are baking, make the syrup.
9. Heat the water and sugar in a pan over a low heat. Bring to the boil and boil for 5 minutes. Allow to cool.
10. Once cool, add the rum and lime juice. 
11. Once the cupcakes are out of the oven and cooling, pierce them with a fork several times and then pour about 3/4 of a tablespoon of the syrup over each cupcake.
12. While they are cooling, make the icing.
13. Cut the butter into chunks and melt slightly in the microwave if you haven't left it out of the fridge to soften. About 30 seconds should do it. 
14. Put the butter in a bowl and sift the icing sugar into it. 
15. Cream the icing sugar and butter together, slowly at first so as not to make a mess.
16. Add the lime juice and mint essence and beat again. 
17. Spread the icing over the cupcakes, or if you like, pipe it over.
18. Voilà you have mojito cupcakes!

Enjoy! x

Virgin London Marathon: Steve's Journey

On Sunday I had one of the strangest, most unexpectedly lovely experiences that I have had in a long time.

About 6 months ago, my boyfriend, Steve, came home one day and told me that he had signed up to the London Marathon. Now, Steve's fitness level is better than mine (as is a sloth's, so that comes as no surprise to anyone...), but even so, he tends to have sporadic bursts of enthusiasm towards exercise and then proceeds to give up on the idea entirely for a while. Even so, I never had any doubts that he could run the marathon...though I was worried about the training process. ;-)

6 months of spending each day encouraging him to go out for a run and worrying about how he would eventually cope, and the big day came. Though I had always had faith in him that he could do it, I had never actually taken the time to picture him doing it. So, as silly as it sounds, I found myself feeling very strange, bewildered and surprised at 10 o' clock on Sunday morning, when I saw using the online tracking system that the race had started and he was indeed about to run the LONDON FRIGGIN' MARATHON. 


Now I have to admit that I had always been fairly apprehensive about my participation in the day. It was agreed very early on that I would accompany Steve and his mum along on the day to cheer him on, and to help him hobble back to the care when he finished, feeling inevitable very broken. However, it would be a stretch to say that I had been looking forward to the day at all...I have little to no interest in sport, particularly in watching it. For the most part, I find participating in sport at best bearable, but other than one football match, I have never sat down and watched an entire sporting event. (And even then the football match was surrounded by lots of people I knew at a bbq party.)


I was genuinely shocked at how PLEASED and EXCITED I was to be there. I started the day off feeling slightly more positive about the experience, as I was spending the day with Steve's family and knew we'd have a lovely day and probably slip off to a coffee shop at several points for a cheeky cuppa. However, upon arriving at our first destination just beyond the Cutty Sark, I felt intensely nervous (sick to my stomach with worry!) for Steve and yet...excited about being there. Everyone tells you that the atmosphere is amazing. Steve said it was the thing that excited him most about the day. But I couldn't fathom that until I actually experience it for myself. Now, of course, it helped that it was an absolutely glorious day; the sun was shining, the sky was blue with a few white, fluffy sheep-clouds, but the atmosphere was amazing nonetheless. Every space along the road was crammed full of people, who were all cheering, laughing, smiling, having a great time. There were people of all ages, shapes and sizes dotted around the place. Some were dressed in charity t-shirts, some sporting clackers and blow up drum sticks with charity names on, some holding signs of encouragement for the loved ones; all were enthusiastic and energised about the day's events. After what seemed like an age, the elite runners finally came past. Again, I was surprised at the thrills I felt to see them go by; logically I know that their abilities are so, so, SO impressive, but I'd never felt such an emotional connection - a real buzz - as I did then! Eventually the hoards of fun runners came through (38, 000 people) and I spent nearly two hours straining on my tippy toes, hoping and praying that I'd see Steve, who by that point had already been running for one and a half hours. Every yellow t-shirt I saw made my heart leap, and yet I still managed to soak up the vibes these people were giving; there were so many different names of charities - some that I'd never even heard of - that I couldn't help but be amazed at people's generosity and determination. Especially the thousands of fun runners in silly, laborious costumes. Some personal highlights: a herd of rhinos, a man with a t-shirt emblazoned with his weight (22 stone!), a couple wearing "Luna's Mummy/Papa: RIP Angel" t-shirts, two men carrying a cider press, Supermen, Supergirl, a woman who looked like she was attending a hen party, Batman and Robin and Hansel and Gretel.

After having a brief chat with Steve, the family and I hopped on the underground, stopped for a bite to eat, and then proceeded to our next spectator spot: The Isle of Dogs. At this point, the crowds had thinned quite a lot as our Steve was a fair way behind (I believe he came 31-thousandth and something out of 34, 000) and a fair few of the runners already seemed like they were flagging (unsurprising as they were around the halfway mark). And suddenly, the atmosphere really picked up for me - people beside me starting cheering on anyone who looked like they were struggling. And it seemed to be helping! The love and good will that was being exhibited from all of the spectators towards all of the runners and vice versa warmed me to the core. I, being the typically reserved Brit I am, found it difficult to join in to begin with, as did Steve's mum, but as more and more people joined in, I felt myself swept up in the emotion of it, and began to cheer on anyone and everyone coming past, particularly those who looked like they needed encouragement. Amazing!

Unfortunately we managed to miss Steve at Tower Bridge and at Embankment  and were standing watching runners he'd overtaken, when we found out online that he had finished. He had done it. He. Had run. A bloody. MARATHON. Steve's mum burst into tears on finding out and I certainly wanted to too. The pride we both felt inthat moment was a-ma-zing. We rushed to the meeting point (S for Steve!), eager to hear Steve's stories from the day. He agreed the atmosphere was amazing and that being cheered on by anyone felt fantastic - he'd accepted sweets from little kids in run down residential estates, been cheered on in his last 5k by practically anyone because he was the only one left running and had seen a sign saying 'Run if you can, walk if you must, but finish for Boston' which nearly set him off crying. For every person that finished the race on Sunday, £2 was donated to the victims of the blast during the Boston marathon the week previous, so no wonder he felt emotional (aside from the fact he'd just COMPLETED THE LONDON MARATHON).

All in all, it was an amazing, emotional, exhausting day and I loved every minute. The time that I spent with Steve's family was absolutely lovely, as it always is, but the highlight for me was probably watching the marathon surrounded by so many good people. Recently I have been struggling under a cloud of negativity, feeling like I wasn't who I wanted to be, but that I didn't want anything to change, because the world wasn't good enough to make the change worth it. I was so wrong and I am so, so grateful to Steve for dragging me down to London to see the proof. I jokingly complained about being made to go, but the joke was founded in truth, which was wrong. Seeing so many thousands of people putting themselves through hell in order to raise funds for those less fortunate than themselves was so emotional that I can even begin to do it justice. At times it felt like my heart was swelling until it was too big for my chest and was going to burst out through my eyes as tears. There was a huge lump in my throat and I felt so proud to be alive, to be human and to be there to experience that. In my world of negativity it was hard to see the good in people, but there is so, so much good out there. The spectators themselves also helped to prove that; their generosity in cheering on people who they'd never met and who they'd never see again, was heart-breakingly lovely.

Thank you so, so much Steve, for giving me the chance to experience this.



If you'd like to donate to Steve's cause, you can do so here. I'd be eternally grateful if you did. :-)

Self-Image 2013

I am Verity. My name means truth. I took that very literally as a child, but not so much anymore.

I am paradoxically both independent and dependent.I am daughter and a sister, a girlfriend, a friend, a niece and an auntie. One day I'll be wife and a mother, but not for many years.
I am tactile and affectionate. If I love you, I love you with all my heart. I am desperate to be around you. I am needy. I am touchy feely. I love hugs.

I am an actress and a writer and a linguist. I am an employee. I teach children theatre; confidence, acting, devising, working with scripts. I read and write poetry. It makes me feel individual. I read trashy romance novels, because I find them relaxing and I think they're cute. I turn to bath bombs and lobster-boiling hot baths if I'm having a bad day. I read books of literary worth and enjoy discussing them with others. I have performed in 15 plays over the course of my short life so far. I've been doing drama for 9 years. It's a huge part of who I am, and the green room in my local theatre is like a second home.

I want to travel. I've not travelled much so far, definitely not as much as I'd like to. I've visited France and Spain and two areas of Germany. I've been to Köln's Christmas market and Paris and La Sagrada Familia. I want to visit every continent, but unfortunately I'm no good at saving money. I fritter it away on pretty books, pretty jewellery, pretty tea pots. Sometimes clothes, shoes or food. Mostly chocolate.

I rarely wear make up, except for special occasions. My hair is the longest it has every been, but tomorrow I'm having 10 inches cut off. I'm scared and excited. It's a permanent state. I like to paint my nails, but I bite them when I'm nervous, bored or hungry. I'm not photogenic, but I like to take photos. I like to wear nice clothes and I love earrings. Buying pretty underwear cheers me up on a rough day. I like nice notebooks, pens, any stationary. My favourite books are the old orange editions of penguin. But I don't own any.

I appreciate art, but not canvases painted white.

I love to love and hate to fight.

I like bad tele and bad films and bad books.

I know one day I will be something to be proud of. I am going to be a Cambridge graduate and a translator and I'll have a masters degree. I might not be famous and I might not achieve everything I want to, but I'll be happy.

I have been stressed and down and struggled, but 2013 is the year where things will turn around.

This is me.

BBC's The Big Read: 100 Greatest Books of All-Time

Update [4.V.15] : 26/100

 1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie 

Enlightenment of 2012

Books

The Man of Mode
The Fault in Our Stars
As You Like It
The Knowledge
How Not to Talk Like an Arse
Room
The Lovely Bones
Pride and Prejudice
The Taming of the Shrew
Lighthousekeeping
History of a Pleasure Seeker
Love Letters of Great Men
Twenties Girl
A Murder is Announced (play)
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
Fifty Shades of Grey
Love Hina Volumes 1-8
Fahrenheit 451
Imadoki (Nowadays)
The Lady of Rivers
A Murder is Announced (book)
Fifty Shames of Earl Grey
Ouran High School Host Club
French Letters and the English Canon
Macbett
Thérèse Raquin
Playhouse Creatures
100
A Christmas Carol
Bad Behaviour

Total: 37

Films

 Carnage
American Pie 1-4
American Pie Presents Beta House
Water for Elephants
The Help
War Horse
The Muppers
The Woman in Black
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
21 Jump Street
The Room
Cool As Ice
Surburban Commando
The Apple
Double Dragon
Fat Slags
Mirror Mirror
Avengers Assemble
Mona Lisa Smile
The Edge of Love
Atonement
Hamlet
(500) Days of Summer
50/50
The Boat That Rocked
The Little Mermaid
Down With Love
The Duchess
The Notebook
My Sister's Keeper
The Time Traveller's Wife
Knocked Up
The 40 Year Old Virgin
10 Things I Hate About You
Music and Lyrics
Toy Story 3
Midnight in Paris
Over the Hedge
Wild Child
Lolita
P.S. I Love You
Tangled
The Ugly Truth
Bolt
No Strings Attached
The Libertine
I Love You, Man
The Princess and the Frog
Jane Eyre
Kung Fu Panda
Limitless
An Education
A Dangerous Method
Easy A
Hairspray
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World
The Five-Year Engagement
The Change-Up
Ted
Wanderlust
Potiche
Brave
Lesbian Vampire Killers
Role Models
Back to the Future 1-3
Three Men and a Baby
La Vie en Rose
The Producers
The Princess Bride
Some Like it Hot
Atlantis
Anna Karenina
Glorious 39
One Day
Going the Distance
Horrible Bosses
Eat, Pray, Love
Looper
Liberal Arts
Skyfall
Dr Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog
Mulan
Groundhog Day
Rust and Bone
The Artist
My Fake Fiancé
My Year Without Sex
The Back-Up Plan
Love Actually
Secretary
Silver Linings Playbook
Jesus Christ Superstar 2012 Tour
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Total: 98

Plays
Blue Remembered Hills
Twelfth Night
Letter of Intent
Faustus
Spring Awakening
Company Along the Mile
Holmes and the Ripper
The Winter's Tale
Henry V
Brighton Beach Memoirs
We Happy Few
She Stoops to Conquer
The Alchemist
When We Are Married
The Comedy of Errors
Daisy Pulls It Off
Railway Children
 
Total: 17

Top 10 Books of 2012

Inspired by this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIwBUqIoqvo

In no particular order...

1. Bad Behaviour - Mary Gaitskill (4/5)
Chosen after watching Secretary, I was pleasantly surprised by the other short stories in the collection, though confused as to why Secretary was made - it did not seem to me like there was a whole lot to be gleened from the 20 page story of the same name.

2. The Fault in Our Stars - John Green (5/5)
uoIAHdouhasfk I adore John Green's work. More coherent review to follow (possibly.)

3. 100 - Christopher Heimann (4/5)
Fantastic play based off of an interesting concept.

4. Thérèse Raquin - Émile Zola (4/5)
 My first stab at a French novel. I was surprised by how accessible the language was, given the age of the book.

5. History of a Pleasure Seeker - Richard Mason (4/5)

6. Fifty Shades of Grey - E.L James (2/5)
Hilariously bad.

7. Love Letters of Great Men - Ursula Doyle (4/5)


8. Room - Emma Donoghue (4/5)

9. The Knowledge - John Donnelly (4/5)

10. Twenties Girl - Sophie Kinsella (4/5)