Books I Want To Read In 2017

2017 is almost upon us and I've decided to have a good think about what books I want to read in the coming year.

Every year I set a reading goal on Goodreads. Last month I deleted my goodreads and created a new one. I just felt like my old account was messy and unorganised and in all honesty I could not be bothered sorting out. So, I decided to start again fresh.

So this coming year my Goodreads reading goal will be 52 books. I'm not going to list all 52 books I want to read because I don't know them all. I don't want to lock myself into that sort of commitment.

What I do want to do is reduce my TBR pile, I want to end 2017 with less books on my TBR than I started with. Fingers crossed.

Re-reads

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

2. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling

3. A Lineage of Grace - Francine Rivers

4. The Fault in Our Stars - John Green

5. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

DNF's

1. The 13 1/2 lives of Captain Bluebear - Walter Moers

2. Redeeming Sex - Debra Hirsch

3. Everyday Sexism - Laura Bates

4. The Hourglass Factory - Lucy Ribchester

5. Belgravia - Julian Fellowes

TBR

1. Moranthology - Caitlin Moran

2. Nicholas Nickleby - Charles Dickens

3. Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe

4. Us - David Nicholls

5. Atonement - Ian McEwan

And there we have it my 2017 reading goals.

Now all I need to do is actually hold myself to it...

Kate // Sk

MERRY CHRISTMAS // SK

From both of us here at Simply Karah we want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

We'll be back after the new year with all new content, hope to see you there!

Merry Christmas,

Kate & Bekah // SK

The Peace of Me // A Christmas Art Exhibition

So as some of you may know by now I am a youth worker at a church. I think a lot of people think they know what a youth worker does. And before I became one I thought I knew too. But man is this job varied.

As I type I am sitting in a room usually filled with sofas and chairs and tables which we as a youth work team have completely transformed for a youth art exhibition.

Over the past few weeks we have worked with the young people to create things for this exhibition. We have 3 videos, a poem and a huge stable installation that we made with the young people. It's truly incredible. (Can you tell I'm proud?)

The whole idea of the exhibition is the idea that if Jesus is the peace of the world where is the peace?

It's an interesting concept isn't it? As a Christian I believe that Jesus is the prince of peace. And Jesus came to Earth to make this a reality. So where is the peace? I don't think anyone could really say that the world is a peaceful place.

We've been encouraging people coming to the exhibition to write down answers to the question "where's the peace in..."

It's a question with no answer. It's a cry out for peace where there is none.

I thought I would also share with you some of the answers that people have anonymously given.

Where's the peace in...

Alcoholism

School

Broken Families

Cancer

War

This is by no means meant to be depressing. I guess it is a bit.

But also in the exhibition there are three videos. Two describing two stories of people from our church who have gone through some incredibly tough times. They spend the videos describing how even during a time when nobody would expect there to be peace they found that. They talk about how they found that and how Jesus truly was for them the Prince of Peace. So there's the hope. Real people talking about real events and the peace they found in those awful times.

So this Christmas I truly pray that any of you who find this time of year hard every year or maybe just this year seems like it's going to be an impossible time would find some peace. In whatever form that comes in.

So peace out,

Kate // SK

Christmas Holidays TBR

Sorry to bang on about it again but we've moved house.

With this house move comes something truly wonderful for any book lover. Bookshelves. I now have a dedicated space with multiple matching bookshelves where all my books can happily live without being in piles in front of other piles. The next day off I will definitely be spending time organising them into an order that makes sense for me.

With all my books now out of boxes and in view I figured it was about time I got back into reading regularly.

With that in mind I have made myself my first ever TBR (to be read) list for over the festive season when I may actually have time to read.

There are 4 books on my TBR and fingers crossed I'll get through them all.

Let It Snow - John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle

I've had this book for a couple of years now and every year around this time I remind myself that I haven't read it yet and that I really should. Hopefully this year is finally going to be when I get round to it.

I know nothing of the plots of any of the three stories which is how I prefer it!

 The Christmas Mystery - Jostein Gaarder

This is a book I read at this time of year every year. It's about a little boy called Joachim who reads a secret story every day in his advent calendar telling the story of a little girl called Elisabet who was travelling across Europe and back in time to Bethlehem and birth of Jesus. Sounds complicated but it's a beautiful story that flows naturally.

The Outrun - Amy Liptrot

I read the first few pages of this book while very very tired a few days ago an remember precisely nothing. I think it deserves another go. I've heard nothing but good things about this book so I'm looking forward to diving in.

A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

I was watching A Muppet Christmas Carol yesterday when it occurred to me that I actually haven't read the original book. Shocking. In fact I haven't read any Dickens. This is something I think needs to be remedied. I obviously know the basic plot of this story from the Muppets film. The story follows Scrooge, a mean spirited man who is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future and his life is changed forever.

So there we have it, my Christmas TBR.

I'm going to go and read now, clearly I have a lot of books to be getting on with!

I love reading Christmas books so if you have any recommendations please tweet me @SimplyKarah10

Kate // SK

As We Approach Winter

What do you do when the temperature drops? When we fast approach December? When winter is coming and the cold hits our chests and our noses? When you look out your window and there's frost and ice everywhere?

Do you stay in and stay warm? Cosy up on the couch with a blanket, hot water bottle, a warm drink? Do you go outside and embrace the prettiness of the trees, the frost covered grass, the frozen lakes or canals, seeing your warm breath in the cold winter air? Do you moan about how cold it is? Do you lust at the fact you can run home to a warm house? 

What if you didn't have that? What if you had to stay outside in the cold, grasping for that small piece of warmth.

In a month that starts to bring out the good in us, the giving side of us, are we really thinking about everyone?

I recently went out in Edinburgh, with a charity called the Bethany Trust. In a care van, with soup, hot drinks and clothes. Parking up on the side of the street at several locations throughout Edinburgh the van was swarmed by people who have no home, who have no food. Who don't have warmth during these chilling months. My eyes were completely opened at the amount of people who came to the van and having that heart wrenching moment when we ran out of homemade soup and were left with cuppa soups, they smiled and were grateful. They didn't care about what type of soup they were getting, they cared about the warmth and the fact that they were getting something to eat. 

I'll be the first to admit; I always forget that there are people who don't have shelter and food in our country, but once you see it and see what people are doing to help then you dot forget.

I urge you, please, whether it's December or not, donate. Give something back. Volunteer at a soup kitchen. Volunteer with a food van. Donate money to a charity that helps those less fortunate. 

You don't know the difference it can make once you see it with your own eyes. 

Bekah // SK

Life Update // We Moved House!

Well hey there. It's actually been a while since I wrote a blog post, the last few to go up have been pre-written posts, and you know why that was? (Of course you do it's in the flipping title but give me this..I'm excited).

We moved house!

Bekah and I have finally moved in together. So we've both spent the past week or so packing all our stuff up and moving it all in. We're still living out of boxes so if posts are a bit infrequent the next week or so please forgive us.

I'm bruised (a slight incident with the attic), I'm tired and I've seen more cardboard boxes in the past week than I ever want to see again. But, I'm also happy and excited about what's to come.

Pictures and blog posts all about moving and our new house coming soon.

But in the meantime I leave you with something I learnt during this moving process...

If you have measured the size of your car and the size of the boxes from Ikea and don't think the boxes will fit. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. So even when an Ikea worker tells you she got the same boxes in a Fiat 500 DON'T LISTEN TO HER. Because if you do you will end up standing awkwardly in an Ikea warehouse car park waiting for your friend to come with his car to take the stuff that doesn't fit in your car.

Kate // SK

Exit Plan Escape Rooms Edinburgh // Review

So recently for Bekah's brother's birthday we went to the Escape Rooms in Edinburgh. There were 7 of us and we did the Tesla Game at Exit Plan Edinburgh.

What is an Escape Room?

An escape room is an immersive live mystery game. Players go into the room and are licked in and have to solve the mystery in order to escape the room in as quick a time as possible.

Exit Plan Edinburgh

Exit plan Edinburgh is one of many escape rooms in Edinburgh. We chose the game we did because it allowed 7 players unlike some of the others which had a cap at 6.

Tesla

Our game was called Tesla. The basic premise was that a mad scientist that we all worked for had created a weapon called the Tesla which he was now planning to sell of to bad people. We had one hour while he was on his lunch break to sneak into his rooms and find the Tesla and escape the room. To do this we would have to follow a number of clues, break codes and unlock safes.

How was it?

It was AMAZING. It was so much better than any of us thought it would be. We managed to complete the game in 32 minutes which we were pretty pleased about.

The game was hard enough that we were kept entertained and challenged but not so hard that it felt impossible.

We all had so much fun and can't wait to go again. We would all recommend it to anyone who enjoys a challenge or trying something new.

If any of you have tried any other escape rooms around central Scotland let us know what you thought and if they're worth trying out!

Kate // SK

December Plans // What's Kate Doing?

Hey guys,

So we've decided that this year we won't be doing Blogmas. The idea of blogging every day on top of moving house and not having WiFi was just to stressful for both Bekah and I.

Instead we've decided to take it easy and blog as and when we can.

I thought today I would give you a little run down of a few of the things I'll be doing this December and what you can potentially look forward to seeing on the blog.

Christmas Nativity Service - every year the young people and children at my church put on an adaptation of the Nativity for the congregation. This year's play is called "The Reluctant Shepherd" and I'm helping to organise it all. A lot of work but very exciting.

Christmas Eve Service - myself and several of my friends organise and run the two Christmas Eve services my church has every year. It's my church service of the year.

Moving House? - this one still has a question mark on it because it's not totally confirmed yet but fingers crossed December will be the month Bekah and I move into our little house!

Christmas Markets - hopefully many a Christmas market will make an appearance on the blog this December.

Work Nights Out - I have three jobs so that means three work nights out, all this socialising is going to be exhausting!

Rogue One - Our tickets for the midnight showing of Rogue One are all booked! I'll definitely have a mini review of that one up.

Cosy Nights In - is there any need to explain this one?

All in all you can expect festive posts as well as not so festive. Hopefully lots of moving posts and some hauls, with Christmas tree decorating and Christmas markets mixed in!

Kate // SK