2015 in review

At the start of this year, I made a rather vague set of new year's resolutions. As we've only got one day left of 2015, I thought it was about time to revisit them!

Books

The first thing I really wanted to achieve was my Goodreads challenge of reading 50 books. I actually exceeded my goal and extended my challenge to 60 books. Some people might say I'm a bit of a cheater since I study English at university, but I love reading so much that most of the books I read this year were for pleasure.
Here are some of my favourite reads of 2015, along with a tantalising one word review...

• The Outsiders by S.E Hinton - stunning.
• The Green Mile by Stephen King - heart-breaking.
• Fingersmith by Sarah Waters - surprising.
• The Princess Bride by William Goldman - ridiculous.
• The Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling - ...duh.

hate to be that guy but if you've only seen the film, PLEASE read the book too

Music

One of the major events in my summer holidays was my first ever festival, T in the Park. I had such a great time; some of my standouts were Kasabian, The Proclaimers and Jamie T. The constant mud, overpriced food and portaloos (which should probably be renamed death traps), I could have lived without...but it was all part of the experience. 

However, my favourite gig of the year was without a doubt Muse at the Barrowlands. They've been my favourite band for about 9 years and I'd seen them before already, but had resigned myself to the fact that I'd probably never see them in a small venue. I was wrong!!! I also had the opportunity to meet the band, which was so surreal and incredible. To top it all off, I ended up getting barrier! Probably one of the best days of my life, let alone of the year.

~ enjoy my shitty gig photography ~

Television

For my 17th birthday, I received the Buffy the Vampire Slayer boxset - the show rapidly became my favourite thing in the universe and I got so excited before watching new episodes, especially around season 5. SO GOOD. But that's not to say I let it stop me from getting addicted to multiple new TV shows - some more things I watched this year include Buffy's spin-off, Angel, Parks and Recreation, How To Get Away With Murder, Daredevil, The Mighty Boosh and Master of None. Right now I'm really into Reign and Gilmore Girls. 

♥♥♥

Life

Okay, so my life has changed a lot in a year. I moved away from home, started university at Edinburgh Napier, made new friends, and got my first job. Most of it has been a huge learning curve for me; I'm more independent and confident now than ever, which I'm really glad about. However I've became so comfortable in my own company I think it's made me a bit antisocial, so I'll need to work on that. 

Lastly, I did keep my diary all year! I didn't write every day, but every month of 2015 is down in writing and I'm pretty proud of that. 

I hope 2015 has been a good year for you, and if it hasn't, don't worry! 2016 will be better.