In July, I was lucky enough to attend UNIQ- a week long summer school for year 12’s at Oxford University. I attended to do maths and statistics and was based at Queens College in the Florey Annex. It was 100% one of the best weeks of my life- I learnt so much, made new friends and dispelled the myths surrounding Oxford.

Throughout the week I had lectures, workshops and talks about maths and statistics. Some of them were so interesting. We were learning undergraduate topics so it was hard although it was so interesting. We had a very enjoyable talk about the maths of clinical research and the statistics surrounding it. There were some sessions though that weren't as enjoyable, partly because they were more computer program based (something I've never done before). It was also fantastic to see that not all Oxford lectures were old, grumpy men. Many of the lecturers we had throughout the week were younger women or non-grumpy men.

Over the week I learnt so much about Oxford and have decided I want to apply to do maths at Keble College. The week was awesome- I really didn’t want to leave. I made great friends, learnt so much and got to visit one of the most beautiful cities in England.

If you’re a state school student in year 12 look into UNIQ. I would recommend it to anyone. Feel free to ask my any questions you have about it.

Here’s the second part of my YALC and LFCC round up posts all about my Sunday and my haul. If you've yet to check out the first part all about my Saturday it's here http://18thingsbefore.weebly.com/blog/yalc-and-lfcc-part-1

On the Sunday I was raring to go for a second day filled with books and everything fabulous. When I entered I went straight around and brought all the books I wanted to and hadn’t done the day before (and a YALC hoodie which is the softest thing ever). Afterwards I went down to the LFCC floor to buy some more things including some yummy biscuits and Muggle Raspberry fudge.

 I then went back to the YALC floor to meet some friends and chill before going home. I got a free bookish t-shirt from Electric Monkey who were kindly giving them away. I also went around and took part in the snitch and fantastic beast hunts winning two house points for Hufflepuff. There was a Harry Potter Party with activities (like the hunts) throughout the day however I didn't do that many at all.  It was so much fun. And the best part – Hufflepuff won the house cup (well drew with Ravenclaw, but still).
The weekend was so fun and I met so many lovely people. I also brought way too many things- oops! I also got my first ever proofs from doing a range of things including a Twitter competition, finding a nurse and writing a line for a poem.

It was such a great weekend and I can’t wait to go next year (fingers crossed it'll be for all three days).

On the 30th and 31st July, I attended YALC and LFCC. For those of you who don't know, YALC is the young adult literature convention and LFCC is London film and comic con. Last year I went just for a day and loved it so much I decided to come again this year for two days.
I'm going to start off by saying- IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!

As soon as me and my friend arrived on the Saturday we wondered around the publishers stalls to see what goodies they had and what books I liked the look of. (Too many). At the Usborne stand I told everyone why I am a feminist (if you're wondering here's the tweet) and got a free limited edition What's A Girl Gotta Do? lipstick. It's such a nice colour.
I then got to meet Holly Bourne at her signing. It was lovely meeting her and I got two of her books signed. She told me that Kyle is based of off a real person which is so cool.

After that, we went down to the LFCC floor to have a look around . Most stands sold merchandise from many different fandoms.  One of the more odd stands was a stand selling communist books amongst other things. Other stands included ones selling fandom food, t-shirts and alpacas.

Around 3pm we went back up to the YALC floor to get in the signing queues as soon as they opened as we knew they would grow very quickly. My friend met Derek Landy whilst I met Alex Scarrow (author of the Time Rider series which I highly recommend) to get his latest book -REMADE- signed. He was very lovely and made me even more intrigued to read it. After this we bumped into Melinda Salisbury who kindly signed The King of Rats, her short story. I ended the day by buying more books including two more from Anthony Ergo who I also met at last year's event.

I also bumped into the lovely Michelle from http://www.talesofyesterday.co.uk/ and Amber from http://www.themilelongbookshelf.com/. I had such a great day on the Saturday but was majorly looking forward to some sleep before we did it all again the next day.  Part 2 will be up soon all about my Sunday and my haul.

Did you go to YALC this year? What was your favourite part? Let me know in the comments below.

The Sleeping Prince is the second novel in The Sin Eaters daughter trilogy by Melinda Salisbury. It is written from the point of view of Errin (Lief's sister) as the Sleeping Prince and his horrifying golems begin to take over her home.

Having the alternative view point of Errin was refreshing and allowed for a new perspective of the world to be seen. At first I was slightly annoyed that it didn't continue on from The Sin Eaters Daughter as I was curious as to what would happen next. Fortunately, the two characters' stories collide to produce a perfect start to the final book. Following Errin's story also allowed a wider view of their world, its fascinating myths and their lives. 

I instantly fell in love with Errin and her secrets, stories and skills. She's such an independent badass and I love her for that. The twists and turns were never ending and completely unexpected thus allowing maximum enjoyment. It saddens me I can never read it for the first time again and re-experience those shocking twists - especially those regarding Silas who was a fantastic character shrouded with so much mystery.

Despite not being set in modern times, this book had rich diversity covering topics such as homosexuality, sexual harassment and class. Melinda has yet again written such a fantastic book which has easily become one of my favourite reads so far this year. I can't wait for the final book where I'm sure my heart will be ripped out not by The Sleeping Prince but rather by Melinda. I would 100% recommend to everyone.