This is a guest post from Jamie at JamieAdStories.

I was really pleased to get the chance to write a guest post for the brilliant Wool of the King blog. After thinking about what I could discuss, I decided to explore why books are still very relevant and important in our modern world. 

Reading is a skill that is not readily available to thousands of people around the planet, so it is definitely worth celebrating and protecting. Books take many forms these days, but however you imbibe them, they provide education and entertainment for so many of us. In effect, books are the keys to other worlds and information; they provide inspiration, stimulation and make us think reflectively about our lives and the way we live them.

So, let me outline some of the reasons for my believing that books really do matter. The following suggestions are open for debate and I would welcome any thoughts on these in the comments below.

1. Books are flexible

Although some people still think of books as printed papers that stem back to Victorian times and oily printing presses, we all know that books have changed with the times. These days, if you want to read a book electronically, you can lap up a story using a kindle reader or iPad. As well as this, audible versions of popular novels have helped to establish a big market for audiobooks.

When buying a book, you can choose how to access that text. For me, I still like to peruse a book shop and flick through the pages of freshly printed stories. But it is possible to get hold of a book right away if you find you cannot wait to get your hands on a physical version. Gone are the days of queueing up at midnight for the latest J.K. Rowling book. You can now download an ebook instantly, should that take your fancy.

2. Books are teachers

Yes, non-fiction books can open our minds to new nuggets of information – that goes without saying. However, fiction books teach us lots too. For instance, I have become interested in visiting certain parts of France, thanks to the novels of Joanne Harris (author of Chocolat). Many of my family are obsessed with crime dramas and, as a result, seem to think they know everything about courtrooms, having picked up lots of lingo from reading about detectives and hearings.

3. Reading is good for the brain

We all need to keep our brains busy so that they carry on working effectively. I am no scientist but I do know a dementia expert who says how important regular reading is in flexing the muscle and continuing to fire synapses. 

Reading expands our vocabulary, makes us think about contexts and storylines, and enables us to make connections with places we have been. Using our memories, we try to find settings we can recall which may help us to envisage a story location.

4. Books are social beings

Just like when you didn’t attend a party that all of your friends went to and you have a case of FOMO (fear of missing out), if others are talking about a new novel, you soon want to be a part of that conversation. Book groups and online forums are very popular these days and sharing thoughts about stories is widespread through blogs and podcasts.

I really enjoy engaging with other bloggers about particular books and often check out Booktube on YouTube where bloggers either ‘big up’ or rip apart new fiction. Personally, I only write about books that gripped me as less satisfying stories don’t hold my attention long enough to make me want to disrespect them. Not all books suit everyone, after all. But it is a reader’s market with so many genres and wonderful authors producing a wide range of stories.

5. Books make a difference

Over the years, books have played important parts in history. These days books provide the inspiration for TV shows and movies, as well as theatre plays. Books have encouraged social change and influenced revolutions. Even today, when a biography comes out about someone famous, the newspapers flock and people start talking about the issues that arise from it.

Books are relevant as they open minds, challenge perceptions, and inspire people to use their imaginations. It is well known that writers get their ideas from other authors. The more you read, the better the ideas you come up with.

Related: Books I read in 2021

Summary

Hopefully, I have convinced you that reading books is still worthwhile and suits the modern world well. Books got me thinking as I grew up and later inspired me to have a go at writing fiction and reviewing books on my blog JamieAdStories. For a previous post about this, please check Why Reading Is Important.

Thanks so much to Lauren for enabling me to write on her lovely blog. I love being able to share my passion for books with everybody and hope you will share your thoughts on the article.

Since I have been trying a lot more foodie places lately, I thought why not review some restaurants as blog posts? Although, I only decided to write a blog after the fact and didn't think to get lots of pictures.

The latest place I have been that I thought would be good to review is Gordon Ramsay Street Pizza in Battersea. There are a few locations across London, but we decided to go to the Battersea one as it was the closest to where Joe (my boyfriend) lives.

It is located around Battersea Power Station, near the new tube station and it seems like everything around there is new - I'm not sure though. There are loads of restaurants around there and they have Birdies mini-golf and bar, so we went there beforehand.

The pizza

For Christmas, Joe's mum got us bottomless pizza for two at Gordon Ramsay Street Pizza, so we went there for a kind of Valentine's Day celebration. I love experience presents like this!

Our table was booked for around 6pm and as soon as we got there, we saw people walking around with the pizza. For the bottomless pizza, I believe it is £16pp for 2 hours of pizza, they do have a few sides too but the pizza was SO filling I didn't even look at the sides. Although we did get the garlic pesto dip which I would highly recommend!

As they are bringing round pizza so frequently, pretty much as soon as you sit down and order a drink you can start getting your pizza, on a slice by slice basis. For this reason, we got really full in about the first 20 minutes and couldn't even last the full 2 hours. So my advice would be to take your time.

For a drink, I had the special lemonade cocktail (I forget what it's called now) but it had vodka, limoncello and lemon and it was really tasty and refreshing. To be honest, the cocktails on the menu weren't really my thing, lots had elderflower so great if you like that but I don't really.

Related: Greyhound at Corfe Castle Review

There were five pizza flavours including the special which was nduja. Surprisingly the nduja special was actually my favourite as it wasn't spicy at all, but I found the pepperoni really spicy. The pizza itself was really good and it was a good thing it was really thin because it's more practical for fitting more slices in.

After the pizza though, I was the most full I'd been in ages. Did I have to secretly undo the button on my jeans and hide it with my scarf on my lap? Yes. I would NOT have been able to last the full 2 hours.

The service

The service was generally good although the waiters did forget things a couple of times, I think a few of them were new but that's ok. It was a busy Saturday and the main thing was the pizza - which was brought round VERY promptly.

Also, we were well looked after and were asked multiple times how everything was.

For sport lovers, they had football on in the background. Important information for dates if you want your football-mad partner to talk to you, maybe go on a day they don't have football on. Thank me later.

Overall rating

For the food, service and general ambience, I would give our experience an 8/10. Everything was great but would have given the extra two points for more pizza flavours and if the waiters hadn't forgotten to bring us our water.

I would definitely go there again and it was such a great gift for Christmas!

Related: 7 fun things to do in Shoreditch, London

Did you like this review? I am thinking of doing more as I try new restaurants and experiences.

Welcome to another post in my The Low Down series, where I give you the Low Down on important stuff.

I don't know about you but I feel like it seems to be harder to make friends as an adult. When you're at school or university, you kind of make friends with the people you see every day because you are all put into a situation together.

Since leaving uni, I have made a few new friends but it is a very different process. My friends from uni or childhood, I don't even remember how I made friends with them, we just have a friendship. So when I think of making new friends it's a bit more difficult.

Having said that, I feel like people as adults are way more accepting and open to new friendships, whereas school kids are kind of mean and form cliques. 

Tips for making friends as an adult

1. Network online

Through blogging and Instagram, I have met some really great people. You can find people who you have a lot in common with and it is a lot easier to approach people online too.

Obviously, making friends online can be dangerous with catfishing etc, so please be careful in doing this.

In Salisbury, there is a group called the Salisbury Social on Instagram where anyone is welcome to join social events including book clubs, drinks and more. Groups like this are great if you have moved to a new area and you want to make new friends because you're all in the same boat. 

Does your city have a group like this? If not, why not start one?

Related: Friendships: The Low Down

2. Put yourself out there

3. Don't be desperate

Wow, that is a long title! When I was telling people I was going it was such a mouthful too. Either way, I had such a great time that I had to tell you about it.

If you haven't watched RuPaul's Drag Race UK yet then what are you waiting for? You can watch it here on BBC IPlayer.

If you are unaware of what Drag Race is completely, then it is a group of drag queens who compete in challenges and someone goes home every week until they crown a winner. There are many seasons in many countries so if you haven't watched any, do it!

A fun fact about me is that I wrote a 10,000 word dissertation on the representations in RuPaul's Drag Race for my final year of university (and got a first which I tell anyone, any chance I get).

A bit of background information about the event

The queens

My favourite acts

At the end

This is a guest post written by Chloe from chlodoeslife.com.

You did it! You finally graduated and landed your first job. Life after university can feel very overwhelming and starting your first full-time job sounds scary, but I’ve created a list of amazing tips to help you navigate through your first job and be successful. 

Hi, my name is Chloë and I blog over at chlodoeslife.com. I graduated in May 2020 and started my first (corporate) job in August of that year. In the year and a half between starting that job and writing this post, I’ve learned a lot and now I’m sharing my tips with you. Thank you, Lauren, for giving me the opportunity to guest post!

1. First Impressions Matter

It sounds cliché, but it’s definitely true: first impressions matter. Make sure that on your first day - and every day after - you’re dressed properly and look neat. Of course, you dress according to your workplace - make sure you know beforehand what the dress code is. If there is none, you can easily wear jeans and nice jumper, but just make sure that you don’t look as if you’ve just rolled out of bed. It gives your employer the wrong impression of you.

Not only your outfit is important, there are a few other things to take into consideration as well. Make sure that you have everything you need to make your first day into a success. Take a notebook and a pen to make notes, bring some snacks and a water bottle if you’re not entirely sure your workplace will provide these. I wrote a whole post on how to rock your first day on my own blog, so make sure to check that out if you’ve finished reading here. 

2. Always Ask Questions

And you can take always quite literally. You just graduated and have only limited to no work experience, nobody expects you to know everything from the start. Even after months and after a year and longer, it’s still okay to ask questions. Nobody is perfect and even senior profiles still need help sometimes. It’s better to continue asking questions than make big mistakes that could cost you your job! 

You need to ask questions in order to be able to be successful in your first job. Finding solutions to a problem yourself is time-consuming and not efficient. Of course, you shouldn’t just bother your manager with every little inconvenience. I once read a tip online about the 20-minute rule: if you can’t find any possible solution within the first 20 minutes, ask your manager. If within the first 20 minutes you have a slight idea of how you could solve it, try that first. If that doesn’t work, speak to your manager. This way you don’t unnecessarily bother them and still find a solution in a timely manner. 

Related: 10 productive things to do on a Sunday for the best week

3. Take Additional Training

As someone who has just entered into the workforce, you naturally don’t have all of the skills you need yet to grow as a professional. Along the way, you automatically notice there are things you can’t do yet, and you should take every opportunity you can find to expand your skill-set. Not only for your current job, but any future positions you will take on in your career.

Most companies have a training budget available, so make sure you check in with your manager about how much you can spend yearly on courses. When you find a course that’s relevant to your job, talk to your manager to see if you can attend - you shouldn’t pay for these yourself. If there is no budget, there is also plenty of free training available online that will help you expand your skill-set. For example, some of the tools I work with or some of our business partners offer free online training on various subjects that I try to attend as much as I can. 

4. Learn To Say No

This probably also depends on the department you work in and on your individual skills, but as a new hire, people from different departments will ask you for your help, especially if you have one specific skill that might be useful for them as well. I, for example, speak German fluently, so the marketing and customer service departments often ask me to help with some translations. 

What’s important to remember, is that you make sure it fits in your schedule. Always do your job first and then see what you can do for other people. I know that especially in the beginning it’s very hard to say no to others, because you want to make a good impression, but you should always put the tasks you were hired for first. If a favour for someone else doesn’t fit in with your other deadlines, say no politely. Most of them will understand. This is super important to avoid any unnecessary stress and to not feel burnt out after a while. 

5. Stay In Touch With Your Friends

Nothing is more important than staying in touch with your friends. Even if you have less time now than you had before, find some space to squeeze in your friends for a drink after work every now and then. As a junior, you can feel very out of place sometimes, especially in the beginning, and being able to talk to your friends about it, can be a huge relief. 

It’s the perfect way to let out those frustrations that you can’t share with colleagues or family, because they simply won’t understand. Talking with people that are on the same level as you will make you feel understood. After all, most of them will be going through the same thing and it will help you feel less alone at times. 

Related: What now? A life after graduation

These are my tips to be successful in your first job! I hope you enjoyed them and that they’ll be useful for you in your job too. Thank you again, Lauren, for the opportunity and for letting me write a piece for your blog. 

Yours truly,

Chloë 

As my boyfriend and some of my friends are living in London at the moment, I am finding myself visiting there a lot at weekends so I thought I'd share some of the fun things I have been up to lately.

I feel like we have been a lot more drawn to Shoreditch lately as there are just so many cool and fun things to do there. Also, it means I can split these posts up for different areas of London rather than one big London one that I would have to keep adding to. So here are some of the fun places I have been to in Shoreditch lately.

Top 7 things to do in Shoreditch

1. Ballie Ballerson

Ballie Ballerson is a bar that has adult ball pits inside. Before going here I have to say I was dreading it a bit because I get really claustrophobic with things like that but it was actually a lot of fun. 

The balls get a bit samey after a while but you can go in and out of them as many times as you want in your time slot and they play some really good tunes at the bar.

I would definitely recommend trying here if you haven't already, it's just so different from anything I've done before and you can get some really good pictures for Insta.

2. Hijingo

3. London Cocktail Club

4. Simmons Bar

5. Swingers Mini Golf

6. Spitalfields Market

7. Box Park

Similar to Spitalfields, there are a lot of food stalls here but instead of being a market, it is just a place to sit, have food and drink and chill with friends. When you get there, you can scan a code on your table and order drinks to the table. When ordering food, you order at the table and they text you when it's ready to pick up to avoid queuing. 

Again, it's great to be able to all choose different things to eat and there is so much to choose from.

When I visit more fun places in London outside of Shoreditch, I will definitely write some more recommendations. Have you been to any of these places?

Related: 10 European cities you need to visit

Also, if you have any London recommendations for me, please let me know.

Welcome to another post in my 'The Low Down' series where I chat about important things. You can read the other posts in the series here.

What is it really like for me being in my 20s? 

What is it really like to be in your 20s? So far, I feel like it is THE decade of comparison. When you're a teenager, you do compare yourself to others but everyone is kind of in the same boat at school or college.

For me, after finishing uni was when the feeling of comparison really started. I compare my job to those of other graduates and I compare my life to those who appear to be way more 'adult' than I do. 

In the back of my mind, I know it is irrational to compare myself to others as we are all on different paths and want different things in life, and when I don't compare myself to others, I am pretty happy with how things have turned out for me so far.

When you imagine being in your 20s when you're younger, what you think it's going to be like and what it is like are two very different things, and this is touched upon further in the post too.

I didn't only want to share my thoughts in this post, but I wanted to share what it is also like for other people I know in their 20s too.

It was especially weird for me to spend the first couple of years of my 20s in the middle of a pandemic, it felt like there was pressure to go out and have fun, meanwhile, we couldn't do anything like that for a long while.

Not being able to do so many things that I wanted to do has just made me eager to make more memories, and makes me cherish the memories I already have. I am not going to stress too much about things because I feel like I have the rest of my life for things like that.

It does feel weird seeing people my age all at such different stages of their lives but their lives really have nothing to do with me. I feel like this new chapter in my life is for self-love, focusing on what I love doing and making lasting memories with the people who mean the most to me. Everything else will fall into place when it needs to.

Now, please take the time to read what it has been like for my friends in their 20s so far.

What is it like for others in their 20s?

Cheyenne Waters, 22

When I thought about starting my career in my 20s, I thought it would be easy. I thought things would be an easy relaxation into my future, but I soon found out that's not the case. There are lots of ups and downs and feeling like you're not doing enough or maybe doing too much, mixed with a constant fear that you're not living your 20s and enjoying being young.

For me, there was a constant fear after leaving university that I would need to be the most successful, making the most money, and achieving the most exciting job roles. However, I have found what I actually value most at the moment is my own time and finding myself in a busy city. 

I have found that sometimes, I prioritise my career over my own personal development and finding balance between the two is very important. I believe that my 20s is a time for self-expression and finding what you need in the future, and my advice would be to live in the moment rather than to focus too much on the future and your career as that is not the be all and end all.

Related: My journey to confidence - the low down

Maike Meyer, 24

Being in your twenties is a bit of a rollercoaster. The start of my twenties I spent mostly at Uni, a year in Amsterdam and half a year as a graduate working from home. I have lived in 3 different countries and 4 different places in the past half-year alone and that speaks for itself I think. Your twenties are full of change. New things happen all the time, things that throw you off guard. 

People come and go and I think in your twenties, you really figure out and learn who your real friends are because, let's be honest, University is just a happy little bubble but what comes after actually makes you realise who wants to stay in your life and who doesn't. 

My 20s have also consisted of a lot of my friends either going through breakups, getting engaged, married or having kids! Some even buy a house, move in with their partner, or out. But it seem's that change is constantly happening to me and everyone around me. 

So far, my 20s have taught me a lot, I have also experienced a lot, been through a lot of challenges and somehow, come through some of the most difficult ones of them. I think your 20s really might potentially have a massive impact on who you are later because of all this new stuff that is thrown at you.

But honestly, my 20s so far have been the very best time of my life and I'd say you just have to ride with whatever happens because it's all meant to be!

Maddie Cox, 23

I'm coming dangerously close to being officially in my 'mid 20s', which is a terrifying thought. Your 20s are such a significant chunk of your development. Your early adulthood molds you, pointing you toward the direction of your life.

Each year of being in my 20s has taught me something different, and some of the lessons can unfortunately only be learned the hard way (the crying to strangers in club toilets type of lessons). At times, it's been nauseatingly overwhelming. New people, places, losses, and gains happening more rapidly than you could've believed. But at other times, it's been the closest I have felt to being alive, present, and content within the world.

The only encouragement I could give someone heading into their 20s is to try and squeeze as much out of it as you possibly can. Take that risk, wear that outfit, move far away, do something stupid, stay up too late. Whatever it is, try and avoid being 'comfortable'. Comfort is the enemy of growth.

You have all the time in the world to stay in one place and be comfortable. Be selfish, think about what you want, and chase it with everything you have. At times it'll be scary, but it will be the most rewarding thing you ever do. - Good luck out there x

Annie Knight, 24

I feel like your 20’s are different for everyone, but are always a mix of some of the best years of your life and the worst. When I was little, I used to picture myself getting married at 22, buying a house at 24, and having kids at 25… obviously I thought 20-year-olds were much older than I feel now. In fact, I’m extremely far off of all of those things whilst others are less so.

My early twenties were full of youth, but now at 24, I feel stuck between continuing this life and embracing my youth in a big city and settling down in the countryside with a dog and a 4 wheel drive. I don’t think either is right or wrong, but navigating through this time is pretty tricky. But maybe that’s what being in your mid-20s is about - being confused and becoming ok with not knowing what you want from life…finding excitement in not knowing what the future holds.

Related: Friendships: The low down

Tash Evans, 22

I think being in your 20s can be a strange and confusing period of time but also one that should be filled with fun. I need to both figure out what to do with the rest of my life and give myself the time to actually just live my life and have fun. 

Having just graduated from university, there is pressure to know exactly what your next step is going to be. However, right now I'm taking the time to see where life takes me and really think about what I want to do next. A big thing for me is I want to have fun and try new things and experiences whilst I can. 

Your 20s is often a time where you don't have a huge level of responsibility and commitment and I want to make the most of that. I think my 20s will be a decade of balance. Learning and discovering myself and which direction I want my life to go in and I also want to look back on them as a time where I had fun and made a load of memories!

Tash's blog - A Girl With a View

Jasmine Burke, 24

I have always been a planner. I had a five-year plan from the age of about 15, and I would readjust it every few years based on my current trajectory. Then, I started University, and it took one singular semester for me to realise that I didn’t want a life like anything I’d planned. As a result, my descent into my twenties was the first time in my life that I had jumped in without any idea of where it would take me. (Which, given the last two years we’ve had, I suppose has been a good thing… There’s really been no better time to go with the flow.) 

I’m now four years into my twenties and it has been a strange and heavy mixture of tears from lonely moments, stress from essay deadlines, coffee stains from my stint as a part-time barista… The list goes on. 

The first four years of my twenties have blended into this weird mess of (admittedly, mostly negative at the beginning) thoughts and emotions that have forced me to really take a look at myself and think about who I am going to be moving forward. This is the first time in my life where I have been a “proper adult” where my decisions and my current state could stick with me into the future. 

I don’t have school anymore, I’m out of Uni, and while I still live with my parents, they aren’t legally in charge of me. For the first time ever, I am almost solely responsible for what I do and who I become. And, daunting as that is, it is also scarily liberating. I’m excited to see how I mould and change through my twenties: I want to relish in the decisions that I make and be sculpted by the people I meet and experiences I undertake. I feel like my twenties are a time for growth and change, and I am readily opening my arms to that.

Jasmine's Blog - Jas Writes Stuff

And there we have it. Being in your 20s is definitely a time for learning, making mistakes and just having fun.

Related: Being a nice person - the low down

Was there a particular story from someone that resonated with you?

I love making A-Z lists of things but it can be quite hard when you get towards the end of the alphabet. Full disclosure: I do not have anything for the letter X.

A while ago for Valentine's Day, I wrote an A-Z list of date ideas and because I love films, I thought I could create a list for that too. Some letters of the alphabet have lots of really good films starting with that letter, so for some, it was really hard to narrow it down. For others, there were only a few that I'd seen beginning with that letter. For example, I'm pretty sure I have only seen about three films beginning with the letter V, but S had loads I wanted to share.

The films in the following list are all films I have seen, enjoyed, and would recommend to you. If you need watchlist inspo, then look no further. There is a range of genres, some new, some old.

A-Z list of movies you need to watch

A - American Psycho

B - Back to the Future

C - Clueless

D - Do the Right Thing

E - Everybody's Talking About Jamie

F - Forrest Gump

G - Get Out

H - The Help

I - In the Heights

J - Joker

K - Knives Out

L - Legally Blonde

M - Mamma Mia

N - The Notebook

O - Only Yesterday

P - Prisoners 

Q - Queen of Katwe

R - Ratatouille

S - Schindler's List

T - Titanic

U - Us

V - The Vow (There are probably better films beginning with V but I have not seen very many beginning with V)

W - Wizard of Oz

Y - Yes Man

Z - Zootropolis (the only film I have seen beginning with Z but still cute).

There we have it, this list was so much fun to make so let me know if you enjoyed it and I can make more. There are so many films I would recommend and if you love films like me then follow me on Letterboxd here.

Letterboxd is an app where you can log each and every film you have ever watched. It's basically a social media channel where you can rate and review films and see what you're friends have been watching.

Related: What to watch on Netflix and Disney+

How many of these have you seen?