Author Archives: Beth Wren
My New Year’s Resolutions 2015
The new year is always a funny time. You don’t have far to look to find people left right and centre making the most ridiculously improbable vows, the kind which make you wonder that if they had followed their own advice sooner the world would already be a much better place. And then you get the disbelievers. The […]
Poetry Corner | Poem #2: The Buzz
Just a quick one this week, a 1am iPhone note poem about that annoying thing you have to live with: your mind. Sending festive greetings and good tidings for this time of year, and all the best as we welcome in 2015.
Review: The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Anne Brontë
I read this book for a number of very random reasons: a) it was free on my Kindle (sickening, I know). b) I kind of felt a little sorry for poor old Anne being continually overshadowed by her older sisters, and c) I simply felt the urge to read a good old old-fashioned classic. I’ve […]
A Weekend in Berlin
A couple of weeks ago I travelled to Berlin to meet two of my friends who had flown in from the UK for a weekend getaway. It was a lovely break and it was really fun to do some sightseeing in another city. (Dresden, I love you, but it’s been a while.) I’ve always loved Berlin – […]
Introducing: Poetry Corner, and Poem #1: Versioning
I’ve been writing poetry for as long as I can remember. I was that nerdy girl in school, the one you all hated, who, when the teacher set the homework of writing a poem in the voice of Macbeth’s Banquo, ignored the groans of all her classmates and happily ran home to write a long epic narrative in iambic pentameter. […]
I Am Writing a Book and It’s Taking Over My Life
This is going to be a little tricky to explain. Ironically, the joy that I’ve discovered and experienced through writing is hard to put down into words. I’ll give it a go nonetheless, I think it’s important to try. What began three years ago on a long car journey through America as a spark of an idea, […]
Review: Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?: (And Other Concerns), Mindy Kaling
I probably shouldn’t have read this on public transport so much; I definitely got a few strange looks at my stifled giggles and silent laughs. I’ve been a fan of Mindy Kaling for a while and have religiously watched The Mindy Project through all of its low parts, because the highs are just so clever […]
Review: The Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss
“I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others […]
Exploring Dresden: Moritzburg and Pillnitz
Two castles in two days, and a lot of photos. My parents came to visit at the beginning of this week and we did a lot of lovely things in Dresden, including visiting Schloss Moritzburg and Schloss Pillnitz via the Dampfschifffahrt (I love the German language – how many English words have a triple ‘f’ in the middle?!), both […]
Exploring Dresden: Bastei
Oh hey there. Did I really go all dark and deep in my last blog post, and did I really describe my social anxiety as ‘a rare cheese of the anxiety world’? Why yes, yes I did. Fortunately I’m back now to some light-hearted discussion of my life in Germany, and a handful of carefully-edited […]