Random recommendation post

It's the beginning of July and I thought another recommendations post would be welcomed! I'm starting to like doing this monthly type of post, and I hope you do, too! Some things are so good that I feel the need to share my love and make them more visible to other people, so this one way of doing it.

Lately I have been listening to a lot of MUSIC, especially folk/guitar music; it calms me and it's perfect background music for both studying and day dreaming :) I recently discovered Ben Howard, a British singer-songwriter with an interesting voice and smooth vocals. My absolute favorite from his album (Every Kingdom) is Only Love- sweet, catchy and a great display of talent (reminds me of Your Body is a Wonderland somehow, I don't know why); it's been on repeat for days. Check it out below, I hope you like it!

Honorable music mentions for these last couple of weeks:
Alt-J- Breezeblocks
The Maccabees- Went away
Grace Porter& the Nocturnals- Oasis
Alabama Shakes- Hold on

Since we are in the topic of music, one thing I highly recommend you do, at least once in your life, is to go to a Summer Music Festival- just imagine: summer, nice weather, great atmosphere, good music, beer and friends. If you're in the UK, definitely try Reading&Leeds, and for next year, Glastonbury, and for Europe the best are Benicassim(Spain), Rock Wechter (Belgium), Sziget (Hungary), T in the Park (Scotland). In US, I have only heard of Coachella and Lollapoloza, but I am sure there are many more. Just check out your national festival listings and you will most likely find a great line up for your musical taste!

Sample: Mumford and Sons- Little lion man in Glastonbury.

If you're looking for an informative, yet funny and simple WEBSITE, you must check out Mashable - it's a great site mainly for social media stuff, but it also has breaking news, statistics, and many more funny, interesting posts. I've been using it a lot for my work and I love it!

There are a number of amazing TV SHOWS out there, but honestly, nobody beats HBO in this category, and the newest addition, The Newsroom, is the perfect example. As I said on Twitter a couple of days ago, I am a little bit in love with it- it's a young, but strong romance, that makes me excited- I can't wait for episode 3. The script is fantastic and the cast is very talented, diverse and full of energy and passion. Emily Mortimer rocks every scene she is in and I adore the young cast: Allison Pill, Dev Patel and Jim, the senior producer, who's real name I don't know...yet, but who definitely caught my eye, both in talent and looks :) You should really, really give it a try, it's a superb TV show! Alex from And so it begins wrote a longer review of it, check out his post! Trailer here:

Finishing my post with a short recommendation in BOOKS, or better say, in an author- have you ever read John Steinbeck? I only tried East of Eden and The Grapes of Wrath, and both are on my favorites book list. I love the fact that he focuses on characters- in every novel, they are the stars, the reason to keep reading, the source of entertainment and emotion. Out of these two, I prefer East of Eden more, it makes me want to read it again (something I very rarely do). Also, I would love to see it transformed into a movie, actually, a miniseries, since it's that long and intricate- I think it would be interesting! I remember that while reading it, I kept trying to cast it in my mind and imagine it as a feature film- it's hard, but if done right, it could be a masterpiece!

This is it from me for July- enjoy your summer and I hope you get good weather- London is pretty gray and often changes from sun to rain and wind...I hope it would just make up its mind and settle on one season!

What have you been listening/watching/reading lately?