This one I can definitely back! In my final year of university and even during my internship, I was writing articles for people on the side. Such a great way of doing something I loved while gaining experience and pocketing a little extra cash in the meantime. I made most of my sales through Fiverr but picked up a few regular clients that I worked with regularly and could slowly increase my rate as I gained more experience. 

you could also skip the middle ma and sell your articles straight to websites and magazines. If you have your own fun, unique ideas then why not go for it? It might take some time to build up the experience and confidence in such a competitive field but give it a go! 

Places like Avon and The Body Shop in the UK have schemes where you sell their products in order to make a commission. If you're a beauty lover and enjoy socialising and meeting new people, this is a fab way of making some money. If you're up for putting some work into getting started, then try it out. 

Old clothes lying around? Books collecting dust never to be read? Sell them! Ebay, Depop - there's so many great platforms to allow you to do this with ease. If you already have a following on Instagram, why not try it through there? All you need is a PayPal account and some old things worth selling to give this a go. 

If you're already a photography enthusiast or an Instagram wiz, this should be pretty easy to get started! Build up a portfolio of existing photos and new shots. Brands are always looking for UGC content so why not see if you can help out? Drop them a message and see if you can do anything for them! There is also website out there where you can sell your photos to be turned into prints or sell to brands for them to use themselves. Have a search and see what you can do! 

Get paid to be around the happiest, fluffiest animals? Yes please! Ask around your neighbourhood, see if there's anyone needing a hand keeping their fluffy one entertained. It might be a challenge to start but word of mouth will help you with this one. It will be really rewarding in the end! 

Turn your hobby into your side hustle. If you knit or sew, why not sell your finished garments or patterns. Are you an artsy person? Create beautiful digital prints for others to buy and print at home. you don't need much to get this business going? 

Are you a baker? Why not create bakes to sell and deliver in your local area. This one is sure to be a hit! 

What do you think of these ideas? Let me know! 

Hope you're doing great, 

Sarah x 

Lane is sent to a boarding school for sick teens where he meets Sadie and her friends - a group of troublemakers that show Lane that his sickness doesn't define him. This is a great story of friendship and second chances with a perfect autumnal backdrop to enjoy as it gets colder. I read this book many years ago and remember enjoying how easy it was to read and the friends that developed throughout the book. One to enjoy with a chai latte in hand wrapped up in a blanket for sure. 

Autumn always sees me reading more dystopian and sci-fi books and while I read the first book in the series in the peak of summer, there's no better time than now to pick it up if you haven't already. It's a multi-media book involving two mega corporations at war over a planet - a little speck at the edge of the universe. The first book follows Kady and Ezra - teens who have recently broken up but, with a hostile warship in pursuit and a deadly virus breaking out, this is the least of their problems as they try to survive. 

This is a super fun fast-paced book to throw yourself into this autumn. I will definitely be picking up the second book in the series, Gemina, very soon! 

I received an ARC of Dolly Alderton's debut novel and definitely want to make sure I have some time to read it this season. It follows Nina - in her early thirties, a food writer with a perfect family, new home and neighbourhood. She goes on a date with Max, a true romantic who says from the start he's meant to marry her. As the romance blossoms, it reminds her of her past failed relationship, broken friendships and family problems that lie below the surface. 

This sounds like a great concept that I'm ready to read! 

With all that is going on in the world, this seems my natural next stop in educating myself more about the struggles of black people. Black feminism was touched on very briefly when I did sociology at college but it was merely dismissed as a "different form of feminism" and didn't teach us much more than that. It's a topic I've dipped in and out of but I think this book will be the perfect read for me to really understand the perspective more. 

I am definitely not on for horror films, spooky reads or anything remotely related to Halloween. However, this year I'm thinking why the hell not?! I've been wanting to read day of the triffids for years and after finding a dusty copy at the back of my shelf, I think October will be the perfect time to dust it off and give it a read! 

- You dystopian fix for Autumn 

While many like to read more spooky, scary reads in autumn, I can’t bring myself to even watch a slightly scary movie so, instead, Dystopian is where I go and Station Eleven was one I read this time last year and loved it. It’s been out for 5 years now but if you still haven’t heard of it, I definitely recommend it. It’s set in a post-apocalyptic earth but it’s unlike the usual perspective. It’s almost more /real/ in the narrative as to how the world as we know could actually end and how we would actually cope. This was a really great read! 

So if you’ve already read Station Eleven but still want your Dystopian fix, The Wall is a quick read. I’d say, straight off, that this probably won’t be for everyone as it’s quite ambiguous. But, I also think that might be something some will love about this book. The premise is that there is a wall separating land and sea after “The Change” and you have to serve your time on the wall (remind you of a big hit HBO series by chance?!). It follows Joseph Kavanagh, a new defender on the Wall which aims to keep the Others out. We see how he adjusts to life on the wall and how what happens when the Others attack the Wall. I loved the tone of the book and how the writer managed to build up this world in a fairly short book. I loved trying to come up with my own thoughts on what the wall was and who the others were if this was to actually be what happened in the future. 

What books do you plan on reading this autumn? 

Hope you're doing great,

Sarah x