Tag: Monthly Wrap Up

#WrapPost – February 2021!

The Biblioshelf1 Comment

Aloha Bibliofriends!

Life Update

I know that February is only ever 3 days maximum shorter than the other months but it still feels so ridiculously short – then before you know it… BAM we’re into March and the children are coming back to school!!! Not going to lie – we have very little planned for class tomorrow apart from letting the children just see their friends again and enjoy being together!

Life is February kept a pretty regular rhythm: lots of walking, reading, online learning and TV. We now have lambs in the field opposite our house and the daffodils are starting to form in little clumps along our lane. Spring is definitely beginning to peek through!

What I’ve Been Reading in February

February was a pretty solid month for me. I managed to get through four books (finishing my last one exactly on the last day of the month was definitely a satisfying feeling!

  • A Vow So Bold and Deadly by Brigid Kemmerer
    ⭐️⭐️⭐️
    I was really looking forward to the ending of this series to finally get that closure and find out where the story finished up. Reader… I was a little disappointed. I found the pace far too slow for me to get sucked into like I had with the previous two books. If felt like a lot of the time the story was just building up to something we knew had been coming since AHSFAB – how many times were Rhen and Harper going to blame themselves and each other instead of just talking to one another?! It felt like it was predominantly a character development interlude. I did enjoy the Lia Mara and Grey elements though and I also have to admit that even though it’s only been 1 month since I finished reading – I can’t really remember what happened at the end except that it was predictable. I am pleased in the way that the series ended but I definitely prefer the first two books to this one.
  • The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
    You know there are those books that you have to wait until you are mentally prepared to read them? This was one of those books and it absolutely wowed me. I got so engrossed into Starr’s world. The empathy that her character evoked in me was something I haven’t quite felt in a lead character before for a while. It gave me an insight into racial issues which was profound and incredibly moving. It’ll definitely be one of those ‘must-reads’ that I recommend to all my friends (which I actually did – and she’s already started reading it!).
  • A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J Maas
    ⭐️⭐️⭐️
    I had so far resisted the urge to dive back into Prythian after the brokenness I had felt after A Court of Wings and Ruin, but then all of the hype over the release of A Court of Silver Flames and I finally felt like I had to try and catch up with the series to avoid any accidental spoilers. Whilst I really enjoyed seeing the aftermath of ACOWAR events and the way life continued for some of my favourite characters, it just wasn’t quite the same as the original narrative and felt more like a pleasant jaunt into the past rather than something which the series couldn’t do without. I am very excited to read A Court of Silver Flames though when I finally get around to ordering it – I love Nesta’s waspish attitude so I hope she brings her full sass-bucket to that party! 😂
  • The Favour by Laura Vaughan
    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
    I managed to win a copy of this book pre-publication through Readers First. The Italian setting immediately grabbed me and the whole element of deception, lies and manipulation cemented my need to read the book. It was a fabulously dark and twisty read and the final scene had me reeling! If you like an unreliable narrator then this may definitely be one for you! Review coming up later this week!

What I’ve Been Watching in February

So long story short – my Dad has been so bored during lockdown that he guilt trips me into watching films with him. He loves the violent, gritty Jason Statham style thrillers where everyone has to be shot about 20 times before they finally die so most of my watchlist is his fault (and they’re nearly all complete crap!)

Films:

  • Next
  • Uncut Gems
  • The Old Guard
  • So Undercover (a Miley pick – that was definitely mine!)
  • Inside Man
  • Escape Plan
  • Capone
  • The Angel
  • Extraction (very gory, but probably the best film all month that was one of “Dad’s picks!”)
  • Legacy of Lies
  • Mulan (I finally got to watch Mulan – I loved it so much. I think Disney did a great job of this remake and I loved the way the score had elements of Reflection woven through it!)

TV Series

  • Sounds so cheesy but I love game shows, especially music related ones so I ended up bingeing on the entire season of the American show Sing On! It was sooooo bad that it was epic!
  • Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments – Season One – I think this started out so weird but actually it’s growing on me a little more – I think now the characters have grown into their roles a little more (at first I found Clary so awkward). It won;t ever be a favourite but it’s something easy to relax and watch in the evenings.
  • Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel – the adverts for this reeked of paranormal involvement or some sort of deception. Sadly the reality of the case was so much more traumatic and I felt really sorry for Elisa Lam. At only four parts long, this was short enough to maintain my interest but I find it very unsettling that the hotel is due for reopen (after being revamped) very soon. It almost felt like they were using the documentary to drum up interest in it again – although why anyone would voluntarily stay there after having watched that series… who knows!

What I’ve Been Listening to in January

Ditto from January – It’s pretty much been a literal never-ending shuffle play of Folklore, Evermore and Plastic Hearts…

Pokemon Go Update

So much happened this month with Pokemon Go that I felt like it needed it’s own little section! Right at the end of half-term we had the Pokemon Go Kanto World Tour which celebrated 25 years since the start of the Pokemon games (how old?!?!). They had such a fun event which (being in lockdown with very little else to do) I dedicated my entire day to 🙈.
It was such an awesome day! I chose to go with Team Red as Growlithe is one of my all-time favourite pokemons and I was yet to catch the elusive shiny one. I practically used incense for the whole time between 9am and 7pm but it was totally worth it to get such a shiny haul. I finally got my first non-shadow Mewtwo including a shiny one and I even got a boosted Moltres from a friend in Brazil. I haven’t got shiny forms of the legendary birds yet but this was my first time catching them in raids and adding them to my dex so I was pretty happy with that. I managed to complete all of the research tasks apart from the Trade task and the Evolve task. I have very few friends to do any trading with, especially during this lockdown where we can’t all meet up, although I did manage to revive my extremely old account from 2016 (which I think was the first one I ever created) to get enough trades in and complete the shiny Ditto task! There was no way I was managing to walk over 250 km in a week to get enough candy to evolve my Weepinbell into Victreebell which is where I eventually got stuck on the Evolve side of things! 

I’m now working on the tasks for Shiny Mew although I’m a little apprehensive about how long it’s going to take me to get to Level 40 at this rate! 

February’s Shiny Haul
Piplup
Roselia (evolved into Roserade)
Luvdisc
Shellder
Pidgey
Porygon
Scyther
Gligar
Electabuzz
Lickitung
Gastly
Growlithe
Mewtwo
Pikachu
Ditto
Ekans
Drowzee
Squirtle
Weedle
Hitmonlee

My Trainer Code: If any fellow Pogo players want to add me, my trainer code is: 8327 7170 2277

What I’m Looking Forward to it March

  • Getting my first Illumicrate book – the Feb one was held up in the post 😏
  • Taking part in ‘Tis the Damn Readathon – check out my TBR and more info here!
  • Slithers of normality resuming!
  • Spring time, lighter evenings and longer walks!

And that’s a wrap! What have you been reading/watching/listening to/doing in February? What are your anticipated reads for next month? How are you coping with Lockdown 3.0? Are you excited for Spring?

As always, drop me a comment to chat! ☺️

T xx

#WrapPost – January 2021!

The Biblioshelf6 Comments

Happy February Bibliofriends!

Life Update

Lockdown 3.0 has definitely put the kibosh on any kind of social life this month so I’ve been taking the opportunity to enjoy some down-time and catch up on things. Even though I’m still going into work every day, a habit that I have definitely tried to keep up so far is to make sure that I get outside and take myself off for a daily walk, even if it is just around the village. We had some snow in the middle of the month which was super exciting and it was wonderful to see our picturesque landscape become even more magical and beautiful!

As far as the blog goes, I’ve definitely been more active this month than I was for the last three months of 2020! I haven’t been reviewing many books though – I think I’ve kind of hit my reviewing wall where it sometimes feels that although I’ve got a lot of thoughts about a book, I’m just not sure how to even write them down or if I even should! Anyone else get reviewers block? What do you do to combat it? #tipsplease!

What I’ve Been Reading in January

January has been a pretty great month for reading! I’ve managed to finish five books and am almost finished my 6th. I pretty much stuck to the TBR I set out myself at the start of the year with the addition of a couple extra.

  • The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna (Physical ARC from FairyLoot)
    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
    This book had such a brilliant main character. I loved the concept of the plot and the way the heritage and traditions of another culture were interwoven with the magic and folklore of the story. One of the main things that shone for me was the fact that all of the girls in the story were from various backgrounds and races yet their differences were completely cast aside; they all brought something unique and special to their group in order to face the evils they had to contend with in the story. It was really empowering to have a cast of characters who showed their vulnerabilities yet supported each other to be strong and courageous at the same time. The Gilded Ones publishes on February 9th 2021!
  • How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black
    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
    As soon as this arrived I had to read it straightaway! I was head-over-heels for the Folk of the Air Series so this return to the world of Elfhame to read more of Jude and Cardan’s story was an absolute auto-buy. The illustrations were so beautiful. It reads as more of a short story style novella as we experiences different snapshots of Cardan’s life at various time intervals with one over-arching storyline plot which is tied together at the end. I gave it 5-stars purely for the nostalgia of being back in a series which I loved so much!
  • Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
    When I first read a sampler of this pre-publication I knew I would be adding this book to my TBR straightaway and I’m king of annoyed with myself that it took me so long to get round to reading the rest of it. The first part of the story is so rich in setting up the world and the mythology of Aritsar that I was captivated. I had been looking for fantasies that would appeal to my needs for diversity and different cultures and this one definitely stepped up to the plate. I can’t wait for the sequel!
  • Locke and Key, Volume 1: Welcome to Lovecraft by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodríguez (Artist)
    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
    I don’t usually tend to read comics or graphic novels but… after spending an entire weekend bingeing the Locke and Key series on Netflix I just had to investigate the original inspiration as soon as the final episode credits rolled. I think I’ll be doing a series vs graphic novel post about it so I won’t say too much here but the Netflix series blew my mind!!
  • Requiem by Daniel Ståhl (Author Request)
    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
    I was so pleased to be contacted by Daniel to read his poetry book Requiem which was published in December 2020 and is soon to be coming out in paperback. I’ll have a review coming up later this month with more information but the meticulous way Daniel crafted out his crowns of sonnets was so intriguing and unlike anything I’ve ever read before. It’s absolutely brilliant!

What I’ve Been Watching in January

January has definitely been a much more settled month after the chaos of moving house and Christmas at the end of 2020. We were without a TV for a while so I have very much enjoyed being able to unwind with Netflix and Disney+ again!

I finally finished my marathon of Hannah Montana episodes! I had seen the movie aaaggggeeeeess ago – so long in fact that I couldn’t actually remember what happened or who was even in it! When I got Disney+ I started watching all of the episodes of the TV show again with the aim of finishing off with the movie. It was around halfway through the final season where Hannah reveals herself as Miley that it suddenly dawned on me ‘how did she make a movie as Hannah if she’d already revealed herself to the world as Miley…?’ then I found a Reddit forum where it outlined the timeline of the shows and when the movie fitted in – it was such a face palm moment!

As I mentioned earlier in my reads section, I totally binged Locke and Key on Netflix. Magical keys in a big spooky house – wowzers!! And the ending… 😱 I will be needing the next series in my life. So. Very. Soon.

The series I most recently finished was Lupin; a series about a thief who wants to avenge his father’s suicide and takes his inspiration from the novels about the French Gentleman Thief Arsène Lupin by Maurice LeBlanc. Omar Sy is absolutely stellar as the lead character. Although I could see a couple of the plot twists coming, there are still enough unsolved questions for me to still be curious and in anticipation of Part 2! If you’re an Ocean’s Eleven / Sherlock Holmes fan then this would probably be right up your street!

#ConfessionTime – I’m also very hooked on The Masked Singer on ITV. I know it’s complete cheese TV but I just can’t help switching it on to try and guess who they all are! I’m adamant the Sausage is Sheridan Smith (p.s. I’m writing this on the last Saturday of Jan and there’s a double elimination tonight so if Sausage gets booted out, then my above sentence is still contextually accurate and I’ve probably been too lazy to come back here and edit it out! 😂 🙈)

I have managed to avoid everything Bridgerton at the moment, even though I love Shonda Rhimes, but I think I’m just fooling myself and will probably end up watching it soon… Should I??????

What I’ve Been Listening to in January

It’s pretty much been a literal never-ending shuffle play of Folklore, Evermore and Plastic Hearts…

What I’ve Been Doing in January

  • Very little – and loving it!
  • Reading, reading reading!
  • Discovering that Biscoff Apple Crumble is actually a very real and oh so delectable pudding! 😍
  • Walking!
  • Continuing my shiny quest in Pokémon Go – I’ve caught 6 in Jan: Jigglypuff, Machop, Weedle, Mareep x2 and Eevee, but no Sneasel or Miltank 🙁!
  • Becoming a Microsoft Teams / Remote Learning Aficionado – (who am I kidding?!) 😂

What I’m Looking Forward to it February

  • Finally being subscribed to Illumicrate! I took out my book-only subscription earlier in Jan so I’m hoping that I’ll be getting this month’s book!
  • Half Term holiday!
  • More adventuring in the great local outdoors and hopefully some more Pokémon shinies too (not gonna lie, sometimes it’s the only reason I go for a walk!) 😂

And that’s a wrap! What have you been reading/watching/listening to/doing in January? What are your anticipated reads for next month? How are you coping with Lockdown 3.0?

As always, drop me a comment to chat! ☺️

T xx

November Wrap Post

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Yoohoo Bibliofriends!

I’m finally getting around to writing my Wrap up for November! It was a month of epic proportions, read more below! ☺️

Life Update

This month has been so hectic, it’s unreal! School is just always so crazy and it seems that it’s only my social life that is in lockdown while work has gone full throttle!

In other news… I’ve actually moved house! We have been gradually renovating a property for a few years with the intention of moving into to when it was fully finished but other circumstances had us quickly having to move out of our old house and into our new one in a bit of a rush! It’s because of all those goings on that I have barely had the energy to read, let alone blog or tweet so there’ve been more gaps than I would have liked in my posting schedule this month! Thankfully, we are gradually getting our furniture set up and the boxes unpacked. I now have my own Office/Library space and my new house is just a walk away from the village centre where there is a library AND a bookshop! I’m in book heaven! Haha!

Blog Life

What I’ve Been Reading in November

  • The Savage Garden by Mark Mills – literally… that’s it – this is how my family know it’s a hectic time; I can;t remember the last time I only ever read one book in the month!!
  • I am part-way through reading a book called The Last Gospel but there’s still a fair way to go left in that before I finish it!

What I’ve Been Watching in November

  • The Umbrella Academy – I finally finished it! It had such a strange ending and I have so many more questions so I hope there’s going to be another series coming out soon!
  • We’ve finally caught up with The Crown ready for the new season! We’re such big fans of it in our house that we’ve already finished Season 4! The costumes and make-up are on point; it’s amazing how the actors really look and sound like the royals! Such drama!
  • I binge-watched Emily in Paris on one Saturday (seeing as we were in lockdown 2.0 and all!). It’s such a cute series, nowhere near as fun and original as Sex and the City was but it’s still a wonderful show to watch. I loved the characters and the costumes as well as that glorious Paris scenery. Roll on Season 2 – I need to know what happens next after that cliffhanger of an ending!
  • Little Italy – If you ever need a film that’ll make you crave pizza, this is it!
  • Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island – This premise and location had so much potential – unfortunately, I felt it was bit of a let down.

What I’ve Been Listening to in November

  • What with all of the US Election hype – I found myself addicted to the Americast podcast just to keep up with all of the goings-on.
  • Ready Player One (Audiobook) – deal of the week for just £3.99 – YES PLEASE! Ready Player One is one of my all-time favourite books ever so it’s been great listening to the audiobook before the release of the sequel. I think I missed out on the Waterstones signed editions but it safe to say that I can’t wait until August next year for the paperback to come out! I definitely need to read this soon!
  • Miley Cyrus’ Plastic Hearts album finally dropped – I have been downloading all of the live covers I can get my hands on in the promo run up to this album and I absolutely love it! It’s practically been on repeat with her duet of I Got So High That I Saw Jesus with her sister Noah Cyrus and the Heart of Glass Blondie cover she did too. It definitely feels like Miley has evolved from her chrysalis into a beautiful musical butterfly with this album.

What I’m Looking Forward to it December

  • Spending more time reading and finally finishing some books.
  • Unpacking the rest of my boxes and actually living in our new house.
  • Seeing people from my support bubble.
  • CHRISTMAS!!!

What are you looking forward to reading and doing in December?

As always, drop me a comment to chat! ☺️

T xx

October Wrap Post

The BiblioshelfLeave a comment

Happy November Bibliofriends!

I would say that it doesn’t feel that long since it was the September Wrap Post… but I never got around to writing one of those! So – it doesn’t seem like it’s been that long since I thought about writing the September Wrap Post! 😂

As usual, everything is in sections so feel free to skip to the ones you want to read (if you don’t want to hear about my boring life! 😂)
Apologies in advance that this post contains my favourite emoji 😂 many, MANY more times! #funnynotfunny

Life Update

Not gonna lie, I’m not in that great a place at the moment and the announcement of Lockdown 2.0 has just made things so much worse – which seems ironic given the many 😂 emojis. Honestly, if I’m not laughing, I’m crying – there is now no in-between on the mood front!

I’m glad we’re keeping schools open as there’s no way myself or my class would be able to access Remote Learning effectively due to wifi and other issues. The fact that I teach Years 3-6 all in one class can be challenging when you actually have the kids in the room with you, but to try replicating that online…?! Cue: brain confuddlement – so yes, very glad schools are open for now!

That being said, it feels like all of the things we enjoy in life have been taken away. All of the things I used to spend my evenings and weekends doing have been shut down or closed so it feels like all I am “allowed” to do is go to work then go home like a good little slave (and work isn’t that great at the moment either… everyone is so stressed and bogged down). It feels very much like ‘live to work’ rather than ‘work to live’.
I know that’s the case for most people, that I’m lucky to have a full-paying job to go to and that there truly are some horrific things happening out there; I’m very grateful that this is pretty much the worst of my problems but being at work like normal when it feels like the rest of the world isn’t is a really strange feeling that I don’t think my brain will ever be used to. Roll on December!

I had just got used to seeing my friends again and October was such a great time for that! I visited a local arboretum with friends I hadn’t seen since last Christmas. The trees were exquisite and it felt great to be doing something outside in the fresh air and in nature! I also went Pokemon hunting on Pokemon Go with some other friends and caught myself a shiny Charmander! It’s definitely made me want to get out and walk more (I’m trying to big up the “health benefits” of playing Pokemon here!). 😂🙈

The saddest part of the month was losing our beloved dog in late October. He’d been with us for over 10 years but sadly he just became so ill that it was unfair to let him decline and suffer. We still have one dog to pour our love into but the house is so quiet now and our dogs really were parts of our family rather than just animals. I still keep expecting to see him running through the door or jumping onto my lap and haven’t quite got used to the fact that he isn’t here anymore yet. I’m devastated 💔

So yes, October has been full of highs and lows, more than any other month. I’m trying so hard to be positive for November but it just isn’t happening at the moment. Hopefully there’ll be some amazing books to read and fictional worlds to get lost in!

Blog Life

These past couple of months have been pretty OK on the blog. I think this has been the longest period of time with regular/weekly posting since I set the whole thing up – so I’m taking that as a mini achievement! 😂

This month I did my very first series of posts about If Lord of the Rings Characters had Modern day Occupations. It’s the first time I’ve written posts like that so I was pleased that I managed to get them all out and scheduled! *mini achievement again – yay!* You can read all of the parts here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

I definitely want to do another post like that at some point in the future, maybe with another fandom… any suggestions?!

Sometimes I’ve dropped off doing some Tag Tuesdays (feel free to tag me for any books tags – sometimes it’s the kick up the ass I need to do them!). I started doing Fae Friday which I’m hoping to keep up with more over the next month and maybe I’d like to start doing Top Ten Tuesdays again… so many options!

I was finally nominated by the wonderful Alex at MyBookWorld24 to do my first ever Sunshine Blogger Award! I had so much fun doing it and am thrilled that the lovely Ahaana at Windows to Worlds has nominated me to do it again! If anyone wants to be nominated then drop me a comment below! You can find my first SBA here!

What I’ve Been Reading in September and October

Across the two months I read 11 books which is pretty good going for me considering that the start of a new school term is always busy with less time for reading! Book titles will take you through to reviews (if I’ve written one for it!).

  • Beach Read by Emily Henry ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  • Hag: Forgotten Folk Tales Retold ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  • The Thieves of Ostia by Caroline Lawrence ⭐️⭐️⭐️
  • The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  • Thorn by Intisar Khanani ⭐️⭐️⭐️
  • The Windsor Knot by S.J. Bennett ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
  • Cloak of Night (Circle of Shadows #2) by Evelyn Skye ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
  • A Curse of Ash and Embers by Jo Spurrier ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 (review to come)
  • A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement and Vision For the Future by Sir David Attenborough ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (review to come)
  • The Island by C.L. Taylor ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 (review to come)
  • All the Wandering Light (Even the Darkest Stars #2) by Heather Fawcett ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (review to come)

What I’ve Been Watching in September and October

These last couple of months have been so strange that I’ve pretty much just been watching episodes of TV Shows back to back rather than full-length films. My attention span isn’t long enough for a full-length movie or by the time I’ve sat down in the evening ready to watch TV, the films are too long to watch in one evening so we ended up watching The Crown as we haven’t seen it before. It’s so brilliant – the actors, the voices, the costumes! I love it. Hopefully, the arrival of Season 4 in the middle of November will be something to look forward to in the middle of the month.

The other thing that my TV life revolves around is The Great British Bake Off! It sounds so shallow but I am loving the fact that even a global pandemic could not stop one of my favourite TV shows from happening! Bring on the trumpets! 😂 #wheresmycake

What I’ve Been Listening to in September and October

So we’re still on the Taylor Swift / Dolly Parton / The Dixie Chicks soundtrack from August but then towards the end of October, Miley Cyrus started doing those amazing live sessions and festivals in the build up to her new album which I am so excited about. I love her voice and the way she has changed musically as she’s shed the Hannah Montana skin and found her own fairly winding path through life and adulthood.

Songs that are on repeat the most:
Heart of Glass (Live from the iHeart Music Festival) – Miley Cyrus
betty (Live from the 2020 Academy of Country Music Awards) – Taylor Swift
Malibu (Lost Frequencies Remix) – Miley Cyrus
Zombie (Live from the NIVA Save our Stages Festival) – Miley Cyrus
I Got So High That I Saw Jesus (Live recording ft. Miley Cyrus) – Noah Cyrus

What I’m Looking Forward to it November

  • Getting through it???? 🙈
  • Escaping to fictional worlds and more reading (obvs!)
  • Ready Player Two being released!
  • New series of The Crown on Netflix.
  • My new horse should have his debut run for us at some point this month.
  • Potentially moving house…?! *who knows when it’ll actually happen – but it’s getting closer… the packing has started!*
  • Blog-hopping – I seriously need to get my ass in gear and spend more time appreciating other people’s posts! It’s on my Habit Tracker for November – promise!

Writing this list has made me feel slightly more positive now for this month! 😂 Perhaps I’ll have to start writing a daily list of things I’m grateful for and what I’m looking forward to in order to get me out of this gloomy hole I’m in! I am very aware I need to stop whining – sorry everyone! 😂🙈🙃

And that’s a wrap! What have you been reading/watching/listening to/doing in October? How was your Halloween – what were your favourite spooky reads? What are your most anticipated November reads? And HOW are you coping with Lockdown 2.0??? Let me know in the comments!

As always, drop me a comment to chat! ☺️

T xx

August Wrap Post

The Biblioshelf6 Comments

Happy September Bibliofriends!

This post was supposed to come to you way earlier in the week on Bank Holiday Monday right at the end of August but you can blame a particular little ARC of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab for keeping me from writing – more on that later!

August was such a wonderful month. Summer holidays reigned supreme and I spent a majority of the time down at my little house by the sea. It was so tranquil and peaceful, there’s something about being in Cornwall that just makes everything seem much more relaxing and chilled out.

I also decided that now was the time to have a major destash of all my FairyLoot haul. I’ve been a subscriber since February 2017 and had religiously kept every single item and book from all the boxes (I’m a self-confessed hoarder 🙊). I suddenly realised that I just didn’t need that many pouches, art prints or a pirate wax seal anymore so I listed a major haul of around 70 different items and books.

One of my funniest selling mistakes was listing about 30 different items for 10-day auctions one rainy Saturday afternoon. I suddenly realised when all of the bids came flooding in on the final day that I’d have to get all of it down to the Post Office. Thankfully they were very patient and I kept going back round the line several times so I didn’t hold up the queue! Definitely a lesson learnt for the future!

What I’ve Been Reading in August

August was such a good reading month for me – not just because I managed to finish six books, but also because I know I have read some of my favourite books of the whole year!

  • Twelve: Poems Inspired by the Brothers Grimm Fairytale by Andrea Blythe (NetGalley)
    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
    I’m such a fan of fairytales and this was the perfect quick-read to start off the month. It is published this Tuesday 7th September by Interstellar Flight Press and if like me you love your fairytales then you have to check this out! You can read my review here.
  • The Mist Keeper’s Apprentice by E.S. Barrison (Author Request) ⭐️⭐️⭐️
    I was so grateful to be given the opportunity to read this first instalment in the Life and Death Cycle by E.S. Barrison. It’s a New-Adult, Dark Fantasy and has a really intriguing, complex world at its centre. Spoiler-free review here.
  • Given to the Earth by Mindy McGinnis (Hardback)
    ⭐️⭐️⭐️
    It felt great to finally find out the conclusion to this series. It’s definitely been one I’ve wanted to tick off my list and I was pleasantly surprised by how satisfying I found the ending to be. Review to come later this week.
  • Unlikely Angel: The Songs of Dolly Parton by Lydia R. Hamessley (NetGalley)
    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
    I’m a HUGE Dolly Parton fan so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to read this on NetGalley. It’s coming out on 12th October 2020 and if you’re interested in Dolly’s music career and the meanings/inspirations behind some of her most well-known songs then you should definitely check this out! You can read my review here.
  • The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow (NetGalley)
    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
    This was the witchy witchy book I had been waiting for! I was massively excited when I got approved for it on NetGalley and boy, it did not disappoint. Sassy, empowered, fierce witches looking to find and take back their witching ways in the town of New Salem in 1893. I devoured every single word. It’s published on 15th October 2020 and is going to be perfect to get you right in the Halloween spirit. Review up later this month!
  • The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab (Netgalley)
    ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
    This book… This. Book. 😍
    I’m not even guilty or ashamed that I’m totally bragging about the fact that I got this as an ARC from NetGalley – I literally squealed with excitement when that glorious little email pinged into my inbox. This is definitely one of my favourite books (if not THE favourite book) of the entire year. It’s also my first ever time reading anything Schwab! I adored it.
    It was one of those stay up all night to finish reads, I ended with tears running down my cheeks and nearly a week after finishing it I haven’t read anything else all goddamn week – completely bookishly hungover! It’s published on 6th October 2020 and guys… you need to read this book! Review to come soon (after the book hangover!).

What I’ve Been Watching in August

So I’ve finally got Netflix which has inspired some of my more recent films and viewings, and after chatting on Twitter and with one of my IRL friends, my Grey’s Anatomy addiction has returned! They weren’t exactly the best influences on my attempts to get reading done this month! With a Dolly inspired read, naturally Dolly inspired movies were next (Wild Texas Wind and Straight Talk). We’re also hooked on Money Heist at the moment and are about to go into Season 2 – I’d never thought I could spend this much time glued to just one robbery at the Spanish Royal Mint but I can’t wait to find out what happens next.

Here’s my full run down of the month:

  • The Pitch Perfect Trilogy
  • Wild Texas Wind
  • Straight Talk
  • Charlie’s Angels (2019)
  • Baby Driver
  • A Quiet Place
  • Knives Out
  • Blue Jasmine
  • Ready Player One
  • Murder Mystery
  • Eurovision
  • Money Heist (Season 1)
  • Grey’s Anatomy (Seasons 1-3)

What I’ve Been Listening to in August

Let’s face it – August has had the exact same soundtrack as July in that my headphones have been blasting out a plethora of Dolly Parton, Gaslighter by The Chicks and Folklore by Taylor Swift.

With the ever-building hype and anticipation regarding the release of Ready Player Two in November, I re-watched Ready Player One and got into such an obsessiveness over its brilliance [the book by Ernest Cline is on my God Tier of best books ever…] that I even watched all of the special features. This then caused my to download some of the soundtrack and also some of the Avengers music (RIP Chadwick Boseman 😔) which was also composed by the amazing Alan Silvestri – the Portals scene and music just get me everytime!

What I’ve Been Doing in August

  • Very little – and loving it!
  • Reading, reading reading!
  • Cornwall chilling!
  • FairyLoot destash!

What I’m Looking Forward to it September

  • Would this be a book blog if I didn’t put ‘reading’ at the top?
  • Catching up with friends and making more plans!
  • Horse-racing and Rugby making a comeback so that I might actually get to watch some live sport.
  • Work hopefully being a little more stress-free for a change… wishful thinking?!

And that’s a wrap! What have you been reading/watching/listening to/doing in August? Are you still listening to Folklore? What are your most anticipated September reads?

As always, drop me a comment to chat! ☺️

T xx

July Wrap Post

The Biblioshelf3 Comments

Happy August Bibliofriends!

I’m so excited for August getting into full swing! After all that was happening at school towards the end of term (it’s been a year unlike any other…) it has been so nice to finally break up for the summer holidays.

What I’ve Been Reading in July

I’m currently 8 books ahead of schedule on my Goodreads Reading Challenge! I’m so pleased because it really feels like I’m going to actually achieve my challenge for the first time in 3 years! I’ve also managed to keep the blogging going through some busy school times and am now looking at 4 straight months of consistent content, hopefully August will be the 5th and I can keep it going this time throughout the new term in September and beyond. Having a reading journal to plan posts ahead of time and setting my own routines for publishing content has really helped as well.

I’m looking slightly short on book tags so if anyone wants to tag me in any then please feel free!! 🤓

  • These Divided Shores by Sara Raasch ⭐️⭐️⭐️
    It was good to finally get this series ticked off my reading list. The island of Grace Loray was a spectacular setting but I felt that the plot felt a little flat towards the end. You can read my review here.
  • Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett (Audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
    This was such a humorous audiobook to listen to. Martin Jarvis is a brilliant narrator and was perfect for some of these characters. Review to come!
  • Dolly on Dolly: Interviews and Encounters with Dolly Parton by Randy L. Schmidt (Ed.) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
    I’ve been totally going back into my country music phase recently and this was a great compilation of interviews throughout Dolly’s brilliant career.
  • Esme’s Wish by Elizabeth Foster ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
    I fell in love with the land of Esperance. It’s definitely on my fictional travels bucket list now. You can read my review here.
  • Ignite the Sun by Hanna C. Howard ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
    The range of characters in this book were perfect for a folklore fan like me. Review up later this month!

What I’ve Been Watching in July

I’ve been having a bit of a clear out of my DVD stash as we’re trying to de-clutter before we move. I made a hug pile of films that I wasn’t sure I wanted to get rid of or not so I’ve been trying to watch all of them so I can decide whether they stay or go!

  • The Bling Ring ⭐️⭐️⭐️
    Starring Emma Watson this Sofia Coppola directed film retells the real-life story of the gang who burglarised some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. It’s a fun film for a rainy afternoon.
    Verdict: Go
  • Wild Child ⭐️⭐️⭐️
    Emma Roberts has to adjust from her Malibu lifestyle when she is sent to an all-girls boarding school in England. I can’t help but love this film!
    Verdict: Stay
  • Love, Rosie ⭐️⭐️
    A typical rom-com about a couple who never seem to be able to get it together. Based on the novel Where Rainbows End by Cecilia Ahern.
    Verdict: Go
  • One Day ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
    Based on the novel of the same name by David Nicholls, Anne Hathaway practises her English accent in this film about how two people spend St. Swithin’s Day on each year of their friendship. It has such a bittersweet ending and I sobbed so much at the book!
    Verdict: Stay
  • The Duchess ⭐️⭐️
    Keira Knightley stars in this biopic about Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire. I just can’t seem to like this move. The costumes are brilliant but it’s just such a harsh story.
    Verdict: Go
  • The Bounty Hunter ⭐️⭐️⭐️
    There’s just something so enjoyable about this Jennifer Aniston/Gerard Butler flick where he is the bounty hunter tasked with bringing his ex-wife in.
    Verdict: Stay
  • The Break Up ⭐️⭐️⭐️
    I can’t help but cry at this end of this movie. Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn really tear each other apart after their break-up – makes me glad sometimes that my life isn’t that complicated!
    Verdict: Stay
  • Eat, Pray, Love ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
    I watched this for the first time this month and though it was so inspiring. It’s definitely made me want to read the book and travel more.
    Verdict: Stay
  • Keeping Up with the Joneses (Film 4) ⭐️⭐️⭐️
    I watched this one rainy afternoon when I was bored. It did exactly what it said on the tin.
  • Hannah Montana – Seasons 1 and 2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
    I admit it, this is one of my guilty pleasures! I’ve loved binge-watching it on Disney +!
  • Unlikely Angel ⭐️⭐️⭐️
    I don’t know why I watched a Christmas film in July but it’s Dolly so…!
  • Artemis Fowl (Disney +) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
    This was such a brilliant film. I haven’t read the book yet but if they are as good as the film then I’m sure to like them!
  • Hamilton ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
    Wow! I am so glad this came onto Disney +. Since all of the massive hype I knew I had to see it. I have to confess, I don;t know that much of the story but I had no idea how talented Lin-Manuel is. What a great musical.

What I’ve Been Listening to in July

  • Taylor Swift – Folklore ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
    What an album! This is exactly the stripped back Swift music I’ve been waiting for. I love her pop stuff but this just gave another level to her music and felt like she was evolving some of her earlier country roots.
  • The Chicks – Gaslighter ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
    I had this on pre-order ever since it was announced. I’ve been a fan of The (Dixie) Chicks for years. They recently changed their name due to the connotations surrounding the word Dixie and although it isn’t my favourite one of my favourite albums of theirs, it’s so good to have new music from them again.
  • Dolly Parton – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
    So as I said earlier, my music tastes seem to have gone way back to my country roots again. I rewatched Dolly’s set from Glastonbury during the lockdown as the BBC had put a load of repeats on with the 2020 Glasto being cancelled etc and I’ve been downloading and playing her songs ever since! I love the recent song she did with Galantis Faith and the duet she did with Miley Cyrus Rainbowland. They’ve been on repeat a lot!

What I’ve Been Doing in July

  • School finally finished! What a mammoth term it has been. I’m on holiday mode now so I won’t go over it too much here but I am so glad the year is finally over and the summer holidays can be enjoyed!
  • Horse Racing is getting into it’s swing again. They aren’t letting many owners onto the track nowadays but it has been so nice to spend mornings down at the stable year again. I loved seeing my horses! We’ve also been having lots of Zoom meetings as we are planning a Virtual Owners’ Day in August. We normally have a big day at the yard with lots of food, live music and it’s a really big event but obviously we can;t quite do that this year so it’s all going to be virtual instead.
  • Picnic in the Park: I finally got to meet up with my friends again! It was so strange getting myself ready to go out for a social event again. I did my hair, nails, everything and all we did was sit in the park and eat take-out burgers! 😂 It’s been ages since I’ve seen any friends in person so it was real nice to catch up and chat again.
  • ‘Summer Cleaning’: Now that the house move is creeping closer and closer as renovations are finalised, I’ve been starting to declutter and go through some of my stuff. A lot of clothes have been bagged up, I’ve already mentioned the DVDs above. I’ve even started going through all of my Fairyloot box items and books and have started putting them together ready to sell. It’s been quite a productive time actually!
  • Cornwall! I have a little house down by the sea so it has been wonderful to spend some time relaxing, reading and going on beach walks. I brought my 17 year old cousin down for a few days… boy does she walk for miles!! I’ve never walked so much in such a long time – one day we did over 20,000 steps in about five hours! My legs were knackered by the time she went home. We went around the whole of Rame peninsula and she enjoyed our shopping day in Plymouth. It was so nice to have some company to do things with and now I’m here by myself so it’s brilliant to have the headspace for reading and catching up on my book reviews/blogging that have been piling up recently.

What I’m Looking Forward to it August

  • Reading, Reading, Reading! 🤓 I did a post about my summer reading goals back in July. As I’m a mood reader, I’m not sure if I’ll stick to them or have time to do all of them but there are some definite novels that I ‘need’ to read to this month.
  • Spending more time in Cornwall – it’s hard to know what is open with the pandemic and all of the different social distancing measures around. I’m hoping to visit the Eden Project soon as I’ve never been there despite having been here for about 3 years!
  • Finishing the renovations – apparently it’s going to take another few months, but I’m getting so impatient to move into my new house already that I just want it to happen now!! 🙈
  • Getting braver – as an introvert, and an introvert with anxiety and other issues… spending some time by myself has actually been helping me to be able to go out and try new things on my own so I’m looking forward to putting my brave pants on a little more throughout August!

And that’s a wrap! What have you been reading/watching/listening to/doing in July? What are you looking forward to doing in August? Do you have a set reading or goals list that you want to try and achieve?

As always, drop me a comment to chat! ☺️

T xx

June Wrap Post!

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Hi Bibliofriends – Happy 4th of July American friends!

How are you all doing? June really knocked the wind out of my sails blogging and reading-wise. I’ve gone from reading about 9 books a month to finishing just 3.

The School Grumbles…

The sole reason for this is being back at school full-time. We’ve been open anyway the whole way through lockdown, even extending our opening hours into the evenings for keyworkers. May half-term was spent entirely in school trying to finish risk-assessments and put all of the social distancing measures in place around the whole school as well as work out staggered drop-offs, pick-ups, toilet allocations, bubble groupings etc etc. And since June 1st it’s literally been non-stop. We’ve now managed to get every single one of our kids who wanted to come back into school and I’m feeling so proud of our team for pulling together, being flexible and achieving something which it doesn’t sound like many school (in our area anyway) have been able to achieve. As a member of the Senior Leadership Team it kind of fell to us to put all of those plans into place and action them as quickly as we could. I’m exhausted, mentally drained, have barely anything left to give and am practically crawling to the finish-line in July. Reading all of the teacher-bashing in the media has been a real exercise in ‘switching off the negative voices’ but on the plus side I’ve also met some wonderfully supportive people in the teacher community. To anyone who thinks they could have done a better job: you are welcome to come and spend a week with me at school. Even though I’m knackered, it has been so worth it to see our children back in school, trying their best to work with the ‘new normal’ and their smiles and resilience have made these last few months and weeks all worth it!

Books I’ve Read

The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Atomic Habits by James Clear (Audiobook) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Shadow and Flame by Mindee Arnett ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Currently Reading

These Divided Shores by Sara Raasch
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett (Audiobook)

Films I’ve Seen

Downton Abbey: The Movie ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Kitchen: ⭐️⭐️
Maleficent – Mistress of Evil: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Driven: ⭐️⭐️
Prince of Persia – Sands of Time: ⭐️⭐️
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Incredibles 2: ⭐️⭐️
Jack Reacher: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Seven: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Captain Phillips: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Godzilla – King of Monsters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Alien: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Aliens: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Take (Bastille Day): ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Elsewhere in my little world, with lockdown easing I finally got to see my friend who is expecting her baby in a few weeks time. It was so wonderful just to have a BBQ and sit and talk to friends face to face rather than via Zoom or text messages and it really feels as if the world is slowly becoming more normal again!

Hopefully with the summer looming my reading will pick up again in July and I’ll be well on my way to meeting the elusive reading goal of 45 books which has somehow escaped me over the past couple of years!

What was your June highlight? What are you looking forward to doing now that lockdown is easing? What are your July reading goals? Feel free to drop me your blog links below and leave a comment if you want to chat!

Have a good month everyone!

T xx

May Wrap Post & Haul!

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Hey Bibliofriends!

May was such a brilliant reading month for me. It seemed that some of my bookish and blog goals were coming together as I managed to read some of my first NetGalley requests and also got approached by some authors and publishing companies through both my blog and Twitter! It’s definitely helped me to keep topping up my blog content and I’ve found a brilliant way to utilise my FairyLoot Reading journal as a blog planner so that I can keep track of my reading and blogging all in one place!

May was also my birthday month as it seemed a little strange not being able to go and celebrate with all of my friends together however I did have a wonderful picnic and walk through our local countryside with my family. I’m so lucky to live in a place with lots of hills and woodland on my doorstep. The sunshine has been pretty spectacular too!

So with birthday presents and all, this month has seen a pretty spectacular book haul which is why this post may be super long. There’s a kind of contents list below so you can skip to any part you wanted to! Thanks for reading about my topic month!

  • Books I Read in May
  • May’s Book Haul
  • Movies I Watched

Books I Read In May

The Flat Share by Beth O’Leary
Rating: 📚📚📚

After the absolute mission that was OWLs Readathon I felt like I needed something light and funny to kick off May. I’d had a chapter sampler of this sent to me pre-publication and it was brilliant. I liked the uniqueness of Leon and Tiffy’s situation. Read the review here.

The Carpet Cipher by Jane Thornley
Rating: 📚📚

I requested to read this through Netgalley and managed to get through it in about 2 days. To be honest, I don’t think my read pile would have been terribly sad if this wasn’t in it. I rarely get annoyed by a book but there was so much promise for this from the blurb but for me, it raised more questions than actual enjoyment. Read the review here.

The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller
Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Wow, wow, wow! This book was the dark, delicious poisoned apple offered by the Wicked Queen that I devoured. Luxurious, deceptive and romantic; if you love a Slytherin romance with a determined and headstrong character then you need to add this to your TBR. Read my review here.

The Spaces Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
Rating: 📚📚📚📚

It’s been a while since I read something purely sci-fi without the fantasy element and this was my first actually accepted request from NetGalley!!! *still jumping up and down in excitement* I loved idea of the book set in a multiverse of 382 Earths and the idea of being able to walk in all of the worlds your doppelganger no longer occupied. The mixture of scientific and spiritual was really well-balanced and I enjoyed the journey the main character took into finding her identify and place in the world. Traverse on over to the review here.

Descendant of the Crane by Joan He
Rating: 📚📚📚📚

May was a super lucky month for NetGalley approvals as I also received this book which had been on my TBR ever since its first release date in 2019. Descendant of the Crane did not disappoint. This book is more of a slower-paced read as there was a lot of description and information to digest as each new revelation was revealed. At the centre of it all was a trial and investigation into who killed the King which led to lots of other backstories and crises of revolt and impending war upon the country of Yan. If you like lots of world-building and information interspersed with plenty of action in a deliciously oriental palace setting, then check out my review on 10th June to see if Descendant of the Crane is right up your literary street.

Queen of Ruin by Tracy Banghart
Rating: 📚📚📚.5

As part of my mission to try and finish off some of the series that I had already started I read this sequel to Grace and Fury. I managed to steamroller my way through this book really quickly. I absolutely love the whole concept of Mount Ruin, not that it’s a prison (obviously) but just the role it plays in the story. Review coming up soon!

A Touch of Death (The Outlands Pentalogy) by Rebecca Crunden
Rating: 📚📚📚.5

I am so grateful to Rebecca for approaching me to read this first book in her series. I had so much fun getting to know the characters and explore the Kingdom of Cutta. The book had a fantastic dystopian vibe and it was wonderful to read something which seemed to balance both ends of the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre quite well. I’m currently in the process of writing my review which will be coming up later this month!

May Book Haul

With it being my birthday this month, the rule about not-buying any more books was not just broken, but annihilated! Some of these were treats to myself and some of them were birthday gifts. Many of these were sequels that I purchased specifically just to try and finish some off before starting others.

Physical Books

Bone Crier’s Moon by Kathryn Purdie [Fairyloot March Box – Exclusive Edition]
Queen of Ruin by Tracy Banghart (sequel to Grace and Fury)
Shadow and Flame by Mindee Arnett (sequel to Onyx and Ivory)
These Divided Shores by Sara Raasch (sequel to These Rebel Waves)
Rage by Cora Carmack (sequel to Roar)
All the Wandering Light (sequel to Even the Darkest Stars)
Given to the Earth (sequel to Given to the Sea)
Cloak of Night by Evelyn Skye (sequel to Circle of Shadows)
Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas
Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare (Book 2 of The Infernal Devices trilogy)
FairyLoot’s April Box Book (I kept this one spoiler free for now!)

E-Books / E-Arcs

The Spaces Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson (NetGalley e-arc)
The Carpet Cipher by Jane Thornley (NetGalley)
The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary
Descendant of the Crane by Joan He (NetGalley e-arc – rerelease)
The Rain Heron by Robbie Arnott (NetGalley e-arc)
Ignite the Sun by Hanna Howard (NetGalley e-arc)
Twelve: Poems Inspired by the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale by Andrea Blythe (Netgalley e-arc)
My Fence is Electric by Mark Newman (Short Story Collection: ePub thanks to Odyssey Books)
A Touch of Death (The Outlands Pentalogy) by Rebecca Crunden (thank you Rebecca! ☺️)

Movies I Watched in May

Having the Sky Cinema bundle on NowTV has been such a lifesaver for my film addiction whilst in lockdown! Some of the films are brand new streams and some were a little older.

Dora The Explorer: City of Lost Gold
Darkest Hour
Stuber
Fast and Furious: Hobbs and Shaw
Hudson Hawk
Closer
Hotel Artemis
The Meg
Escape Room
Captain Marvel
Avengers: Endgame
Spiderman: Far From Home
American Made
The Billionaire Boys Club

Back at the tail end of 2019, I purchased the Marvel Cinematic Universe boxsets on Blu-Ray as I hadn’t seen them all. Making my way through all of the films across the four boxsets reminded me a little of the guys that paint the Forth Bridge in Scotland; once they get to the end, it’s pretty much time to start repainting again from the beginning – it’s taken me so long to get through the entire Marvel Universe that now I feel that I need to go right back and watch them all in chronological order! 😂

What has been your highlights of May? Did you get an impressive book haul or achieve any of your bookish goals? What are you looking forward to in June? As always, drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

OWLs Readathon and April Wrap-Up

The Biblioshelf3 Comments

Happy May Biblioshelf Friends!

Welcome to the OWLs Magical Readathon and Monthly Wrap Post Mash-Up!
This post started small and then gradually gathered moss so it’s a pretty epic one. I’ve put a kind of contents list below so feel free to scroll to any particular section rather than having to suffer through the whole thing if you want – it is pretty long!

  1. All About OWLs Magical Readathon 2020
  2. New Biblioshelf Twitter
  3. My Chosen Wizarding Careers Path
  4. Books Read in April
  5. Films Watched in April

All about the Magical Readathon

So this month, I took part in the OWLs Magical Readathon for the second time. For those of you who don’t already know, Magical Readathon is a Wizarding World themed, month-long readathon hosted by G (Book Roast). Every year she creates this amazing Wizarding Careers booklet and picks bookish prompts to match each of the Hogwarts school subjects taken at OWLs level. Which prompts you chose depends on the career path you want to complete. In August, we then take our NEWTs and study the final exams/reading prompts for our chosen careers.
It is heaps of fun and G makes it really entertaining by hosting reading sprints, quidditch trials and quizzes. A page counter also lets you submit your reading in return for House Points and those all clock up to see who wins the House Cup at the end of the contest.

iu

Obviously… *Snape drawl* you can participate in as much or as little as you like so you don’t have to be too daunted with all of the ongoing festivities. This year was extra-special fun as two of my friends also joined in and we created our own little reading WhatsApp group to discuss our progress!

New Twitter!

I went to the extreme of making my own BookTwitter just to take part in the Readathon! I had been thinking of doing this for a while anyway now just seemed like the perfect time. I’ve kind of neglected my bookstagram badly and been spending a lot more time on my personal Twitter account. You can follow my bookish account @biblioshelf if you wanted to – come and say ‘Hi!’, I usually always follow back! So far I am loving the BookTwitter community so fingers crossed I can keep it going now that it’s original purpose has ended!

Chosen Wizarding Career Path

Last year, I graduated as a Hogwarts Professor so this year I decided to try something a little different. Being as indecisive as I am at the moment, I settled on two different career paths, Spell-Maker and Ministry Worker (Department of Mysteries). That way I figured I could choose the one that I preferred best by the end… however, I did kind of screw myself over as this meant that I had to do 9 of the 12 overall prompts…

Prompts and Books Read

ᚠ Ancient Runes: Read a book with a heart on the cover or title.
A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmer – 📚📚📚📚
Read my review here!

Abacus on Apple  Arithmancy: Read something outside of your favourite genre.
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel – 📚📚📚📚📚
Review to come on 6th May

💫 Astronomy: Read a majority of the book when it’s dark outside.
Awful Auntie by David Walliams – 📚📚📚

✨ Charms: Read a book with a white cover.
Selected Poems by T.S. Eliot – 📚📚

💀 Defence Against the Dark Arts: Read a book set at the coast or at sea.
The Beholder by Anna Bright – 📚📚📚.5

🔮 Divination: Read a book using a random number generator from your TBR.
Romanov by Nadine Brandes – 📚📚📚📚

📖 History of Magic: Read a book with witches or wizards in it.
Circe by Madeline Miller – 📚📚📚📚

🕷 Potions: Read a book under 150 pages.
Here We Are by Oliver Jeffers – 📚📚📚📚📚

🎴 Transfiguration: Read a book featuring a shapeshifter.
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare – 📚📚📚

Total pages read: 3272

I am so happy that I actually finished my OWLs! I mean, it was down to the wire right up to the last day but April has definitely been my best month for reading so far. I started the month being behind on my Goodreads reading goal of 45 books and now I think I’m 2 ahead! #winning 🍾
Bring on the NEWTs in August, the Spell-Maker/Ministry Worker dream is still alive!

Films I Watched

I can’t remember if I mentioned this anywhere before, but at the start of lockdown I came across a Sky Movies deal on Now TV that was 2 months of movies for £2; it’s one of the best £2 I’ve ever spent. Those of you who knew me from before might recall that I’m part of a film club. We used to go to the cinema about 2-3 times a week; now everything is shut we’re having to get our film fix in other ways. Here’s what I watched this month – some were rewatches and others were films that I’d missed from last year.

The Kid Who Would Be King: 🎬🎬🎬🎬
Loved this movie, not just because I have ties to Cornwall but King Arthur’s tales have always been a part of folklore I’d love to read more about.

Clue: 🎬🎬🎬🎬
I am a massive sucker for board games, particularly Cluedo and this film was just so perfect, can’t believe I haven’t seen it before!

Bad Times at the El Royale: 🎬🎬🎬
I missed this when it came out at the cinema and was so glad to get the chance to watch it. It had a really interesting plotline and I wasn’t at all sure which characters to trust or believe in.

The Secret Life of Pets 2: 🎬🎬🎬
Gotta say, I still think the trailer for the first film is the best part of this franchise, otherwise, it’s pretty much your average animal animation movie. I still loved it though!

Coco: 🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬
I’ve always known that everyone has said I should watch Coco but I didn’t really understand why until I actually saw it! The music, the graphics, the heartfelt message in the story, it was pure magic!

Spider-Man into the Spider Verse: 🎬🎬🎬
This was the 2018 film of the year in our film club but I never got around to seeing it when it came out at the cinema. I can admire the storyline, the production and everything but sorry guys, Spiderman is just not my thing!

Rocketman: 🎬🎬🎬🎬
This was a rewatch for me but I think Taron Egerton does an exceptional job at portraying Elton John. I really love his music and the movie felt so raw and personal.

Yesterday: 🎬🎬🎬🎬
Another musical rewatch. Richard Curtis is one of my favourite film makers. I think he’s a bit of a genius really and it was so much fun seeing him do a talk at the Cheltenham Literature Festival last year. I thought Yesterday had such an intriguing storyline and actually made me fall a tiny bit in love with The Beatles.

Mission Impossible Fallout: 🎬🎬
I’m not the biggest MI or Tom Cruise fan so this just went over my head really as an afternoon filler.

What Men Want: 🎬
I thought this would at least be funny enough to keep me entertained. Sadly, it wasn’t!

Mary Poppins Returns: 🎬🎬🎬🎬
I adore Emily Blunt and Julie Andrews. I think Disney did an incredible job at giving Mary Poppins a fresh new life, whether it needed it is another matter. I love the little nods to the original but can’t help wishing whether I feel Julie Andrews should have just done that little role as the balloon lady at the end. I can totally see why she didn’t want to be involved but I just can’t decide whether my heart wanted her to do the cameo or she was better off just staying out of it. I’ve clearly thought about that way too much…

Aqua Man: 🎬🎬🎬
Like in books, any kind of watery film will instantly make it to my watch list. I wouldn’t say this is the most ground breaking film DC have ever done but I really did enjoy watching it.

Pokémon Detective Pikachu: 🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬
I need a sequel to this film NOW! I love Pokémon, so much so that after the film I had to complete the Pokémon book tag. You can find it here.

Ma: 🎬🎬
Octavia Spencer does a really great job at playing a creepy role although I just couldn’t stop myself from yelling “why would you do that?!” to the bunch of kids who decided to go and illegally drink with her in her basement.

The Lion King: 🎬🎬🎬🎬.5
The Lion King is one of my all-time favourite Disney films, so much so that I made my Y6s do it as their end of year production last year. I was very sceptical about this live action remake which is why it has taken me this long to get around to watching it. I think it’s brilliant…and yes I still cried at all my favourite songs!

If you’ve reached this far… 👏👏👏 Well done! I can’t actually believe that I’ve watched and read so much!

Did you take part in OWLs? Did you reach your reading goal for April? If you want to chat films/books/Readathon, as always drop me a comment to chat or leave me a link to your own wrap!

Enjoy the weekend!

T xx

September Review / October TBR

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Hey Bibliofriends,

A brand new month is upon us…well it will be tomorrow.

What I’m Reading

I’m still currently reading ‘Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix‘ which I started earlier this month but have now also begun ‘These Wicked Waves‘ by Emily Layne which is an e-arc from Netgalley due to be released on October 22nd. What will really kickstart my reading again is when my copy of ‘Into the Crooked Kingdom‘ by Alexandra Christo arrives in the post. I won a copy of it from Readers First which is a website I’d recommend to any book lover. You can get a first look at selected upcoming releases and if you write a brief review you get entered into a prize draw to win the book. I have previously won copies of ‘Wicked King’ and Alexandra’s first novel ‘To Kill a Kingdom’ from them – to be honest, the three book draws I’ve entered have all been successful. There aren’t a huge amount of YA/Fantasy novels that come through but it’s a great way to win a book!

October TBR

To be honest, with the current state of my reading, my October TBR will probably consist of the three books I’ve mentioned in the above paragraph. With half term towards the end of October, I’m hopeful to start ticking a few more off my list. You can read about what those books are in my previous TTT post here.

Films I’ve Seen in September

  • IT: Chapter Two – based on the Stephen King novel this thriller didn’t scare me as much as the first instalment of this movie reboot. Don’t get me wrong, the clown is still super sinister, but there’s just something about blowing it up to Godzilla size that just took the scariness away.
  • Downton Abbey – As if I haven’t talked about it enough already I loved seeing the Downton Abbey film this month. I’m normally hit and miss with period dramas, I either love them or hate them but this was definitely a LOVE. I’ve even completed my TV series DVD collection this month just so I can watch all of the episodes all over again!
  • Ready or Not – This movie was like a horror version of Downton. Young bride gets initiated into a rich board-game family by being made to play a game of hide and seek…only problem is, if the family find you, they have to kill you due to some devil pact that an ancestor made. It has some pretty strong gore and violence but I thoroughly enjoyed the concept and it was worth a watch.
  • The Goldfinch – I read this Pulitzer Prize winning novel as part of the Between Two Books Book Club which is a book club created by Florence + the Machine Fans. It really captivated me so I was thrilled when the movie was announced. I love the way the painting runs throughout the main character (Theo’s) narrative and the film was a wonderful way to remind me how much I loved this book.

(A few of the) Things I’m Looking Forward to in October

  • Cheltenham Literature Festival – October is one of my favourite months for the very reason that this Literary Circus rolls into town! Honestly, the line-up doesn’t seem as great to me as previous years however I’m immensely looking forward to it.
  • Rugby World Cup – The RWC continues throughout October. The only downside to it being in Japan is the time difference and being able to watch the matches, however the contest has already been so thrilling that I’m really looking forward to see how the teams end up after the pool stages. Any fellow bookish rugby fans amongst us?
  • The Cheltenham Races Showcase – Jumps season kicks off again towards the end of October and I can not wait!
  • My childhood friend gets married! – This will be my fourth wedding of the year to attend and I am so excited. Hannah is one of my friends from primary school so it will be so wonderful to see her walk down the aisle.
  • Half-Term! – I’m still really enjoying my new job, but any chance to get a holiday and get the chance to breath is always welcome.

What books are you looking forward to reading this month? What has been your favourite September read? What are you most excited about for October both bookish and non-bookish?

As always, drop me a comment to chat!

T xx