• Lists,  Movies,  TV Shows

    THE BEST OF 2024: BOOKS, MOVIES & SHOWS // ranking my favourites of last year in journal spreads ft. honourable mentions

    Somehow I thought I was terribly late to this post but turns out last year me also only posted this in January. Enough chatter, let’s get right into my absolute favourite post to make every year. And just as we did last year, I’ve decided to show you my faves in journal spreads, because this is my blog and why the heck not? best of 2024: tv shows honourable mentions: In order: All The Light We Cannot See, Sharp Objects, True Detective S1, True Detective S2 In order: 3) Bridgerton S3; 2) My Lady Jane; 1) Heartstopper S3 best of 2024: movies honourable mentions: In order: How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000); The Wind Rises (2013); The Princess Bride (1987) In order: 11) Turtles All the Way Down (2024); 10) Parachute (2023); 9) Monkey Man (2024); 8) The End We Start From (2023); 7) Challengers (2024); 6) Wicked: Part One (2024); 5) Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024); 4) Poor Things (2023); 3) Dune: Part Two (2024); 2) The Boy and The Heron (2023); 1) The Wild Robot (2024) best of 2024: books honourable mentions: Mostly in order: One of Us Is Back by Karen M. McManus; Your Blood, My Bones…

  • Lists,  Movies,  TV Shows

    THE BEST OF 2023: BOOKS, MOVIES & SHOWS // ranking my top reads and watches of last year in journal spreads ft. some honourable mentions

    At least the wait was not long in between. You could at least be grateful for that. I’m kidding. Yes I am embarrassed it took this long. But I’m wrapping up 2023 with a BANG. One might say that I’ve been ~inspired~ or,,, creative? Who’s to say? Not me. But I saw some people on TikTok do these journal spreads for books and suddenly I had FOMO. But, of course, I’m not about to make spreads for all the books I’ve ever read (never going to do that btw) but I thought I’d start with my favourite reads of the year for funsies. Then suddenly LIGHTBULB! I am going to share them here. And I’ve written reviews for basically all of them so to switch it up, I’m sharing my favourites in pretty graphics aka journal spreads I created on my iPad. That was long-winded but I hope you understood. Before we get into the books, I do have movies and shows to share. Whilst I have not made spreads for each of them individually, I have made some rankings. Enjoy the ride *wink wink* BEST OF 2023: SHOWS Hope you were here yesterday for my 2023 recap, and in…

  • Anticipated releases,  Lists,  Movies,  TV Shows

    MOST ANTICIPATED 2024 RELEASES // an all-in-one screaming session ft exciting upcoming books, movies & tv shows out next year!!!

    Doing it a lil differently this year so keep up! No, I’m kidding, of course, I’ll explain. I completely forgot that we do these posts every year and quickly had to do my research. And then I realised that every year I put down a whole list of books that sound slightly interesting and I might be excited when they come out, but never really get to them,,,, To keep myself sane in 2024, I have selected a list of books from authors I have read and loved before, and a very small list of others that I am 99.9% positive I will actually read. Hopefully, I do, you never know. And to spice it up because technically the list is shorter (idk maybe not), we’re talking about film here too because why not? I’m a book blogger and film major so I’m just combining my hobbies here folks. Without further ado, let’s jump right in! books — JANUARY — The Lost Love of Akbar Manzil by Shubnum Khan (1 January 2024): this is the local title of Shubnum’s latest book and it goes by The Djinn Waits A Hundred Years in the US and UK. I attended the launch…

  • Lists,  Recommendations

    POPULAR BOOKTOK BOOKS I RECOMMEND // 10 viral tiktok books i actually like that you could read if you want

    I don’t know what I’m doing today but I am unhinged and we’re just rolling with it. Spur of the moment decisions over at Ruby Rae Reads today *hides* I could be here talking about the worst BookTok books because I know there are many but I don’t want to put myself through that amount of pain. Very rarely will you catch me pushing through god-awful books and oof I know which ones those are. Avoiding them like the plague in this household. Anyways, I shan’t waste time on the opinions I have concerning this platform because frankly, I don’t know what I would say. It has been both very amusing watching books grow on TikTok whilst also being really cool for the book industry. So there are my two cents, maybe I’ll come back for a discussion? This post is just going to discuss books I rated basically higher than 3 stars. Some are not amazing and a few by authors I wouldn’t support anymore, but I wanted to talk about. Let’s just get into the books. There are more than I anticipated so I’ll be as brief as possible! CONTEMPORARY — It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover:…

  • Lists,  Recommendations

    MY FAVOURITE BOOKS OF 2022 // top 15 books of the year in an unorganised order

    Ahhh it’s my favourite time of the belated year. Let’s ignore that minor detail and focus on the positives today folks. I’m only a week late so not too shameful. I,,, my list is stunning this year but I’ve also yelled about a lot of them already so you probably know what books I’ll be talking about. Also yes I am aware Chloe Gong is not on this list and there are two reasons for that: 1) I got busy this year and 2) my mental health is not prepared haha. Not even an exaggeration, that book will give me a heart attack. Prepare for all of her books to be on the 2023 list *wink wink* Oops, Taylor Jenkins Reid has also not made an appearance but can you guess? I’m behind. Yep. Related posts: Top Books of 2021 2022 Mid Year Freak Out Tag I’m doing it slightly differently this year because I’m indecisive with the usual honourable mentions list so I’m putting them all together and we’ll rank near the end. Idk just roll with it *hides* Shall we just get started? Indeed. TOP 15 BOOKS OF 2022: (in semi order) ♥ Every Summer After by Carley…

  • Anticipated releases,  Lists

    MOST ANTICIPATED 2023 BOOK RELEASES // this list is maybe longer than it needs to be but we love a 60 book challenge oops

    Oh my (second) favourite post of the year where I can endlessly add books I’ll take maybe a 100 years to actually read. Living my blissful life folks. Who knows, maybe next year will be the year I do what I say I will. Putting it out into the universe. I lowkey have a stunning list here even though it’s incredibly long so let’s get into it <3<3<3 JANUARY — – The Stolen Heir by Holly Black (3 January 2023): this title, this cover, the fact that this is a book I’M SO EXCITED!!!! Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert (3 January 2023): I was excited about Ms Hibbert’s YA romance last year and I’m still excited now I WANT IT *sighs* French Kissing In New York by Anne-Sophie Jouhanneau (3 January 2023): I saw the title and the Taylor Swift reference in the synopsis and I had to have it,,, – Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo (10 January 2023): nope I have not read book one, I’m just holding myself accountable to actually read it so I can get to the sequel, which shall happen often in this post *hides* Exes and O’s by Amy Lea (10…

  • Discussions,  Lists,  Recommendations

    MY FAVOURITE BOOKS OF 2021 // a whopping bizarre top 8 ft. some honourable mentions

    Life is currently a mess and I really wanted to get a lot more end of year posts out this month, but alas, 2021 will just have to close on the messy path it was already on. I have no idea what I’m writing but we’re rolling with it *nervous laughter* Apologies as I did have a fun idea for a Christmas recommendations list, but I just had no motivation to get it done. You’ll have to wait until next year folks. As usual, lowkey doing this post is stressful because I leave it till the very last day of the year JUST IN CASE a new favourite needs to squeeze on here. There hasn’t been one but it’s okay, at least I’m wrapping up all the books. Related posts: Top Books of 2020 2021 Mid Year Freak Out Tag Today I have 15 books in total to talk about, 7 are honourable mentions and 8 are the top favourites. I’m chuffed with this selection, though I’ll try and keep this post short and sweet so we can zoom through them. Very excited to talk about them, so let’s get into it! HONOURABLE MENTIONS: in no particular order (maybe least…

  • Anticipated releases,  Lists

    MOST ANTICIPATED 2022 BOOK RELEASES // willing to sell my soul for at least 10 of these, not exaggerating aka elevating your tbr by approx 40 more books

    In the innocent words of 2020 Ruby aka “manifesting that 2021 will be a better year”, I shall not be making the same mistake,,, Okay that was a tad dramatic and I’m sorry I had to take you down that dark, forsaken path, but let’s be honest: 2021 has S-U-C-K-E-D. But at least there are some good books coming out? Not as many as I thought but definitely some I’d be willing to give my future firstborn to. Let’s get into it! Also I say this every year but a sneaky few always manage to get on the list. Anyways, I have tried to keep this list fairly short and only add books I’m genuinely interested in. I’ve also cut down on the amount of sequels and books by debut authors that have a sophomore book coming out purely because I have far too many other books to get to. I’ve found there’s absolutely no fun in adding books to your anticipated releases list only to find a year later you still haven’t read them and I hate it so shall be attempting to stop that habit. Enough with the rambling, let’s jump into ’em <3<3<3 JANUARY — When You…

  • Lists,  Recommendations

    VALENTINE’S DAY ROMANCE BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS // 10 romantic reads to make you smile, yearn, laugh and cry (in no particular order)

    I refuse to take notice of the fact that I’m listening to driver’s license amongst other songs that are considered “sad” this weekend, so do with that what you will. Yes, I was being dramatic but also I am kinda only in the mood for sad music. Truly no idea why. Who else has been streaming driver’s license and acts indifferent but is also very invested in that drama? Okay, I’ll stop now because we are here for happy books and smiles. Happy Valentine’s Day everyone. I mean, it’s technically tomorrow (in my time zone) but I’m trying to be slightly on time. Before we start, wanted to let ya know I was going to make this part of the Distracting Yourself series however idk if it fits, but I would like to say that social distancing is still a thing my friends. I hope you’re listening and adhering to guidelines. Now that that’s out of the way, I wanted to do something fun for a Valentine’s Day post, and whilst this isn’t unique or anything, you may have noticed that I’ve been reading quite a lot of romance lately. Idk did you pick up on that? So I may have…

  • Discussions,  Lists,  Recommendations

    MY FAVOURITE BOOKS OF 2020 // a short top 5 list ft. some honourable mentions

    And… Happy New Year’s Eve my friends! As I said last year, indeed I do wait until the last day of the year to post this. Just in case. Even though I haven’t really added a new fave to this list in a while, only a recent read to the honourable mentions. Unfortunately, my TOP FAVES is not very long at all, I tried to make it longer but I just abandoned all of my 2020 tbr, basically no YA, maybe too much adult romance and a couple of series rereads. Love that for me. This year has been terrible, to say the least, but I think I had a couple of good reads. Would’ve loved to have many more though. Alas, not everything you wish for comes true. I hope you all have a better 2021. And hoping my list next year will be more diverse in terms of genre, but I don’t want to jinx it so shhhhhh Related posts: TOP 10 of 2019 Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag 2020 Without further ado, let’s dive right in. As mentioned, I have my top 5 list of favourites, and then a total of 9 honourable mentions (almost had one…