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NOVEMBER RECAP // I turned 19, finished first year and start of vacation (aka great times)
Hey hey, friends!! As you can tell by the title, life’s been good. Well, November was busy with all of my final assignments but I’M DONE. I have about 3 months of vacation ahead of me which is exciting. So hopefully lots of content. I have plans *wink wink* Anyways, I want to get this post up on time and we have quite a bit to catch up on since my previous recap so let’s just get into what happened in November. The Emperor’s Babe by Bernadine Evaristo {★★★★☆}: I had to read this one for my final English assignment and YO WAS IT GOOD. It’s told in verse but is set in third-century Roman London. But don’t you fret, it is so easy to read as the author tells the story through a very modern and contemporary voice. It’s funny and full of spirit and just ugh so good?!?!? I haven’t read Evaristo’s more recent releases yet but I now definitely need to. Ugh so good and I super love this kind of text, it fascinates me, and I had a great time with my essay. Definitely recommend, my friends. Click here for GR review. – Wrapped Up In…
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INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR CHLOE GONG // chatting to author of These Violent Delights (aka my fave book of 2020) on release day!!
Hello there friends! Today is a special day as THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS BY CHLOE GONG is OUT NOW. I read this one a month or so ago via eARC (big thanks to Hodder via Netgalley) and have,,, still not recovered. I adore it so much and I need EVERYBODY to go and read it. And I also need you to suffer with me as we wait for the sequel welp. I’m also so very fortunate to have author Chloe Gong as a guest today and she so graciously answered some questions about her debut. Which is so exciting and I’m so excited to have her!! Let’s just jump right in. Chloe Gong is an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, double-majoring in English and International Relations. Born in Shanghai and raised in Auckland, New Zealand, she now lives at the top of a crumbling, ivory tower in Philadelphia (also known as student housing). After devouring the entire YA section of her local library, she started writing her own novels at age 13 to keep herself entertained, and has been highly entertained ever since. Chloe has been known to mysteriously appear by chanting “Romeo and Juliet is one of Shakespeare’s best…
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OCTOBER RECAP // my brain is very tired but I did (miraculously) read some stuff
*cricket chirping* ….. hi Honestly, I am just sitting here, head empty, and can’t even remember how to blog. It feels like about a million years since I created any sort of content. I had expected to have less stuff to do in November because no exams but I was sorely mistaken. Apparently, ALL of my essays are due at around the same time so I was pulling at my hair and eating it. Fun times. Oof was October a month. I,,, you know my brain is kind of dead right now. I have been so drained and exhausted. This entire year has been, as well all know. But I feel like it was sort of universal that October was exhausting? Like I don’t think it was just me?? Anyways, this is late. As usual. Apparently, I don’t post recaps on time at all anymore. I would like to change that but that’s a worry for another day welp. Also, I haven’t been keeping up with blog posts for the past few weeks so I shan’t be mentioning any this month, but I’m going to slowly catch up and I’ll scream about all the amazing work next month xoxo Nick…
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BOOKS I NEED TO READ BY AUTHORS I LOVE // dear fave authors, my deepest apologies for being a terrible fan
I am currently an exhausted corpse. That is all. Jk no. But I’m so over university assignments and have no motivation anymore welp. This is a really random post idea. But I had this ongoing list (as per usual) and I thought LET’S JUST COMPILE INTO A POST. It’s been in drafts for approximately 1000 years and I’m feeling 0 creativity at the moment so we’re just gonna go ahead and post. There’s not much else to say really HA. I’m a bit of a mess. Before we get into it, I urge you to educate yourself on what is happening in Nigeria at the moment and to help #EndSARS in any way you can – click HERE MADE YOU UP BY FRANCESCA ZAPPIA I absolutely ADORE Francesca Zappia’s second novel Eliza & Her Monsters, it’s like my favourite standalone of all time. I just… cannot even put into words how hard it hit me. I related to the main character(s) on a whole other level. And it just WOW. IT’S SO GOOD!! I saw this one at a book sale and immediately bought it because I loved her other book so much. And I’ve actually heard mixed things about…
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SEPTEMBER RECAP // start of spring, I actually read books (one good, one bad) & other shenanigans
I’m calling it, I would now REALLY like 2020 to end. Okay no, there is ONE saving grace and it was a book. We are all shocked. Anyways, I apologise for,,, not posting for a month. I know I am a terrible person. I intended to, but I just never got around to sitting down and drafting new content. I didn’t read all that much and was also just busy with university work. Actually had intended to have this up like a week ago but ah assignments. I had an assignment due this morning so,,, fun times. Let us get dive right into what happened in September. Oh, also happy October I guess. Tis not fall where I live, but spring, and there will most likely be no Halloween not that I celebrated it anyway bc I’m a hermit but still. The Hating Game by Sally Thorne {★★☆☆☆}: thank the holy heavens above that I did not actually buy a physical copy of this book and instead read the ebook or,, idk I probably would have spat on it and tore it to pieces. Also, I don’t want it on my shelf. This book was… for lack of a better…
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MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK RELEASES FOR THE REST OF 2020 // crushing our tbrs with stunning covers and exciting releases
This post is apparently becoming an annual tradition on the blog. Love that for us. Welp we’re a few days a week late but I’m here anyway. Better late than never amirite? There are… many more than I thought so I apologise to everybody’s tbr. Especially my own as I’ll probably only get to these in like 3 years because I’m terrible with new releases whoops. There are some PHENOMENAL books that are still coming out, at least I hope they are going to be. So without further ado, let us get into it!! Causes you need to care about: Gender-based violence in South Africa Junk Terror Bill Yemen Crisis BLM Quick August Releases You Had Me At Hola by Alexis Daria (4 August 2020): I have heard such lovely things about this adult romance and it sounds so up my alley!! It’s about movie stars, which already has me hooked, and I found it super cheap on my Kindle so… *crossing fingers* Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland (11 August 2020): honestly have not heard all that much about this book, but I have an ALC copy and it sounds like a ton…
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AUGUST RECAP // absolutely no reading except some fanfic & start of second semester
So um… August sucked. I went back to (online) uni. Second-semester WHOOP WHOOP. Note sarcasm. And eh my mental health has not been so great. It’s better today, up and down I guess. I’m also in a reading slump. Again. Meaning, I did not read anything so I can’t show you a wrap-up. Except… this fanfic. The Ballad of Big Nothing: I,,, watched Flipped again #sorrynotsorry and then went looking for fanfic, as per usual, whenever I watch this. And I stumbled upon this piece of brilliance, which is 7 chapters long and lowkey the best thing ever??? I’m so upset that I can’t add this to Goodreads because it was SO GOOD OH MY GOSH. Loved it so so much and it’s the type of romance I wanna write. So we loved that. And I just adore that story. It’s on Netflix now btw if you want to watch. I did start some books though, I just haven’t picked them up in like 2 weeks whoops: An Ember In The Ashes by Sabaa Tahir: 63% in. I was buddy reading with Kerys but she may have finished already so… need to get back to this reread. With The Fire…
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FAVOURITE MOVIES OF 2019 // the very late list ft. my top 5 films of last year
Would this be a favourite movies post if it WASN’T 5 million years late? And am I just incapable of getting movie content up on time? Yes, yes I am. But I swear I want to try and get better at it and post more frequently. If that’s okay with you all? This list is EXTREMELY short oh my gosh. I literally only watched 45 movies last year. My 2018 favourites was a lot longer as I watched A TON. I also don’t have a ‘worst movies’ list because I didn’t watch any bad ones last year?? Also since the list of my favourite books isn’t made up of ONLY books that came out that year, I try and make my movies list up of only films that were released that year or late the previous year. So this does have a couple of 2018 films on it but I did watch all of them last year. If that makes any sense at all, which it probably doesn’t. OH WELL. This also probably a good time to say that you should follow my Letterboxd account because I log all the movies I watch on there. Let’s be friends because I…
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MY HISTORY WITH BOOK REVIEWS // a discussion: why I stopped writing reviews (and blogging in general) for a while, how they’ve changed ft. tips to improve yours!!
Hi friends, come on this very rambly journey with me. I have no idea if it makes sense but let’s give it a go. SO. I’ve been wanting to do more discussion posts and I have a few topics I’ve been wanting to chat about. This’ll be my first real attempt at a full-length discussion post so let’s hope it turns out well. If you’ve been around for a while, you would’ve noticed I hardly posted ANY book reviews last year, nor was I that active either. I used to be that girl who reviewed every single book she read, ‘reviewed’ not being the correct word because a) I hated my old structure and b) I don’t think I was very informative anyways. Which we’ll get into more in a bit. But I’m back on track with them all now and am overall pleased and proud of them, so I thought maybe I could chat about it?? Those are what discussions are right?? Wish me luck. WHY I STOPPED BLOGGING LAST YEAR? A question I still don’t know how to answer tbh. And I think it’s a number of reasons. Firstly: school. Last year was my final year of high…
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JULY RECAP // beating the reading slump, bookstagram mania, booktube videos & back to uni
Friends, this post is actually on time and I am just living my best life tbh. July… was a bit all over the place. Which was unexpected. Unfortunately, I fell into a bit of a physical reading slump so… am behind on reading a little bit. But it’s fine, I’m slowly getting back into it and I’m looking for quality, not the quantity you know. But some other great thigs happened. Anyways, let us just get into it!! All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson {★★★★★}: No, I do not know why it took my an entire month to listen to a 5-hour audiobook. I just don’t make sense that way. Truly it should not have taken me so long because I was absolutely loving it. This book is SO GOOD and one I think literally everyone needs to read. It was narrated by the author, which made the reading experience so much more personal. This one is a YA memoir-manifesto that deals with topics like sexuality, race, the intersection of being black and queer and also navigating your way through life. George is also gender non-conforming, so it also handles misogyny and gender roles. And it’s so well…
