Reading wrap-up + Favourites | July 2018

Hello, beautiful people!

I don't know about you, but July flew by for me. It was my month of holidays, as I was done with uni for the year and am only working in August. At the beginning of the month, I decided to challenge myself to read 31 books in 31 days, as I had time because I was on holidays, but also because I don't know how much time I'll have to read when uni starts again (I always say that, though). On top of that, I went to the beach many times, binge-watched The Clone Wars and spent time with my loved ones. Overall, July was a very happy month.

W H A T  I  R E A D

As I was saying, I challenged myself to read 31 books in 31 days in July (aka one per day) and I did it! Now, while I'm a fast reader, I don't normally read that much, I had done something similar three years ago and I wanted to know if I could still do it. As my reading wrap-up is pretty long, I broke it down between novels, novellas, comics/graphic novels and non-fiction books and put pictures of the books I recommend the most at the end of this section, to try keep it a bit more interesting (I'm really sorry considering the length, but there are pictures in the second part of the post *hides)!

Here are all the books that I read:

Novels:

• Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon, 2.5/5 stars
• The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw, 3.75/5 stars
• Frenchman's Creek by Daphne du Maurier 5/5 stars
• L'Œuvre by Emile Zola, 3.5/5 stars
• To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo, 3.5/5 stars
• A Thousand Perfect Notes by C.G. Drews, 4/5 stars
• Into the Bright Unknown by Rae Carson, 4/5 stars
• The Lake House by Kate Morton, 4/5 stars
• Dreamer's Pool by Juliet Marillier, 3.5/5 stars
• Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie, 2.5/5 stars
• The Visit of the Royal Physician by Per Olov Enquist, 4.5/5 stars
• The Surface Breaks by Louise O'Neill, 3/5 stars
• The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, 4/5 stars
• Bellewether by Susanna Kearsley, 3.5/5 stars
• The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell, 4/5 stars
• La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman, 2/5 stars

Novellas:

• Son of the Dawn by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan, 3/5 stars
• Cast Long Shadows by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan, 4.5/5 stars 
• Every Exquisite Thing by Cassandra Clare and Maureen Johnson, 5/5 stars
• Learn about Loss by Cassandra Clare and Kelly Link, 3.5/5 stars

Comics/Graphic Novels:

• The Unstoppable Wasp, vol. 1: Unstoppable!, 3.5/5 stars
• The Unstoppable Wasp, vol. 2: Agent of G.I.R.L., 4.5/5 stars
• Spider-Gwen, vol. 0: Most Wanted?, 3/5 stars
• Spider-Gwen, vol. 1: Greater Power, 3.5/5 stars
• Spider-Gwen, vol. 2: Weapon of Choice, 3.5/5 stars
• Spider-Gwen, vol. 3: Long-Distance, 3/5 stars
• Spider-Gwen, vol. 4: Predators, 4/5 stars
• Spider-Gwen, vol. 5: Gwenom, 4/5 stars
• Spider-Gwen, vol. 6, 3/5 stars

Non-fiction:

• Saint-Exupéry: l'archange et l'écrivain by Nathalie des Vallières (for work)
• The Little Book of Hygge: The Danish Way to Live Well by Meik Wiking, 4/5 stars

Phew, it was quite a long list to make this time around. I will *try* to write a blog post all about this challenge, so I could explain the whole experience to you. Anyhow, out of all of them, here are the books I think are absolutely amazing and that you should read (I didn't include the novellas but they were fantastic):

As you can see, I'm really into historical fiction these days 

and I'm quite obsessed with Denmark, so.

F A V O U R I T E  B L O G  P O S T S

Lucy @ Queen of Contemporary (you might also know her as lucythereader on YouTube) introduced her debut novel, The Paper & Hearts Society, which will be published in June 2019 (I am beyond happy for her and excited to read it).

Cait @ Paper Fury wonders if there has been a rise in 4.5 stars ratings.

Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books talked about how to gain followers and interactions on your blog.

Ashleigh @ A Frolic Through Fiction picked her holiday TBR by reading the first chapter of each books, I'm quite interested in the books she picked up and it's such a good idea!

Aimee @ Aimee, Always talked about her blogging schedule.

F A V O U R I T E S

EVENT // Football World Cup

From mid-June to mid-July was held the 2018 FIFA World Cup, an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of the member associations of FIFA once every four years, which took place in Russia. Not many people know this about me, but watching football was actually a big part of my childhood, because I watched it with my dad from time to time, my brother used to play football, my dad took us to many games, my brother and I. I remember eating too much French fries, being all caught up in the excitement when our team scored. Of course, I also follow our national team games, so this one was no exception. I watched many games with my family, my boyfriend and my best friend, and it was so much fun! Moreover, France won, the atmosphere was so unique everywhere and it made me so proud to be French and to see how united we could be. I also developed a crush on Hugo Lloris, our team captain, but we'll not mention that. AHEM.

PLACE // Le Touquet-Paris-Plage

Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, a town set near the sea in the north of France, is my second childhood home. My grandparents and most of my mom's family live there, we also are lucky enough to have a small flat there, which means that we always go on holidays over there, as it's only about an hour from where we normally live. It is such a lovely town, that really comes alive during the summer, I have so many memories there. I'm definitely a sea kind of girl and I'm never happier than when I'm there. I love smelling the sea in the air, to have the wind messing with my hair, to walk near the sea for hours on end. I went there for an entire week with my best friend, also a few days with my boyfriend, and I couldn't have asked for better holidays. I usually forget about all life problems and responsibilities when I'm there, I truly needed it.

DRINK // Tourtel Twist

Because of the heat, my parents started buying a fruit-flavoured non-alcoholic beer and we've been obsessed with it, we tried out every taste. I also converted my best friend to it and we couldn't do without our Tourtel Twist when we were at the beach. It was the perfect drink for when we were watching football games and it so makes me feel on holidays. 

FOOD // Reese's

I also got quite obsessed with Reese's during my week of holidays with Caroline, as she made me try them, it became one of our main reasons to go to the supermarket (let's not mention reason #1, which is the fact that they had pictures of the French football team), as we don't have them everywhere in France. If you don't know it, it's a chocolate sweet with peanut better and I could eat those all day (I shouldn't though).

TV SHOW // The Clone Wars

In July, I decided to binge-watch Star Wars: The Clone Wars that I had started in March, so I could move on to Star Wars: Rebels in August, to be ready for Star Wars: Resistance in the Fall (being a Star Wars fan is great, between the movies, the animated series and the books, there is always something to get through). Like with the previous seasons I watched, I adored this animated series so much, Ahsoka Tano and Obi-Wan Kenobi are still my favourite characters in it. I also had a soft spot for Asajj Ventress, though. Moreover, the show was celebrating its ten years and it was quite a big thing at Comic-Con, then they announced... That it would be coming back for more episodes! I was the happiest about that, because it had been cancelled and they never really had the closure they wanted. Oh, and it makes me want to rewatch the prequel trilogy, even though it's not really my favourite?!

MOVIE // Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

Before Ant-Man and the Wasp was released, I got around to rewatching the first Ant-Man movie and I had forgotten how much I loved it and how fun it was! It actually made me want to read more of the comics, especially those around the Wasp, which is why I read The Unstoppable Wasp (it was so adorable) this month. Then came out Ant-Man and the Wasp, which definitely lived up to the first one and I adored how Hope had a more important role in this one! The storyline was so interesting and I loved the antagonist they introduced in it, because said antagonist was so human. I also have a soft spot for the father/daughter dynamic between Scott and Cassie. 

MOVIE // Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018)

Last, but certainly not least, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again came out in July. As I've been typing this article, I was listening to the soundtrack for the millionth time. I definitely fell in love with this movie, I cannot wait to rewatch it again and again. I loved learning about Donna's story, I laughed really hard (especially when it was about Harry), cried as well, and was overwhelmed the entire time. The cast did such an amazing job and it was so nice to see them all together again (I'm also talking about the press tour, because mY HEART). It's no secret that I love Lily James and she was amazing in this movie, I started crying when she sang the first time, and fangirled a lot... You know how I am. I also need all of Donna's wardrobe. That is all.

L O O K I N G  A H E A D

The month of August is going to be so interesting: I'll be at my summer job full time, working on a private archival fonds and I'm quite looking forward to that. August is also a month filled with birthdays and anniversaries, as it has my best friend's and my boyfriend's birthdays, as well as our anniversary with my boyfriend. I'm also quite excited to go to the movies in August, because Christopher Robin, BlacKkKlansman, Mary Shelley and The Darkest Minds will be released in France! There are also several books coming out, such as The Rebel Waves, Dance of Thieves, City of Ghosts and the Toil & Trouble anthology! August, I am ready for you.

How did July treat you? Any new favourite things?

Lots of love,

Lucie