Monday 2 July 2018

Reading wrap-up + Favourites | June 2018



Hello, beautiful people!


I am beyond happy that June has come to a close, because it felt as long as January was. It's not really surprising, considering how busy I've been this month. I finished my second master's thesis, visited family in the south of France, had two interviews for master's degrees and got accepted into the one I wanted the most (yeah, I'm really going to do two masters lmao), had my presentation for my thesis and did well, which means that I'm officially on holidays and graduating from my current uni. Overall, it's been a really stressful month, but it was all for the better so I'm really happy! Now, I need to sleep.


W H A T  I  R E A D

When I was really good at picking up books in very different genres for the past year or so, in June, I mainly focused on YA literature, more specifically on books with LGBTQIA+ characters. As June was Pride month, I just needed to focus on those, which is why I pretty much "forgot" about classics and basically only read books with LGBTQIA+ characters. Yes Please and The Big Four* are the only ones without any, because I read them during a readathon and one was a buddy read, but that's it. Anyhow, here are the books that I read:


  • Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley, 4/5 stars
  • The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, 5/5 stars
  • The Big Four by Agatha Christie, 3/5 stars
  • I Was Born For This by Alice Oseman, 5/5 stars
  • Yes Please by Amy Poehler, 4/5 stars
  • Solitaire by Alice Oseman, 3.5/5 stars
  • Radio Silence by Alice Oseman, 5/5 stars
  • Nick and Charlie by Alice Oseman, 4/5 stars
  • All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout the Ages, anthology edited by Saundra Mitchell, 3.88/5 stars
  • The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard #3) by Rick Riordan, 3.5/5 stars
  • Autoboyography by Christina Lauren, 4/5 stars
  • Heartstopper by Alice Oseman, 5/5 stars

My favourite read of the month was, of course, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I didn't know what to expect when I started reading it, but I wasn't a hundred pages into it that I knew I would need to reread it. It was such an amazing novel and my favourite read of 2018, and I still can't get over it. I also finally read Alice Oseman's works and found new favourites, namely Radio SilenceI Was Born For This and Heartstopper, her on-going webcomic series. This month was full of the representation I needed in terms of books and it made me the happiest.

*I am convinced there is something going on between Hercule Poirot and Arthur Hastings, though.


F A V O U R I T E  B L O G  P O S T S

Iris @ Tea With Darcy went to Dublin and posted amazing pictures of her trip (it includes bookstores, OF COURSE).
Cait @ Paper Fury enlightened us on her publishing journey, how she got an agent and a book deal!
Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books shared her tips to avoid reading slumps.
Resh @ The Book Satchel talked about what she learnt from challenging herself to read 30 books in 30 days.
Holly @ Nut Free Nerd made a comparison between The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, because that classic inspired the contemporary novel and it was so interesting!




F A V O U R I T E S

TV SHOW // Parks and Recreation (NBC)

You might think: "Oh no, not again". But I can't help it, y'all. In June, I finished Parks and Recreation. I haven't watched any episode since June 14th and I miss it so much that it hurts. It truly is one of my favourite TV shows ever and in total, it only took me a month and two days to watch its seven seasons. I miss these characters, but I am so happy with the ending they got, it truly was what they deserved. My favourite character out of them all definitely was April Ludgate, I saw myself in her for so many things and her relationship with Andy Dwyer was the best thing ever. I still listen to the Mouse Rat songs every day, there is always one to fine my mood the best and they always make me smile. I'm mentioning this first in my favourites because I haven't watched a lot of TV shows this month (*cue intense crying*), as I couldn't really get over this one.



(Helpless from Hamilton playing in the background)


Chris Pratt


Okay, it feels very embarrassing in a way, but this was a long time coming... Between my rewatch of the MCU movies and my binge-watch of Parks and Recreation, I think that everyone had figured out I had a (celebrity) crush on Chris Pratt. Except for me, apparently, because I denied it so many times. Then... I apparently exploded. I watched Jurassic World, even though I criticised the movie many times and I still do, I even watched Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom in theaters twice (but it's quite good in my opinion). I watched too many YouTube videos, too many Instagram stories, I even watched a western (but he was really good in it so it was worth it). I don't know, I like him a lot, he makes me laugh a lot and I can't believe I tried to deny it when there are receipts on my very blog (look at the date, it really is hilarious). AHEM, anyway, fangirling over Chris Pratt really helped me get through this month and I nail everything when I listen to him singing the Mouse Rat's songs, so what can I say... *hides in a corner*

Alice Oseman's novels and YouTube channel


As you've noticed, I got really obsessed with Alice Oseman's writing in June. I don't read a lot of contemporary novels, but I fell in love with hers. The themes she talks about resonates with me, I relate to her characters a lot because they feel so real (Frances must be my favourite) and I always get too addicted and can't put her books down. I got physical copies of her novels once I was done, then started binge-watching her YouTube channel, where she talks about writing. I also love that she's drawing, because I get to picture her characters even more and her online webcomic, Heartstopper, is the cutest thing ever; it follows Charlie and Nick, characters introduced in Solitaire (they also have their own novella). Alice Oseman is such a talented person, I look up to her a lot, because she has already accomplished so much and she's only two years older than me!

MUSIC // Guardians of the Galaxy 70s Mixtape


You know me, I usually listen to the same songs over and over again, this month it was mostly Mouse Rat's songs from Parks and Recreation as well as the 70s mixtape from the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. I love listening to the mixtape so much, it makes me in such a good mood and makes me want to dance. On the downside, I can't listen to Come and Get Your Love without stopping everything I'm doing to dance like Star-Lord in the movie, but there are worse things I guess, haha.

MUSIC // Pray for the Wicked - Panic! at the Disco


Look, I actually listened to something else! The newest Panic! at the Disco album was released at the end of this month and I've been listening to it over and over again. I was so excited about it, as I've been listening to (Fuck a) Silver Lining and Say Amen (Saturday Night) ever since they were released as singled in March! Anyway, it's absolutely amazing and I love it a lot. I also introduced my boyfriend to this album and he really liked it as well.



Now, let's move on to the movies part!



MOVIE // Love, Simon


Love, Simon only came out on June 27th in France (yes, this is the worst), but I managed to go to an early screening of it at the beginning of the month. There are no words to explain how much I loved it, how much it meant to me considering where I'm at in my life. In a way, I'm not even mad anymore that I watched it for the first time in June, when the entire world had already watched it. I watched it for the first time during Pride month and it made the entire experience even better. I'm so looking forward to watching it yet again and again (spoiler alert: I already did on July 1st).

MOVIE // The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society

While this movie came out in the UK in April, we had to wait until June to have it in France. I was so eager to finally watch it, because I adored the novel so much (I made my best friend and my mom read it, haha). I was curious to see how they would adapt it, considering it is an epistolary novel. They did change quite a few elements of the original story, but they kept the spirit of the book and that's what mattered the most to me. My favourite quote was still in there and it made me the happiest. The cast was fantastic, it made me so happy to have a mini Downton Abbey reunion with Lily James, Jessica Brown Findlay, Matthew Goode and Penelope Wilton. Overall, it was a very good movie and I think they did a good job, but I know some readers have been a bit disappointed because of some changes (which I totally understand). Now I have another reason to visit Guernsey as soon as possible (after all, Victor Hugo lived there at some point and wrote Les Misérables there, it's meant to be) and I need to reread the novel!

MOVIE // Incredibles 2

Last but certainly not least, Incredibles 2 has started being released all around the world. I got lucky enough to go to an early screening with my best friend and my boyfriend and it was absolutely amazing, the wait was all worth it. We also got superheroes masks and took pictures with people who attended, there were fans with T-shirts, oh that was so much fun. I adored the movie so much, I had missed those characters, I really liked the plot and I laughed so hard. I want Jack-Jack to be my little brother, he was so precious and my favourite character for sure! I won't say a lot more considering it's technically not out everywhere yet, but go watch it, it'll make you so nostalgic and happy.


Beware when watching Incredibles 2 though, 
there is an epilepsy warning due to some of the scenes.



L O O K I N G  A H E A D

I am so excited for July, because it's the month of my holidays (I'll be working full time in August). I am planning on reading and blogging a lot, seeing my best friend and my boyfriend a lot, to rest and to have fun overall. So far, I'm also planning on going to the beach with my best friend for about a week, I miss my second hometown so much and it's truly not that far from where we live anyway. There are also so many movies I'm looking forward to watching, such as Adrift, Ant-Man and the Wasp, as well as Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again! For TV shows, the second season of Harlots will start airing, I'll probably start watching it when there are several episodes out, but I had missed it so much! I also can't believe Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik and Sea Witch by Sarah Henning are coming out. July, you better be amazing. 


How was your month? Any new favourites in books, TV shows, movies?


Lots of love,
Lucie

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