Reading wrap-up + Favourites | January 2019

… and we’re already done with the first month of 2019! January was such a busy month for me, so I barely feel like I got anything done outside of university and working, but it was still a good month, so I don’t mind that much.

I started the year by spending New Year Eve with my family, my best friend and my boyfriend, which was perfect, then enjoyed the last of my holidays. On January 6th, I went on my first trip outside of Europe… I travelled to Algeria for a uni project and it was quite interesting. We got a lot of material for our project and had such a nice weather, it was a bit hard to go back to France in that aspect. The morning after I got back from Algiers, I started my four month long internship in a cultural institution and I've been working full time since then. I’ve been there for the past three weeks and I’m loving it, I’m working on interesting projects and everything I learnt in my new master is really helpful, it definitely is the right fit.

I feel like I didn’t have time for much outside of all of that, as I always was really exhausted when I got home, but I realize now that I’ve been out a lot in January, so that explains it as well. It was different from usual and I got out of my comfort zone a few times, but it was all for the best.

Truth be told, I didn't read as much as I usually do in January, but I didn't mind at all, for I was super relaxed about my reading and whether I was reading or not. I was doing my best, I was happy whenever I found time to pick up a book, and I think that's pretty great.

Here are the books that I read:

• Les Misérables, by Victor Hugo, 5/5 stars (reread)
• The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi, 3/5 stars
• Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, 3.5/5 stars
• Mera: Queen of Atlantis, by Dan Abnett and Lan Medina, 3.5/5 stars
• A Clash of Kings, by George R.R. Martin, 4.5/5 stars

I decided to start the year by rereading my favourite book, Les Misérables, and it made me the happiest as it had been so long! If we don't count that one, though, my favourite was A Clash of Kings: it took me almost three weeks to finish it, but I am so obsessed with this world and didn't mind at all!

MOVIE // On the Basis of Sex (2018)

I went to the movies five times in January (we love having an unlimited movie card) and the best movie I watched was On the Basis of Sex. This movie is based on the life and early cases* of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, with Felicity Jones portraying her. I had really high expectations for this movie, as I had been waiting for it for so long and Felicity Jones is one of my favourite actresses. Needless to say, I wasn't disappointed: it was such an empowering movie, it had amazing family dynamics (especially between Ruth and her daughter Jane, who was so inspiring as well) and Felicity Jones delivered a stellar performance. Please watch it if you can!

*those cases were about discrimination on the basis of sex.

BOOKS // A Song of Ice and Fire

In December, I finally got started on A Song of Ice and Fire and adored the first book - it actually was my last book of the year - to the point that I only wanted to pick up the second book after that (I don’t usually like to binge-read series?). That’s exactly what I did: I started reading A Clash of Kings when I left for Algeria and finished it at the end of January, so I spent almost all of my month in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire. I have a weird relationship with the show, I either couldn’t be invested less or can’t stop thinking about it depending on the seasons, so I can already say that I adore the books a lot more. I'm constantly thinking about ASOIAF, researching little details about it and apparently I follow a lot of people who love the books and show on Twitter too? So basically, I can't get out of this world and it makes me so happy, I had missed fantasy so much.

TV SHOW // The Good Place

I already watched and loved the first two seasons of The Good Place (it made it into my favourite TV shows of 2018) and I’ve started catching up on the third one now that it’s over. This TV show is just perfect to binge-watch, so I wait before getting into it because I always want to know everything straight away and not wait in agony every week (how dramatic). I'm now watching it with my boyfriend as I got him addicted as well and it's so much fun. I’ve been loving this third season so much, it is so clever and I adore these characters more than ever!

MISC. // Knitting

During my holidays, I picked up knitting again and I’ve been loving it again. I can’t sit still while watching movies and TV shows, I always end up checking my phone, so knitting is the best alternative, because I’m still occupied while watching something. It’s also quite a calming activity and helps me a lot when I’m stressed. This time, my mom taught me how to knit socks (so very useful when we’re getting snowy days) and I’m knitting my second one at the moment. Once I’m done with my pair of socks, I am planning on knitting a sleeve for my new e-reader, it would be perfect.

MISC. // Aquaman

Yes, yes. How predictable, it already was in my favourite last month. I always follow the same patterns when I fall for a movie from a franchise: I'll rewatch it ten thousand times and get started on extra content... Which is exactly what I'm doing because I loved the 2018 Aquaman movie. I can't explain how much I needed this movie when it arrived in my life and that's one of the reasons I'm so obsessed, the others including the actors and the fact that it deals with the sea and I'm a sea person. So anyway, on top of rewatching the movie, I have started reading comics set in the Aqua-world through Mera's comic and I'm loving that! I need to read the entire Aquaman (2016) series to continue and it makes me so excited to read comics and have found a new  fictional world to love. Mera and Arthur, I love you so.

I’m always really excited to get into February, because it is my birthday month and I intend to make the most of it! I don’t have anything planned, as I’ll still be working full time at my internship, but I’m hoping to finally get started on master thesis #3, continue outlining my work in progress, be more creative with my bullet journal and continue reading as much as possible.

I am beyond happy because both The Favourite and Mary, Queen of Scots are being released in France this month and I’m always there for period drama. I’m also already late with January book releases, but I intend on reading February releases as they come out: I’ve been waiting for The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon (my most anticipated fantasy book, already pre-ordered) and Courting Darkness by Robin LaFevers (I can’t believe we’re getting more His Fair Assassin books!) and I have an ARC of The Familiars by Stacey Halls to read, so that will pretty much be my TBR, haha.

What about you? How was the first month of 2019?

What did you read? Any new favourite TV shows/movies?

Reading wrap-up + Favourites | December 2018

I have so many blog posts planned for the beginning of the year, from lists of everything I've loved in 2018 to what I am planning to do in 2019, that I would almost have forgotten to post my December reading wrap-up. *shocked gasps* So before we're too far ahead in the month, it's time to wrap up December 2018!

December was quite an eventful month: it was made of my last few weeks at uni, being accepted into the internship I wanted the most, getting in the Christmas spirit and so much more. It was also a difficult month, as my anxiety was a mess because of university, but at least that part is over and I've been on vacations since December 19th, so it's alright. Anyhow, let's jump into what I read during the last month of 2018.

• Lord of Shadows, by Cassandra Clare, 5/5 stars (re-read)
• Queen of Air and Darkness, by Cassandra Clare, 4/5 stars
• Mr. Dickens and His Carol, by Samantha Silva, 4/5 stars
• Assassin's Quest, by Robin Hobb, 4.5/5 stars
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by J.K. Rowling, 5/5 stars (re-read)
• The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov, 3.5/5 stars
• Hickory Dickory Dock, by Agatha Christie, 4/5 stars
• Muse of Nightmares, by Laini Taylor, 4.5/5 stars
• A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin, 5/5 stars

      + three French graphic novels

At the beginning of December, I set myself a very ambitious TBR, because there were many huge books I wanted to read and I nailed it (I was very scared I wouldn't finish A Game of Thrones in time, but I did it!). Reading and loving fantasy again is such a wonderful feeling, so it won't be too surprising if I tell you that I got a book hangover after finishing The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb and that it would have been the same for A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, had I not started my reread of Les Misérables at the beginning of January. My favourite book of the month, then, was A Game of Thrones, I'm so proud of myself for starting the A Song of Ice and Fire series at long last! Now I need to binge-read every book set in this world.

EVENT // Meeting Lin-Manuel Miranda

On December 10th, a premiere of Mary Poppins Returns took place in Paris, in the presence of some of the members of the cast, including Lin-Manuel Miranda. It was just a premiere for press (um, I still haven't watched the movie, which is really sad) and no one was talking about it, but somehow we heard it would take place and I got there with some of my friends. We were just waiting, hoping to get a glimpse of the cast and... We met Lin-Manuel Miranda. I mean, we actually talked to him?? This entire moment was surreal, he truly was the nicest, he signed something for everyone, did group selfies... I still cannot believe it happened, it was a perfect way to end the year. I'm beyond happy for my friends Clara and Lydia, as he means the world to them and they had been wanting to meet him for forever, I can't believe they finally did so!!

TV SHOW // The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017)

In December, I finally started watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and this TV show has been making me so happy. I had been hearing my friend Fatima talking about it for so long and my friend Clara had also started it some time before, and as I wanted to watch a period drama that would make me happy, I gave in. This American period drama, created by Amy Sherman-Palladino*, is set in 1958 and follows Myriam "Midge" Maisel, an upper-class Jewish housewife. After her husband leaves her for his secretary, she delivers an impromptu comic performance in a bar where her husband used to act for fun, and after some time, she is inspired to become a comedian. This TV show is such a fresh breath of air and binge-watching it has been amazing! My boyfriend got addicted as well when he hadn't watched the first four episodes, so yeah... Just watch it!

*she created Gilmore Girls!

MOVIE // Christmas movies

At the end of November, I made a list of Christmas movies I wanted to watch and slowly made my way through it during the time that led to Christmas. I discovered that I loved cheesy Christmas movies and binge-watched all the Netflix Original ones, my favourite being The Holiday Calendar. I also finally got to older Christmas movies I had wanted to watch for so long, such as How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I also watched The Man Who Invented Christmas, which is about how Dickens came to write A Christmas Carol and it was my favourite of them all! I had wanted to watch it for so long (of course I did, Dan Stevens plays Charles Dickens), they never released it in France, and it was as amazing as I thought it would be! I'm hoping that watching it for Christmas will become a new tradition!

WRITING

At the beginning of my holidays, I got an idea for a new novel... and I haven't been able to get away from it since then, because my characters keep talking to me. Oh, well. I haven't written consistently in four years, but got some ideas for historical novels that I've always been terrified to write. However, this one might be the one, because it's not set too far away in the past, and the entirety of it is so me. A lot of it is coming from my personal experience, which makes it hard to write, but this project has made me so happy. I've started doing research for it, which is a lot of fun, and getting to know my characters is amazing, I love them so much. Writing this book will be one of my biggest challenges of 2019, but in any case, December was our honeymoon phase with my WIP, so it was all good.

MOVIE // Aquaman (2018)

I didn't really expect that to happen, but at the end of December, I watched the Aquaman movie and I absolutely fell in love with it. Now, you probably know that I adore Marvel's movies, but the ones from DC Comics... Well, not so much. I always go watch them (except for Suicide Squad that I never watched and don't want to), but I always have mixed feelings about them. Needless to say, I didn't have a lot of expectations when I went to watch Aquaman, I just knew I had to watch it because I've always been obsessed with the sea, and I fell for it. Yes, I do have a crush on both Jason Momoa and Amber Heard, but I also adore the world-building, the story, the aesthetic, the inspirations for it and the soundtrack of the movie. I've already watched it twice in December and by the time I've published this, I'll probably have watched it a third time, because I can't get enough out of it. It also (re)taught me something that I had forgotten and needed to remember, so I'm grateful it did. I'm so happy it was my last movie of the year and I cannot wait to read Aquaman's comics now (even though he's blonde in them *cries*).

As you're reading this, I'm currently in Algeria for a project with my university, which is exciting and a bit scary, as it's my very first time out of Europe! Still, I am so happy to start the year by traveling to a place I've never been before and I'm sure it'll be really interesting. Moreover, I'll be starting my internship on January 10th and I'm so excited about it, I'm sure that it'll be an enlightening experience! So basically, that's what my month will look like and I'm so there for it!

There are also so many releases I'm excited about for books, movies and TV shows. I've already talked about my most anticipated book releases for this winter recently and I'm not quite sure I'll be able to read January releases, but I have an e-ARC of The Gilded Wolves, so that's exciting. For movies, I am so looking forward to watching On the Basis of Sex (Felicity Jones <3), Colette, and The Hate U Give, which is finally coming out in France! I also need to catch up on some movies I didn't watch during the holidays, so I'll probably spend my whole free time in theaters. Oops. I also have several TV shows that will start airing again, the third season of A Series of Unfortunate Events is already there, but I'm also impatiently waiting for Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Victoria, I have been waiting for so long!

How did December 2018 treat you? Any new favourites?

Reading wrap-up + Favourites | October 2018

Hello, beautiful people!

We're already eight days into November and I'm only publishing my October wrap-up now. Oops. October felt like a really long month, mainly spent studying and waiting for/taking the subway, but I'm still really enjoying what I'm studying, so it's all good! Most importantly, Fall settled in Paris and it made me so happy, I even went to Montmartre to see it in its autumnal colours, I adored it so much. While I barely can't remember what I did, I know I enjoyed every moment I had when I was outside of uni and I even got some days off at the end of the month!

W H A T  I  R E A D

I quickly realised in October that because of uni, I was getting less and less time to read... To the point that I stopped reading altogether during weekdays, until I started listening to audiobooks again! I spend so much time in the subway or walking outside to either go to uni, meet up with people or going grocery shopping, that I can easily listen to three hours of an audiobook per day, when I'm motivated. On October 30th, I also did a 24 hour Halloween readathon with my best friend, which was amazing, and that's why I managed to read the same amount of books as usual (I read five books in one day, everything is fine)! Otherwise, we'd have been lucky if I had read more than five books, oops. 


Anyhow, here are the books that I read:

• Before the Devil Breaks You, by Libba Bray, 4.5/5 stars
• The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays, by Oscar Wilde, 3.5/5 stars
• The Woodlanders, by Thomas Hardy, 4/5 stars
• The Rules of Magic, by Alice Hoffman, 3/5 stars
• The Mill on the Floss, by George Eliot, 3.5/5 stars
• Vanity Fair, by William Makepeace Thackeray, 4/5 stars
• The Haunting of Hill House, by Shirley Jackson, 3.5/5 stars
• City of Ghosts, by Victoria Schwab, 4/5 stars
• Toil and Trouble: 15 Stories about Women and Witchcraft, edited by Jessica Spotswood and Tess Sharpe (anthology), 3/5 stars
• Melmoth, by Sarah Perry, 3.5/5 stars
• The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson, 3.5/5 stars

My favourite read of the month was Before the Devil Breaks You, it was a great Halloween read and I adore the Diviners series so much, they get better and better with every instalment. I cannot wait for the fourth book to be published! I also participated in Victober this month, which is why I read so much Victorian literature. It made me so happy, for I had missed it so much! My favourite Victorian book was Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, it surprised me and Becky Sharp was so much fun to read about. The last five books I read all were perfect for Halloween and I'm glad I kept them for that time of the year!

F A V O U R I T E S

HALLOWEEN

I was on holidays for the last few days of October and I spent them with my best friend. On October 30th, we did a Halloween-themed 24h readathon, which was a lot of fun and I managed to read even more than I wanted in the first place. For Halloween, we went to the pumpkin patch and later carved our pumpkin Erik, we dressed up (me as the Phantom of the Opera, her as Luke from Gilmore Girls), we baked a lot of Halloween-themed food and I also watched some of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. It was such a great day and October couldn't end on a more positive note.

TV SHOW // How I Met Your Mother

I think I deserve a round of applause, because... I finally started watching How I Met Your Mother! I had been putting it off forever because a) I know part of the ending... b) it's so loooooong. However, I like having a comedy show to watch, without really binge-watching it (so be warned: it might take me an entire year to watch the whole show). I just watch episodes here and there, when I feel a bit down, or while I'm eating breakfast, 20 minute-long episodes are perfect for that. I'm in the middle of season 2 at the moment and it's been so much fun to watch! My boyfriend is thrilled I'm watching it, as he tried to make me watch it for so long, and now I watch it in part with him.

READING // Scribd and audiobooks

After seeing Romie @ Romie We Deserve Love talk about Scribd, I was curious to give it a go and had my free trial in October. If you don't know Scribd, it's a digital library, e-book and audiobook subscription service and I adore it. As I was mentioning at the beginning of this post, I mainly read audiobooks when I'm at uni and it's all thanks to it, because I can listen to many of them each month (I listened to four audiobooks in October). I can also easily find ebooks and have everything in the same place, as I don't have an e-reader at the moment. As I've been exploring it, I've also read several articles they host, I really like this subscription service! I might write an entire blog post about it in the future, if some of you are interested.

TV SHOW // Peaky Blinders

In October, I also started yet another period drama, because everyone is always talking about it and there were signs everywhere for a week that I had to start it. So... I did and I became obsessed with it. Peaky Blinders is set in 1920s, Birmingham and follows the Peaky Blinders gang, led by the ambitious Thomas Shelby. I wasn't sure what to expect when I started it, but once I start watching an episode, I can't stop, because it's so gripping, I'm fascinated by the characters and I have to know what will happen. The episodes are an hour long, but you don't see that hour pass and as there are only six episodes per series, it's quick to watch. I'm in the middle of season 3 at the moment, I can't wait to catch up, before waiting for series 5 in anguish like everyone else.

APP // Memrise and learning Danish

In April, I travelled to Copenhagen and fell in love with the city and Denmark. Since then, I've been so curious about Denmark and its culture in general, I want to discover everything. I also really wanted to start learning Danish, because why not? In October, I finally did so with the app Memrise, which I used a few years ago for English classes (it's perfect for learning vocabulary, you can enter the words you want and it'll help you learn!). As you can of course find online courses, learning one word at a time, I tried it out and can't praise it enough. It makes you learn one word after another, then entire sentences, so you understand how the language works. It's quite good for a free online service (there is also a premium option, but I don't have that)!

FOOD // Porridge with soy milk

As I was saying in my fall bucket list, I wanted to find the perfect autumnal breakfast and... I did! For various reasons, I don't use cow milk often now and have switched to soy milk for so many things in the past two months (yoghurts, Starbucks drinks, and so on). I was curious to cook porridge with soy milk and it's the best thing ever. It gives me such a cozy feeling, it makes me feel so good, so I've been eating porridge with soy milk almost every morning in October (typing this, I just did too) and my days always start better off with it. I also always put honey in my porridge and often added bananas and walnuts for the past month.

L O O K I N G  A H E A D

It feels a bit weird to look ahead to November considering we're November 8th, but well, let's go. November usually is my least favourite month of the year, because I'm always drowning in uni work and it's quite gloomy, but I'll try to make the most of it. Like in October, I have a ton of studying to do, because I have many assignments due, but I got this! I do have some good things to look forward to, Alison Sudol just released new music, some books are coming out and most importantly... It's Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald time. As you're reading this, I'll be at the Parisian premiere of it, waiting to discover what will happen next to the characters and it feels surreal. I was only sure to go last minute, but I did it! I am both excited and terrified for this movie, because the first one and its cast (minus one person......) mean so much to me, but also because of all the problematic aspects of it. Still, I'm hoping for the best and I cannot wait to see my favourite characters on the big screen again, I have missed them so much!

How did October go for you? Any exciting plans for November?

Lots of love,

Lucie

Reading wrap-up + Favourites | September 2018

Hello, beautiful people! 

September was such a long and busy month. I moved back to Paris, started my new master's degree and have been loving my classes, started talking to new people, fangirled too much, watched Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone on the big screen for the first time in my life (!!), visited museums, enjoyed the beginning of Fall and saw my friends again. Of course it was exhausting at times and I need to remember to keep time for myself, but it was so worth it, I feel like my life is going in the right direction and it couldn't make me happier.

W H A T   I  R E A D

September has been a great reading month, I overall enjoyed every single book I read and also developed a thing for Greek mythology retellings: I so need them all! Well, I've been reading less and less because of uni (I read a book per week these days), but I don't really mind, it makes me happier when I finally have time to read! 

Here are the books that I read:

• Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke, 4.5/5 stars
• Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales: a Selection, 3/5 stars
• The Silence of the Girls, by Pat Barker, 4/5 stars
• The Children of Jocasta, by Natalie Haynes, 3.5/5 stars
• Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray, 4/5 stars (reread)
• If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio, 4/5 stars 
• The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie, 3.5/5 stars
• Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor, 5/5 stars (reread)

If we don't count rereads, my favourite book of the month was Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. I had been looking forward to reading it for so long and it didn't let me down, it was such a complex novel, with amazing historical details and fleshed-out characters. I cannot wait to watch the adaptation at some point! I was also full in my autumnal reading in September, it was perfect!

F A V O U R I T E S

DRINK // Pumpkin Spice Latte

I'm not a very original person on that one, for everyone raves about Pumpkin Spice Lattes every year, but I adore it so much and it's the perfect Fall drink. Unfortunately, I couldn't drink too much of it because the weather was very warm for most of September, but now that it's colder, that's the only Starbucks drink I'll get until they stop making it. I still need to try to make my own, that shall be the plan for October.

MOVIE // Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Until this month, there was this one thing that had bothered me for almost my entire life: I had never watched Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in theaters. I was five when it came out and while I did read the book, my parents didn't want me to see the movie on the big screen, because I would have been too scared (now that I think about it, most Disney movies scared me BUT ANYWAY). However, I did watch the rest of them in theaters and it always made me so sad to have missed out on the first one. Then, this month, they aired the movies on the big screen again (thank you, France) and I was able to finally, after seventeen years, watch it there. I cried most of the time, because I was so overwhelmed and the wheel had finally come full circle. Like so many people, Harry Potter is what I grew up with and it means the world to me, so that was the best feeling in the world.

MISC. // French press coffee maker

For some time now, I really wanted to get a French press, not only for the aesthetic (#shallow), but because I really needed a coffee maker of some sort for when I moved back to Paris. My mom first got me a big one so we could use it at home and I adore the whole process and the taste, it's my favourite thing for sure. She then got me a smaller one (for one person) and I've been using it everyday, now that I've moved back to Paris. I obviously named the big one Lorelai Gilmore and the small one Rory Gilmore, I HAD TO.

TV SHOW // Gilmore Girls

Speaking of which, my best friend and I started our Gilmore Girls rewatch at the end of August and have continued in earnest throughout September. We even watch it at distance now, as we're living in different cities. Gilmore Girls truly is one of my favourite TV shows, it makes me feel good, motivates me to study as hard as I can and makes me want to drink coffee all the time. I had so missed my favourite character, Paris Geller. I also have a Gilmore Girls moodboard on my desk and that's the perfect study motivation.

(I love her so much and now 

I'm reaaaaally emotional)

FASHION // Scratch sneakers

I had to throw away my good old sneakers in August and it made me so sad, I had them for more than a year and a half and they were so comfortable, I travelled everywhere with them! With that came the need to get new sneakers and... I gave in to a cheaper brand that made cute scratch sneakers. I even put a golden star on one of my shoes and it made me love them even more, they're all the more unique. I used to not like scratch sneakers very much, but they're so handy, comfortable and I like the concept of them! It seems like they're trendy again because I keep seeing people wearing them and I so approve.

FASHION // Grey plaid dress

As I'm typing these lines, I'm actually wearing said dress. If I could wear it everyday, I would? Grey is one of my favourite colors (with purple and yellow), I adore dressing in it so much. While I was looking at clothes online and in stores, I saw that there were lots of grey plaid dresses in the autumnal collections, so I gave it and got myself one. Mine is super comfortable and has both blue and green lines as details on the sleeves, which is perfect for the Slytherclaw that I am! It also looks very cute with the scratch sneakers, so it helps its case!

L O O K I N G  A H E A D

October seems to be shaping itself like quite a challenging month, but I'm ready for it. Now that uni truly has started, I have lots of projects due, which is stressful, but also exciting, I am eager to study, study and study again. When it comes to reading, October means Victober and I am beyond happy to get back to Victorian literature as much as possible! I also have so many movies I want to see on the big screen (... five?!) and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society will get released as a DVD in France! I cannot wait to get my hands on it and to rewatch it over and over again. Oh and of course, October is the best Fall month, it's time to do everything on my Fall bucket list now, right?

How was September? What did you read? Any new favourite things?

Lots of love,

Lucie

Reading wrap-up + Favourites | August 2018

Hello, beautiful people!

I am so happy that August is coming to a close, it was such a busy and long month for me, as I spent most of my time at my summer job (but as you're reading this, I'm freeeeeee). It was quite a tough month as well, and I won't go too much in details about that, but can I please stop worrying all the time? UGH. Despite that, there were so many highlights in August, such as my best friend's birthday, watching many, many movies, surprising my boyfriend for his birthday, watching football games, drinking a lot of coffee, starting the great Gilmore Girls rewatch of 2018 and so on. 

W H A T  I  R E A D

Following the great "31 books in 31 days challenge" that I did back in July, I didn't want to read as much, but I still managed to read a lot, and as I participated in a 24h readathon again, it certainly helped. Here are the books that I read:

• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, 5/5 stars (reread)
• Wait for Me by Caroline Leech, 3.75/5 stars
• Guermantes' Way (Le Côté de Guermantes) by Marcel Proust, 3/5 stars
• Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell, 3.5/5 stars
• Take Courage: Anne Brontë and the Art of Life by Samantha Ellis, 3.5/5 stars
• The Muse by Jessie Burton, 4/5 stars
• The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, 4/5 stars
• Pauline by Alexandre Dumas, 3.5/5 stars (reread)
• Peril at End House by Agatha Christie, 4/5 stars
• On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan, 4/5 stars
• Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson, 3/5 stars

In August happened the #classicsathon hosted by Lucy @ Lucy The Reader, which I was really excited about, as it motivated me to read some classics I had been meaning to read forever (mainly French ones), so I read four classics! Other than that, I mostly read historical fiction, as it's all I've been in the mood for lately. I don't really want to say it's back to being my favourite genre, but... When I look at my favourite books, 90% of them are either historical fiction or classics. Ahem. I've been in a huge fantasy slump since the beginning of the year, I really need to get out of it soon. Anyhow, August also was the month where I destroyed my TBR once and for all, I'm so happy about that. I'll talk more about why I don't want a TBR anymore in an upcoming blog post, so stay tuned for that!

F A V O U R I T E  B L O G  P O S T S

Fatima @ Screen Queens reviewed the movie adaptation of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and she also talked about the Q&A with the cast that she attended. Special thanks to her for making me read a first draft of it, she's the best and I adore this post!
Shealea @ That Bookshelf Bitch talked about #bookishwish and how it came to be.

Holly @ Nut Free Nerd explained how she came to study English at college (and why she kept it that way).

Jemima @ Be Aware of Books talked about the "right" to be a Shakespeare fan.

Lucy @ Queen of Contemporary shared her views on many book lovers' nightmare: damaging a book.

Lauren @ Bookish Byron talked about her dissertation on the Brontës - more specifically on the relationship between marriage and class in Charlotte’s Shirley, Emily’s Wuthering Heights, and Anne’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - which was so interesting, I had been curious about her dissertation for months!

Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books discussed how to support international book bloggers.

F A V O U R I T E S

BEAUTY | (almost) no makeup & dyeing my hair

I'm part of those people who hate their skin. Like, why do I still have to have acne at 22? My skin isn't the worst, I know that, but I've felt self-conscious about it for my entire life and started wearing BB cream, then foundation a year and a half ago. However, with that came the fact that I hated going out without makeup, then for some reason (probably laziness and the heat)... I just stopped everything at the beginning of July. At first, I was just trying to get used to not wearing make up, then decided to drop it for the rest of the summer, and it actually feels great, I'm getting less and less self-conscious every day. There are days where I wear nothing, or lipstick and nothing else (not even mascara), which I used to do all the time three years ago and I've been loving it.

In July, I also dyed my hair for the first time, then did it again in August and got the results I wanted! It's nothing big really: my hair has different shades of blonde, but it's gotten darker in recent years, especially during winter, and I just want to be completely blonde (aka I just wanted the color my top hairlocks have, so it would look more even). So I did that and I feel so much better and it gave me a bit more confidence, so yay!

MISC. | Tottenham Hotspur (Football)

Hear me out: when France won the World Cup... I couldn't let it go. I couldn't, not when watching games made me forget all of my problems and that I realised how much I had missed it. I've been wearing my French bracelet since then and if I have to go outside without it, I actually freak out. As I was saying last month, I used to watch football games when I was younger, then gradually stopped, except for the games with our national team. After the World Cup, I really wanted to start to support a team, and that's how I came to root for Tottenham and to follow what was happening in the Premier League  (lmao, of course, if I had to watch a football league, it'd have to be the English one, what a surprise). 

I'll confess that yes, I did start watching Tottenham's games because of Hugo Lloris, but I've been having so much fun that it's more than that now! It's also very stressful when I have to find livestreams or when it takes us* a long time to score (we've won all out August games, though). Still, I adore it and you can tell that I've turned into a proper supporter when I'm screaming "he does score in August" in front of my laptop like everyone else and it has meaning to me (He did score in August! And twice at thaaaat >> excuse me, my excitement couldn't be contained).

*"us", "we", oh my, I have really turned into a proper supporter who checks everything about her team all. the. time. oops.

MUSIC | Mamma Mia!, Born to Be Yours & Dying in LA

Apart from the Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again soundtrack that I'm listening to daily (Andante, Andante is my current favourite), here are the two songs that I've been listening to all the time:

(it's been going on since... mid-July)

(At some point, I realised that I was getting The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo vibes

 from this one, then I was completely lost and couldn't stop listening to it anymore)

Now, moving on to TV shows and movies...

TV SHOW | Land Girls 

I hadn't realised how much I had missed period dramas, until I finished Mr. Selfridge in July and needed to start a new one. On my mom's recommendation, I started Land Girls and flew through it (I was basically watching one season per day, they're quite short, but still). I don't watch a lot of period drama/read a lot of books set during World War II, but I figured out that it was okay for me when it was about what happened to people left behind during the war. Land Girls was so entertaining, full of drama and interesting characters (as the Land Girls didn't always stay from one season to another). I'm a bit sad they didn't renew it for a fourth season, because there are some loose-ends, and that they changed the actor for Henry, but still, it was great!

TV SHOW | The Bold Type

I had already dedicated an entire blog post to it earlier this month, but I adore The Bold Type so much and I devoured the second season of it in a few days in August. I won't dwell on it too much, as I already discussed it at length, but it is such a topical, diverse and needed TV show, which focuses on women and makes me feel so good about myself and my dreams. Kat, Jane and Sutton, I miss you so.

MOVIE | BlacKkKlansman (2018)

I watched quite a few movies this month, but the one that truly stood out was BlacKkKlansman, which isn't very surprising, considering how excited I was about it. If you haven't heard of it, this movie is based on a true story. In 1979, Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) is hired as the first black cop in his town; he pauses on the phone as a white man to join and infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan, one of his white colleagues, Flip Zimmerman (Adam Driver), pretending to be him during meetings. I attended a premiere of it with my best friend, the room was packed and people even clapped at the end, which rarely ever happens in France*. It is such an important movie, so hard to watch at times because of all the racist remarks/acts, but it was amazingly done. I am so happy it won the Grand Prix during the Cannes Film Festival, it truly deserves it and I hope it'll get many awards during award season! If you can, please go watch it.

*it did happen at the premiere of Love, Simon, but it wasn't the same type of audience at all, that's why it surprised me so much after BlacKkKlansman!

L O O K I N G  A H E A D

I am excited about the month of September, I am terrified of the month of September. I'm about to start my last year at university, doing a master in cultural mediation, heritage and digital technologies, which I'm beyond excited about, as I won't be doing something by default anymore and I'm breathing again. It's going to be quite challenging though, because it's a new field to explore and I'll have to talk to new people, but it will be okay. I'm also really looking forward to living on my own again when I move back to Paris (it's been four months...), it'll take me time to adjust to everything, but it'll be so worth it in the end. Plus, classes only start at the end of the month, so I still have some time to get ready!

I also have some releases to look forward to, not as much as for the last months of the year, but still! In September will finally be released Vengeful by V.E. Schwab, The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton, Wildcard by Marie Lu and Lethal White by Robert Galbraith (I really dislike JKR now, though, so I'll get it from the library, because I need to know what happens after the evil cliffhanger of Career of Evil anyway). I don't think I'm looking forward to any movie releases in September, but Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is going to play in theaters in France again! Can you imagine how excited I am? For TV shows, The Good Place is also coming back for a third season and I am so ready.

How did August treat you? Any new favourite things?

Lots of love,

Lucie