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?

My favourite books of 2018

Now that 2018 is behind us, it's time to share with you my favourite reads of the year! I didn't want to write this post while we were still in 2018, just in case my very last read of the year became a new favourite, and in the end, that was a very wise decision! For this post, I ordered my favourites through chronological order, because I couldn't choose between some of them, but also because chronological order reflects my reading year more. That being said, let's jump right into it!

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Daphne du Maurier might be my favourite author, but I waited for as long as I could before diving into Rebecca. It's her most famous work - with reason -, but she wanted to be known for more than *just* that one, and I wanted to respect her in that. I had also watched 1997 mini-series years ago, so I already knew everything that happened. Yet, nothing can ever prepare you for the beauty of du Maurier's words. Rebecca is intoxicating, with an amazing gothic atmosphere and a fascinating plot. Like all of du Maurier's works, it made me want to visit Cornwall so much and I'm aching for the day I'll finally be able to go there. While I already knew the story, it still took me by surprise and upon finishing it, I had to go back to reread the first chapters of the story. Daphne du Maurier, I love you so much.

Renegades by Marissa Meyer

At the time I read Renegades, I hadn't fallen in love with a young adult novel in six months. However, from the moment I picked that one up, I knew that my problem was fixed, because Renegades was everything I could have asked for. As I adore slow-paced plots and super abilities, this one was perfect for me and I couldn't get enough! This novel is about people you'd call superheroes, villains, but also secret identities and humanity, while giving you the points of view of characters who belong to two different sides. It has a very rich world, full of politics, and you're left wondering who the villains of the story are, which is something I adore. I have yet to pick up the sequel, but I'm so excited to see where this story is going!

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Ah, Children of Blood and Bone. One of the two books that put me in a fantasy slump for most of the year, because I loved it too much. I am often scared of the hype, but Children of Blood and Bone amazed me. The world-building was spectacular, it flew perfectly and introduced everything you need to know about Orïsha, where the series takes place. This book focused on racism, fear and hatred of people who are different from you and how those feelings can lead to prejudice, violence and even slaughter; it echoes our society, especially the stories about unarmed black men, women, and children shot by the police and it makes the story even more important. I also fell for all our main characters, without being able to pick a favourite and I've been missing them for months. 

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty

The City of Brass is the second book that contributed to my fantasy slump. After these two, I couldn't read fantasy anymore without being disappointed, because they were too good. This novel is a Middle-East inspired fantasy novel (it's set in 18th century Cairo at first!) with a very dense plot and so many layers weren't revealed until the very end, which made me love it even more. I couldn't catch my breath because I always wanted to know what would happen next. As I have a soft spot for morally grey characters and The City of Brass had several, I couldn't help but love them. Moreover, I loved how it didn't make it easy for its characters mastering new abilities, because it can be the case in fantasy, but The City of Brass didn't suffer from it at all! It was such an amazing fantasy novel.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Sometimes, you are lucky enough to find a book that feels so much like you and you can't get enough of it. You know that this book and you will stand the test of time. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is one of mine. To be honest, it never is a good idea to make me talk about it, because that's it: I want to reread it again, as it feels so much like home. This book introduced me to one of the most beautiful stories I have ever read, as well as to one of my favourite fictional characters, Juliet Ashton. She inspires me so much and we share many similarities! Besides, I loved how much this novel was about reading and loving books, how books can bring us together during tough times. It also had so many different book references and I loved it all the more because of that: from the fact that Juliet was a writer who published a biography about Anne Brontë to the fact that it was set on Guernsey, where Victor Hugo was exiled (and wrote Les Misérables aka my favourite book), I couldn't have been happier. 

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

I read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo at the right time in my life and from the very beginning, I already knew it would end up being one of my favourite books ever and I already wanted to reread it. This book is about Evelyn Hugo, a very famous Hollywood actress, her life from the 1950s to today, her career and her seven husbands. I can't say too much, but I am thankful I've read this, I am thankful for what it brought me and I will reread it for the rest of my life. Evelyn Hugo was such an interesting character, she was ruthless, ambitious and so inspiring, she will stay with me for a very long time. I'm not saying anymore, but anyone who has read this will know what I'm talking about, but just thank you for it all Taylor Jenkins Reid. I reread it just recently, and I want to do so again.

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman

Alice Oseman's books were so special to me this year, I binge-read them all back to back in a week (I rarely ever do that for a series or an author) and Alice Oseman became my newest favourite author. I read this one in June, when I was terrified of what my future would hold and it helped me so much. Frances Janvier became one of the characters I relate to the most and I am beyond grateful she exists in this amazing novel. Everyone has read this one years ago, so I'm very late to the party, but I am so thankful for this book, how nerdy it is, for Frances and Aled and for what it brought me. I adore Alice Oseman's words so much and I would read her grocery shopping list. It's been months now and I still can't put into proper words how much this means to me. That's just about it.

Frenchman's Creek by Daphne du Maurier

What. A. Surprise. I have two of Daphne du Maurier's novels in my favourite books of 2018 list. I just couldn't help myself. I have often written that Daphne du Maurier was probably my soulmate and have always meant it: no one gets me as much as she does and I will forever be heartbroken not to have lived at the same time as she had. But anyway. In this novel, I fell in love with the descriptions of Cornwall, with the atmosphere, with the way the pirate's life was described. I adored Dona St Columb, because I could relate to her so much, she felt so modern, was so smart, witty, independent and fierce, she also needed more from her life, and I get that. Frenchman's Creek is a story about finding who you are after having to hide it for so long, about sexual awakening, about duty, about family, about passion. It's very far from the "silly" love story some people want to make of it. It means the world to me, feels like home, and I'm so glad that Daphne du Maurier wrote it.

The Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb

Remember when I mentioned my fantasy slump? Well, I eventually got out of it and it's all thanks to the Farseer Trilogy. Special thanks to my parents and my boyfriend for making me read it, even though I got a book hangover from it. This time, I'm not talking about one book, I'm talking about the trilogy, because I think about it as a whole and it's spectacular throughout. If I had to choose, Royal Assassin would be my favourite, but I just love the trilogy more, if that makes sense? This series is a medieval fantasy following FitzChivalry, the illegitimate son of a prince, who comes to court and secretly learns to be an assassin for his king. The Farseer Trilogy is full of court politics, has such a spectacular world-building, fleshed-out characters (I feel like I know them all by heart!) and while its slow pace isn't for everyone, I didn't really mind. I haven't been able to get this story out of my mind ever since I started it in November, even though I've tried. Even today, weeks later, all I want to do is dive into the next trilogy, The Liveship Traders. I'm so happy that Robin Hobb's world is made of so many series, I wish they could last forever.

A Game of Thrones by by George R.R. Martin

Last, but certainly not least, A Game of Thrones was the last book I read in 2018 and it became one of my favourites. I've been watching Game of Thrones (the show) for years, sometimes I adore it, sometimes I'm feeling a bit meh about it, so I was always unsure whether I wanted to read the books or not. However, everyone kept saying that the books were way better, so I gave in... And while I only read the first one, I'm already in agreement (it might also be because I like fantasy more in books than in movies/TV shows). I already knew most of the story, but it's a complete different experience through George R.R. Martin's words: the world is richer, the characters more fleshed out and I just appreciate it more? I'm not quite sure I can explain, but I was so excited to go back to it every time (even though I read it slowly) and I need to buy A Clash of Kings tomorrow so I can take it to Algeria with me the day after. Oh, and while we're at it, I need all things Westeros, thank you very much.

So that's it for my favourite books of the year! I'm so happy I got to discover all the books I mentioned in this post in 2018 and I already miss them, I cannot wait to reread them over and over again. If I had to pick just one favourite, I could almost do it... I'd just have to pick two instead, aka The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, but I'm sure most of you knew that already. 2018 was such an amazing year for me and I'm sad to see it go, but having all those books to look back on is everything I need.

What were your favourite books of 2018?

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