Happy New Year + Goals for 2018

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

I wish you to have an amazing year, to accomplish your dreams, to find new ones, to stay healthy, to laugh, to be happy, to discover amazing fictional worlds and so much more!

Hello, beautiful people!

This is my first blog post of the year and because of that, I wanted to write about what I wanted to accomplish in 2018, whether it was about what I wanted to change in my life, my reading or my blogging lives. I did something a bit similar last year – but shorter – and I thought it would be the perfect way to motivate me to make 2018 a great year.

L I F E   G O A L S

I'm not going to lie, I'm at a difficult time in my life and I am completely lost. I have no idea what will happen to me in 2018 and because of that, I can't really plan ahead. 2017 was a hard year for sure, but the good outweights the bad and I am proud of myself. I really put myself out there, met amazing people, crossed things off my bucket list and most importantly, gained more confidence. Trying to figure out what I wanted my goals for 2018 to be was very hard, until I heard that sentence in a movie (you'll know which one if you've seen it):

"Let the past die. Kill it if you have to."

It sounds very extreme and I don't take the second sentence literally at all, but these sentences keep coming back to me (I can't explain the whole thing, though). Like I said, 2017 was a challenging year for me and it hurt me, broke me. However, it might be exactly what I need to figure out who I am and what I want to do with my life. I met amazing people for sure, but I also trusted the wrong ones and like one of my closest friends told me, I need to be my own role model in life. I need to let go of what happened in the past, to try to move past what I consider to be my personal failures, to move past who I used to be and accept who I am now, to become a better person, to be in control. I've already changed so much in the past two weeks and I want to keep it that way. This year will be the year I work on myself, more than a year where I want so many things to happen, because I don't know what I want to happen yet, and that's okay.

In 2018, I want to find motivation, to start dreaming again. I want to learn to be kinder to myself, to fight my anxiety every day. I want to stop wanting to cry/crying every time someone asks me about my future and to stand up for myself. I want to eat healthier, to feel better in my own body – because I haven't been lately and even though it's just my brain messing up with me, I have to do something about that. I want to figure myself out and to find what I really want to do with my life. I want to be even more me than in 2017.

R E A D I N G  G O A L S

In 2017, I decided to broaden my literary tastes, as I was getting back into classics and it was a huge success. I have changed a lot as a reader and I'm still trying to figure out which types of books I love (hint: I love a lot of different books). First things first, I am not setting up a real Goodreads challenge. I put one book in it to be able to track down my reading, I'm curious to see how much I'll read without having a challenge.

Then, I want to read bigger books – by that I mean 700+ pages books –, because there are so many of them I want to discover in different genres, such as the A Song of Ice and Fire series, War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke and so on. Lengthy books don't scare me anymore and I keep adding so many of them to my list! I actually started reading War and Peace last night and I'm so excited for it to be my first book of the year: I am sure it will shape 2018, in a way.

I am still planning on reading a lot of classics: I mainly focused on Victorian literature last year and of course I want to keep going because it's absolutely amazing, but I also want to challenge myself more. I am planning to push myself to read more 20^th century literature, as I've always been reluctant to read most books set in that century, but Daphne du Maurier started to change my mind. As always, I have a list and I hope I'll find new books I love. Beyond that, I want to read more French classics: I got around reading Balzac for the first time last year and to finally read Les Misérables (come on, this isn't a post about books if I don't mention this book), which motivated me even more to read in French again. I need to read more of Zola, Hugo and Balzac's novels, to get back to Proust, to discover new authors. I also want to read more foreign classics, I might pick up French translations for that, as it doesn't really matter if I read them in French or in English. I found a classics challenge perfect for all my goals, I will talk about it in an upcoming post!

There are some authors I want to focus on, such as George Eliot, Daphne du Maurier, Charlotte Brontë (as I only read Jane Eyre by her), Margaret Atwood and most importantly, Agatha Christie. Crime used to be one of my favourite genres when I was younger, I started to fall back in love with it again and read about four of Christie's novels in 2017. I want to pursue that this year, reading one of her books each month.

Finally, I really want to read more non-fiction. I discovered it in 2017 as well and I've been craving it more and more lately. Many memoirs are eyeing me, such as Carrie Fisher's The Princess Diarist (because I'm so obsessed with Star Wars haha) or Ariel Levy's The Rules Do Not Apply. I also want to read a lot of biographies, books about history and literature. I'm particularly looking forward to read biographies about my favourite Victorian authors, such as Thomas Hardy, Anne Brontë or Charles Dickens. I keep adding a lot of non-fiction books on Goodreads and I hope I can get to as many of them as possible in 2018.

B L O G G I N G  G O A L S

This blog will turn three years old in June, but because I took a very long break from blogging, I have been rethinking everything about it, which is actually great for creativity. I want to go back to being consistent here – I've already started, so that's something! – to post at least once a week or the equivalent of it (meaning at least four-five posts each month). I need to find a new blogging schedule to get back into blog hopping and commenting, because I've done it less and less lately.

You might have noticed I don't post a lot of reviews anymore, because that's not exactly how I want to talk to you all about books anymore. I will still post reviews for e-ARCs and write blog posts about a book in particular when I feel like it, but I want to diversify my content. I have so many features I want to develop, such as 'From page to screen' for classics adaptations – I only did it with My Cousin Rachel, but I aim to do it once a month in 2018 –, finally start an author spotlight feature for classics authors, write more recommendations on specific topics and so on.


While I'm very scared in 2018, I'm curious to see what this year will have in store for me and I will do my best to make the most of it.

Do you have any goals for 2018? For your life, reading or blogging?

Lots of love,

Lucie

Paris Book Fair and meeting Internet friends // March Wrap-Up & April 2017 TBR

Can you believe that we're already in April? It's all so crazy. I feel like I'm saying that at the end of every month, but really. I have no idea where all this time is going. March was such a busy month for me, I didn't see it pass. 

At the beginning of the month, I met an Internet friend for the first time ever. Can you imagine my anxiety? It was grand lmao (but it was great). Anywho, I met Clara (aka thebookwormofnotredame on Instagram) and we went to Shakespeare & Co. and other bookstores, because obviously. Here's to overcome my social anxiety, because I wouldn't have met her and Lydia otherwise.

In March, Paris Book Fair happened and it was the first time I ever attended. I was so excited and it was such a perfect week-end. My best friend was with me so we finally had time to catch up and watch Beauty and the Beast. I hadn't felt that happy in a long time, because I could truly be myself (and fangirl all day), as I was with people who are like me, with the best squad ever. At the Fair, I got to meet Rainbow Rowell, Marie Rutkoski and Jojo Moyes (!!!), it was so amazing. And I was freaking out on the inside obvisouly, but not as much than with Leigh Bardugo, haha.

Me with Marie Rutkoski / Rainbow Rowell / Jojo Moyes

• A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic #3) by V.E. Schwab 4 stars
• We Are Okay by Nina LaCour 3.5 stars
• Paper and Fire (The Great Library #2) by Rachel Caine 2 stars
• And I Darken (The Conquerors Saga #1) by Kiersten White 4 stars
• These Ruthless Deeds (These Vicious Masks #2) by Tarun Shanker et Kelly Zekas 3 stars
• Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them by J.K. Rowling (audiobook) 4 stars
• Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly 5 stars
• and two French books I both rated 3.5 stars

My reading tastes are broadening themselves so much lately and it makes me so happy. March clearly showed that, because the only book I rated five stars was non-fiction. Wut. I had loved Hidden Figures when I watched it and I knew I had to read the book, even though it was just facts and I wasn't sure I would enjoy it. This book was a punch into my face and I still haven't been able to form words to talk about it, but I will, soon. Moreover, I finally started to listen to audiobooks in English – I was only doing that in French before – and started with the new Fantastic Beasts, because it was narrated by Eddie Redmayne (aka I have no words to describe him except for my fangirling). I loved it so much and I'm pretty sure I'm ruined for other audiobooks, but now I know I can do it! I'm so excited to listen to more of them.

 I'm supposed to be on a semi-book buying ban (but it won't last long I'm sure), which means I should empty my TBR a little. Here are the books I'm most excited to read:

• Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
• Tess of the d'Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy (which I'm currently buddy reading)
• Making Faces by Amy Harmon
• Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
• Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
• The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
• A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas (reread) => time to prepare for ACOWAR even if I'm not ready. *sobs*

What did you read in March?

Tea, Books and Fun becomes Of Wishes and Pages! // I'm back (for real)

Hi everyone !

You must be wondering where a blog called Of Wishes and Pages is coming from but it's me, Lucie from Tea, Books and Fun. In January, I had said I was considering changing my blog name, because I had already changed all of my social medias for my French blog. Last night, I decided it was time to come back, so here we are :

Welcome to Of Wishes and Pages !

But first, let me explain where this change came from, because it's a big deal to change your blog's name. You might have noticed I've been MIA since last August (yeah, almost eight months). The truth is, my family went through a very complicated thing (hi, euphemism), I started a master's degree in September, while doing an internship and then my mental health went to hell in December. That's why I haven't been there. But I've been thinking about Tea, Books and Fun a lot. I just checked my page count – not that it's what matters most to me – and saw that you kept coming during all these months. You guys are the best, you know that, right ?

In September, I started a French blog named Wishes and Pages, which was more cultural-based (about TV shows, museum exhibitions and such) and I've had so much fun with this one. It's been the source of my joy for a long time. However, I missed writing in English and since most of the books I read are in English, it has always made more sense to blog in English. That's why I wanted to come back: it took me awhile, but I missed being around here. I wanted a fresh start and since I didn't like Tea, Books and Fun anymore, I chose a name close to Wishes and Pages... That's where Of Wishes and Pages came from!

But except that, nothing really has changed. I might talk about TV shows and movies more, but I had already started to do that last year. I won't post a lot though, because I have to turn in my master's thesis in less than two months and will go back to my internship in May.

Anyway, before I wrap this blog post up, I wanted to talk to you guys about my favorite books of the year – so far. I'm not counting rereads (because I reread The Infernal Devices in February and I'm still in love with it), which means I've only rated three books (but there's one French book that's not on the list because you can't read it, obviously) five stars. What is happening, I'm so shocked. I still have read some amazing books and here are my top 5:

1. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

2. We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

3. Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them: The Original Screenplay by J.K. Rowling

4. Caraval by Stephanie Garber

5. Windwitch by Susan Dennard

What have you guys been up to, since the beginning of the year? What's the best thing that have happened to you? What are your favorite books of 2017 (so far)?

End of hiatus + Goals for 2017

Hi guys, long time no see !

I had said I was going to come back in the middle of December, but it didn't end up happening, because life was crazy, I had personnal issues and my master's disseration was at war with me. So yeah, that was fun. Also, the truth is... I still wasn't ready to come back. I was waiting until I missed it so much, and the time has come, which makes me so happy.

But, I still haven't wished you an HAPPY NEW YEAR ! May your year be filled with health, happiness and success ! I'm determined to make 2017 my beast year yet and I hope it will be this way for you.

I also wanted to thank y'all for sticking with me for the past few months, even though I wasn't very active on the blog, it means the world to me to come back and see you were still visiting my little corner of the Internet : you're just the best !

I've read tons in the past few months, which means I'm very late in my reviews, but I won't try to catch up, because if I do that, we'll be there until Easter, but by then I'll have read other books and it will be an endless fight. But hey, it's a New Year, right? So I'm starting fresh and will only catch up on my January reviews. I also hope I'll find new content to post, because while I love sharing my thoughts on the books I read, I know it's not everyone's favourite contempt. But yeah, I'm back and over the moon about it. I'll post my first blog post on Sunday, so stay tuned for that!

For the second part of this post, I'm gonna share with you five goals I have for 2017 (or it would be rather pointless to make a post just about my return...).

1. Travel to Scotland. I've been so obsessed with Scotland ever since I started watching Outlander back in June and have read the first three books by now. I also read The Highland Witch by Susan Fletcher lately, which I highly recommend, and it made me want to travel to Scotland even more. I just need to go to Glencoe and Culloden to cry. I also want to go to Edinburgh and get lost there.
2. Getting back into writing. I've graduated high school for three and a half years and I haven't really been writing since then, which is a shame. I'm intending to go back to it in 2017 and have already wrote 1.000 words, which is a start.
3. To work on bookstagram. Which I have already started, even though I'm not the best at it.
4. To gain confidence. I always had little confidence in myself, I'm not asking for the biggest change, but to gain some would be quite nice.
5. Continue to expand my reading tastes. Since September, I've started reading classics again, but also adult novels, I got back into reading in French. I've also been reading more diversely since the beginning of 2016, which makes me so very happy and I intend to continue with that.

Side note : I'm not teabooksandfun on social media anymore, but wishesandpages (the name of my blog in French), if you're looking for me. I'm also thinking of changing the name of the blog to wishesandpages (and something more, so maybe ofwishesandpages?), because I'm no longer happy with teabooksandfun as a name).

It wasn't the most interesting post, but I wanted to let you know I was back and am now tired of talking (erm, I mean writing), so tell me all about you. What happened in the book blogging community while I was gone? How are you? Anything interesting happening in your life? Do you have big plans for 2017?

October favourites

Apparently, I haven’t posted in a month two weeks actually, but I still have a lot of views on the blog and it makes my little heart full of joy. I’ll explain everything right after but I want to start on a happy note: books and favourite things of October!

Books I read in October

I’m not going to include books that are only published in French, because it’s no use for you, right? But yeah, I also read three books by French authors and it’s good to finally do it again! I’ll list the books from favourite to least favourite, for a change.

Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon ★ ★ ★ ★.5

The Midnight Star by Marie Lu ★ ★ ★ ★.5

The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman ★ ★ ★ ★

Ms. Marvel, Vol. 2: Generation Why by Willow G. Wilson ★ ★ ★ ★

Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1: No Normal by Willow G. Wilson ★ ★ ★ ★

Hallowe’en Party by Agatha Christie ★ ★ ★.5

The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith ★ ★ ★.5

A Shadow Bright and Burning by Jessica Cluess ★ ★.5

October Favourites

I’ve been so obsessed with Outlander lately, it’s not even funny. I would love to read Voyager straight away but I should wait until winter break. I’m trying to be patient and it’s so hard. Right now, I would love nothing more than to move to Scotland where I could shield myself from life. JAMIE, TAKE ME THROUGH THE STONES. Anyway.

Obviously, he's waiting for me, right?

I’m also obsessed with Victorian England. It started when I read Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy, which is hands down one of my new favourite classics, and the movie is golden. The music is a pleasure to the ears and is my new studying soundtrack. In October, I also watched the first season of Victoria and OMG, I need season 2 like yesterday. And Albert. With the face of Tom Hughes obviously please and thank you. Anyway, in a more serious way, Victoria and Albert are now some of the historical figures I look up the most to. They're my babies and have a pic of them on my lockscreen (the real ones, not the actors I swear!).

This is Albert.  He is so hot OMG. I must have turned on the heat a little too much in my room or something.

In October, I also finally tasted the Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks (I’ve been there like three times in my life and that’s it) and it was glorious. I’m sad they don’t have them anymore because I’m not a fan of the Christmas beverages they’re having now, I think.

Also, I didn’t do this until November 1^st, but I might be becoming a vegetarian. I haven’t eaten meat for eight days I think and… I don’t really miss it, so far. I’ll have to eat meat at my boyfriend’s this week-end though, because I don’t want to get in a fight with his parents on the subject… for now. But well, it’s not that hard to cut down on meat and I feel so much better about myself. I also won Alexandra's flash giveaway at the beginning of November and will be receiving Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer soon-ish and I'm definitely excited (that's new, for non-fiction books!).

I would also like to mention my internship in this ‘favourite’ section, because this is the place I’ve been happy the most since university started again. I feel useful and appreciated and this is seriously golden. I also went to a preview with my boss for a contemporary art exhibition and I still haven’t realised!! Anyway, the day I’ll have to leave, I will cry so badly and my heart will be broken, but in the meantime, I’m having fun there!

As a bonus, I'm also posting a pic of Matthias Schoenaerts as Gabriel Oak in Far from the Madding Crowd, so y'all will want to watch the movie. I'm sorry for all these pictures but they're linked to my obsessions, okay?

The reasons I haven't been posting lately...

 I’m so sorry I hardly ever post these days guys, but life is getting busier every day. Between going to class, working on my master’s paper (I’m struggling so hard to find time to work on it though), homework, going at my internship, trying not to go insane and still going out and reading, it’s so hard to fit blogging in the mix!

I am beyond grateful I have my boyfriend these days because he helps me out so much and he's always there, answering the phone anytime. I would be going nuts without him tbh, so thank you, V ! 💕

Moreover, there has been so much negativity in the community lately and while I understand people’s point, especially with the man that seemed to have been elected as President of the United States, I don’t want to go on Twitter and see people fighting. My anxiety must be the worst it has ever been lately, with panic attacks and craving to stay in bed all day because the outside world scares me, that I want to see things that make me happy. I want blogging to be my happy place, but sadly… It’s not at the moment. *cries* Because of that and life being so busy, I’m officially taking a hiatus, until December 16^th, when winter break starts.

Thank you for your support guys, because I see the views and I know I’m behind on comments, but I’ll be back as soon as I can <3

So, what have you been up to, lately? What’s your favourite book you read in October? Is anyone participating in NaNoWriMo (I sadly can't)? Are you excited for the holiday season, started buying gifts for your loved ones?

Update + I'm kinda back!

I feel like I’ve tried to write this post a thousand times, but it never fitted. I’m trying again, one last time, because finally, I want to write it. Like you might have noticed, I haven’t posted… In a very long time (at least for me, it’s the first time it happened). I’ve been in this huge slump and to be honest… I didn’t miss blogging that much. But now I do.

For the past four months, my life has been crazy. For many parts, like getting my internship and going on holidays with my boyfriend, it’s been clearly amazing. But there are some other not-so-funny parts I can’t talk about in public that crushed me. On top of that, while this new school year is very exciting (I’ll be back at the internship again and I’m so pumped!), it’s also SO stressful, because of this huge dissertation I’ll have to turn in at the end of the year (it could be the equivalent of the senior thesis for American students, but we’re doing five years, soooo?). Anyway, my life is crazy, overwhelming and I have no idea how I’m even gonna survive the year. I just wanted to update you a bit on my life, for you to understand why I had been away.

On top of that… I wasn’t very happy with my blog anymore, for two reasons.

Like you know, I’m French, and since I started blogging here, I stopped reading in French, altogether. I’ve been having so much fun thinking in English 50% of the day for the last year and a half, but sometimes, it feels like I’m betraying my own country, and that I don’t fit anywhere, because I’m in the middle. I started to think a lot about this topic while seeing Australian bloggers talking about Aussie YA lit… Because I couldn’t do that for my own country. So yeah, I've started to read in French again and I won't be able to talk about it here.

Moreover, while I love books and it’s one of the most important part of my life – especially since they helped me build myself back last year – it’s not the only thing I love in life. For example, I love history. Now that I’m studying Cultural Heritage (but even before), I’m going to so much more exhibitions, and I can’t talk about them on Tea, Books and Fun, because they are in France and you guys… Aren’t. For a year, I made Tea Books and Fun a book blog and I’m glad it’s this way… But I needed another place, where I could share everything I love, without restrictions. And that’s why, at the end of August… I started a new blog, this time in French. If you understand the language, you can come say "Hi!" on Wishes and Pages (hence my new Twitter & Instagram handles, that I’m totally digging), I would love it!

Nevertheless, I’m not giving up on Tea, Books and Fun, because I’ve realized I can’t. At some points, in this past week, I’ve been feeling worthless, because of the stress of this first week at uni. I needed to remind myself I was great and I thought of my book blog. Sure, I’m not a huge blog but I’m proud of what I created here and I love you guys so much. So because of that, I’m coming back, but I won’t be there as much as I used to, because I need to take care of two blogs now and it’s gonna be very time-consuming, considering I’ll also have an internship two days a week and my dissertation/thesis to write.

Anyway, that’s all for today guys. I also wanted to thank you, because I saw that my page views didn’t stop during my “hiatus”. Y’all rock and I can’t wait to get back into the swing of things! <3

P.S. Sorry for the sappy post, my heart got the best of my brains.

My favourite things of ever in books

Reading like a maniac as I am, I came to notice that I love some elements in books more than anything, like if they’re here, I’m bound to love the book even more. I was thinking about it because of the book I’m currently reading (The Girl from Everywhere) and I thought I just HAD to make a list about it. These elements bring me joy every time I encounter them! Of course, it’s just a glimpse of what I love the most in books, maybe I’ll do a part two at some point… But I’ll need to think about it thoroughly first.

SHIPS

I think that every time a book involves a ship, I talk about it in my reviews, like: “of course I loved it, it was about ships!”. When I was younger, I loved to learn everything about them, the different words for the parts of it, but also sailor’s phrases. In the Lady Grace Mysteries series, the characters were going on a ship and it was my favourite in the series, I was rereading it All. The. Time.

Now that I also read sci-fi books, it also applies to space ships, especially when there are space pirates (like in Starflight <3)! Of course the pirates go with the ships (like we almost can have one without the other, no?) and it’s so damn fantastic. I think there is something about being at sea/in space that totally fascinates me in books. I don’t think I would actually go in space in real life, though.

DREAMS

A few years ago, I had a dream journal, where I tried to write down all of my dreams before they faded away into nothingness. What our minds can create when we’re asleep is really fascinating. Many authors have used dreams in their plots, because it’s so intriguing, I’m thinking of Percy Jackson, where Percy had dreams of Cronos, but also The Raven Cycle (book 2 = The Dream Thieves, ha!) or Dreamology, that I read more recently. In the latest, it was also about scientists’ studies on dreams and it was interesting to learn about that.

STEAMPUNK

I’m a history nerd and fantasy is my favourite genre, so I was bound to love steampunk novels. The 19^th century is so fascinating, with all the discoveries that happened during that time, and it’s so interesting to read about what could have happened. Moreover, Victorian era is one of my favourite time periods, it was pretty cool to see automats in The Infernal Devices, but also the tools of the Spirit’s Hunters in Something Strange and Deadly. Technology really improved the world we now live in and I love seeing all the inventions that led to it. I still have Revenge and the Wild on my TBR, where the main character has a mechanical arm in the Wild West, and that, my friends, is just the coolest thing of ever. I’m just obsessed with this subgenre and some of my favourite series are steampunk. <3

DISCOVERING NEW PLACES

I don’t live in America but sometimes, I’m just tired of all the books being set there. I want to travel the world through my books and that’s why discovering different countries through said books is so much fun. For one of those reasons, I love reading time-traveling books because they take you to new places (like Damascus in Passenger or Honolulu in the Girl from Everywhere). I have money to buy books, but it’s way more expensive to travel in real life, so books = how you escape somewhere. When Daughter of Smoke and Bone was set in Prague, I just gasped out loud, because I had never read a book set there.

ELEMENTAL MAGIC

So many fantasy books involve elemental magic and I can’t say I complain. The elements are pretty much roots of our world, it’s like those powers are actually based from nature and not thin air. Moreover, 80% of the time, the author will choose to include a fifth (or more) element and I’m always looking forward to it. Also, I’m pretty sure my power would be water (see: the ships) and I totally relate to characters that have a power on water. A Darker Shade of Magic, Falling Kingdoms, Truthwitch and Vampire Academy are some of my favourite books involving elemental magic.

(PART OF) WORLDS BASED OFF SEASONS

If you can’t tell, that’s pretty much my A Court of Mist and Fury obsession speaking through me (sorry, not sorry). Also, I want to see the rest of the courts, pleaaaaase. But really, I like seeing the different seasons in all their magnificence and how those books celebrate them and shows beauty, even if sometimes, we don’t like some seasons. For example, I don’t like winter because I hate the cold, but seeing Meira and the Winter’s kingdom in the Snow like Ashes trilogy is pretty interesting. Moreover, I like when those seasons even dictates some traits, physical, mental, but also magical. So yes, I’m pretty much obsessed.

MAPS

Obviously, high fantasy books with maps help the reader to see the world and they’re pretty, so it’s always a plus, but I also love books about maps. I think that if I had lived in the 18^th century, I would have liked to be a cartographer, it seems like one of the best jobs ever! For example, I totally bought the Glass Sentence because I knew it was about maps (they’re all cartographers) and how different parts of the world are in different eras (!!!) so yeah they can’t really establish maps, but they’ll try anyway. I’m still annoyed and waiting for the second book to be out in paperback, because of course I bought the paperback edition of the first one in June 2015 *weeps*. In The Girl from Everywhere, the characters are using maps to time travel, like they need precise maps of that year or it won’t work! It's just amazing.

CONVENTS WHERE BADASS ASSASSINS/WARRIORS/WHATEVER ARE TRAINED

When we think about nuns/monks, we think: “well, they’re so boring praying all the time, ugh, I wouldn’t want that life”. But if those convents train warriors and all that? I find it pretty cool to twist it a little. For example, in His Fair Assassin trilogy (I still need to read book three though), young women are trained to be assassins, because they’re basically the hands of Saint Mortain, the god of death. I don’t know how it could be cooler, since they’re in service (like regular nuns) but it’s for Death itself. That’s pretty scary too, but details. In Truthwitch (yes, you got that Susan Dennard is one of my favourite authors <3), Aeduan is a warrior monk and he’s so badass. As of now, he’s not my favourite character but he’s pretty interesting. This convent thing just gets me every time.

SLOW-BURNING ROMANCE

It’s definitely my favourite type of romance. You just see all this build-up, all this tension between the characters and you just yell: “JUST KISS ALREADY!!!!” and explodes with happiness when finally, they do… And starts bickering with each other again. I’m sorry but there was so much tension between Feyre and Rhysand I might have died once or twice or a billion times during A Court of Mist and Fury (yes, I’m doing this again). It was just the same thing in Dark Triumph and oh, how I loved it. This type of romance also means the romance doesn’t take the central stage in the story, because most of the time, I’m annoyed by it. This tension is just life!

MAGICAL TOURNAMENTS

As you know, fantasy is my favourite genre so I love seeing the characters showing off their powers. Is there a better way to do this than in magical tournaments? I think not. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is just glorious and I think my favourite of the series for this reason. All these magical tasks and fighting other magicians is just the best. Victoria Schwab also showed it in A Gathering of Shadows, it was just a big game of powers between empires and ooooooh. Magical tournaments are 80% of the reasons I’m excited for The Crown’s Game (it comes out on Tuesdayyy) and the rest is Russia, let’s be honest.

What are the elements that make you love a book 1000 x more than usual? Do we share any?

Why I started blogging and why I keep doing it | Conversations

Conversations is a fortnightly discussion meme hosted by Geraldine @ Corralling Books and Joan @ Fiddler Blue, where the aim is to get to know other bloggers and to generate conversations, as the name of the meme suggests! In May, the subjects are about blogging habits, starting with “What pushed you to start blogging and why do you continue to blog?”.

What pushed me to start blogging?

I find this question very important, because I’m approaching my first blogoversary, and I had no idea I would go this far when I first started. First, if you’re new here, you might not know that I’m French and I’ve only been reading in English for three years (2013), because I was tired of waiting a year for translations (also, I needed Clockwork Prince more than anything).

At the time, I was watching BookTube videos and talked about my love for books on Tumblr, but it was pretty time-consuming and I had to stop after senior year of high school. After that, I discovered Goodreads and my whole life was changed. I feel like I’m spending 20% of my day there, to be honest. #addiction So yes, basically, I needed other people to fangirl over books with, and I couldn’t have that in real life, since I was reading in English.

Then, last June, I went through a rough period because of school (I wasn’t really at university at that time, I was preparing to go into a prestigious school where twelve people can go in every year, I know it wasn’t a wise idea) and I almost felt worthless. I just wanted to quit and held back my feelings for way too long. Then, I went back to reading like a crazy person and read a book a day in a month (which means, 30 books).

You know what it did? I felt rested, happy and myself, for the first time in months.

I needed to do something I was passionate about and that I knew I could be good at. I had been writing reviews (when I had the time though) on Goodreads for two years. I realized I wanted to share my love for books with others, from all around the world, since I couldn’t really talk with people in real life about the books I read, and it made me sad (I still recommended The Young Elites, An Ember in the Ashes and Clockwork Angel in the last few months, so I manage to have a good influence!). Also, at that time, I was into the idea I wanted to work in the publishing industry and I thought it would help to start a blog, but I’m not really interested to do that in France, so I changed my mind… Anyway, that’s how it started.

Why do I continue to blog?

Overall, I started this blog to prove myself I could and that’s why I never gave up. Of course, I had up and downs, sometimes it can be quite stressful, especially in December, when I second-guessed myself and in March and April, because I didn’t have my computer.

I “met” so many amazing people during my time here. Sometimes, I stop and think about the fact that I’m speaking with people from all around the world, because we all love the same thing: books. And that’s just one of the most beautiful things in the world. I’m so proud to be part of this community, you guys.

Moreover, I discovered a lot of new books thanks to the blogosphere and I think I would be seriously missing out if I didn’t have that. I finally read and loved The Winner’s Trilogy thanks to the blogosphere, when I had been hesitant for so long. I also discovered so many debuts and I think I can say I’m becoming a debut enthusiast! Now, I’m getting excited for books coming out in 2018, it’s getting out of hand! XD

 Moreover, having a blog makes me happier, proud of myself for what I achieved and now, it’s just a part of myself. I don’t see myself not blogging.

What about you? Why did you start blogging? Why are you still doing it?