Monthly Favourites

February Favourites

07:30

I'm always really sick of February... it's cold, and nothing good usually happens. I think I enjoyed this month loads though! I also gathered quite an impressive book haul... I can't wait to read all the books I bought!

Travelling
This month, I went to Poland with the school, and had one of the best times of my life! We went to Auschwitz-Birkenau, which was a harrowing and really emotional experience, but it was definitely worth it, because it’s so important to learn about history like that. We also did fun things, like have a traditional jewish meal, and listen to a traditional jewish live band. We had some free time in the city of Krakow too, which I really enjoyed!

Clockwise from top left: Engravings done by workers in the salt mine, where they filmed Schindler's List and real old Jewish houses, chairs representing the concentration camp in the same square, a renovated Synagogue (now turned into a museum)

Music
I think this month was a pretty good month for me, in the sense that I discovered a few new bands that I’m pretty much in love with. I’ve really been enjoying Creeper’s music, and I love SWMRS’ new album, Drive North. Also, a band I’ve rediscovered my love for, Catfish and the Bottlemen, finally released some new music. It’s only one song, but I’ll take what I can get! (song featured in the playlist below)


 I met some authors!
In my home city, two of my favourite authors, Juno Dawson and Lisa Williamson, held an event, discussing LGBT+ history month. I was lucky enough to get tickets, and I had an amazing time! I think they’ve both taught me a lot about transgender issues, and I had loads of fun too. They were both really funny!

 I was super pleased to find out they were doing a signing, and meet and greet too. I got Lisa to sign her book, The Art of Being Normal, and Juno to sign her first book, Hollow Pike. It was even personalised, which makes it my first signed and personalised book! I got to take a picture with them, and although I look creepy af a bit odd in all the pictures, it gives me a nice memory of the event. 

 On the blog
I’ve been struggling to post very regularly because I’ve had a lot of schoolwork, but I have manage to schedule some posts for March, so I’m pleased about that! This month I reviewed Blood, Ink & Fire and All of the Above, and discussed the books that have changed me. I also wrapped up January, and did the Reader Confessions Tag!

 Monthly Haul

There was February half term this month, and my Grandma came over, who bought me some books, which was so kind of her. I also won two giveaways!

Bought:
How Hard Can Love Be? by Holly Bourne
The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson
Hollow Pike by Juno Dawson
Cruel Summers by Juno Dawson
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

 Won:
Solitaire by Alice Oseman
Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy
Books I Read
This month I read 4 books, and continued reading/started 2. I enjoyed all of the books I’ve read, so even though I didn’t get through many, I think I still had a good reading month! The Books I read are:
The Art of Being Normal
Asking For It
I Call Myself a Feminist

 And the books I’m currently reading are:
The Shining (I WILL finish this in March!!)
Rebel of the Sands
Posts on the blogosphere

How was your February? Did anything exciting happen? ☺

Monthly Favourites

January Favourites

08:00


So waaay back in August, I started a new feature on my blog where I shared my favourite things (?) and events that had happened in that month, but to be honest, I haven’t kept up with it because I didn't feel I had anything worth sharing! Hopefully I’ll be able to share my month more often than I have been doing!


Shadowhunters aired!
I have been waiting for this ever since it was announced one of my favourite series was being made into a TV show. I have been religiously following the casting news, trailers, teasers, and stills, so I was so excited for it to be finally January. Thankfully, it the show disappoint! I have loved every single episode, and I think everything is done so well. I’m so impressed with how well it done... it certainly has lived up to my expectations! I can’t wait to watch even more of the series (MALEC ON TOMORROW!), because I know it’s only going to get better.


Music
One of my favourite bands, Panic! at the Disco, released their latest album, Death of a Bachelor, this month,so I’ve been listening to that a lot. I’m pretty much in love with all the songs, and it was just as magical as I hoped it to be.


I actually had a social life...
This month, I went to Lazer Quest (I think in America it’s called Lazer Tag?) for one of my friend’s birthday. Although I did come last out of everyone playing (#19 out of 19... nothing to be ashamed about!), I had loads of fun! I haven’t been to Lazer Quest in years, so it was nice to go again!
On the blog
I only made some minor changes to my blog’s design this month, but something I did do was add a smooth scrolling feature. I’ve seen this on a few blogs, and I’ve always thought how professional and aesthetically pleasing it looks, so I’m really happy to have it on my own blog!
I also did some reviews:

And shared my bookish resolutions for 2016 (which I haven’t done too well at sticking to... yet!)
Monthly Haul
This month I bought 7 physical books:
Wytches, Vol 1 (graphic novel)
Days of Blood and Starlight (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #2)
Dreams of Gods and Monsters (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #3)
The Next Together
Siege and Storm (The Grisha #2)
Ruin and Rising (The Grisha #3)

1 e-book:
Apprentice (The Black Mage #2)

And 3 pre-orders:
Lady Midnight
Half Lost (Half Bad #3)
Radio Silence

Books I Read
This month I read 6 books, which I’m quite pleased with, considering school started again! I read:
The Perks of Being a Wallflower (re-read)
Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Trouble
All the Rage
Heroes (for school)
My favourite book of the month (excluding re-reads) was definitely Trouble!

I’m also currently reading The Shining and I Call Myself a Feminist.

Posts on the blogosphere

How was your January? Did you do anything exciting? Let me know! ☺

August

August Favourites

12:00

So instead of doing a monthly wrap up, I’m going to share my favourites from this month with you (which I think, is way more interesting). I had a really good month of August, so I’m excited to share with you all of the things I did/bought/watched etc. Hopefully I’ll make this a monthly thing, but I’m so rubbish at keeping up with things (R.I.P Top Five Friday...) so I might forget (not making any promises here...)
1. I got a kitten!
This is definitely the best thing that happened this month. After my cat George passed away in March, I’ve been really missing my pet, so getting a new kitten was such a good idea. He’s called Sebastian, we got him on 22nd August, and he’s 6 months old. We think he’s a Short-haired British Blue too, but we can’t be sure. I absolutely adore him!

2. Being adventurous:
I’ve been doing lots of adventure activities in August too (though I do every month). For the first 5 days of the month, I was camping in France (also in July I was away, which explains my sudden hiatus). I had an amazing time, and loved being able to get away from everything.
On 31st August, I went to Go Ape, which is an adventure course set in the treetops (just Google it to find out more). I really enjoyed that too, though I got very dirty!

3. Music I’ve been loving...
Halsey released her album on 28th August, so I’ve been listening to it on repeat ever since then. It’s fair to say I’m definitely in love with Badlands!
Atlas Genius also released their debut album - Inanimate Objects - on the same day, so I’ve really been enjoying that to. It’s a really nice record to listen to when reading.

4. On the blog
In August, I completely changed my blog’s design. I’m super happy with it, as it’s professional, yet I think it’s cute and girly too. I also made a blog button to match (which you can see on the sidebar), so you can grab it to put on your blog. I designed the button myself (the image is from Freepik), and I’m actually quite proud of myself!
I also did some reviews:
And a tag and got nominated for some (thankyou!):
5. Monthly haul
This month I bought some really cool things, but my favourite purchase was a book of cute sticky-notes (pictured on the left). I think they will be really handy for school work, and I can tab my books with them too. They were such a bargain - only £2 for everything!
I also bought some books (Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Landline, and The Good Luck of Right Now), and pre-ordered Carry on and Queen of Shadows.

6. A good reading month
This month I managed to read 13 books, which I’m quite pleased with! I read 8 e-books:
1. Grasshopper Jungle - 3/5
3. An Ember in the Ashes - 4/5
4. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (re-read) - 5/5
5. Becoming Death - 3.5/5
6. Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock (re-read) - 5/5
8. Maybe Someday - 4/5
And 5 library books:
1. Vicious - 4/5
4. Spirit Bound (Vampire Academy #5) - 4/5
5. Last Sacrifice (Vampire Academy #6) - 5/5
My favourite read of the month was Shadow Kiss (excluding re-reads).
What did you get up to in August? What was your favourite read? Do tell me in the comments below!

monthly wrap up

June Wrap Up

16:00

How has it reached the end of the month already? It only feels like yesterday I was doing last month’s wrap up! This month’s isn’t as good because I’ve been super busy with exams and family commitments, so I haven’t been able to post or read as much.
Read this month:

Library: Soulmates by Holly Bourne - 3/5 - This book was addicting, but was very irritating at times, and had me roll my eyes often.
Owned: How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran - 4/5 - Absolutely hilarious! It really made me laugh, which was exactly what I needed.
Owned: PS I Still Love You by Jenny Han - 4/5 - Super sweet and fluffy, I read it in a day. It’s just too cute to pass up!
E-book: The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon - 2/5 - I almost didn’t finish this. It was super boring and confusing, and really hard to get into.
E-book: Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout - 1/5 - I hated this book. Way too sexist.
Owned: Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella - 3/5 - I enjoyed it, but nothing really happened so annoyed me.
Library: Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead - 4/5 - I was really late to catch on to all of the hype for this book, but I still enjoyed it! Please, just don’t judge it by it’s cringe-worthy name...
Favourite read this month: How to Build a Girl
Bought this month:
PS I Still Love You by Jenny Han

Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley






Did not finish:
Angelfall by Susan Ee (it was just too boring!)
Posts:
Did you have a good June? What was your favourite read of the month! I’d love to know!

monthly wrap up

May Wrap Up

16:00

Because I enjoyed last month’s Monthly Wrap Up so much, I thought I’d make it a monthly occurrence. And if I’m doing it on Instagram, why not make a blog post out of it?
Books Read This Month:

In total, I read 10 books this month (7 physical copies and 3 e-books), which I’m quite pleased with, because as I had school and exams to prepare for for the majority of the month to distract me from reading.

  1. Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi - 4/5 - I really enjoyed this book, but felt like nothing really happened. It was building up to something that was non-existent. It definitely felt like a filler for the series!
  2. Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi - 4.5/5 - I loved this book so much, but felt like the ending was rushed. It finished too abruptly - I want more!
  3. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz - 4/5 - I really enjoyed this book, but the ending was too rushed. Nothing happened until the end, which was too short.
  4. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli - 4/5 - This was such a cute book! I really enjoyed it because it was so sweet and full of fluff.
  5. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater - 3.5/5 - This was very slow to begin with, but towards the end it picked up and I began to really enjoy it. I also really liked the characters.
  6. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr - 3.5/5 - I enjoyed this book because it was so beautiful, but I felt like it was a waste of time because so little happened.
  7. Only Ever Yours by Louise O’Neill - 4.5/5 - This book was so hard hitting. It really impacted me and changed my view on the way we see ourselves and society.
  8. Deviate by Tracy Clark (sent from publisher) - 3/5 - I really liked the concept of this book, but the pacing was so slow so I couldn’t really enjoy it.
  9. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black - 3.5/5 - I enjoyed reading this book, but felt like nothing really happened. The ending didn’t give any closure and things were wrapped up badly.
  10. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab (currently reading) - 3.5/5 (so far) - I am enjoying this book, but found it slow at the start and hard to get into. The world building is truly magical though.

Books Hauled:
I only obtained 7 books this month (3 were gifts) which mainly due to me being broke from last month’s spending! I got:
  1. The Raven Boys
  2. Only Ever Yours (not featured because I forgot to add it in the picture!)
  3. All the Light We Cannot See
  4. How to Build a Girl
  5. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
  6. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
  7. The Bone Season

Favourite read of the month: Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

What was your favourite read of the month? Let me know below!