A Day in Bookland

University break is almost at an end and next Monday I'll start not only my courses for Semester 2 but I'll also have to start writing my dissertation now that all I want to do is laid out and my tutor said I'm ready to start. I have four courses; two are related to linguistics and the other two are literature-related and today I wanted to share with you my reading list for them. 

Earlier this month I told myself I wouldn't set any reading goals for the year to come but these aren't really reading goals; more like reading activities I won't be doing. The first six months of 2018 will be me dealing with finals, a new semester and handling in my dissertation. And I don't think I'm ready. Don't get me wrong, I want to finish and be done with academia for the time being but I'm also a bit worried about my mental well-being, not gonna lie. And I've decided that as much as I would love to read for fun to unwind, it's not going to be a priority. At least from January to June. So here are my reading goals for 2018. If you've been reading my blog or following me on social media, you probably know that I haven't been in the greatest reading mood. However, I've realised that what is happening right now it's not an isolated moment. Looking back I've noticed that for the past two years - both in 2017 and 2016 - the...

I got this idea from a video from Mercedes at MercysBookishMusings. And she got it from Lauren at Lauren And The Books (I will link both their videos at the end of this post). Essentially, both of them picked up books from their TBR piles that were featured in 'Best Books of 2016' videos from other booktubers. Mercedes' video changed the original idea slightly because she picked up books she thought she would rate 5 stars. And I'm doing the same. I don't want to jinx myself by saying the books I picked will be 5 star reads but I'm hoping they are really good considering they've been praised everywhere. Anyways, without further ado...

Two weeks. The countryside. And a very ambitious to be read pile. However, I tend to read a lot at my grandma’s village. It is super quiet there and if hay fever allows me – I really hope by this time now all the pollen has decreased a lot – I’ll be reading outside, surrounded by trees. It is also the perfect place to take a lot of pictures and although I won’t have the greatest internet connection I’ll try to post some on Instagram whenever I can. There are also going to be a lot of festivities and almost all the family is coming and I cannot wait to see them. Last year we had a blast and we intend to make this year even better.

July, the 7 th month of the year is already here so what better time to tell you about my favourite books of 2016 so far. All of them were special in their own way and they are listed taking into account the date read. Without further ado here are my favourites so far:

Long time, no see. January was spent among textbooks and notes. Revision took over my life and I had no time for anything else. I’ve done three exams but I still have two more to do and 10 days before being completely free but I’m gonna try and be more present on the blog; not only on mine but in everyone else’s as well. I miss it.

December has been long gone and I’m aware this wrap-up comes to you a bit late but besides the Christmas madness, I’m also being giving all my time to catching up with Uni work. I haven’t even been reading that much. In fact, I haven’t really opened a book in the last two weeks. Anyways, the most noteworthy thing that happened during December was Star Wars. One of my sisters and I did a marathon for the previous six films (I had previously seen the 3 prequels) but we both wanted to see this new film and we thought doing a marathon would be a nice idea and oh boy, did we enjoy it! And the new film is epicness personified. We went to the movie theater with a friend of mine and all of us had a terrific time. When the movie ended, we were like: “nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, we want more and more and more”. Waiting for Episode VIII is gonna be torture for sure! Have you guys seen the movie?

2015 has only a few hours left to live before he opens the path to 2016 and I wanted to share today my favourite reads of 2015, alongside some honourable mentions.

As in my previous post where I told you about the 12 books I wanna read next year, in today’s one it’s all about the 12 classics I would love to get to in 2016.

Every year it’s the same old story. I take a look at my bookshelves and realize how many book I wanted to read but couldn’t thanks to lack of time… I wonder where is McGonagall when you most need her to give you a time-turner.

I ask you today, are we ready for a book or it’s a book ready for us? It may seem like a stupid thing to ask but think about it. The same book, the same words, the same reader and yet, sometimes, a different outcome depending on the moment the book was read. The way I see it, both the readers and the book hold the power. There is a balance between them. A book has the power to bewitch us but for that to happen, it needs to fall into our laps at the right moment in time.

“I’m gonna go into the bookshop but just to browse. I don’t intend to buy anything”, said no reader ever. I just can’t help myself. I have a problem but it is okay because it’s mine only – well, and also my parents’ and sisters’, who are going to be one day buried under all the books... but that isn’t really a horrible fate now, I think :P

November seemed to go on forever and I’m glad is over. To give you an idea, it feels as if most of the fun things I did didn’t happen in November but a long time ago.

Maybe you don’t know this about me but I collect different edition of Jane Eyre and when I learnt that Vintage was releasing the new Brontë series I just couldn’t say no. 

When you have a mahoosive TBR just like mine – although I know I will always be reading which means my TBR will never cease to exist  – sometimes deciding what to pick up next can be quite a task.

Today I wanted to show you all the books I've been accumulating during the past two months and a half. Some of them were new releases I was very excited for; others are books that have been on my radar for a while and I finally decided to bring them home with me and others are books from authors I've read and wanted to dive into more of their works - Woolf for instance. There is also a mix of so many genres and I wish I could read them all at once and it's a pity I can't.

October was… paradoxical. University started at the beginning of the month and I was so ready for it. I’m still ready for it and I’m loving every second but I’m drowned in work and I don’t even wanna think how my levels of stress will be in the next couple of months if they’re pretty bad right now. At least I’m enjoying what I’m doing so that’s okay, I guess. The clocks have gone backwards and although autumn is my favourite season of the year, I dread the darkness. I feel the days are slipping away from my hands and it doesn’t help me de-stress. I go to my classes in the afternoon and it’s a bit daunting to leave the house when it’s already pitch black and I would rather be home, warm and on my pyjamas.

Someone please tell me where September has gone to because I seriously have no idea. I know this is such a cliché to say but this time, it’s true. My month can be summarized as a lot of car drives to our village (by that I mean where my grandparents used to live when they were young) to spend time with my grandma and aunt. It’s nice to get away from time to time but also tiring. Uni hasn’t started yet and I’m getting a bit bored if I’m honest. October 6 th can’t come soon enough (I’m pretty sure once it is here I will start complaining about it though…) Reading wise, I’ve read a mix of genres: Fantasy, classics, literary fiction and YA. I even managed to squeeze a non-fiction book about fairytales into my reading month as well. And I have to say, not counting Percy Jackson, I’ve been reviewing every single book I’ve read which I’m very happy about. Two of those reviews will be up later this week though.

So I bought some books… go figure! Five of them I ordered online and the other 3 at the bottom I got at Pasajes which is slowly becoming my own paradise. I went for a mix of a lot of stuff. I got some fantasy, some short story collections, classics, poetry (which I’m trying to get into at the moment) and literary fiction.