In My Own Words…

In April, I read very little. I’ve felt quite overwhelmed, not only by life, but by the ever increasing stack of books I have to read and the rate at which it is growing. I’m obviously very grateful to be in this position, but I think I do need to accept that I do not have time to read them all. That being said, here are the two books I did mange to read this month.

This book has been waiting on my shelf to be read for so long. I’d been a fan of Emily Dean’s podcast, Walking the Dog, in which she walks dogs with famous faces, for some time, so when I saw this in Waterstones, I had to pick it up.

Should I read the Bridgerton books or watch the Netflix series first? How many books are there? What order do I read the books in?

All questions that shall be answered in this guide…

This was one of those months where I read quite a lot in the first week, mainly the Bridgerton prequels, and then so very little for the rest of the month. But, here we are…

I started the month by reading almost an entire series in a week, but then my pace slowed down due to life just getting busy. But here is it! What I read in February.

I read more this month than I usually do, maybe it’s the fresh start, maybe it’s the global pandemic restricting me to my house. Who’s to say?

This book is a wonderfully poetic yet tragic love story. At first, I found the fact that it was written in the second person quite jarring, but once you lean into it, the words take you away.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is a fantastic story about a girl who has lived for hundreds of years, but nobody can remember her. She can’t leave a footprint on the ground, but she can influence art and leave her mark that way. Then, Addie walks into a second-hand bookshop in New York, and meets someone who remembers her.

This book was such a heart-warming story of friendship after loss, unrequited love, jealousy and family. This book also has so much LGBT+ representation but what I really loved about is it didn’t make a song and dance about it. This is just the story about relationships, queer or otherwise.

This year, I’ve decided to launch a book club! As you probably know from my Instagram, I love talking about books! And I know so many of you do too, so that is why I’ve decided to just do it! Let’s start a book club!

I don’t think I’m alone in saying 2020 was a messed up year. But that’s too big a topic, to begin with, so let’s talk about how it affected my reading. For the last 2 years, I had set my reading goal at 50 books a year, comfortably hit about 40 by the beginning of December, then had a mad rush to complete the list by New Year’s Eve, which somehow I managed. However, to avoid that mad rush in 2020, I lowered my goal to 30. But then, due to lockdown, I achieved that by about June. So I reluctantly set the goal back up to 50… So here are all the books I read in 2020 (spoiler: it’s more than 50).

These are the albums I’ve had on repeat all year (just ask my fiance!). Not all of them necessarily came out this year, but they’re the ones that pulled me through this madness…

After my latest single ‘dungarees’ came out, me and my friend Amelia Mandeville, author of Every Colour of You and The Missing Pieces of Me, chatted for a bonus episode of my podcast all about writing, In Our Own Words.

I’m so so excited to announce that my new presets are now on sale! I’ve spent so long working on these and perfecting them so they work with many different photos, and I’m so pleased with how they’ve turned out.

YES I KNOW. It’s only November.

But I like to spread my shopping (and the cost) out as much as I can, and I’m not organised enough to start doing that in June like my sister. With a lot of independent businesses struggling due to lockdown, I thought I’d curate a list of my favourite independent shops for you!

I was so so excited when this came through my door yesterday afternoon. I absolutely love Beth’s writing and I was so intrigued by the premise of this book. It came in this stunning custom wrapping paper I tried so hard not to rip.

The Road Trip follows an ex-couple, their friends and a stranger on a road trip up to Scotland for a wedding, and it explores the messy history they all have.