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Hello Hello! How are you?
Well, it’s been a few months since I’ve posted anything on my blog or generally been active on social media, but the good news is I’m now back and able to be active on my blog again! I think it’s time for a little life update before we get into my tentative June TBR!
In the last post I wrote, I think I mentioned my wedding! So, we got married on the 23rd of March and it was a beautiful sunny day, surrounded by our very close friends and family. It was a small affair because financially we couldn’t afford much else, but next year, or the year after, we plan to do a vow renewal and invite all the people we couldn’t this time around! We then headed off for a week in Scotland for our honeymoon and let me tell you, it was GLORIOUS. The weather was beautiful the first 2 days, and then it got a bit colder, a bit misty and foggy and rainy, but honestly, that’s the kind of Scotland we like. We had missed it so much! We rented a car and drove all around some places we had wanted to visit three years ago when we got stuck in Stirling during the lockdown.
We spent a few days in a gorgeous hotel in Glencoe, got to visit Fort William, Oban, attempted Ben Nevis, went up the Nevis Range, and walked around the Cairngorms. Then we popped down to Edinburgh for the final days and stayed in a really posh hotel (even though we preferred the first one!) and got to visit Edinburgh itself, the Castle & the National Museum which we adored! We also got to meet Fiona from Fi’s Bibliofiles and her husband — so shoutout to them for a wonderful evening and the best food!!
After all the wedding and honeymoon prep had been and gone, I settled back in to work, only to quit a few weeks later as things had been slowly going downhill, and I had somehow ended up in a bit of a toxic environment which I refused to stay in. The previous library I had worked at also reached out to me since someone had been on sick leave for a few months, and I’m currently replacing them. Things are looking positive though, as we don’t think she will be coming back before she retires, so I hope I can stay!!
We’ve had a lot of health worries and changes recently, but I’m doing as fine as I can with all things considered, the stress definitely didn’t help.
But last week I managed to finally finish my master’s thesis on Disability in anglophone literature and golly was it long — 515 pages!! I am really happy with how it turned out even though it caused me a lot of sleepless nights, lots of stress and just generally being constantly overwhelmed and run down for three whole years. I have my presentation next Monday, but then I’m finally all done with my studies and I don’t intend to continue!
So that’s about it really for the past three months of my life. I’m so happy to finally have all these stressful things behind me and finally be able to enjoy my life. I’ve got a lot of catching up to do, mainly in the TBR, so keep on reading to see what books I’ve set out for a tentative June TBR, in the hopes of slowly getting back into reading after months of academic texts and lots of screen time which has made me eyes go all boggy!!
99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne
I had this book on my last TBR post in March too as it was the romance book picked with a few buddies as a buddy read. However I never got to it! Since I’m in a bit of a weird reading mood and can’t seem to figure out what I want to read, I thought easy contemporary romance would be a good bet. I’ve heard a lot about this one and I think it will be cute and fun, so I’m looking forward to starting it!!
Nine Liars (#5 Truly Devious) by Maureen Johnson
I’ve also already put this one on a previous TBR list and I was supposed to buddy read this with Candyce from The Book Dutchesses a few months ago, but life got in the way. We both started it again yesterday and I’m glad that I’m getting into this world again because it’s instantly enjoyable. I read the other four instalments with Candyce last year, and we both loved them all, so this final instalment is sure to be great!
NETGALLEY PICKS
Forager: Field Notes on Surviving a Family Cult by Michelle Dowd
Again, this book was on my March TBR list, and I was supposed to read it for a blog tour, but I just never got around to it and thought it would be best to wait until I had more time to myself instead of rushing it and not enjoying it, or being able to finish on time. I can’t remember much about this book, but I do remember thinking that it was going to be an interesting read, so I’m excited to finally discover it.
OTHER CHALLENGE PICKS
Popsugar Reading Prompt 13 — A book published in the year you were born: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (1999)
I’ve literally looked through hundreds of pages of books published in 1999 but this sone is the only one that a) I want to read and b) I actually own. It’s honestly been a while since I bought this one (or it was gifted to me, I can’t remember!) so I can’t really remember what it is about, but it’s not very long, so I’m going to just go for it and see what it’s like!
Little Thieves (#1) by Margaret Owen
I got this one for Christmas or my birthday, and I had wanted to read it for ages but it’s just been sitting on my shelves for six months. One of my French Bookstagram friends also recommended it to me, so I decided to pick it up! This one seems to be a dark spooky fantasy and I love the vibes from the blurb. it’s not a very big book, but it’s a series so I’m really looking forward to reading it!
A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross
I got this book in a Fairyloot box a year or two ago and still haven’t picked it up! Kerri from Kerri McBookNerd recommended this one to me last week, and when I read the blurb I honestly couldn’t fathom how it had taken me so long to get to it! This is a fantasy romance including music, missing girls and mlots of secrets and magic. It sounds absolutely stunning and I can’t wait to get to it!
And finally here are some French library books that I picked out for this month and that I’m really looking forward to. I’m not going to go into much detail but when I get around to them, I will update you on my thoughts!
- La Femme du deuxième étage by Jurica Pavicic
- Grim, fils du marais by Gaël Aymon
- Les Facétieuses by Clémentine Beauvais
So that’s it! I’m going to try my best to get through all of these, but I’m going to go easy on myself if I don’t manage it. Hopefully, there is quite a different mix of books, so I should be able to get out of my weird vibe and just enjoy a lot of these!
That’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed reading this post!
See you soon, stay safe,
Ellie xx
Congrats on your master’s thesis and your wedding! My family and I live in California, but years ago my parents spent 3 years in Scotland and my sister graduated from Stirling! I had just gotten married so stayed in the U.S. but I did manage a 3 week visit!
Thank you Carol!! I did my final semester of my Bachelor’s degree in Stirling and it was wonderful, I love it! That’s why we decided on Scotland for our honeymoon and we are going to try to go back regularly!
Welcome back ☺️. I’m looking forward to reading Nine Liars, I got the book a while ago but am so behind with my reading.🙈. Hope you enjoy it and all your other reads😁
Thank you so much! Oh I can’t wait to hear your thoughts, I’m really enjoying Nine Liars! Thank you! xx
Thank you! I hope you enjoy it when you get around to it! 😘