I READ YOUR FAVOURITE ROMANCES

Hi everyone! I hope you are all well and having an amazing day! A while ago, I asked my Twitter followers for recommendations on their favourite standalone romances. I have read a lot of these this year, and they were getting a bit stagnant and I was worried I had already read the good ones. I compiled all of the replies into a list and picked randomly the five I would be reading for this blog post! So without further ado, here is a list of all of the books I read and a mini-review on each:

99 Percent Mine – Sally Thorne

I absolutely adored Sally Thorne’s debut, The Hating Game, but I was so so disappointed in this. I ended up giving it 2 stars. To be honest, I can’t believe this was written by the same author. I found the main character, Darcy, to be really hypocritical, talking about how she would never fall in love – then 3 chapters later telling us that she’d been in love with her friend for her whole life. I also absolutely hated her twin Jamie (who I’m pretty sure we’re not supposed to hate??). He was such an asshole but Darcy kept saying how much she loved him anyway. Out of all the characters, Tom, the love interest, was my favourite – even I found him to be hypocritical at times and some of his actions were unforgivable. I didn’t like the ending at all and thought the pacing in general was so strange, along with the relationship development. The writing style was also really disjointed at times – it was mostly dialogue, and days would be passing or the setting would change and I was none the wiser. One of the only good things about this book was the epilogue of The Hating Game that was included at the end. I cried my eyes out – both with happiness at the epilogue and the happiness at the book being over!

The Simple Wild – KA Tucker

I was a bit dubious about this one as I had looked on Goodreads and it has very high reviews, but it didn’t sound like anything special to me. I actually ended up really enjoying it though. It was on the longer side of a romance but I wasn’t bored once at all. I also found the setting of remote Alaska to be really interesting and one I hadn’t read about before. I also enjoyed the whole story of Calla’s reasoning to visit her dad as it added a lot of substance to the story. I also liked the inclusion and care taken towards the Native Alaskan population. There were a couple of things I didn’t like – for one, the love interest had some… questionable lines. He judged Calla for the outfits she wore and took away and hid her makeup – sorry, just because you don’t like her in makeup doesn’t mean she won’t wear it! He became more tolerable towards the end though, and I did like the ending. Overall I gave it a four star rating.

The Unhoneymooners – Christina Lauren

This book got a lot of recommendations and after reading it I can totally see why. This book reminded me of the movie Just Go With It – we had the same setting and premise but it was a lot better than the movie! I found myself being pleasantly surprised by this one, but drawn back because of all the ‘coincidences’ and things that just happened to work out as the story progressed. I know you have to suspend your disbelief when reading a book, but there were so many of these instances I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. That being said, I’m surprised the ending took the route it did, and overall I gave the book a 4 star rating.

Love and Other Words – Christina Lauren

This is another book that got a lot of recommendations, and I’m so happy I listened to you guys on this one! I’m definitely not one for friends-to-lovers romances, but this book may have just changed my mind. I absolutely loved this book and gave it 4.5 stars. I loved the alternating timelines between Macy and Elliot from when they first met to 20 ish years later, and I really felt their chemistry as they grew up. You could tell that they really loved each other and that is quite hard to put in a book! I thought these characters were both really well fleshed out and developed – they were mature and sensible, but also flawed and made mistakes. The fact that they felt real only added to the story.

I’m really glad I did this sort of post as it made me pick up books I wouldn’t have normally gone for straight away. It’s also made me realise I’d be up for reading more friends to lovers romances. I’d definitely be up for a part 2 of this post, so if you have any more recommendations, please let me know!

Happy reading,
Lucy

6 MONTHS BLOGGING: WHAT I’VE LEARNED

Hi everyone! I hope you are all well and having a fantastic day. The beginning of July marks my 6 month anniversary of starting this blog – I can’t believe it’s gone so fast! I’d like to thank you all so much for the support over the last 6 months. I’m so grateful for every follow, like or comment and it really makes my day when I see them. In honour of this anniversary I thought I would do a list of all of the things I have learned since launching this blog, to help anyone who may be considering starting a blog or struggling with keeping it up.

Consistency is key

For me, I’ve found that consistency is the only way I can be sure of keeping posts running. I have tried to post at least twice a week since starting my blog, and this keeps views (both returning and new) stay active. By posting consistently, my brain perceives it as more of a routine, which makes it easier for me to incorporate writing blog posts into my normal life.

Prepare in advance

This is probably the most important tip for me on this list. My life is quite unpredictable, so any spare moment I have I will be drafting ideas, writing or creating the graphics for my posts. I try to plan out my blog posts at least a month in advance so that if something comes up, I will always have something to post. That isn’t always the case, but it does take a lot of the load off and reduces the stress I get sometimes of not having something to post.

Engage in the community

The book blogging community is absolutely wonderful and none of us would be where we are today without them. Whatever social media you are on (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook etc) I would highly recommend following some like minded accounts and supporting them. This not only results in fostering genuine connections with people across the community, but it’s another way for people who aren’t following your blog to first notice you. Plus, you may get some great book recommendations too!

Set goals (and celebrate them!)

I am a very goal oriented person, and I sometimes take that to extremes. Most of the time however, I find that I am more likely to be ‘successful’ if I have set a goal surrounding it. At the beginning of each month I will normally set a goal around my Twitter and WordPress followers, and the amount of posts I want to go out in the month. It’s not always the same goal as obviously life gets in the way, so it’s important to consider that when you’re setting them. Not only that, but if you reach your goals, be sure to celebrate them! For example, I’ll buy myself a book or candle if I reach a big goal I’ve been working really hard for.

Take pressure off yourself

I’m the sort of person who is often stressed because they’re stressed. I just can’t help myself! Sometimes my brain considers blogging to be alongside my degree or my job, and that dampens my enjoyment of it. When I feel like that, it’s important to remember that this is a hobby and if I stop enjoying it, then I should stop doing it. When I feel like that, I take just a couple of days away from my blog and the book community, and my motivation comes back straight away.

I really hope these tips helped you or at least were an interesting insight into what my blogging life has been like over the last six months. I am by no means the most experienced blogger – if you have any tips of your own, I would love to hear them in the comments below!

Happy reading,
Lucy

#02: QUARTERLY WRAP UP

Hi everyone! I hope you are all well and having a fantastic day. Today I’ll be detailing my reading stats and quarterly wrap up. I’ve decided to do one of these every quarter, as it’s too much work for me to do a wrap up every month and I prefer seeing the higher numbers anyway!

We are now into the second quarter of this blog. Oh, how fast they grow up! This quarter has been a challenge considering everything that’s going on at the moment, but I have been finding a lot more time to read and write posts for you all. I can’t say what will happen in the future, but for now I’m trying to continue with this ‘new normal’

Books read
This quarter I read 66 books:

Apr – 24
May – 25
June – 17

I can’t believe I’ve read this many books this quarter. I have really been reading a lot throughout the last few months because of lockdown, and I have found it a really welcome distraction. Compared to last quarter that’s an increase of 25 books!

Pages read
This quarter I read 33,958 pages

Apr – 11,450
May – 12,283
June – 9,865

That number doesn’t seem entirely human to me, to be honest! I can’t believe how many pages I read this quarter and it was a complete fluke which I don’t think I’ll ever be able to replicate. Either way, I’m really happy with it! Compared to last quarter it’s an increase of around 12,000 pages.

Genre
This quarter I read books in the following categories:

Classics – 1
Contemporary – 1
Fantasy – 38
Historical Fiction – 3
Horror – 1
Mystery – 3
Romance – 11
Science Fiction – 6
Thriller – 2

I’ve really diversified my reading this quarter in terms of genre, and that was something I was making a conscious effort to do, so I’m really happy with how it worked out. Compared to last quarter, I read over 6 different genres. This quarter I have read over 9. I’m surprised to see fantasy take over 50% of my books and would have expected romance to be higher, but so many fantasy stories include romance subplots so that’s probably the reason. I would love to read more darker books going into the colder months – so I would expect an influx of mystery, horrors & thrillers in my next quarterly review.

Age demographic
The books I read this quarter were categorised into the following ages. Some of the books in the Adult category could be classed as New Adult, but I have so much trouble deciding where they go I just decided to bulk it all into Adult.

Middle grade – 7
YA – 36
Adult – 23

This is the first middle grade appearance I have had this year, and that is thanks to my very first read of the Harry Potter series. While I definitely enjoyed it, I’m not in any rush to pick up any more middle grade (apart from maybe the Percy Jackson series), so I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the only middle grade that will appear on my list this year. Compared to last quarter, I have read less YA and more adult. I am happy about this, and would like to keep this going for the rest of the year too!

Favourite books of the month
My favourite book of each month was:

Apr – Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
May – Crooked Kingdom
June – The Way of Kings

Ratings breakdown
The books I read this quarter were broken down like so…

I’ve been rating books a bit lower this quarter compared to the last – I have a lot more 4 and belows than 4.5s and 5s. I’m not surprised at this to be honest – I am trying to be more objective in my ratings and at the start of this year I was catching up on everyone’s favourites, so it’s no wonder there were higher ratings. Overall I’m happy at how many books I have loved this quarter as there are still so many!

How has your reading journey been the last 3 months? Let’s chat in the comments below!

Happy reading,
Lucy

ADULT FANTASY | MY INTRODUCTION

Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing well and having an amazing day. Today I wanted to do a little bit more of a chatty post as opposed to a list or review, and I wanted to talk about my introduction into adult fantasy.

I have been a lover of YA fantasy for as long as I can remember, but now I am older I can’t help but want more as I grow up. Most YA fantasy seems to be generic to me and I sometimes can’t help but feel like I’m reading the same story over and over. Because of this, I have been researching the adult fantasy genre and seeing if it can offer me the things I feel like I’m missing in YA fantasy. Just to clarify – I still absolutely love YA fantasy; it’s just that as I grow up I feel like I want higher stakes, a more complicated world, and a darker/grittier atmosphere. While some YA fantasy does give me that, I know I can find it easier in adult fantasy.

I should also mention that I love adult fantasy shows. Game of Thrones is one of my favourite series’ of all time (except the last season, we don’t talk about her), so it give me a better sense of what I am looking for in an adult fantasy book. I also love series’ like The Witcher and Carnival Row, two new fantasy shows which I can’t wait to see more of.

I know there will be some reads during this new journey that will be misses, but I’m hoping for a lot more hits. I am trying to figure out areas I love in YA fantasy and then finding them translated into an adult setting. With this in mind, I have selected a list of 7 adult fantasy books I am going to start with, all quite unique, and go from there. These are:

The Priory of the Orange Tree (already finished, 5/5)
The Queen of the Tearling (already finished, 5/5)
Foundryside
Warbreaker
The Way of Kings (already finished, 5/5)
Malice
The Name of the Wind

From the ones I have already finished, I have rated them all 5 stars. I’m not going to lie, I genuinely wasn’t expecting to like them all as much as I did! I hope the others on my list I will enjoy just as much which will lead to some new favourites.

This is quite a different post for me but I found typing my thoughts on the adult fantasy genre to be quite cathartic. Let’s chat in the comments below! Do you enjoy adult fantasy? What books did you read first and what would you recommend?

Happy reading,
Lucy

BIRTHDAY RE-READ TBR

Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing well and having a fantastic day. Today I thought I’d go through a special readathon/tbr I have for the middle of June to the middle of July. I am turning 22 on the 23rd June, so I wanted to spend my birthday month rereading some of my absolute favourite books! Unfortunately I had plans to go to London on my birthday to see Jake Gyllenhaal on Broadway, but due to lockdown my family and my best friend have arranged a little BBQ instead. I know I’m going to absolutely love it and I’m so grateful for them throwing something together for me last minute. With this in mind, I have picked 5 books I would absolutely love to reread across my birthday period to cheer me up!

The Hating Game

You can find my review of The Hating Game here. I have already read this book 2 times but I’m so excited to get back into the story again. I think it’s my favourite romance of all time!

Punk 57

I don’t think I’ve talked about Punk 57 on my blog yet but this is also another one of my favourite romances. It’s so over the top and dramatic, and something that would never happen in real life – that’s why I love it! I also love Birthday Girl by the same author and I might give that a reread too. After all, the title is quite fitting 😉

Stardust

Something I’ve realised since staring this blog is that I talk about Stardust (both the movie and the book) a lot. It’s my favourite movie of all time and has been since I was 9, so reading the story gives me all of the nostalgic feelings and since it’s my birthday it’s the perfect time for me to read the book and watch the movie.

The Bride Test

You can find the link to my review of The Bride Test here, but all in all I absolutely adored this book and Helen Hoang’s work I am just going to reread all the time. I’m excited to reread it for the first time to see on things that I didn’t pick up the first time!

Catching Fire

Another one of my favourite books that is knee-deep in nostalgia. Catching Fire was my favourite book in The Hunger Games series and so I feel a reread and rewatch is definitely in order!

I hope you enjoyed this different post from me! Do you reread favourite books around your birthday? Do you have any birthday reading traditions? Let’s chat in the comments below!

Happy reading,
Lucy

TIER RANKING SHADOWHUNTERS BOOKS

Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing well and having a fantastic day. Today I’ll be doing something I’ve been so excited for, and that is tier ranking the Shadowhunters books! I absolutely love tier ranking videos on Youtube and I really wanted to bring one over to the blog. I’ve included my finished tier ranking below, then I will go into a bit more detail about each tier and what books are in there. If you would like to do it yourself, the link to the tiermaker is here and please tag me so I can check it out! Also, disclaimer – I haven’t read all of the books in The Shadowhunter Chronicles, only the main series, so that is why there are some missing.

Okay so first up in the D tier are City of Bones and City of Ashes. My two least favourite books in The Shadowhunter Chronicles, but to be fair they also were good enough that I kept reading almost every book that came after them! At least with City of Bones I can remember the plot, but I honestly don’t think I can tell you a single thing about what happens in City of Ashes. All I remember is that Jace and Clary were just trying to ignore the whole incest thing, and I am not here for that!

Next in the C tier we have City of Fallen Angels and City of Heavenly Fire. I remember liking City of Fallen Angels whilst I was reading it, but afterwards I was just like ‘what the hell was that??’ With that in mind though, I definitely think it was still better than those in the D tier. City of Heavenly Fire was a good finale and the writing was definitely more matured towards the end.

In the B tier we have City of Glass and City of Lost Souls. City of Glass was my favourite book in The Mortal Instruments series, and I remember really liking that the world expanded out and we got more character development. There were also a few good plot twists that I’m not sure would be as unpredictable now as they were when I read them as a teen, but I would still reread this book now. I didn’t like City of Lost Souls as much, but I remember the plot for this book being really solid and I enjoyed it as well.

We’re at the really good ones now – thanks for sticking through that with me! In the A tier we have Clockwork Angel and Queen of Air and Darkness. Clockwork Angel is definitely the weakest for me in the Infernal Devices series, but it still does such a good job at establishing the setting and characters. At this point, all we had had in The Shadowhunter Chronicles was The Mortal Instruments so it was really refreshing to see a whole different era (literally!). Queen of Air and Darkness was a 5 star rating for me. It still is, but it is the weakest in The Dark Artifices series and doesn’t deserve to be up in the top tier amongst the absolute gods.

Which we will move onto now! The best of the best, the top tier Shadowhunters books. In this tier we have Clockwork Prince, Clockwork Princess, Lady Midnight, and Lord of Shadows. The last two books in the Infernal Devices trilogy are some of the best YA fantasy books out there, and Cassandra Clare did such an amazing job at the characterisation and relationship between Will, Jem and Tessa. The plot and sub-plots were also really strong and the ending is just absolutely heartbreaking. For me, Lady Midnight and Lord of Shadows are top tier because they just seem so much more mature compared to the other books. I loved the LA setting, loved the Blackthorn family and their relationships, and I loved all the characters from the old series’ that we got to see. The plot was more intricate and well woven throughout the books and I remember the cliffhangers at the end of each book just absolutely ruining me. The Dark Artifices is probably my favourite Shadowhunters series at the moment, so they absolutely deserve to be up there! I should also say that the list didn’t include Chain of Gold, but that would be in the top tier too. They are some of Clare’s most developed characters to date and I cannot wait to see where the story goes in the rest of The Last Hours series.

I have a feeling that my list may be a teensy bit controversial, so let me know what you think below – I’d love to chat with you about it in the comments! Also, let me know if the tier ranking thing is a good idea – I was hesitant about it as I didn’t know how well it would translate over from Youtube to a blog platform, but I had so much fun writing it so I hope you enjoyed reading it too.

Happy reading,
Lucy

MY FAVOURITE BOOK ADAPTATIONS #3

Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing well and having a fantastic day. Today’s post will be the last one in a series I have been doing, where I detail all of my favourite book adaptations. If you have missed the last two posts, please check them out here and here!

Pride & Prejudice

As a Brit and a lover of classics, I don’t think I could rightfully ignore this absolutely stunning adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Directed by Joe Wright and released in 2005, it became a cornerstone for period drama films and depicted Lizzie and Darcy in an amazing way. Keira Knightley and Matthew McFadyen did an amazing job at bringing these characters to life. This is such a comfort movie to me and I know to so many others as well. It’s truly timeless and I love it so much.

Austenland

It only felt right to put Austenland straight after Pride and Prejudice. This is one of my favourite movies of all time – it’s so funny and such a feelgood film! It follows Jane Hayes, a woman who is unlucky in love and holds everyone to the standard of Mr Darcy (she is his #1 fan). She flies to England to visit Austenland, where she gets to live in the regency era amongst other guests and actors. The holiday package promises a happily ever after, but Jane finds herself drawn towards someone else… It’s a brilliant film and a must watch for any Austen fans out there!

Love, Simon

I absolutely had to include Love Simon on this list as it’s just such a good movie. The book is also amazing and it’s a very accurate adaptation! It follows Simon, a closeted-gay teenager and his online relationship with Blue, who he finds out is also another gay teenager at his school. They don’t know who each other are though, and things start to get messier the more the story goes on. This is such an important movie and it deserves every bit of hype it gets. It always makes me cry, and Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel do such a good job playing Simon’s parents it destroys me every time.

The Handmaid’s Tale

This one sticks out like a sore thumb on this list but I had to put it on here anyway – The Handmaid’s Tale is one of my favourite books and TV shows of all time. I read it years ago, and it taught me so much about this society and world we live in that it’s definitely shaped who I am today. It’s definitely an extremely hard story to experience, but that doesn’t make it any less important. I recommend both the book and the TV show to literally everyone I see!

Everything, Everything

I’ll end with a nice fluffy one because oh my god this film is just too cute. Everything, Everything centres around Maddy, who suffers from a severe immunodeficiency disorder. Because of this, she is forced to remain indoors. She falls in love with Olly, who lives next door, without considering the consequences. I won’t go into too much detail because spoilers, but this is a light romance and a nice easy watch. It also has one of the best soundtracks! The book is really unique and the adaptation was quite accurate.

What are some of your favourite book to screen adaptations? Have you read any of my favourites? Let’s chat in the comments below!

Happy reading,
Lucy

BEHIND THE BLOGGER TAG

Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing well and having a fantastic day, Today I will be doing the Behind the Blogger tag – I was tagged by Nikki Swift Reads, so please check her out, I love her blog!

Why did you start blogging? & Why have you kept blogging?

The main reason I started blogging is because I was reading so many books and just had no-one to talk about them to. Every time I would finish a book I would write down a review on my Notes app and never do anything with it. I thought, well why not just start a blog and put them all there, so I did! The main reason I have kept blogging (although it hasn’t been too long since I started my blog, only 5 months) is because of the community. I love seeing other people’s posts and it just motivates me to keep active in the community as well.

What is your favorite type of blog post to write?

My favourite type of post to write are probably either tags or lists. I love doing reviews too, but they’re sometimes such hard work!

What are your top three favorite blog posts you wrote?

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes – Review
The Ultimate Book Tag
The Song of Achilles – Review

What are some of your favourite things to do to relax?

I think most of us doing this tag would probably say reading! But other than that, I would say watching movies or gaming (I find the most relaxing games to be Sims, Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing). I also just love chatting with my family or hanging out with friends.

What are three of your favorite things?

My dog, Italian food and Scotland (what a random selection)

What are your proudest blogging moments?

As I said, I’m still really new in the community, but one of my proudest moments has to have been surpassing my goals for the first 3 months of my blog. I’m really proud of myself and that just motivates me to stay more consistent with my posting.

What are your hobbies outside of blogging?

I tend to pick up hobbies really easily and get bored quickly, so I don’t have too many other than reading! I have recently been trying to keep fit, and I love shopping and eating out with friends.

Describe your personality in three words

Empathetic, sensitive, stubborn

What are your top three pet peeves?

This will be hard to narrow down to just three… people eating with their mouth’s open, hypocrisy and people not using their indicators (turn signal)

What’s something your followers don’t know about you?

I have just graduated with a degree in History, and will be starting a part-time Master’s degree in September!

Thank you so much again to Nikki for the tag, I had a lot of fun!

Happy reading,
Lucy

THE QUEEN OF THE TEARLING | Review

My rating: ★★★★★
Amazon
Goodreads
Spoiler-free

Kelsea Glynn is the sole heir to the throne of Tearling but has been raised in secret after her mother – a monarch as vain as she was foolish – was murdered for ruining her kingdom. For 18 years, the Tearling has been ruled by Kelsea’s uncle in the role of Regent however he is but the debauched puppet of the Red Queen, the sorceress-tyrant of neighbouring realm of Mortmesme. On Kelsea’s nineteenth birthday, the tattered remnants of her mother’s guard – each pledged to defend the queen to the death – arrive to bring this most un-regal young woman out of hiding…

And so begins her journey back to her kingdom’s heart, to claim the throne, win the loyalty of her people, overturn her mother’s legacy and redeem the Tearling from the forces of corruption and dark magic that are threatening to destroy it. But Kelsea’s story is not just about her learning the true nature of her inheritance – it’s about a heroine who must learn to acknowledge and live with the realities of coming of age in all its insecurities and attractions, alongside the ethical dilemmas of ruling justly and fairly while simply trying to stay alive…

Hi everyone! I hope you are all well and having an amazing day. Today I will be reviewing The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen. I absolutely adored this book and gave it a five star rating. It was so much fun, and everything I wanted in a book. I really cannot wait to get my hands on the sequel. I can’t wait to tell you why!

Plot
I thought the plot was brilliant and very well paced. It felt like something was always happening, and even in the quieter scenes something was either happening in the background, or you could feel the sense of something brewing. I love that in a book! The political setting and focus really gave me Game of Thrones vibes which I also really appreciated. The world building was also absolutely stellar – the little bits of history we got as chapter introductions were so fascinating, and a really creative way to inform us of the world without giving us pages and pages of info-dumping. One thing I also loved is that we are left completely blind to things, like our main character Kelsea. There’s not a lot of info dumping as we are seeing her experiences as they happen, learning about things as we learn about them. The world itself was also really intriguing. It is sort of fantasy-esque, but there was a ‘crossing’ that had taken place – before that, they had electricity and knowledge of England and America. It was strange to see it so tied into this world but also different from ours at the same time – very unique!

Characters
I loved all of our characters so much. They were all so intriguing and I cannot wait to see where things go in the sequel. I could really relate to Kelsea at times, and she just seemed so real which I really appreciated in this fantasy world. She also had a really strong character arc which I definitely appreciated. I am also obsessed with the character they call The Fetch and I absolutely have no idea what’s going to happen to his character – all I know is that I love him. We have a good mixture of characters and their intentions, too. We have a lot of characters who are morally grey whose thoughts blur the lines between good and evil – although certain in their intentions its hard for the reader to put them on the right side. I found that a really fun thing about the book – I knew what a character wanted but struggled to decide whether that made them good or bad. Or a bit of both!

Writing style
I thought the writing style was very atmospheric, but one thing I want to particularly emphasise is how well the battle scenes were written. I could easily follow each movement and know where each character is at any time. I really struggle with this sometimes, but it was good enough that I could have a handle on these particular scenes! I know I mentioned it above but it was really a lack of info dumping that helped me enjoy this book. I’m also glad we got multiple POVs in this book as it is such a good way to expand the world and let us see other perspectives than one character in one kingdom. One thing I would change however is that some of the chapters were really long – I could feel myself losing interest a couple of times and I think the chapter length was the reason for that.

Have you read The Queen of the Tearling? What did you think? Let’s chat in the comments below!

Happy reading,
Lucy

MY FAVOURITE BOOK ADAPTATIONS #2

Hi everyone! I hope you are all well and having a fantastic day. Today I will be continuing a new series I have started on my blog, and that is going through all of my favourite book adaptations. If you missed my first post, please check it out here! I should note that these are in no particular order, as it would be impossible for me to rank them all and I would literally be here all day.

Love Rosie

This is such a feelgood, British movie that leaves me crying tears of sadness and happiness at the same time. It centres around Alex and Rosie, who have been best friends since they were little. It follows their lives up until their mid-forties – which have both been full of drama. They realise their feelings for each other at different times in their lives and they just keep missing their chance to be together. This is one of my absolute favourite movies and the book is so good as well. Written by Cecelia Ahern, it is told completely through communication (like letters, emails, IMs etc) so it is a really unique way to get a glimpse into these people’s lives.

North & South

Throwing it back with an old one here, but oh my god I absolutely love North and South! This is a BBC mini series adapted from the classic by Elizabeth Gaskell. It follows Margaret, a woman from the south of England as her family is disgraced and sent to live in the north of England, which is very industrialised. It follows her adjusting to the people and culture as well as the injustices taking place. As a history student who loves studying the Industrial Revolution, this is one of my favourite things to watch. There’s a good romance, and it’s only 4 1 hour episodes long so you can watch it all in an evening!

Northanger Abbey

Another classic here, and Northanger Abbey is just so much fun. A gothic satire written by Jane Austen, it follows Catherine Moreland who is young, innocent and loves to read horror novels. She moves to the bustling town of Bath and meets interesting new people, whose lives she intertwines with those in her books. It pokes fun at the gentry and is such a good laugh, and the movie handles the comedy aspect really well. I definitely recommend you check it out!

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

This is the newest release on here and I must say that I watched the film before I read the books, so I might be a bit biased. But saying that, I absolutely love this film. It has so many of my favourite tropes and I honestly consider it a revival of the rom-com’s we all know and love from the late 90s and early 2000s. If you haven’t heard of it, it’s about a girl called Lara Jean who writes letters to every crush she’s had, but never sends them – until one day, they get the letters. In order to make it seem like she doesn’t have these crushes anymore, she starts pretending to date Peter Kavinsky – but their feelings become real as time goes on. This is such a feel-good movie and I definitely recommend you check out the book series too! They are so much fun and give an even stronger insight into the characters.

The Martian

This is the only sci-fi on this list and as much as I love sci-fi, this is definitely my favourite book to movie adaptation in space. I just absolutely love this book and movie adaptation and I watch it all the time. It follows Mark Watney, who is left stranded on Mars after his crew leaves believing him dead. It’s about him trying to stay alive and get back to Earth. One thing I loved about the adaptation is that it still kept Watney’s humour and wit – this is a film that could easily be a horror or a thriller, but it’s classed as a comedy for a reason. I also love the glimpses we got of his crew and NASA back on Earth, as it meant we weren’t in the same place for too long. If you haven’t read the book or watched the film, I definitely recommend it!

What are some of your favourite book to screen adaptations? Have you read any of my favourites? Let’s chat in the comments below!

**this is a scheduled post, but I want to take a minute to talk about the horrific events taking place over in the United States. As a cis white female, I know I cannot even begin to imagine what POC go through every day. But every day, I am better educating myself and others around me. If you can, please donate to the various support systems available. I stand with you – to be silent is to be complicit.

Some resources that have helped me:

Ways To Help
How Can I Help From the UK?
Educate Yourself

Happy reading,
Lucy