My bookish merch wishlist; Maud

Hey guys,
I am sorry for not writing my main post yesterday but I was too busy finishing All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven ;)
This post is going to be some of the book related merch that I desperately want. There is loads of things but I have tried my hardest to whittle it down as much as possible.

GERM magazine merch- All The Bright Places
If you have read All The Bright Places, you will know what Germ magazine is. Jennifer Niven has actually created a website as Violet's actual online magazine and it's amazing. They are selling merch (note books, pens, pencils, stickers etc.) They are sold in America so I'm not sure how I am going to make this work with the money I have got but I'll try. If you have any info on other places in the UK that I could get this, then please comment down below!

http://www.redbubble.com/people/germmagazine/works/18710553-the-official-germ-merch

RoseEllenDix Hoodie- RoseEllenDix and Rosie on YouTube 

Rose and Rosie are my all time favourite youtubers and Rose has merch! I am desperate for it but they sell out so extremely fast that it's next to impossible to get one. They sell calendars, t-shirts and hoodies :)

^^^^^ <3

http://shop.maker.tv/collections/rose-ellen-dix/products/rose-ellen-dix-zip-hoodie

Currently Reading; Maud//31.01.16

Hey guys!

How are you? 

I'm today doing a currently reading today :) 

I finished Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe! It was absolutely spectacular :) It is one of my new favourite books and am so happy to hear that there will be a SEQUEL RELEASED😱

Anyway, I am now about 100 pages into All the Bright Places. It's so gripping and I just want to read it 24/7! 

Shadowhunters Premiere Review // Emile

Bonjour!

A few weeks ago was the premiere of Freeform's (formally ABC) Shadowhunters. Which, in case you've been living under a rock, is the tv adaptation of The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare.

I am quite a fan of The Mortal Instruments and an even bigger fan of The Infernal Devices. In fact, Cassandra Clare is releasing a new series soon called The Dark Artifices. I have been waiting for the Shadowhunters TV show for almost a year and I was so excited. My friend over at A Book Philosophy and I watched the first episode together a couple when school shut unexpectedly. Make sure you check out her blog as she's amazing!

I think the casting for this was a lot better than the movie. I especially think that Emeraude Tobia was a perfect choice to play Izzy Lightwood. She just embodies sass, and Izzy is so sassy. I don't think that Jemima West was the right choice to play Izzy in the movie. It's not that she's a bad actress, she's just not Izzy.

I think that Jace and Clary's relationship is moving forward too quickly. In the book they were attracted to each other however there was definitely some awkwardness. In the program they both seem driven by lust more than anything. I hope that the series doesn't rush anything, especially their relationship. Part of the fun of books is seeing the relationship between characters develop as their own characters develop along the story.

Don't get me wrong though, I REALLY liked the series and I am SO excited to watch it every week. (I am sorry for the use of capitals, I feel like they were necessary to convey my extreme emotions). I will definitely be doing a series review when this one is finished.

Because I live in  England I have to watch the episodes the day after release on Netflix, but they come out quite late anyway so it doesn't bother me too much.

That's all for today. A from A Book Philosophy are working together on our blogs today, so look forward to some cool things coming up.

Emile x

My top 5 favourite books that I read in 2015; Maud

Hey guys!

These are my top 5 favourite books that I read in 2015 along with my favourite quote from the book :)

5) Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

I read this book in Wales with Emile in early April 2015. I really loved it as it was just really cute and fast paced. The only improvement is that I would've liked to see more of a plot to it as it was rather dry in some areas! 

Favourite quote: 

"I'm the kind of girl who fantasizes about being trapped in a library overnight." 

Currently Reading//10.01.2016; Maud

Hey guysssss,

I'm sorry but on Sunday I went to see the Nutcracker Ballet in London so I didn't get a chance to write a blogpost. I may do a review of the Nutcracker if you want :)

Anyway, I am reading Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe and am quite far through. I am loving this book so much! 

I'm reading various mangas as well which I am also thoroughly enjoying😇

This is only a quick rushed post because I have ballet soon but my look forward to my next on Thursday! 

Happy Reading,

Maud xxx

The Lady in the Van Book Review // Emile

Bonjour!

I've broken my resolution. Again. All I can say is that I have been very, very busy this week. And also the WIFI in my house is so temperamental that I have trouble getting Blogger up and then sometimes it doesn't even publish. To be fair to me, I have been keeping notes in my journal about this book, so I haven't entirely failed. 

Today I am doing a review of The Lady in the Van by Alan Bennet. This was released as a movie last November and was recommended to me by a teacher at my school. I liked the idea of it and I thought it would a change from the norm to do a non-fiction review for you guys. 

"In 1974, the homeless Miss Shepherd moved her broken-down van into Alan Bennet's garden. Deeply eccentric and stubborn to her bones, Miss Shepherd was not an easy tenant. And Bennet, despite inviting her in the first place, was a reluctant landlord. And yet she lived there for fifteen years. "

This book is incredibly short, only one hundred pages, which to me was not enough to capture the essence of Miss Shepherd and her effect on the community, on Bennet's life and how she really lived. I wouldn't say that this book is gripping, but I definitely enjoyed it and it would be good for a read-a-thon because of how easy it is to read. 

The novel is made up of a series of anecdotes in chronological order, often several years apart, of meetings and sightings that Bennet has with Miss Shepherd. In the book you don't actually find out that much about Bennet, which I would've like because he was a main character, and yet there wasn't much depth to him. I suppose if you want to find out about him you can look him up on the internet. 

I laughed occasionally whilst reading this. A couple of quotes that I like are "Mrs Thatcher isn't the iron lady, it's me" and "With Miss Shepherd taller was wiser too" which I find funny because that would make me rather stupid even though I have always thought that I was actually quite intelligent for my age. If I may say so myself. 

As far as the movie, I haven't seen it yet however I do think that Maggie Smith was a perfect choice to play Miss Shepherd. (For those of you who don't know, Maggie Smith played Professor McGonnagal in Harry Potter. I will be doing a movie review as soon as I can get my hands on it. 

I am going to go now because I am going to the cinema with my family to see The Force Awakens. I'm not a huge Star Wars fan but it should still be fun. 

Au revoir,

Emile x

New Years Resolutions// Let's get personal; Maud

Hey guys,

So these are my New Years Resolutions. These are personal more than book related so if you don't like these sorts of posts then just skip and I'll see you next bookish post! 

1. Become confident within myself. 

I am not a very confident person, especially when 

it comes to self-esteem so this year I would like to become 

much more forgiving to myself and not judge myself so much.

2. Work very hard towards my Intermediate ballet exam and the annual dance show.

Pretty self explanatory really, in March every year my dance school has a show where we perform.

 I am performing both for ballet multiple time and contemporary! And even though I'm not really looking forward to it, I'll try my best :)

 3. Read more

2015 was pretty full on for me so I didn't get to read much at all. However this year 

I am determined to read at least 30/40 books over this year. I am going to set a reading time where whatever I'm doing, I must read (apart from if I'm out). 

4. Try harder at school

School is quite a scary place for me sometimes, I mean there are lots of people, tight corridors etc. So this doesn't exactly get me excited for going back to school. I'm going to try and make it something to look forward to instead of loath. 

5. Write blogposts on time

I am terrible at sticking to schedule. And in the holidays its a bit easier whereas term time is quite difficult. So yeah, I need to stay on track!

6. Don't dwell on the past

My final resolution is because much of my thoughts are just me dwelling on bad things that I or someone else has done in the past. This for me doesn't help the whole confidence thing so this is sort of interjoined as a factor for my first resolution. 

QOTD: What are your new year resolutions?

Happy Reading!

Maud xxx

New Year; New Look // Maud and Emile

Hey guys,

As you can see, Maud and I have re-vamped the blog in spirit of the new year. We both aim to spend more time on the blog in 2016, and we hope you enjoy our content.

Happy New Year,
Maud and Emile xxx