Reads and Ramblings with Beth

  Hello everyone,  I know it's Monday, not Sunday evening which is when I usually post but I was still reading my last book of January and needed to rest early for a really busy day today! But I've gathered my thoughts now and am ready to share them with you all! So, I managed to read 6 books in January which isn't the best for me but the new uni semester has started and I spend a lot of my time reading articles etc rather than books due to that. However, I managed to read 3 physical books and 3 ebooks, which I was impressed with as I've had my kindle for absolutely years and yet could probably count the times I've used it on one hand.  The first book I read in Jan was The Foundling by Stacey Halls . I really loved this and it reminded me so much at the beginning of reading Hetty Feather when I was much younger. The plot was kind of predictable but it's historical fictions so you somewhat expect it. I definitely like Halls writing style, I think it's really ...

 Hello everyone!! I hope everyone is well and had a lovely restful Christmas if you celebrated it. 🎅 I never got round to posting my November wrap up before it was too late so I have combined it with December to wrap up the final months of 2020. It's been a tough year, and for those of us in the UK it is going to be a tough start to 2021 but we are resilient and I personally feel hope due to the incredible and selfless efforts of our healthcare workers and scientists! Wherever you are in the world, it will be okay; if we take each day by day, and keep ourselves safe, by following regulations and having our vaccine when we're offered it, we will be back with our loved ones before we know it!  - November -  November was a weird month for me. It started well and then ended with isolation and an unexpected return home from university. It was also a strange reading month, no pleasure reads and all uni work; overall a draining month that I don't recall very much of. Howev...

  hi everyone!  A few months ago I posted my Uni Reading Module 1 mini reviews  after it was requested on my Instagram poll. I promised to be back with Module 2 and I've only just now gotten round to it - sorry about that!  If you don't already know or haven't read many of my other posts - I am a BA English Literature student and I have a really varied reading list, with some personal favourites of mine and some brand new reads too! Module 2 - The Gothic: Transgressive to Shock >The Castle of Otranto - Horace Walpole (1764) This is hailed as the first gothic novel and it has such an interesting back story which I definitely encourage you to look into.  This is a very typical novel of incest, secret passages, tyranny and death. Spooky paintings and a curse, a damsel chased around a castle. Reading it nowadays it's quite amusing  - I liked it! 3  ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ >Dracula - Bram Stoker (1897) This is a really exciting gothic read. It's a little slow to ...

Hello everyone and happy August!  Hopefully this will be a fairly short post - but we know how much I can ramble on.... JULY WRAP... So, July was a bit of a weird reading month for me. I felt like I was reading all the time and should have raced through lots of books - and I definitely bought a lot of books - but I actually only managed to complete 3 books during the month!!  Normal People - Sally Rooney I really really enjoyed this book just as much as I did the series. I loved Connell's character especially and thought it was really important that Rooney had chosen male mental health representation. I would have preferred this book in a different narrative style and not to jump around as much in the timeline however, it was amazing.  Rating: 4.5  ✩ The Beekeeper of Aleppo - Christy Lefteri This book was an absolutely beautiful read. I haven't previously read any books about the current issues in Syria but this one really opened my eyes to the peril of an immigrants...

Hello everyone June has been an interesting month reading wise. If you read my 'Plans for June' post' then you will know that I had a lot of readathons and events planned for June and I was aiming for an awful lot of reading. I know now that that was unrealistic and I put too much pressure on myself. As a result I absolutely crumbled and barely achieved anything I set out to.  As a quick summary (refer back to the plans for June post if you have no idea what I am talking about)..... I read 2 out of 4 Shakespeare plays for #Shakespearesummer, however the read along then got postponed to a later date by the organiser. I really enjoyed the plays I read which were 'As You Like It' and 'Julius Caesar'.  I read 6 books for House-cup-a-thon and participated in 2 instagram challenges, one of which I somehow managed to win!! I read 2,046 pages overall and earned 340 points for my house. I am disappointed in myself, however, I had set myself a very unrealistic TBR.  ...

hello everyone! Click here for my week 1 update and you can find week 2 here Unfortunately my reading this past week was even more awful than last week and I only managed to read 1 book!!! :( There has been some changes in my job recently and I haven't been at home much - just cramming a few pages into breaks and before falling asleep. There isn't much I can make into an update with how little I read but I will give you my rating and points update and everyone keep their fingers crossed for me to have a better final week of this readathon.  WEEK 3 The Witchfinder's Sister Beth Underdown 384 pages (50 points) 5 stars  ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ #HCpotions Instagram challenge 5 points **update - I was really lucky to win this weeks photo challenge for Ravenclaw and earn an extra 10 points!! Books read this week: 1     Books total: 5 Pages read this week : 384   Pages total: 1,246 Points this week: 65   Points total: 240 until next time xxx

Hello everyone (You can find my Week 1 update here ) Week 2 of the House cup read -a-thon really flew by and I had a terrible reading week. I only managed to read 1 short book and a play and I feel very unmotivated right now to make content or read anything. I have lots of ideas in the pipeline but I am currently unsure of when and if they will make an appearance here. As a blogger I am also very passionate about self-care and listening to your feelings before anything else, and my life has become more stressful and busy lately. Reading is still my self-care but I cannot keep the same pace as I was in previous weeks. I am struggling to manage more than about 45 minutes or a handful of pages a day/in the evenings at the moment and after working evenings, I come home and eat a late tea before swiftly falling asleep. I am going to try and keep up with my blog content as best I can this week but I am not in the position to make any promises! Anyway, on with the books..... WEEK 2 White Frag...

Hello everyone!  It's already Monday again and this month, Mondays mean House Cup -a - thon updates!! If you haven't read my previous post and don't know what this is about then consider giving it a quick read  ' Reviews & Read-a-thons: Plans for June' WEEK 1  This week has been a good start to my Housecup-a-thon reading. I have enjoyed the books that I have read and still managed to read two other texts for my other reading events.  The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Suzanne Collins 517 pages (100 points)  3 stars  ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ A Series of Unfortunate Events #2: The Reptile Room Lemony Snicket 190 pages (30 points) 4 stars  ⭐ ⭐ ⭐⭐ #freedobby Instagram challenge 5 points Sorry, I just couldn't help myself. Both my books this week ended up being green and reptile themed - so here is my green dragon!!! 🐉🦎🐍 Books read this week: 2     Books total: 2 Pages read this week : 707   Pages total: 707 Points this week: 135 ...

Hello everyone  I cannot believe how fast the month of May has sailed by. Despite still being in lockdown, the days seem to be moving faster than ever and I'm managing to fill my time.  🌸   Books  🌸 I've had a really good month books and reading wise - the best this year so far - and it has also been a really good month for my blog and for my Instagram account, where lots of follower milestones have been hit! I'm currently planning my June TBR, which will be posted over on Instagram soon. Maybe head over and  follow  if you don't wanna miss it ;)  Books read:  13 I managed to read everything on this stack, plus 2 books on my Kindle which were A STUDY IN SCARLET/SHERLOCK HOLMES #1 by Arthur Conan Doyle and MARROW BOOK ONE by Alex Blythe. I'm so pleased I am finally getting into ebooks and I plan to read quite a few books on my Kindle in June.  Here are my Goodreads ratings for the month: The Folk of the Faraway tree ...