B3THANY READS

Hi, my name's Beth and I miss reading for fun. Almost four years ago I made the decision to study Comparative Literature and French at degree level, and I have loved it every step of the way. I got to study  Heidi , Catcher in the Rye , The Iliad, Dracula ... to name a few. I felt truly academically challenged and pushed myself to achieve my absolute best work. Without a doubt, my course is my favourite part of being at university. But I really, REALLY miss reading for fun. What's that you say? Why not read for fun in your spare time?  I wish I could. By the time I get home from a full day's work in the library, it feels like my eyes will fall out of my head if I have to read any more. I would much rather watch something mind-numbing on Netflix just to give my brain a little bit of a break before doing it all over again the next day. (I just finished season 4 of Jane the Virgin and ... oh my god, that show is so! good! ). That's not to say that I ...

I have been reading for as long as I can remember. It almost feels as if I was never actually taught how to read, I was just born knowing how and haven't put a book down since. But now, as the grand old age of 21 draws nearer, I realised I have never read the same book twice. Sure, there's the exception of compulsory reading for school (I'm pretty sure I've read Jane Eyre at least 4 times by now) but that's it. So why don't I like re-reading books? Where's the suspense? Whenever I consider re-reading a book, I quickly dismiss the idea because of the obvious ... I already know what's going to happen. Wouldn't that be boring? I don't think I would enjoy it as much the second time round if I knew what the big plot twist is going to be. It's not like I will be on the edge of my seat, hanging on to every last word. This is especially true with plot-driven stories that have a lack of world building and character development (like We Were L...

Title: The Book of M Author: Peng Shepherd Rating: 3/5 I finished 'The Book of M' about a week ago now and have had enough time to fully form all my mixed feelings about it, so here's my (spoiler-y) review! I fell in love with the book as soon as I started reading it, but it got progressively harder to enjoy the more I stuck with it. And here's why. There wasn't nearly enough world building. I would have actually preferred 'The Book of M' to be split into two books if it meant we would get more world building in the first. There just wasn't enough explaining - the whole way through I felt like there were gaps in my knowledge about the world when characters would mention something I was expected to have figured out on my own. It was kinda confusing. I know it's not good to spell everything out but at least give us a chance maybe ??? For example, I never understood how Ursula managed to get them out of the cage and into this new and i...

The world of audiobooks is one I have only recently delved into - and I never expected it to be with this book. I have only read a handful of romance novels, maybe even not that. It's not a genre that I ever find myself fancying. That was until I watched To All the Boys I've Loved Before on Netflix. TATBILB (wow that's such a long abbreviation it's almost not worth abbreviating) low key changed my life. I had seen all the hype about it on Twitter and YouTube and thought to myself, "you're never gonna read it so you might as well just watch it". So I did. And I absolutely loved it. It became my 'guilty pleasure' and now I've seen it at least three times. I loved the characters, the cheesy plot line and the soundtrack. Fast forward a couple of months... I had made an Audible account out of curiosity - I wanted to see if audiobooks were for me. The first audiobook I bought was Stephen Fry's Mythos, which I am still listening to because...

Dear Santa, So, it's Christmas Eve. I imagine you're pretty busy right now but... You know I'm your favourite earthling so you won't mind making some time in your hectic schedule to read this, right? Here on my blog I have already written about the bookish things I want for Christmas, but there's something else. There's a few more presents that would make me super happy on Christmas day, but there's a catch. They're not things you can buy. They are Christmas wishes. Here they are: Please may you help me learn how to properly dress myself? I'm fed up of wearing clothes I don't particularly like just because it's something to wear. I want to look nice and feel myself. I need to be way less awkward over the phone. Can't stand it. Please can I have some more confidence? Can you help me get a hold of my anxiety? Yes, it's gotten better in the past year but it's still very, very prominent in my life. Pretty please? I...

I did this post last year so I thought I would keep up the tradition and do it again this year! 1. Read 10 books Last year, my goal was to read 15 books (which I managed!), but I don't think I will be able to achieve in 2019. I will be in my last year of university, working on my dissertation, playing lots of badminton and doing exams... So I would be happy if I read 10!! 2. Reach C1 level in French I'm currently on my year abroad in Switzerland in order to improve my French for my degree. At the moment, I'm probably a strong B2 but I would really love to gain confidence and proficiency before I go back to uni in September. Fingers crossed! 3. Dissertation  I mentioned this before, but I will be starting my dissertation when I go back to uni in September. All I ask of myself is that I get a really good start, decide on my topic and work really hard. I'm actually looking forward to going back to uni and uni work so hopefully I can do this one! 4. Trav...

Inspired by Spotify's 'Your Top Songs of 2018' feature, I thought I would go through the soundtrack to my year. In total, I listened to 101,410 minutes of music on Spotify this year... So, I'm going to try to whittle it down to my top 10 songs I had on repeat for the past 12 months! 10. From Now On, The Greatest Showman This film was super popular this year so it's no surprise that this song is in my top songs of 2018.  I saw the film in the cinema with my sisters and absolutely loved it! I especially loved this song - it made me cry! (Unpopular opinion: this song is ever so slightly better than This Is Me). 9. Love Will Tear Us Apart, Joy Division Obviously I had heard this song way before 2018 but it has a special place in my hear this year. I was working at Next over the summer for some extra money before my year abroad. One day, my dad gave me a lift to work in our convertible Mini Cooper - we had the roof down, sun shining and blasting this song ...