The Weekly Hufflepuff #73 // I Got An Internship???

A day late but oh well

I wanted to post this yesterday but I was tired before I went out, then when I came back I was even more tired adgnjs

I FINALLY finished Ace of Shades and I’m pissed at my reading slump because I really did love it and I could’ve finished it so much faster?? I also finished Two Spells, which I reviewed on Goodreads. I didn’t enjoy that one at all, nor did I enjoy Honey, Baby, Sweetheart. It was free on Riveted (might still be? I don’t think this one is up for the entire month) and it had an interesting premise (abusive relationships, ‘kidnapping’ an old lady to reunite her with an old love and a road trip) but boyyyy it was a mess and so is my review on Goodreads thus why I’m not posting it here as well.

I finally read The Brightsiders (I have no idea why it took me so long considering Queens of Geek is one of my favourite books and this was one of my most anticipated releases?) and I loved it SO FRICKIN’ MUCH. The bi rep was amazing, just like in Queens of Geek, great relationships (platonic and romantic), abuse rep on point, anxiety rep, so much queer rep, multiple non-white characters (Chloe owns my heart I love my black bi non-binary child) and just?? It was everything? It’s SO QUEER I love it so much. Full review to come hopefully soon*

Lastly I’m rereading the To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before trilogy before the movie comes out this Friday (!!) to sort of stay patient because I can’t wait for the movie I love this series so much

Oh and I started Sadie, since that’s coming out next month and I don’t want to read it at the last possible moment. I’m not that far in yet but so far I like it.

* No one remind me of all the books I read in June that I still haven’t reviewed hsjfdhsj

GUYS I GOT AN INTERNSHIP???? It’s at an art magazine and I’m just so excited!! I won’t be writing anything for the magazine itself as everything is planned and written far in advance so it’s not really do-able for me to write anything, but I may get to write something small. I will be writing for the website though, so that’s exciting too.

I also got a job??? As of this week I’ll be working at Ripley’s Believe it Or Not and I still can’t believe (haha see what I did there) I actually got hired?? I’ll still be working at the Stedelijk Museum when I can, but that was already freelance work anyway after my first year ended last Summer so I wanted something a bit more stable.

Other than that… I’ve been going out with friends and family, doing some fun stuff here and there, relaxing… I have terrible memory so I remember like 10% of it but last week I spend a few days at my best friend’s house since she lives at the other side of the country (which is not that far compared to most countries but it still a few hours away with the train and since we don’t get free transport during the Summer it’s not that easy to see each other. Highlights: my friend repeating ‘behhhh’ over and over again at goats, feeding cute baby goats, making edible cookie dough (and eating it duh), me sucking at Mario and Sonic at the Olympics (I’m so sorry I did you dirty Yoshi please don’t cry), eating THE BEST fries I’m in love why are they on the other side of the country and obviously just spending time with my friend. Other than that who knows what I did not me adbjhs This is why I try to do wrap ups each week but I’m lazy

🐝 The Writing Hufflepuff 🐝

💛 Let’s Celebrate Winning Camp NaNo With Some Snippets! // Part I
💛 Summery Contemporary Mini Reviews // The Summer I Turned Pretty, Alex, Approximately and The Museum of Heartbreak
💛 5 Books That I Need To Be Turned Into Anime
💛 The Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag // You Want Me To Pick One For Every Question??

📷 Aesthetically Dreaming 📷

📸 Tips for Studying Abroad
📸 Dreaming About These Aesthetic Instagrams // Surrealism Edition
📸 Nalini Malani and Immigration and the Oppression of Women

💛 Lu @ It’s Lu Again shares her 7 fantasy expectations
💛 Olivia @ Purely Olivia talks about her one major problem with Harry Potter and shares other thoughts related to the series
💛 Amy @ Bursting With Books is back!
💛 Eve @ Twist in the Taile shares their YALC 2018 recap
💛 Lily @ Sprinkles of Dreams talks about why we need (more) confident female characters
💛 Em @ Yellow’s The Word talks about her trip to Amsterdam. I linked back to Day 4 because it links back to all the previous days so you can easily find those
💛 Amber @ The Literary Phoenix shares five things she learned from Camp NaNo
💛 Elm @ Just Call Me Elm Or Something talks about when writing becomes stressful

How has your week been? Read anything good? Are you excited for the To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before movie? Let me know in the comments!

The Weekly Hufflepuff #70 // I’M A FREE ELF also 21 now ahhhh

Exams are over and though I’m still waiting on one grade I’m like 99% sure I passed it so guess what

I’m really trying not to think of the fact that I should look for an internship soon hahaha *help me*

It’s been a while since my last wrap up. Last time I had just started Autoboyography – by now of course I finished it and it was beautiful I still haven’t written a review because 1) what are words 2) exams 3) i’m exhausted 4) words???

Seriously I have no idea how to formulate my thoughts. Which is fun because meanwhile I have read other books I want to review but guess what!! Words?? I don’t have any! Okay dramatics aside I think I will be able to review at least some of them, we’ll see. I’m really trying to listen to my body and not push myself to much, so it’s possible that not all of the books I want to review will actually be reviewed, but we’ll see.

I’ve also read Tash Hearts Tolstoy, Magnus Chase and the Ship of the Dead and Leah on the Offbeat and I loved all of them very much. I’m still very emotional about the latter two (though Tash was a lot of fun as well!) and uhh hopefully review to come?? I really do want to review them but we’ll see what happens. Oh! I’ve mentioned it in other postsbefore but in case you missed those: Autoboyography and Tash Hearts Tolstoy are up for free on Riveted this month! There’s no catch, you just need an account and then you can read a new selection of free books each month.

Oh and I started I Was Born For This yesterday! I’m not that far in yet but I like it so far.

Oh boy it’s been a while so a lot happened but my memory is terrible so we’ll see. I’m in the mood for some bullet points so let’s go with that

💛 I almost dragged my literature teacher (you may recall that I had to read an islamophobic, sexist and homophobic book and that my teacher loves this book) on my literature exam as we had to write a review (unexpectedly!! the entire term all the teachers were like: we’re not going to teach you how to review literature/film/art but guess what!! my literature teacher lied!!) on the book and I legit started to write something along the lines of ‘islamophobes would definitely enjoy this book but if you’re a little bit smart and know something about Islam you wouldn’t and then I realised that I was calling the person responsible for my grade islamophobic and stupid adbgsdh Like she deserved that drag but this woman is super petty and I needed to pass so that I didn’t have to reread that stupid book. But I did politely ‘drag’ her in my survey on the class, where I criticised the class itself (we’re really going to study one book, by a white straight cis man who is also islamophobic, sexist and homophobic. All she said about it was that she thought he was none of those things. That was in the first class, before anyone of us had started the book and she wanted us to form our own opinions. Then she never asked after those opinions) I also mentioned the homophobic comments because what she said was not okay!! (she read a homophobic line from the book as an example of ‘humour’ in the book and described another author as ‘actively homosexual’ like did y’all know i was passively bisexual apparently so!!) I really hope something will be done but I don’t have much hope. At least I said something.

💛 I had my exams and so far passed with flying colours?? So yeah studying my ass off was worth it! Sorta. Did I mention I’m exhausted

💛 I saw Love, Simon again and loved it even more this time around which I didn’t think was possible but here we are

💛 It was my birthday but I keep forgetting that I’m now 21 and keep calling myself 20. But hey that’s progress because before my birthday I would sometimes call myself 18 and that’s very very wrong

💛 I caved and bought a Nintendo Switch with my birthday money because LET’S GO PIKACHU. A NEW MAIN POKEMON GAME NEXT YEAR. A NEW ACE ATTORNEY GAME (when though??). For now I got Mario Oddysey because my mom was like ‘you should buy a game or what is the point’ and she had a point there. It’s been a long time since I played games like that but it’s so much fun?? Incredibly frustrating and I’ve been cursing like a sailor but fun!

💛 I also was given books of course! I’m too lazy to take a picture so here’s a list: Starfish (because I needed a physical copy), Leah on the Offbeat, The Brightsiders, I Was Born For This, Children of Blood and Bone, Ace of Shades, A Thousand Perfect Notes and Quests for Glory (The School for Good and Evil #4)

me this summer

💛 There was an event at the museum where I work so I took my best friend with me and uhhh it was basically a sitcom episode sdfbj It’s a long story but it involves me running away from tour guides (colleagues that I had never met before and hopefully never will again), them seeing me both times, my friend cursing my lack of sneakiness and my friend who’s not interested in art practically running towards an art work because I told her someone had slashed a knife into it years ago and losing me in the progress. Basically it was a mess but it was hilarious.

I probably forgot some stuff (a lot of stuff?) but uhh these are the highlights? I think? They’re the ones I remember anyway. I did struggle with my mental health again but as I’m feeling better today I don’t really want to talk about that.

I can’t believe I’m actually adding a writing section!! Of course I haven’t really been able to write thanks to school and exams, but yesterday I was suddenly hit by a burst of inspiration for a WIP I’ve been stuck on for a very long time now. It’s one of my very first WIPs (I kind of count it as the second one since it’s the second one I actually sort of finished (as in I finished the first book and started the second but then started to rewrite the first one. And then started to rewrite the first one AGAIN)) and I hated the plot. Absolutely hated it. It’s pretty much a Buffy the Vampire Slayer rip off (I was like 12 or 13 I didn’t realise it at the time ok), full of plot holes and a lot of stuff just doesn’t make sense. Oh and horrible tropes that I can’t stand now. I was ready to just let it go, except I loved my kids. I actually wrote a post about this last year

So a while ago I sorta got a lil bit of inspiration already, but there wasn’t really much there yet. But yesterday? Out of nowhere something came to mind and now I have almost three pages in Word with ideas and I’m PUMPED. I’m not going to write it yet as I want to work on my current WIP and finish that one first (and maybe write the sequel first too) but I’m just so excited?? I’m so happy I found a plot that so far works for my kids.

me yesterday

For years I called it The Chosen Ones but my current working title is ‘the not chosen ones’ because they’re no longer chosen lol. There’s still a lot I need to figure out but that’s okay. I’ve got something and that already makes me so happy. It’s VERY different from the original, which is weird but since I hated the original I’m more than okay with that.

This is the current blurb:

Rose Clark vividly remembers the night her parents were murdered – and now it seems their killer is back. Determined to catch the killer herself, Rose finds herself caught up in something she would’ve never dreamed of.

It’s very short but I like it so far. I’ve never written a blurb for the previous plot but basically it was about two teenagers (one of them being Rose) who were ‘chosen’ to prevent the devil from returning to earth. Over the years things already changed a lot from the original WIP, but now??? I barely recognise it lol. But it’s good because for the first time in a long time I’m excited to work on this WIP again!

🐝 The Writing Hufflepuff 🐝

💛 LGBTQIAP+ Comics You Should Read Part I
💛 My Current Writing Ideas/Projects That Are All Gay Duh + Aesthetics!
💛 LGBTQIAP+ Books That I Want To See Turned Into Movies
💛 Cinderella Boy // Genderfluid Cinderella and Queer Kids Fighting Back

📷 Aesthetically Dreaming 📷

📸 I shared some of my favourite Instagrams (theme: Paris)
📸 I talked about the struggles of being a photographer
📸 I shared my photography essentials
📸 I shared 6 LGBTQIAP+ artists for Pride
📸 I looked at the pros and cons of a Canon camera and iPhone 6

I’ve barely read any blogposts since my last wrap up which is really annoying because I was keeping up with posts so well?? I haven’t really had the energy or been in the mood to read posts since my exams ended this Tuesday, so I don’t have that many to share

💛 Mel @ A Word and a Whisper created The Pride Tag
💛 Kat @ Life and Other Disasters celebrated her fifth!! blogoversary
💛 May @ Forever and Everly shares her Pride month recs and their own Pride TBR
💛 Olivia @ Purely Olivia talks about why she loves multiple POVs and shares a few favourites
💛 Aurora @ Aurora Librialis shares 5 non-canon ships aka the gay ships we deserve
💛 Lia @ Lost in a Story shares her Pride Month TBR
💛 Bridget @ Bridget and Books shares some recs based on ‘if you liked this’

Wow that is one big wrap. Or at least it feels that way. Sorry about that?? I had a lot to talk about I guess. How has your past few weeks been? How is your Pride so far? My rainbow shoes gave me huge painful blisters even though I’ve worn them quite a few times now this is homophobic especially since it’s Pride!! What have you been reading? Are you prepared for Camp NaNo? (why did I have to bring up Camp NaNo I’m not prepared AT ALL) Are you done with school for the year? Let me know in the comments!

The Weekly Hufflepuff #69 // HAPPY PRIDE Y’ALL

Wow and another week bite the dust* what a surprise does time even e x i s t

ALSO HI I’M TURNING 21 IN LIKE THREE DAYS I’M NOT FREAKING OUT HAHA

On the plus side I’m seeing Love, Simon again in TWO (!!) days for my birthday because the cinema close to my house (and heart I love it it’s so small and cute and the atmosphere is just great??) is having a pre-showing. I just subtly moved my laptop with the webpage about the pre-showing on the screen so it was facing my mom and she was all excited ‘you want to see it again?’

* I have a terrible sense of humour please forgive me

Last weekly wrap up I mentioned having started All of This is True and not being sure how I felt about it yet. Well I finished it and guess what!! I was highly disappointed! Full review came out yesterday*

To cheer myself up after reading that… thing… I immediately started Cinderella Boy because I needed a cute queer Cinderella retelling with a genderfluid protagonist. I’m happy to announce that I finished it on Friday, on the first day of Pride

The first half was super slow – it was cute, sure, but I was also bored?? But then things picked up and it got really good. Also that epilogue killed me.

* Haha I really hope so I’m procrastinating writing that review by writing this post ahead of time hahahaha help

I’m scheduling this in advance as I don’t think I’ll have time tomorrow, but I’m hoping to also have started Autoboyography by the time you read this. If you want to read Autoboyography as well – wow this sounds like sponsored post IT’S NOT I JUST WANT TO SPREAD THE LOVE AND LET Y’ALL KNOW THAT DURING THE MONTH OF JUNE A.K.A. PRIDE MONTH AUTOBOYOGRAPHY, THE ENTIRE BOOK, IS UP FOR FREE ON RIVETED. Just sign up, which, again, is free, and shouldn’t be restricted to your location (I expected it to be for Americans only but my lil Dutch self was able to sign up??) AND THEN YOU CAN JUST,, READ AUTOBOYOGRAPHY FOR FREE (and other books as well)

So the beginning of this week still wasn’t too great, but I feel a lot better now and am so excited about so many things?? Like seeing Love, Simon again, it being Pride, my birthday coming up, all the amazing books I plan on reading this month (especially once exams are over), freedom being near, nice weather!!, hopefully being able to write after exams, The Bold Type* and Voltron coming back** and blogging! My brain keeps screaming Pride related ideas at me and I’m just like,, pls calm down,, I don’t have that much time but honestly? My heart is yelling ‘HECK YES BRAIN’ and just,, Once I finished writing this post there’s a good chance I’ll write a Pride related post?? Because I really really want to and sure I can wait until after exams but nope i don’t want to do that!

* I mean not only is this an AMAZING show but also!! the main ship is between a black woman (she hasn’t used a label yet on the show but she’s definitely attracted to both men and women) and a lesbian muslim!!
** @ Voltron remember you promised us there’d be LGBTQIAP+ rep,, now would be a good time buddies chop chop

Um honestly I don’t really remember much about this week? I had school for two days because my literature class on Tuesday was cancelled (and that was supposed to be the last one now I have to suffer this Tuesday adgbjsh) and other than that? I’ve been trying to do some schoolwork, reading, blogging, playing some Pokemon* and just relax. I don’t think I did anything special?? Oh but the reason I’m scheduling this is because my mom and I are going to a museum again (two actually, if everything goes to plan)

* @ Pokemon yo I thought there wouldn’t be a game this year what u doing fam now I’m going to need to get myself a Switch do I look like a millionaire to u there goes my money afsgdj

🐝 The Writing Hufflepuff 🐝

💛 I announced the relaunch of my photography blog
💛 I reviewed Anger is a Gift, a powerful look on police brutality (plus it’s super queer!!)
💛 I wrapped up May??? Where did May go??*
💛 I reviewed All of This is True which I unfortunately found quite boring and I have some concerns about the way a character who commited sexual assault was written

* Lol it sounds like I’m asking about May @ Forever and Everly

📷 Aesthetically Dreaming 📷

📸 I (awkwardly) introduced myself and the blog
📸 I shared a photoshoot of some ‘under the sea’ photography*
📸 I did the photography tag in which I shared my best photo, favourite instagrams and my love of cats**

* So yeah I took those photographs in an aquarium that blog post title is a LIE sue me I ain’t going under water I’m terrified of the ocean
** Yes cats not pugs pugs are my first love but I do love cats very much too

💛 Aimee @ Aimee, Always shares 12 YA books that are being released this month
💛 May @ Forever and Everly wrote an important discussion post about the own voices label and the negative pressure it puts on both authors and reviewers
💛 Savannah @ The Book Prophet wrote an own voices discussion post Native American representation
💛 Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books shares tips on how to find blogging inspiration
💛 Sarah @ Written Word Worlds wonders if there’s too much romance in YA
💛 Lu @ It’s Lu Again did the 20 Questions Book Tag
💛 Saida @ Erucchii’s Books and Recs did my Your WIP in Gifs Tag
💛 And so did Marrill @ Books and Ravens 

How was your week? Read any good books? Are you celebrating Pride? Are you excited about The Bold Type and Voltron? Let me know in the comments!

The Weekly Hufflepuff #67 // Uhhhhhhh *insert witty title*

Yes a weekly wrap up on a Monday but it’s okay

It’s been over a MONTH since my last weekly wrap up and?? I don’t know how that happened?? I did talk about some personal stuff in April’s wrap up (IT’S ALMOST TIME TO WRAP UP MAY HOWWWW) but I didn’t share any blog posts that I read?? Be prepared to get lots of great posts thrown in your facesMy memory is failing me and I have no clue what I’ve read since my last wrap up (both weekly and monthly) so I’ll just talk about what I’m reading right now which is okay because it’s SO GOOD. I was hooked from the first page and I immediately knew Anger Is A Gift would be a new fave. It’s coming out tomorrow so I should have finished it by now so I could have my review up but… I requested it not that long ago thinking I wouldn’t get accepted anyway, but then I DID and now I’m kinda screwed. But I’m halfway there so my review should be up next week at the latest*

* That’s what I thought when it came to Starfish and that took me a MONTH hahahaSo last wrap up I didn’t talk about what classes I’m following this term, which surprises me because I remember being prepared to RANT but then I just forgot because school is eating my brain. Oh well

Anyway, in either your third or fourth year you need to choose a specialisation. I chose culture, which means I’m taking fine arts, film, literature and philosophy of culture. Fine arts and film are a lot of fun, philosophy of culture is okay – it’s not a lot of philosophy, mostly it’s history and a lot of it I already knew? And then there’s literature

Now I know what you’re thinking: ‘Michelle, you’re a book blog! Are you saying you don’t like your literature class?’ hahahaha

That’s exactly what I’m saying

Okay but hear me out. My entire class is focusing on ONE book. ONE. A book of course written by a white, abled straight cis man, who also!! Is incredibly islamophobic, sexist and homophobic!! So the book we’re reading?? A MESS. My teacher? LOVES IT. My anxious ass? QUIET. I really wish I could speak up but,,, ugghh. Anxiety. The teacher doesn’t seem to have a problem with the book at all. She even went out of her way to say that she doesn’t think it’s islamophobic. Oh and the sexism?? ‘so absurd that it’s unrealistic’ yeah the main character thinking women shouldn’t vote is so unrealistic hahahahaha and the objectifying of women? Doesn’t happen!!! Never!! But to make matters worse there was this:

”Do you guys think there’s any humour in this? I do”*proceeds to read aloud a quote that I personally found homophobic/lesbophobic but apparently she thinks it’s funny!!*

And of course a few people laughed

Meanwhile I felt like I had been slapped in the face and was about to cry

So yeah. FUN

But my other classes are a lot more inclusive! Not as much as I’d like, but still. Plus at least they’re not this woman :) We have to fill out surveys for each class each term, so I’m definitely going to say something about her and her class. Maybe I’ll find the courage to speak up in tomorrow’s class now that I’ve finished the book but that woman makes me really anxious (speaking up itself already does sdjgh)

Anyway what else happened?

💛 EUROVISION. Eurovision was once again a blast, though there was not enough weird Eurovision stuff, glitter and gay. Also I don’t like the winner. I had SO many faves why did my two least favourite ones end up first and second. Countries were robbed. Not enough meme material. But it’s Eurovision and I will always love it

💛 MY OTP GOT MARRIED AND IT WAS BEAUTIFUL AND PERFECT AND GINA RODRIGUEZ FINALLY APPEARED ON B99 AND IT WAS PERFECT AND ROSA’S REACTION WAS ICONIC AND RELATABLE AND SUCH A MOOD (don’t want to spoil anyone so I’m being vague lol)

💛 Two weeks ago I had to take care of the neighbours cat and she was the CUTEST thing #blessed

💛 Uhhhhhhh

💛 I seriously need a PensieveSince my monthly wrap up I wrote four posts wow so much many posts much impressed

💛 I reviewed My Name is Victoria which was,,, okay? But the plot twist at the end ruined it for me
💛 I also reviewed Starfish which was INCREDIBLE and my favourite book of the year nothing will surpass it
💛 I shared my reactions to the Hogwarts Mystery game
💛 I shared another playlist for Monthly Mixtape

I can’t wait for summer break to get here and I swear if I don’t pass my exams and have to redo them my school is going to catch these hands💛 Emma @ The Book Crunch shares her favourite YA books that feature mental health issues
💛 LaRonda @ Flying Paperbacks recommends some contemporaries that deal with mental health as well
💛 Julianna @ Paper Blots reviews My So-Called Bollywood Life which sounds like a great book so check out her amazing review
💛 Ilsa @ A Whisper of Ink talks about her writing in the Rising Author Tag and shares some amazing snippets
💛 Annemieke @ A Dance With Books celebrated her blog’s third birthday
💛 She also wonders if these days 3-star ratings are bad ratings
💛 Eri and Alexis @ Lacy Literacy talk about their day at YALLWEST
💛 Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books shouts about 10 books she rarely screams about but feels like she should
💛 She also wonders if you have to review books to be a book blogger
💛 Oh and of course she once again made me even more excited about her WIP by doing my Your WIP in Gifs Tag
💛 Amber @ The Literary Phoenix talks about the worst movies adapted from books
💛 Sarah @ Written Word Worlds talks about stereotypical YA characters and created a quiz to figure out which one you are
💛 Kat @ Life and Other Disasters wonders if you fight for your tv show
💛 She also created another great writing tag called The Milestones Write Tag
💛 May @ Forever and Every recommends YA Asian books 
💛 She also reviewed Furyborn and rants about the messy and vague bi rep which you should really read
💛 Ever wondered how to write a shipable OTP? Elizabeth @ Redgal Musings has a guide for you
💛 Holly @ Nut Free Nerd talks about book blogging as a feminist space
💛 Lu @ It’s Lu Again started a new blogging series called ‘Coming Out Series’ and I can’t choose which one to share so: Part 1 about LGBT+ Rep // Part 2 about 2018’s LGBT+ themed books // Part 3 in which she reviews Autoboyography
💛 Aimee @ Aimee, Always shares 5 things Children of Blood and Bone made her do 
💛 Vivian @ Writing With Style talks about how she avoids inconsistencies in her writing
💛 Amena @ Nerd in New York talks about how blogging changes the way she reads
💛 Inside My Library Mind shares all you need to know to start using Edelweiss
💛 Chiara @ Delicate Eternity gives 5 reasons why she enjoyed Ace of Shades
💛 Cristina @ Girl in the Pages talks about YA books set in college
💛 Fadwa @ Word Wonders shares how she manages to not drown under blogging and reading
💛 And last but definitely not least, Cait @ Paper Fury announced her second (!!) novel

I have four more weeks to go until summer break* but it feels sooo much longer. Probably because I never even got to properly rest from last school year dskngjhd I have so many blog post ideas and I’m so excited about blogging again, but it’s hard to find the time and energy to be honest. Even though I don’t want school to dominate my life (which I’m kind of succeeding in?) I just can’t bring myself to blog as much as I’d want to. I also really, really want to change things about my design** and technically I could make time, but I’d rather use that time to write posts and blog hop. It’s starting to bug me though, I really want to change things haha

* If I pass everything please I’m begging you
** You may have noticed I changed my ‘summary’ and ‘review’ banners in my review

So yeah after I scheduled this post I got reaaaally annoyed with my old design and realised that the new posts I’ve got planned (emphasis on planned I haven’t written anything lmao) wouldn’t be done justice soooo LOOK NEW DESIGN. And a few new graphics. It’s not done yet, as I need to replace a bunch of other graphics and I want to clean up my categories more (you may have noticed that my menu is a lot smaller, but I want to come up with more categories and just order everything better) So if you only see one post from me this week blame the new design lol 
Are you almost done with school? (please don’t tell me if you’re done this week I will cry out of envy) How are you hanging in there? Read any amazing books? Did you cry at the Peraltiago wedding? Let me know in the comments!

The Weekly Hufflepuff #66 // I’M HOME

I’M HOME

live footage of me on the flight back home (also when i picked up my mom at the train station)

Sorry for the radio silence, but as I mentioned before my mom came over so I’ve been busy showing her around, and then of course packing everything up (including 16 plushies* I have a p r o b l e m) and getting back home. Manchester Airport was pretty chaotic, especially the security part which isn’t fun when that part already gives you lots of anxiety. And then our flight got delayed – but apart from that everything went fine and we got home safely.

* 1 I bought for my mom, 1 my mom bought for a friend and 1 I had brought from home but still adkbjfs

Since my last wrap up I started and finished Starfish, which I would’ve finished a lot sooner if I hadn’t been busy with my mom. I definitely could’ve read it all in one sitting – definitely worth the hype!

Today I finished Sugar Lump which was,,, disappointing. It’s centered around a mystery in a small town and boy was I let down by that ‘mystery’. I just expected a lot more.

I picked up Moxie for four pounds (if you’re ever in the UK and nearby an Asda – go go go they have a small YA section and really cheap prices it’s heaven) and started it on the plane, but I didn’t get very far as I was exhausted. I’m excited to continue though!

As I already mentioned I spent my last week in Manchester with my mom. Since Love, Simon came out last Friday and it takes forever to come out in The Netherlands* I HAD to go see it of course.

* Sometime in June like yyyy I was really lucky to still be in the UK when it came out

View this post on Instagram

Saw @lovesimonmovie the other day and I’m still not over it 😭 I have no words to express how much I loved it ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜 ••• #lovesimon #simonvsthehomosapiensagenda

A post shared by Michelle 🌈 (@thewritinghufflepuff) on Apr 10, 2018 at 12:11pm PDT

I really have no words I loved it so much. I still tear up just thinking about it it was so beautiful and just??? perfect?? Brb crying

me pretty much the entire movie

I realise this sounds like I immediately went to see it as it came out, but since we had tickets to see Hairspray the same day we went to Love, Simon the next day. Hairspray is my favourite musical so when I found out it was playing in Manchester while I was there I knew I had to take the opportunity. I’m so happy that I got the chance to see it – and it was SO GOOD. The entire cast was just so talented and cute and just sdfhgv

Of course we did and saw a lot more than this, but I’ll leave that for future posts that I’ll hopefully get around to soon. Classes start this Tuesday and I still have two essays to write. I was planning on starting yesterday but uhhh guess what

I’m really excited to write those posts though – I’ve been meaning to write some of them since FOREVER as I wanted to post about the things I saw and did while still in Manchester, but oh well.

💛 I wrapped up March or more like promoted Hayley Kiyoko’s debut album
💛 I reviewed Lady Mary, which is an interesting look on future Queen Mary, daughter of Henry VII, and the affair between the latter and Anne Boleyn

💛 Olivia @ Purely Olivia wonders if standalones get enough credit
💛 Iona @ Dragon Waffles shares some romance tropes that melt her heart
💛 Chiara @ Delicate Eternity talkes about why she didn’t love Let’s Talk About Love
💛 Sarah @ Written Word Worlds wonders if star ratings should be replaced by gifs
💛 Andie @ Andrea’s Nirvana shares what she wants to see more of in YA
💛 Vivian @ Writing With Style shares how she outlines her novels
💛 May @ Forever and Everly talks about privilege in the YA online book community

Have you had the opportunity to see Love, Simon yet? Have you ever seen your favourite musical performed live? Let me know in the comments!

The Weekly (And Monthly) Hufflepuff #65 | Is This The End Of My Blogging Slump?

I’m so happy to be doing another weekly wrap up as I’ve really missed doing them! I’ll also be wrapping up December and January though, as I really want to get those out of the way. I’m going to try to keep things as short as possible, so don’t worry about having to read a short novel haha

This week I started and finished Snowsisters by Tom Wilinsky and Jen Sternick as the publication date is coming out and I need to get started on my review. Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy this one at all, but I’ll be leaving all of that for the review. I’ve also been reading Northern Lights, as I got the His Dark Material series in one book from the university library. I remember liking the film (yeaaaars ago) and I’ve heard good things about the series, so I thought I’d try it out. So far I’m liking it.

DECEMBER

💛 Take Me With You by Andrea Gibson ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – I am IN LOVE with this poetry collection. I’ve already raved about it in my review and my favourite books of 2017 post so maybe you’re sick of my yelling about this one BUT I DON’T CARE. It’s beautiful poetry about gender, sexuality, politics, love and so much more and I will never get over this book

💛 Always and Forever by Jenny Han ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – The PERFECT ending to this charming, lovely and fun trilogy that captures what it’s like to grow up and go off to college so well. Had everything I wanted tbh except a guide to find my own Peter yes please and thank you

💛 Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia ⭐⭐⭐⭐ – I never ended up reviewing this one and I don’t think I will, as unfortunately it was very triggering for me and affected my mental health terribly. It’s well written though and there are definitely things I loved about it (thus the four star rating) but in the end it made me feel like crap. Guess it hit a bit too close to home

💛 None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio ⭐⭐⭐ – an important, fun and quick read, just needed a little more development to its character and plot. I felt like the story wasn’t over yet. Read my review here

💛 Dreams Beyond the Shore by Tamika Gibson ⭐⭐⭐ – another one that didn’t feel over to me once I finished it. There were so many plot points left unexplored! It was still an interesting read and it was fun to read a book set in Trinidad and Tobago. Read my review here

💛 The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzie Lee ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – ABSOLUTE PERFECTION IT HAS EVERYTHING I WANTED AND MORE I LOVE THIS BOOK TO THE MOON AND BACK AND AM SO UPSET THAT I HAVEN’T HAD THE TIME TO REVIEW IT YET. Buuut I did rave about it in my favourite books of 2017 post so if you want to know a lil bit more about how I feel about this book, you can click here

REREADS: Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire
COMICS: DC Bombsells #60 

JANUARY

💛 It Only Happens in the Movies by Holly Bourne ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – I absolutely loved What’s A Girl Gotta Do? so when I saw It Only Happens in the Movies at the airport when looking for a book to keep me occupied while waiting for my delayed flight, I knew this was perfect. And it absolutely was! Holly Bourne has done it again. It Only Happens in the Movies highlights abusive relationships as they are and doesn’t romanticise them once. As someone who’s very passionate about how fiction often romanticises abusive relationships I was so happy to read this book. EVERYONE needs to read this asap

💛 The Wren Hunt by Mary Watson ⭐⭐⭐ (though actually 2.5 stars) – Ahh I was so happy to get approved for this one as it sounded delightfully creepy but alas, that’s not what I got. I do think this is a case of ‘it’s not you it’s me’, as I can definitely see why people would love this. Read my review here

💛 The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern ⭐⭐⭐ – I have such mixed feelings about this one. The writing is without a doubt charming and magical, but there was just too much telling instead of showing, especially when it comes to the romance. Once the romance takes the center I started to lose interest as I just wasn’t feeling it.

COMICS: Giant Days #33 // Giant Days #34 // Lumberjanes #45 // America #9 // America #10 // Ms. Marvel #25 // Ms. Marvel #26 // Runaways volume 9 // Runaways volume 10 // Runaways volume 11 // Runways (2017) #1 // Runways (2017) #2 // Runways (2017) #3 // Runways (2017) #4 // Runways (2017) #5

This week I just really needed to relax, so I only went out for class, groceries or dinner when I didn’t have anything in the fridge. There were a few days where I thought of going out, but I only wanted to go out because I felt like I had to. You know, make the most of my time and explore the city, but there are already quite a few things I’ve seen, I still have time and I don’t have any classes next week. Plus, what good is it to go out and do things when you’re not feeling that energised? It would only make me more tired, so I’m glad I decided to take it easy.

Not to mention it meant I had a lot of time to blog, and I even wanted to! I’ve posted three times this week, four if you count this one and I’ve read quite a few blog posts. I also signed up for the 365 Commenting Challenge to get myself to be more active in the blogging community.

I’m super excited about blogging again and it makes me so so happy!

THIS WEEK

💛 So this was technically posted last week, but oh well. I posted a not so quick update from Manchester where I talk about some random things that happened
💛 I reviewed The Wren Hunt
💛 I FINALLY shared my favourite books of 2017
💛 And I finally posted another recap about Manchester, in which I go to the National Football Museum (who am I) and the Manchester Cathedral

DECEMBER

💛 Reviews: Paintbrush // Vengeance Road // Take Me With You // Mini Reviews: Marked and Flame in the Mist // Dreams Beyond the Shore
💛 Merry Christmas Ya Beautiful Bloggers*: Part I // Part II // Part III // Part IV
💛 Writing: All Hallows Write Tag // Winter Is Here Write Tag
💛 Travel: London Day 3 | My Search For Baymax Continues and My Opinion On The Cursed Child

* Merry Christmas Ya Beautiful Bloggers was a feature for the holidays in which I highlighted some amazing bloggers. This wasn’t limited to book bloggers and the order was completely random. Unfortunately due to my preparations for Manchester I didn’t get to highlight all the bloggers I wanted but I’ll definitely bring this back this Christmas!

JANUARY

💛 Greetings from Manchester!
💛 Manchester Week 1: A Beautiful Library and Town Hall And RIP My Wallet I Found The Disney Store
💛 Review: None of the Above

💛 Balie @ Nerd in New York described the zodiac signs as bibliophiles
💛 Austine @ NovelKnight created a database for the online bookish community
💛 Amber @ The Literary Phoenix wonders why there aren’t any girly girls in YA anymore
💛 Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books talks about her WIP and shares some aesthetics in the Winter is Here Write Tag // She also shared her book blogging essentials
💛 Holly @ Nut Free Nerd wonders what it means to be a ‘relevant’ reader
💛 Marta @ The Cursed Books talks about book piracy
💛 Kat @ Life and Other Disasters talks about her WIP Arcadia
💛 Briana @ Pages Unbound Reviews shares about four ways to spread love to book bloggers
💛 Kayla @ Kayla’s Book Nook shares websites that every bookworm needs in their life
💛 Ellyn @ allonsythornraxx shares 5 LGBT books you should read
💛 Mikaela @ The Well-Thumbed Reader wonders if blog-hopping can become a burden on book bloggers
💛 Aimee @ Aimee, Always shares a step-by-step guide to read like a fangirl
💛 Nola @ Pagefuls talks about why she no longer checks her stats
💛 Inside My Library talks about J.K. Rowling and diversity outside canon
💛 Lu @ It’s Lu Again wonders if we should comment if we’re not diverse
💛 Janina @ Between Worlds shares main movie characters who she thinks are Hufflepuffs
💛 Sophie Li @ Sophie’s Corner wonders if we should keep each and every book
💛 Em @ Yellow’s the Word wrote a beautiful poem called ‘To The Friends I’ve Lost’
💛 May @ Forever and Every celebrated her 1-year blogoversary // She also shared some WordPress tips and tricks
💛 Shannon @ Little Irish Book Cat reviewed Queerly Loving, a book we all need in our lives tbh

How has your uhh last two months and this week been haha? Read any good books? Any good blog posts I’ve missed out on? Let me know in the comments!

The Weekly Hufflepuff #64 | I Really Can Stay Because It’s Cold Outside*

What did I even do this week I’m not joking I don’t remember anything from before Thursday???

* Honestly can’t relate to that song it’s freezing hell no am I going anywhere

I continued to reread Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and am almost done. I’ll probably finish it tonight. I’m tempted to continue my reread after, but I’m also very very tempted to read some new books that I’ve gotten for Sinterklaas – OH YEAH THAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK TOO. I remember something that happened before Thursday. My memory didn’t completely fail me yay

DID ANY OF YOU WATCH BROOKLYN NINE NINE THIS WEEK BECAUSE NO SPOILERS BUT I’M SO HAPPY IT’S FINALLY CANON AND THAT THEY ACTUALLY DID THAT. DURING THE 99TH EPISODE

Like my revelation in the previous section revealed, it was Sinterklaas (a holiday) this week. I needed to go to the bank and my mom needed to buy a gif for my cousin, so I didn’t really have the time to do much else since once we got back we immediately ate dinner and then left for my aunt’s house. My cousin no longer believes in Sinterklaas (he’s like our Santa) but it was still fun. I mean, a holiday with lots of chocolate and presents, how can that not be fun?

I didn’t take any pictures because I’m incredibly lazy* but I got: Pokemon Ultra Sun; Eliza and her Monsters; None of the Above; Always and Forever, Lara Jean; Girls Made of Snow and Glass; Marie from The Aristocats slippers; Wonder Woman thights and a chocolate letter (it’s tradition to get a chocolate letter during this holiday, usually the first letter of your name but sometimes you’re out of luck and your letter is all sold out)

* And very comfy underneath my Eeyore blanket

So I know I said I didn’t remember anything before Thursday, but Thursday wasn’t that special so I’m skipping that one. On Friday I met up with a friend from secondary school who know lives in Rotterdam where she’s also studying. While I had a lot of fun with her, the weather was horrible. There was a strong wind (my friend had brought an umbrella so she was almost Mary Poppins), rain and hail which made it even colder than it already was. It was such a relief whenever we got inside haha.

And now it’s snowing and it probably will tomorrow too so guess who’s not leaving the house

I didn’t write this week, but I might later today? I want to write some blog posts for this week first, so I’m not sure if I’ll feel up for it later, but who knows.

💛 I started a new feature for the holidays: Merry Christmas Ya Beautiful Bloggers, in which I highlight some amazing bloggers
💛 I did the All Hallows Write tag, in which I answered Halloween related questions about my characters
💛 I reviewed Vengeance Road, which had a lot of potential but I was bored

It’s so easy to get behind again haha. Earlier this week I was on top of all the blog posts I needed to read* and now?? Very, very behind. Oh well, here are some posts I liked:

💛 Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books talks about how to find and read only books you love 
💛 Aentee @ Read at Midnight created another fun readathon, this time inspired by Animal Crossing Pocket Camp
💛 Jackie @ Too Much of a Book Nerd shares 4 reasons why The November Girl should be on your TBR
💛 Julianna @ Blots of Ink and Words thought of some great inventions that all us bookworms need in our lives asap
💛 Em @ Yellow’s the Word shares her favourite things about Christmas
💛 Elm @ Just Call Me Elm or something wrote a beautiful poem called ‘Side Characters in My Own Story’ 
💛 Kat @ Life and Other Disasters created the fun Winter is Here Write Tag
💛 Holly @ Nut Free Nerd talks about Christmas at Oxford 
💛 Sarah @ Written Word Worlds shares some pretty special editions

* At least that’s how I felt haha

How has your week been? Is it really cold where you live too? DID YOU WATCH BROOKLYN NINE NINE?

The Weekly Hufflepuff #63 | I Am Eeyore

Good news: Didn’t suffer from a blogging slump this week!

Bad news: I did suffer from my mental health and my period rip

Actually I’ve been putting off this post the entire day because I’m just not feeling good mentally, but I talked to my friend for a bit just now and am feeling slightly better, so let’s wrap this week up

I started What’s a Girl Gotta Do? by Holly Bourne before going to sleep and finished it the next day immediately. I just HAD to finish it before doing anything else. I’m not one of those people who can read until the early mornings. I’ve never tried, because eventually I give in and go to sleep, but I don’t handle lack of sleep well so I’m not planning on trying. Anyway, What’s a Girl Gotta Do? is PHENOMENAL and I can’t wait to scream about it in your faces review it.

Friday on the bus I started Take Me With You by Andrea Gibson and lemme tell you: THAT WAS A MISTAKE. I almost cried on the bus. Then I almost cried at the bus stop. I finished it today in the privacy of my own house and boy was I a crying mess. I immediately reread it again and I know I will reread it again soon. It’s incredibly moving, powerful and beautiful and again, can’t wait to review it.

I also read DC Bombshells #60. 40 more issues to go before I can go on to Bombshells United. This is honestly one of my favourite comics but it’s taking me forever to read it? Once I’m finally caught up a bit I’ll write a post about it.

This morning I woke up feeling in the mood for Harry Potter, so I started to reread Goblet of Fire. I’ve been meaning to reread it for quite some time now as I started to reread the series last year, but other books just got in the way.

I wanted to go to museums this week but the weather has been terrible and life got in the way so unfortunately it didn’t happen. I’m hoping to go visit some museums soon, since some exhibitions will close while I’m in Manchester so I really need to go before I leave.

We (Blikopeners – a group of teens/young people (you’re a teen when you start) who work at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam) wrote our own audiotour, so on Friday we recorded it which was a lot of fun. It felt so professional haha

Yesterday my mom and I went shopping, since we still needed to buy presents for Sinterklaas, which is a Dutch holiday. I also treated myself to this:

IT’S AN EEYORE BLANKET AND IT’S THE BEST THING I EVER BOUGHT IT EVEN HAS A TAIL IT’S SO COMFY AND WARM AND SOFT

Here’s a picture of my grandpa wearing it. He came over for dinner yesterday. He told us that the other day a guy at his retirement home whom he really doesn’t like walked past him, and then he (my grandpa) gave him the middle finger??

My mom: why??
My grandpa: because I don’t like him 😤 and he doesn’t get it 😤 he still doesn’t 😤

My grandpa has that old people mentallity where they don’t care anymore and just do what they want. Honestly part of me wishes I could’ve had that mentallity last term when people didn’t do their work lmao.

So those were the highlights.* Like I said before, I’ve been struggling with my period and mental health, but I’ve continued to talk to my friend while writing this post and it is making me feel a bit better. My mental health is always worse during my period so hopefully it will both be over soon.

* My grandfather coming over was a highlight, not him giving a man the finger

I almost forgot that I actually wrote this week! I was supposed to go out with a friend, but unfortunately she had to cancel because of school. So I spent the day blogging and writing. Not as much writing as I would’ve liked, but I always have trouble writing while on my period. Either I’m in too much pain or I just can’t concentrate.

Anyway, recently I’ve been struggling a lot with my beginning. I realised that I didn’t like it at all, so now I started to rewrite it. So yep, I’ve already started to rewrite my second draft lol*

* I hadn’t gotten that far yet anyway so it’s okay

I’m MUCH happier with it now though, so it was worth it. Hopefully I’ll feel like writing more next week.

💛 I talked about when reading good books make you feel insecure about your writing
💛 I wrapped up November, meaning I had a crisis about 2017 almost being over and time going by so fast like every year
💛 I reviewed Paintbrush and boy I did not like it. Apart from flat characters and a borderline unhealthy relationship, it also had girls shaming other girls

💛 Cait @ Paper Fury talked about how her writing habits have changed in 2017 
💛 Laura @ The Book Corps wrote an open letter to Goodreads and Netgalley in regard to their recent changes in their policies when it comes to international bloggers
💛 Elm @ Just Call Me Elm Or Something shared her musings while she was on a train
💛 Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books is celebrating 3 years of blogging – can you believe she’s only been doing this for three years??
💛 She also talked about the fear of editing her WIP and some character aesthetics
💛 Em @ Yellow’s the Word shared 18 memories from 18 years 
💛 Birdie Bookworm made great aesthetics for The Book Aesthetics Tag 
💛 Sarah @ Written Word Worlds talks about how some of her favourite authors wrote some of her least favourite books
💛 Balie @ Nerd in New York talks about types of bookworms
💛 Kat @ Life and Other Disasters did the All Hallows Write Tag
💛 Hannah @ Mortal Reader talks about lies book bloggers tell
💛 Victoria @ Doodles and Scraps shares some cute photos
💛 May @ Forever and Everly talks about good representation concerning diversity in YA: better none or forced/wrong?
💛 The Awkward Book Blogger talked about what jobs the characters of The Lunar Chronicles would have in real life
💛 Holly @ Nut Free Nerd talked about her trip to Brighton
💛 Dazzling Dreamer talked about her trip to Dubai

Hope you’re all doing well and had a good week! What were some of your highlights? Any amazing blog posts you think I should read? Did you write? Do you love Eeyore? OH AND DID YOU WATCH THE LOVE SIMON TRAILER BECAUSE I WAS ALREADY IMPATIENT FOR THE ENTIRE MOVIE AND NOW I NEED TO STEAL A TARDIS BRB

The Weekly Hufflepuff #62 | I’m In a Blogging Slump????

Haha so yeah, I’m sort of in a blogging slump? Which I honestly didn’t expect would happen, considering usually my blogging slumps are caused by the exhaustion and stress of school. But I don’t have school? And I’ve been feeling pretty relaxed most days?

Yet, I haven’t felt like blogging these past two weeks. There were a few days where I wasn’t feeling that great (stupid cold) or wasn’t really feeling well mentally, but there were other days where I was feeling pretty great and I was in such a creative mood – just not a creative mood for blogging? I’ve been working on my photography and even writing (!!), but I just didn’t have the energy, motivation or inspiration to blog. Which has been pretty weird. I’m afraid that soon I’ll fall out of love with blogging, but I’m just going to try and listen to my heart. If I feel like blogging (like today!), I’ll blog. If I don’t, I won’t, because otherwise I’m seriously worried it will start to feel like a chore and before you know it I’ll be in an even worse blogging slump. Sooo while originally I wanted a schedule of two posts a week plus my weekly wrap up, I’m not sure if that will happen? But we’ll see

ANYWAY let’s wrap up these last two weeks

I started Vengeance Road sometime at the start of the month, and at first I thought it would be a pretty quick read, but… I dunno? It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t exactly blow me away either. I guess I also had some other expectations? If everything goes according to plan I’ll be writing my review later today, so it should be up sometime this week.

I also finally finished Karina’s Silver Shoes, which really took me a while. I’ve already reviewed this one, so I won’t get into that much detail, but boy was this one a disappointment.

I was in the mood to reread The Upside of Unrequited, which I’ve been meaning to do for a while. I still can’t believe I didn’t catch the Simon vs references the first time around? Sure, it had been over a year since I read Simon, but??? Simon is literally mentioned by his name??

I also read some comics like usual: caught up on Ms. Marvel, Lumberjanes and America, finally continued DC Bombshells (I love this comic I don’t understand why I’m so slow) and read some more Runaways volumes because the show really made me want to continue. I’m not sure if I’ll read the other volumes after Vaughn’s run though. I really hated Joss Whedon’s volume and the next ones don’t seem that great either. I’m tempted to just skip to Rainbow Rowell’s new issues.

So I’ve really been enjoying my time off! Well minus my cold and the days my mental health wasn’t that great, but other than that? Boy this break has been a blessing. I mean I’ve even been writing?? But I’ll get into that later, because I can actually include a writing section in this wrap up.

Like I said above, I’ve also been working on my photography. And trying to post more on my photography Instagram account haha. Speaking of which…

Click on the picture to go to my account! (if you want)

If you aren’t yet and want to, feel free to follow me 🙆🏻*

* Cheeky self-promo there

The other day my friend came over to hold a photoshoot, but we also just hung out, since we hadn’t seen each other since last term (not that that was that long ago and we do talk every day through imessage, but still haha). It was a lot of fun, but I was still a bit ill so spending so much time outside in the cold was a bit too much haha.

Last week I was sick of staying inside, so I decided to go to the Rijksmuseum. I didn’t know what kind of temporary exhibitions were on, so I decided to check them out while I was there. One of them was about being stateless in The Netherlands which was really beautiful (though not something I needed when I really didn’t want to cry with my stuffy nose!) and the other one was about Matthijs Maris, a Dutch artist who I had never heard of but it was really interesting and inspiring! There was another one, I’m not sure about what, but one look and I knew it wasn’t my thing haha. After those temporary exhibitions I spend some time in the regular collection, but soon I started to feel ill again so it was time to go home.

Oh! I’m  also slowly getting grades back from last term and so far so good! 🙆🏻

Also I’m now OFFICIALLY accepted at the university in Manchester for my term abroad! I’ll be studying history for my minor and thankfully they can provide me with a dorm during my stay. I’m still super anxious about it, but at least all of this is now settled

Like I said: I’ve been writing! Last week I decided to print everything I’ve written so far for my WIP (my Camp NaNo project of the past two years, I’ve talked about it in more details here), something I’ve wanted to do for weeks now, but couldn’t because

So I FINALLY printed everything out, started to reread, make notes and everything and now, even though I haven’t finished my first draft yet, started on my second draft. Maybe I should’ve finished my first draft first, but this is motivating me to actually write so I’m going with it.

I’ve also been working on plot holes and the like, and I’ve been working on my outline, as I had never figured out what would happen next and how things would exactly end. I’ve made a timeline of when everything’s supposed to happen and I’m so excited to write again

Though I’m also really sad and kinda scared to actually finish this thing??

Though I’m also already thinking of a sort of sequel/companion novel when this one isn’t even done yet haha

💛 I talked about where I’ve been, what I’ve been up to and explained that I’m taking a break from school 
💛 I reviewed Swan Song, a book about overcoming your grief, finding yourself and ballet
💛 I shared a recipe of how to make your own writer in case your stuck and want someone else to take over for you 
💛 I reviewed Karina’s Silver Shoes, which was VERY confusing 

I’m pretty behind on blog posts, and I don’t mind at all? I’ve bookmarked quite a few posts that I wanted to read, but I’m very tempted to just delete them all and start over, because boy am I never going to have the time to read them all and read all the new posts coming out all the time as well. Anyway, I don’t think any of these were actually posted during these past two weeks? I’m not sure, but hey old posts deserve some love too!

💛 Lila @ Hardcover Haven shares five things to do while in a blogging slump 
💛 Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books talks about how to NOT stress about blogging
💛 Melissa @ The Bookish Wanderer did The Book Aesthetics tag and created some wonderful aesthetics 
💛 Em @ Yellow’s The Word shared her Autumn/Winter Primark wishlist
💛 Holly @ Nut Free Nerd shared some beautiful university parks
💛 Savannah @ The Book Prophet talks about giving books low ratings without reading them
💛 May @ Forever and Everly talks about her book and shares some beautiful aesthetics
💛 Ivy and Em @ Two Girls, Two Mountains share some foreign words with no English equivalent
💛 Ilsa @ A Whisper of Ink shares 7 steps to love your own writing
💛 Vivian @ Writing With Style shares the best books about writing (and now I want them all rip my wallet)
💛 A.J. wrote a really important post about how people shouldn’t demand authors who write queer stories to label themselves 

And that’s a wrap! How has your week been? How’s your writing going? Can you relate to that frog gif? Been to any exhibitions lately? Are you watching The Runaways tv show? Let me know in the comments!

The Weekly Hufflepuff #61 | Art And B99 Murdered Me

I guess it’s becoming a habit to post wrap ups every other week instead of every week?? Though not for long! But more on that later.

I have to wrap up two weeks and I barely remember anything – why is my memory like this

In my last wrap up I was still making my way through Danger! Women Artists at Work which I finally finished. It was a really interesting read, but I wish it had included more women of colour and queer women. In my last wrap up I also mentioned having started Chasing Eveline, which I finished as well and absolutely loved. Apparently I never mentioned Masked in any previous wrap ups, but I read that one as well and… boy. I’ll elaborate later

Because I was behind on reviews I decided to not start a new book, so instead I read some comics. I’ll talk about all of them in my monthly wrap up, but for now I’ll only talk about Runaways, since I read the first three volumes. With the tv show coming up I figured it was time to give it a shot. While it’s a fun read, it hasn’t really blown me away yet. I am enjoying the girl power though.

I also finally read The Importance of Being Earnest, which is something I’ve wanted to read ever since I fell in love with Oscar Wilde a few years ago, and started Emma by Kaoru Mori. Two years ago I bought volume 1 and 2 in one, but never picked it up. It’s a cute manga, but I don’t know if I’ll continue it once I finish volume 2.

Time to test my memory

Oh yeah! I went to an art exhibition about gender and sexuality in Rotterdam, which I might cover in an Artsy Hufflehoe at some point. I say might because I might forget woops. It was really interesting though. Next week is the last week so if you live in The Netherlands and find exhibitions like that interesting, go check it out! It’s called Among other things I’ve taken up smoking and is at TENT.

Last week there was an event related to Keith Haring at the Stedelijk Museum, which included a panel with two people from the Keith Haring Foundation and a panel with some Dutch artists on whom Haring had a lot of influence and in some cases they had even met him/worked with him. It was really interesting, but what made it even better was seeing the velum in real life. Back in the 80’s Haring painted the velum specifically for the museum but it was gone for years. Now it’s been restored and it’s on display again above the stairs until June next year. If you’re in The Netherlands during that time I’d definitely recommend it because it’s really cool seeing it with your own eyes

I also finally cleaned my room – I’m not usually a messy person, but um… It had gotten really bad. By the time I was done it was so weird to see how much space I had lmao. I also re-arranged my shelves a bit and took out some books to give away. This took up a lot of my time, but at least it’s finally done.

Yesterday I went to the park hoping to take in the pretty Autumn colours and take some pictures… Only to discover that almost everything was still green #rip

ALSO DID ANYONE WATCH THIS WEEK’S BROOKLYN NINE NINE IT WAS SO GOOD

💛 I reviewed Ewan Pendle and the White Wraith which I’d recommend to every Harry Potter fan
💛 I finally wrote the first post in my London travel series (a year later lmao) 
💛 I also reviewed Masked, which I wouldn’t recommend to anyone. It could’ve been a fun superhero book, but there is a abusive relationship, a white superhero named Gypsy, slut-shaming and a bunch of other fun stuff
💛 And lastly I also reviewed Chasing Eviline, which is a really fun, cute, refresing contemporary that I’d recommend to everyone, contemporary fan or not

Hopefully I’ll be able to post part 2 of my London travel series sometime next week, and not spam you guys with so many reviews haha

💛 Giulia @ The High-Heeled Paper Girl wrote a powerful piece called ‘No, I don’t want you, stranger, to follow me down the streets’ 
💛 Lila @ Hardcover Haven talks about things she needs to see more of in books
💛 Vivian @ Writing With Style shares her NaNoWriMo project
💛 And so does Savannah @ The Book Prophet
💛 Holly @ Nut Free Nerd compares The Picture of Dorian Gray to The Goldfinch
💛 Lauren @ My Paper Infinity talks about her WIP and shares her character aesthetics
💛 Ellyn @ allonsythornraxx shares comic recommendations for young adult readers
💛 Bridget @ Bridget & Books talks about what makes her follow a blog
💛 Fadwa @ Word Wonders shares the dos and don’ts of approaching reviewers
💛 Multiple bloggers shared their beautiful book aesthetics: Brooke @ Brooke’s Books | Michelle @ Book Adventures | Laura @ Green Tea Paperbacks | Sarah @ Weaving Life | Laura @ Laura Noakes | Alicia @ The Grumpy Librarian
💛 Mikaela @ The Well-Thumbed Reader wonders if it’s okay to avoid talking about controversial topics
💛 May @ Forever and Everly came back to the blogging community! 
💛 A.J. @ Lacy Literacy discusses authors invading fan spaces
💛 The Orangutan Librarian wonders how realistic books should be

I’ve been able to read more posts these last two weeks, but I’m still having trouble keeping up, so sorry if I haven’t visited your blog in a while 💛

How was your week? Or past two weeks haha. Read anything good? Watched Brooklyn Nine Nine? Let me know in the comments!