I hope that you and your loved ones are okay, please take care of yourselves as much as you can. I’m sending you all a lot of love. ā¤ļø
For me, April was one of those months where you carry on, and there isn’t much to say about it, which is totally okay. It was a month of homeschooling my two youngest brothers due to the current situation and of carrying on with projects I’m currently working on. On a more positive note, April was also the month of the O.W.L.s readathon and I dedicated so much time to reading, often in the sun in the garden or way past midnight. I also figured out my working out routine, which I’m really happy about. Last but not least, our kitten Peter (who is not a kitten any longer, I guess) celebrated his first birthday. š»
In April, I participated in the O.W.L.s readathon and it motivated me so much to read! I passed all the O.W.L.s I needed within the first two weeks (I got carried away because of myĀ excitement) and it was so much fun, I can’t wait for August to pass my N.E.W.T.s and become a Spell Maker.
Here are the novels I read:
- Witches of Ash and RuinĀ by E. Latimer, 4/5 stars
- Red Sister by Mark Lawrence, 4/5 stars
- Tower of ThornsĀ by Juliet Marillier, 4.5/5 stars
- The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren, 3/5 stars
- House of NamesĀ by Colm Toibin, 2/5 stars
- Empire of SandĀ by Tasha Suri, 4/5 stars
- The HobbitĀ by J.R.R. Tolkien, 3.5/5 stars
- Den of Wolves by Juliet Marillier, 4/5 stars
- Furyborn by Claire Legrand, 3.5/5 stars
- Grey Sister by Mark Lawrence, 4/5 stars
- BoundĀ by Mark Lawrence, 3/5 stars
- Holy SisterĀ by Mark Lawrence, 3/5 stars
I mainly read adult fantasy during the month and managed to finish two book series: theĀ Blackthorn and GrimĀ trilogy by Juliet Marillier, as well asĀ The Book of the AncestorĀ by Mark Lawrence. I also finally readĀ The Hobbit, which I’m weirdly proud about, as I was intimidated by Tolkien’s fantasy works for the longest time. I’m quite looking forward to reading theĀ Lord of the Rings series at some point now!
I also read a few comics:
- Monstress, vol. 1: Awakening by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda, 3.5/5 stars
- DC Comics: Bombshells, vol. 5: The Death of Illusion by Marguerite Bennett, Laura Braga, Mirka Andolfo and Elsa Charretier, 4/5 stars
My favourite book of the month wasĀ Tower of ThornsĀ by Juliet Marillier, second book in herĀ Blackthorn and GrimĀ trilogy. It follows a healer who was wrongly imprisoned and has to make a deal with the Fair Folk to assist anyone who asks for her help for the next seven years. These books are set in medieval Ireland, are inspired by Irish folklore and feels like fairy tales, Tower of ThornsĀ having Beauty and the BeastĀ vibes, which I adored. I can’t recommend Juliet Marillier’s books enough. ā¤ļø
šµ MUSICAL // Watching The Phantom of the Opera
Over the past month, The Shows Must Go On! on YouTube has made available a performance of one Andrew Lloyd Weber’s musicals for free for 48 hours. I was over the moon the week they madeĀ The Phantom of the Opera available, as it’s one of my top 3 musicals ever and the only one of my favourite musicals I have yet to see live (at least the 2004 movie exists, so I watched that a few times).
It was such an amazing experience, I love Ramin Karimloo and Sierra Boggess as the Phantom and Chrisine, The Music of the NightĀ is still my absolute favourite musical number in it (thoughĀ The Point of No ReturnĀ isn’t far behind) and I’m back at listening to the musical all the time. I love this story so much and it makes me a little bit nostalgic of when I dressed up as the Phantom for Halloween two years ago. š»
šŗ TV SHOWS // Fleabag,Ā Crazy Ex-GirlfriendĀ and The Clone Wars
Because of lockdown, I feel like I’ve been watching TV shows more consistently than usual: there are so many of them I’m watching weekly, as new episodes are released, and I’ve been catching up on and finishing others! Among all of them, my favourites were Fleabag, Crazy Ex-GirlfriendĀ and The Clone Wars.
I binge-watched FleabagĀ in an afternoon and an evening, I couldn’t get enough of it! It’s a British TV comedy-drama television following Fleabag, a free-spirited and sexually active but angry and confused young woman in London. It has such a stellar cast, with Phoebe Waller-Bridge as the lead, but also Olivia ColmanĀ ANDĀ Andrew Scott in the second series. I wasn’t sure what to make of it at first, but I ended up loving it, found it really clever (the fourth wall!) and I still haven’t recovered from the second series. I finally get what all the fuss was about Andrew Scott in series two because d a m nĀ that chemistry (… and now I want to rewatch Sherlock). š³
I’ve been putting off watching the final season of Crazy Ex-GirlfriendĀ for a year, because I didn’t want to say goodbye to this show, but I finally watched it in April and I loved it! It was a satisfying ending, I loved the new songs and what it talked about. They even did a concert special as a bonus episode and it was a lot of fun! I’ve been listening to Hello, Nice To Meet You on replay for most of the month and while I’m sad I finished yet another show that means so much to me, I’m glad I finally did. ā¤ļø
I’ve also been watching the final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars weekly (I just watched episode 11 and had to relive Order 66… I’m sad) and I adore this show so much, it’s my favourite animated TV show. Set between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, it got cancelled before its final season, but they decided to finish it on Disney+ and I’m so glad they did.Ā This season keeps getting better and better and the last three episodes were EVERYTHING. There was a scene with a dark side user offering their hand to a light side user once again, I’m fine. Honestly, other than The Mandalorian, it’s the best Star WarsĀ we’ve had since The Last JediĀ in my opinion, and that’s the tea. ā

š® VIDEO GAME // Animal Crossing Pocket Camp
As Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out on Nintendo Switch recently, there’s been a lot of Animal CrossingĀ hype everywhere. I didn’t plan on getting the newest game, but I still wanted to play Animal Crossing, so I downloaded the Android version, Animal Crossing Pocket Camp and I’ve been having fun with it. In this one, you’re in charge of a camping, then later a house, and I love decorating everything. Thanks to all the seasonal events, both my campsite and house are all pink and it makes me so happy.
Just like for April, I don’t know what to expect for May considering the current situation, so I decided not to have any specific goals for now. Sometimes you have to accept that you can’t always get through huge to-do lists, so I’ll just try my best, and that’s okay.
The only thing I know for sure is that I’ll be participating in the new round of Tome Topple, which was created by Sam @ Thoughts on Tomes, from May 9th to May 22nd and I’m so excited to get through my tomes!
What about you, how was April? Have you discovered any new favourite books?