Tag: bookstagram

Waiting for my Heathcliffe

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Hello!

I hope you’re all having a lovely day!

I have had the best day today😁 I travelled along to Haworth in West Yorkshire to visit the Brontë Parsonage to have a wander and a gander.

It’s so beautiful😍❤

I am a Jane Austen girl at heart, but the depth of characters and raw emotion you feel when reading Brontë novels is inspiring. It’s no wonder that Austen and the Brontë sisters are constantly compared – on the surface they’re similar, women writers talking about love and romance – but once you get into the stories they differ wildly.

It’s no secret that that Brontë sisters, especially Charlotte, disliked Austen and her literature. They felt she didn’t write about real women, real passion, or anything of real, solid substance. I disagree, but when you read them side by side it’s not hard to see the differences. The Brontë sisters romantic plots are darker and their men wilder – Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre are perfect examples, while Austen focuses more on satire, social realism and class through romance. Could you imagine Mr Darcy roaming Derbyshire stricken with grief like Heathcliffe does on the Yorkshire moors?

Jane Eyre takes a lot from Charlotte Brontë’s own life – the death of her sisters, her schooling and her anguish at these. They say write what you know, and Charlotte certainly does this. The theme of wanting to belong runs throughout the novel and we see Jane try and find her place and her worth from the classes of Lowood to the halls of Thornfield. She must find herself without jeopardising who she is and what she stands for. Rochester is not her happy ending nor the man who saves her. He is the man she chooses, and who is her equal.

I hate that people say you’re either a Brontë fan or an Austen fan, they offer very different things through their literature. So just because you favour one over the other doesn’t mean you can’t still love and enjoy the other. I know I’m still waiting on my version of Heathcliffe/Darcy😊

xo

I have no idea what I’m doing.

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Hey guys😊

Hope you’re all having a glorious Saturday.

Combined with the below image, the quote “not all those who wander are lost,” has been playing on my mind a lot recently. A cliche quote it’s become I know, but that is what makes a cliche – relevancy to many and overuse.

Manchester wall art

I took this image over a year ago, whilst wandering the streets of Manchester, and the simple message has really hit home recently. I have no clue what I’m doing in life😅, but does anyone? We all give the impression of having our lives together and maintaining control, but how much control do we actually have over the events in out lives? To a degree yes of course we do, but there is so much uncertainty and things out of our control that can influence the decisions we undertake. Saying “I have no idea what I’m doing” isn’t a bad thing, though the connotations people take from it are negative. It is okay to take a step back from, whatever and where ever you find yourself in life, and to just take a moment to breathe.

As Tolkein says, just because I’m wandering without a clear purpose with what I want from life right now does not mean that I am lost. If there is one thing I’ve realised, it’s that it’s okay to not know what you’re doing or where your life is taking you right now. Not every single aspect of life has to be though out or planned. Where would be the fun in that?

Literature has become a massive source of comfort and escapism for me over these past couple of weeks, really helping to ground and re-focus on what I know I want to achieve in the future and how I can attain it. So yes, I don’t know what I’m doing right now, or even how I’m going to get to where I want to be, but focussing on myself and taking the time to figure out is going to worth it in the long run.

Enjoy the unknown. It might take you somewhere you never would have gone.

xo

Paris = amazing pastries + books!

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Hello 😊

I recently had a lovely mini break in Paris which was amazing – full of gorgeous architecture, yummy pastries and patisseries and divine food.

But one of the most exciting parts of the trip for me was going to Shakespeare and Company. Urgh. It was so beautiful and stacked floor to ceiling with books😍

Shakespeare and Company bookshop – Paris (taken from Google images)

Anyone who loves books, will love this bookshop! It has such a rich and diverse history having had some of the greatest literary minds wander the shelves, from James Joyce to Ernest Hemmingway to Ezra Pound, becoming a cultural hubbub of inspiration and passion. Fun fact! The shop actually houses aspiring writers and artists in exchange for helping out around the store, and the shop’s motto is actually “be not inhospitable to strangers lest they be Angels in disguise.”

I made sure to treat myself to a book (obv) which you can get stamped whilst you’re there, and a lovely tote bag. Who doesn’t love a good tote? I aptly picked Murder on the Eiffel Tower by Claude Izner purely because I was in Paris and thought why not pick a book based here? Also, I don’t read enough murder mysteries and thought it’d be a nice switch up from my usual reads.

Murder mysteries are always so conflicting for me as a reader. I’ve never been completely shocked or thrown off the scent – I’ve read some really bad mystery books (both in terms of plot and writing style) which could be why that genre is not my go to. Does anyone have any good recommendations?

If you’re thinking of paying a trip while you’re there, be prepared for a wait. It can get very busy and they only allow a certain number of people in at a time. But once you’re in you’re in to spend as long as you like perusing the shelve and all the hidden nooks and crannies. There’s an upstairs as well so make sure you don’t miss that! Its right in front of the Notre Dame so you’ll be able to admire the beauty of the cathedral. Also, its not too far of a walk from the Jardine de Luxemburg if you fancy a stroll around the gardens.

I’d highly recommend Paris and I can’t wait to head back some day.

xo

Tbr: January

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Hello 😊

So many books, so little time!

I’ve splurged on quite a few books over the past few months but haven’t read any of them (yet!) So I should probably get a move on, read them, and then buy more 😁

So here’s my tbr for the month, hopefully I get through them all! (I’ve linked them all if anyone would like to buy 😊)

  1. Swing Time – Zadie Smith
  2. A Court of Mist and Fury – Sarah J. Maas
  3. Outlander – Diana Gabaldon
  4. Remains of the Day – Kazuo Ishiguro
  5. So Happy it Hurts – Anneliese Macintosh

I’m currently reading 3 of these at the same time because I just couldn’t pick one to start and I’m already halfway through How to be Happy so we’ll see how it ends. At the moment the story itself isn’t really gripping or keeping me interested (I started it in November…) But it is a light read, so I’m easing myself into the year with a nice and gentle story😊

I also want to re-read a few if I get the chance.

(I may have put in another book order after writing this…)

xo

Introduction to me?

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Hello everyone! Hope you’re all well😊

I was recently told by a friend of mine that my blogs aren’t personable enough. So while I develop my writing style, I thought why not do a #meetthebookstgrammer blog with some added q’s ( I probably should’ve started with this one tbh).

So here goes!

  • Where are you from?

Manchester, England.

  • When did you start blogging?

March 2017.

  • Would you rather be an author or publisher?

Publisher. But I’d love to have the confidence to dabble in serious writing.

  • Do you prefer standalone books or series?

Series usually, but there are great standalones that I adore. Can I say both???

  • Authors who inspire you?

Urgh. So many. But J.K Rowling and Jane Austen always aaaand Toni Morrison and Khaled Hosseni.

  • Where in the world do you want to travel to the most?

New York. But I want to see the World tbh, just need the time and the money.

  • Favourite book to film adaptation?

Not a film, but Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. The show sticks closely to the novels and the writing/plots that makes them great, but they also change things up still keeping in line with the characters and stories. I just feel like books to film adaptations are pretty much always a let down because there’s so much to cram into a short space of time.

**EDIT**

Gone Girl! Man that was a great book to film adaptation. They did slightly downplay the psychotic nature of the main female protagonist I felt, but kudos on capturing the destructive nature of the book on screen.

  • Least favourite book to movie adaptation?

Ooh there’s a few🙃. Eragon. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. The Hobbit. The Golden Compass (Northern Lights). I could name so many more.

As much as I adore the books, the HP films were a little let down compared to the amazing writing of Rowling. Although I have to say Prisoner of Azkaban (for me) is the best HP book to film adaptation. It stuck to the magic of Rowling’s writing and really brought to life the story. Alfonso why you no do all 8🙁

Having said that about the series as a whole, they can stand alone from the books which I do think is a great thing. They allow more people to come into the Potterverse even if they’re not the biggest readers.

  • Cats or dogs?

Cats, but I do love dogs too.

  • If you were stuck on a desert island, which 3 books would you take with you?

Urm…err…hmm…well maybe…ahh…the…gah…help!

  • Favourite quote?

Most of you probably have the same problem as I do, in that I can’t pick just one! But one that’s stuck with me over the years is:

“Though she be but little, she is fierce” – A Midsummer Night’s Dream, William Shakespeare.

Good ol’ Wills!

So that’s me pretty much! I’d love to see your answers to these questions or just the general #meetthebookstagrammer q’s😊

xo