[Cilla's 2016 Highlight Reels] Firsts and Achievements

08:00 Cilla 8 Comments



I've always loved reading end-of-year best-of lists. Now that I have my own blog, I thought I'd write a couple of my own! Every day from 28 to 31 December, I'll be sharing some of the highlights of my 2016 in music, movies, television shows, books (of course), and life.

In case you missed them:
↠ My favourite television shows of 2016
↠ My favourite music and movies of 2016
↠ My favourite books of 2016

It's the general consensus that 2016 has been a terrible year, globally speaking. Personally, it has been challenging and busy, but on the whole, pretty all right! For the last day of year, I thought it's best to end on a high note and look back on the good things that have happened.

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[Cilla's 2016 Highlight Reels] Books

08:00 Cilla 16 Comments


I've always loved reading end-of-year best-of lists. Now that I have my own blog, I thought I'd write a couple of my own! Every day from 28 to 31 December, I'll be sharing some of the highlights of my 2016 in music, movies, television shows, books (of course), and life.

This post is the obvious list: best books I've read this year! Blogging has introduced me to some books that I wouldn't have otherwise heard of, and some of those books have been amazing. Here are 7 of them, in no particular order, with snippets of my reviews for each of them:


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[Cilla's 2016 Highlight Reels] Music and Movies

08:00 Cilla 4 Comments



I've always loved reading end-of-year best-of lists. Now that I have my own blog, I thought I'd write a couple of my own! Every day from 28 to 31 December, I'll be sharing some of the highlights of my 2016 in music, movies, television shows, books (of course), and life.

For this post, I'm going to highlight my favourite tunes and movies of the last year. Writing this up makes me realise I've gone to the movies a grand total of 1 time this year though. So if you have any recommendations on which ones to catch up on, hit me up in the comments!

4 comments:

Thanks for reading! It makes my day to hear your thoughts and I will respond asap. :)

[Cilla's 2016 Highlight Reels] Television Shows

08:00 Cilla 4 Comments



I've always loved reading end-of-year best-of lists. Now that I have my own blog, I thought I'd write a couple of my own! Starting with this post, I'll be sharing some of the highlights of my 2016 in music, television shows, books (of course), and life.

As the title suggests, today it's all about my favourite music and television shows from the last year. 😁 These are the shows I've binged, newly discovered or re-discovered, and generally fallen in love with. If you haven't had to listen to me squeal about them, you're about to now.


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The Chanukah Book Tag

16:14 Cilla 4 Comments



Happy holidays!! I hope you had/are having a great holiday period, whether or not you celebrated Christmas. 😄 The lovely Clara @ Lost in My Library created this book tag to celebrate a holiday (other than Christmas) that takes place around this time of year. I don't know much about this holiday at all, unfortunately, but I've been reading up on it while working on this tag, so thanks for the learning opportunity, Clara!


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The Upside of a Failure: Things I Learned From Failing NaNoWriMo

08:00 Cilla 10 Comments



Last month, I made a decision on a whim to do NaNoWriMo. At the beginning, I wrote up an introduction to my WIP, and was pumped to work on my writing. I was on fire for about the first week, then... I stopped. Still, even though I flinch a little as I look back on the 10,000 words I've written in November, I feel that I've learned some things from the experience.

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[Book Talk] Sometimes I Watch the Movie Without Reading the Book

05:00 Cilla 6 Comments



I don't know if it's the hipster part of me or the bookworm part, but there's a certain satisfaction that comes with being able to tell people that I've read the book that's being made into a movie/television show. Maybe it's because I tend to think that adaptations are somehow of lesser quality than the original material. Which reader hasn't come away from watching an adaptation of their beloved book thinking "the book is SO much better"?

That sentiment isn't always true, of course. I personally enjoyed The Hunger Games movies more than I did the books. I tried to read Wicked with no success, but was utterly in love with the play. Then there are occasions where I'd rather watch the adaptations before I read the book, or even instead of reading the book. Don't be horrified! I have some good reasons for this choice.

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[Cake Break] It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

05:00 Cilla 8 Comments
I love Jamie at Perpetual Page-Turner's feature here, where she talks to her readers as if they are meeting up for coffee. I adore getting to know a little more about her this way, so I'd like to follow her lead and maybe make some connections myself! I'm adapting it slightly because I go for sweets over coffee. So, have a cake break and chat with me?

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[Review] A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

05:00 Cilla 6 Comments



"Grace Mae is already familiar with madness when family secrets and the bulge in her belly send her to an insane asylum—but it is in the darkness that she finds a new lease on life. 

When a visiting doctor interested in criminal psychology recognizes Grace’s brilliant mind beneath her rage, he recruits her as his assistant. Continuing to operate under the cloak of madness at crime scenes allows her to gather clues from bystanders who believe her less than human. Now comfortable in an ethical asylum, Grace finds friends—and hope. But gruesome nights bring Grace and the doctor into the circle of a killer who will bring her shaky sanity and the demons in her past dangerously close to the surface. 


Title: A Madness So Discreet
Author: Mindy McGinnis
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Source: Library
Release Date: 06 September 2016

Review


Without a doubt, A Madness So Discreet is my most anticipated book of 2016. It took me ages to actually get my hands on it and, thankfully, it didn't disappoint. It's set in Victorian-era mental asylums, which were all well-researched. It talks about how society defines and treats madness. It has a murder mystery that comes with a dark twist. Its characters are complicated and prickly at times, but thoroughly human in their flaws and decisions. In short, it has everything I'm fascinated by, and Mindy Mcginnis delivers them all wonderfully. 


6 comments:

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[Blog Tour & Giveaway] The French Impressionist by Rebecca Bischoff

13:00 Cilla 2 Comments
"Rosemary is fifteen and gloriously free, on her own for the very first time. Part of an exchange program for aspiring artists, she arrives in sunny southern France with a single goal: she doesn’t plan to leave, ever.  She wants a new life, a new family, and a new identity. But her situation, crafted from lies big and small, is precarious.

Desperate to escape haunting images from her past and a stage one helicopter parent, Rosemary struggles to hide her lack of artistic talent and a communication disorder that has tormented her all her life. She believes her dream of a new start will come true, until she unwittingly finds herself enveloped in a decades-old mystery that threatens to ruin her only chance for success.  Determined to stay, Rosemary must choose whether or not she’ll tell the biggest lie of all, even if it means destroying the life of someone she cares about.

Dramatic, heartwarming, and full of teenage angst, The French Impressionist perfectly captures the struggle of those who feel they have no voice, and also shows the courage it takes to speak up and show the world who we really are."


Title: The French Impressionist
Author: Rebecca Bischoff
Publication date: 6th December 2016
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult

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November Wrap-Up Giveaway

05:00 Cilla 0 Comments


This month, I'm hosting the giveaway for Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction's wrap-up round-up! If you haven't participated before, this giveaway is a scavenger hunt, where you have to visit the wrap-ups and answer some questions based on those posts. You can also enter by leaving comments on the posts.

This giveaway is open internationally as long as The Book Depository ships to you. Winner can pick any book up to $15 from TBD.

The Link-Up

Check out the November wrap-up posts below!


Giveaway


To enter, simply follow the directions in the Rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Aussie YA Bloggers Secret Santa Blog Hop 2016

04:06 Cilla 12 Comments


 This year, I'm taking part in the Aussie YA Bloggers' Secret Santa! It's my first time participating, so I'm excited to join on all the fun. 😁 This post is part of the blog hop. 

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19 Thoughts Had While Reading Emma by Jane Austen

05:00 Cilla 6 Comments



You guys, I finished reading a Jane Austen book! 🎉🎉

Why is this such an achievement, you ask? Well, though I've watched Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and a number of their reincarnations on screen, my previous experience with them in print was one of confusion and a lot of effort. At fifteen, the language barrier seemed insurmountable. Now, ten years later, not only did I finish Emma, I understood it. It was still not effortless reading for me, but some parts made me laugh, others made me cringe, and I got it.

Anyway, the point of that intro is this: because I understand the book, I can actually share my thoughts on it with you! This is more a list of random comments than a proper review, but hopefully they're still coherent. 😄 Possible spoilers ahead!


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[Rewind] November 2016

05:00 Cilla 15 Comments



We're almost at the end of the year, guys! I'm excited for Christmas, if nothing else, for the music and the atmosphere. I considered putting my Christmas playlist on to write this post, but it still feels too early. Anyway, this is about the past month.

15 comments:

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