Normal People by Salley Rooney | Review

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Synopsis: Connell and Marianne grow up in the same small town in rural Ireland. The similarities end there; they are from very different worlds. When they both earn places at Trinity College in Dublin, a connection that has grown between them lasts long into the following years.

Goodreads Link

Despite the inescapable marketing of Rooney’s second novel, news of the TV adaptation flooding the internet, and bookstores peddling Normal People like there was no tomorrow, I somehow turned the first page with reasonably high expectations and yet absolutely no idea what I actually signed up for.

Normal People explores intimacy, depression, class divides, and the daunting march of time in a way that is now a distant memory. Reading a book so focused on how entwined it’s two central protagonists are, physically and emotionally, made me long for our pre-2020 world.

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The Reading Rush | Readathon Wrap-Up

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The Reading Rush ended nearly a week ago and I’m only just sharing my readathon wrap-up: we love procrastination. Looking back, I was pretty ambitious with my 1,900 page goal. And, despite only reading just over 300 pages in total, I have actually achieved my personal goal of getting back into reading.

For me, The Reading Rush presented the opportunity to spend a week prioritising reading, becoming part of the bookish community again, and discovering new non-fiction and fiction reads for the future. So, in that regard, I’m happy to have achieved what I set out to do.

It’s been a fun week of community challenges, discussions, and sharing recommendations. So here’s my delayed wrap-up for the 2020 Reading Rush.

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The Reading Rush | Mid-Week Catch Up

Devon Louise1 Comment

We’re four days into The Reading Rush and wow have I read more words in passed these four days than I have in the past year. As expected, I have already strayed from TBR in an attempt to finish books opened before this week, and delve into ones that were calling my name. However, those books do correspond with a challenge so I’m not doing too bad.

Here’s a little catch-up on where I am with my Reading Rush progress from Monday to Wednesday. And if you’re not following me on Instagram, I recommend doing so as I am sharing my progress and activities over on my stories. While I am sharing my rating and a few thoughts on each book here, I actually plan on publishing separate mini reviews in the coming weeks.

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The Reading Rush TBR

Devon Louise2 Comments

This Monday marks the beginning of The Reading Rush, a week full of challenges, community, and the opportunity to tick 7 books off your TBR Pile. This week-long readathon is open to everyone and will be the first readathon I have taken part in for about 3 years.

It’s been a while since I was a wee little book blogger caught up in the world of YA literature. But now, I’m older, have a degree in Literature and Creative Writing, and my tastes have definitely changed (well, a little). So, without further ado, here’s my TBR for The Reading Rush!

For this readathon there’s 7 prompts to help you decide what to read. And, with some of these, they can be interpreted in different ways so that you can tailor the experience to suit the books that are actually on your shelves and the location you’re in (this’ll make more sense down the line).

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Ranking My Animal Crossing Villagers

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This morning I watched a YouTube video by artist mxmtoon where she created a PowerPoint to rank her Animal Crossing: New Horizon villagers. And that got me thinking…should I do the same? The simple answer is of course yes. So, meet the villagers of Deliaton!

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A Little Life Update

Devon LouiseLeave a comment

I think it’s fair to say that things are a little wild right now. The UK is currently under lock down and I am self-isolating with my best friend in Lancaster. As someone with mental health issues, it’s no underestimate to say that this lock down is going to F me up.

My Current Situation

I’ve been placed on furlough at work which means I’m not allowed to do anything for my company. Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if I get laid off – it’s a small business and it’ll take a while for the workload to increase in a way that’d justify my return to work. That means I have nothing to do with my spare time.

I rely on work to get me out the house, motivate me to be productive, and give my life order. I realise how fortunate I am to be able to self-isolate at a time like this, but this doesn’t lessen the concern I have for my own mental health. Plus, I’m highly aware that everyone is sick of reading about different people’s isolation experiences which is why I’m not going into specifics about supermarkets and daily walks, etc.

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