Hello fellow bookworms ⛱ Guess what? IT’S FINALLY SEPTEMBER which means that summer is over!!! I’m sorry for all the excitement, but I truly don’t like summer & the accompanying heat at all and since Autumn is my second favorite Season I’m all here for it! I’m just thinking about all the sweaters I’ll be able to wear, the pumpkin spice lattes to drink and the cool weather finally allowing me to take a hot bath again! … this also means that it’s time for HALLOWEEN soon. Basically I’m thriving.
What I read in August (NEWT Edition)
Like I hinted at in my last Wrapup I participated in the NEWT Readathon this August (see TBR here) and I have to say that I had a lot of fun. All the books that I read during this month contributed towards the Readathon, which is why this will be my official NEWT Readathon Wrapup! The Readathon was all about the NEWT exam in Harry Potter and included 36 prompts for 12 subjects that you could try to complete. Each subject had three prompts: Acceptable, Exceeding Expectations and Outstanding – the three grades you could reach. I managed to get four Outstandings in Transfiguration, Potions, Divination and Charms – the subjects I originally decided to focus on. In addition I got an A in Arithmancy. If you remember I also had plans to read one books for the Astronomy prompts … but somehow I wasn’t in the mood for any of the books towards the end of the month, so I decided to not read them after all.
Generally I feel like I’m becoming more of a mood reader (I might make a post on it sometime), even though I’m usually such a huge planner. If you look back at my TBR’s at the end of 2017 you will see that they are MASSIVE, but nowadays I really need a bit more of freedom. I frequently changed my NEWT TBR a bit, as I’ve found that I cannot read a book if I have actually 0 motivation to read it for any number of reasons. I still like planning out a small TBR, so I’m not completely a mood reader yet, but I definitely give myself a bit more freedom to change up my plans. They aren’t so set in stone anymore
✨ Charms ✨
1. Laybrinth Lost (Zoraida Cordova) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ✔ A : Read a book with magic in it
2. The Girl from Everywhere (Heidi Heilig) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✔ E: A book with a cover that charmed you (would buy without knowing more about it)
3. I Was Born for This (Alice Oseman) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐✔ O: A book that you think will leave a mark
🔮 Divination 🔮
4. Illuminae (Kaufman, Kristoff) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✔ A: Book set in the future
5. Tales of the Peculiar (Ransom Riggs) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✔ E: Book under 200 pages
6. Children of Blood and Bone (Tomi Adeyemi) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐✔ O: Read a mythology book
⚗️ Potions ⚗️
7. Obsidian (Jennifer L. Armentrout) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐✔ A: Has a name of a colour in the title
8. Hollow City (Ransom Riggs) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 ✔ E: Read a book with a male lead character
9. Library of Souls (Ransom Riggs)⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 ✔ O: Book over 350 pages long
🐱 Transfiguration 🐱
10. Miss Peregrine’s Home (Ransom Riggs)⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 ✔ A: Book with a grey cover
11. Mirage (Somaiya Daud) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ✔ E: Read a book from an author you haven’t read anything of before
12. Throne of Glass (Sarah J. Maas) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ✔ O: Read a book that’s set in a kingdom/ has royals
Arithmancy
13. When Dimple Met Rishi (Sandhya Menon) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ✔ A: Book with over 300 pages
Average rating ⭐️ 4.4 Stars
Favorite Books 💕
What I posted in August
In the Bookish Community
For this section of my wrapup I’m linking up with the Favorite Blog Posts of the Month Meme that has been created by Kristin @ kristinkravesbooks to showcase our favorite blogs of the month!
- Marta @ thecursedbooks talks about reading slumps and makes an incredibly helpful posts about everything you should know about Arcs!
- Marie @ drizzleandhurricanebooks never disappoints with her posts! This month she posted a lot of great ones including her travel diaries (Edinburgh Edition), Review of a Star-Touched Queen, a Trip down bookish memory lane, The Life Choices Write Tag and how to support international book bloggers!
- Swetlana @ thecaffeinatedbookwormlife has a ton of amazing posts to highlight, including her updated reading goals, why you should watch the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before movie, Tips for your movie night, summer themes for your bullet journals, The Listicle Tag, Bullet Journaling Mistakes and Why You’re not reading enough! (so basically every post in August 💕)
- May @ foreverandeverly did a really great discussion post on mood reading vs. TBR’s!
- Pauliina @ bookaholicdreamer participated in the Magical Allnighter, a 24 Hour Readathon and documents it in a really great way!
- Eliza @ duskangelreads creates a super cool new Readathon Calendar, which is a total lifesaver for Readathon Lovers like me!
- Aurora @ auroralibrialis suggests what might be in Lara Jean’s library and I totally agree with her choices!
- Acqua @ acquadimore makes a super detailed post about books with tropes she usually hates!
- Camilla @ thereaderintheattic talks about how she creates her characters, which was super interesting to read and also a great inspiration!
- Kat @ lifeandotherdisasters talks about her writing life (specifically switching between ideas) and creates an incredibly cool new Writing Tag! She also recommends some heartbreaking movies so watch and totally lays it with her Trailers you might have missed feature!
- Aimee @ aimeealways blesses us with a lot of great posts, including the To All the Boys I’ve loved Before movie, a list of great book blogging topics and her favorite books with Asian main characters!
- Michelle @ thewritinghufflepuff talks about her WIP as incorrect quotes and memes, which is incredibly entertaining and my new favorite thing!
- Haley @ fangirlfury shares some recipes inspired by To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, which is amazing!
- Ellyn @ allonsythornraxxbooks talks about her favorite underrated female heroes!
- Dani @ perspectivepofawriter discusses superpowers, which really intrigued me, because who wouldn’t want to have one?
- Laura @ bbliophile offers a great list with books with fat main characters you can read instead of watching Insatiable!
- Mel @ awordanawhisper discusses what makes a book a favorite!
- Beth @ readingeverynight shares her experience in Dubai with us, which makes me really want to travel again.
- Once again the lovely Evelinah @ avalinahsbooks boosts some new bookish blogs!
Other Life Stuff in August
I got totally obsessed with Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency❤ Like REALLY obsessed. I haven’t been this obsessed with a TV Show in a long time. I cannot say how grateful I am that Sandra (insert Twitter Link) asked if we wanted to watch the show together (I watched a pilot a while back, but never actually got around to watching the rest of the Show)! It took maybe 2 episodes and I was deep in my love for this Show. *clears throat# If you haven’t you should totally watch Dirk Gently (it’s on Netflix), it’s such an amazing show with a lovable cast of characters and such a unique storyline!!! I’ll make a post gushing about it sometime. I just love this show so damn much, especially my love Dirk Gently, who has quickly become my second favorite character of all time. His character means a lot to me and I’m high key crying because the Show got cancelled at the end of last year. Like … why did I have to get obsessed with a Show that OF COURSE got cancelled??? My heart is suffering. A lot of fans are still not giving up, but it has been such a long time, so who knows if we ever get new stories ☹ I’m just extremely sad that another amazing show is gone too soon and this one didn’t even get a 2 hour special or something like that, which Netflix sometimes does. I still have sliver of hope though.

I managed to work more on writing related matters 🎉I’m very proud about this, because I usually feel like I don’t do enough for writing, be it writing itself or researching about the craft. However, I recently had a burst of inspiration to at least do something writing related that helps me towards polishing my WIP. That’s why I began to compile a Masterlist of all my writing resources, to have an overview and slowly work my way through the massive list of free online articles about writing. The Internet can be a lovely place. If you want me to share the list, give a shout, okay? It’s 100% not professional looking, but maybe it could help other writers? I definitely do plan to make a writing related Post Series during NaNo in November!
I went to Paris for a few days!!! 😍 I hinted at this in the last Wrapup, but I was in Paris in the very beginning of August with my mom! We both had a really great time and it was a dream come true, as I had wanted to go to Paris for a long time. The first time I wanted to go with a friend didn’t work out as she didn’t have time, so years later I finally got my chance! Therefore, this meant a lot to me, especially as this year hasn’t been too good at times. Just seeing the Eiffel Tower and finally visiting it myself really unlocked something in me – it made me proud that I’ve held on, despite not so great things happened. Before this gets more emotional here are so pictures!
In a surprising turn of events, I was pretty productive 😱 I actually was inspired to get a bit more organized and try to achieve a lot of goals that I have been neglecting. Weirdly I got this inspiration while watching two Study tubers (which I never do, especially as I’m currently on vacation) and even though I’ll never be as dedicated as them, it really motivated me to tackle some of my personal goals and change things. For example, I decided that I wanted to take up learning French again (also related to visiting Paris), change my routine a bit (I’m VERY bad at getting up in the morning) and also generally take up learning things outside of university again. I do like learning, but oftentimes I only focus on learning what I absolutely need to for my exams and it makes me sad that I have gotten to a point where I don’t even think about just learning for myself anymore. This also made me so motivated to learn as much as I an about the writing craft, as it’s something I’m passionate about. I also want to get more into the parts of Psychology that I haven’t touched upon yet.
Looking Ahead: September
- American Panda (Gloria Chao)
- My Plain Jane (Hand, Ashton, Meadows)
- Dear Martin (Nic Stone)
I actually decided to get Scribd for the next 2 months, as I have been curious about it for a while now. Lia was kind enough to give me her reference link so I could get a 2 month free trial and she also answered my questions, so all my thanks goes out to her! I’m really excited to try out this subscription service, as it offers an unlimited amount of audiobooks and e-books. You can look through their website and I already found a ton of books that I potentially would able to read! Let’s see to which ones I actually get, but I’m definitely determined to make use of this trial. Hopefully this will also get me a bit into audiobooks. I have wanted to try them out more often, but sadly my resources to get them are very limited.
Above you can see my Top 3 priority books that I want to get to in September. Like I mentioned before I want to keep my TBR shorter and therefore more flexible (especially now with a lot of choices to pick from!). I’m intending to read a lot more books though and I have seriously made a spreadsheet with all the books on Scribd that I’m interested in reding so this might be my super TBR if we’re being honest. I’m just so excited about all these books, being able to sign up for Scribd is like Christmas tbh (heart eyes emoji)
Goals
- Survive my oral exam at the end of the month (I.hate.public.speaking)
- Actually start editing my book (as I didn’t do this in August)
- Try to get an internship for next year
- Maybe join another Readathon? Who knows?
- Brainstorm for my new WIP
- Learn even more about writing craft
What was your favorite book this month? Has anything exciting happened in your life? ⛱
First, thank you for including so many of my posts and second I LOVE DIRK GENTLY SO MUCH!!!!!!!! I am obsessed with the show as well, I loved it from the moment I first watched it and was forever bummed when it got cancelled. Like I really tweeted a lot for my standards to help save it, but it never happened. I just want some kind of conclusion to it all … However, did I ever tell you about that one time I was wearing my Rowdy Three shirt, walked on set of Dirk Gently and pretended it was all a big coincidence because everything is connected?
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OMG YES HELLO FELLOW DIRK GENTLY FRIEND! 💗 I just discovered it and I was SO sad when I found out that it was cancelled sooo soon, just whyyy?? There are still a lot of fans trying to save it, but it has been so long since the cancellation 😦
OMG Kat 😱😂 (I need all the merch btw)
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I am still so very upset about the cancellation too!!!! It deserved so much better *sobs* I am hoping someone somehow gets them a closure movie. Maybe a crowdfunded one? I’d be done with that.
I am going to tell you all about it on Twitter someday haha
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😭😭😭 I really hope that we might get at least any new content and as far as I know a fundraiser is planned, but we’ll see 😮
Yeeees 💗
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Thank you for sharing amazing posts every month!! I am going to check them all out. Your trip to Paris looks absolutely amazing!😍
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I’m always happy to do that, as there are so many amazing posts out there!! 🙂 It was such a great trip and I’m so sad it was over so soon 😭💗
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Good luck with your oral and with learning French Caro (my mother language) 😉 My best reads this month were Lifel1k3 and Bring Down the Stars!
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Thank you! I hope I end up reaching my goal of starting to learn it again 🙂 I’m glad to hear that!
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I am completely in awe of how many books you read this month Caro, and how amazingly kick-ass you were when it came to the NEWT readathon! 😀 I’m glad to see Illuminae made one of your favourite books of the month, that’s an all-time favourite of mine so I’m thrilled to see you loved it too.
Also your photos from Paris are amazing, it seems like you had brilliant weather while you were there as well which always makes holidays all the more better right?! I’m really glad you enjoyed it there.
Good luck with your TBR list and all your goals for next month, I hope you have a brilliant September! 😀 ❤
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Thank you so much, Beth! 💗 I was surprised by how much I loved Illuminae, makes me really want to read more sci-fi! I’m already unto the next book Gemina too 😍
Paris was such a great city to visit! It was a bit too hot for my liking, but the good thing is that we had a lot of sun and clear blue sky 😍
Thank you, I hope you have a great September as well! 💕
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That’s all right, and I get what you mean because while Illuminae wasn’t the first sci-fi book I read it was the one that got me into the genre. I hope you love Gemina too.
That’s all right, and thanks! 🙂 ❤️
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Thank you so much for sharing my post and I can’t wait to dive into the others!! Your Paris photos are so gorgeous!
One of my favorite books in August was The War Outside by Monica Hesse.
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Thank you, Paris is such a beautiful city 🙂
Oh this sounds like a very impactful book!
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I’m glad you were able to complete four NEWTs categories! I couldn’t participate because time, but I really liked the prompts. I’m sure that if I had participated, I wouldn’t have followed my TBR either (…I’m a mood reader too).
And thanks for sharing my post!
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Oh no 😮 Maybe next year though? I think the Readathon is supposed to become an annual thing, so there should be another round 🙂
You’re welcome 🙂
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Thank you for sharing the ReadAThon Guide! 😁😁
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You’re welcome 😄
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Looks like you had an awesome month! An average of 4.4 is really good! And those Paris pictures…*swoon* And fingers crossed for your oral exam!
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I had a really great reading month for sure 🙂 Paris is such a beautiful city and I hope to visit it again sometime! Thank you 🙂
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Thank you so much for mentioning my post, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
I had no idea Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency got cancelled??? I loved season 1 but never ended up continuing but now I’m kinda glad because I don’t want to deal with that pain rn.
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You’re welcome 🙂
Sadly it got cancelled about 8 months ago 😦 I would still recommend watching the second Season if you want to, but I feel the pain right now as I’ll watch the finale tonight 😭
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Thank you so, SO much for sharing so many of my posts, wow, I am honored and so happy, thank you, that means the world that you enjoyed them! 😀
It sounds like you had an amazing reading month?? Wow, that’s incredible and I am spotting so many great books. (alice oseman’s one….. I LOVE ITTTTTTTTTT haha). I can’t wait to read Labyrinth Lost, I’ve been curious about that one for a little while now, happy you enjoyed it 🙂
YAY for writing a bit! I’d be curious to read blog posts about writing and your resources and everything, I always love reading these kind of posts 🙂
I’m so happy you had fun in Paris and that you found motivation and productivity on your side this month, here’s to hoping it stays with you this September 😀
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I’m always happy to share all your posts 💕
I had a really great reading month indeed! 🎉 (YES I LOVED THE BOOK!!) I hope you enjoy Labyrinth Lost, it was such a fun entertaining read and I flew throught it 🙂
I will definitely share more writing posts in November for my NaNo theme 😀
Thank you, I hope you have a fantastic September as well! 💗
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Ahh I’m so happy to hear that, makes me impatient to read it 😀
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*RAISES HAND AND WAVES IT AROUND CRAZILY* ME ME I WOULD LIKE YOUR MASTERLIST OF WRITING RESOURCES. *coughs* Anywho, this is a great post. Really, I enjoyed reading it, and I just opened a million and two tabs so that I could read all of the blog posts you linked to. I love it when bloggers do that – it’s always fun to see what is happening out in the book blogging world. Again, thanks for such a wonderful wrap-up! GOOD LUCK ON YOUR ORAL EXAM (I hate public speaking too).
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I’m glad to hear someone is interested!! I’m planning on doing lots of writing related posts in November in honor of Camp NaNo, so I’ll include my writing resources list in one of the posts then 🙂
Ahh thank you so much for the kind words!! 💗 I’m happy to hear that you took time to check out the blog posts I highlighted!
THANK YOU (it’s the worst, but I’ll reward myself with a book afterwards :D)
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I’m super excited for the NaNoWriMo posts! I’ve always wanted to participate, but somehow I just never seem to have the time. Er…or should I say I just never make the time. Hahahahahsobs.
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I‘m happy to hear that 🙂 I can only recommend trying it out, I promise it’s a lot of fun 💕
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Thank you so much for sharing my post, you’re so sweet!! And you had an amazing reading month, congrats on your multiple Outstandings! So many awesome books! Ah I hate it when a TV show I’m obsessed with gets cancelled
I was contemplating about watching that one too but now I’m starting to waver. Love your Paris pictures!
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You’re welcome 🙂 I definitely enjoyed a lot of the books that I read, which is always great 😍 You should definitely still watch Dirk Gently’s, it’s a bit painful (knowing that I got cancelled), but totally worth it 💗 Thank you, I really want to visit the city again!
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OMG PARIS LOOKS AMAZING. I’m glad you and your mom had an amazing time. I’d love to visit one day. And a 4.4 average for reading? WHAAAAT. Anyway, I’m SO stoked that you loved Children of Blood and Bone–a work of art, that book. I also need to read I Was Born For This!! And thanks so much for sharing my posts, lovely. You’re the best!!! ♥
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IT’S BEAUTIFUL 😍 I hope you get to visit the city too someday! Idk how this always happens, but I’ve had the best reading year so far 😀 Children of Blood and Bone was such a great book that truly deserved all the hype it got 😍 I Was Born for This was amaaazing, so I hope you enjoy it too 🙂 You’re welcome 💕💗
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Yiiiiiiiiiiii Caro!! What a great month you had!! You are so killer with readathons… I’m not sure how you do it… for me they don’t work well?! Or maybe its just that I can’t fit what I do want to read in the prompts? Not sure. BUT thanks for much for sharing my post! I’m so glad you wanted a power too! ❤️ And your Paris trip! I know you live closer to me but still a big deal!! I LOVE Paris and have been twice in my life… I don’t think it ever gets old or I can see the Notre Dame too many times… 😀
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It was definitely a good month 😀 Thank you 💗 Readathons are definitely not for everyone, but maybe Readathons with not a lot of prompts would work better for you? You’re welcome 🙂 Paris is AMAZING and I would love to visit many times in the future 😍
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Wow, you got so much done in August! It sounds like it’s been a great month for you☺️ I’ve been wondering for a long time if I should start Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency and I might do it now!
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Thank you, August was definitely a relatively good month 🙂 Please give it a chance, the show is soo good 😍😍😍
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I absolutely love autumn too 🙂 favorite season ever. And yes, I just wrote a post with that GIF. That is my favorite GIF. The autumn cat. BEST GIF EVER. I don’t like hot baths, but I like nearly everything else about autumn! And I am SO going to blog about it.
Thanks for sharing my post 🙂
Dirk Gently has been recommended to me over and over again, but I still haven’t started watching (or reading? I think there’s a series too?)
You went to Paris! And I went to London 😀 hey, I hope you bought books? Although I guess most of them would have been in French, nevermind xD (I know I’d still find some to buy, probably xD xD I am like that. LOL)
I am also very bad at morning stuff. It’s just… not worth it xD
Ooh, you’ve got Dear Martin! Really curious about your thoughts. I don’t have it, but I would like to read it one day.
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YES, I love autumn and I’m so glad that we are finally here, so I’ll make lots of fall themed blog content in the future 😍🍂 I LOVE this gif, it’s perfect and I adore cats, so that makes it even better 😀
I can highly recommend Dirk Gently’s 💕 It has two seasons, but there are three books that it’s based on as far as I know, I’ve only watched the Series though 🙂 London is amazing, I wish I could go again soon! I did buy a book as I went to Shakespeare & Co, they are an English bookstore in Paris, so they gladly have English Books 😀 My French is a bit rusty 😅
I’m going to listen to the audiobook soon (as I didn’t get to it in September) and I hope I end up liking it 🙂
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omg that cat gif I LOVE IT. Also I feel you I’m so glad Autumn finally started. Usually it doesn’t get that hot here, and when it does it’s only a few days here and there, but this year? It was too much. I’m so happy to just wear onesies, lie under a blanket with a hot cup of tea or hot chocolate in my hand, and just get cozy.
You’ve read so many books! Children of Blood and Bone and Labyrinth Lost are on my shelves, but I haven’t gotten to them yet. I want to be sure I’m in the right mood for them so that I can fully enjoy them, because I’m so excited for them haha
Dirk Gently has been on my to watch list for a long time, but I’m very much a mood watcher so I haven’t gotten around to it yet. That gif definitely put me in the mood for it though, so who knows, maybe I’ll watch it tonight 😛
Your trip to Paris sounds amazing and yay for being productive!
Also thank you so much for the shoutout ❤️
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It’s my absolute favorite Gif!! 😍 Same here, this summer was brutal and often got too hot for too long, we literally had a month full of heat and usually it doesn’t get that bad here either 😅 I’ll also gladly cozy up under a blanket with my tea, finally!
I really enjoyed both of them and I hope you will too! 🙂
I’m also a big mood watcher so I feel you. If you end up watching it feel free to scream at me on Twitter or here, I would love to hear all about your reactions! 💕
You’re welcome 💗
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My NEWT readathon was a fail but I’m hoping to try again in November! I’m so glad it went well for you though! Looking at your pictures of Paris reminds me of when I went and I would love to go again! I’m glad you felt productive in August and I hope everything is well now!
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That’s a great idea, maybe the second time is the charm 😄 Thank you!! Paris was so beautiful 😍
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