June is done, and I forgot it was the long weekend and that we were going away. But, happy early Canada Day, friends!
Books Read
- Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi: 5 stars
- Ready Player One by Ernest Cline: 3.5 stars (??)
- The Raven Boys by Maggie Steifvater: 4.5 stars
- Glass Beads by Dawn Dumont: 4 stars (I actually haven’t finished it as I’m writing this but this is my guess)
Reviews posted
- Book review: Sawkill Girls: 3.5 stars
- Some mini reviews of books I loved: featuring Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys, The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, and Educated by Tara Westover
Recommendations given
Recommendations for… slower-paced books // Recommendations for… books if you liked the Handmaid’s Tale
Other bookish posts
Best debut novels // Revisiting my 5-star predictions // Books that take place over a long period of time
How to series
Haul
My best friend and I bought each other books (be on the watch for that post!), so I now have The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See, and I bought her Sadie by Courtney Summers!
TED Talks
This month, I watched a ton of TED Talks for work, and I wanted to share some of my favourites!
- How we turned the tide on domestic violence (Hint: the Polaroid helped) by Esta Soler: a really interesting look at domestic violence.
- Violence against women — it’s a men’s issue by Jackson Katz: another one on domestic violence and how it is actually #YesAllMen.
- Get comfortable with being uncomfortable by Luvvie Ajayi (aka my future wife): this is just one of the best ones I’ve watched. She’s so funny, yet so smart and succinct. Please, please, please watch it.
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“I went ziplining through the forests of Punta Cana. And for some odd reason, I had on business casual.”
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“In a world that wants us to whisper, I choose to yell”
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- Looks aren’t everything. Believe me, I’m a model by Cameron Russell: this talk is surprisingly intersectional and well-thought out. I thought Cameron Russell did such a great job talking about so many complex issues in a short period of time.
- Brené Brown’s TED Talks and Netflix special: Breneé Brown has changed my life, tbh. She has two TED Talks, one on vulnerability and one on shame, and a Netflix special. I highly recommend all of them. She’s a fantastic speaker.
- This is what happens when you reply to spam email by James Veitch: perhaps the funniest videos I’ve ever seen in my life. Veitch has two TED Talks talking about spam emails and one about unsubscribing from email lists, and I highly recommend them.
- How do you define yourself by Lizzie Velásquez: another one that I just really enjoy and highly recommend. You’ve probably heard of Velásquez (you might have seen that unfortunate “ugliest girl in the world” post ages ago, that’s her). But she’s a great speaker and I highly recommend this video.
Other news and highlights
- I went to this street market with my best friend at the beginning of the month, which was a lot of fun (and when we bought the books!)
- My other best friend was in town, and I hadn’t seen them for over a year, so it was so good to see them!!! We watched all of the Good Omens miniseries in two days.
- Speaking of, the Good Omens miniseries has been released and I’ve already watched it twice!!!!! It’s so good, please watch it.
- I went to Edmonton for work, which was my official first work trip, and it was great. I had a couple of 12+ days, but it was also a great week. I learned a ton, met a lot of amazing people, and got to observe in court (actually, anybody can observe in court in Canada because technically the court is public, it’s just that no one really does that). After observing so much in court, I can definitively say that life really is stranger than fiction, y’all.
- My friends hosted a birthday party for their dog, which is a little crazy but was also a great time.
- I also went out one night with some of my friends which was great! I got filled in on the tea and went dancing and had a grand ole time.
Here’s the birthday boy and his sister!
How was your June? Let me know!!
xx
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Ally Writes Things 
Oooh I love TED talks! I’ll have to watch some of these, they sound intriguing! And the dog birthday party looks super cute!
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oooh I hope you like them!! And they were so cute! 💖
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Your puppy is adorable! I think I missed your post about slow-paced books, definitely will check it out. Glad you liked The Raven Boys ❤
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Ahh thank you, they’re too cute! And yes, it was so good! 💖💖
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Ok first of all… a birthday party for a dog?! How bizarre and I LOVE IT! I would totally throw my cat a birthday party but there’s no way she would let me put a hat on her.
Second of all…. Good Omens – was awesome. I absolutely loved it and thought they did a brilliant and faithful version of the book. You could feel the love in every episode.
Fun fact: Heaven in Good Omens? Yeah, that was filmed on the business park where I worked. Had I known about it I would have turned up to work at the weekends.
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Right??? The whole time, I was telling my friends that it was ridiculous but also that I loved it.
Ahhhhh yes!!! I’m so glad you agree! It was amazing and such a true adaptation! OMG amazing! I definitely would’ve gone on weekends if I could’ve seen any of them lol
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Oh my God those puppies pics took me by surprise, I love them they’re adorable 😍
I hope your July is even better darling ✨💛
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Aren’t they adorable??
Thank you, Sofii! 💖💖
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Sounds like a great month! I enjoy watching TED talks, too. Have you seen James Veitch’s one about the ducks? (If not, you NEED TO. It’s so good.)
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It was!
And omg no, I haven’t, I will definitely have to look it up! He’s so funny. I showed my parents his spam emails ones, and they loved them just as much as I did.
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He’s great fun. I saw the duck one first (it was on Facebook) and that’s why Mr. Wyrm and I started looking for his other stuff and found the spam emails. So funny.
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