April Wrap-Up

I know, I only started my monthly wrap-ups in February and I already missed a month. Not that impressive, but I swear there were a bunch of good reasons for missing March - which I can finally talk about this month!

Things I loved this month:

• The best thing that happened this month is also the thing that stressed me out last month: I got into the college of my dreams. From September 2017 onwards, I'll be a MA Publishing and Writing student at Emerson College in Boston. Yes. Me. Boston. A program that is all about the publishing industry and will help me fulfil my dream of becoming an editor. While I am BEYOND EXCITED for this news now, the application process was incredibly stressful and nerve wrecking and took up all of my energy last month! But I visited Emerson last week, I fell in love with the place and I know that's where I'm supposed to be. Hence, a calmer and more enjoyable Emma.
• The last week my reading has been AMAZING! It's been great book after great book. While reviews for most of these will follow, a few stand outs are Wires and Nerves by Marissa Meyer, a great follow up to the Cinder series. I also read We Are Okay by Nina LaCour, which pulled at all my heartstrings. Lastly, I'm currently reading Percy Jackson's Greek God guide, which is a gorgeous book, while also incredibly funny too.
• This month I also got back feedback on my story from The Literary Consultancy. I send in my story and I got incredibly useful edits back to work with. Though it can be discouraging how far my story still has to go, it's amazing to see how far I've come already.

Things that weren't fun this month:

• My body really hasn't been my buddy this last month. The stress of college applications has made me drained and in le moment supreme, I got sick all over the plane while flying to Boston. I know, I'm an incredibly human being to be around.
• The groundwork of writing has been getting to me. Working on my story again has made me realise that I really need to do some basic writing exercises to get to know some of my characters better. And that's not my favourite thing to do - I want action and pace and added word count. But it's been a good practice in patience? I guess. 

Things I'm looking forward to:

• Hopefully in the next wrap-up, I'll be able to say that I finished my proofreading course at the Publishing Centre. I'm looking forward to devoting more time to the course and to see how I do on marked assignments.
• As always, books! I'm finally on a reading roll and I can't wait to explore more books. Now just praying to the book Gods that I won't hit a reading slump!  

February Wrap-Up

This year I've decided to change many things on my blog - including a new layout soon! - and besides my Tea and Booktalk section, I also wanted to do a wrap-up every month from now on.

I've really enjoyed reading these kind of posts from other bloggers, most specifically the wonderful Grace Latter, and decided to make my own version of this. Though it is still mostly book related, these wrap-ups will also include other things I've enjoyed and didn't enjoy every month!

Things I loved this month:

- Travelling: This month my boyfriend came to visit me and we travelled all over the Netherlands. While I was born in Holland, I never really explored it much so I really enjoyed having the chance to do that now. Also, I got to revisit my college town Middelburg, which leads me to my next point...

- Nostalgia: February was very nostalgic for me. I don't know if it is the crappy weather or the fact that I'm in this weird in-between phase of waiting for my thesis results and slowly planning out my future, but this month I thought a lot about the past and how far I've come. Going back to my college town and seeing how things hadn't change there just made me realise how much I have. Almost five years later, I have lived in London, wrote a novel and started this blog. College seems years away, but it was so much fun to reconnect with that part.

- Dutch bookstores: I don't give Belgium and Holland enough credit for their bookstores. While I haven't read a book in Dutch since I was little, I also forgot how nice their bookstores can be - and their impressive English selection. Perfect example of this is The Drvkkery, where I did a mini-bookhaul with two of my favourite book editions ever.

Things that weren't fun this month:

- My reading pace: I've been off. I read seven books in January and was so excited to discover many more in February. But it just didn't happen. As any reader knows, some days you just can't make yourself read. While I'm trying not to feel guilty about that, I hope that March will give me new motivation to read some books that I'm really excited about.

- No thesis result yet: Though the deadline to get my result back is March 8th, I was optimistic I might get it early! But I'm still waiting and obsessively refreshing my studenthome page!

Things I'm looking forward to:

- Reading: As I said, February wasn't a good reading month but March is already looking good. I started The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and am absolutely in love so far. I'm only a third of the way in, but this story is nothing like I thought it would be and I'm loving it. I'm also vowing to get a grip on my Netgalley list this month - whenever I know I'm caught up with reviews, I just feel amazing.

- Booktube: I have some great ideas for some videos. I can't wait to dissect The Picture of Dorian Gray in a Tea and Booktalk video (I have SO MANY THOUGHTS) and there have also been some amazing tags doing the rounds that I can't wait to try.

That was my month. How was your February and did anyone else have a reading slump? 

I hope you enjoyed this post and hopefully my March wrap-up will be filled with more book news and less reading slump news!