Come on, let's get ready to ...

To watch some movies...

I'm quite the little film fan, and my taste is quite odd, uncommon... I mean my favourite movies are Amelie and The Beautiful Fantastic so you may already know how odd I can be!

Since 2018 has started, I went back in my little routine of watching films, Disneys, and even new shows.

I wanted to share the films that have marked me, the ones who touched me a little deeper than the other ones. Do not expect to see any recent except maybe a few from last year, but nothing from this year!

To start off the little list, I want to share the one which I personally adore...


Ondine!
You may have heard about the movie if you have read http://onemorecupidtothelist.blogspot.com/2018/02/lisa-hannigan.html
An Irish romantic drama based on a stranger rescued in a fishnet by an ex-alcoholic father/fisherman.
I won't get into details about this movie, but being Celt myself and part Irish, I felt like home, I felt like it was talking to me in many ways. This film mixed legends, reality and amazing thoughtful life lessons. Expect to cry, to be confused and touched! This isn't just your ordinary romantic film, it shows how someone can impact your life deeper than you may expect, shows how love can be powerful, and how your past can resurface at any time. Top of my five favourite! If you are into romantic drama (not too romantic as it is quite mythical), this is the right movie for you. Do not stop watching it even if you are not into it at first!


To the next stop...


Coco!
A cute Disney/Pixar movie based on the day of the dead in Mexico. A little boy who cannot play music because of some family issues. He wants to become a musician despite his family's wishes and ends up going in the world of the dead where many adventures and truths come to life.

This adorable family movie might be for children, but I couldn't miss the opportunity of seeing it. I'm a sucker for Disney! Whoever, my concern was the Mexican tradition that I was not into, not going to appreciate as it is not my own tradition, and despite my absurd concerns, the tradition they filmed was beyond any of my expectations. It was well up, well described and I couldn't hold tears even after watching it four times. A river came down my cheeks! If you haven't watched it, concerned because it's a children's movie, get over it, and watch it under warm blankets, tea, and chocolate! You will not regret any of it!


Let's continue with...

Shetland!

Not a film, but a TV series. Not your typical one as this one is based at the Shetland Isles. Also based on the famous books written by Ann Cleeves also the writer of the Vera Stanhope series which I started reading and watching as well. Clever, mysterious, and well the accent is beyond fun to hear! I love it, feels like "home" in a way even though I pick up the accent myself right after, not so funny anymore.  Murders, family secrets, great investigations, and twists, I mean, it's for everyone! You like some family drama, a twist of unexpected murder mysteries, and an amazing plot, you can't go wrong with this show. You will have to adjust to the accent though; like I said, there's quite an accent, not the typical one!


To the fourth stop... We've got...

When We First Met!
This romantic comedy had me and my housemate laugh our asses off. The actors are hilarious and the plot, despite being very cheesy in many ways has everyone hooked up. Summary wise, it's about a magical photo booth that sends Noah (funny romantic cheeseball of guy who has a massive crush on a girl he met at a party, back into time when he wished to. He has the opportunity to change whatever mistakes, whatever he wants. Will he persuade the girl of his dream to love him back? I'll let you discover what is in store for him. This movie is on Netflix if you really want to enjoy this comedy, I know I enjoyed every bit of it with my housemate. A nice movie to watch with another friend, cozy on the couch.

And to the next one...


Babylon Berlin!
Another TV show, also on Netflix, new one actually... I only started not too long ago, not interested in the subject at all, but I gave in... An inspector from Cologne transfers to Berlin to investigate a ring of pornography during 1929. But that also means the war is right there as well, and the Soviets are around... Not a disappointing show at all, and I would recommend it!

For the final one...

Leap Year!

Not a recent movie and I have talked about it before in a previous post. A young American is traveling to Ireland to see her charming boyfriend and surprise him on leap year, February 29th, to propose to him... Sounds like another cheesy movie, but since I've been homesick, the movie reminds me of everything I miss! You must see it if you want to have a night in, comfortable in bed after a warm bubble bath. Each time I watch it, I cry, I laugh, I get all emotional at the same time as before.  


Films have a way to escape you from reality, from issues by transporting you to a new adventure, to someone else's life. This new year will be full of new movies, and I'm excited to see the new comings. Despite the obvious fact that I do love my books, films are also another little guilty pleasure of mine... 
So instead of going out every night, just have a nice bath or shower, get cozy with a cup of hot cocoa, tea, blanket on you in bed, and voila, a nice evening in with a good movie...

"If I could wake up in a different place, at a different time, could I wake up as a different person?" -Fight Club.

~Bella

Top Summer Favourites...

Summer, summer, summer...

Best time to get a tan on, relax, and obviously read (if you are like me, you won't tan but read, yes you will)... 
I don't tan, but I read, a whole lot, and buying books, well that's my thing! So I've gathered a list of books that I enjoyed reading or I'm in the process of reading or buying depending on the novel. Note that all the writers I will be mentioning are writers I either appreciate or adore. 

I. Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella. 
British writer whose writing is easy to read and get into. This novel is about a young teenager who suffers from a certain type of anxiety which keeps her from doing what other kids her age do. 
If you have anxiety and want to read something easy and different, go for it! I encourage you to read it. Now, this writer would be more for teenagers, but I believe that books, stories, any of them are meant for everyone including adults. Somehow this book changed my view on social anxiety, made me understand how people suffer around you can suffer from your disorder. It's quite frankly an inspiring book. 

II. The Bookshop On The Corner by Jenny Colgan. 
Scottish writer who's passion shine through each book, story. It's about a young woman who loses her job and travels to Scotland expecting something and instead a whole new life awaits her. 
One novel I'll read again as it is quite inspiring for young writers as well as readers. Her style of reading is very British, very pleasant to read, and easy enough to jump into the story, become the character itself. 

III. Meet Me At The Cupcake Cafe by Jenny Colgan. 
Yes, another novel from her... This story is about a young woman who's talent are put to the test... 
I think what captivated me is how Jenny shows that life isn't always what we expect even if we are "good" at what we do. But there is a bright side to every downfall. Now, I'm still in the process of reading it and it seems like I cannot put the book down, not one bit. 

The last one is actually three books as it is a trilogy. I will put the British edition as well as the US edition. I always get the British one but oh well... The author being Santa Montefiore and one of my favourite author! She always managed to capture the right feeling, the right word to make you feel all types of emotions.   

IV. Song Of Love And War (UK edition) The Irish Girl (US edition) if you cannot find this one another title came for the US edition, The Girl In The Castle.  BOOK I
Daughters Of The Castle Deverill  ( UK edition) The Daughters Of Ireland (US edition which is coming out in mid-August in the US). BOOK II 
The Last Secret Of The Deverill (UK edition) The US edition hasn't come out yet but I'm sure you can find the novel anyways. BOOK III
I won't be explaining much about these books as I'm still in the process of buying them. I want the original version so it's taking a bit more time than expected. Each one of her books has been taking a part of me into another world, leaving the reality behind. 

It is quite the original list of books but these ones are the ones I've been into this summer. They are worth the time and money, haven't been disappointed in any of choice yet, and hopefully, you will found my list as captivating as I was. 

"I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book." - J.K. Rowling 

~Bella

Titles After Titles...

Novels, short stories, essays, jokes, little paragraphs.... Every reader will enjoy them... I know I love to read either it's a novel, a textbook, or a short story, an article, a magazine, I will read it if I'm interested.

Sadly, oddly enough, I ain't one to read many American writers. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of amazing writers, but I can't seem to enter their world. The writing is rather different from an Australian, British or German writer. Now, I'm still in love with novels, I can't stay away from them, no matter what will be in my way. But we also have an American writer who came to me via a friend of mine after they let me borrow a book.

Obviously, I can't buy every book I'd like to, I would need an entire room just to store them, show them off like a little library... But for now, I make lists, and buy a few! I wanted to share the latest 10 books with one review...

I. Me and You by Niccolò Ammaniti, an Italian author. "It's a beautiful book, a perfect tale. Painful and moving. Surprising, even for a writer of such a pure and inimitable talent, a sort of island without archipelago in the panorama of Italian fiction."- L'Unità (Italy). Ammaniti was born in Rome where he still lives. One of his novels was listed for The Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. 

II. The First Book of Calamity Leek by Paula Lichtarowicz. "A mash-up of Margaret Atwood and Roald Dahl" - Lady Magazine (UK). Lichtarowicz was born in Cheshire and studied English literature at Durham University. When she isn't writing, she makes television documentaries. 

III. 13 Minutes by Sarah Pinborough. "Mean Girls for the Instagram age." - The Times. Pinborough was born in the United Kingdom, she is an award-winning YA and adult thriller, fantasy and cross-genre novelist and screenwriter.

IV. The Girl With No Name by Diney Costeloe. " Gripping"- Somerset Life. She is the daughter of a London publisher and has been surrounded by books all her life. Her early published work included ten romantic novels, several short stories for magazines and radio. 

V. The Girl on the Cliff by Lucinda Riley, an Irish writer. "Full of family secrets, exotic flowers, tragedy, and redemption... A sweeping, poignant saga that will enthrall fans of  The House at Riverton, Rebecca and Downtown Abbey."- Shelf Awareness. 

VI. Dream a Little Dream by Giovanna Fletcher, an amazing British author. "A gorgeous, gloriously romantic read with buckets of charm." - Jill Mansell. An incredible woman who I come to inspire a lot through her writing, her vlogs, and her husband, Tom Fletcher. 

VII. The Little Red Chairs by Edna O'Brien. "One of Edna O'Brien's best and most ambitious novels yet. The Little Red Chairs is personal and political; charming and grotesque; a novel of manners and a novel of monsters."- Maureen Corrigan, National Public Radio. Edna was born and raised in the west of Ireland but has lived in London for many years. 

VIII. The Slaughter-House Five by Kurt Vonnegut. "Poignant and hilarious, threaded with compassion and, behind everything, the cataract of a thundering moral statement." - The Boston Globe. Vonnegut is a master of contemporary American literature. He has quite a dark humor and unbelievable imagination which makes me love his writing. 

IX. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. "A free-wheeling vehicle... An unforgettable ride!"- The New York Time. 

X. The Sirens of Titans by Kurt Vonnegut. " His best book... He dares not only to ask the ultimate question about the meaning of life but to answer it."-  Esquire.

I have to go through them all, but I'm still waiting for a few other novels that are suppose to be arriving soon enough... Can't wait to be able to read them!  
Books are a way of escaping life, real life, to go on adventures, make you travel to insane places while being in bed under warm covers and a cup of tea on your bedside. So when I receive a book, I just imagine myself going into another world, another place. 

"I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."- J.K.Rowling

PS: Sorry about last Friday's post, I couldn't get one online, I had to go to work and do other things right when I woke up. To be honest, I kind of forgot about it before leaving to work. 

~Bella

What are you? A Bookworm..

Welcome back to little me...

Last week was Thanksgiving, hopefully, everyone had a good time with their family.

As I've mentioned a week before, I needed a tiny break from posting, to gather some articles that may be enjoyable to read, and yesterday, out of the blue, before going to work, I had this idea!

If you do not know already I'm quite a bookworm. I love reading, I love escaping the real world to get into a completely imaginary one, not mine yet an amazing one! When I read, I tend to imagine some scenarios, the setting, the characters. Seeing them in my head makes me be a part of the story. 
I bought a few books, read all of their last paragraphs or sentences, and fell in love with the books... You would think nothing is wrong... But... Sadly, there is...

I cannot read any book! 

I've tried to get into books, I've tried, but I always end up putting each book down. This situation has been bugging me, giving me some issues for a couple of months now. My last book was a novel in French called "Le dernier voyage du Valentina" or "The Last Voyage of the Valentina" written by Santa Montefiore.
Amazing plot, wonderful character descriptions, extraordinary writing, and a full mind-blowing story! At least to me...

The setting is based in London, but later on in Italy where the protagonist has to learn about family secrets, mysteries involved in the whole plot. 

I'm not going to go into details, but I absolutely fell in love with the book, with the plots, with the characters! I couldn't get enough, read it in one setting, and when I finished the book, I didn't let go easily! Since then, I haven't read anything, no books, and it's not because of the lack of them, I've got plenty! No lack of books whatsoever, I just cannot get into one, and it's becoming a real issue! My hopeless romantic side always gets me, always make me feel like I've read an amazing unforgettable book, but this time, this novel hit me hard, very hard that it is always on my mind. I don't believe it's the story, it's more the characters that made me realize a lot about life, about human reactions and believes. Since then, I've got the issue of not getting into any books, even the ones I find interesting or the ones that intrigue me. 

Bookworms are people who are fans of reading, getting into someone's imagination, to learn about someone's point of view. They also have some issues, some problems that only book lovers can understand!
Here are some...

* When someone asks us what is our favorite book, we don't know... We've got plenty of them, don't ask, please. It's uncomfortable, I would know, I never really give an answer. 

*When books become movies and the plot changes from the novel. When they get everything wrong, it's just awful! Get it right!

*When you start liking someone and they tell you they don't like to read, don't like books. It makes you think about starting a relationship twice! 

* You forget to eat or drink, go to the bathroom or ignore everything and everyone around. If you are reading a novel in one setting, you forget your real life, you are involved in the book, you live in it, so the rest comes after. 

*That moment when you thought your favorite character will live forever and dies on you all the sudden and you pretend that they are still alive, but obviously it's not the same... Hate that moment, the box of tissue is needed! 

*Reading these bloody awful reviews on the novel you love gets you mad, your happy smile disappears! 

*When you finish the first book of a sequel but you have to wait another year to get it... It's frustrating. But it could be worse, some authors just stop the series and then it's just not frustrating anymore, it's murder! Finish the bloody series, don't let us hang! 

*When someone looks at you and says "You read too much." Well at least I'm getting smarter, I'm making my neurons work not like the others who don't even pick up a book! 

Anyways, hopefully, I will get into a book that I enjoy reading soon because I miss having my alone time with a good novel. 

"Books are a uniquely portable magic." -Stephen King

~Bella

Cheesy or just romantic...

Summer time has arrived and love as well, no, I'm not talking about me... I know that's sad, but hey let's be happy for others who are in love! 

For some odd reasons, summer shapes a lot of love stories... In some cases, not everyone gets that lucky! I would know something about summer love... It doesn't last that long, though, pretty disappointing! 




This past few weeks have been tough and the only thing I could think of is romance as in weddings and engagements. I usually don't watch or read cheesy romantic movies or books but it's always nice to have a list of good romantic ones...

So here is my list of movies to start off the post, the ones I watched a couple times and makes my heart go crazy!

- Leap year
A young woman decides to propose to her boyfriend on February 29th as an Irish tradition... Between the accents, the brutal truth and the honesty, you learn a lot more than you may expect!
- Love Actually
It's from 2003, but Santa Cleopatra, it's one of the best movies out there!
- Amelie
A young Parisian... Yeah, you have to watch it! I wrote a post about it, and you cannot get more romantic than this one.
- Ghost
Old movie, classic one, and such a romantic dramatic side to it! Perfect if you want to cry!
- 50 First Dates

How can you not watch Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler, together, making magic! It's a must watch!
-Music and Lyrics
Still with Drew Barrymore but this time with Hugh Grant! That British accent makes the movie 10 times better!
- When in Rome
An American movie with a good laugh to it!
- Made of Honor
Couldn't go wrong with an Irish wedding...
- Four Weddings and a Funeral
Back to the old times... Couldn't get better than this!
- Pride and Prejudice
Let's fall in love all over again!
Final one...
- Definitely, Maybe
Three relationships, three disasters, one last chance...

And here is the book lists, the ones I've read on multiple occasions:

-The Fault In Our Stars by John Green also a movie, a must read and watch! 
- Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell 
- The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks, his books usually ends up in movies, but I preferred the book for this one. 
-Emma by Jane Austen, I love this author and I love her style of writing, it's a twist of sweet and bitter times for Emma... A must read if you love Jane Austen! 
- Last Voyage of the Valentina by Santa Montefiore... I've read it twice and want to re-read it because I fell in love with the book. 
- The Italian Matchmaker by Santa Montefiore, I know another one of hers but she is a fantastic writer, what can I say?
- Bella Fortuna by Rosanna Chiofalo, amazing book with great details, it makes you fall in love with Venice...
- All the light we cannot see by Anthony Doerr, an amazing novel with a hint of love and wars between Germany and France during WWII... 
- The Forget-Me-Not Sonata by Santa Montefiore, yes, she is here again, but like I've said she has talent! I only read it in French but four times, and I always fall in love with the characters. 

I know it's just movies and books, that happy ending isn't always what we hope for, but love is strong. It's powerful enough to change the course of your life if you let it grow.

Hope you'll enjoy the little list of movies. I know it's not much, but I learned a few things from watching these movies...

"I love how she makes me feel. Like anything's possible, or like, I don't know. Like life is worth it."-500 days of summer

~Bella