I was going to start this post off by saying “I’m back!” , but let’s be honest it’ll probably be another two years before I write the next post, so I shall refrain from any such comment.
I’ve recently been loving monthly favourites. I haven’t watched/read videos/posts regarding monthly favourites recently, but it’s the concept that I’m loving. I shan’t bumble on any longer, let’s get straight into it…
Banking A Very Short Introduction
Now, this is a bit of an odd one. This book is a part of the “Very Short Introductions” collection published by Oxford University Press and I have been loving it! As the title otherwise states, it’s a little book giving a brief introduction to the banking system. Even though it is brief introduction I personally think it goes into so much detail, but then again all I know about the banking system is what this book has taught me and nothing more, the whole system is probably a universe. I have always had questions about the banking system and this book has answered a lot of those questions in quite a simplified manner.
I literally spent a whole day trying to figure out what a derivative is, I used Google and other textbooks to try and understand what a derivative was and it just was not clicking. Every time I go into a bookshop I walk past these “Very Short Introduction” books and I always meant to buy a few but I always pondered whether it would be a waste of money, “like really, how much can you learn from that tiny book?”, but I’m so glad I decided to get this because it’s such an easy read and so informative for the uninformed! Seriously, if you’re like me and you want to go to dinner parties and seem remotely smart and well read, this is a good shout!
A few titles I’ve got my eyes on: American Immigration, American Legal History, American Political History, American Political Parties and Elections, American Politics (If you can’t tell, I’d quite like to learn about the way of the Amercians), The Brain, British Politics, Cancer, Christian Ethics, Dreaming, Early Music, Ethics, The Founding Fathers, Freud, Globalization, Hinduism, Hormones, Human Rights, Iran, Islam, Islamic History, Machiavelli, Racism, Socialism, The Soviet Union, Utopianism, The World Trade Organisation and World War II.
To Siri, With Love
Admittedly I read this in January, but I loved it so much and two months after reading this book, I still think about it. This is a book written by Judith Newman where she gives an insight into her life with an autistic son. I say “her life” rather than all life because if there’s anything this book has taught me it is that although there may be similarities, every autistic child/ person is different, and so her life as a mother of an autistic child can be and probably is very different to another mother of an autistic child. I know there has been some controversy regarding the book, or rather the author, but I still think this is a brilliant book for someone who has no idea of anything regarding autism.
What I love about the book is that Newman does not hold back when terms of discussing her thoughts and feelings. For someone who isn’t a mother, nor a mother of an autistic child, I did at times find her thoughts and feelings a bit extreme, and I wondered why she would write about them if she knew she could be judged for them and there would be some level of backlash. But then I thought of all the other mothers of autistic children and how they probably feel the same way but refuse to admit it or say it out loud because of how other people would react. Maybe this book wasn’t written to provide an insight but to almost comfort other mothers and let them know they aren’t the only ones thinking the thoughts they do.
I don’t know, maybe I’m just thinking too deeply about it, maybe it was just meant to be a little book about all the funny things her son does.
Happy Mum Happy Baby (The Podcast)
Seriously though, I’m 21 years old, with no intention of having children anytime soon, why on earth am I reading a book and listening to a podcast about motherhood! Well, I guess it’s probably an unknown area for me so I’d love to know the secrets behind it. When I saw the book Happy Mum Happy Baby by Giovanna Fletcher in a bookshop I considered buying it, purely because it was by Giovanna Fletcher but then I was like, why would I need/want to read about motherhood. Firstly, this is obviously written for mothers, I don’t need to read it, and secondly, I don’t want to be put off ever having children, so I don’t want to read it. I assumed this to be the same case for the podcast. Boy, was I wrong!
Now, I follow Giovanna on Instagram and she had put up a clip of her podcast featuring Davina McCall where Davina made a really good point about how if a mother had difficulties during childbirth she shouldn’t discuss it with someone who’s expecting their first as it can be off-putting, the mother-to-be does not need to be any more worried about the childbirth than she already is. After hearing that clip I was really intrigued to hear what else she had to say and I saw that Giovanna’s first podcast was featuring Emma Willis so I thought I’d listen to that one first. By the end of the day, I had probably listened to 5 episodes of the first series and had finished the first series in two days.
My original thoughts on the book and the podcast no longer exist and I’ll tell you for why (name that song). I don’t know who the podcast was produced for, maybe the intend audience was mothers, but I honestly think it’s important for any mothers-to-be or anyone who would like to be a mother in the future to listen to this podcast. It is such an eye-opener. Whenever I saw a film/TV show and there was a scene where the woman is in labour I always wondered “is that it?”, “like the child comes out and that’s all?”. That’s probably why I love this podcast, It’s almost an honest and open conversation about not only childbirth but also motherhood.
One of my favourite things about this podcast is the fact that it just proves that every maternity, labour and post-natal (is that a word/phrase?) period is different but they all/most have some element of difficulty.
Honestly, it’s far from off-putting but actually really eye-opening!
Serial, Season 1
I have wanted to listen to the podcast for at least a year and I finally found the time to this month. The podcast follows, journalist, Sarah Koenig as she attempts to unveil the truth behind the murder of Hae Min Lee. This podcast creeped me out to the maximum but it was so gripping. I shan’t talk too much about this one just because I don’t want to be leaking any spoilers in this post (although you can easily go onto Google and it will tell you the full story. The only issue I had with this podcast is that it can be a bit difficult to follow because there is so much to the story, and I did have to re-listen to a couple of the episodes to be reminded of the storyline. None-the-less, I loved this series!
Hydro-Plumping Re-Texturizing Serum Concentrate
This Winter (are we still in Winter?) my skin has been extremely dry, none of my moisturisers was working (lol, I only owned 1 at the time, it was an Olay one, not intended for dry skin, lol) so I ventured over to Kiehl’s to repurchase the Ultra Facial Cream. The sales assistant at Kiehl’s did a skin test on me and was basically like “yo, your face is so dry, I can see lines on your face” (I basically looked like a raisin) (how many times can I say “basically” in a sentence?). I thought he was going to recommend the Ultra Facial Cream but he gave me the Hydro-Plumping Re-Texturizing Serum Concentrate instead because my skin is also really oily. Gosh, am I happy with his recommendation? I always worry that the moisturisers I use will be too heavy on my face and make me feel yucky and that the smell of the moisturiser lingers but this is literally the lightest moisturiser I have ever used. That’s probably because it’s a serum.
Wait, it just hit me, is it actually a moisturiser? I’m going to continue calling it a moisturiser even though I am doubting it now. Seriously, this is worth the investment, it’s ideal for all weather conditions because it’s not heavy on the face and its super hydrating.
Buy the Hydro-Plumping Re-Texturizing Serum Concentrate
No Makeup
I used to love wearing makeup. Actually, no, I used to love putting on makeup. but over the last few months, I can’t think of anything worst. I literally wake up, shower, get changed and head on out of the house. I don’t have that extra step of getting ready. Over the last 2 months or so I’ve probably worn makeup six or seven times and that’s only because I was going on a night out or to a party so it would only be on for a few hours rather than a whole day like it used to be. Since I’ve stopped wearing makeup on a daily basis, putting makeup on has become a bit of a chore to be honest, which is slightly upsetting, just because I used to enjoy it so much. But, I no longer have to worry about getting makeup on my clothes and on my books and I don’t worry about my makeup looking a little odd, it’s just a bit of a carefree lifestyle tbh and I love it!
Music: The Hamilton soundtrack (obsessed with this).
TV Show: Keeping Faith and The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.
Film: Brooklyn (love Saoirse Ronan in this film).
That was an extremely long post, as expected.
JustBecauseYouCan 