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What I’m reading, watching & listening to #1

1st April 2019 5 min read 2 Comments

Welcome to the first of a new series of posts sharing good books, great music and movie musts! We’re all so busy, we simply don’t have time to waste 2 hours on a crap Netflix gamble or 2 days trying to get lost in a book that just isn’t doing it! Life’s too short. Time is precious. Recommendations are important! So, I need you to get involved in the comments and share the things you’re getting lost in lately! Here are mine…

What I’ve been reading

Wild by Cheryl Strayed – 5/5

Oh my god, this book! I enjoyed every second of it. It’s a true story about a girl who goes on a solo mission to ‘find herself’ following the death of her mother. But she doesn’t go to Bali or India, she goes on a 3 month hike – alone – along the Pacific Crest Trail that runs from the Mexican border to Canada. She paints the hike as the most painful, mentally/physically challenging, hellish thing in the world…but with the most incredible views and life-affirming, compassionate encounters along the way. Never have I felt more conflicted; she makes you desperately want to hike the PCT whilst simultaneously thinking “why would anyone subject themselves to this?” An astonishing and awe-inspiring read that has your heart aching at times. Absolutely recommend!!!!

The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down: How to be Calm in a Busy World by Haemin Sumin – 3/5

I thought this would be a linear read but instead it’s more of a dip-in-and-out, positive guidance book. The book is divided in to sections like ‘relationships‘, ‘the future‘ and ‘life‘, which is handy if there’s a specific topic that you need advice on. Plus, there are lots of brilliant anecdotes and little nuggets of mind food to ponder on generally. One of my favourites was:

There are many more ordinary hours in life than extraordinary ones. We wait in line at the supermarket. We spend hours commuting to work. We water our plants and feed our pets. Happiness means finding a moment of joy in those ordinary hours.”

A real highlight for me were the gorgeous illustrations all the way through. A lovely book – but not one to get lost in.

Bloglovin’ – My favourite blogs

I’m always reading other bloggers’ content for inspiration and to support others on the same journey! If you read a lot of blogs too, or want to start reading more homegrown articles, Bloglovin is great. It allows you to search for/follow blogs that are posting about topics that interest you – creating a ‘news feed’ of posts from your fav writers. Some of mine are: The Real Life RD (for body positivity), Alisa Burke (for art and creativity inspo), Humans of New York (for incredible, short, true stories), Sophie Cliff (for lifestyle and positivity) and Kelly Prince Writes (for the aesthetic!! and travel posts). That’s just a few!

What I’ve been watching

Sherlock (BBC TV Series) – 5/5

Okay, okay…so we’re mega late to the party but HELLO! We’ve arrived! And with a new found love for Martin Freeman! A brilliantly intriguing, clever and often baffling series. One to CONSTANTLY keep you on your toes and have you shouting “what the hell!???” at the TV, often.

Wild (2014) – 2/5

This is the film adaptation of the book I spoke about earlier with Reese Witherspoon playing Cheryl, the protagonist. I have to say, I was massively disappointed because it just didn’t do the book justice AT ALL. I’d gushed about the book to Jack and found that I spent the whole time filling in details that the film had missed out and explaining things that weren’t very clear. It works incredibly as a book but as a film it’s just a tired, hungry woman on a hike for 2 hours…

The Grinch (2018)- 5/5

Who says you can’t watch Christmas films in March? I hadn’t seen the new Grinch and honestly, I found it kind of criminal that they’d even feel the need to remake it because the old one is a classic!! But…I LOVED IT! Such good family viewing and perfect for a snuggly Sunday afternoon!

Abducted in Plain Sight – 4/5

Wow. What can I say about this? I watched this in a state of utter disbelief the whole way through. This standalone documentary follows the true story of actress Jan Broberg. She was abducted as a child by a family friend who used his position of friendship to take advantage of her from 12 years old onwards. He even started secret relationships with the mum AND dad at the same time – without either of them knowing!!!!! – to gain more frequent access to her…Are you kidding me?!

The Do-Over – 1/5

Do. not. waste. your. time. Netlix action adventure with Adam Sandler about two guys who fake their own deaths in the attempt to ‘start again’. Could’ve been funny but absolutely flopped.

What I’ve been listening to

New! Catfish and the Bottlemen

It’s about damn time they released some new music!!! At least the wait paid off…3 new songs in the space of 2 months didn’t disappoint. I’ll be honest, when I first heard Longshot I was a bit unsure. I liked it…but it didn’t ‘wow’ me on first listen. It’s a grower though, as is “2all with its catchy chorus, which on first impressions just felt a bit lyrically lazy to me! “Fluctuate” is my current ‘put me in a good mood’ track and favourite of the 3. They’ve got a nack for writing songs destined to be screamed in stadiums and I’m really regretting not getting tour tickets now…I’m sure I’ll be even more gutted when their new album ‘The Balance’ is released on 26th April!

Wisdom Tooth – The Pale White

A Spotify suggestion led me to this band and this is a BANGER. I think I listened to this 1,000,000,000,000 times when I first discovered it. If you’re in to rock with a slight pop edge – check it out!

From Now On – Zac Brown Band

From ‘The Greatest Showman: Reimagined’ album, this song fills me with utter sparkles!!! The gorgeous ukulele melodies are enough to make you fall in love with life again. BEYOND feel good. This has me jigging all over the pace.

Well there you have it! Now it’s your turn…what have you been watching, reading and listening to lately? Give me your best suggestions in the comments!

Love Siân x

Keep up to date by following me on: instagram // bloglovin’ // YouTube 

2 Comments

  • Suzanne Williams 1st April 2019 at 7:12 pm

    What about After Life – Ricky Gervais!! (Netflix) Great funny/ sad series.
    TV – we’ve been watching Race Across The World – teams are given the airfare to Singapore but have to race to get there by land or sea for a £20,000 prize. Loving it!

    • positivelysian 1st April 2019 at 7:13 pm

      Omg I forgot about that!!!! Of course! Oh yeah I remember you saying about that. Will have to watch it xx

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    hiya!

    hiya!

    I'm Siân. Welcome to my happy little corner of the internet! I write to remind you to milk your *ONE* shot at this mad, miraculous life ~ to embrace your boldness, live vibrantly and find magic in the small stuff. Happy reading!

    Siân x

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