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days past: a june ’21 recap || playlists, books & movies || life & literature ep. 3

maya rajesh64 Comments

June disappeared, in all honesty. It’s almost as though this month was non-existent and we’re already in July. Halfway through the year. We’re still self-isolating a year later and I keep reminding myself that there is still hope. June was absolutely a blur. I know I say that so much, but I started out in a most terrible reading slump.

Nevertheless, I did have a lot of fun and I kept up with the blogosphere (for the most part, I suppose!) I had my whole family over and the summer weather is absolutely gorgeous here. All the flowers are in bloom, we had, like 3 birthdays (which meant 3 different cakes, haha!) and we’ve been out on long walks through the gardens. June and July have the best weather in the whole year (except for February and April).

Well, that’s enough rambling! Let’s talk books, movies, songs and life!

literature 📚

I read two amazing books (my most abhorrent reading slump notwithstanding): Salt to the Sea and An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. I’ve been trying to read the sequel to the latter, but I just can’t seem to get further than 30% and it’s nothing I feel I must do compulsively so I’ve been putting reading aside.

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I loved that this kept me wanting to know more throughout. This fantasy world was beautiful; the characters diverse and relatable, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It did have the recurring tropes of YA fantasy: love triangle, dark ‘n strong boy, forbidden romance, dead family, etc. but I still enjoyed it and it is the first in a series so there’s more to come! 

Salt to the sea

The writing was absolutely brutal. I loved this so much and I liked how it educated me about the Wilhelm Gustloff which was torpedoed. The characters were something I grew to love, and though the short, changing point of views didn’t help me relate to the characters, it made me love the writing and hence the book. 

I did work a little bit on my WIP; mostly the planning part of it. My (IRL) friend (who’s published two novels!) and I are working on this really fun Disney princess/villain fanfiction that’s something of a stressbuster because it’s just so fun to write it!

My main WIP, however, took a backseat when it came to writing it this month. By the end of May I was up to 60k and I got only 6k done this June. I had a lot of other things to do, but I want to work a lot more on it this upcoming month. Here’s a quick snippet!

watching 📺

Apart from the serieses I’ve already mentioned, here are some movies and TV series I’ve been binging lately! I watch a lot of TV, haha, but here are my top 4 this month

I’ve watched every single episode as they released on Wednesdays and all this Marvel content is simply mind-blowing. Loki’s been my favourite MCU character ever since the first Thor and I just love how they’ve given him so much… potential in this series. This has to get renewed for a Season 2, and no spoilers but Lady Loki is everything

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What an adorable Hufflepuff summer story! All the hate aside, Disney’s creativity is spectacular. Luca and his friend are sea monsters who have the ability to shape-shift on land. Like mermen. Their society does not stand for the ‘change’ but Luca yearns to see the world above and most of all… get a Vespa: a scooter. He takes part in a competition with his newfound human friend, and faces hindrances along the way but learns to accept himself in the end.

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I rewatched this last week and I had so much fun. I remember how surprising that ending was the first time I watched it, but I’ve come to like animation movies so much. The expressions; the magical aspect; everything about it is so.. well, Disney! I love how each movie follows a pattern of the protagonist going on an inner journey as well, and that’s what strikes the audience the most. The fact that they change and come to understand something better.

Yes, this is also a rewatch, but the Despicable Me franchise is one of my favourites! I love Gru as an anti-hero (ish?) protagonist and the three sisters are so sweet. What I actually love about this is the fact that even though there are three sequels, each is better than the other, unlike Fast and Furious, or Cars.

snapshots 📸 

My month in pictures, or whatever you’d like to call it. There were more, but this post is lengthier than ever as it is! We went for innumerable walks in the garden at night and in the morning. I love the second picture so much! It’s like in that poem Silver by Walter de la Mare. Which one’s your favourite?

posts i read 📖

Here are some of my favourite posts this past month from all around the blogosphere! I’ve been absolutely preoccupied this month so I’m extremely sorry if yours isn’t there, but do have a look at these: they were so fun to read! (Also these aren’t only bookish or only lifestyle posts; sort of a mix-up.

  • Rachel discusses and recommends fantasies with ‘normal’ MCs!
  • Emily does a really fun Mid-Year tag!
  • Sneha gets nominated for the Sunshine Blogger Award and has some of the best answers I’ve seen yet! Congratulations!
  • Diamond and her stuffies; cute as always; does an amazing photoshoot! I love Cam and Petal!
  • Aditi talks about Sci-fi and action movies on Netflix! I love Sci-fi so this post was amazing!
  • Shivi got nominated for an award! Congratulations, Shivi; you totally deserve it!
  • Emmie does a really fun haul and tries on some adorable outfits!
  • Maggie reaches 800 followers and announces her new series: blog coaching!
  • Amy does a Mid-Year book tag recapping the first six months of this year!
  • Elsie does a summer photo-dump with some brilliant shots!
  • Jolie reviews Ember of the Night, and discusses various aspects of the book!
  • Isha talks about Not Here to Be Liked in a detailed review!
  • Nehal discusses 5 overrated things in her hilarious gif-filled post!
  • Ahaana talks about her favourite YA novels and discusses them!
  • Zainab does a really fun Day in My Life post chronicling what she does from morning to night
  • Kaya shares a beautiful quote from a book
  • Rania does an extremely fun double ARC review!
  • Ritz gives us epic themed book recommendations! (Looking to add to your TBR?)
  • Jan discusses ‘trends’ in YA fiction; I loved the Six of Crows comparison!
  • Chloe announces her new series—head over and check it out!
  • Sofii does a double book review and talks about A Lair of Bones & Rising in detail!
  • Akriti continues her hilarious ranting series! (Seriously; check it out!)
  • Cherelle reviews Spin the Dawn & We are not free; two books you should really read!
  • Riddhi does the ‘Music and Me’ tag and gives some recommendations!
  • Trading Thoughts shares some wisdom on words and the contemporary generation
  • Pannaga shares a beautiful piece of her writing
  • Maith reaches 150 followers—congrats! Give her assumptions on her post!

 july mini-playlist 🎶

My short playlist for July (beginning with July, of course) is down below. I had to add the James-Betty-August songs from Folklore because they just radiate summer vibes. Especially August which I cannot stop listening to for some unknown reason. Also Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour has been my incessant soundtrack for June. I mean have you heard Happier and Deja Vu? They are absolutely beautiful.

These are basically a few of the songs I’ve been listening to in June. I’m a humongous Swiftie; I listen to literally anything Taylor Swift. She’s released this really cool new song: Renegade, and it gives off Right where you left me vibes! You should totally listen to it!

Other than that, I’ve been obsessing over Sour like literally any human who has lived on this planet and knows the internet exists. If you haven’t… what have you been doing? Music is always playing for me: be it while reading, writing, drawing, doing homework, it’s a big part of my life.

aesthetics ✨

July isn’t all that different from June so neither are the aesthetics. I just get a fairy-twinkle-light vibe from July and the stars shine brighter, too. (Or perhaps that’s just me). Nevertheless, I love July as the weather’s always lovely and it’s not raining all that much here, either.

This month’s wallpaper has a twinkle-lights theme. I just love twinkle lights and as I mentioned, they somehow remind me of July! Once again, the scrapbook ripped-paper thing is for all your icons and shortcuts! Also, guess where the quote is from? (Here’s a hint: I’m obsessed with this fandom and it’s been releasing a lot of content lately! Also what is grief if not an invisible dagger persevering?)

June was overall a rather hectic month and I hope July will calm down a bit. I don’t have holidays, unfortunately (my summer break’s over, but not my summer—it’s sultry all day long!) and instead have exams at the end of this month so perhaps I shan’t be as regular as I was.

I hope all of you’ve been keeping safe since the papers have been bringing bad news to our doorstep every morning. Wherever you are, remember that your health is important and enjoy the summer ♥ Hope is the thing with feathers, as Dickinson said.

How was your June, wherever you are? Have you read or watched any of the shows and books I mentioned? Was it just me or did June just fly by?! Tell me in the comments ♥ I hope you’re happy and safe and remember that there is yet hope!

64 thoughts on “days past: a june ’21 recap || playlists, books & movies || life & literature ep. 3”

  2. Hey Maya! Thanks a ton for the shoutout <3<3
    Renegade is absolutely wonderful! I got a lot of Red and Folklore vibes, and yes! I am absolutely exhilarated about the Red re-record!
    The flowers are so serene 🙂
    Your WIP is so fascinating!
    Have a beautiful July ✨

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  3. Heyy! I received a message that you linked to my blog and when I read your post, I saw that you wrote the name as “Sep” and linked to my blog. I just wanted to let you know.

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  5. Hey! I just received a message that you linked to my recent post on Top 10 Sci Fi and Action movies to watch on Netflix and headed to read your post here. But, as I went through it, I saw that you wrote “Sep” but linked to my blog. I just wanted to let you know. Great post btw!

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  8. ooh i really love the format of your wrap ups, maya!! so happy to hear you enjoyed an ember in the ashes, it’s one of my favourite series, and for me, book 2 and 4 are the best so i hope you’ll manage to carry on haha! YES LOKI omg though i’m not up to date with the latest episode, i’ve been loving it so far!! thank you so much for mentioning my post, it means the world to me! wishing you a lovely july! ❤️

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    • Yes, Loki was SO amazing!! Thanks, Cherelle!! I I’ve started book 2 and it’s just got pretty good! All these low-key Elaia moments, specially haha! Your post was awesome! Have a great month :))

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  11. I relate to everything you said. And IKR, Lady loki is so iconic! Renegade is probably what I’m listening a lot to since the day it was released. Your Aesthetic is pretty cool. Nice pictures!!

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  12. Lovely wrap-up, Maya! Unfortunately I did not like An Ember In The Ashes much, so I did not continue with the series, but I am glad you enjoyed it.
    omg what a coincidence, I watched Luca just this afternoon with my family, and we all loved it!!
    Ahh Coco and Despicable Me are all time favourites of mine, I’ll never get tired of watching them over and over.
    oh and thank you so much for mentioning my post! Glad you liked it 🙂
    Have a great month of July!!

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  16. Aah omg, thanks so much for the mention!! This means a lot to me!! 😃❤️🥺
    And aah, I love coco too! indeed all disney movies are just fab.
    im glad you enjoyed ember in the ashes, I wasnt a big fan of the sequel but the third book is definitely great so i hope you like thm too!
    Lovely wrap, Maya!! 😃

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  17. Ooh I love Loki!!! It never fails to surprise me, such as the last episode 🤯

    I watched Luca with my family and it was so cute!! I loved Alberto, he gave me such Keefe vibes 😋

    Coco and Despicable Me are such classics! I love them!!

    I haven’t read either of those books, but I’ll have to add them to my never ending TBR!

    Those are such beautiful pictures, Maya! You are so talented!!

    Aww, thank you so much for mentioning me! I really appreciate it! 🥰

    There is still hope, for now we’ll just do what we can to help out!

    I really enjoyed reading your post, Maya! Your June sounded pretty great, here’s to an even better July!!

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    • Yeah, now I thinkof it, Alberto’s just like Keefe from KOTLC! Yes, Disney’s the creator of classics!
      omg that last loki episode!!

      Your post was so awesome!! No problem 😉

      Thank you so much for this comment ❤ it made my day!! Have a great July!

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  23. Your WIP sounds really interesting! I also watched Luca about a week ago and thought it was really cute. I loved the cat! 😻
    And I relate to your An Ember in the Ashes thoughts so much… I loved the first book, but getting through the sequel was such a struggle 😅 I still have yet to read the final book in the series…

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    • Yes, me too! Oh, thank you!! The cat was adorable ❤ I love the suspicious Disney sidekicks, haha!
      I know, right? It's so hyped-up but kinda slow all together… thanks for reading!!

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  24. Ahh I think your monthly recap post layout is my favourite of all the posts I’ve read! I love the different sections you have and also really enjoyed reading the post 🙂 also your monthly aesthetic is super prettyyy 💞💞

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  25. Great post! I love those pictures you took! And the snippet from your WIP is so good!
    Loki is amazing so far, and I really hope it gets renewed from Season 2 as well. I need to watch Luca at some point, I’ve heard it’s good.
    I love the quote you added in and I exactly where it’s from.
    I hope you have a great July!

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  27. First of all I need to take a moment to appreciate your work and how beautiful your blog looks!!!! ❤️ Also I love the structure of this post, super clear and fun! 😍✨
    Thank you SO much for mentioning my post, means so much to me 🥺 & I’m going through a reading slump as well so I feel you!!!! 😭
    Have a wonderful July 🥰

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  32. Love this post! Those snaps from your walk are beautiful and Loki is coming back for season 2 now! It said in the middle of the credits of the finale ! Thank you for mentioning my blog!

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