Since I made it a reading goal of mine to be more meaningful and careful in the books I pick this year, the amount I read each month has been scaling down. Thankfully, May brought with it some much-needed binge-worthy books to consume. In total, I read six books:
https://bookspoils.wordpress.com/2018/05/21/review-tell-the-machine-goodnight-by-katie-williams/
https://bookspoils.wordpress.com/2018/05/23/review-the-kiss-quotient-by-helen-hoang/
https://bookspoils.wordpress.com/2018/05/03/review-born-to-dance-by-jordan-matter/
https://bookspoils.wordpress.com/2018/05/09/dress-like-a-woman-working-women-and-what-they-wore-by-vanessa-friedman-roxane-gay-foreword/
https://bookspoils.wordpress.com/2018/05/17/review-yesterday-i-was-the-moon-by-noor-unnahar/
Review: Witness: Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s Classroom by Ariel Burger https://bookspoils.wordpress.com/2018/05/15/review-witness-lessons-from-elie-wiesels-classroom-by-ariel-burger/
Book Tags:

I jumped on the opportunity to answer the Vine book tag with its burning, must-know questions, and it resulted in experiencing THE MOST FUN doing so. Including my favorite combination of books and vine compilations with titles like: “ancient vines i watch with my grandfather,” “vines rarer than a good night’s sleep,” and “vines 2 trick you into feeling happiness.”
Check it out in full here.
BLANK:

After months and months of rewatching SKAM (season two, to be specific), watching all the reactions to said favorite season, and watching all the remakes (except for one*), I was beyond elated to find a new show that is genuinely on par with the iconic content produced in the aforementioned.
BLANK is a Norwegian online series that uses an identical format of releasing real-time clips throughout the week that are then gathered into a full episode on Sunday mornings, to quote from the site that translates the clips.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. I’ll start at the beginning by noting that I was a tad apprehensive when I was a couple of minutes into the show since there didn’t seem to be any driving point the main character was heading to. As well as having the plot follow nineteen-year-old Ella, unsure of her future after completing high school and letting life happen to her instead of participating, didn’t do any favors to the developing storyline.
The scenes oddly felt like I was watching one of those “A Week in my Life” videos with the everyday banal exchanges, like, getting home, sending emails, preheating the oven for pizza, accompanying a friend on a Tinder hook up, etc. But whereas those vlogs tend to end after ten-or-so minutes, this first episode was over forty… So just as I was wondering what this show had going on for itself, a certain hooded boy appeared on screen and changed the pace of Ella’s daily life.
http://bookspoils.tumblr.com/post/174430289998/blank-trash-watching-waiting
Just… I AM SO HAPPY THIS SHOW EXIST, AND I’M KEEPING MYSELF FROM SCREAMING OF JOY.
(Accurate visual of finishing the second episode and realizing I’ve finally found a new favorite show after nearly two years of watching and rewatching SKAM.)
BLANK excels at zeroing in on startling realistic scenes between two people overtly in sync with each another’s presence because CRUSHES TAKE EVERYTHING FROM YOU. Simen and Ella’s exchanges are mostly all non-verbal and there’s just so much power in their glances. Like, watching their every move like a hawk but making sure they don’t catch you looking, or walking by them and sneaking a glance and then channeling all your inner strength to not look back over your shoulder … Just utter happiness at soaking in their presence, not even having to talk. It’s these little moments that make everything so damn real and I am l i v i n g for it. This is exactly what I’ve been seeking: a romantic relationship I can vicariously live through.
Also:
- I finished the second episode and punched the air from utter joy, like Amy from B99 below, because it ended on Ella walking away like a cool girl while Simen admired her move as he stood by, watching her move away.
- I haven’t even mentioned the meta moment when Ella’s watching Skam Austin and starts discussing the show with Mats and comparing it to the original…
It’s just so nice to have a show that makes me feel passionate again because I was starting to feel terrified that it wasn’t going to happen again anytime soon. Same for the books I’ve been reading this year. But thankfully the month of May pulled through with both.
*Germany can piss off before I’d consider giving them views.
That was my May wrap-up, thank you for reading!