One more favourites post, with feeling. I kinda stopped doing monthly favourites posts last year because I'd often just end up using the same products, listening to the same music and vice versa. Much of this list will probably come as no surprise but at the same time there's some things I want to draw more attention to. There's beauty, writing, things to listen to and things to watch. Enjoy!

MUSIC:

My two most-listened to artists for much of 2018 were Florence and the Machine and Lana Del Rey. High As Hope was released, Florence's fourth album and I loved it. Candid, poetic lyrics. Melodies to bewitch. It remained in my car stereo for months on end. I cannot wait to experience it all live in a couple of weeks as well.

Lana Del Rey was more a nostalgic thing but her albums Honeymoon and Lust For Life were on high rotation. Honeymoon reminds me of Summer. Lust For Life, Autumn and Winter. I love her lyrics and their subtle nods to Hollywood and literature among other things.

TV:

The Good Place-I loved this show so much that I watched Season 1 and 2 twice during the year. It's clever brilliant comedy-bought to us by the creator of Parks and Rec which I also love so go figure. On a slightly nerdier level, I love the spotlight it shines on ethics and philosophy. Yass plz. Plus that casting of brilliant women: Kristen Bell, D'Arcy Carden, Jameela Jamil. The. Best.

Feud: Bette & Joan-Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange bought Bette Davis and Joan Crawford to life in this miniseries. Drama, glamour and fascinating viewing. As well as stunning costuming. It also shines a light on the uglier side of fame and relevancy+how that can in turn impact on families and the inner circles of Crawford and Davis. If you're in New Zealand, you can find this series on Lightbox.

BEAUTY:

*As an aside, I more or less stuck to products I used and loved this year so this category is incredibly sparse as a result. I recommend perusing the archives if you want more of an insight into the beauty products I use.

L'Oreal Paradise Mascara: I couldn't not mention this mascara. I LOVE it and went through multiple tubes of it throughout 2018. I may or may not have a backup waiting to be used too. Ahem. Anyway, this mascara is fuss-free, long-wearing, lengthening, volumising, love in a tube. You get the gist.

MAC Tan Pigment: An item that has been on my wishlist for years and I finally purchased it last year. I love it I tell ya. Rose gold-y, coppery, sparkly perfection. I love to apply this wet to really amp up the pigment and metallic finish. 

PODCASTS:

The High Low Show: Dolly and Pandora's podcast is my favourite. It's entertaining and fun. As well as the bigger issues, they always natter about what they are reading and watching too which I love. Actually I just love the whole thing let's be honest. Dolly and Pandora are the two friends we all want in our lives and their podcast feels like a weekly, intimate chinwag.

How To Fail: Failure is a word that carries a whole lot of meaning and significance. Elizabeth Day's podcast is about exploring the intricacies of failure and thus reframing them. She interviews public figures about their journeys and life stories. They discuss how they've failed and instead of focusing on it as a 'woe is me' kind of concept, Day and her guests consider how it has helped them. How failure in turn defines our present selves. Standout episodes, for me at least were Dolly Alderton's and Olivia Laing's. I'm looking forward to reading Day's upcoming book of the same name when it is released this year.

WRITING:

Dolly Alderton (yes I am a fangirl ok) and Caitlin Moran's columns for the times. I have the Times subscription for the free articles and once I wake I go in and read Dolly+Caitlin's columns. It's kind of a ritualistic thing for me really. They're always inspiring, entertaining and wise reads.

Oh Comely Magazine: My favourite magazine of the year was this UK gem. Always laden with great content and stories and women. I love how there are book reviews each issue as well as their seasonal playlists. Yes please. I love how they regularly accept submissions of work from near and far as well. It's a feel-good magazine and I bloomin' love it.

*What did you love in 2018?

Let's keep this intro short and sweet. Much like this month's reading list. We are only ten days into May and two days away from Harry Styles album. Off topic I apologise, May is turning out to be a busy time with sadly not much time for reading. So instead of giving myself an overly ambitious number of books to read this month, I have three. Two are non fiction works of art (I hope) and the other is a highly regarded novel...

Men Explain Things To Me by Rebecca Solnit: When Emma and myself go into a bookstore, enabling and influencing happens. This book serves as proof of that. No regrets, obviously. I've picked this book up and pondered it for ages so I finally decided to bite the bullet and buy it. The title, a rather clever reference to what is now known as 'mansplaining' thanks to Solnit's essay really sums it up. I always have time for essays on feminism and I've been wanting to get into Rebecca Solnit's writing for a while now. 

Moranthology by Caitlin Moran: I love Caitlin Moran, I love Caitlin Moran's writing. Moranthology was the volume of essays and writing released by Moran following her cult classic How To Be A Woman. It contains writing on Paul McCartney, Amy Winehouse, Chivalry, Being Poor and a whole slew of other topics. As soon as I've finished reading this I'll be picking Moranthology up.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood: After loving Hag-Seed an awful lot it was only a matter of time before more Atwood material made its way onto the shelves. The Handmaid's Tale is having a bit of a moment right now, with the launch of the series based on the book at the end of last month. I also want to watch the original film with Natasha Richardson as Offred but feel the compulsion to read it first. The Handmaid's Tale looks at a dystopian society in which women are valued for their ability to conceive. That is about all I can tell you so far. It is also Emma Watson's latest selection for her Our Shared Shelf book club so I'm hoping to finish it by the time they start discussing it there.

-What are you reading during May?

Charlotte Olympia x MAC Cosmetics Cream Colour Base*-I've raved on about this enough this month so I'll keep this brief. This is the Sepia cream colour base which is perfect for cream contouring, although less is certainly more. I love this as a cream eyeshadow base as well, it's just a smidge more blendable than Mac's paint pots too. Gotta love that limited edition packaging too though, swoon.

Woolgathering by Patti Smith, not pictured-As well as April being the month where I discovered Caitlin Moran's writing, it was also the time where I discovered Patti Smith's writing. It's poetic and beautiful in a way that I'm not going to be able to eloquently express in a mere blog post. Woolgathering contains tales from Smith's childhood, all true and all recounted in the most mesmerising way. She has a way of writing that just makes you not want to stop reading her work, lest you miss an important detail or aesthetic. I highly recommend this one if you've not yet read it.

Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy Rose*-We all know that describing scents is never going to be my forte but this, if I simplify things down is Summer cocktails in a perfume bottle. Sweet, sophisticated and fun. This will definitely appeal to a very specific kind of scent-enthusiast but I think it's absolutely divine. If you're on the hunt for a new scent, you should go have a spritz of this one.

-What have you loved during April?

*PR Sample

As we've established, I'm on a quest to read all the things and at the moment it is books about feminism, written by women and just all-round inspiring texts. It's not too much to ask really. Today I am sharing what I'm reading for the feminist online book clubs this month and also another book which I'm reading just because...

Everyday Sexism by Laura Bates-This wasn't a book club read for the month per se, but it has cropped up in the forums of a number of book clubs and on YouTube etc. Although it was actually Emma who convinced me to read it. Everyday Sexism started as a project on Twitter+a website where women anonymously shared stories or incidents of sexist behaviour they'd witnessed or experienced themselves. It fast turned into a movement and the book was born as a result of those discussions. Each chapter addresses a topic such as young girls or women in politics, looks at the statistics-both for the UK and the world and contains statements from people about sexism relating to those categories. I'm still reading this one but it's really eye-opening and at times sad+frustrating that some of the ideas discussed seem to be inherent to our society. It's a fantastic read, and is making me all the more excited to read the follow-up book, Girl Up. 

How To Be A Woman by Caitlin Moran-I've moved from one Caitlin Moran book to another. This is the third/fourth (I can't keep up) book for Emma Watson's online book club. I really, really enjoyed Moranifesto. It's going to be in my monthly favourites post though so I'll save the rambling on that for now. How To Be A Woman was one of Caitlin's first books and was a bestseller+award winner. I have extremely high hopes for more of what I loved from Moranifesto, but about women, feminism and of course hilarity from Caitlin's own life. Do not disappoint me, book. 

A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf-This is the second book from Jean's Feminist Orchestra book club. I ended up buying a copy of this because it was proving to be a bit frustrating to track down from the local library. I've only just started this but from what I can tell it isn't a novel, but I think it is adapted from a speech Virginia gave. It's late and I'm like yeah no to research... It's been interesting so far but I'll put a review up on my Goodreads page when I am finished.