Lockdown Life Update || Animal Crossing & Reading

Hi guys! It’s been a hot minute since I added anything on here and in that short space the world has been turned into a dystopian novel {at least that’s what it feels like to me}. On a more positive note, I got to spend lots of time enjoying some of my favourite hobbies while being under lockdown, so sit back and continue reading if you’re curious to see what I’ve been up to these last couple of months ♡

LIFE UPDATE {Lockdown Edition}

Ugh. These last couple of months have been challenging. Like so many countries around the world we here in South Africa have also been in lockdown since the end of March. Lockdown for us means that only essential services are allowed to continue and we are only allowed to leave our homes to get food and basic necessities. My new job, that I started at the beginning of February, does not fall under essential services so I unfortunately got temporarily laid-off and I will only be able to go back to work and get paid once the lockdown has been lifted {which at this stage is at the end of April}.

I know a lot of people are having a hard time with the lockdown and that a lot of people have lost their jobs over it, but honestly I’d rather stay at home than risk getting sick or make my family sick. My mental health is coping surprisingly well considering and I am really proud of myself for that. As I’ve mentioned in my intro, all this free time has made it possible for me to indulge in some of my favourite hobbies, including reading some great books, watching some amazing new TV shows and getting addicted to Animal Crossing.

Animal Crossing

My fiancé {oooh, I don’t say this nearly enough} got me the switch lite just before lockdown and I am now absolutely obsessed with Animal Crossing; the cutest game in existence. My island {Mayflower} is based in the southern hemisphere and I got pears as my starter fruit. I’ve been playing for almost a month now and I kinda have an idea of what I’d like my island to look like, but I have no idea where to start. I am also trying to collect only pink villagers as it will tie-in with my aesthetic perfectly, but we’ll see how it turns out in the end!

Reading

I managed to read a couple of books since I last updated you guys on my life. All three were a little different from my usual reading tastes, but came highly recommended by some of my favourite booktubers and book bloggers. The three books I read in these past few months were Faker by Sarah Smith; Get A Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert and The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys. The first two books were a little more towards the adult side and while I did enjoy some elements of both stories, they weren’t my favourite. I gave both books three stars. Overall I enjoyed the story, but in both instances I wasn’t that fond of the romantic relationship. I must however praise the chronic illness representation in Get A Life, Chloe Brown; I think it was a really accurate representation and some #ownvoice reviews have also confirmed this.

Lastly I read The Fountains of Silence, a YA historical fiction novel set in post-war Spain. As with most of Sepetys’ books I found this one to be just as poignant and heartfelt as most of her previous works. I enjoyed the main story as well as the multiple interwoven stories from different character perspectives that managed to add more to the story. The characters were interesting and I was satisfied with the ending as a whole. Historical fiction isn’t my favourite genre and I ended up giving this book three stars as well.

At the moment I’m trying to work through all the physical books on my TBR {sadly we cannot buy any physical books during lockdown} and I am currently reading the The Raven Cycles by Maggie Stiefvater. This is the third time I have managed to read The Raven Boys, but my reading never progresses further than the first book in the series. Right now I am actually in the process of reading The Dream Thieves and I am so excited to finally be able to read this series in one sitting.

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That’s it for my lockdown life update. I hope that all of you are doing well and keeping safe, all of you are in my thoughts! Please let me know what you’ve been up to during quarantine/lockdown. Let me know of any great books you’ve read, shows you’ve watched or anything about your island in Animal Crossing.

– Love, Michelle xx

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