Just a YA book reader sharing her thoughts with the world

5 Insider Tips for French Speakers Immigrating to Canada

French is one of Canada’s main languages and as a francophone, you can reap advantages.
Photo by Andre Furtado in Pexels

Bonjour! If you’re a French-speaker considering immigration to Canada, you’re in for an exciting journey! Canada is a beautiful and diverse country that offers plenty of opportunities for people from all walks of life, including Francophones. As someone who has personally gone through the immigration process and helped many of my Francophone friends do the same, I wanted to share some tips that I’ve learned along the way.

I started my immigration journey a few years ago and have since settled in Canada, made some amazing friends. Many of my Francophone friends have followed my example and decided to move to Canada too! At first, I planned to write about books on my blog. But then, I had a sudden realization that my experiences as an immigrant could make really great blog posts. So, I changed my focus and started a blog about my experiences.

So, whether you’re moving to Quebec or any other province in Canada, I hope these five tips will help make your immigration journey a little smoother:

Tip #1: Do Your Research

First things first, do your research!

There are several immigration programs available for French-speakers, and each one has its own set of requirements.

So, make sure you choose the right program that suits your needs and qualifications. Visit the official Canadian government website for more information.

If you’re planning to move to Québec and look for reliable information, visit Demenager au Québec. They offer a wealth of information and resources specifically tailored for French-speakers immigrating to Québec and Canada in general.

Tip #2: Brush Up On Your French

French is one of Canada’s official languages and is widely spoken, especially in the province of Quebec. If you plan to settle in Quebec, it’s crucial to improve your French language skills to help you integrate better into the local culture.

Even if you’re not settling in Quebec, knowing French is an added advantage. Check out language programs that can help you improve your skills and also provide an opportunity to meet other French-speaking individuals.

Tip #3: Connect with French-Speaking Communities

It is better to have a network that shares the same experience, especially when in a foreign land.
Photo by Dani Hart in Pexels

Networking with other French-speakers in Canada can help you build connections and find resources that will make your immigration journey more manageable.

You can connect with local French-speaking communities, attend French-language events, and even join social media platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn to expand your network.

Tip #4: Consider Professional Help

The immigration process can be overwhelming, and if you’re not sure how to go about it, don’t worry! You can seek professional help from immigration consultants and lawyers who specialize in helping French-speakers immigrate to Canada. They can provide you with expert guidance on the right immigration program, help you with your application, and provide valuable advice to increase your chances of success.

Tip #5: Plan Your Finances

Moving to another country requires you to spend money. It is important to save up for it and use the money wisely.
Photo by cottonbro studio in Pexels

Immigrating to Canada is an exciting experience, but it can be expensive too. So, it’s crucial to plan your finances beforehand. You’ll need to budget for your immigration application, travel expenses, temporary accommodation, and other essentials. Research the cost of living in the province you plan to settle in and budget accordingly.

Bonne chance! (Good luck!)

Update on my Canadian life: 3 reasons I love it

Hi guys, it’s been a while! Life has been pretty hectic recently, with many things going on in both my professional and personal life. So here I am, writing this post after loooong silence (so sorry for that!)

Everything is alright, don’t worry. I do believe that everything happens for a reason, and I’m learning to embrace all changes with a positive attitude.

One of the recent changes that I’m actually very excited to tell you about is.. we’ve moved to an adorable town called Georgetown – just 1h from Toronto. I got a research assistant job at Georgetown University, and it’s literally the job of my dreams!

Besides this life update, let me share 3 reasons why I looove my Canadian life so much!

Reason 1: Canada has plenty of jobs for foreigners

No matter what culture and background you are coming from, chances are high that you will find a job in Canada!

Every province has different labor needs, but there are professions demanded everywhere. Just to name some examples…

Truck drivers
Caregivers and nurses
Accountants
Electricians
Welders
Construction workers
Waiters
Marketing manages
Customer support specialists
HR specialists
Sales managers

And there are many more! And to be honest.. they pay pretty well!

Before landing my research assistant job, I used to work as a secretary and then as office assistant in a law firm. Both were excellent experiences, with great work conditions and caring managers.

Reason 2: Canada has a very multicultural society and it feels good!

Honestly, I’ve never been exposed to so many different cultures in one place.

Here in Canada I got to meet amazing people from all over the world, in the law firm I had coworkers from France, Belgium, India, Taiwan and even one lady from the Bahamas! It was an amazing multicultural environment, I learned so much and I’m really happy that Canada welcomes interesting people from so many different countries.

Everyone brings his own background, cuisine, traditions and culture, and it’s just amazing to see such a variety coming together in one place.

Here, you can feel free, you can feel respected and you can just be a Canadian while keeping your roots and your own cultural background. And I think it’s beautiful, and it’s how every developed society should look like.

Reason 3: Canada is generally a safe place

I didn’t appreciate this fact enough, since I’m coming from a pretty safe place too.

However, when I heard stories of people from other countries, and they said horrible stories about how unsafe and vulnerable they felt in their previous homes… this opened my eyes on Canada in a totally new way.

Safety was something I didn’t think much about and didn’t value, and for many people it was actually one of the main reasons for the decision to immigrate to Canada.

Conclusion: while Canada is not a 100% perfect place for life (no place is perfect, in my opinion), I think I made the right choice!

Once I’ll surely make a post about the disadvantages of life in Canada personally for me (I’m ONLY sharing my personal opinion, keep in mind that it’s a personal blog). Although there are some things I wish I could change (and I hope will change with time), I do love my Canadian life a lot. It’s been full of ups and downs, challenges and achievements, but it was surely worth all the effort!

Gonna go do my research work, and hope to get back to you guys soon and not disappear for long any more!

Is CanadaCIS legit? Top 3 Reasons Why We Trust Our Immigration Agency

Canada City sky veiw — If you have decided to immigrate with agency, you have to choose the right one.
Photo by Brayden Law on Pexels.com

Many immigrants face worries and even anxiety when dealing with the complex immigration process.

They look for reliable professionals who can simplify the process and help them make their experience smoother and more pleasant.

Since immigration is a super important life decision, it’s totally normal to have trust issues and doubts when choosing the immigration agency.

Unfortunately, there are quite a bunch of fraudsters operating in this field, and you gotta be very careful to not get scammed.

Before we chose CanadaCIS, we signed up for like 10+ other agencies and talked to representatives, trying to figure out who of them we can trust.

Eventually, CanadaCIS has proven to be a legitimate immigration agency that clients can trust. Here are the top 3 reasons why:

CanadaCIS partners with a registered immigration lawyer, and you can see all the details about him in the main menu of their website:
- It’s very important to work with regulated immigration consultants (RCICs), as only they can provide immigration assistance services;
- Immigration lawyers have an even higher qualification, and partnership with a lawyer is a sign of a reliable top-level agency;
CanadaCIS is a transparent and honest agency:
- They are giving you all information in advance, call you to provide updates and follow up on a regular basis;
- You can ask questions about the immigration process and be sure that you’ll get a qualified answer;
- In your personal immigration profile in their system, you’ll follow the progress of your application and check what’s missing and what documents you need to provide;
- All instructions are clear and easy to follow, which makes the whole immigration process easy and smooth;
CanadaCIS offers an efficient online service:
- As mentioned before, their online platform and the continuous support from qualified staff members make immigration with this agency especially efficient;
- You don’t have to waste time on researching the process, figuring out what program to apply for and what documents to submit;
- Professional consultants will literally do most of the work for you – completely online!
- Someone might say that the price CanadaCIS asks for their services is quite too much… but the assistance you are getting is so valuable;
- It’s totally worth the price!

How much money do you need to immigrate to Canada?

Piggy bank — It is better to allocate a little more money for the immigration process in order to feel comfortable.
Photo by Skitterphoto on Pexels.com

Many people ask this, and the answer is unfortunately ‘a lot’.

Immigration is a quite costly process, and you should surely save more than $10,000 for a comfortable transition to your new country.

Besides paying for immigration consultancy services, you’ll need money for your flight to Canada, your first accommodation, shopping for necessities etc.

How can I know if a Canada immigration consultant is legitimate?

Trust your immigration to real professionals and stay away from fake consultants and fraudful websites.

How to detect scam?

Watch out for agencies that:

Promise 100% guarantees
Promise super fast results
Work without partnering with RCICs or immigration lawyers
Have old, non-updated and poorly designed websites
Don’t provide contacts (address, phone number, email etc.)
Don’t answer your questions in a transparent and friendly way
Have unrealistically perfect reviews

Btw, speaking about CanadaCIS reviews…

This is a great example of a real and honest company.

Their reviews show experiences of many satisfied customers, and at the same time they show few that were not fully satisfied.

It’s perfectly fine, as it’s impossible to have a 100% ideal service – there will always be someone complaining about little things.

Immigration is an emotionally exhausting process, and some people tend to complain and spread negativity just because they are worried and stressed.

Having different reviews is so much better and more trustworthy than unrealistic perfect reviews.

Choosing a consultant is hard, but if you want to be on the safe side, choose someone like CanadaCIS: legitimate, transparent and trustworthy.

Documents you’ll need for immigration to Canada

Hey, y’all.

I’d like to share with you the list of documents that we were told to prepare for applying for a visa.

Your passport;
Appropriate Canada visa application form;
Proof of paid Canada visa fees;
Proof of clean criminal record;
Proof of being in good health through a medical exam;
Photographs in accordance with the photo requirements for a Canada visa;
Proof of financial means;
Proof you will return to your home country once the Canadian visa expires;
Identity and Civil Status Documents;
A cover letter that explains the purpose of your travel to Canada;
Letter of support/invitation to Canada.

This is the main list. There are also specific documents, their list varies depending on the program you choose.

My advice to you:

Always check the information in official sources, because in such serious matters as documents for immigration, requirements may change. To avoid an unpleasant situation, always double-check the information that you read on my blog or in any other unofficial source.

According to the Canadian Government website, you’ll need to prepare the following list of documents for permanent residence:

Police certificates;
Medical exams;
Proof of funds;
Birth certificate (required if you’re declaring dependent children);
Use of a representative form (required if you’ve hired a representative);
Common-law union form (required if you’ve declared your marital status as “common-law”);
Marriage certificate (required if you’ve declared your marital status as “married”);
Divorce certificate and legal separation agreement (required if you’ve declared your marital status as “divorced”);
Death certificate (required if you’ve declared your marital status as “widowed”);
Adoption certificate (required when a dependent child is listed as “adopted”);
Proof of relationship to a relative in Canada;
Digital photos to confirm your identity;
Another name to confirm aliases;
Any other documents that you feel are relevant to your application.

It is also important to understand that you will be required to fill out various forms and applications. It is highly important to complete these documents correctly, without errors, because it may depend on whether you receive a positive response from the Canadian government. To agree, starting the process anew only because of an error in filling out the document is very annoying.

So, I don’t want to bore you with a lot of lists.

We have discussed a very important topic – the topic of collecting documents.

But furthermore!

Stay connected, and you will learn all the pitfalls of immigration to Canada firsthand.

Why we chose Express Entry for Canada Immigration?

Hey everyone! 👋

As you remember, my girlfriend and I started the process of immigration to Canada, and I promised to share all our news and here I am!

Earlier, I already wrote that we decided to contact the migration company to facilitate the process. The consultant told us about the programs available to us. And we were even a little confused by how many options were given …

But in the end, we chose the Express Entry system, and now I will tell you why…

Express Entry Canada, what is it?

Immigration to Canada by Express Entry is a new and quick way to process your application for immigration to Canada and obtain permanent residence (permanent resident status).

Beginning in January 2015, Canada’s immigration applications can be submitted through the new Express Entry system. Applicants are selected and evaluated using the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). The selection of candidates takes place in rounds, on average twice a month. In each round of invitations, the best candidates receive an invitation to process immigration documents, from 700 to 3800 people per round. The minimum score varies depending on the distribution of the overall marks at the time of selection.

In addition to applying for immigration, your file is registered in the national labor force of the so-called. Job Bank, where you can find a Canadian employer and get an invitation to work that gives you an additional 50 to 200 points and practically guarantees you an invitation to immigrate to Canada. It is worth noting that the availability of a Job Offer from a Canadian employer is NOT MANDATORY for successful immigration to Canada.

Also, additional accrual of points for the presence of a nomination for the Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP): 600 points. It is worth noting the following, in order to apply for a Provincial Nomination, a candidate must first be submitted to the Express Entry system.

Express Entry is not a new program, it is a new method of applying for independent immigration to Canada and obtaining permanent resident status under the existing Canadian immigration programs.

The best choice to get permanent residency in Canada

While we were choosing the program, we highlighted several advantages of Express Entry:

Huge list of Federal Skilled Workers;
Unlimited quotas for specific specialties;
No annual quotas on the number of accepted immigration applications during the year;
Short terms of consideration of initial immigration applications:
The ability to change your data during the primary and secondary periods of consideration of documents;
Registration in the national database of vacancies Job Bank of Canada;
Payment of starting fees only in case of preliminary selection of the candidate;
Payment of the second fees only in case of a final positive decision of the Consulate.

We have highlighted these points as the most important to us.

Ooooooh, it’s such an emotional process

In general, I am still in shock that we decided to take such a step – to change our lives. I am overwhelmed with emotions, and I am nervous and delighted at the same time.

I want to thank you for your support and your interest in our route to Canada.

Oh yes, I almost forgot! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! May the next year be more successful, haha!

🏃‍♀️ I ran to bake the turkey, see you soon!

Love you, Dana 💋

We are Moving to Canada: Our Immigration Services Review

Hey y’all. We decided this year to immigrate to Canada and I wanted to share with you why we made this decision. I hope y’all don’t mind, I’m sure this post will be different to my previous posts, and I hope you appreciate it as much as I appreciated this choice. It’s also why I haven’t posted in a while so I’m sorry about that!

How we decided to move to Canada

I know that this year was really scary for a lot of us and it felt like a whole other reality. I could hardly eat most of the time (and I normally love eating!). 2020 seemed like the end of the world. To make matters worse, America doesn’t feel like a welcoming home for us anymore. Who would have thought that could happen? We don’t feel safe here. Unfortunately, we haven’t felt safe for a while and we hoped it would get better. However, everything going on in the world had gotten me super nervous and it had taken my anxiety to a new level that I didn’t think was possible. Like many, we thought about moving to Canada after Trump was elected but then we calmed down for a bit.

In 2020 everything changed, we then decided that we want to feel safe so we started seriously researching the idea of immigrating to Canada. Now we want to share our research with you so you can decide if moving will help you feel better. Whether you want to feel safer or you want job security. Maybe you want a better community (Canadians are the nicest people on the planet). Or maybe moving has been your dream for years and everything that’s happened in 2020 is a sign that it’s time to make the dream come true. Whatever your reason, I wanted to share with you my research so you can feel better too. After we decided, I felt so good that we celebrated by going out for some food (it was hard to find poutine, but we found some and it was really good!).

Recommended Immigration Services Review

When we started searching we saw that there were so many different websites offering immigration services, it was overwhelming! After looking at the official Canadian government website, it looked too complicated and stressful. I got nervous and almost wanted to quit, but I knew my wife wanted to do this so we started looking for immigration consultants that could offer us help. We clicked on the first two websites that showed up and one of the ads. The websites: Moving2Canada, Canadim and CanadaCIS.

Canadim Review

I didn’t like the immediate pop-up on the website, it looked threatening and aggressive, so I moved on to the next website.

Moving2Canada Review

alice in wonderland GIF — the rabbit hole

The website looked nice, and it offered a lot of information for anyone wanting to learn about Canada and the different immigration programs. We already read about the country and we were just looking for a service to help us with immigrating, so it was a bit confusing how to find that service. After a few clicks and a lot of scrolling, we finally saw a “book a consultation” button. And there we found their top recommended consultants, and at the bottom they had related content about choosing the right consultant, including a guide to immigration consultants and lawyers. They were very informational, but it seemed to be a rabbit hole and we wanted to see what the other options had to offer before continuing in the labyrinth.

CanadaCIS Review

The ad took us to their page asking to sign up now. I was a bit hesitant about fraud so I scrolled down to read more. The rest of the page was informative and welcoming, explaining about the service and added a nice Canadian touch. They even offered adjustment services as part of their consultancy (it’s probably a good idea to get help adjusting). Everything they wrote made it seem easier to immigrate to Canada. Being accompanied by an expert immigration consultant makes me feel a lot calmer. At the bottom of the page they wrote, “Changing The Lives Of Our Clients – Move to Canada” and we felt ready to change our lives. So we decided to sign up and see what’s next.

CanadaCIS Reviews: Legit or Scam?

We chose to do follow up research on reviews since we were still a bit nervous about our choice. We felt it was important to check if the consultants are legit and not scammers before we pay. Moving2Canada had some articles about fraud and choosing the right consultants, so we went back to that page and started to read. We felt good about our decision to start with CanadaCIS because Moving2Canada brought us again to a maze of articles to choose from, rather than the one we wanted. Anyway, we continued with the five red flags to look out for when hiring a Canadian immigration consultant or lawyer.

The First Red Flag of Fraud – Registration numbers

Luckily there’s regulations in place to authorize lawyers and consultants to offer their assistance. That’s why it’s important to check if the consultant has a regulation number. There’s different numbers depending on their province or their profession. So we looked for one of those numbers by searching for CanadaCIS lawyer and saw that their lawyer had a Law Society of Ontario (LSO) number. Seems legit. What’s next?
The Second Red Flag of Fraud – Guarantee

Obviously we are a bit nervous about moving and we want a service that can guarantee success, sadly immigration can’t be guaranteed, but that doesn’t stop scammers from promising a guarantee. At no point did CanadaCIS guarantee success, they offered full support, experienced consultants and extra services. Seems legit.
The Third Red Flag of Fraud – Paying for a Job Offer

A lot of scams sell a job offer because it helps get accepted for immigration, but the immigration consultants are not employers or recruiters so they can’t offer any jobs. If they do then it could be a scam. CanadaCIS offers extra services designed to help like a job search service, but they didn’t promise a job offer or a guarantee. Seems legit, right?
The Fourth Red Flag of Fraud – No Contract or Agreement

There was nothing about a contract or agreement on the page, so we couldn’t know about it before signing up, but on the website we found their service packages and they wrote about the different agreements that could be contracted. Legit.
The Fifth Red Flag of Fraud – Paying the Full Price Without Any Service

When reading about the services provided by CanadaCIS, we saw that they had an initial payment for an evaluation with one of their consultants, and if there’s a good chance at immigrating then they recommend one of their full packages to support us in our immigration to Canada. Legit.

After reading the reviews about red flags for fraud, and feeling good about CanadaCIS not being scammers, we decided that they were legit and we will continue with them. I hope you are all looking forward to this change as much as we are, and we will keep you updated on our plans to move to Canada.

My favorite highlight to share

I don’t normally read nonfiction books but when I heard about What the Mouth Wants: A Memoir of Food, Love and Belonging by Monica Meneghetti, I was automatically interested. It could have been the food, the love or the belonging, three things close to my heart, so it felt like there was something about it that made me want to read more and also learn about Canada at the same time. I’ll have more to write after I read it, in the meantime if you have any comments or reviews then feel free to share with us!

Woman's neck, flowers and fruit; book cover for What the Mouth Wants: A Memoir of Food, Love and Belonging by Monica Meneghetti — 305

I am so glad to be going through this process with my wife and being able to share it with you.

I hope you all had the best Summer you could and are staying safe. I hope you all are looking forward to these coming changes and are having a great end to your year. I hope you enjoy and celebrate in a way that fills you with joy. See ya later!
Love, Dana

Women’s History Month Readathon wrap up

Hey y’all! So this month I took part in Women’s History Month Readathon and I wanted to share how I did and what I ended up reading for the challenge. I’m sure this post will be pretty similar to my March wrap up post so I’m sorry about that!

This readathon was hosted by Margaret over at weirdzeal so a BIG thank you to them for hosting this amazing readathon.

Here was the bingo board that was set up for us

And here is my bingo board at the end of the month….

Here are the books I read and what challenges they marked off (We were allowed to use books for more than one)

Published before you were born: NA (I’ve mostly been reading new releases whoops)

Trans author: NA (This one makes me the saddest that I didn’t complete it.)

Girl or Woman in the title: NA

Less than 10k rating on Goodreads: Only Mostly Devastated

ARC that came out March 3rd 2020, had 688 rating when I started

WOC on the cover: NA. I did read a book with WOC MCs (When We Were Magic) but technically the girls on the cover are orange and therefore I cannot claim there are WOC on the cover.

Female Villain: The Wicked Deep

Two or more female authors: I hate everyone but you

Set over 100 years ago: The Wicked Deep

Retelling: Does Only Mostly Devastated count as a Grease retelling? haha

Has movie or TV adaptation: NA

Biography or memoir: Home Work

Pink Cover: I hate everyone but you

Set outside your home country: I mean TECHNICALLY Home Work by Julie Andrews and Lady in Waiting by Anne Glenconner are both set all over all world?

Debut: Tweet Cute

Indigenous author: NA. I got a book out for this one but didn’t get to it.

Reread of an old favorite: NA. I’ve been reading newer books and books I haven’t read before so I didn’t get to this one either.

I think I did sort of okay. There were 16 challenges and I finished 9 of them by reading 6 books. I wish I had done better but honestly by the end of March, I was just reading whatever I wanted.

March Wrap Up || Monthly Wrap Up

Hey y’all. So I know that March was really scary for a lot of us and it felt like a whole year in itself but I’m hoping April will be better for all of us.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is untitled-1.png — *Click the photos to be taken to the Goodreads page*

This month I read 10 books and I am in the middle of one more but will probably not finish before April.

49945845. sx318 sy475 — Arc from Netgalley

One Sentence Review: Interesting look at someone close to Princess Anne, sometimes a little slow.

One Sentence Review: We could have had it all but was let down.

One Sentence Review: I love her and I would do anything for her.

One Sentence Review: It was pretty good.

One Sentence Review: It was quirky, funny and super cheesy.

One Sentence Review: I never know how to review or rate these but it was emotionally hard to get through.

One Sentence Review: Lacked a little since it was just emails and texts but still good.

One Sentence Review: I haven’t stopped thinking about this book since I read it.

One Sentence Review: Different and not my favorite but bearable.

One Sentence Review: First five star of the year!!!!!!!!

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This month I did more blog hopping than usual for me so I have a ton of links this month!

I DELETED ALL OF THE BOOKS ON MY GOODREADS TBR AND BOY DOES IT FEEL GOOD by Laura @ bbliophile

Women’s History Book Tag by Margaret @ Weirdzeal

Celebrating 2 Years of Blogging & Secret Life of a Book Blogger Tag by Kal @ readervoracious

10 GOOD (AND BAD) READING HABITS I HAVE by Marie @ drizzleandhurricanebooks

The Pros and (mainly) Cons of being a Mood Reader by Emme @ aliterarylatte

6 Tools That Help Me Organize My Blog by Zenobia @ thatzenblog

A Comprehensive Guide to Confusing Terms || Ft. Quotes By Eminent Personalities by Pavani @ thevoraciousbibliophile

20 YA BOOKS RELEASING IN MARCH, APRIL, MAY 2020 TO ADD TO YOUR TBRS by Marie @ drizzleandhurricanebooks

If You Loved, then Try. . . book recommendations by May @ my1stchapter

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This month I have really been into…..

TV/Movies

Great British Baking Show/ Great British Baking Show: The Beginnings: Same as last month, I often watch this when I am stressed. I find it is good to both watch and nap to.

Buzzfeed Unsolved: True Crime is back and I’m loving every minute.

Triple D: My wife loves this show, I tolerate it for her.

Video Games!

I started playing Sims 4 again and bought Island Life and University to keep me busy when I am not reading or at work.

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At the very start of March, on March 4th I traveled into Baltimore and after 8 years of longing, finally saw Wicked the Musical. It was absolutely magical and honestly feels like a dream or something that happened years ago and not just 4 weeks ago. Thank you to the Wicked Touring Cast for bringing this story to life and basically to my doorstep. I was going to try to see them again in June in VA but I doubt that will happen now and it makes me want to scream.

So this part is going to be mostly about Corona or Corona affected things. If you are stressed or anything, don’t feel obligated to read this.

The biggest change is our lives in March was out restaurant going from Dine-In to basically a Drive-Thru in our parking lot. We are all working very hard to keep things as normal as possible but it is obviously a huge change. This also included cut hours for both of us so we have filed for unemployment during this time. We are staying home as much as we can and following the rules/laws our governor has put in place for Maryland.

I am a little stressed because my best friend has cystic fibrosis and I am so scared of losing her to this. Please stay in as much as you can guys. I know a lot of us still have to work (my wife and I included) but please. Do your best.

Luckily for us nobody in our families or any of our friends are showing signs of being sick and I can only hope it remains that way for us and that everyone who is currently sick or has a family member sick is doing as best they can. I love all of you and my DM’s are always open.

I’ve joined a few new group chats and I am planning on starting a youtube channel for booktube and vlogging with the same username as here.

I hope you all had the best March you could and are staying safe. See ya later!

Home Work || Book Review

Hey Y’all! I recently read Home Work by Julie Andrews so I thought I would take the time to share my thoughts on this beautiful memoir.

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Author: Julie Andrews Edwards

Publisher: Hachette Books

Published on: October 15th 2019

Number of Pages: 560 pages/ 320 pages (hardcover VS kindle)

Bought, Borrowed or ARC: Borrowed from Libby

Where can you get it?

Again, I make no money off of these links. These are simply for your convenience.

Amazon: $17.99

Barnes and Noble: $27.00

Books-A-Million: $26.40

Book Depository: $25.99

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In Home, the number one New York Times international bestseller, Julie Andrews recounted her difficult childhood and her emergence as an acclaimed singer and performer on the stage.
With this second memoir, Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years, Andrews picks up the story with her arrival in Hollywood and her phenomenal rise to fame in her earliest films–Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music. Andrews describes her years in the film industry — from the incredible highs to the challenging lows. Not only does she discuss her work in now-classic films and her collaborations with giants of cinema and television, she also unveils her personal story of adjusting to a new and often daunting world, dealing with the demands of unimaginable success, being a new mother, the end of her first marriage, embracing two stepchildren, adopting two more children, and falling in love with the brilliant and mercurial Blake Edwards. The pair worked together in numerous films, including Victor/Victoria, the gender-bending comedy that garnered multiple Oscar nominations.

Cowritten with her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton, and told with Andrews’s trademark charm and candor, Home Work takes us on a rare and intimate journey into an extraordinary life that is funny, heartrending, and inspiring.

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One of my all time favorite movies is Princess Diaries which of course, stars Julie Andrews. I had heard about her second memoir for a few months and put it on hold through Libby. I had almost completely forgot about it when it showed up as available. I immediately put aside all of the other books I was reading and started reading this one.

Most of the time with non-fiction or memoirs, at some point I hit a wall. I get bored. I drag my feet and whine about finishing and either toss it aside or spend the next two weeks slowly chipping away at it while losing my mind.

That didn’t happen with Home Work. In one sitting I went from 3% to 43% and I could barely believe it. It felt like I had barely been reading at all. One of the few things I knew about Julie Andrews was that she likes PG tips tea (which I learned off the commentary of Princess Diaries) so it was so nice to learn more about her. For instance, I didn’t know she had more than one child or that she lived in Switzerland. I loved hearing little stories from Mary Poppins and Sound of Music (also big favorites of mine).

I really enjoyed this memoir with it’s pacing and I hope that Julie writes another one. Maybe this time reaching Princess Diaries? Please? Maybe one just on her experience with Princess Diaries… jk jk unless….

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Have you read Home Work? What did you think? What is your favorite Julie Andrews movie?

I Love Spring || Book Tag

I don’t know about y’all but Spring is one of my favorite seasons. I love the warmth coming back and all of the flowers growing. It just feels so special. That’s why I decided to do this tag.

1) How is Spring where you live?

I live in Maryland so Spring can be one of those sometimes it is warm (the other day it was 81) or it can be a little chilly (yesterday was in the 40s).

2) Most anticipated book release this Spring?

I want to read so many books coming out that I can’t pick just one.

3) Show us a book cover that makes you think of Spring:

4) Where are you going to read this Spring?

Probably outside at our table or inside on my bed with the window open.

5) Find a cover with the sun on it!

6) What are your favorite Spring reads?

I don’t really seasonal read so I don’t have a good answer for this one haha.

7) Find a book with many different colors on it?