Television review: Wolf Hall

Thomas Cromwell, born as the son of a blacksmith, has worked himself up to secretary of Cardinal Wolsey. After the downfall of the cardinal because of his critisism of King Henry VIII, Cromwell becomes an advisor of the King himself. He quickly grows in importance and has to walk a tight rope to escape being sucked into the treachery and intrigue at Henry's court.

Thesis talk

I submitted my PhD thesis yesterday! Four years of work on paper and now out of my hands :-S

  

The thesis will now be read by the so-called 'reading committee' of 5 professors. And then I will have to have the thesis designed and printed as a booklet. And then there's the thesis defence date at the 21st of June. So, I'm not completely done, but this is one big step nonetheless!
(No more writing and editing, no more evening and weekend work in the coming time, more time to read and relax!)

Book review: Dear Mr Knightley

Samantha Moore grew up in foster care and learned to survive by hiding in books. In the company of her beloved fictional characters she feels save. After college and a failed attempt at a big city job, Samantha gets the opportunity of a lifetime when the anonymous benefactor who calls himself Mr Knightley offers her a scholarship to Medill School of Journalism. The only condition is that Samantha writes regular letters to Mr Knightley. Samantha starts her education, but finds out writing isn't as easy as she thought and neither is growing up. But when she starts making real friends in her classmate Ashley, fellow foster kid Kyle and famous novelist Alex Powell her life really starts to change.

Television review: 24 Hours in the Past

In 24 Hours in the Past, six British celebrities go back to the 19th century to live the life of the Victorian working class. They will live and work at four different places: the dust yard, the coaching inn, the potteries and end up in the worst place of all: the workhouse!

Period Drama Challenge

Look at this: Miss Laurie from Old-Fashioned Charm is organizing a Period Drama Challenge again, like she did in 2013! The challenge is given to inspire people to review the period dramas they watch and I'm going to join. I'm choosing the level Period Drama Lover, which means I plan to review 8 productions between now and July 2nd.

I'm watching Poldark at the moment (and loving it so far!), when I finish that (and review ofcourse), I have some other period dramas on my TBW (to be watched) list:

Series/mini-series:
- Indian Summers (1930's, Channel 4)
- Home Fires (WWII, BBC)
- ANZAC girls (WWI, Australian production)
- Passing Bells (WWI, BBC)
- When Calls the Heart series 2 (1910s, Hallmark)

Movies:
- The red baron (WWI)
- The Monuments Men (WWII)
- Summer in February (Edwardian)
- Red Tails (WWII)
- Brooklyn (1950s)
- Belle (Georgian)

What do you think of my list? Are there any you've already seen and you would suggest me to watch ASAP? Do you have other suggestions?

Maybe some of you would like to join as well? Then click the banner, which will bring you to Miss Laurie's blog!

End of the Year - Book Survey

Here we are again with the annual End Of Year Book Survey, hosted by The Perpetual Page Turner. I had a lot of fun looking back at my reading in 2015 and answering these questions. I hope you enjoy reading about it and let me know your thoughts if you've also read some of the books I mention here!

2015 READING STATS

Number Of Books You Read: 59. A little less than last year, when I read 66 books, but considering how busy I've been, I'm quite satisfied!
Number of Re-Reads: Only 1,5/2 (I reread Lady Susan and The Watsons by Jane Austen, but they are both so short, I wonder if you can call it 2)
Genre You Read The Most From: Historical fiction/historical romance

Christmas Specials 2015

A bit late maybe, but I've been busy 'holidaying'! Still, here are my thoughts on the Christmas specials this year!