🍚 Year of the Asian Reading Challenge – #YARC2020

i’m so excited to say that i will, once again, be participating in the Year of the Asian reading challenge this year!! #YARC2020 is hosted by the wonderful lily @sprinkles of dreams, shealea @shut up shealea , cw @ the quiet pond, and vicky @vicky who reads

if you don’t already know, YARC is a year long challenge to read as many books by Asian authors as you possibly can! there are really cute stickers to celebrate each level you achieve and i found it to be really chill and easygoing that is to say, you should join!!

last year, i somehow managed to successfully grab the Bengali Tiger by reading more than 50 books by asian authors.

Blogging and Me – our toxic relationship 😷

Okay, so maybe the title is exaggerating the sliiiiightest bit.

the toxic part of this relationship is me ghosting on my little blog baby every few months and my blog accepting me back everytime I return and say ‘im sorry I’ll never leave you again like that’ because like really, it’s a blog, it doesn’t have much of a say in anything I do

Ever since I started this blog, I always felt like I was moving against this invisible force. I don’t know why, but I think I put a lot of personal mental pressure on myself this is a reoccurring theme in my life to make my blog the ~*best*~ it could be

And clearly, it wasn’t working.

Genre Deep Dive: Mystery/Thriller – time to embrace your inner sherlock holmes, we’ve got mysteries to solve

last month, I introduced a new series if you will to my blog called “Genre Deep Dive” in which we explored a beginner’s guide to the High Fantasy genre. If you want to see the first segment of this series, you can read it HERE

 

a quick recap on what this series is all about and why it exists:

📌 after reading almost exclusively young adult fiction for the past 4 years, i wanted to branch out and become a cultured potato try genres out of my comfort zone

📌 with the intention of cataloguing my feelings, experiences, and thoughts on these books in a beneficial way, i decided to make this into a series where i explore 10 books from a genre

📌 i won’t be reviewing these books from a personal standpoint, i want to make this series a guide of sorts and approachable for everyone, especially people who are new to the genre and want to know where to start 

📌 so i will list pros and cons for each book yes, even the ones i love dearly, i had to CRUSH my biased feelings and be objective about it. such a sad choice.

📌 basically, i’m doing all the hard work for you so the least you could do is read my favourites from the list and come cry with me about them??? it could work like group therapy 😊

📌 alsoooo, all the graphics featured in this post were drawn by moi and i’m very proud of how they LOOK and it’s made me so excited to keep practicing and sharing my art in these kind of posts

and here we go, with our deep dive into *Mystery/Thriller*

showering my favs with love!! – the Third Annual Book Blogger Awards

big, big THANKS to this monster, may @ forever and everly for hosting the Third Annual Book Bloggers Award, an award meant to boost and appreciate book bloggers for all their hard work and dedication. i could make this a long, sappy introduction on how great it is for may to be hosting this, but i’m already going to sap her later on in this post, so we can just skip all the semantics though, i would like to know how she manages to stay so organized and clear-headed with all the projects she takes on,,,,,,,,answer the question, may

this post took WAY too long for me to write and i know i’m pushing the deadline I’M SORRY i’m trying my best and this was way harder than i expected and i somehow forgot how to write and speak english for the past week, so everything sounds redundant and !!!! but we’re working with what we got.

so without further babbling, allow me to shower some beautiful, hard-working bloggers with love and validation bc i’m a sappy little potato 🥔

~ also, i’m super sorry if you weren’t featured in this post, plz know that i couldn’t include ALL my favourite bloggers (that list would be endless) and that i still loves you and appreciate you ~

year of the asian reading challenge – #YARC2019 🎉🎊

*when lily @sprinkles of dreams, shealea @shut up shealea , cw @ the quiet pond, and vicky @vicky who reads announced #YARC2019*

me: ✨🌟✨💫🎊‼️🎉💫🎊🌟🎉🎆‼️✨🌟🎊🎉🎆‼️✨🎊🌟🎉🎇✨💫🎉🎊

that is to say, my little asian heart is very happy.

❄️December Bullet Journal❄️

hi hi hi,

so this is bullet journal thing is pretty much getting SUPER repetitive bc every month is //the same// spreads but slightly tweaked……i guess y’all are stuck with me until i get too tired and give up myself, huh, that’s fun 🙂

as you can probably tell by looking through these, i love winter and im v happy the cold has settled in (got my hoodies and fluffy socks out) and now its socially acceptable to drink hot chocolate at any and every given moment. so yay for that.

this month seems really plain to me fhldkafjka

~ i get my inspiration from the spreads from different artists on pinterest, so if youre interested in starting, probably check there ~

snowflakes, winter, bad resolution, we got it all here.

February Wrap Up – 2018

Well I’m a hot mess.

For sure im going to place approximately 34.45% blame for my reading failures on the fact that february is like 3 days shorter than it //should// be. I totally would have been able to finish 3 books in that time. pshhh, do you even know me?

On a completely unrelated topic, why are some months 31 days while february remains being the ugly duckling?? IS THERE A REASON FOR THIS THAT IM UNAWARE OF???

beware: 80% of the “reviews” listed below are not actually reviews and actually just a jumbled mess of a few words

 

1. Together at Midnight

Full review here!

2. Moonrise

Full review here!

3. Midnight at the Electric

Full review here!

4. The Wrath and the Dawn (reread)

Full review here!

5. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Full review here!

6. All the Rage (reread)

Full review here!

7. Fall for Anything (reread)

Full review here!

8. Some Girls Are (reread)

Full review here!

9. Cracked up to Be (reread)

Full review here!

10. We Come Apart

Full review here!

 

Technically, it looks like I had an amazing reading month since well, I had so many high rated reads but, but, but, let’s also bring to attention the fact that practically ALL of them are rereads.

Rereads are good okay.

Also, only 10 books 😐

who. am. I????

Anyways, I’m going to try and push March to be a hella productive reading month but we’ll seeeeeeeee. Good luck to everyone and i hope your march is filled with 5 star reads and warm socks.

December Wrap Up – 2017

DECEMBER IS OVVVERRRR!! While the rest of the world celebrates the new years, i’m over here stuck on the last couple hours 😐 what are time zones honestly.

this month i REALLY pushed myself to read a hella lot of books (and lots of short poetry/comics) in order to push my reading challenge along bc YIKES

anyways here is my dec. wrap up:

1. Piper
   
   Full review here!
   
2. Without Merit
   
   Full review here!
   
3. The Final Empire (audiobook)Full review here!
   
4. The Law of Moses
   Full review here!
   
5. The Traitor’s Kiss
   Full review here!
   
6. Six of Crows (reread)
   Full review here!
   
7. Shadowsong
   Full review here!
   
8. Salt.
   Full review here!
   
9. A Study in Charlotte
   Full review here!
   
10. The Serpent King
    Full review here!
    
11. Foolish Hearts
    Full review here!
     
12. Forest of a Thousand Lanterns
    Full review here!
     
13. Blood Red Road
    Full review here!
     
14. Love, Life, & the List
    Full review here!
     
15. Crooked Kingdom (reread)
    Full review here!
     
16. On the Jellicoe Road (reread)
    Full review here!
     
17. Dash and Lily’s Book of Dares (reread)
    Full review here!
     

18. Red Winter
Full review here!

As you can clearly see, i did a LOT of rereads in december (v much unlike me but oh well) and i ENJOYED them immensely honestly i can’t even begin to tell you how lucky i got with my book choices this month. SO MANY NEW and old FAVS!!

and we’re going on into a new year so i wish everyone a fantastic 2018 that is very fulfilling and filled with happiness and books and warm cups of tea.

have a great first day everyone,

Top 10 Winter-Esque Books

IT’S COLD. IT’S COLD. IT’S COLD AND I AM HAPPY.

Thank goodness. Finally.

Technically, it hasn’t snowed yet (in a real way, flurries don’t really count) but we’ve hit the negative digits in temperature and that’s how I know it’s time to pull out the balloons and mark the passing of summer.

And the socks and sweaters too.

And while I’m all nice and cozy in my sweaters and sipping my hot chocolate, there is no GREATER feeling than reading a book taking place in winter. So, I have come to you with a list of books you NEED to read while it’s still cold out.

this list took me a really long time to compile

10. How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr

 

I don’t remember much from this book other than that it was about family!! and it took place in winter!! (i mean, the cover kinda gives it away) and that it was sweet and nice and cute.

 

9. Darkest Part of the Forest

 

this isn’t ACTUALLY set in winter, i dont recall, but i got the vibe of late autumn, so it still counts because its still cold okay dont look at me like that.

 

8. Hunted

 

Now this one, does in fact, take place in winter. And it’s also kind of creepy but it was a pretty decent book to say the least.

 

 

7. Salt to Sea

 

I don’t know what to tell you man, this book is going to ruin you. 😐 Just make sure to bring a box of tissues

 

 

6. The Edge of Everything

 

I wasn’t wholly impressed by this book. It did give me intense winter feels but that was probably the greatest thing about it

 

 

5. Night Circus

 

JAFIOEJAIUFOHAIOUFHADS THIS BOOK IS PERFECTION.

Once again, it’s more autumn-y vibes than winter but this is legit the best book is snuggle up with on a cold day, no regrets.

 

4. Wintersong

 

I mean, just look at the title. *insert obnoxious wink here*

Okay but really, this is the kind of book that reminds you of cold and darkness and decay, even though it’s a gorgeous book in all sense of the word.

 

3. Dash and Lily

 

These two books are hilarious and sweet and hartwarming and just like the EXACT feeling of drinking hot chocolate, AND IT TAKES PLACE IN WINTER TOO!

 

 

2. My True Love Gave to Me

 

This is legit an anthology by some of the greatest modern YA authors about cute winter romances

i mean…does it get better? no it probably doesnt

 

1. What Light

 

i FRICKEN LOVE THIS BOOK SO MUCH AND IM GOING TO REREAD IT AS SOON AS THE SNOW STARTS FALLING

it’s your cute contemporary set in the holidays but SERIOUSLY I LOVED IT

 

Alright kids, that’s all I got for you. It took me slightly too long to compile this list bc yikes why don’t we have A LOT of amazing winter reads??? someone needs to do something about this.

But I got you covered this season! Happy reading peeps.

 

December TBR – 2017

December. Wow.

This year has been something else. While there were a lot of //not// so great things, there was also an abundance of absolutely incredible things and one that ranks pretty high is this blog i made and the community and other bloggers who are literal balls of sunshine that are supportive and caring and I really need to stop now and get on with this TBR.

1. Unearthed

Aime Kaufman and Meagan Spooner are back at it again trying to crush my soul and get my heart racing. I hear this is an Indiana-Jones-esque-sci-fi-mash-up-something-incredible that’s what it sounds like.

2. Foolish Hearts

AAAAAAAAAAAAAA EMMA MILLS HAS A NEW BOOK BEING RELEASED IN DECEMBER I CANT BREATHE