Category: Features

Bout of Books 15 Wrap-Up

Posted January 10, 2016 / Book Challenges, Features / 4 Comments

As usual, I had to sign up for my favorite readathon. If you don’t know, here are the details: The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 4th and runs through Sunday, January 10th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 15 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team This is my favorite readathon because it just adds a little fun to your reading. I usually will read about 3 books in a 7 day span, so I chose to increase that number a little bit by including an extra book and maybe a graphic novel. Goal Read at least five books, including one graphic novel / novella if needed! Potential TBR I picked these ones because I was either already reading them, had them checked out from the library, or needed to read it for a blog tour. I also said I would potentially “cheat” and boost my number with a graphic novel, so I included the one I was aiming to read. Progress & Tracking Monday January 4th Started SEE HOW THEY RUN Continued HARRY POTTER #7 (audio & physical mix) Tuesday January 5th Continued HARRY POTTER #7 (audio & physical mix) […]

Organization Part Three: My Planner(s)

Posted January 7, 2016 / Discussions, Features / 13 Comments

Inspired by my recent organizational acquisitions (and posts by Hannah), I wanted to share some information about how I keep myself organized – primarily for blogging and reading, but also a little about my personal organization, too. Part Three: Finding a Planning Rhythm OH HEY, remember this series? I previously talked about my Traveler’s Notebook and Book Bag last year, but I’m here again to update you on some planning-related THINGS. First thing’s first, a little update about my previous two posts in this series… because some things have changed. Updates! On my book bag → I don’t really carry all that shit around to work anymore. To be frank, I got lazy. That’s really all it comes down to. I started sleeping later and now give myself less time to jerk around in the morning. I started realizing that I really don’t give myself time at work to plan or read during my lunch breaks anymore. So why lug it around? On my notebooks/foxy dori → I still use this… in general. I’ve become terrible at taking bookish notes these days (and I feel like my reviews reflect that. Whoops!). I just don’t feel like dealing with it. I still love my Foxy Dori but need to find a better use for some of those notebooks. I like holding my bookmarks in there and recording quotes, but I don’t fully use it like I used to. I still love the idea, but just need to re-evaluate how I’m using it. My Planner-Related Timeline of Failures […]

Why I Join and Love Reading Challenges

Posted January 6, 2016 / Discussions, Features / 14 Comments

I love the beginning of one year and end of another, primarily for the wrap-up posts and surveys everyone shares. Creeping on books is the best! But, another reason I love it is because of READING CHALLENGES. I know there are countless people out there who have opinions on reading challenges, and I think they generally fall into one of two camps: GIVE ME ALL THE CHALLENGES. I love them and they’re fun and motivating! GIVE ME NO CHALLENGES. I hate the pressure, regardless of the goal I set. No thanks. It goes without saying that both of these outlooks are F-I-N-E to have. I obviously happen to fall into the first bucket of people because I generally loooove challenges and readathons and readalongs. I just think they’re fun and they tend to motivate me. Even though it looks like I over-do it and go willy-nilly on the sign-ups, there’s a method to my madness. Today let’s talk a bit about reading challenges and why I like them! When I hit my first full year of blogging, I made sure to sign up for a lot of yearly challenges. I finally could! I started blogging in July 2014, so I kept waiting and waiting for 2015 to hit. I ended up signing up for a total of 9 challenges that happened during most or all of the year. You’ve all probably seen my wrap-up posts and surveys, so you may already know that I completed every challenge except for one. That’s pretty solid, […]

Must Read in 2016 (Link-Up + Giveaway)

Posted January 3, 2016 / Book Challenges, Features / 28 Comments

At the end of ever year, I think about all of the books I didn’t get around to reading. Some books I was SO EXCITED for and maybe even preordered, but didn’t read them. Sometimes other books get in the way or my mood isn’t right. Sometimes I genuinely have no idea why I didn’t read the book yet. I tweeted this the other day and I wish I had a dollar for every person who agreed or related. THEN AN IDEA WAS BORN. There are other challenges out there that aim to get your TBR pile down (backlist books and/or books you already own) that I plan on partaking in. There are some readathons coming up that can help you wipe the slate clean for 2016 as well (more info later in the post!). But what I wanted was a super casual link-up where you just decide I’M GOING TO READ THESE BOOKS OR ELSE. Introducing… There are really no rules for this. I almost wanted to just call this a book tag because it really only involves writing ONE POST. Here’s what I’m thinking for this ridiculously easy and (can I just say the word again?) CASUAL challengey link-up: 1. Write a blog post or create a Goodreads shelf that shows what books you were HYPED for last year but somehow never got around to. It doesn’t have to be 2015 releases – just any book you discovered and got excited about, but never read. (PSSST, […]

Bookmark Lit Bulletin – December 2015, Year-End, and Countdown Survey

Posted January 2, 2016 / Bookmark Lit Bulletin, Features, Wrap-Ups / 9 Comments

The Bookmark Lit Bulletin was created to wrap up each month and prepare for the next. I share my life happenings, book haul, books I read and reviewed, posts I shared, challenge updates, and more from the previous month. I also let you know what may be coming up on the blog in the coming month. You can read past bulletins here and learn more about the feature here. Special things in this month’s bulletin: (Links will jump to their section on this long-ass post!) 2015 Wrap-Up | stats, breakdowns, favorites, numbers, etc. December 2015 Wrap-Up | the standard BL Bulletin stuff Countdown Survey | hosted by Novel Ink, counting down faves For some more 2015 wrap-up posts, you can see my End of Year Survey and Statistics Survey! For a full list of challenges and more specific goals, check here! 105 Challenge – Completed Goal: Read 105 books based on the prompts I selected ahead of time. I can’t believe I finished this one. Honestly, I expected to bail on it… but when I started analyzing the kinds of books I had left, it motivated me to finish up! Reread Challenge – Not Completed Goal: Reread the 17 books I selected ahead of time. (Harry Potter series, John Green’s books, a few by Sarah Dessen, etc.) I was able to finish over half of the AMOUNT of books needed, but didn’t focus on the books I selected themselves. It’s alright. This was the ONEEE challenge I didn’t finish! Library Challenge – Completed Goal: Read 28 or […]

Inside & Out #21: Krystianna from Downright Dystopian

Posted December 28, 2015 / Features, Inside and Out / 4 Comments

Admiring book covers and bookmarks, shared by you! Welcome to INSIDE AND OUT. This feature includes two of my absolute favorite book-related things: bookmarks (inside) and book covers (out)! I’ve invited guest posters to share their favorite book covers and bookmarks here on the second and fourth Mondays of each month. Sign-ups are always open (see bottom of post)! Check out past posts here. Krystianna from Downright Dystopian Twitter: @dwnritdystopian| Instagram: @downrightdystopian | Goodreads Tell me a little about yourself: I’m seventeen years old and a senior in high school. When I’m not reading books, I can usually be found either playing Xbox or watching Netflix. It’s quite a life I lead, as you can tell. Talk about your blog (what you blog about/kinds of books, features, etc.): I blog mainly about young adult books of all genres, though sometimes there’s children’s or adult books too. As long as it’s intriguing, I’m bound to read it and review it! I also do interviews on my blog and occasionally recommend my favorite music. Favorite genre: Science fiction! Three books you recommend most often and why: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: I recommend this one so much because it’s what got me into the dystopian genre. Plus there’s still some people who haven’t read it! Gated by Amy Christine Parker: I found this book to be so entirely creepy and now that I think about it, it kind of connects with the Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. If you like that show, check out Gated! The Wolves of Mercy […]

2016 Challenge Sign-Ups | Bout of Books 15

Posted December 21, 2015 / Book Challenges, Features / 10 Comments

I signed up for a lot of challenges last year because it was my first full blogging calendar year. It was a lot of fun and I actually met about 90% of my goals. (Damn you, Reread Challenge!) I plan to sign up for quite a few this year as well – some old favorites and some new ones! I started curating this post at the beginning of December and slowly added challenges as I saw them pop up. Here’s what I plan on tackling this year! Don’t judge me. Hosted by: Love at First Page and Gone with the Words | Details Purpose: Read as many Contemporary Romance books you’d like, based on different levels you choose at the beginning. They must be plain ol’ Contemporaries – just no paranormal, sci-fi, fantasy, etc. Novellas (100+ pages) and rereads also count.Reading goal: Grand Slam level – read 21+ books | Contemporary Romance is my favorite genre, so I would be incredibly surprised if I didn’t read this many books. It sounds ambitious, but over 50% of my books read last year were in this genre. That’s about 90 books. This will be easy peasy, especially considering that I have 500+ books on that shelf to choose from. Other goals: There will be monthly topic link-ups to participate in, so that would be a fun thing to add to my Bookmark Lit Bulletin wrap-up each month! Hosted by: That Artsy Reader Girl | Details Purpose: Read as many books published by 2016 debut authors in the Middle Grade, Young […]

Help Me Deal with HYPE!

Posted December 17, 2015 / Discussions, Features / 39 Comments

After reading yet another book I felt like a huge black sheep about, I decided to work through my feelings about hype and how much I often want to punch it. There have been lots of books that bloggers love and I feel the need to add to my TBR. I’m totally okay with this because GIMME THE BOOKS. But, sometimes the books are so effing hyped that my expectations skyrocket. I don’t mind hype it leads me to great books, but I hate when I have the highest of hopes that this book will be utter perfection. Anything less than than that leads to utter disappointment, regardless of how good the book actually is. I try not to get bogged down by the hype, but I can’t help it. Usually my expectations are too high and the books won’t meet them. Here’s my hype-o-meter to show seven levels of hype that I see surrounding some books. This is just my personal opinion and scale, so hop off me if you don’t agree. It’s just based on what I’ve observed and how I’ve perceived certain books. Let me explain my categories a bit more: Level One includes books that are very under the radar, underrated, or not widely buzzed about. Not a lot of people have read them or heard about them. Not many reviews = not a lot of expectations. You can set your own. Level Two are books that you personally hype up for yourself, even if others haven’t. (For me, this was […]

Inside & Out #20: Alexa from Alexa Loves Books

Posted December 14, 2015 / Features, Inside and Out / 5 Comments

Admiring book covers and bookmarks, shared by you! Welcome to INSIDE AND OUT. This feature includes two of my absolute favorite book-related things: bookmarks (inside) and book covers (out)! I’ve invited guest posters to share their favorite book covers and bookmarks here on the second and fourth Mondays of each month. Sign-ups are always open (see bottom of post)! Check out past posts here. Alexa from Alexa Loves Books Twitter: @alexalovesbooks| Instagram: @alexaysantiago| YouTube | Tumblr Tell me a little about yourself: I’m Alexa, 26, living in New York. I was born in the US, moved back to the Philippines and lived there for 12 years, and then finally returned to the US in 2010. I got married to my husband in 2013, and he was able to join me in the US in late 2014. I’m constantly have my nose stuck in a book, particularly because I spend so much time commuting! I love writing stories, organizing (my books, my house, my clothes, anything really), traveling (to places I’ve never been and places I’ve seen before) and blogging (because it’s so fun)! Talk about your blog (what you blog about/kinds of books, features, etc.): I’m an obsessive reader, always in search of my next bookish adventure, and I like sharing my thoughts on what I’ve read on the blog! It is my safe place to share my opinions, concoct fun events and features and even get personal occasionally. I mostly talk about YA novels, but I do on occasion feature adult and MG novels too! I also […]

Cover Love Part 2

Posted December 10, 2015 / Book Lists, Features / 9 Comments

I wrote a post back in the day about some of my favorite book covers. This was long before I invented Inside & Out and Cover Colors, two features that (even more so) show how obsessed I am with book covers. In that post, I featured a bunch of covers that appear on my Goodreads “Cover Love” shelf… 64 covers, to be exact. Because apparently I’m crazy. But, anyways, I’m here being crazy again because I figured I would update! My cover tastes definitely haven’t changed and I still think you SHOULD judge a book by its cover, but my cover love shelf is now even larger. This post features a grand total of 66 covers. So apparently I just get crazier with time. Without further ado, here are the newest covers that are privileged enough to join the Cover Love shelf!