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Autumn Tag: Are You Ready For Sweater Weather?!

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This tag was created by Jenn and the picture above was created by her as well! I saw this tag on both Emer’s and Amanda’s blogs and decided I wanted to participate too!

Despite autumn being one of the most, if not the most, stressful time of year for me, it’s also genuinely my favorite time of the year. If I could live in perpetual autumn I would be happy forever.

I’M SO GLAD I LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE THERE ARE OCTOBERS!! Now, onto questions.

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Hot chocolate : What is your comfort book?

Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson. I also think that I can include The Unexpected Everything by her on there too. They both just make me feel warm and fuzzy inside and I’ve read them so many times when I need to get those feelings back again.

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Pumpkin carving: What is your favorite creative outlet?

Watercolor painting! I am a creative person by nature and while I love doing things like photography, writing, crocheting, and sewing, all of those have stressful aspects to me. The main reason that they’re stressful is because I sell a lot of the pieces that I make and of course most of my writing is on my blog which I have given myself a “schedule” for so they all have bits of deadlines and pressure. Watercolor is the one thing that I do that’s just for me. It’s also the only “physical” art that I do that doesn’t stress me out! It’s so easy to change things and adapt the piece you’re working on. I love it!!

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Falling leaves: Changes that appear bad that you secretly love

The dropping temperatures and all the rainy days. While I don’t love being cold all the time, I do enjoy getting to put away my summer clothes and not having daily heat induced migraines anymore. And rainy days are genuinely my favorite. I love gloom and hearing the pitter patter of rain on the roof. The only thing I hate about rain is having to drive in it, it’s something I don’t think I’ll ever get used to.

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Pumpkin spice latte: Something you love that others tend to judge

Three things immediately came to mind when I saw this:

  1. Peeps & Candy corn & Sprinkles
  2. Puns
  3. Glitter

Look, I get it… Peeps and candy corn are pure sugar and they’re totally gross but they’re also pure sugar and pure gross deliciousness. I can’t help it that I am a disgusting sugar troll who enjoys these things, I just do. And yes sprinkles are pure sugar as well but rainbow sprinkles are pure happiness in physical form.

And also, puns are wonderful. It makes no sense to me that people judge me for this but I have on numerous occasions by former roommates and partners been judged by my unabashed love of puns.

I used to work in a craft store and most of my coworkers despised glitter… We all referred to it as the herpes of the craft world because once it got on you, well, it was never going to go away. Like I still find glitter from that store on various items I own (the shoes that I currently have on actually have some glitter on them from 2017 Christmas season). So while most people were hating on the glitter, I genuinely didn’t mind it. I think it’s so fun and it makes me happy!

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Bonfire night: Something that makes you explode with joy

Cute animals. Specifically cats and red pandas. I do not have any pictures of red pandas but enjoy some pictures I’ve taken of my cats recently:

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Fright night: Favorite scary book or film

So my favorite scary film is Oculus! Most of the time I get so bored with scary movies because I get annoyed with how illogical it all is but Oculus was so good in my opinion.

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I don’t have a favorite scary book but I want to mention that if any of you ever get the chance to see The Woman in Black in play format, GO SEE IT. Truly one of the most suspenseful shows I’ve ever seen, absolutely genius execution. Such a great experience.

And one last one that I want to mention is a horror (if you can call it that) film called Black Sand. It’s a Deaf film so it’s all done in ASL and I watched it back in high school in my ASL class. It is one of the funniest, most outrageous movies I’ve ever seen and I want everyone to watch it.

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Halloween candy: Favorite sweets to eat

Sour gummies of any kind! I’m also not opposed to most chocolate but sour stuff is what I eat far too much of.

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Scarves: You Autumn must have accessory

Socks!! Once the temperatures start dropping I am cold 24/7 so that means I can break out the fun socks! I own way too many pairs of socks but I literally cannot stop buying them.

Also, fun fact, most of my socks also have puns on them. Yesterday I wore a pair that had figs on them that said “it’s figgin fall!” I also have a really awesome pair of cowboy snowmen, but those are more for winter.

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Fire: A book or film that burns your soul

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The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan. This feels like an odd choice the more I think about it, but this book burns. It’s beautiful and inspiring and so sad. I wrote a post on it a while back if you want to check that out. It’s at this link. Marina is one of my biggest inspirations and one of the main reasons that I am trying so hard to find a purpose for my life. Everyone should read some of her work.

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Toffee Apples: A book or film that seems one big thing but really has a different inside

Cloud Atlas

I don’t know why but the one thing that keeps coming to mind when I read this is Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell. While the description of the book definitely goes into how big the nuances are within the book, it just blows my mind to see the interwoven story. I rewatched the movie recently and while I definitely want to reread the book too I have to say that the movie brought back so many of the thoughts that I originally had. It just brings forth so many questions about fate and time and the universe and has me questioning everything. If you’re into really complicated and nuanced books, I highly recommend it. And if you’re not that into complicated and nuanced books, I highly recommend the movie too!

 

Reader Problems Tag

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Decided to do another tag today! This was posted over on Thrice Read the other day and I decided I really wanted to do another tag so here we are! The original tag was posted by About To Read on Youtube back in 2014!

You have 20,000 books on your TBR. How in the world do you decide what to read next?

I usually panic and go over all of the books a million times until I pick a book randomly. Then go scroll through social media instead of reading. Then pick an e-book instead. Go back to social media. Read a chapter in one book, maybe read that book. Repeat in a variety of patterns and so on.

I’m really not good at picking books.

You’re halfway through a book and you’re just not loving it. Do you put it down or are you committed?

It depends on why I’m reading the book. If I’m reading it to review it, I force myself to get through it. I just feel like if I was provided a copy to review, I can at least give it the time to finish it. I might put it down temporarily though and come back to it in a few hours or days… Or weeks.

Most of the time I’ll just put the book down though for either a brief or extended period of time until I either feel like I can pick it up again or if I decide to pass it on.

The end of the year is coming and you’re behind on your reading challenge. Do you try to catch up? And if so, how?

This year I only challenged myself to read 12 books. So that would come out to one book a month. When I had chosen the goal, I really wasn’t sure if I was going to continue wanting to read as much as I was motivated to at the time. I think that the yearly reading challenge is fun to keep track of all the books that I’ve read but I will probably from here on out just set my goal to 12. So in case I have another bad year then I won’t feel guilty for not reading.

But to people who actually do use the challenge to actually try and beat a challenge, good on you!! And graphic novels are always a great way to catch up if you’re behind 😉

The covers of a series you love do not match. How do you cope?

Just accept it and move on. A lot of my series have mismatched covers. I have series that are hardcovers and paperbacks and even some series that I have some physical books and some e-books… Now that shows how ambivalent I am to the situation.

If the cover change makes the books uglier, I cry a little and curse the publishers but then just move on. I’m definitely not a person to care about the aesthetic of books on a shelf. I just want the books!

Everyone and their mothers love a book that you do not. Who do you bond with over your shared feelings?

I would probably just write a review on it? Rant a little bit? I usually keep this kind of stuff to myself. Sometimes I can talk to my best friend if she’s around when I’m thinking about the book but usually I just keep my thoughts to myself. I don’t exactly have anyone that I can go to to talk about stuff like this.

My roommates used to be great to rant to but I live with my family again and they don’t want to hear it.

You’re reading a book in public and you’re about to start crying. How do you deal?

If I can hide the fact that I’m crying, I’ll just cry. I’m really good at silently crying. But I tend to also just not cry if I’m in public no matter how sad I am? Like tears will well, but that’s about as far as it goes.

The sequel to a book you loved just came out but you’ve forgotten a lot of what happens. Are you going to reread it?

This is what happens with almost every single book with a sequel… I will get super hyped for the sequel and maybe even buy it and have every intention to reread the first one and then hop straight into the sequel…. And then it just sits there. Forever.

If I don’t wait until a series is fully out to read, I can guarantee there’s a good chance that I won’t finish it in a timely manner.

You do not want anyone borrow your books. How do you politely say no when someone asks?

No one borrows my books. I just tell people that my books have been stolen in the past and I don’t feel comfortable loaning them out. Which is the truth. I used to loan people books all the time! I used to love loaning people books! But then my ex stole about six or seven of my favorite books of all time and that was the end of that. Also I’ve never quite gotten over the time I loaned some books to my aunt and she gave them back covered in coffee stains (only I am allowed to physically ruin my books).

You have picked up and put down 5 books in the last month. How do you get over this reading slump?

Sit on social media and mindlessly scroll until I’m so mad at myself for doing that that I pick up a book I know I love and reread it. Works every time. Might take a few days or a week or something but it works.

There are so many books coming out that you are dying to read. How many do you end up buying?

Just the ones I know I’ll want to reread someday! If it’s a book that I think I’ll only read once, I’ll get it from the library. Actually most of the time I’ll try to get the books I want from the library before I buy them. It just kind of depends on how much money I have to spend on books. I’m actually pretty good at just waiting for books from the library.

Ater you purchase all of these books that you’ve been dying to read, how long do they sit on your shelves before you get to them?

I will usually pick up at least one book right away. Then it just depends on what I feel like reading because I’m definitely a mood reader. So if I’m in a contemporary mood and I bought a lot of fantasy, well they’ll sit there until I’m in a fantasy mood. Or vice versa. Or whatever.

So there we have it, the Reader Problems Tag. Let me know if you’ve done this one before, or if you decide to do it, comment the link to your post so I can read your answers!

Guilty Reader Book Tag

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So Emer over at A Little Haze Book Blog posted this tag the other day (here’s a link to her post) and I immediately knew that I wanted to do this tag as well! It was originally made by ReadsLikeWildfire on YouTube and has since been making the rounds.

I think this is such a fun tag because it really shows how different people can be when it comes to reading habits!

Have you ever said you’ve read a book when you haven’t?

In school? Oh 100%, all the time. Almost every single book that was required of me to read in high school I never finished reading. I got really good at bullshitting my way through every single assignment in my English classes.

And in real life? Yes. Also yes. The main example of this that popped into my head was Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I say she’s one of my favorite authors and that I love her books but in truth I’ve never actually finished one.

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Have you ever borrowed a book and not returned it?

Yes…………

Okay but in my defense I borrowed this book with every intention of returning it. I swear I’m going to return it. I just need to suck it up and ask my professor where I can mail the copy to.

I borrowed a book from one of my professors and then ended up dropping out of that school and couldn’t go anywhere on the campus except the dining hall without panicking so I never went to his office again in order to return the book. And now I live almost three hours away from that school and I’m too chicken to email my professor and apologize for stealing the book and asking him how I can get it back to him.

Have you ever read a series out of order?

Not since I was a kid! At least not any that I can think of! But when I was younger I had this really great skill of finding a book that looked super interesting and then buying it without realizing it was a part of a series… Luckily so many middle grade series have enough introductory information at the beginning of each book that it was easy to get away with. The two that I for sure know I read out of order were the Gilda Joyce series by Jennifer Allison as well as the Gallagher Girl series by Ally Carter.

Also speaking of introductory information in books, the whole time I was writing that sentence in my mind all I could think of was Junie B. Jones (My name is Junie B. Jones, the B stands for Beatrice except I don’t like Beatrice. I just like B and that’s all.) Iconic introduction.

Have you ever spoiled a book for someone?

Yup. Never on purpose but if I really need to talk about a book to someone I’ll usually just ask a friend if they ever intend on reading the book or if they care about spoilers and then just rant to them about whatever I needed to. There’s a good chance I probably spoiled books for my sister while we were growing up as well but she also didn’t start enjoying reading until almost middle school and I talked a lot…

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And on the topic of spoiling books. Somehow in my lifetime I have been immensely lucky with avoiding spoilers, usually I have to seek out spoilers in order to find something out. One thing that I did get spoiled on was Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. My mom told me because she thought that I had already read the book and I still wonder what my reading experience would have been like had I not known of Dumbledore’s fate. Also was that a purposeful spoiler? Maybe… But like Harry Potter is old news at this point lol.

Have you ever dog eared a book?

Definitely! And ripped covers, cracked spines, dropped in water, spilled food on, cried on, written in, etc. etc. My books are well loved and while I used to hoard bookmarks, I genuinely can’t be bothered to keep them around anymore because I literally NEVER use them. Now I tend to just leave my book flipped open to the page I’m on if I’m reading a physical book or if I’m reading a hardcover I use the dust jacket as the bookmark. I try to take good care of my physical books but I’m a mess in every aspect of my life and if I’m being honest, pristine books feel unloved to me.

Have you ever told someone you don’t own a book when you do?

Probably… But only because I’m so bad at knowing what books I do and don’t own anymore. That’s what happens after multiple moves, a lot of decluttering, and a sister who likes to steal books. I have a very general knowledge of what I own but I’m very forgetful and also my e-book collection is something I hardly ever acknowledge so there’s a good chance I’ll forget any of the books that I have on my Kindle.

Have you ever skipped a chapter or a section in a book?

Yes. And I will continue doing so when it comes to things that give me extreme second-hand embarrassment or are triggering.

Have you ever bad mouthed a book you actually liked?

The one thing that immediately comes to mind is Twilight. Because honestly are you a true Twilight fan if you don’t also talk extreme shit about it?

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Other than that I don’t think I’ve ever actually bad mouthed books that I like. With books that I enjoyed that I later found out were really problematic then I voice that I was educated differently but if I genuinely enjoyed the books while I was ignorant to the problematic things then I won’t actively bad mouth it after that.

I guess I am quite the guilty reader… Haha, well this was fun. I will chat with you all again in my next post!

Mid Year Book Freakout Tag

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I know, I know… It’s August. I should have done this tag in June. But honestly y’all, when have I ever been committed to doing anything in a timely manner. The answer is never. Like I try, I really try, but it usually doesn’t happen. I mean have I told you yet that my best friend and I do this thing where we never give each other birthday/Christmas presents on time? I think the record is six months after the fact?

ANYWAYS………..

Without further ado, here is me, doing my first tag:

At the time of writing this post, I’ve read a total of 30 books. I’d really like to double that number (at least) by the end of the year. Though I am starting school at the end of this month so I guess we’ll see how well that actually goes.

1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2019.

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Lilac Girls by Mary Hall Kelly

This is a book that is going to have me thinking about it for years to come. I know that a lot of people have very mixed opinions about this book but I for one absolutely loved it. It just showed me yet more perspectives of the devastation and horrors of World War II and I can’t wait to pick up Mary Hall Kelly’s second novel.

I picked this book up on a whim when it was one of those “Buy 3 get 1 free” books at Barnes and Noble and it had been sitting on my bookshelf for almost a year. Books like this always take me forever to read and yet I love them so I’m really glad I picked it up!

I reviewed it here.

2. Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2019.

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So the only sequel that I’ve actually read so far this year was A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas. I will also probably be reading this a second time this year if I ever get around to finishing my reread/annotation of the Throne of Glass series because I plan on doing the same to the ACOTAR series.

3. New release you haven’t read yet, but want to.

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The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen

I’ve read most of Sarah Dessen’s books and I bought this newest one not long after it came out but it’s still sitting unread on my bookshelf. I’m planning on reading all of her books soon but not sure how long it will take me to read. I was thinking of reading them in publication order but I haven’t quite decided yet! Something about Dessen’s books just feel like home to me. They’re so familiar and soothing to me in a way that I can’t really explain and because of that I really want to read this because I know that it will let me forget about all of my own problems for a while.

4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

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Since everyone is cancelling her, I would just like to say PLEASE GIVE ME AN ARC. The more that people try to complain about this book the more I want to read it. Honestly I am in a huge mood for dark and twisted stories and I can’t wait to get my hands on this. I haven’t read one of Leigh’s books since the first book in the Grisha trilogy but I did love that at the time so I’m looking forward to this one.

5. Biggest disappointment.

Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey

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ugh. That’s all I want to say about this book anymore. If you want to read my full thoughts, you can look at my review here.

6. Biggest surprise.

Sadie by Courtney Summers

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I think I need to go into all books knowing absolutely nothing about them from here on out. Full review linked here!

7. Favourite new author. (Debut or new to you)

Casey McQuiston

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I love the way she writes characters! Red, White, and Royal Blue is a new favorite and I’m so looking forward to her new stuff. Also she’s a hoot to follow on Twitter!

8. Newest fictional crush.

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Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones! I read this back in January and I don’t actually have many fictional crushes. I don’t really have crushes in general anymore but I do remember enjoying Howl. I really need to reread this already. And I need to watch the movie!

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Clark from The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson could also be an answer but he’s not technically a new crush because I didn’t actually read that book for the first time this year.

9. Newest favourite character.

The entire cast of Red, White, and Royal Blue. Honestly none of the other characters in the other books I’ve read this year have truly stood out to me. But the personalities behind each and every character in RWRB were so genuinely unique and special and I loved that.

10. Book that made you cry.

The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan

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Radio Silence by Alice Oseman was a close second but TOoL made me actually bawl while I was at work and I had to try and clean myself up and pull it together every time a customer came in.

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Radio Silence though was such a cathartic read, I related to the characters on such a deep level that it really got to me. If I had read this book in high school I’m sure it would have meant even more to me. My review can be read here.

11. Book that made you happy.

Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

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This book had me literally squealing from happiness on multiple occasions. And the more Casey talks about her new book I cannot WAIT for that to get closer to release. In depth review at this link.

12. Most beautiful book you’ve bought so far this year (or received)

The Lost Coast by Amy Rose Capetta

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Absolutely love the cover of this book! Still need to read it though.

13. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

All of the ARCs that I have received through NetGalley so far… I’m a really bad person and fell behind because of mental health being a nightmare. But other than that, here are the books that I need to read:

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

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Daisy Jones and the Six

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After I Do

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I just need to read those last three books by Taylor Jenkins Reid in order to do the blog post I was planning on for those. I keep going to pick them up and then not actually going through with opening them up to read them. Moments like this when I wish I could listen to audiobooks.

Truly Devious by Maureen Johnson

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I am such a fake Maureen Johnson fan… Guys I still haven’t read Truly Devious and I am distraught. Though it might be in my best interest to wait until the last book comes out and then I can binge read them. WE SHALL SEE. And granted it came out when I was not reading or following anything book related but still!!

A single Jane Austen book

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Because I started that reading Jane Austen blog series waaaaay back when and still have yet to read a single page of one of her books!

Harry Potter 3-7

I think I talked in my Mid-Year Blog Goals post that I wanted to finally finish my Harry Potter quote series before the end of the year. So that means that I have to read 3-7 by December and compile all the quotes for those posts.

This list could be like about 100 books long but I think I’ll leave it at that. There are a lot of other books that I really hope to get to this year but I’ll have to see how well I can figure out balance once classes start. Fingers crossed I get through any of my anticipated books 🙂