Monthly Wrap-Up: February 2022

Hello, happy weekend!! Today, I’m here with a monthly wrap-up for February.

~ Books I read ~

The Autobiography of George Washington Plunkitt by William L. Riordan. This was one I had to read for my English class, and I just didn’t really like it. I only rated it one star. I think that it was written for people in politics, because that’s what the book’s mainly about.

What the Night Sings by Vesper Stamper. Last year, I read her other book, A Cloud of Outrageous Blue, and I really ended up enjoying it. I liked this one too, though not as much as A Cloud of Outrageous Blue, and I rated it four out of five stars!

Requiem by Lauren Oliver. This is the last book in the Delirium trilogy. I liked the first two books quite a bit, but this one just wasn’t my favorite. I felt like it was just a lot of drama between Alex, Lena, and Julian, and I was really annoyed at all of the characters, except Hana. I think that it was interesting to have parts of it narrated by her. I rated this one three point five stars.

That Summer by Sarah Dessen. I read two other books by Sarah Dessen, Just Listen and The Truth About Forever. I didn’t like the first, but I really liked The Truth About Forever. I liked That Summer too! It was a good book and it incorporates a lot of family things, which I liked. I gave it 4 stars!

Mark Twain’s Own Autobiography by Mark Twain. This was another one I had to read for school (It’s an autobiography English course) and I definitely liked it better than the last autobiography I had to read. I gave it 2.5 stars, because I found it a bit disjointed.

A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir. This was a re-read!! I love this series sooo much, and of course it is a five star read for me! Now, I’m on to reading A Sky Beyond The Storm, so…yeah. A lot of sadness ahead.

~ Writing updates ~

Guess what?!?! I finished the first draft of my dystopian novel!!! 😃🎉 Now, I’m on to the second draft!! I am still working on the contemporary one and the fantasy book, but I’m trying to focus the most on writing the dystopian book at the moment!! (I feel like I need to come up with names for them.)

~ Crochet ~

I did a good amount of crocheting this month. I’m working on a blanket, as well as a baby blanket, and I finished a sweater I started crocheting in October!! I made a little doll, too, and I started working on a top. Because March is national crochet month, I’m going to try and crochet something every day of March, so we’ll see how that goes, too!

~ Running ~

I finally got back to running, and went a few miles!

~ Posts ~

Monthly Wrap-Up: January 2022

“Defy the Night” by Brigid Kemmerer Book Review (Spoiler Free!)

Guess the Book Character By Emojis

Bookish This or That

Organizing My Yarn/Crochet Shelf

The Blogging Love Tag

The Sunshine Blogger Award (#2)

~ Reviewing February’s goals ~

These are the goals I set for myself in the January wrap-up!!

Write at least 1,000 words in one of my books every day. I didn’t write a thousand words every day, but I did get a lot of writing done. I also did a lot of planning, and just working on the characters and everything, too.

Keep up a good posting schedule. Yesss! I posted every Saturday and Wednesday in February!

Run at least 15 miles. I did not get to go 15 miles (it was more like six or something) but I’m going to try and run more in March! (Haha, I feel like I say this every time!)

Run, walk, or go on a bike ride everyday. Nope.

Get 70 followers on my blog. YES!! Thank you guys so much!! I now have 75 followers!!!! 🥰💕

~ Goals for March ~

~ Run 20 miles

~ Work on my book for half an hour a day (it could be writing, or it could be planning or something else book-related)

~ Crochet something everyday

~ Finish reading The Return of the King

~ Pics from February ~

The display I had on my bookshelf this month was themed “Books With Cute Couples”! All these books (An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir, P.S. I Like You by Kasie West, Lovely War by Julie Berry, The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh, and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins) all have amazing couples!! I would definitely recommend reading any of them!!

This is the sign, which my sister made!! It’s soo cute! She wrote different cute quotes from all the different books on it, as well as a few other books which we didn’t have up there, but still have such cute couples!

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Thank you for reading! How was February for you? Did anything really big happen? I’d love to chat in the comments!

~ Rebekah

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The Sunshine Blogger Award (#2)

Hey everyone!! I hope you’re all having a good week so far! 😃

A little while ago, The Pastel Bicycle nominated me for the Sunshine Blogger Award and now, I’m finally getting around to doing it!! I already did this award before, but I’m excited to be doing it again! Here’s the link to the original post I did, in case you wanted to check that out!

Rules:

• Thank the blogger who nominated you and link back to their blog.
• Answer the 11 questions sent by the person who nominated you.
• Nominate 11 new bloggers to receive the award and write them 11 new questions.
• List the rules and display the Sunshine Blogger Award logo in your post and/or your blog

The Questions:

1. Would you rather never be tired, or never be hungry?

I think that both would be bad: if you were never tired, you might not get enough sleep, but if you were never hungry, you might not eat enough. I’d choose never to be hungry because I think that I’d still eat, but if I didn’t get tired, I might not get enough sleep.

2. Have you ever eaten a cannoli?

No, I haven’t, but they look good!!

3. What do you think is the biggest problem in the world today?

There are a lot of problems right now (there are a lot of good things too) and I don’t really know what the biggest one is.

4. Do you prefer being asked serious, thought-provoking questions, or fun ones?

Maybe the funner ones, but I like both!

5. Have you ever petted a donkey?

I don’t think so.

6. Which one do you find scarier, heights or spiders?

Heights! 😬

7. If had to pick one of your favorite foods to never eat again, which one would you pick?

One of my favorites?! This is a hard question! I don’t think I can choose one of my favorite foods to never have again!!

8. Savory or sweet?

I like both! Overall, I’d probably go with savory, but sometimes I’m more in the mood for sweet food, so it depends!

9. What is one food combination that you think shouldn’t taste good, but does?

Maybe cheese and jelly. They don’t seem like they’d be good together, but they really are. (Especially cheddar cheese and raspberry jam!)

10. Would you rather have a pet dragon or a pet unicorn?

I don’t really know.

11. Do you like cheese?

Yes!

Nominations

I know that a lot of bloggers have already done this award, so I’m just going to leave it at an open nomination!

My Questions

1. What are a few words you’d use to describe yourself?
2. Who is one of your favorite music artists?
3. What’s a movie that always makes you cry?
4. Would you rather live in a bigger city or in the country?
5. What’s your dream job?
6. Do you like doing awards and tags on your blog?
7. What’s your favorite dessert?
8. What are some of your hobbies?
9. What’s your current favorite song?
10. TV shows or movies?
11. What’s your favorite pizza toppings?

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Thanks for reading! And thanks again, The Pastel Bicycle, for nominating me!! I had a lot of fun answering the questions!! ☺ I hope everyone has a good day, and a great rest of your week! Bye! See you guys on Saturday!

~ Rebekah

The Blogging Love Tag

Hey everyone! Welcome back to Books and Hooks!! Today, I’m here with a tag I created called “The Blogging Love Tag”. I came up with this idea a few days ago, and thought it would make a cool post! The Blogging Love Tag is meant to spread the story of your blog, your thoughts on blogging, and to spread the love of blogging!! 💖

Rules

• Thank the person who nominated you, or whose blog you found this on
• Mention the creator of this tag — Rebekah @BooksandHooks
• Add the featured image to your post
• Include the rules in your post
• Answer the five original questions about blogging
• Answer the questions the blogger who nominated you asked
• Ask the bloggers you nominate two additional questions
• Nominate as many people as you want, or leave it at an open nomination!
• Tag it with ‘blogginglovetag’
• Spread the love of blogging! ❤

The original questions:

• When did you start blogging?
• Why did you start your blog?
• What’s your favorite post you’ve written?
• What are some of your goals for your blog?
• What’s your favorite thing, or things, about blogging?

My answers

When did you start blogging? I first had a blog for posting essays for my school, but I don’t know if I would consider that blogging, because I kind of had to have that blog. I started this blog on July 1st, 2021!

Why did you start your blog? I started this blog, mostly just for fun! I wanted to write about the things I love, and share crochet patterns I create, so others can make them!!

What’s your favorite blog post you’ve written? I like the post “10 Random Things I Love ❤” because I like thinking about all of the little things that make me happy!

What are some of your goals for your blog? I’m trying to get to 100 followers this year!!

What’s your favorite thing, or things, about blogging? I like getting to know different bloggers, and I also just love sharing the things I love with others!

Additional questions for the bloggers I nominate

Where did you get the idea of having a blog?

How did you come up with your blog name?

Nominations

If I nominate you, but you don’t really want to do this tag, don’t feel pressured to do it!

Maggie

Evin

Raegan

Sophia

Heidi

Gelina

And, YOU!!

Okay, I hope you liked today’s post!! See you next time! Bye!! 😀

~ Rebekah

Organizing My Yarn/Crochet Shelf

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a good week so far! Yesterday, I cleaned up and organized my yarn shelf, and I took some photos, so I thought that this would make a good post for today!! 😃

Okay, so this is how it looked like before I cleaned it. It definitely needs to be organized and cleaned up a bit. There are boxes of yarn, and projects I’m working on everywhere, so…yeah. 😬 I just organized it a bit ago. I don’t know how it got so messy so quick!

Here’s the top shelf. It’s not too bad, but it definitely needs to be neatened up a little bit.

Here’s the middle shelf. There are some crochet and knitting books on the left, a crochet bag, and then some yarn on the right.

Here’s the bottom shelf. There’s just some random yarn, and some projects I’m working on.

Here are a few boxes full of yarn and projects I’m currently working on, sitting on the floor.

Okay, so I gathered up all of my yarn and used my yarn winder to make them neater. Here’s all of the yarn I have! It’s actually not as much as I thought!

Here is the top shelf after I organized and cleaned it up! There’s a mug of crochet hooks on the left, with a frontline hero bear I made behind it (here’s the pattern), and then, there’s a little container thingy with drawers, where I store my keychains and stitch markers, and I put a little crochet octopus on top (here is the pattern!). Then, I have a tile, and a little crochet rabbit (pattern here.)

Here’s the right side of this shelf. I have two containers, the one on the left side with stitch markers, safety pins, and a few other things. I also have a little crochet jellyfish sitting on top (pattern for it here). I have a little display with the date, which I just got at dollar tree, and then, the container on the right has some buttons, as well as crochet thread.

Here’s the middle shelf! On the left are all of my crochet books, and a few about knitting, and most of my yarn is on the right!!

And, here’s the bottom shelf! On the left, I have a crochet bag with some more yarn, which I’m using to make a blanket right now, in the box in the middle is some yarn that I share with my sister, and on the right, I’m storing some of the projects I’m currently working on!

Haha, here’s all the yarn tangles I had to throw away. 😅 I don’t have much patience with untangling yarn…

And, here’s the finished shelf!! I definitely think that it looks better now!!

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I hope you liked today’s post!! Thanks for reading! I’ll see you guys on Saturday!! Bye!

~ Rebekah

Bookish This or That

Hello!! Today, I’m here with a bookish this or that!!

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Hardbacks or paperbacks?

I love both of them for different reasons. Paperbacks are easier to read when you’re laying down, and they are just lighter and smaller. But, hardbacks are awesome too! They look nicer in my opinion, and it’s harder to break the spine on it. Hardbacks are also more durable too, so I’d choose hardbacks!

Reading in the morning, or at night?

I don’t really care, to be honest. I just read when I feel like it, but I do tend to get more reading done at night, because in the morning I have school.

Background noise or silence?

I’m someone who doesn’t mind background noise when I’m reading, probably because of my siblings, who can be pretty noisy! I usually like listening to music too, but silence is also good. Overall, I’d probably choose silence.

E-book or printed book?

Printed book!

Read outside or inside?

I love to read outside as long as it’s nice weather!

Library or bookstore?

I love going to the bookstore, and actually owning books, but I find myself going to the library more!

Read a book really quickly, or take it slow and steady?

I read some books quicker (like any Kasie West novel) but there are others that take me a while. I think, though, if I had to choose, I’d pick quicker.

Standalone book or a series?

I love standalone books because they are quicker, and you don’t have to commit to reading a whole series, but I just love series! They can be so great, because it feels like you’re going through so much with the characters, and you get to know the characters more!

Fantasy or contemporary?

I love both, but I’d choose contemporary!

Mood reader or planned TBR?

I have some books I want to read, but not a planned tbr. I just read what I feel like!!

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Thanks for reading! If you want to ask any bookish this or that questions ask them in the comments, and me or other bloggers can answer!! I’d also love to know how you’d answer these questions in the comments!

Okay, have a great rest of your weekend!!

~ Rebekah

Guess the Book Character By Emojis

Hello everyone!! I hope you are having a great week so far!

Today’s blog post is a little shorter than most of my others, but I thought it would be a fun idea! I chose five different emojis for different book characters, and you can try to guess who I’m talking about in the comment!! Okay, let’s go!!

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Easy

1. 🙂🎨🍞🌅💪

2. 💕💌🧁🍪😊

3. 🏹🔥🚄💅😒

Medium

4. 🔱🎣👩‍❤‍👨🌊😭

5. 🍂➡💇👁🥸

Hard

6. 💻📸🍂🇬🇧🪙

7. 🎸🎶📝🥧😮

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I had so much fun doing this!! Like I said, you can try to guess who all the characters are, or just a few, in the comments!! If you liked this post, please tell me if you’d like to see a part two!

Also, if you have five emojis for any book characters you love, you can comment them, and other bloggers or I can try to guess which character you’re trying to describe!!

Okay, that’s all for today’s post. Thanks for reading and have an awesome day!! I’ll see you on Saturday!! ☺

~ Rebekah

“Defy the Night” by Brigid Kemmerer Book Review (Spoiler Free!)

Hello! Happy weekend! Today, I’m here with a book review for a book I read recently: Defy the Night! I’ve been hearing about this book a lot, and I know that it gets quite a bit of hype. My sister read it, too, and she really loved it.

But, when a book gets a lot of hype like this, I’m always a little nervous to read, and sometimes it takes me quite a while to pick the book up, because I don’t know if it is really be as good as I imagined it being! (Still haven’t read These Violent Delights because of that!!!)

But, I ended up absolutely loving this novel, despite my misgivings. Well, here is the review! 💜

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How pretty is this cover, though! 😍

Title: “Defy the Night”

Author: Brigid Kemmerer

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Fiction

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Synopsis from Goodreads

A fantasy series about a kingdom divided by corruption, the prince desperately holding it together, and the girl who will risk everything to bring it crashing down.

The kingdom of Kandala is on the brink of disaster. Rifts between sectors have only worsened since a sickness began ravaging the land, and within the Royal Palace, the king holds a tenuous peace with a ruthless hand.

King Harristan was thrust into power after his parents’ shocking assassination, leaving the younger Prince Corrick to take on the brutal role of the King’s Justice. The brothers have learned to react mercilessly to any sign of rebellion–it’s the only way to maintain order when the sickness can strike anywhere, and the only known cure, an elixir made from delicate Moonflower petals, is severely limited.

Out in the Wilds, apothecary apprentice Tessa Cade is tired of seeing her neighbors die, their suffering ignored by the unyielding royals. Every night, she and her best friend Wes risk their lives to steal Moonflower petals and distribute the elixir to those who need it most–but it’s still not enough.

As rumors spread that the cure no longer works and sparks of rebellion begin to flare, a particularly cruel act from the King’s Justice makes Tessa desperate enough to try the impossible: sneaking into the palace. But what she finds upon her arrival makes her wonder if it’s even possible to fix Kandala without destroying it first.

My thoughts

This was such a great book!! I loved almost everything about it: the story, the writing, the romance, the plot twist (😬), and the characters ! The first fifty pages or so were a bit slow for me, but after that, I could not put the book down!!

“A spark of rebellion is all it takes to defy the night.”

— Brigid Kemmerer, Defy the Night

The characters

Brigid Kemmerer writes amazing characters! Just like in A Curse So Dark and Lonely, the characters in this book have flaws and tragic backgrounds, but they are also very brave.

At first, I didn’t know if I liked Corrick. But, after reading a bit of the novel, I could just see that he was really struggling. He was in a really difficult position, and he had to try to make the right decision, but it’s never really that simple. By the end of the book, I really liked Corrick!

“There are too many layers here. I thought it was as simple as right or wrong . . . ​but it’s not.”

— Brigid Kemmerer, Defy the Night

Tessa is one of my favorites. She was trying to do the right thing, and she really wanted to make a difference. I also love how Kemmerer gave us two different views of the kingdom of Kandala: a view from the cruel-seeming King’s Justice, who has to punish the criminals mercilessly, and Tessa’s perspective: a apothecary apprentice from the Wilds, so that the reader can see the situation from different perspectives.

“I’m not a killer. I heal people; I don’t harm them.”

— Brigid Kemmerer, Defy the Night

Plot, story, and writing

I thought that the plot of this book sounded interesting. It’s set in a kingdom called Kandala, where sickness has begun to get more and more serious, because the normal cure for it, the Moonflower petals, are very limited. Like I said earlier, I thought that it was interesting how it was narrated by the King’s Justice, Corrick, and then Tessa.

“I think that very few people truly deserve what they get, Tessa.” He pauses, and for the briefest moment, sadness flickers through his eyes. “For good or for bad.”

— Brigid Kemmerer, Defy the Night

I definitely didn’t see the plot twist coming. It was a pretty big surprise to me, and…yeah! It just gave the characters more depth. That’s all I can really say without spoiling it, though!!

I loved the writing in this book, just like everything else. It was so good! The only thing was that, and I find this often in books with multiple POVs, both perspectives sounded very similar, writing-wise. But I do realize that it is very hard to change your writing style for separate characters. I’m writing a dystopian novel with two different points of view, and I’m pretty sure they sound about the same.

“Kindness leaves you vulnerable, Tessa. I learned that lesson years ago.”

— Brigid Kemmerer, Defy the Night

Another problem I found with this book, is that in one of Corrick’s first chapters, it introduces a lot of new characters, and I found that kind of overwhelming! I had to keep going back when I was reading further chapters, to see who everyone was.

“Mind your mettle, Tessa.”

— Brigid Kemmerer, Defy the Night

Overall, though, I loved this book!! Again, the characters were amazing, the writing was good, and I just loved it!! I guess this is going to be a series, so I really can not wait for the next book to come out! (I’m glad that this one didn’t end on a cliffhanger, though!) It was definitely a five star read!!!

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Thank you for reading! Have you read this book yet? Did you like it? Or, do you want to read it soon? I’d love to chat in the comments!! Okay, have an awesome day!! Bye!

~ Rebekah

Monthly Wrap-Up: January 2022

Hello everyone!! Today, I’m posting a monthly wrap-up for January (as you probably guessed from the title 😆). January was a pretty good month for me; nothing really exciting or bad happened, and it was a pretty good start to the year!!

Okay here’s the review/wrap-up!!

Books

From now on, I’m just going to be giving my opinions on the books I’ve read, because I don’t really like trying to explain it shortly. If you’re ever interested in what books I’m reading at the moment, you can check out this page, where I post about all the books I read and what I rated them. Anyways, here are the books!

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

This was a re-read for me, and I loved it just as much (or maybe even more) than the first time. It’s so sad, but inspiring, and it’s just such a good book. It’s a WW2 historical fiction, and it’s narrated by death, which is very interesting. I have a book review for it here, so if you want to know more of my thoughts on the book, you can head over there! It’s definitely a five star read for me!

Moment of Truth by Kasie West

A Kasie West book! If you’ve followed for a little while, you probably know that I love her books! This book was definitely no different! I loved it, and it was five out of five stars! If you’ve never read any of West’s books, I would really recommend reading one of them. They’re all sweet, cute, and fluffy YA contemporary novels that have a bit of drama!

Delirium by Lauren Oliver 

My sister read this before me, and she really liked it. I liked it, but it wasn’t the best mostly because the main character was a little annoying at some points and the story just wasn’t my favorite, but I really did like the concept and the overall plot! I rated it 4.5 stars.

Believe Me by Tahereh Mafi 

I like the Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi, so I was really excited when I found out she was making another novella that takes place after the events of the last book. But, I didn’t really end up liking this novella. I just felt like it wasn’t really necessary and it was just…not my favorite. I rated it 3.5 stars.

Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington

This is a book I read for my English class. It wasn’t my favorite, but it was still okay. I rated it, again, 3.5 stars. I just found it kind of boring, but it wasn’t horrible or anything.

Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer

This book gets soooo much hype, so I was really nervous to read it. I didn’t know if it was really as good as her other books and I didn’t know if it would live up to the hype. I’ve read another series by this author, the cursebreaker series, and I loved it! I loved this book so much too! Defy the Night is such a great fantasy book! It’s also going to be a series, so I can’t wait for the other books to come out! It was, easily, a five star read!

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen

Last year, I read Sarah Dessen’s Just Listen and I didn’t like it. I didn’t know if I would pick up another of Dessen’s books, but I decided to give her another chance. I ended up liking this book much more than Just Listen. It was a great contemporary read! 4.5 stars!

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver 

The last book I read in January was Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver, the second book in the Delirium trilogy. I gave this book a 4.5 star rating, but ended up liking it a little bit better than the first one.(The ending, though!!) I am definitely going to be reading the final book in the series!

Writing

I got a good amount of writing done this month. I didn’t hit my goal of writing 1000 words a day, but I still wrote quite a bit, so I’m happy about that! I’m currently 19,000 words into my contemporary novel, and about 55,000 words into the dystopian one. I’m also about 27,000 words into the fantasy book, but I am writing it with my sister, so I didn’t write all of that!!

Crochet

I crocheted quite a bit this month!! Soon, I will be doing a post with just a few things I’ve made recently too!! It’s probably going to be next Wednesday, so keep an eye out for that!!

Running

I got back to running this month too! I only ran a few miles, but in February, I’m going to try and get more miles in!

Posts

I missed a couple weeks, so I didn’t write a whole bunch of posts, but oh well! I had so much fun doing the Q&A’s and the crochet quiz! Thank you for all the comments on that one!!

Monthly Wrap-Up: December 2021

Thank You For 50 Followers!

“The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak Book Review (Spoiler Free)

Celebrating 50 Followers: A Q&A Post! (Part one)

Celebrating 50 Followers: A Q&A Post! (Part two)

What’s My Crochet Personality? Doing a Quiz

Goals for February

I’m adding this section to write about my goals for the next month!

GOALS ♡

Write at least 1,000 words in one of my books every day

Keep up a good posting schedule

Run at least 15 miles

Run, walk, or go on a bike ride everyday

Get 70 followers on my blog (thanks for 63 followers already 🥰)

Pictures

The theme on my bookshelf in January was book to movie adaptions!! We had Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea, The Lord of the Rings series, Little Women, and The Hunger Games series! These are all such good books that were turned into films! Have you watched or read any of them? (Sorry, I didn’t realize how blurry the picture turned out until now.)

My sister’s dog 😍😊

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Okay, well thanks for reading!! Was it a good month for you? I’d love to chat in the comments!!

I’ll see you guys on Saturday! ☺

~ Rebekah