Monthly Wrap-Up: May 2023

Hello and welcome back to my blog! How was everyone’s weekend?

Today, I’m here with a wrap-up of my month! I will talk about what I’ve been up to, the books I’ve been reading, and any updates in my life. Let’s get right into it!

Books I Read

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells – This is one I read for school, and it wasn’t my favorite, but it wasn’t the worst either. Just not my favorite genre in general, so I didn’t care for the story very much.

A Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Thérèse of Lisieux by St. Thèrése of Lisieux – This was an amazing read. I had heard this book talked about a lot and decided to finally get to it. Saint Thérèse is a saint I admire greatly, so it was very lovely to read the words that she herself wrote. I would really recommend it to anyone!

Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss by Kasie West – This one was pretty good. If you’ve been around this blog for a while, you probably have read that I love Kasie West’s books because they are sweet contemporary romance books, but are also very clean. This one wasn’t my favorite book of hers, but I still loved it a lot.

I am also currently reading Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson, which I think I will finish before the month is over. I am enjoying it a lot so far, and haven’t really been able to put it down since I started it. 😄

Writing Updates

I barely got any writing done this month, so there’s not much to update y’all on. I wrote a bit in each book, but just not a lot.

Crochet Projects

I finished a few projects this month. One was a flower pot I made for my mom for Mother’s Day! (Photo below.) I also got some more crochet books, so I’ll be picking out some patterns from those to make soon!

Blog Posts on Books and Hooks

I took a Blogging break through most of this month, so only two posts were published in May.

Monthly Wrap-Up: April 2023

I’m Back!

Reviewing May’s Goals

Continue being consistent with keyboard playing – I feel like I was good about this! I have been practicing quite a bit, but still more at the beginning of the month.

Write every day – No, not at all, lol.

Start running/biking again – I didn’t get around to this this month.

Work on my schedule – I did a bit! I’ve been waking up a bit earlier, and focusing on finishing my school earlier.

Read at least six books – Nope, just three. (Maybe four by the end of the month.)

Goals for June

• Stay hydrated.
• Focus on only writing my fantasy book.
• Hit 200 followers on this blog!
• Start running/biking/walking again, and enjoying nature more.
• Make bread at least once a week.
• Post at least once on my other blog.

Photos from May

Lots of soccer this month!

Went out for lunch with my mom and sister, which was very fun! 😊

I got a caramel vanilla frappe. It was delicious! 😋

Here’s the flower pot I made!

My sister made pancakes one day, and we got to enjoy those with homemade whipped cream and strawberries from our garden!

The sky! 😍

What Happened in May?

• May was quite busy, it seemed, yet I don’t know what quite contributed to this feeling of business.
• There was a lot of driving around, from soccer, our homeschool group, and shopping.
• Spring has begun transitioning into summer, it feels, with its 80-degree weather. I’m so excited for the summer, which is my favorite season! 😁
• With spring/summer comes gardening, and my family has a fairly sizeable strawberry patch which has been producing a lot this month. So, of course, there was picking strawberries, and processing them for baking and other such things.
• Besides these, I also went to a festival-type thing with friends, and have been visiting family here.

Okay, that’s all for today’s post! How was your May? What do you have planned for June? I’d love to hear from you in the comments! I hope you all have a lovely week; I will be back next Monday. Bye until then!

~ Rebekah

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I’m Back!

Hello everybody! So, you might have noticed that I haven’t been posting for most of this month, and I apologize. Life, it seems, has been very busy as of late. I feel like spring always just gets so busy, and it’s been no different this year. From soccer, to writing, gardening, and some other things in my life, I have had a lot going on lately. That’s why I decided to take a bit of a break throughout the month of May.

Besides being busy lately, I had also been in a sort of creative block. Writing and blogging just didn’t seem like fun, and I wasn’t coming up with any new post ideas. I was sort of burnt out and needed some time to recharge. Now, I feel like posting again! I have some fun post ideas coming up through summer, and can’t wait to get back to posting normally.

So, that’s all for today’s post! My next normal post will be coming on Monday, and after that, I’ll post once a week, like normal. Besides just not posting on here, I also haven’t been good about keeping up with y’all’s posts, so I’d enjoy hearing about what you’ve been up to lately. Has anything exciting happened recently in your life? Do you have anything fun planned for the summer? I’d love to hear from you in the comments! Have a fun rest of your week and weekend! See you guys on Monday, and bye until then!

~ Rebekah

Monthly Wrap-Up: April 2023

Hello everybody, and happy May! I hope you are having a wonderful day today! ❤️

Today, I’m posting a monthly wrap-up; I will just talk about what my April looked like, and I’ll share what I’ve been up to, what books I’ve read, and any pictures I took! Let’s just dive right in!

Books I Read

A Walk With Christ to the Cross by Dawson McAllister – This was a good book to read before Easter, during Lent. It was good, in my opinion, and gave me more insight and thoughts into what Jesus went through before being crucified. It was written quite conversationally, though, which wasn’t my absolute favorite, but wasn’t the worst either.

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babitt – Despite being a children’s book, I found that I enjoyed this one quite a bit. It was a fun read, with some deeper undertones. I’ve watched the movie before, and liked it, and the book was pretty good as well!

Joan of Arc by Mark Twain – I read this one for my English class, and again, this was a pretty good book! I think it was my favorite Mark Twain book I’ve read so far.

Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour by Morgan Matson – I liked this one, though not as much as I expected to. I thought that I’d really enjoy it, because YA contemporary books are probably my favorite genre, but this wasn’t the best I’ve read. There were still a lot of things in it I liked, but there were also some things I didn’t, and I feel as if the ending is a bit rushed.

Writing Updates

I did not write as much as expected this month. After my big writing spurt at the end of March, I expected to get a lot of writing done this month, but I just didn’t. I did get a bit of writing done in the fantasy book I’m working on with my sister, as well as some of A Songwriter’s Summer, but not a whole lot.

Crochet Projects

I did not crochet much this month. I started a few new projects, such as a bunny and a pot of flowers, but I haven’t gotten a lot done with them. Hopefully, May will be better!

Blog Posts on Books and Hooks

Monthly Wrap-Up: March 2023

Happy Easter!

ThriftBooks Book Haul

The Day Tag

Reviewing April’s Goals

Practice piano. I did start practicing again this past month! I am using Simply Piano, which works very well.

Post a springy crochet pattern. I did not get around to this.

Start getting up earlier. Uhhh…I’m still working on this one. 😅

Hydrate more. Yeah, I guess!

Keep running at least three times a week. I did for the begining of the month, and then stopped. I have to try to get back to it soon, I guess.

Goals for May

• Continue being consistent with piano playing.
• Write every day.
• Start running/biking again.
• Work on my schedule.
• Read at least six books.

Photos from April

Lovely skies! 😍

Everything’s so green!

My cat, Luna!

So springy! 🌷

What Happened in April?

• One of the main things that happened was Easter! I had a lovely Easter with my family, and I would love to hear how your Easter went in the comments!
• I also went to the zoo with my family and some of our friends. It was so much fun, despite being a bit chaotic!
• Some family visited at the end of the month, and it was super fun!
• Spring has finally begun, I feel like, and I’ve been spending a lot of time outside, enjoying the lovely sun and warmer weather!

Thank you so much for reading! What did you do in April? How was your Easter? What do you have planned for May? I’d love to chat in the comments!

I hope you all have a lovely week, and I’ll be back next Monday with a brand new post! Bye until then!

~ Rebekah

The Day Tag

Hello everybody and happy Monday! I hope you are having an amazing start to your week! ☺️

I’m here today with a tag I was nominated for from Corrie’s blog; here is her post. The rules for this tag are very simple: copy the questions and answer them in your post. Give a shout out to the creator of the tag (Tinyshroom), as well as whoever’s blog you found it on or whoever nominated you. Very simple and fun, so I’ll just get right into answering those questions!

Do you like rainy days or sunny days? I love both for different reasons. Curling up inside with a good book, or baking some bread, are such nice activities to do when it’s rainy. But, overall, I’d have to go with sunny days, because I love spending time outside!

What’s the first thing you do in a day? I try to pray and thank God for my day first thing in the morning (after waking up, of course!)

What’s your favorite day of the week? It might sound strange, but Mondays may be my favorite day of the week! I know that most people hate them, but I like Mondays because they’re a brand new start to a new week! 😃

Crochet for an entire day or read for an entire day? This is a tricky question, as these are both very big hobbies of mine. I’d probably go with reading for an entire day because crocheting for long periods of time can sometimes make my wrists ache, which isn’t very fun.

Are there any approximate times when you get bursts of information? I’m not sure…I’m wondering if the question meant inspiration because that seems like a more likely question. If that’s the case, it’s probably whenever I’m going to bed. However, if it’s information, I guess it’s while I’m working on school.

What’s your favorite meal to make or eat for breakfast? I love bagels and cream cheese (especially making the homemade bagels). I also love fruit smoothies! I find it fun to experiment with the ingredients, and not following a certain recipe.

What about your favorite meal to make or eat for lunch/dinner? Hmmm…pizza maybe. That’s definitely one of my favorites. 😋 Ooh, or pasta! Ugh, now, I’m just making myself hungry!

Would you rather spend all day inside or outside? If the weather was nice, I’d choose to go outside. I love spending time outside and in nature, even if I’m just reading or working on school.

What’s something you’d do on your idealistic day? I would probably go thrift store or book shopping, and maybe go on a nice hike!

What’s something that ruins your day? Going to bed late the night before. I am very much a morning person, so I hate staying up late, but when that happens, I usually sleep in or don’t get enough sleep, and I end up tired all morning.

What’s something that makes your day better? When I get a good run in in the morning! I always feel more energized and productive throughout the day when this happens.

Who is the first person you text in a day? I don’t have a lot of friends, so I don’t text many people. Sometimes, my cousin and I chat, though!

What’s your favorite place to go to in a day? I like going outside, or in my room, I guess.

Would you rather fly for a day or have super strength for a day? I think that it would be fun to be able to fly! I don’t see what I’d do with super strength.

What’s your least favorite weather to happen in a day? I like most weather, as long as it’s not lasting for a long time. For example, I enjoy rainy days, but if it rains for a week straight, I’m going to get tired of it. Same with snow, or cold weather.

What’s your favorite snack to eat in a day? I like chocolate and popcorn a lot.

What’s your favorite blog category to post on in a day? I enjoy posting in different categories at different times, so this is a hard question. Overall, I probably enjoy posting bookish content!

What’s your favorite kind of book to check out from the library in a day? I read a lot of YA contemporaries, as well as historical fiction, so one of the two, depending on what my mood is at the moment.

What’s your favorite clothing to wear in a day? (An outfit for staying at home and an outfit for going out). I mostly wear skirts and dresses, so my outfits incorporate one of the two most of the time. I wear a lot of the same clothing out as I do at home. I like dresses/skirts that are comfortable, yet still nice looking.

I will leave an open nomination for this post! If you want to do this tag, go for it!

That’s all for today’s post! I hope you liked it. How would you have answered these questions? Were you surprised by any of my answers? I’d love to chat in the comments!

Thank you all for reading, and have a lovely week! I’ll be back next Monday with a brand new post; bye until then!

~ Rebekah

ThriftBooks Book Haul

Hello everybody! Welcome or welcome back to my blog, Books and Hooks, where I post about all of my different interests and hobbies, most of all, books and crochet. Today, as read from the title, I have a book haul!

For Christmas, I got a gift card for ThriftBooks, and four months later, I’ve finally used it up! In today’s post, I’ll be showing y’all the books I ended up getting! I always like reading other bloggers’ book hauls, so I thought that I would share the books I recently bought in this post. Enjoy!

I’m currently trying to read through this series with my sisters, and we only own the first two books, so I figured I’d get the next one. I’ve only ever read the first two, so I’m excited to get to this one!

This book arrived in very good condition, and I’m pretty excited to read it. I mostly end up reading young adult books, but every so often, middle-grade books are a nice change. The exact day after I ordered this, though, I realized that we already owned this book, so I guess there are two copies now. 😄

I am currently reading this book, and enjoying it so far. I have always found Saint Philomena interesting, and this was the main book that I found about her. It’s in pretty good condition, except that there was a sticker on the front which I tried to take off, and now there’s the white sticker residue. 😭 Why must people put stickers on books?!

I have always been intrigued by the topic of the incorruptibility of saints, so as I was browsing ThriftBooks and this book came up as a suggestion, I thought that I would get it. I have not yet started reading it, but I skimmed through it, and it looks quite interesting. It did arrive a bit beat up, but still readable.

This is a book that my sister has had on her TBR for a while, and she suggested I buy it with my gift card. I thought I’d get it because the plot sounded fascinating, and I’ve never read a historical fiction set on the Titanic before. I am hoping to read it very soon!

I’ve been wanting to read Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour for quite a long time, since my sister read it and recommended it to me. I am a big fan of contemporary novels, so I had to get one or two for this book haul. I don’t like that the book came without a cover, but besides that, it’s in good shape.

I read Wait for Me by Caroline Leech a little while ago, and I liked it well enough, so I thought that I might like this book by the same author. The premise of this one sounds quite interesting, too! If you have any more YA historical fiction book recommendations, I’d love it if you could share them in the comments, because I’m looking to read more of this genre.

I will probably use this book to read one or two of the short saint stories a day. I chose this book because I liked the idea of reading about saints who weren’t priests or nuns. Saints who were nuns or priests are still so important, don’t get me wrong, but I find that they’re sometimes a bit hard to relate to. I skimmed through a few of these stories, and I think I like the writing style a lot, so that’s great!

And lastly, I have a Kasie West book! I knew that I had to get at least one of her books, so I decided on Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss, which looks (like most Kasie West books) like a cute, quick, read! I can’t wait to get around to this one.

That’s all of them! Nine books in total. I am very happy with the books I got, and besides a few minor inconveniences, they arrived in excellent shape!

Have you read any of these books? What books are on your TBR list? I’d love to chat in the comments!

Thank you all for reading! I hope that you are all having a great Monday, and have a lovely week. I will be back next week. Bye until then! 😊

~ Rebekah

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter Sunday, everyone!

I just thought I’d pop on here, and wish y’all a happy Easter! I hope that everyone is having a great day so far, full of love, family, and blessings. I hope that, through all the festivities and fun, the true meaning of this Christian holiday is not forgotten: the Resurrection of Jesus Christ!

How are you celebrating this joyful holiday? Does your family have any traditions? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

Also, just wanted to let y’all know that I won’t have a post up tomorrow, but I’ll be back the following Monday with a new post.

Okay, thanks for reading and have an amazing rest of your day! Bye for now!

~ Rebekah

Monthly Wrap-Up: March 2023

Happy Monday everybody!! I hope that you had a good past week and weekend, and I hope that you are having a good start to this new week!

Am I the only one who can’t understand how we are in April already? How are we already a fourth of the way into 2023? (Honestly, I still sometimes think that it’s 2021, lol. 😄) But, seriously, this year is going by so fast!

Anyways, today I will be wrapping up March. I feel like March was a very busy month for me, especially compared to how chill February was. I got a good amount of blogging done, wrote quite a bit in my book, and overall, I felt like this was just a busy month. Let’s get into the wrap-up!

Books I Read

I got to exactly four books this month (my goal). I didn’t read a lot, but I think that that was partly due to how much writing I did at the end of the month.

Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin – After all of her nagging, my sister finally got me to read this alternate historical fiction novel. I loved it, and found it so interesting! It was quite gripping, and I wrote a whole book review for it here, so you can check that out to read more of my thoughts concerning the book.

Blood for Blood by Ryan Graudin – I was going to take a break before starting the sequel to Wolf by Wolf , but I just had to continue and finish the duology! I found this book just as amazing, surprising, and gripping as the first! I would totally recommend this series.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry – I decided to read this book because it was a short read, and something I’d been meaning to get around to reading for a long while, due to how popular it is. I liked it, found it quite interesting and imaginative, and I liked picking apart the themes and messages.

Dare to Be More: The Witness of Blessed Carlo Acutis by Colleen and Matt Swaim – I loved this booklet. Although it was short, it really gave me some good insight into Blessed Carlo Acutis’s life. I really recommend this to anyone wanting to learn more about this amazing, modern saint.

Writing Updates

I haven’t been the best at writing consistently this year, but at the end of March, I had a big writing spurt, and wrote a lot of A Songwriter’s Summer! I was just getting so much into the story, listening to music (I really should create some playlists for this book, though), and writing some amazing scenes!

Crochet Projects

I didn’t crochet much this month. I just haven’t felt very inspired lately, and haven’t found any good patterns recently it seems. If you have any good pattern recommendations, leave the link in the comments, please! I am working on a few Easter things, though, and a spring-themed pattern to post on here, so keep an eye out for that!

Blog Posts on Books and Hooks

I am glad that I kept to consistently posting every Monday this month! Three of these were tags (that I wrote the day I published them 😅) but I still had lots of fun with posting!

The Once Upon a Time Book Tag

Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin Book Review

The Spring Joy Photography Tag

The In Or Out Book Tag

Reviewing March’s Goals

Organize my closet shelving – Yep! One afternoon I just did a big organization…getting everything out, going through it all, and organizing it back onto the shelf. I wish I took before and after pics, because it honestly looks way better now, and I’m so relieved I got it done after procrastinating it for so long!

Design and post a spring-themed crochet pattern – No, I didn’t get around to this. I started designing one, but I didn’t write it out or post it yet. Look out, because I will (hopefully) have it up in April!

Continue with my running plan, and add biking in as cross-training – Yes and no. I really didn’t do any running until about a week before March ended, but since then, I’ve been consistently running and biking, following the plan I have!

Try out some new recipes – Not really. I probably did, but not to a notable degree.

Start practicing piano again – Nope, not at all! I totally forgot that this was on here.

Spend more time outside – Yes, I have! The weather is turning nice and springy, and I love just sitting out in the sun and reading, writing, or working on school. Getting back into running has also given me an excuse to get outside during the day, so I love that.

Buy some books on ThriftBooks and do a haul – No, I didn’t get around to this. I promise that I will do a haul, though, when I do order the books!

Goals for April

• Practice piano.
• Post a springy crochet pattern.
• Start getting up earlier.
• Hydrate more.
• Keep running at least three times a week.

Pictures from March

I went to a coffee shop with my mom, sisters, and nana, and got a caramel frappe. It was so good!

Did this large world map puzzle with my family!

Another puzzle I worked on with my siblings. Sadly, there were some pieces missing.

Have you tried this strawberry Dr. Pepper ever? I like it!

Working on my book outside!

Here is some bread I made. Click here for the recipe–one of my favorite bread recipes!

The lovely outdoors! 😊

What Happened in March?

• My grandparents came to visit for a weekend, and I enjoyed the visit very much. We went thrift shopping, got coffee, and just spent some good time visiting!
• Soccer started! I’ve been to only one practice so far, but I think that this season will be great. My brother will be on my same team this year, which should be fun. We haven’t had any actual games yet, but those will begin in April, and I’m excited!
• I got sick, which wasn’t fun. I feel like I get sick so much, but I guess that that’s prone to happen in a larger family.
• I got a whole lot of writing done in A Songwriter’s Summer, as I mentioned earlier in this post. I was in a bit of a writing slump, so this sudden burst of inspiration was sort of unexpected, but completely welcome! I wrote a whole lot, got to introduce some new amazing characters, and had a few new ideas on where the story will go!
• Our homeschool group started up again after the long winter break, so those meetings are starting up again!

That’s all about my month! What happened in March for you? What books did you read? Did you complete your goals? What do you have planned for April? As always, I’d love to chat in the comments!

I hope you enjoyed today’s post! Thanks for reading! I will see y’all back here next week. Have a nice rest of your day!

The In Or Out Book Tag

Hello y’all, and happy Monday! I hope that all of you are having a good start to the week. ☺

Today, I’ll be participating in the In Or Out Book Tag, which I saw over on Anna’s blog. It looked like so much fun, and she left an open nomination, so I thought I’d do this tag on my blog today!

This book tag is very simple: I will basically just respond to each reading-related thing with ‘in’ or ‘out’, depending on if I like it or not. As I said, very simple! Let’s just get right into it!

Reading the last page first.

Out, definitely. There are so many potential spoilers to be read. I used to read the last sentence first, but I won’t even do that now, because I absolutely hate spoiling myself!

Enemies to lovers.

In, but only if it is done well. I don’t love this trope, and I prefer rivals to lovers, but enemies to lovers can work if it is written well.

Dream sequences.

In, I guess.

Love triangles.

In. I like reading love triangles, as long as they’re done well, like I said about the enemies to lovers trope.

Cracked spines.

Out. I hate it when my book spines are cracked! I mean, I’ll still read books with cracked spines, but I won’t purposely crack the spines on my books.

Back to my small town.

I haven’t read any books with this aspect in them, but I would love to. In!

Monsters are regular people.

I’m not sure what this really means. I guess I am out with this one.

No paragraph breaks.

Out. I hate it when there are long sequences of text without paragraph breaks, and I often get lost when this happens. I feel like I also read more when there are breaks between some of the paragraphs.

Multi-generational sagas.

I haven’t read any books like this, but that sounds like it’d be interesting to read, so I’m in!

Re-reading.

In! I love to re-read my favorite books, just as long as it’s been a good length of time since the first read.

Artificial intelligence.

Usually out; I just don’t find myself very interested in those types of stories.

Drop caps.

I’m in for this one. They look especially cool in fantasy!

Happy endings.

I’m in and out on this one. I like when a story ends happily, but there does need to be some sadness and drama beforehand. I feel like I’m more of a fan of bittersweet endings.

Plot points that only converge at the end.

In. I love when everything converges at the end, or when everything lines up and makes sense.

Detailed magic systems.

Overall, I’d say I’m in. I don’t like it when they’re too detailed and complex to keep track of, but I don’t like when they’re just meh, either. As long as I can understand it, then I am in!

Classic fantasy races.

In, I guess.

Unreliable narrators.

Uhhh…probably out. Unreliable narrators usually annoy me.

Evil protagonists.

Out. I don’t think I’d like to read a book with an evil protagonist.

The chosen one.

In, but only if it’s well written, and the character isn’t annoying (which I find many of the chosen one characters tend to be.)

When the protagonist dies.

Out. I just hate this!

Really long chapters.

Out. I prefer shorter chapters and find them easier to read. I also finish the book much quicker when the chapters are shorter.

French flaps.

Out, because these annoy me quite a bit.

Deckled edges.

Out. I don’t very much like deckled edges.

Signed copies by author.

In! I don’t think I have any, but it would be so cool to own a signed book.

Dog-earing pages.

I guess I’d say out, although I’m not one of those readers that is totally against dog-earing pages. I just don’t personally do it anymore.

Chapter titles instead of numbers.

In and out. I like being able to check and see what chapter I’m on and how many more chapters I have, but chapter titles are interesting as well!

That’s all for my post today. Thank you so much for reading! I won’t be tagging anyone, but if you want to, definitely take this tag and do it on your blog! I’d love to see y’all’s opinions and answers to these reading-related topics.

How would you have answered these? Do you disagree with any of my opinions? I’d love to chat in the comments!

I will see you all next week with a monthly wrap-up (I can’t believe that March is almost over!) I hope that everyone’s week goes well, and bye for now!

~ Rebekah

The Spring Joy Photography Tag

Hello everybody, welcome back to my blog, and happy first day of spring!

I saw this tag today on Lily’s blog, and I thought what better day to post this tag on my blog than on the first day of spring? It definitely feels like spring today, and I knew that I needed to get outside, so I took my phone out and did some fun photography! Thank you, Lily, for leaving an open nomination!

Also, I really feel like I need to start planning and writing more posts in advance! Any tips are very much appreciated.

Now, let us begin this tag with the rules!

The rules:

• First, thank the person who tagged you and link back to their site.
• Second, take the photos using the prompts!
• Third, tag (about) six people and link to their sites.
• And, nominees (or whoever does this), feel free to change up any of the prompts or rules for yourself or for those whom you tag.

My photos:

I love doing macro photography and saw this tiny flower, so I thought that this photo would work well for this prompt!

Something miniature.

Another macro photography-type photo!

Something all green.

My sister’s cat, Buttercup, came and visited me while I was taking photos, so I figured that I’d include a picture of him in this tag!

Something with a living creature.

At least it looks like they are! (Maybe they’re just enjoying the bit of food I sprinkled out for them, so I could get a photo.)

Somebody enjoying nature.

I had a bit of trouble with this prompt because I couldn’t really find any photo opportunities that reminded me of a story. This photo reminds me sort of like a story I want to write someday, so does that count?

Something that reminds you of a story (and say what story it reminds you of.)

Two large rocks in my yard. I don’t think of rocks as being very photogenic, hence this photo going with the prompt.

Something non-photogenic.

I like how the black and white looks with this photo of moss-covered bricks!

Something black and white.

I am not sure that this photo technically goes with the prompt, but nothing is really holding onto winter still here, so I had to just photograph something that reminds me of winter.

Something holding onto winter.

I love the angle of this daffodil photo!

Something sunshiny.

These flowers are so pretty! Flowers are one of my favorite things to take photos of, and to me, they scream spring.

Something just plain beautiful.

I took this photo and thought that I’d add a bonus prompt (at least for myself; not everyone I tag needs to include this prompt in their posts): something colorful! I love the brightness of the flower paired with the blue in the background.

Something colorful.

The prompts:

Something miniature

Something all green

Something with a living creature

Somebody enjoying nature

Something that reminds you of a story (and say what story it reminds you of)

Something non-photogenic

Something black and white

Something holding onto winter

Something sunshiny

Something just plain beautiful

Something colorful (optional/added)

I tag:

Heidi

Lydia

Mayim

Raegan

BetsyJane

Corrie

and YOU!

I decided to tag these bloggers because I figured that they’d enjoy sharing their beautiful springtime photography. However, if I tagged you, and you are not interested in doing the tag, don’t worry about it! And, if I didn’t tag you but you wish to do this tag, totally feel free to do it on your blog!

I hope that you all enjoyed this (last-minute) post! I had a lot of fun getting outside today and doing some interesting photography following the prompts!

Does it feel like spring where you live yet? Have you taken any good springtime photography lately? What photos of mine were your favorite? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

That’s all for today’s post! I hope that you all enjoyed it very much. Thank you for reading, and have a lovely week! Bye for now!

~ Rebekah

Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin Book Review

Hello everybody! How is your day going so far?

I am here with a spoiler-free book review for a book I recently read, called Wolf by Wolf. My sister read it back in 2021 and has been bugging me to read it since then. After finally getting around to it, I realize what all of her hype was about!

Basics

Title: Wolf by Wolf

Author: Ryan Graudin

Genres: Alternate history, historical fiction, young adult, adventure

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5/5

Summary from Goodreads

Her story begins on a train.

The year is 1956, and the Axis powers of the Third Reich and Imperial Japan rule. To commemorate their Great Victory, Hitler and Emperor Hirohito host the Axis Tour: an annual motorcycle race across their conjoined continents. The victor is awarded an audience with the highly reclusive Adolf Hitler at the Victor’s Ball in Tokyo.

Yael, a former death camp prisoner, has witnessed too much suffering, and the five wolves tattooed on her arm are a constant reminder of the loved ones she lost. The resistance has given Yael one goal: Win the race and kill Hitler. A survivor of painful human experimentation, Yael has the power to skinshift and must complete her mission by impersonating last year’s only female racer, Adele Wolfe. This deception becomes more difficult when Felix, Adele twin’s brother, and Luka, her former love interest, enter the race and watch Yael’s every move.

But as Yael grows closer to the other competitors, can she bring herself to be as ruthless as she needs to be to avoid discovery and complete her mission?

My Review

Initial thoughts

I was hesitant to read this book, just because of the fact that my sister rated it so highly. She continued to recommend it to me, yet I just didn’t get to it until now because of that, and the fact that it didn’t sound like anything I’d read before.

After reading the synopsis, I thought that it sounded interesting. But, a fast-paced alternate historical fiction book about a girl who can “skinshift” doesn’t sound like something I’d normally read. So, I sort of put it off, always telling myself that I’d read it later sometime.

Characters

I liked the characters quite a bit. I found them interesting, especially the main character, Yael. She had a very tragic past, and I was always anticipating reading more about her backstory. She was a very unique character! She was strong, yet her vulnerability showed several times, reminding the readers that she was still human.

There were many characters that I didn’t know what to make of, such as Felix and Luka. They had this past with the real Adele Wolfe that the reader knows nothing about, but that just kept me reading, trying to figure it out. The side characters were well-developed and included in the book at a perfect rate, none of them overpowering the story, but still being included enough to be a part of it.

At the start of this novel, I did have a bit of trouble remembering names and which characters they went to. In the first few chapters, quite a few names are introduced, and I found myself flipping back through pages to discover who was who again. It’s not a big deal, and probably just my fault for being bad with names, but it is just something to note.

Plot and story

The plot, as I mentioned, sounded interesting. I haven’t ever read any alternate history before, and I initially thought the story sounded different from anything I’d previously read (and it was.) I read a lot of historical fiction, but not alternate history. I think that it was quite interesting to think of the “what ifs”: what if Hitler had won World War II, or what if terrible experiments in concentration camps had led to the ability to skinshift?

I had had a bit of trouble getting started out with the book. I find that this happens to me quite a bit: I will read the first hundred or so pages of a book more slowly, and then zoom through the remainder of the book. It was definitely no different with this one. I’m sure that it took me the same amount of time to read the first quarter of the book as the remainder.

Writing

The writing in this wasn’t my favorite. I feel as if writing is really a personal preference, though, and just because I didn’t particularly enjoy the writing style, doesn’t mean that everyone won’t. There were quite a few metaphorical terms, and it is a bit poetic, which I don’t often enjoy. This, however, didn’t ruin the book for me. It was just a slight bother to me, and lots of other people, I’m sure, enjoy the writing quite a bit.

Final thoughts

I liked this book immensely! It was a real page-turner, and had me on the edge of my seat for the latter chunk of the book. It was packed with action, but I wasn’t constantly overwhelmed by it. And, though the story was laced with twists and turns, the ending really surprised me! I cannot wait to get to the next book.

I would totally recommend this book to anybody who wants to read a unique, and gripping story, unlike anything that you’ll probably ever read.

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Thank you for reading today’s post! Have you read this book? What were your thoughts? If you haven’t read it, will you be checking it out soon? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

I hope that you all have a lovely week! I will be back next Monday with a new post. Bye until then!