Hello everyone, and happy Monday! 😊 How was your week/weekend?
Today, I’m here with a fun idea I snatched from a post of Isabelle’s (read hers here), in which I will spell my name using book titles! Thank you, Isabelle, for giving me the idea and letting me use it!
In this post, I will find a book starting with the same letter as one of the letters in my name. If the title of a book begins with something like “the” or “a”, I won’t count that. Let’s get right into it!
R – Ruby Red by Kerstin Gier. From what I remember, this book was very interesting. It is the only book I’ve read that features time travel, and it contains lots of mystery and adventure. I read this book a couple of years ago, so I don’t quite remember everything about it. I do remember that the time-traveling aspect got a bit complicated and complex to understand in the later books, but it was still pretty good.
E – Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan. This book follows one harmonica, and the stories of three children, who come to have the harmonica. It was written for middle-grade audiences, though I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was a very imaginative and well-crafted story.
B – Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. Ruta Sepetys is an amazing historical fiction author, and I’ve read four of her books, this one being the first. This book got me interested in historical fiction novels, so it is special for me. This book taught me about the work camps in Siberia, something I had little knowledge of before. Ruta Sepetys really brings history to life in this book, following a fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl, Lina. It was a bit brutal and heartbreaking, but also a very hopeful story.
E – Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon. This isn’t my favorite book, but I needed another book for E. It follows Maddie who has a sickness that prevents her from interacting with the outside world (basically allergic to the world, as the Goodreads synopsis puts it.) I think it was sorta cute, but just not my favorite overall.
K – The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Pearson. This was such a crazy read, but I loved it. It is now one of my favorite fantasy series. I enjoyed the mystery elements of it, and all of the characters were very well done. It follows Lia, a princess who flees from her kingdom on the day of her wedding, to a small village. Two strangers then arrive, one the prince she was to marry, and the other an assassin sent to kill her. It was so nerve-wracking not knowing who was who, but it was a very fun read.
A – All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. I read this book a while ago, so I don’t quite remember everything about it, but from what I remember, it was very good. It’s a historical fiction novel set during WWII and is narrated by two characters, Marie-Laure and Werner. I sort of want to reread it soon, because I can’t remember much of the plot. 😄
H – The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. This is one of my favorite series and one of the books that got me into reading as a hobby. If you’ve never heard of this series…where have you been? It follows Katniss, a teenager living in a future North America, renamed Panem. Every year, twenty-four children are chosen to fight to the death, and when her sister is chosen, Katniss volunteers, taking her sister’s place. I don’t have much else to say about this book/series, except that team Peeta is the only right opinion. Lol, just kidding. (Am I, though? 😆)
This was so much fun! 😃 I hope you enjoyed reading it! Have you heard of any of these books? What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
Thank you for reading! I will be back next week with a new post. Bye for now!
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.
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!
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!
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!
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! 😊
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!
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!
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.
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!
Hello everybody! Welcome to a brand new post, starting this brand new week! How is your Monday going?
Today, I am participating in the Once Upon a Time Book Tag. Thanks to Diamond for tagging me! This looks like lots of fun, so let us dive right in to the post!
Rules
Thank the blogger who tagged you
Use the featured graphic (optional)
Answer the following 12 questions about books you have read
Tag as many bloggers as you like!
Cinderella—a book that changed your life
For this one, I’ll go with the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, just because it was one of those book series that got me into reading. If I hadn’t read this, I don’t know if I would even be a reader, or at least, I would not read to the extent that I do now. The Hunger Games remains one of my favorite series to this day!
Sleeping Beauty—a book that took you forever to finish
The Lord of the Rings series is amazing, but each of the books did take me quite a while to read, just because of the older way it is written. I got through the three books in about a year, but that counts taking long breaks between each one. Classics always take me a little while to get through, but I do really enjoy reading them!
A Thousand and One Nights—a book you couldn’t stop reading
I consume basically any Kasie West book with speed, especially Love, Life, and the List. Love, Life, and the List is definitely one of my favorite Kasie West books, but, honestly, they are all super sweet, fun, and quick reads.
Little Red Riding Hood—a book you recently read in an unfamiliar genre
In this category, I’ll put The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson. I wouldn’t normally read sci-fi, but this was actually quite good. I thought it was very interesting, though I’m not sure I’ll finish the series.
The Wild Swans—a book with your favorite sibling relationships
I had to go with Little Women by Louisa May Alcott for this one! I love the March sisters so much, and that’s most definitely one of my favorite things about the book.
Snow White—a book filled with beautiful prose
I actually don’t know what prose are. I tried Googling it, but I just can’t find a good answer. If anyone has this knowledge, please let me know in a comment.
Rapunzel – a book you procrastinated on reading after buying
The Midnight Dancers by Regina Doman. Technically, I didn’t buy this book, I was gifted it. But I did procrastinate on reading it after I got it, just because it didn’t follow the original cast of characters as in the previous three books in the series, and I wasn’t sure I’d like that. I did really enjoy it, though!
The Little Mermaid – a book that took you on a magical journey
I wanted to choose LOTR for this one, but I already chose it for a previous prompt soo…I’ll go with The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien! 😄
The Frog Prince – a book you’d like to turn into a frog because you hated it so much
This one wasn’t hard: We’ll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han. The whole series wasn’t great, but this last book was just…😖 Don’t even bother reading it.
Peter Pan – a book that reminds you of your childhood
The Little House on the Prairie books definitely remind me of my childhood. I grew up reading these for school and fun, and I really enjoyed them! They are very nostalgic for me.
The Goose Girl – a book that you had low expectations for, but ended up loving
Surprisingly, Lovely War by Julie Berry was just one of these books! I thought that it sounded a bit strange, and I’d never really heard of it. I didn’t think that it would surmount to anything amazing. I was wrong. It is one of my favorite books, and I would definitely recommend picking it up if you haven’t read it!
Hansel and Gretel – a book that made you hungry
Definitely Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch! Gelato sounds delicious, and I want to try it someday.
I tag:
I will leave this an open nomination, so any readers who want to do this tag, feel free to do it on your blog! I would love to hear about your favorite books and your answers to the prompts!
The prompts:
Cinderella—a book that changed your life
Sleeping Beauty—a book that took you forever to finish
A Thousand and One Nights—a book you couldn’t stop reading
Little Red Riding Hood—a book you recently read in an unfamiliar genre
The Wild Swans—a book with your favorite sibling relationships
Snow White—a book filled with beautiful prose
Rapunzel – a book you procrastinated on reading after buying
The Little Mermaid – a book that took you on a magical journey
The Frog Prince – a book you’d like to turn into a frog because you hated it so much
Peter Pan – a book that reminds you of your childhood
The Goose Girl – a book that you had low expectations for, but ended up loving
Hansel and Gretel – a book that made you hungry
That’s it for today’s post! Have you read any of these books? How would you have answered the prompts? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
I will be back next Monday with a new post! I hope that you all have a lovely week!
Hello everybody! As the second and shortest month of the year draws to an end, I figured that this week’s post could be a wrap-up, consisting of all that happened this month. I had a pretty good (but busy) month, and hope you did as well!
Books I Read
Love and Luck by Jenna Evans Welch was a sweet, yet meaningful contemporary novel. I love the sibling aspects of it, and it made me want to visit Ireland as well! I don’t know if I enjoyed it as much as its companion novel, Love and Gelato, but it was still really good!
The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E. Pearson was a very wild ride of different emotions and surprises! I think that it was a good ending for the series, yet the final book of a series is always a bit sad to read, knowing it’s the end.
Holy Moments by Matthew Kelly was a very good book! It was one of those books to me that really made me think a lot, and I would definitely recommend it to you!
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was a book I was assigned to read for my English class. I liked it quite a bit, and I enjoyed the overall meaning and message of the novel.
Lovely War by Julie Berry was a reread, and it is one of my all-time favorite books, something I realized even further as I read through this amazingly well-written, sweet historical fiction novel. I love almost all of the aspects of this book, from the characters and relationships, to the writing, and the themes. Definitely check it out if you haven’t yet!
Crochet Projects
I am starting on some Easter and spring-themed projects (and, hopefully, the patterns will be released soon). I also finished a few smaller projects.
Go through clothes and get rid of stuff. I did go through all of my clothes, and I have lots of things to get rid of. I haven’t gotten rid of anything yet, but they’re all ready to go!
Keep consistent with running and run atleast 20 miles. My consistency was sort of nonexistent throughout the beginning of the month, but toward the end, I found a training plan and have been following that. I did not run 20 miles.
Start biking again. I did not. 😕
Start making a playlist for my book. Again, I did not get around to this one.
Read at least four books. Yup!
Post at least once on my other blog. I did! Check it out here if you want. It was a collab I did with my sister covering a few ideas for Lent, if you’re interested!
Post once a week on here. I did stay consistent with this!
March’s Goals
Organize my closet shelving. 😬 It’s very messy! The shelf I’m speaking of is basically just the place I store anything random without a specific home: coloring books, old notebooks, games and puzzles, etc. It definitely needs to be cleaned up, and it’s a spot I’ve been dreading for a while now.
Design and post a spring-themed crochet pattern. I sort of have one designed, but I’ve yet to write down the pattern and share it with y’all. Keep an eye out for that!
Continue with my running plan, and add biking in as cross-training. The new running plan I’m using is one I found online to improve 5k time, because I hope to do a race in the spring. I’m liking it so far, but sometimes, creating the consistency is difficult. I also want to start biking more this month!
Try out some new recipes. I’ve been baking a lot lately, and I’ve saved a few really yummy-looking recipes, so I’m going to try them out soon!
Start practicing piano again. Because I haven’t in…a while.
Spend more time outside. I’ve been trying to do this more lately, and the lovely upcoming weather is for sure helping me to get outdoors more often!
Buy some books on ThriftBooks and do a haul. I have a gift card for ThriftBooks from Christmas, and I haven’t used it yet. In March, I hope to buy a few books from their website, and do book haul post.
Photos from February
My sister’s dog! 🥰The daffodils are blooming! They are definitely one of my favorite flowers.One crochet project this month: a little bear!My little sister made a yummy chocolate cake!I took this photo after I organized my yarn shelf. I wish I had a before photo, because it was pretty bad!Some homemade bread!On Valentine’s day, we got donuts!😋They were pretty good!Reading Lovely War by Julie Berry.I used a melt and pour soap making kit to make soaps with my sister!I love how all of the soaps turned out!My cat, Luna! ❤️Just doing some writing outside!One of my running buddies!
What Happened in February?
February seemed to pass by very quickly! That’s probably partly due to the fact that it was a few days shorter than most months, but I feel like in general, I was pretty busy throughout the month.
I signed up for soccer again this spring! Practices haven’t started yet, but I am excited to start playing again in March!
I spent a lot of time outside and started trying to run consistently again. It’s always hard after taking a break like I did during the majority of winter, but I’m starting to get back into it!
I started experimenting and baking a lot more this month, especially bread!
What have you been up to this month?
That’s it! How was your February? What plans do you have for March? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
I hope that you enjoyed today’s post! I also hope that you are having an amazing Monday, and I’ll see y’all back here next week!
Hello and happy Monday! How is the start to your week?
So, today’s post is going to be very very fun. I will be using the “What’s your WIP (work in progress) Writing Tag” to introduce y’all to the newest book I’ve started to write. The book is called A Songwriter’s Summer for now, as I decided to name it, so I don’t get caught talking about it as “My Contemporary Book” or something to that nature, like I did with “My Dystopian Book”.
Speaking of my dystopian book, I used this tag once before to give y’all a little peek into that book. Here it is if you are interested!
This book is the newest one I’ve been writing and is the main writing project I’ve been working on lately. It is a contemporary YA book. I will leave the rest of the explanation and summary for this book to the tag!
The Rules
Thank the person who tagged you & link to their blog.
Tag as many or as few people as you wish & let them know they’re tagged.
Add a clean copy of the questions at the end of your post for the “tagged.”
Has your WIP a working title? If so, tell us! If not, have you any idea of what it might be?
As I said earlier, A Songwriter’s Summer is the name I’ve given my book for the time being. It probably won’t stick, but I decided to at least come up with a name for now, so I had something to call it. I think that this name sort of explains the story to some extent (it follows the main character, who is a songwriter, and it takes place during the summer) but the title also sounds like some sort of songwriting camp or something, so I’ll probably change it sometime down the road. It works for now, though!
Have you a synopsis for your WIP? If so, give it to us! If not, can you give us a blurb on what your WIP is about?
I don’t have a synopsis written, so I will just explain the story a bit.
This book follows seventeen-year-old Breena West, who loves writing songs, and secretly dreams of becoming a songwriter. The problem? Her parents don’t consider that a career and they are pushing her to go to college and pursue a more stable career that she can support herself with. When one of Breena’s favorite songwriters announces that she’s hosting a songwriting contest that has the potential to grant the winners recognition and fame, Breena sees this as her chance to show her parents that this passion for songwriting doesn’t have to be only a hobby.
Many things happen that summer. Her parents become concerned with Breena’s grades. Fynn Cooper, a fellow eleventh grader, begins helping Breena with her classes. Breena’s older, perfect-seeming sister comes home from college for the summer, and her brother shortly after. Through this period of months, Breena will discover many things, learn to understand the views of others, and to be more compassionate.
I understand that this is not a very good synopsis, but I had to write it real quick. I was just finishing this post up (because, of course, I waited until the last minute) so I am writing this just before posting.
Have you a working/mock cover for your WIP? If so, show us! If not, have you an idea in mind?
I actually do! Here it is:
This is a very basic cover design that I created on Canva. I like how it turned out, and just the simplicity of it!
How did you get the idea for this story?
I honestly don’t remember! I have recently been wanting to write a contemporary book with the main character being a songwriter, as I have become more interested in song and poem writing. I remember having the sort of idea for this book in my mind for a while, and after a while, I wrote it all down and planned the story further.
How long do you think it will be? Is it longer or shorter than you thought it would be?
I am only a few chapters in, but I have the whole book planned out. I believe it will be just about the length of an average novel, maybe a bit shorter, but I guess we’ll see!
Who’s your favourite character so far?
I love all of my characters! One of my favorite things about this book so far is that I can relate to each of the characters in some way, and see where they are coming from. Up to this point, I like Fynn a lot, as well as Breena’s best friend, Lea.
What’s your favourite memory related to this WIP?
Probably when I was in the planning phase! After I got the idea for this novel, I bought a special notebook and began planning it all out, writing every little thing down, and coming up with ideas as to where the story would go. I love looking back at those pages now, and seeing how the first ideas have been formed into the whole story that it is now!
Any special person(s) who helped create it?
My older sister! She mostly just listens to me ranting about the characters or talking about the plot. I also let her read it as I write, and she gives me helpful advice and constructive criticism. Thank you!
What’s your favourite scene so far (if you can tell about it without spoilers!)?
Hmmm…🤔 I’m not sure. There is a scene that I’m excited to write that will be at the end of the book, but I can’t describe it without giving away most of the story. So far, I have enjoyed writing the first few interactions between Breena and Fynn, and I am looking forward to the introduction of a new character that I will be writing in soon!
Can you give us a snippet?
Sorry, I can’t yet. I just don’t feel like there is anything I’ve written yet worthy of sharing as a snippet. Stay tuned, though, because I plan to share more about this book in the future!
Is the story still what you thought it would be or has it thrown you a couple curveballs?
It’s definitely got a different ending than what I planned at first! Besides that, though, not a lot of changes have taken place yet. I am, as I said, only a few chapters in, so I’m sure that there will be some changes that I decide on as I write and get to know my characters better.
Is there a Bible verse, poem, hymn, picture, or quote that helped shape this story?
Not that I can think of at the moment.
When and where have you done most of the writing so far?
I am writing the first draft of this book in a notebook, and I’ve written a lot of it outside, actually!
Where do you get inspiration for this story?
I take a lot of inspiration from my daily life and add it to the book like I do with the other books I’ve worked on. Conversations, traits in my characters, the observations of those around me, and certain situations are all incorporated.
Are you a plotter or a pantser?
I am a big planner! I mentioned earlier that I bought a notebook to brainstorm and plan the book, and that was in the summer. I believe I just started writing this book in January, so that was about six months of planning out this book! I worked out all of the characters and basically everything that happens because I hate going into the book without a clear knowledge of the story and how it progresses!
Do you have a little ritual before you start writing?
I like to have music, usually, as well as something to drink while I’m writing. Other than that, not really. I just get my notebook out and begin writing!
Are you thinking of publishing this story?
Probably not, but you never know!
What things have you learned while writing this story?
To have fun with it! Sometimes I have to force myself to write to get through a rough patch, but I have also found ways to work on this story without writing, such as developing characters further, finding songs for each character, or writing about it like I am with this post. I do love writing, but sometimes, doing something related to the story is just as important if I don’t feel like writing.
I’m not going to tag anyone to do this tag, because I don’t know who is working on writing a book at the moment. However, if you do have a current WIP, I’d love to see you use this tag! Here is a list of the questions for anyone who plans on doing the tag:
Has your WIP a working title? If so, tell us! If not, have you any idea of what it might be?
Have you a synopsis for your WIP? If so, give it to us! If not, can you give us a blurb on what your WIP is about?
Have you a working/mock cover for your WIP? If so, show us! If not, have you an idea in mind?
How did you get the idea for this story?
How long do you think it will be? Is it longer or shorter than you thought it would be?
Who’s your favourite character so far?
What’s your favourite memory related to this WIP?
Any special person(s) who helped create it?
What’s your favourite scene so far (if you can tell about it without spoilers!)?
Can you give us a snippet?
Is the story still what you thought it would be or has it thrown you a couple curveballs?
Is there a Bible verse, poem, hymn, picture, or quote that helped shape this story?
When and where have you done most of the writing so far?
Where do you get inspiration for this story?
Are you a plotter or a pantser?
Do you have a little ritual before you start writing?
Are you thinking of publishing this story?
What things have you learned while writing this story?
That will be all for today! I hope that you all enjoyed getting a little more information on my WIP, A Songwriter’s Summer. How did you like this post? Do you have any more questions about my book? I’d love to hear from you in the comments! Also, if you guys have any more post ideas that I can write to share more about this book, I’d love to hear them! Maybe an aesthetic or playlist?
I hope that everyone has a lovely week, and I’ll see y’all next Monday!
Books and Hooks 